#14/12/1944 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

pisupsala · 5 months

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Of All The Stars in The Sky | 17 | Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw

Summary | War looks different from high above in the sky. But when Bradley finds himself on the ground, far behind enemy lines, it becomes a race against the clock to get out. And try not to look back at what he’s leaving behind.

Pairing | Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw x fem!reader / Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw x fem!oc (no use of y/n)

Warnings |Mature content | 18+ only[WWII AU] swearing, war, violence, death, explicit smut

Words | 7.9k

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Chapter 17 - Dream a Little Dream of Me

He doesn’t sleep anymore. Not really. When his body finally gives in to the exhaustion, and he lets his guard down, his mind catches a second wind, serving up the worst visions from the war. Bradley refuses to call them dreams, but he would hesitate to call them nightmares. He doesn’t wake up bathing in a cold sweat, heart beating, desperately trying to catch his breath anymore. It’s a never-ending reel that starts playing the moment he closes his eyes like it’s been seared into his eyelids, and all he can do is watch.

On that misty gray morning in June, he followed Mav over the channel. Flanked by countless squadrons, passing over the largest armada assembled, they were prepared for everything. Anything. Flying low, the sight of the shallows on the Atlantic in Normandy colored blood-red knocks the wind out of him.

Bradley has seen plenty of battles in his years in the war. He’s seen friend and foe disappear in balls of fire in midair, watched them plummet to the earth, spinning out of control. He’s seen cities go up in flames under him. He was the one helping ignite them. In a certain regard, he was lucky — he never had to see the resulting carnage firsthand. He never had to look another pilot in the face before they died. He couldn’t see the people running to hide in air raid shelters as the bombers he was escorting flew over.

High in the sky, war often seems quite far away.

Bradley is quite aware of his own mortality — after his own crash, how could he not be? But he also knows it is either them or him. It’s the simple equation of a dogfight. But the sight of a blood-red sea — how much blood must there be in order to dilute the seawater? — simply won’t leave him.

How many seas of blood has he caused?

If the battle for Europe was a raw lesson in the mass casualty of war, Bradley kept holding out hope that his wing would stay assigned to the theater. Holding out hope that if he could follow the advance, it could get him closer to you again. However, in the early fall of 1944, most Naval aviators get re-assigned to the Pacific theater as the European front moves inland, and the USAF and RAF take the lead in establishing air superiority. Bradley is a Luitenant Commander now, the rows of ribbons on his chest gradually growing, weighing him down.

He doesn’t sleep anymore. At night, he wanders the halls of the carrier, unable to rest. The belly of the ship is claustrophobic, noisy and overcrowded at best, and Bradley cannot stand it anymore. After those endless days in that small room, you being his only reprieve, the walls keep closing in on him everywhere. In England, he could go for walks, but now he is resigned to the tight metal corridors, walking the same route, over, and over, and over.

Before he takes off from the carrier, his hand automatically moves to his left chest pocket. Your handkerchief still sits there, carefully folded, lovingly kept. Bradley never goes anywhere without it anymore. It’s his only comfort through the sleepless nights, his good luck charm for every sortie, his promise to you.

If Operation Overlord was a raw wake-up call for the mass massacre up close, the Pacific Theater comes bearing horrors from the darkest nightmares. He is on deck one sunny day when two Japanese planes bore themselves, deliberately, into the cruiser just off the starboard—the desperate screams from the sea of fire echo. Just moments later, two planes hit the carrier. The enemy has resorted to the most desperate strategy of taking everyone down with them.

He appears to be lucky, again, all things considered. Bradley manages to make it with just a few scrapes. In the months of island hopping, he manages to make it through with nothing more than a few bullet holes. Bob jokes Bradley has an angel on his shoulder. Mav praises him for finally learning to trust his instincts instead of overthinking. The praise feels hollow. Many others don’t make it back. It’s not an issue of skill. Bob is right — it’s all luck.

And luck runs out.

It’s been over a year — fourteen grueling months, since Bradley was assigned to the USS Intrepid, and with the island-hopping campaign has now made it all the way to Okinawa. It’s March 1945.

When Bradley thinks back about those days, he has trouble remembering what happened. The chaos and carnage bleed into each other; the constant pressure and the heat boil everything into a large, horrifying mass in his head.

He can’t sleep. He just sees the endless reel of horrors devoid of time and meaning. Bradley reaches for his chest pocket, fingers tracing over the soft outline of your handkerchief. It’s still there. When he closes his eyes, he wishes he could see you. Hear you.

In the few moments of calm that he manages to find, he tries to grasp at the memory of you, but every time it eludes him more. It’s like he can only remember the individual notes of you: a flash of your smile, the wrinkle between your eyebrows, the sparkle in your eye. Your teasing tone as you said his name, the bubble of your laugh, your soft kiss. Like that broken melody, he can’t put the notes together again. And it scares him.

What if he forgets completely?

What if you will always dance just out of his reach, always on the periphery of his mind — never enough for him to truly remember?

And then his luck truly runs out.

In a desperate dog fight, trying to keep the Kamikaze pilots from torpedoing the Allied ships aiming for Okinawa. A hail of bullets perforates the port side of Bradley’s jet, cracking the canopy and busting the fuselage. One bullet pierces his left shoulder. The pain is so intense it’s making him see double.

Bradley always loved flying over the ocean. The sea and the sky become one on the horizon in and endless expanse of heavenly blue. Like a world with no end.

Now, he has trouble telling what is up and what is down. He can hear Mav screaming at him over the radio.

Eject! Eject! Eject!

No. He can make it. If he ejects now, he’ll be a sitting duck in the middle of the ocean, in the middle of a battle. Bradley knows that if he stays calm, he can make it back to the USS Intrepid. Nothing is on fire. Yet. He’s losing pressure, and his fuel is getting practically dumped into the ocean.

Slow and steady. Turn off auxiliary instruments to preserve power — flicking the switch of the radio, he cuts off Mav mid-command. Bradley blinks heavily against the pain as he tries to focus on the gyroscope. The plane is level, descending. He turns his head, straining audibly: no one is following him. His squadron seems to be distracting the enemy well, so Bradley can get away.

Slow and steady. Throttle back, keep level, keep above the water. At this rate, he will be flying on fumes by the time he reaches the carrier. Bradley’s left side feels sticky, but he needs all his energy to focus on flying right now — he knows he’s bleeding, but he can’t take his hand off the steering to apply pressure to his shoulder. His left hand is shaking now.

On the horizon, the silhouette of the USS Intrepid looms. The batteries are firing, billowing smoke.

He can make it.

Bradley switches his radio back on.

“Tower, tower -” He gasps for breath. “Tower, tower, permission to land, over”

The reply comes out garbled. Or maybe it’s just the loud rushing in his ears from blood loss. Carefully, Bradley taps the fuel gauge. He’s never seen it so low. He must have called his status because, finally, something legible comes through the radio.

“Affirmative — deck is ready, Rooster,”

He’s going to get one shot at this. Get enough speed to generate just enough lift to get him to the right altitude so he can make it onto the flight deck.

There’s not going to be a do-over for this.

Bradley loses consciousness the moment his landing gear hits the deck. The angle of his descent is too steep; he has too little strength to course correct. On impact, the front wheel snaps off, grinding the nose of the plane into the deck in a rain of sparks, knocking his head into the canopy.

When he comes by, Bradley is still on the landing deck, splayed out, while a medic is putting a painful amount of pressure on his shoulder. Bradley grunts in agony. His whole left side is soaked.

“Good, you’re awake,” The medic deadpans. “Rooster, stay awake now.”

“My pocket-” He chokes out, trying to get his right arm up. “My left pocket.”

“Take it easy now, Rooster,” The medic admonishes him. “You’re bleeding out here.”

“But I need, I need -” Bradley lifts his head from the tarmac, vision still blurry. “Left pocket.”

“Stay down!”

“Jesus Christ, son,” Bradley recognizes Beau Simpson's voice. If the admiral is on deck, that landing isn’t going to win him any prizes, he thinks idly. “What do you need from your pocket?”

Bradley answers the question clearly in his head, but in reality, the words come out half-mumbled. It’s enough, however. Someone, maybe Simpson, presses a square of soft fabric into Bradley’s right palm. His fingers close over it, crumpling it in the process. But Bradley needs something to hold onto right now, something to remind him that there’s more beyond this hell, beyond all this pain.

***

Laying in a hospital bed, Bradley feels like a caged animal. The white walls, ceiling, and small window remind him of that room. He can’t get up; he’s not allowed to leave. Bradley’s fingers itch, his heart beating in a panic, cold sweat trickling down his spine.

“Everything okay here?” Soft curls pinned into a pristine white hat with a red cross, bright smile, and rosy cheeks. Nurse Jenny. She’s playfully peeking around the privacy curtain. Bradley doesn’t miss how her eyes wander over him.

“Yeah, yeah, everything is fine,” Bradley replies, forcing himself to keep his voice level, meeting the nurse’s gaze shortly. The sweat is prickling on his forehead, but at least he can pretend that the sweltering Manila heat is causing it. His heart rate is slowly returning to normal — flexing his fingers a few times, the strange tension leaves his nerves.

“Let me get you something to cool you down, Lieutenant Commander,” Her soft hand brushes over his clammy forehead. “Just to make sure you don’t start running a fever.”

Her voice is soft and pleasant. She is soft and pleasant.

Bradley feels a twinge of guilt in his stomach.

Jenny is just a nurse, and Bradley is just a patient.

She doesn’t look like you, not even if Bradley squinted. She doesn’t carry herself in the same way that you do — Jenny isn’t as much of an enigma but rather wears her heart on her sleeve. But in the short two weeks, when he thinks of you and tries to conjure up the memory of you, he isn’t sure if he’s seeing Jenny. Did your smile always look like that? Did your voice always have that same timbre?

It’s been two years since he left you on that platform. Two long and lonely years. Now, stuck in a hospital bed, stuck with his own thoughts again, the walls close in. Except when Jenny comes in. Just like you did.

Bradley closes his eyes as the nurse places a cool cloth over his forehead. Didn’t you do the same? Did your eyes wander in the same way?

“There, much better,” Jenny concludes. “How’s the shoulder today?”

“Getting better, Nurse, thank you,” Bradley replies, smiling automatically. “Any chance I’m getting off bed rest anytime soon?” He asks, tone jovial, trying to mask his discomfort of the hospital room.

Jenny titters as she wipes her hands on her apron. “Trust me, the sooner you’re up and about, the better.”

“Am I such a bad patient?” The words come completely automatically to Bradley, a cocky grin settling on his face. Jenny flushes lightly. For a moment, he feels great — fun, teasing, catching every eye. Just like he always did. As comes naturally to him.

The next moment, his smile falters. Why would he want to catch Jenny’s eye?

“No, no-,” She replies bashfully. “You just seem eager to get out of here.”

“Aren’t you?”

Jenny blinks at him before a broad smile appears on her face. Her cheeks are still adorably flushed. It’s just satisfying his ego, nothing more. It’s just a bit of fun. Just something to make the crushing boredom and oppressive heat in the hospital more bearable.

“I’ll check up on you again later, Lieutenant Commander,” She chirps happily before she hurriedly disappears behind the curtain with a girlish giggle.

Bradley carefully opens the small drawer on his bedside stand when he's sure she's left. A few personal possessions lay scattered; among them, quite unceremoniously, a Purple Heart. He has no need for more medals.

Carefully, Bradley takes out your handkerchief. His heart sinks every time he looks at it now. The side that was against his chest has been soaked through with blood, the once pristine white now a dirty, rusty color. It doesn’t smell like you anymore. The neat folding has been crumpled, leaving the square disheveled.

Bradley knows he should get it washed, but he has an irrational fear that if he does, he will wash away whatever is left of you, his lucky charm, in the fabric. It will just be an ordinary handkerchief after that. He traces his thumb over the stitching of your initials.

Sokolova. After some careful prodding, Bradley found out it meant falcon. From Hangman, no less, who in turn hounded him for why he wanted to know. Bradley never even hinted at as to why, causing Hangman to stop speaking to him completely. As if that was supposed to be a form of punishment.

But, how fitting.

Rooster and Falcon.

Bradley hasn’t forgotten his promise to you. It’s been two years, but he has every intention to find you again, and make good on all the words he filled your head with.

Guilt twists in his gut. He’s lonely. Bradley has never done well by himself. Even now, he’s back with Mav, Bob is around — he’s seen Fanboy several times. Harvard is in the Pacific, too. It’s not that kind of loneliness he is grappling with. It’s the lack of intimacy, however fleeting. The kind he never had trouble finding, the kind that stopped all the wayward pain of his life and loss that he never wanted to confront.

Six days with you were not enough. It was never going to be enough.

***

“So, can I call you Rooster?”

Jenny is sitting across from Bradley in the noisy bar, chin leaning on her hand, with that fantastic smile on her face. “Or do you prefer Commander?” She adds coyly, taking a sip of her colorful cocktail.

“Rooster is fine,” He replies with a small smile, averting his gaze to the ice melting in his Old Fashioned. Bradley was promoted to Commander today. The whole ceremony, if you can call it that, was over in less than three minutes. Bradley did not even have to get up from bed. An Admiral Bradley had never met before handed him his new pins after a few short words, flanked by a petty officer and some doctors. A firm handshake, followed by a quick salute, and the man and his entourage were sauntering out of the room again. Without much thought, Bradley dunked the pins into the drawer of his bedside table.

Better news came from the doctor on the next round: he was finally well enough to leave the hospital. A few rounds of physical therapy to regain full mobility of his shoulder would be needed, but Bradley wasn’t planning on hanging around for that. He could do some stretches on the carrier, too. The war isn’t over yet.

As he got dressed and stuffed all his meager belongings into a small bag, Jenny appeared, looking somewhat hesitant.

The silver oak leaf Commander pin still feels foreign on the collar of his khaki uniform.

“Looking to get out of here?” She ventured. “For a drink first, maybe?”

Bradley should have said no. But was there really any harm in getting a drink and some conversation? That’s normal, he reasons. It’s what people do. It’s just a drink to celebrate his promotion — no matter how much he doesn’t really care for his new rank — it’s a normal and polite thing to do. And Jenny is nice enough.

“So, Rooster it is,” Jenny smiles brightly. “Are you really leaving today?”

“Yeah,” Bradley shrugs. “I’m catching the first ride out of here and back to my ship.”

“Well, then, don’t be a stranger,” She ventures carefully. “I was wondering if I could write you?”

Bradley doesn’t reply immediately, taking a sip of his drink instead. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Jenny.” He finally replies.

“Oh.” She looks a little crestfallen. “You’re not married, are you?” Jenny looks mildly alarmed at the notion. “Because I’m not like that, you know?”

Bradley chuckles. “No, I’m not married. And I know you’re a good girl, don’t worry.”

The words flow from his mouth easily, words that he said a million times, honed to the greatest effect. Jenny, predictably, seems to relax at his words. Bradley pulls back in his chair as if to create additional distance between himself and Jenny at the small table. The conversation idles on, and a new round of drinks appears on the table.

“So Rooster,” Jenny looks up at him through her lashes, scooting her chair a little bit closer to the table. “What are your plans for after the war?”

“First thing is probably just to return home,” Bradley smiles fondly at the thought.

“Where is home?”

“In Virginia Beach,” He supplies easily. God, he misses home.

“Oh, really?” Jenny’s eyes light up. “I’m from Baltimore!”

Bradley doesn’t respond verbally, more just nodding his head in understanding.

“I’ll be returning stateside after the war, too.” She continues, almost shyly. “Maybe I could come down to Virginia Beach, and you could show me around?”

“Let’s see,” Bradley replies evasively, not meeting her gaze. An icy feeling sinks in his stomach. He should just say no. Why can’t he just say no?

Because he enjoys the feeling of having a pretty nurse fawning over him, trying to sweet talk him.

Because it makes him feel less horribly lonely for a moment.

Because he’s not doing anything wrong.

He downs the rest of his drink.

“It’s been a pleasure, Jenny,” He says warmly as he gets up, pulling out his wallet and leaving a few bills on the table. Jenny shoots up out of her chair.

“I’ll write you,” She tries again, eyes large with hope.

“Sure,” Bradley replies, nodding in her direction in a hurried goodbye, guilt twisting in his gut before he legs it out of the bar. He never wants to return here again. And he should never see Jenny again. It’s a fun distraction, a band-aid for his loneliness and pain, but he wants nothing to come of it.

Right?

***

The streets around the Manila harbor are packed. Every sailor, officer, marine, and aviator who is lucky enough to have made port this night has poured out of the docked ships and barracks onto the street. There’s a cacophony of music and singing, ship horns being blown, glasses clinking — bodies are pushing past each other in dancing, drunk and deliriously happy.

It’s V.E. Day.

Clutching a half-drunk bottle of whiskey, Bradley stumbles past the dancing crowd. He lost Mav, who was at least as drunk as he is, somewhere in the throng of people. God knows where Bob, who mostly doesn’t drink, disappeared to.

Someone grabs him by the elbow, dragging him into a group — Bradley vaguely recognizes a few fellow aviators. The atmosphere is jubilant: the Nazis capitulated, Europe has been liberated. The Pacific Theater cannot be far behind. They might all be going home soon.

He might be able to go look for you soon.

Bradley accepts a bottle of clear liquid, taking a swig without registering what he was handed. In exchange, he offers up his bottle of whiskey. After months, years of hell, it feels like all the pressure is finally finding release. Harvard suddenly pops up, greeting Bradley with a jovial hug. Strange, normally, they were cordial at best, but it feels completely natural under the circumstances.

“How have you been, Harvard?” Bradley asks, offering him some of the quickly dwindling whiskey.

“Oh man,” Harvard blinks forcefully, trying to steady himself while he gathers his thoughts. “I’ve seen some shit, Rooster.”

He takes the bottle, nearly pitching backward as he tries to drink from it. Bradley grabs him by arm, pulling Harvard back upright.

“Yeah,” Bradley agrees, too drunk to say anything of meaning back. “Where’s — where’s… Yale?

“I dunno man,” Harvard shrugs. “I just want to go home, man — hey, give me another shot, Rooster.” He slurs.

“You’re still holding the bottle, you ass,” Bradley laughs. “Have another shot, c’mon.” He starts taunting Harvard, deciding in his drunken haze that it would be hilarious to watch him fall off his Ivy League pedestal and on his ass.

Distracted, Bradley is nearly bowled over himself as two slim arms lock around his neck. He stumbles backward, ears full of girlish giggles. He grabs Jenny by the waist to steady himself. Her cheeks are flushed from alcohol — his own face feels pretty hot now, too.

Carefully, he tries to put Jenny down, bending over somewhat awkwardly. She doesn’t let go, however.

“You never wrote me back, Rooster,” She pouts playfully.

Did he ever receive any mail from Jenny? Maybe it was still stuck somewhere in transit, or did he purposefully ignore it?

“Busy times at sea,” He replies jokingly instead.

“Hey, Rooster?” Harvard is calling somewhere from behind Jenny. “Imma — I’m going to keep this, ok?”

Bradley looks up, just in time to see Harvard making off with the practically empty bottle. Jenny puts a hand on his cheek, directing his gaze back to her.

“You are not too busy for me now, right, Rooster?” She asks, almost bashfully, large eyes pleading at him.

Bradley wishes that he could pretend that she looked like you, that it triggered something in him because the alcohol blurred his vision. But Jenny looks nothing like you, not even close. The way she carries herself, the way she speaks, all down to the way her skin feels, is nothing like you. Jenny is not what Bradley wants; it’s not what he is looking for. Rationally, he knows all this.

But he is just lonely, selfish, and she is here.

His lips are on hers, the fabric of her dress crumpling under his grasp. Jenny gasps into his mouth, granting him deeper access. He half expects her to stop him, and push him off. But Jenny seems to have her mind made up and is pulling him deeper, hands clutching the collar of his uniform.

Time is passing in a blur. Somewhere between kisses and giggles, Bradley drinks more. It’s like he is trying to disinfect his mind from reality — every time the voice in the back of his head becomes too strong, the wrench of guilt in his stomach too painful, a dousing of alcohol stills it.

They dance. Jenny often steps on his toe, and his back hurts from the awkward angle he’s holding her.

You fit so nicely in his arms; you always moved so in sync with him.

With the next drink, the thought drowns in the background noise.

He has Jenny pushed up against a wall between barrack buildings. She is pulling his shirt up from his pants, drunkenly fumbling with buttons. Her legs are around his waist, and her dress bunched up at her hips. Bradley’s hands are feverishly working their way up Jenny’s thighs, pushing up her slip dress, unclasping the garters holding up her stockings.

“I thought you were a good girl, Jenny?” He groans as she dips her hands up his undershirt.

“I am,” She gasps, rolling her hips into his. “You just bring out the worst in me, Rooster.”

Bradley chuckles as his fingers ghost over Jenny’s panties. She whimpers, her hips stuttering against his fingers, looking for more friction. Her hands travel down to his belt, pulling it open unceremoniously and unzipping Bradley’s slacks. Jenny’s small, warm hands start rubbing his shaft over his underwear. Bradley is so drunk, he didn’t even realize he could still get hard.

“I’ve thought about this so much,” Jenny whispers in his ear, sending shivers down his spine. “I’ve been dreaming about you, Rooster.”

“F-fuck,” Bradley swears. Jenny’s words make him so good. And so bad.

“I need you,” Jenny pleads. “Do you need me? Do you want me, Bradley?”

It’s like a bucket of ice-cold water is dumped over him. Bradley pulls back from Jenny like he’s been burned. The haze is melting off him rapidly. The sounds of the street — the music, the signing — are suddenly deafeningly loud.

He lets go of Jenny, unceremoniously plopping her back on the ground as he stumbles back.

“Bradley?” She is blinking up at him, dress crumpled, hair messy, stocking rolled down her leg. Jenny looks like she is about to cry. As fast as his drunk fingers will allow him, Bradley zips his slacks back up.

“Don’t -” He swallows a breath. “Don’t call me that.”

“Wait!” Jenny is straightening out her dress as she makes her way to follow him. “Rooster!”

“Leave me alone, Jenny,” He bites out hurriedly, rubbing his eyes. Bradley has disappeared into the crowd before Jenny can bring out another word.

It feels like his legs are filled with lead, every step is sobering, slow, and painful. Bradley doesn’t remember how he gets back to the ship. He feels like a black hole is eating him from the inside now the haze of the alcohol has lifted, the dam of his guilt has broken through. Collapsing face first onto his bunk, his head is spinning.

He meant every word he said to you.

Didn’t he?

He just voided every promise he made to you. Just like he’s done so many times before, to so many girls before you. You were different. But Bradley was, unfortunately, still the same.

***

You can hear the wind as it picks up through the crowns of the trees—leaves rustling, birds taking flight. Everything feels soft and warm; you know you are in a familiar and safe place. Stretched out on a blanket, your eyes are closed, but you can tell it’s a bright sunny day; the rays feel warm on your skin. Wiggling your toes, you expect to feel cool grass, twigs and dirt, but instead, there is…sand?

You don’t want to open your eyes yet, afraid you will lose how comfortable you feel. So you listen closer.

It’s not the wind and rustle of leaves around you. It’s the gentle wash of waves, grains of sand dancing over a wide plain, carried on a breeze. You can hear the birds now—seagulls, clearly. The salty sea air tickles your nose. Somewhere in the distance, there are voices, happily chatting and laughing.

Blinking heavily against the summer sun, you sit up, leaning on your elbows, looking around. A white and yellow striped parasol stuck in the sand casts a pleasant shadow over you. The sea is merrily reflecting the sun in many shades of blue, while the pale yellow sand around you stretches far past the horizon. Behind you, jagged cliffs loom, with tufts of green helm grass peeking from between the cracks and crevasses of the towering stone wall. You can’t see anyone but still hear chatter and laughter— like a movie being played in a different room.

You’re wearing a bathing suit, white with blue dots—precisely like the one you had been admiring in that store window for so long.

It’s strange. Familiar. And everything feels so real. You feel light, like a feather on a breeze.

You are flying.

And nothing hurts.

Turning onto your side, head leaning on your head, you take a moment to observe Bradley. He’s lying on his back, one arm behind his head, the other casually draped over his stomach, breathing steady, like he is asleep. Somewhere, you knew he was here the whole time, but your heart still leaps from joy as you take in his form.

He looks tanner, blonder even, than you remember him. Like sunshine poured into human form. His deliciously broad shoulders are relaxed, but you can clearly see the definition of the muscles on his stomach, contracting with every breath. Bradley’s dark sunglasses sit a little crooked on his face, lips slightly parted, and his soft sun-kissed curls are mussed up—it’s adorable.

You can’t help yourself. Bradley looks so at peace, but you are starving for him. So you reach out, gently grazing the palm of your hand over his jaw, fingers lightly dancing over his throat and collarbone—you delight in seeing him tense under your touch. Boldly, you caress his bare chest, leaving goosebumps in your wake despite the warm weather. Finally, your fingers dance over Bradley’s stomach, your nails playfully scratching through the trail of light hair from his belly button to the waistband of his shorts. Bradley’s abs twitch, and you lick your lips.

“Anya…” Bradley’s voice is deep, something primal seeping through.

“Yes, my love?” You reply with a giggle, resting your palm on his lower stomach.

“Don’t tease like that, sweetheart,” He murmurs lowly, doing very little to actually discourage you. You are pretty sure Bradley’s eyes are still closed—he hasn’t even moved his head. It just won’t do.

You are starved for him; the way he looks at you so sweetly, the way the corners of his eyes crinkle when he smiles, that roguish grin as he teases you. The weight of his body against yours, his strong arms wrapped around you, his fingers digging into your skin.

“Tease like what, Bradley?” You reply innocently as your fingers dance over his lower stomach. Playfully, he grabs your adventuring hand, lacing his fingers through yours and resting it on his stomach again. A moment passes as you pout, considering your next move, when Bradley suddenly sits up, leaning on his elbow. He lets go of your hand again and clumsily pushes his sunglasses up. He looks so surprised to see you, it makes you laugh.

But of course he is surprised. The last thing he remembers is falling asleep, drunk, angry and burning with shame and guilt. So long he had been fighting to remember your face and voice, just the way you are, extricated from every contamination it picked up over the years. But he couldn’t; it was like his memory of you was endlessly diluted.

And now you are here. That mischievous smile on your face, laughing at him, as beautiful as the day he left you. It has to be you; Bradley couldn’t dream you up as perfect as you are now.

You lean into him, gently cradling his face between your hands. His large brown eyes follow your every move. Up close, you can see the specks of green and gold in his irises. The scars on Bradley’s face are faded—but you can still feel the subtle raised ridges.

“I’ve missed you,” You tell him earnestly. Not bothering to wait for his reply, you press your mouth onto his. To his credit, Bradley reacts immediately, pulling you into him as he lays back down, opening his mouth and granting you full control. You are half draped over him now, scandalously so.

But it doesn’t matter.

It doesn’t take you that long to put two and two together. You are dead, right? This is either your punishment or your reward—one more moment with your lover. Maybe Bradley is dead too, and now you can take back the time that was stolen from you. One final moment where you get to live out the promise he made you — together, as you should have been.

It’s not something you’re choosing to dwell on. When it comes to Bradley, you’ve made the same decision over and over, and you’re not planning on changing that now. You will gladly suffer for eternity if it means you get to live your time with him to the fullest.

Without consequence.

“I’ve missed you so much,” you breathe between kisses, running your hands through his hair, tugging him closer to you. “I needed you, Bradley.”

“Anya,” Bradley groans, his grip tightening on your waist. “Jesus Chri-”

“I love you.” You almost cut him off in your urge to make sure he knows—he needs to know. This might be your only chance to tell him, and it’s burning a hole in your heart. “I should have told you the day you left, but I didn’t understand yet. Not a day has gone by that I didn’t think about you.”

Bradley feels the guilt cropping up in the pit of his stomach again, but he quickly pushes it away. He hoped for so long that you would say those words to him—that he could really tell you how he felt without scaring you away.

“I love you too,” He tells you, tucking your head under his chin, kissing your temple. Your lips immediately latch onto his neck. Bradley hisses in pleasure, caressing your spine, trying to keep his thoughts in order. “I knew—Anya, I knew since… too long.” He admits between heavy breaths. “I should have taken you with me; I hate myself for leaving you behind.”

“But now I’m here,” Your voice is soft, lips caressing the shell of his ear.

“You’re here,” He echoes with a smile. “Thank god you’re here.”

Bradley never wants to wake up. Rationally, he knows he is asleep in his bunk in Manila, but it all feels so far away now. He could stay here with you, on this beach, and never want for anything else. Everything feels so real, like it’s pulled from all his deepest, most precious wish—your lips on his, the small sighs, even the way your skin feels. How could this only be a dream?

You always kept some parts of yourself so skillfully hidden—most things you did were carefully calculated. There were snapshots of moments where Bradley was sure he found the real you: the stubborn, mischievous, infuriating, adorable, eager-to-please you. He saw it in your smile, the sparkle in your eye, he felt it in your kiss. His little spitfire.

But now—now you are unencumbered, freer than ever before. Nothing is waiting for you outside this bubble: there is no war, no ticking clock. There’s just him. And you.

Not a single of his fragmented memories would ever do you justice. Bradley can’t stop himself from touching you to assure himself that he hasn’t truly forgotten, to feel the familiarity of your skin and curves, the smell of your soap — even the way your hair tickles his face as you kiss him.

He doesn’t want to question why he is seeing you now, why you have appeared in front of him so completely, so closely and ever so lovely when he was hitting rock bottom. A heart so worn down, so broken, it will make him suffer the most perfect vision of you.

“Don’t frown like that, Bradley,” Your teasing tone breaks him out of his reverie, the tip of your index finger pressing between his eyebrows. The sun casts a halo around your form. “It makes you look old.”

“I’m not old,” He defends himself, chuckling.

“Didn’t say you were, my love,” You retort, pressing your lips against his forehead. Bradley laughs, squeezing your thigh playfully, serenity finally setting in. If this is a hell of his own making, he will take it over the hell on earth he has seen. Because in this hell, at least he is still together with you, even for a moment. And then he will wake up alone.

Bradley easily flips you over onto your back, leaning on his forearm as your body molds against his. Your surprised giggle turns into a soft moan.

If you could have everything you wished for, just for a moment, knowing you would lose it all — would you still do it?

The question is playing over and over in Bradley’s mind as he pulls your leg over his hip, nipping at your collarbone. You squeal in delight as you feel his familiar weight against you, pressing down in all the right places.

Would you?

Gently, your hands envelop Bradley’s face, bringing him up to face you. You can see it play out in his expression, in flashes and shadows. You can hear the question that pains him so much.

“Yes,” You say simply, smiling. Bradley blinks, confused. “I would do it all again, Bradley,” You continue, sincerely. A shiver runs up his spine as you say his name.

“Even if…” He starts carefully.

“Even then,” You reiterate determinedly, not needing him to finish the sentence. The look on your face is serene — you’ve come to accept this dream. Your fate. You might never get another chance to say these things to him. And at the end of the line, the conclusion is clear as day: “I don’t regret anything.”

Bradley sighs, pulling you impossibly closer, his lips crashing against yours. He doesn’t need to say anything else — it’s all in his kiss, his touch. He knows you understand.

Bradley could never regret you.

Time passes in an impossible loop. Hours pass in seconds, and minutes stretch for an eternity. Your lips find Bradley’s a million times; his hands map every inch of your skin over and over. Your body still fits so perfectly against his; nothing, no one, could ever compare to how your arms drape against his neck, how you arch into him, and how every thrill in your voice is like music to his ears.

“The sun is going down,” Bradley remarks. The once blue sky is now dappled in warm colors, the sun slowly disappearing behind the horizon. You are leaning with your back against his chest, snugly tucked between his strong thighs. Bradley is playing with the shoulder strap of your bathing suit. You know the dream is ending, but you are not worried.

You will just fall asleep in Bradley’s arms. And if you never wake up again, that is okay. You will spend your final moments in the peace you have longed for. You will spend your final moments with Bradley in his embrace, giving you more than you could ever wish for.

Bradley’s arms tighten around you. You sigh contentedly, closing your eyes and leaning your head back. He watches the sea gradually darken, taking on an almost ominous dark hue. The ruby red reflects on the waves in what should look romantic, but he can only see one thing.

Blood.

So much blood it’s turning the whole sea red. He can smell the sickening metallic odor mixing with the salt air now. It feels oppressive, corrosive.

Bradley buries his nose in your hair, closing his eyes. This is just a dream, and he gets to dream about what he wants. He smells your soap, just for a moment — burned hair, jet fuel and smoke suddenly fill the air. When he opens his eyes, Bradley almost screams out.

You are limp in his arms, blood pouring from the side of your head, smoke billowing strangely from your form. You are so impossibly hot in his hands suddenly; it’s like you are on fire. Your mouth is agape and eyes are closed, like you are asleep.

You look dead.

The realization hit Bradley so hard, the dream shatters around him. He wakes up with a bang, pitching from his bunk onto the unforgiving metal floor of his cabin.

Everything hurts: from the searing headache to the alarming pain in his shoulder — Bradley’s adrenaline is through the roof.

He needs to get out of here.

He needs to find you.

He needs to…

Scrambling up, Bradley only just makes it to the small trashcan in the room, desperately heaving, before emptying the contents of his stomach.

***

“Rooster, someone is here to see you.” Bob is looking at Bradley inquisitively. Bradley barely responds as he’s pushing around the powdered scrambled eggs on his plate listlessly. He’s not even sure why he came to breakfast in the chow hall in the first place — he spent the last few hours oscillating between throwing up and staring into the darkness of his room, trying to understand what he just saw. Trying to convince himself it was just a drunken dream, fuelled by guilt. Nothing more than that.

But then why did it feel so real? Why is he so sure something has happened to you?

Tiredly, he looks up at Bob, who looks annoyingly refreshed.

“Thanks Bob,” He manages, voice rough from all the acid. “Where?”

“Outside, off the ramp.”

Bradley groans in annoyance as he gets up.

“Uhm- Rooster,” Voice quiet, Bob stops Bradley. “It’s a girl, a nurse.”

Bradley appreciates that Bob is courteous enough to be discreet about this. Had it been anyone else, it would probably be announced loudly to draw a crowd. Plenty of sailors and aviators are subject to lover spats in every port they call — it’s almost a rite of passage. Bradley has had plenty of situations, but he never really cared. It wasn’t of any real consequence.

Putting his dark aviator sunglasses on, and fitting his cover on his head, he trudges down to the side ramp of the carrier. The sun is painfully bright.

At the bottom of the ramp, Jenny waits for him in her nurse’s uniform. Her face is drawn. Several sailors are leaning on the railing, smoking, waiting for the show to start. Instead, Bradley grabs Jenny by the elbow and gently but urgently leads her away from prying eyes.

They turn a corner between warehouses on the dock, and Bradley lets go off her. Putting his hands in his pockets, he waits for Jenny to start speaking. She is nervously wringing her hands, like she’s trying to summon the courage to speak.

A minute goes by.

“So, why did you come to see me?” Bradley’s voice is flat, hiding the true level of his annoyance. He is not even really mad at Jenny — he doesn’t think he could ever be so angry at anyone as he is at himself. She flinches at his tone.

“What happened last night?” She ventures carefully. “Did I do something wrong?”

Bradley hesitates. Will he come full circle on this and tell her “It’s not you but me”?

“I think it’s best we don’t see each other anymore, Jenny,” He replies, fully aware he’s not answering her question, and offering no reassurance.

“Yeah, I figured,” She replies softly. “I came to say goodbye, I guess.”

Bradley doesn’t respond. It would be the least he could do. He would owe Jenny that much, but if he’s burning all his bridges, he might as well be thorough about it. He’s acutely aware that he is an awful person, so at least Jenny would have no doubt about that anymore.

So he waits for her to turn away, but instead, she frowns, looking up at him. “I just wished you hadn’t lied to me about your wife. I really thought you were different.”

Bradley looks back impassively, thankful for how his sunglasses and cover shield his expression.

“And now you know I’m not,” Bradley shrugs, not even bothering to correct her on the

“Really?” Jenny is indignant. “I told you I wasn’t like that, Bradley -”

“Keep my name out of your mouth,” Bradley cuts her off coldly. Jenny blanches. He doesn’t want to hear her say it when he’ll never hear you say it again. He wants to preserve every bit of the dream, every bit of you. “And you’re exactly like that, if I hadn’t stopped, you would have let me fuck you in that alleyway,” He continues, voice steely. “You’re exactly like all the girls that hang around port.”

He shouldn’t be taking out his grief on her, but for a moment, it makes Bradley feel better. Just like kissing her made him feel better for a brief time. It won’t change that he is stuck in the Pacific, dodging suicidal enemies, that he hasn’t been home in years, that he left you behind and that you are now dead. It won’t bring you back.

“You would have fucked me in that alleyway, so that makes you just as bad as me.” Jenny bristles. “At least I didn’t lie.”

“Like that’s what matters,” Bradley grumbles under his breath.

“Anyway,” Jenny clears her throat, blinking heavily. “You dropped this yesterday.”

She extends her hand, holding a small square of white. Bradley snatches it out of her hand. Fuck. His heart is suddenly beating loudly.

Your handkerchief, pristine white as the day you handed it to him, neatly folded. Gone every trace of his blood, gone every trace there was of you.

Bradley thinks he’s going to be sick again.

“It fell on the ground, so I washed it for you.” Jenny’s voice sounds distant in his head. “But yeah, I figured it belonged to your wife or sweetheart… and it’s not her fault, so, there.” She trails off.

“You need to stay out of my life,” Bradley hisses out.

Bradley’s hand is shaking — whether from anger or overwhelming grief, he cannot begin to understand what he is feeling. He needs to leave. Slipping your handkerchief, which feels foreign and contaminated in his hand, into his chest pocket, Bradley starts to turn away.

“You know, I figured she’d want to know.”

Bradley’s head snaps back at Jenny so quickly it makes his vision blurry for a moment. Jenny looks livid.

“What?” He bites back, acerbically.

“This won’t be the last deployment you go on,” Jenny has tears in her eyes as she forces out the words. “Really, how hard will it be to find a Mrs. A. Bradshaw in Virginia Beach? Can’t imagine there are many.” She swallows heavily before continuing with a stronger voice. “Don’t you think she’ll be curious to hear what you get up to while she waits for you?”

Jenny pauses a moment to gauge Bradley’s reaction. His mouth is pressed into a thin line, his fist balled by his side. Good.

“Maybe I’ll drop by, and fill her in over some coffee.” She concludes cattily.

A few moments of silence pass. Jenny is getting nervous. She expected Rooster to start shouting and explode in anger. But he’s just standing there, expression unreadable, until the corner of his mouth quirks up.

Bradley starts laughing — his laughter sounds empty in cruel to his own ears. He doesn’t even think it’s funny. He feels no joy. It’s absurd. Jenny looks terrified. This is worse than any shouting could be.

“Good luck with that one,” He laughs. “Do let me know if you find her.”

He turns fully back to her. Involuntarily, Jenny takes a step back.

“Stay the fuck away from me.”

note | damn bro

#bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw #bradley bradshaw fanfiction #bradley bradshaw x female reader #rooster bradshaw #top gun maverick #rooster fanfic #rooster top gun #rooster x oc #bradley rooster bradshaw x reader #rooster x you #rooster x female reader #top gun fanfiction #bradley bradshaw imagine #rooster bradshaw x female reader #rooster bradshaw fic #bradley bradshaw x oc #rooster bradshaw x oc

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lets-ignore-that · 6 days

Text

MY FNAF VERSION/AU MASTERPOST!

Little disclaimer my version of FNAF is VERY VERY CLOSE TO CANON.

Everything from lifespans of the businesses to characters to the main plot is under the cut.

Fredbear's Family Diner 1964-1983

Sister Location (Circus Baby’s Funland) 1984

Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza 1984-1993

Fazbear’s Frights 2023-2023

Faux Fazbears 2024

Pizzaplex 2030

The order of the games is such: 5 - 4 - 2 -1 - 3 - 6 - UCN - SB

Characters

William Afton (October 14 1938 - ???)

Henry Emily (June 10th 1939 - September 15 2024)

Michael Afton (February 13 1969 - April 16 2031)

Elizabeth Afton (May 4 1976 - May 6 1984)

Evan Afton (July 6 1977 - July 8 1983)

Charlie Emily ( December 6 1971 - 1983)

Elanor Afton-Schmidt (February 15 1943 - March 6 1978)

Ruth Emily-Davis (November 26 1941- October 1 2026)

Jenny Smith (March 25 1970 - )

Evan Jr. Smith ( October 13 1987 - April 5 2030 )

Vanessa Williams ( September 29 1999 - )

William was born to James and Helen Afton in Essex, England. James died in WW2 in 1944 when William was 6. Helen remarried in 1946 to a man by the name of George. George resented and was highly abusive to William, their relationship was strained at best. Once William turned 18 he moved to America to pursue a college education. He never regained contact with his mother and step-father. William went to college for a degree in engineering in 1956. There he met Henry and they quickly became friends. One year later he met Elanor and they married in 1959. They had three children together.

Henry was born to Edward and Dorothy Emily in Hurricane Utah. He had a normal childhood growing up and went to college in 1957 where he met William. He ended up marrying his highschool sweetheart Ruth in 1961. They had their only child Charlie in 1971. They then divorced in 1981.

Michael is the oldest son of William and Elanor, he was born and raised in Hurricane, Utah. After his mother dying when he was 9 his father started to abuse him, it subsequently got worse as his brother and sister passed. He met his girlfriend Jenny when he was 18 and they quickly had a child, Evan Jr. He worked as a security guard for multiple Fazbear Ent. Inc. locations.

Elizabeth and Evan are the two younger children of William and Elanor. They were born only a year apart and were favorited by William, their mother died when they were too young to remember her and became highly attached to William. Both died very young. Elizabeth possessed Circus baby and Evan possessed Golden Freddy.

Charlie Emily was the only child of Henry and Ruth. She grew up very close to her “cousins” Michael, Elizabeth, and Evan. She had a good relationship with her “uncle” William. She was murdered by William at 12 years old and possessed the puppet.

Elanor Schmidt was the wife of William and mother of Michael Elizabeth and Evan. She was a proficient ballet dancer and ended up being a stay at home mother to her three children, she had a loving relationship with her husband but it ended up tense at the end of it, she was murdered by her husband in 1978.

Ruth Davis was the wife of Henry and mother of Charlie. She met Henry in highschool and they had a decent relationship until they drifted apart and ended up divorcing. She gave up parental rights to Henry.

Jenny Smith is the girlfriend of Michael Afton and the mother of Evan Jr. She met Michael when she was a teenager and supported him through his teenage years, which lead them to fall in love with each other. She got back together with Michael after his accident and they raised Evan together.

Evan Jr. Smith is the son of Michael and Jenny. He had a normal childhood and early adulthood. He ended up being possessed by his grandfather William and lost his sense of self in 2030 and essentially died.

Vannessa Williams is a security guard at the Pizzaplex. She resurrected William and helped him possess his grandson. They are in a strenuous relationship.

Main timeline of events

Henry and William start Fredbear’s Family Diner in 1964

William suffers a springlock accident, permanently scarring him.

Michael Afton is born in 1969

Charlie Emily is born in 1971

Fredbear’s Family Diner opens more locations.

Elizabeth Afton is born in 1976

Evan Afton is born in 1977

In 1978, Elanor Afton is killed by her husband William with a sledgehammer. He takes her body and disposes of it in the Utah desert. Due to marital conflicts being known, he is interrogated but the case is quickly dropped.

Evan Afton’s 6th birthday takes place in Fredbear’s in 1983. His older brother and his friends put his head into the Fredbear animatronic and Evan’s head is quickly crushed. He is rushed to the hospital and put into a medically induced coma. The events of FNAF 4 take place in his head over a week when he is pronounced brain dead and dies. He possesses the Fredbear animatronic.

Over the next year, William’s mental health rapidly deteriorates and he becomes obsessed with the idea of possession. He theorizes that his son is in the fredbear animatronic and starts to design animatronics to test his theory by giving them the capability to capture and kill children inconspicuously.

A sister location known as Circus Baby’s Funland is opened with William’s new animatronics. Elizabeth becomes infatuated with one of the robots, Baby, based off of her. William commands her to stay away but she defies his orders and is killed by Baby.

William’s sanity decreases once again.

Henry, noticing the problems in his business partner's life and mental state, and proximity to horrific accidents, forces him to leave the company for his own good. He also secretly fears for his own daughter's safety. Henry designs an animatronic puppet to act as a watchguard for her.

One night Charlie is locked outside of Fredbear’s Family Diner and William murders her in the alley next to the building. The puppet follows Charlie outside and she possesses her. William is dropped as a potential assailant due to lack of evidence.

After this death, the restaurant chain is renamed to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza in 1984

New animatronics are designed (toys) and new locations are opened up subsequently.

Michael and Jenny have Evan Jr.

William disguises himself as a security guard, uses his springbonnie suit, and murders five children in 1987.

Due to the murders, the restaurant is about to be shut down, but one more party takes place, during this time, a security guard by the name of Jeremy Fitzgerald gets bitten in the head by Mangle, this is the bite of ‘87

The location is shut down and William is apprehended due to previous speculation, he is let go due to the police being unable to find the bodies.

In 1993 a new location is opened up with refurbished animatronics, Michael is hired as a nightguard but ends up being fired.

One night, William enters the building in an attempt to dismantle the animatronics. He is confronted by the ghosts of the murder victims. In an attempt to scare them off, William dons the springbonnie suit, but the suit malfunctions.

William dies in 1993 in the backroom of a Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. He possesses springbonnie.

Learning of William’s disappearance, Henry closes off every backroom in every location under the guise of “budget cuts’

In 1995, Michael travels to the underground bunker holding Baby and the other Circus Baby’s Funland animatronics to rectify his mistakes and find out more about his father. Baby and the rest manipulate Michael into helping them escape, and they end up leading him into the scooping room, scooping out his organs and killing him. Baby and the others congeal into one animatronic and enter Michael’s body. They use his body as an attempt to conform to civilian life but it starts to rot and it expels them.. Michael’s soul possesses his own body, essentially becoming undead.

After being expelled, infighting causes Baby to be removed from Ennard due to her being Afton's daughter and refusing to kill Michael. She rebuilds herself and Ennard becomes Molten Freddy.

Michael, being undead, finds Jenny, who accepts him, and they begin to raise Evan together.

30 years pass.

The children’s murders essentially become urban legend at this point.

In another attempt to dispel the urban legend, Fazbear Ent. Inc. opens a horror attraction known as Fazbear Frights in California. Michael starts to work there to continue his hunt for his father.

Springtrap is transported to the location as a prop, as workers found his body.

Michael and Springtrap fight and Michael sets the building on fire. Springtrap survives as well as Michael, and Michael captures him and drives him to Utah so Henry can deal with him.

Springtrap escapes Michael’s capture.

In a desperate attempt to end everything once and for all, Henry opens up a fake pizzeria in 2024 to lure all the still roaming souls.

In a miracle, it works, and Springtrap, Baby, Molten Freddy, Golden Freddy, and the Puppet (in Lefty) all arrive.

Michael works at the building to help Henry during this.

Henry locks down the building and sets it ablaze, killing everyone and himself in the building. Michael survives.

William is sent to Hell, to be tormented by Cassidy for eternity, she traps all of the other souls alongside her to torment William as well. Henry eventually convinces her to release the souls and pass on herself to leave William to burn in hell.

Six years pass.

Fazbear Ent. Inc. opens up the Pizzaplex, with all new animatronics and redesigns.

Vanessa works at the Pizzaplex as a security guard.

Evan Jr. Works at the Pizzaplex as an animatronic engineer.

Due to her obsession with the murders and William, she attempts to bring him back to life, and it works.

He ends up possessing her, and appears in her head as Glitchtrap.

Vanessa finds Williams old body (springtrap) under the pizzaplex and slowly starts to rebuild it so william can possess it.

William possesses his body again.

After the battle with Gregory and Glamrock Freddy, his body gets destroyed and he possesses his grandson, Evan Jr. Him and Vanessa escape.

William and Vanessa work together over a year to start murdering children again, as William wants remnant due to it extending life and he does not want to return to Hell.

Michael goes to the pizzaplex and attempts to stop Vanessa and William.

He ends up getting murdered by William.

Michael possesses Glamrock Freddy.

The future of this is up to debate :)

#fnaf #five nights at freddy's #masterpost #fnaf au #lets ignore rambles

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queerasfact · 1 year

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Queer Calendar 2023

We put together a calendar of key (mostly queer) dates at the start of the year to help us with scheduling - so I thought I’d share it around! Including pride and visibility days, some queer birthdays and anniversaries, and a few other bits and bobs. Click the links for more info - I dream one day of having a queer story for every day of the year!

This is obviously not an exhaustive list - if I’ve overlooked something important to you, feel free to add it in the reblogs!

January

3 - Bisexual American jazz-age heiress Henrietta Bingham born 1901

8 - Queer Australian bushranger Captain Moonlite born 1845; gay American art collector Ned Warren born 1860

11 - Pennsylvania celebrates Rosetta Tharpe Day in honour of bisexual musician Rosetta Tharpe

12 - Japanese lesbian author Nobuko Yoshiya born 1896

22 - Lunar New Year (Year of the Rabbit)

24 - Roman emperor Hadrian, famous for his relationship with Antinous, born 76CE; gay Prussian King Frederick the Great born 1712

27 - International Holocaust Remembrance Day

February

LGBT+ History Month (UK, Hungary)

Black History Month (USA and Canada)

1 - Feast of St Brigid, a saint especially important to Irish queer women

5 - Operation Soap, a police raid on gay bathhouses in Toronto, Canada, spurs massive protests, 1981

7 - National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (USA)

18 - US Black lesbian writer and activist Audre Lorde born 1934

12 - National Freedom to Marry Day (USA)

19-25 - Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week

March

Women’s History Month

1 - Black Women in Jazz and the Arts Day

8 - International Women’s Day

9 - Bi British writer David Garnett born 1892

12 - Bi Polish-Russian ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky born 1889 or 1890

13 March-15 April - Deaf History Month

14 - American lesbian bookseller and publisher Sylvia Beach born 1887

16 - French lesbian artist Rosa Bonheur born 1822

20 - Bi US musician Rosetta Tharpe born 1915

21 - World Poetry Day

24 - The Wachowski sisters’ cyberpunk trans allegory The Matrix premiers 1999

April

Jazz Appreciation Month

Black Women’s History Month

National Poetry Month (USA)

3 - British lesbian diarist Anne Lister born 1791

8 - Trans British racing driver and fighter pilot Roberta Cowell born 1918

9 - Bi Australia poet Lesbia Harford born 1891; Easter Sunday

10 - National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day (USA)

14 - Day of Silence

15 - Queer Norwegian photographer and suffragist Marie Høeg born 1866

17 - Costa-Rican-Mexican lesbian singer Chavela Vargas born 1919

21-22 - Eid al-Fitr

25 - Gay English King Edward II born 1284

26 - Lesbian Day of Visibility; bi American blues singer Ma Rainey born 1886

29 - International Dance Day

30 - International Jazz Day

May

1 - Trans British doctor and Buddhist monk Michael Dillon born 1915

7 - International Family Equality Day

7 - Gay Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky born 1840

15 - Australian drag road-trip comedy The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert premiers in 1994

17 - IDAHOBIT (International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia)

18 - International Museum Day

19 - Agender Pride Day

22 - US lesbian tailor and poet Charity Bryant born 1777

22 - Harvey Milk Day marks the birth of gay US politician Harvey Milk 1930

23 - Premier of Pride, telling the story of the 1980s British activist group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners

24 - Pansexual and Panromantic Awareness and Visibility Day; Queer Chinese-Japanese spy Kawashima Yoshiko born 1907

26 - queer American astronaut Sally Ride born 1951

29 - Taiwanese lesbian writer Qiu Miaojin born 1969

June

Pride Month

Indigenous History Month (Canada)

3 - Bisexual American-French performer, activist and WWII spy Josephine Baker born 1906

5 - Queer Spanish playwright and poet Federico García Lorca born 1898; bi English economic John Maynard Keynes born 1883

8 - Mechanic and founder of Australia’s first all-female garage, Alice Anderson, born 1897

10 - Bisexual Israeli poet Yona Wallach born 1944

12 - Pulse Night of Remembrance, commemorating the 2012 shooting at the Pulse nightclub, Orlando

14 - Australian activists found the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands in 2004

18 - Sally Ride becomes the first know queer woman in space

24 - The first Sydney Mardi Gras 1978

25 - The rainbow flag first flown as a queer symbol in 1978

28 - Stonewall Riots, 1969

28 June-2 July - Eid al-Adha

30 - Gay German-Israeli activist, WWII resistance member and Holocaust survivor Gad Beck born 1923

July

1 - Gay Dutch WWII resistance fighter Willem Arondeus killed - his last words were “Tell the people homosexuals are no cowards”

2-9 - NAIDOC Week (Australia) celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture

6 - Bi Mexican artist Frida Kahlo born 1907

12 or 13 - Roman emperor Julius Caesar born c.100BCE

14 - International Non-Binary People’s Day

23 - Shelly Bauman, owner of Seattle gay club Shelly’s Leg, born 1947; American lesbian cetenarian Ruth Ellis born 1899; gay American professor, tattooist and sex researcher Sam Steward born 1909

25 - Italian-Australian trans man Harry Crawford born 1875

August

8 - International Cat Day

9 - Queer Finnish artist, author and creator of Moomins Tove Jansson born 1914

9 - International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

11 - Russian lesbian poet Sofya Parnok born 1885

12 - Queer American blues musician Gladys Bentley born 1907

13 - International Left-Handers Day

22 - Gay WWII Dutch resistance fight Willem Arondeus born 1894

24 - Trans American drag queen and activist Marsha P Johnson born 1945

26 - National Dog Day

30 - Bi British author Mary Shelley 1797

31 - Wear it Purple Day (Australia - queer youth awareness)

September

5 - Frontman of Queen Freddie Mercury born 1946

6 - Trans Scottish doctor and farmer Ewan Forbes born 1912

13 - 1990 documentary on New York’s ball culture Paris is Burning premiers

15-17 - Rosh Hashanah

16-23 - Bisexual Awareness Week

17 - Gay Prussian-American Inspector General of the US Army Baron von Steuben born 1730

23 - Celebrate Bisexuality Day

24 - Gay Australian artist William Dobell born 1889

30 - International Podcast Day

October

Black History Month (Europe)

4 - World Animal Day

5 - National Poetry Day (UK)

5 - Queer French diplomat and spy the Chevalière d’Éon born 1728

8 - International Lesbian Day

9 - Indigenous Peoples’ Day (USA)

11 - National Coming Out Day

16 - Irish writer Oscar Wilde born 1854

18 - International Pronouns Day

22-28 - Asexual Awareness Week

26 - Intersex Awareness Day

31 - American lesbian tailor Sylvia Drake born 1784

November

8 - Intersex Day of Remembrance

12 - Diwali; Queer Mexican nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz born c.1648

13-19 - Transgender Awareness Week

20 - Trans American writer, lawyer, activist and priest Pauli Murray born 1910; Transgender Day of Remembrance

27 - Antinous, lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian, born c.111; German lesbian drama Mädchen in Uniform premiers, 1931

29 - Queer American writer Louisa May Alcott born 1832

December

AIDS Awareness Month

1 - World AIDS Day

2 - International Day for the Abolition of Slavery

3 - International Day of Persons with Disabilities

8 - Pansexual Pride Day; queer Swedish monarch Christina of Sweden born 1626

10 - Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners host Pits and Perverts concern to raise mining for striking Welsh miners, 1984

14 - World Monkey Day

15 - Roman emperor Nero born 37CE

24 - American drag king and bouncer Stormé DeLarverie born 1920

25 - Christmas

29 - Trans American jazz musician Billy Tipton born 1914

#calendar #queer calendar #queer observances #pride days #queer history #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbt history #gay history #trans history #queer #gay #trans #lesbian #lesbian history

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judgemark45 · 4 months

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MURDERERS' ROW

Third Fleet aircraft carriers at anchor in Ulithi Atoll, 8 December 1944, during a break from operations in the Philippines area. The carriers are (from front to back): USS Wasp (CV-18), USS Yorktown (CV-10), USS Hornet (CV-12), USS Hancock (CV-19) and USS Ticonderoga (CV-14). Wasp, Yorktown and Ticonderoga are all painted in camouflage Measure 33, Design 10a.

Photographed from a USS Ticonderoga plane. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Catalog #: 80-G-294131

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cartermagazine · 5 months

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Today In History

‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier was the world heavyweight boxing champion from February 1970 until January 1973. He was born on January 12, 1944, in Beaufort, South Carolina.

Ali vs Frazier first fight dubbed the “Fight of the Century,” took place at New York’s Madison Square Garden on March 8, 1971. Despite being lighter and shorter than Ali, Frazier, in front of a packed house, wore Ali down. Frazier took the fight with a unanimous decision, delivering Ali his first professional defeat.

Their final battle came in 1975 in the Philippines. Dubbed the “Thrilla in Manila,” it’s considered the sport’s greatest fight by some boxing historians. The match lasted 14 bruising rounds before Frazier, battling eyesight issues, was prevented from coming out for the final round by his trainer, Eddie Futch.

It was the “closest thing to dyin’ I know of,” Ali later said of the fight.

CARTER™️ Magazine

#carter magazine #historyandhiphop365 #wherehistoryandhiphopmeet #carter #history #cartermagazine #today in history #staywoke #blackhistory #blackhistorymonth #joe frazier

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darkveracity · 2 years

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Complete Umineko Timeline

I recently finished my first readthrough of seminal 2007 murder mystery doujin visual novel Umineko: When they Cry. While I was reading I kept detailed notes on both my solutions to the murder mystery puzzles and the backstory timeline that led up to the game. I'm sure plenty of other people have gone over the solutions before but the timeline itself is likely to be interesting so I've cleaned it up for publication. This includes the following

Calculations for how we can derive dates that are never given explicitly but have enough evidence to constrain them to a narrow range (this applies to the years most of the adults were born)

Backstory events stretching out behind the catbox into the past

Post-1986 events stretching out in front of the catbox into the future (It should be noted that some of these differ slightly between the manga and the visual novel. I've chosen to follow the manga where applicable as it was written later and generally seems to contain Ryukishi's 'intended' solution)

For the contents of the catbox itself you'll want to take a look at the solutions (or maybe if there's a demand for it I'll write mine up too)

Discussion

Krauss, Eva, and Natsuhi

Umineko never directly states how old Krauss, Eva, and Natsuhi are. However we have the following pieces of evidence we can use to pinpoint things

Eva mentions that Natsuhi is three years younger than her during one of the parlor scenes in Legend

Eva’s narration refers to Krauss as her older brother of two years during her flashback at the beginning of Banquet

Natsuhi was childless for 12 years before having Jessica 18 years ago, placing her marriage 30 years ago in 1956

The Ushiromiyas moved to Rokkenjima in 1952. Eva’s flashback at the beginning of Banquet takes place while she’s living on Rokkenjima and at the tail end of high school demanding to go to college (ages 15-17)

Eva’s birthday is October 21

This places limits on their possible ages in both directions. The school year in Japan begins in April and students begin elementary school at age 6. Therefore, to have been attending high school in 1952, Eva must have been born somewhere in the range 1936-1938. Since Natsuhi is three years younger than her and got married in 1956 this means she was married somewhere between age 15 and age 17. There’s nothing I would put past Kinzo but the older end of that range seems most likely so for this timeline I chose to make Krauss born in 1934, Eva born in 1936, and Natsuhi born in 1939

Rudolf, Asumu, and Kyrie

Like his siblings we’re never given Rudolf’s exact age but we can get a good estimate from the available evidence

The Ushiromiyas moved to Rokkenjima in 1952. When the siblings discuss the stories of wolves on the island in Banquet, we’re told that Rudolf was in elementary school (ages 6-11) at the time

Kinzo’s flashback in the manga version of Requiem establishes visually that Krauss, Eva, and Rudolf were all born before he enlisted in 1944

Rudolf’s birthday is September 29

Just like for Eva, this constrains the possible years Rudolf could have been born to between 1941 and 1943. Of these 1941 is the most likely because the age difference between him and Eva doesn’t seem particularly large

All we can say about Asumu and Kyrie’s ages is that they went to college with Rudolf and are therefore close in age to him. As a side note Asumu’s family name Akinaka is never given anywhere in Umineko but Ryukishi specified it on twitter in 2013 so I’ve chosen to use it here

Rosa

In a recurring pattern Rosa’s age is never stated exactly but it’s easy to infer

Rosa met the girl who was imprisoned in Kuwadorian in 1967 and was in middle school (ages 12-14) at the time

Rosa had Maria in 1977

Rosa’s birthday is June 3

The possible years she could have been born are then 1953-1955 which means she had Maria somewhere between age 22 and age 24. I’m again most inclined to pick the early date since it makes her have Maria at a slightly more reasonable age.

Unfortunately, this age doesn’t completely make sense with the stories we’re told about her childhood. Her siblings would all have been essentially full adults by the time she was old enough to spend much time interacting with them so the stories we hear about them tormenting her are reframed as adults hurting a six year old. Not exactly impossible in Umineko but it casts everything in a very different light

The Kuwadorian Girl

Requiem refers to Kinzo raping the Kuwadorian girl when she was the same age Bice was when he first met her. For the sake of intergenerational parallels across the three Beatrices, this age is almost certainly 19, placing both her birth and Bice’s death in 1948, but all we know for certain is that she was older than Rosa but not a full adult when she met her. Since Bice died before the mansion's completion in 1952 and the Kuwadorian girl died in 1967 the lower bound on her age is 15.

Alternatively, we can consider the circumstances of Rosa's birth and work backwards. Krauss, Eva, and Rudolf were all conceived before Kinzo left for the war and when he returned he neglected his wife to spend time with his mistress instead. Rosa, who was born significantly later, appears to have been conceived after Bice was already dead. From this we can infer a possible sequence of events - perhaps Kinzo in his grief at losing the woman he loved tried sleeping with his legal wife one last time to see if maybe he could find solace in her arms and that produced Rosa. Following this methodology the Kuwadorian girl's most likely age is exactly nine months older than Rosa or roughly 15 at the time of her death. I've chosen to follow the parallels and make her 19 on the timeline but you can make a good argument for either.

Erika

Erika is described as a few years younger than Jessica. Her backstory sounds like it takes place in college but we should probably chalk this up to the anime tendency to pretend high schoolers are independent adults and treat it as taking place in high school. With nothing else to go on, the best we can do is fall back on Higurashi parallels - Erika is a double for Bernkastel who most closely resembles a 16 year old Rika

George

At the beginning of Legend Battler says that George is "five years older than me so he's probably turning 23 this year". George's birthday is March 19 which is before October so at first glance this might seem like a logic error but the answer is just that Battler doesn't remember his cousins' birthdays and George is already 23

Jessica

There's no question whatsoever about the date of Jessica's birth. She was born on August 25, 1968 to an extremely happy Natsuhi. What's a little more in doubt is the circumstances. If we count backwards nine months to get the timeframe for her conception, we find that Jessica was conceived in late November 1967. Lion's 'birthday' ie the day that they were given to Natsuhi is November 29, 1967 which lines up almost exactly with Jessica's conception. Following the same logic that connects Rosa's conception to Bice's death a certain possibility arises here too - perhaps Kinzo handled the death of the Kuwadorian girl by once again sleeping with the nearest available woman to see if perhaps she could be a replacement and this resulted in Jessica. It would certainly explain why Natsuhi was unable to get pregnant for twelve years and then suddenly conceived if it were in fact Krauss who was infertile the whole time.

That being said we have it in red that Natsuhi is pure and faithful so perhaps this whole line of logic is faulty from the start. Umineko certainly never implies anything of the sort on purpose

Lion & Sayo

The date of Lion and Sayo's birth is unclear. Lion was given to Natsuhi on November 29, 1967 and Sayo was given the birthday of May 25 at the orphanage but it's not clear that either of these is their true birthday. The most we can say is that they were born at some point in 1967

Ange

This one’s an actual logic error. We are given the following three pieces of evidence which cannot simultaneously be true

Ange’s birthday is June 17 and she’s six years old therefore she was born in 1980

Battler made a promise to Sayo six years ago at the 1980 family conference in early October

Asumu died, Rudolf married a pregnant Kyrie, and Battler left the Ushiromiya family after that promise

As June comes before October this situation is impossible. We could try to resolve it by saying that Ange was born six months before Asumu died but the narrative is clear that Kyrie was pregnant when she got married, not already raising an illegitimate child. Similarly we could claim that Battler actually made his promise at a non-family conference visit to Rokkenjima in early 1980 but Requiem clearly shows us the first, second, and third family conferences after Battler leaves and has Kanon be created at the third one three years ago so this throws off the entire timeline. The only remotely reasonable solution is to decide that Ange was actually born on June 17, 1981 and is just the kind of little kid who likes to say she’s six when she’s really five and a half (and then keeps doing this for the rest of her life so she calls herself eighteen when she’s really seventeen and a half)

Timeline

1900s:

Nanjo Terumasa is born (April 5)

Ronoue Genji is born (June 10)

Kumasawa Chiyo is born (July 19)

Ushiromiya Kinzo is born (August 17)

1910s:

Genji and Kinzo grow up in Taiwan together. They are both the sons of rich families and they become close friends

1923:

The great Kanto earthquake destroys the Ushiromiya family. The surviving family elders pick Kinzo (20s), a distantly related branch family member to be the new family head ostensibly because he has polydactyly but really because they want to use him as a puppet

1926:

Beatrice Castiglioni is born (September 14)

1920s:

Hideyoshi is born (November 25)

Kinzo (20s) is forced to marry a woman he does not love and spends twenty years as a living corpse, enduring life without really living. His only solace is his love for reading foreign books

1934:

Ushiromiya Krauss is born (February 26)

1936:

Ushiromiya Eva is born (October 21)

1939:

Natsuhi is born (July 30)

1940:

Krauss (6) begins elementary school

1941:

Ushiromiya Rudolf is born (September 29)

1940s:

Sumadera Kyrie is born (November 8)

Sumadera Kasumi is born (September 10)

Akinaka Asumu is born

1943:

Eva (6 going on 7) begins elementary school

1944:

Kinzo (40s) volunteers to fight in WWII. He is assigned to a secret submarine base on Rokkenjima as engineering staff. No Japanese submarines ever actually dock at the base and eventually the navy decides to store an enormous quantity of explosives on the island so it can be strategically blown up if necessary

1945:

An Italian submarine carrying ten tons of secret gold docks at the Rokkenjima base and Kinzo (40s) meets Beatrice (19) who is serving as the Italian translator. Kinzo incites a shootout over the gold which kills everyone else on the island and the two run away together as lovers. He meets Nanjo (40s) as the doctor on Nijima who treats Beatrice’s wounds

Kinzo performs the most difficult con of his life and manages to prevent the military from finding out what happened on Rokkenjima or discovering the presence of the gold

1946:

Natsuhi (6 going on 7) begins elementary school

Krauss (12) begins middle school

1940s:

Kinzo begins living a double life, spending as much of his time as possible with his mistress Beatrice while maintaining appearances with his family

Kinzo foresees that Genji’s family will meet a horrible fate if they stay in Taiwan during the post-war chaos. Unfortunately he is only able to convince Genji to leave and the rest of them perish. In gratitude for saving him, Genji decides to dedicate the rest of his life to serving Kinzo as his butler

Kinzo uses a variety of legal shenanigans to acquire ownership of Rokkenjima and secure the location of the gold

Kinzo takes inspiration from the poorly pressed bird symbol in which only one wing is visible on the gold and creates the one winged eagle family crest. He represses any ingots taken outside Rokkenjima with the symbol he designed

Kinzo takes a trusted business contact, the president of the Marusoo company, to see the gold. He gives him physical possession of one ton of the gold as collateral and has him take back a single ingot to be appraised. With this level of verification he is able to take out massive loans from the business community. He uses his foreign language skills to get in extremely close with the post-war occupying forces and makes vast amounts of money providing supplies for the Korean War. Finally he repays his debts and retrieves the collateral from his friend, leaving him with a single ingot as a commemorative gift

Hideyoshi is left orphaned by the war. He decides to build a company from the ground up, starting with stealing supplies from the occupying forces. Slowly but surely he becomes a powerful businessman

1948:

Rudolf (6 going on 7) begins elementary school

Beatrice (23) dies in childbirth. Kinzo (40s) is heartbroken and decides to treat her daughter as her reincarnation, giving her the name Ushiromiya Beatrice

1949:

Krauss (15) begins high school

Eva (12 going on 13) begins middle school

1952:

Kinzo (50s) constructs a secret mansion on Rokkenjima known as Kuwadorian and uses it to house his new daughter. At the same time he builds a secret underground VIP room to store the gold. He comes up with an elaborate riddle to hide its secret and builds a complicated mechanism to open the door. Finally, he repurposes the explosives on the island to build a special clock that will blow up the entire island at midnight if a switch is set. He uses this doomsday device to gamble his life by setting time limits for problem solving and is able to achieve short bursts of brilliant madness that drive enormous business success

Kinzo (50s) finishes construction of his new home on the other side of Rokkenjima from Kuwadorian. He moves his entire family to live there and frequently disappears for long periods of time to visit Beatrice. The two mansions are linked by a secret underground passageway left over from the island’s days as a military base

Krauss (18) begins college

Eva (15 going on 16) begins high school

Natsuhi (12 going on 13) begins middle school

1953:

Ushiromiya Rosa is born (June 3)

1950s:

Kinzo uses some of his wealth to create Fukuin House, an orphanage for children with nowhere else to go. He begins taking ambitious teenagers from the orphanage as young servants in order to give them practical experience and money to start their lives with

Kinzo violently abuses his children and constantly screams and insults them

Kinzo’s wife becomes extremely suspicious that he’s cheating on her with a blonde but is never able to find evidence. Every time he disappears to visit the girl in Kuwadorian she organizes all of the servants to frantically search the house and attempt to find him. Eventually it becomes commonly accepted knowledge that Kinzo has a secret mistress and her hopeless situation drives her to despair

Krauss frequently beats and insults his younger siblings to compensate for his complex about not being able to live up to his father’s expectations

Eva becomes obsessed with earning her father’s respect and works as hard as possible to become a good student and achieve great things, even becoming class president when Krauss never became more than vice-president. She loathes Krauss for automatically being the successor simply because he’s a man. In order to fuel her work ethic she creates an alternate self representing her childhood dreams that lives inside her as a witch

Rudolf constantly sneaks off into the shadows for sexual liaisons with the maids

Rosa grows up extremely lonely with no friends anywhere near her age and no one who is willing to pay attention to her. She retreats into a world of playing with dolls and stuffed animals until eventually her older siblings rip up her most treasured friend U-tan the rabbit and declare that she’s dead

Natsuhi grows up in an extraordinarily strict environment, kept isolated from the world as a princess

Kinzo collects a number of Winchester rifles and practices shooting them in the woods

1954:

Rudolf (12 going on 13) begins middle school

1955:

Eva (18 going on 19) graduates high school and manages to go to college against her father’s wishes through sheer hard work

Natsuhi (15 going on 16) begins high school

1956:

Krauss (22) graduates from college and begins working as a real estate investor

Kinzo (50s) crushes Natsuhi’s (17) family and as a prize forces her to marry Krauss (22). It is not clear whether she is given the chance to complete high school. She is unable to bear a child for a very long time despite trying

1957:

Rudolf (15 going on 16) begins high school

1959:

Eva (22 going on 23) graduates from college

1960:

Rudolf (18 going on 19) graduates high school and goes to college. While there he begins perpetrating elaborate fraud schemes and seducing women. He acquires a large harem of hangers-on but eventually ends up splitting most of his time between Kyrie who is his business partner and Asumu who provides him with emotional support

Rosa (6 going on 7) begins elementary school

1962:

Eva (26) marries Hideyoshi (40s). Due to Natsuhi’s (23) failure to bear a child she is able to have him transferred into the Ushiromiya family register

1963:

George is born to Eva (26 going on 27) and Hideyoshi (40s) (March 19)

1964:

Rudolf (22 going on 23) graduates from college and partners with Kyrie (20s) to found a new company

1966:

Rosa (12 going on 13) begins middle school

1967:

Kinzo (60s) forces the Kuwadorian girl (19) to have his incestuous child

In late November, Rosa (14) runs away from home after having a fight with her mother and encounters the Kuwadorian girl (19). She helps her escape but while attempting to get back to the mansion she falls off a cliff and dies. After this incident Kuwadorian is shut down for good

Kinzo (60s) gives the child he had with the Kuwadorian girl to Natsuhi (28) to raise. She treats this as an insult due to her inability to have a child and is so disgusted that she pushes the servant carrying the baby off a cliff. The servant dies but Genji covers up the incident and police rule it an accident. Kinzo is driven deeply into madness and begins to isolate himself and spend all of his time studying the occult

Kinzo’s child survives the fall but Genji (60s) sends them to Fukuin House and conceals them from Natsuhi and Kinzo. They are given the name Yasuda Sayo and the birthday May 25. Although the child was assigned male at birth, the fall severely damages their genitals and afterwards it is decided to raise them as a girl. Nanjo performs the surgery that saves their life and at the same time he amputates their polydactyly sixth toe. He ‘carelessly’ leaves a scar, ensuring that Kinzo will one day be able to recognize them

In an alternate timeline where Natsuhi (28) does not attempt to kill the child, they are given the name Ushiromiya Lion and raised as the successor to the Ushiromiya headship with the new birthday November 29

1968:

Kyrie (20s) and Asumu (20s) get pregnant at the same time. Asumu discovers the pregnancy first and convinces Rudolf to have a shotgun marriage. Their delivery dates are on the same day. Asumu miscarries, Kyrie has Ushiromiya Battler, and then while they’re both barely conscious Rudolf (26 going on 27) swaps the babies so that his legal wife will be the one who gives birth (July 15). Asumu almost certainly figures out what has happened but resolves to love Battler as her own son regardless

Kyrie (20s) manages to use Rudolf’s (27) influence to completely escape from the Sumadera family. Kasumi is forced to take on her responsibilities as the successor and marry a man she does not love

At long last Natsuhi (29) is able to bear a child and Jessica is born (August 25)

1969:

Rosa (15 going on 16) begins high school

George (6) begins elementary school

1970:

Furudo Erika is born (October 4)

1972:

Rosa (18 going on 19) graduates high school and begins college. Presumably the battle Eva fought with Kinzo to secure her own education allows Rosa to do the same as Rosa certainly doesn’t have the guts to fight for it herself

1970s:

Genji decides to fake Sayo’s age and claim that she is three years younger than she really is to avoid Natsuhi and Kinzo realizing her identity. In order to make this work he ensures that she grows up completely isolated within the orphanage. She spends all of her time locked inside and is never allowed to make friends who might notice that she’s not the age she’s supposed to be

Rudolf and Kyrie build a powerful company together, constantly skirting the law and committing serious fraud. Many of their rivals are driven so far into debt that they commit suicide

Kinzo's legal wife dies. He cries at her funeral but not very much

1974:

In the alternate timeline where Natsuhi raised Sayo as Lion (6 going on 7) they begin elementary school

1975:

Jessica (6 going on 7) begins elementary school

Battler (6 going on 7) begins elementary school

George (12) begins middle school

1976:

Rosa (22 going on 23) graduates college and begins creating a fashion company

Genji (70s) arranges for Sayo (9 pretending to be 6) to begin working at the mansion under the name Shannon. In order to hide her existence from Natsuhi (36) and Kinzo (70s) he claims she is three years younger than she actually is. She treats the Shannon identity as a sort of imaginary friend representing the ideal servant girl she would like to become

Lunon, Sanon, Lenon, and Leion begin working at the same time as Sayo (9 pretending to be 6). They are significantly older than her and do not treat her very well

1970s:

Sayo slowly acclimates to life as a servant. After repeatedly losing things she invents a witch who she calls Beatrice but will later call Gaap as an imaginary friend who takes her possessions. Kumasawa teaches her a series of tricks to not lose things which she frames as rituals to keep the witch at bay

Sayo breaks a vase which is particularly dear to Kinzo. Kumasawa helps her avoid punishment by claiming the vase was broken by a stray cat, teaching her the concept of magic that matches a result

Due to being thrown off a cliff when she was a baby, Sayo does not have normal hormone production and does not go through puberty, remaining waifish and androgynous. She is extremely disturbed by her boyish appearance and lack of periods and begins to hate mirrors. In order to look more feminine she begins padding her chest

Sayo learns that she shares a deep love of mystery novels with Battler and begins to fall in love with him over repeated visits. He tells her about his ideal girl with a description broadly taken from porn magazines. Asumu watches over and supports their relationship

1977:

Ushiromiya Maria is born (March 29). Her father tricks Rosa (23 going on 24) into taking out a giant loan for him and then flees the country, leaving her a single mother

Erika (6 going on 7) begins elementary school

Sayo (9 going on 10 pretending to be 6 going on 7) begins elementary school

1978:

George (15) begins high school

1979:

Lunon, Sanon, Lenon, and Leion graduate from being Ushiromiya servants. Asne, Belne, and Manon begin working as replacements

Sayo (12 pretending to be 9) trains the new servants. Belne doesn’t take the stories of the witch seriously so in order to teach her a lesson, Sayo begins conducting a series of pranks on her. She hides her master key in Belne’s locker, waits for Belne to unlock a room and put her keys down, swaps her keyring without the master key with Belne’s, and then asks Belne to lock the door. This makes it appear as though the key was moved from Belne’s ring to the locker by magic while giving Sayo a strong alibi for stealing it. After many similar experiences, Belne repents and believes in the witch

Sayo (12 pretending to be 9) abandons the desire to become an ideal servant which Shannon represented and instead begins planning to become a witch. She revises her imaginary scenario so that now she is the witch Beatrice and Gaap is a demon who is her close friend. Her witchsona with long greenish-blonde hair and a white dress will later be known as Clair Vaux Bernardus

1980:

Battler (12) visits Rokkenjima for the last time before leaving the family. He promises Sayo (13 pretending to be 10) that when she’s ready to leave the island he’ll come for her on a white horse and whisk her away. He gives her until the family conference next year to decide whether to take him up on his offer

George (17) watches Battler (12) and Sayo (13 pretending to be 10) talking and gets extremely jealous

In the alternate timeline where Natsuhi raised Sayo as Lion (12 going on 13) they begin middle school

1981:

Jessica (12 going on 13) begins middle school

George (18) graduates from high school and begins college

Battler (12 going on 13) begins middle school

In the alternate timeline where Natsuhi raised Sayo as Lion (13 going on 14) they are elected vice president of their middle school class

Kyrie (30s) gets pregnant with Ange and finally gains the certain determination to kill Asumu (30s). However before she can act Asumu dies for unrelated reasons. Rudolf (39 going on 40) marries Kyrie immediately, and Ange is born shortly afterwards (June 17). Battler (12 going on 13) is so offended by this series of events that he leaves the Ushiromiya family and goes to live with Asumu’s parents for the next six years, taking the family name Akinaka. When Sayo (14 pretending to be 11) learns that he has left the family she convinces herself that this is a trial of love and if only she waits for him while believing hard enough he will come for her next year

Battler (13) does not attend the family conference. Sayo (14 pretending to be 11) is heartbroken but tells herself that he’ll come next year

1980s:

A number of important pieces of media come out earlier in the Umineko timeline than in our world. Touhou becomes popular, and Pretty Cure style magical girl shows begin airing on TV including one that stars Bernkastel

In the alternate timeline where Natsuhi raised Sayo as Lion they begin playing badminton and achieve great success at tournaments

Maria meets a priest who tells her about Jesus. This experience convinces her that she too is a child of god with magical powers and she undertakes intense occult self-study

Rosa regularly leaves Maria alone for days at a time so that she can go on trips with men. The entire neighborhood becomes extremely worried about her. Maria begins to become isolated both at school and at home and is regularly bullied

Sayo begins meeting with Maria as her witchsona every time she visits the island. She convinces her that she is a witch by showing her small magic tricks and becomes her best friend

Battler wins a set of cheap plastic hair ornaments for Ange at a fair. They become one of her most treasured possessions

Erika goes out with a boy who is living some sort of double life. She collects circumstantial evidence and becomes convinced he’s cheating on her. It’s unprovable but the core themes of this narrative suggest that the secret is probably actually crossdressing

Rosa gives Maria a cheap department store plushie and pretends she made it herself. Maria names him Sakutaro and loves him with all her heart

Sayo begins actively building the legend of the golden witch by telling ghost stories and playing occult themed pranks on people. Through her hard work she combines the existing ghost stories about the evil spirits of Rokkenjima with the story of Kinzo’s mistress to create an environment where all unexplainable phenomena will be blamed on a witch

A servant falls down the stairs and quits after being seriously injured. This is quickly incorporated into the legend of the golden witch as Beatrice punishing those who don't believe in her

Sayo begins to invent more OCs, creating Ronove as a double for Genji, Virgilia as a double for Kumasawa, and the seven sisters of purgatory as anthropomorphizations of Kinzo's occult paperweights. Maria gives them all names. In exchange Sayo creates the Chiesters and Sakutaro for her as anthropomorphized versions of her rabbit figures and her favorite stuffed animal

Sayo becomes close friends with Jessica

Jessica begins practicing playing guitar secretly at school and wishes she could get away from her family and play in a band

After Rosa leaves Maria alone for so long that she's picked up by the police, a child protective services officer visits the family. Rosa assaults the officer, and in her rage at Maria rips Sakutaro apart and smashes one of Maria’s rabbits. The CPS officer opens a case to attempt to have Maria placed in state custody but Rosa uses her wealth and influence to get it dismissed

The president of the Marusoo company dies and Krauss manages to obtain the ingot he was given, acquiring physical proof that the Ushiromiya gold exists

Krauss makes a series of bad business investments and is repeatedly defrauded. He attempts to turn Rokkenjima into a resort but the project falls apart leaving him with a newly built guesthouse and no visitors. In his desperation he begins to embezzle Kinzo’s money and makes shady backroom deals offering up ownership of the island itself as collateral

1982:

In the alternate timeline where Natsuhi raised Sayo as Lion (14 going on 15) they are elected president of their middle school class

Asne, Belne, and Manon graduate from being Ushiromiya servants

Battler (14) does not attend the family conference. Sayo (15 pretending to be 12) begins to doubt whether he ever made her a promise at all or whether she merely misinterpreted him

1983:

Maria (6) begins elementary school

Erika (12 going on 13) begins middle school

Sayo (15 going on 16 pretending to be 12 going on 13) begins middle school

In the alternate timeline where Natsuhi raised Sayo as Lion (15 going on 16) they begin high school

Battler (14) does not attend the family conference. He sends letters to his cousins. He either does not write a letter to Sayo (16 pretending to be 13) or the letter he writes is stolen by George. She buries her grief by externalizing her feelings and pushing them onto her witch persona Beato. At the same time she begins experimenting with dressing as a boy and creates the Kanon persona with cooperation from Genji and Kumasawa. By pushing her love for Battler onto Beato and all of her negative emotions onto Kanon she is able to keep Shannon as a purely positive persona

George (20) has a marriage interview with a girl Eva (47) wants him to marry named Ayumi. Eva taunts Sayo (16 pretending to be 13) with the fact that the two of them can never be together

Sayo (16 pretending to be 13) accidentally spills soup on herself while serving Kinzo (80s) and removes her kneesock in front of him. He sees the scar from the amputation of her polydactyly and realizes that she is his child who survived the fall after all. Afterwards he begins to try to get closer to her and teaches her to shoot his guns

1984:

Jessica (15 going on 16) begins high school

Battler (15 going on 16) begins high school

In the alternate timeline where Natsuhi raised Sayo as Lion (16 going on 17) they are elected vice president of their high school class

Kinzo hangs a portrait of Beatrice with the witch’s epitaph in the main hall of the mansion in April. Sayo (16 going on 7 pretending to be 13 going on 14) revises her witchsona so that it is now a blond haired beauty matching both the woman in the portrait and Battler’s image of an ideal girl

George (21) and Sayo (17 pretending to be 14) begin to get closer and go on a few outings together. They are not quite dating yet but the possibility of romance is there

Jessica (16) becomes disturbed by the way Maria (7) talks about Beatrice and starts to investigate. Sayo (17 pretending to be 14) tells her a ghost story about the golden witch appearing in the VIP room at 2 in the morning. She then places a creepy doll on the bedside table in the room, gives instructions to Genji and Kumasawa to act as accomplices, and hides under the bed in the dark waiting. At 2 am when Jessica enters the VIP room an accomplice places a phone call to the room and plays a recording of Maria singing. Afterwards another accomplice in the basement shuts off the lights on the circuit breaker. Under the cover of darkness Sayo climbs out from under the bed, grabs the doll, cackles loudly, and leaves the room. After this experience Jessica decides to stop investigating

Genji gives Sayo (17 pretending to be 14) a hint regarding the epitaph by telling her that Kinzo’s beloved hometown is in Taiwan. Over the course of many months she works her way through the entire riddle and eventually on November 29 she finds the hidden gold. Genji dresses her in the witch dress, takes her to Kinzo, and finally tells him the truth about their relationship. Kinzo apologizes for everything, gives her the head’s ring and keels over dead. Afterwards Sayo orders Genji, Kumasawa, and Nanjo to keep these events secret and decides to continue working as a servant while waiting for Battler’s return

Sayo (17 pretending to be 14) is utterly horrified at learning the truth about herself. Her incestuous heritage, her body that cannot bear children, the bloodstained wealth of the Ushiromiyas seized with betrayal and murder, and her unwitting romantic relationships with her blood relatives all drive her to despair

Natsuhi (45) discovers that Kinzo is dead. Krauss (50) confesses to embezzling his father’s wealth and tells her that he may face criminal charges for it. She decides to maintain the illusion that he is alive until Krauss can fix their financial situation. She hides his body in the freezer in his study and orders Genji to begin lighting strong incense in the room to hide the smell

1985:

George (22) graduates from college. He begins working at his father’s company to gain business experience

In the alternate timeline where Natsuhi raised Sayo as Lion (17 going on 18) they are elected president of their high school class

Gohda is dismissed from his job working at a high end hotel due to a dispute between the staff and the management and his involvement in an affair. He has difficulty finding work in the restaurant industry and decides to apply to work for the Ushiromiyas. Natsuhi (46) hires him

Gohda tells Sayo (18 pretending to be 15) that witches do not exist. In order to force him to believe she sets up a situation where he and Genji are the only two people on the island. After Gohda finishes cleaning the kitchen and leaves, Genji creates an occult sculpture using paint and kitchen supplies then summons Gohda, pretends to have discovered it, and asks for help cleaning it up. Afterwards Gohda does not disrespect the witch out loud again

Jessica (17) asks Sayo (18 pretending to be 15) whether Kanon is single. Sayo is simultaneously overjoyed to be loved and disgusted at the incestuous nature of that love. Despite herself she begins to fall in love with Jessica as Kanon

Maria (8) attempts to teach Ange (4) about magic but Ange rejects her, driving her further into isolation

Natsuhi (46) manages to get through the family conference without anyone noticing that Kinzo is dead with the help of Genji (80s), Nanjo (80s), Kumasawa (80s), Sayo (18 pretending to be 15), and Krauss (51)

1986:

Sayo (18 going on 19 pretending to be 15 going on 16) completes middle school. In her complete despair she does not bother advancing to high school and chooses to drop out

Erika (15 going on 16) begins high school

Jessica (17 going on 18) runs for class president at her mother’s insistence and wins the election. She does not enjoy the position

In the alternate timeline where Natsuhi raised Sayo as Lion (18 going on 19) they graduate high school and begin college

Jessica (18) gives Sayo (19 pretending to be 16) a mixtape containing songs that she likes to try to get closer to her as Kanon

George (23) takes Sayo (19 pretending to be 16) on a trip to Okinawa. She hopes that the trip will give her an opportunity to confess the truth to him but he doesn’t so much as touch her and the right moment to confess never arrives. He tells her that he plans to propose to her at the next family conference, completely driving her into a corner and leaving her with an unavoidable deadline coming up

Sayo (19 pretending to be 16) sets herself up on a culture festival date with Jessica (18). Afterwards Jessica confesses to her and Sayo rejects her. This is extraordinarily painful for her because she is in love with Jessica but she is convinced that the romance is doomed and too scared to try

Krauss (52) manages to put together an actually profitable real estate deal for once. He becomes convinced that if he can just hold on a little longer he will be able to repay all his debts and hide his criminal embezzlement

Hideyoshi (60s) attempts to list his company publicly. He fails to secure a majority stake and is attacked in a hostile takeover attempt, pushing him into a position where he needs to acquire an enormous amount of money to defend against it

Rudolf (45) attempts to expand his business overseas. He accidentally violates another major company’s intellectual property rights and enters a position where he needs to acquire an enormous amount of money to settle with them

Rosa’s (33) debt comes due, placing her in a position where she needs to acquire an enormous amount of money to pay it off

Battler (18) returns to the Ushiromiya family after Asumu’s parents die

Sayo (19 pretending to be 16) learns that Battler (18) will return and is driven completely mad by her hopeless situation and the combined weight of the family’s sins. She writes out countless murder suicide plans, creating fragment world after fragment world and transcends humanity, becoming a witch. Metafictionally, she becomes a miko of Lambdadelta who guarantees her power as long as her plan continues to have absolute certainty

Sayo (19 pretending to be 16) begins making extensive preparations for her murder game. She tests explosives from the stockpile under the island by blowing up the Rokkenjima shrine and practices firing guns extensively. She converts a billion yen worth of the gold to cash and sets up a series of postcards which will be sent to the families of the victims leading them to some of the money. Shortly before the family conference she places her murder fic in wine bottles and hurls it into the sea

Sayo (19 pretending to be 16) recruits accomplices for her plan. Kumasawa and Nanjo happily agree to help her after being told it will be a murder mystery prank. She tells Genji her full plans and he does not raise any objections to the idea of destroying the entire Ushiromiya family in a complex murder suicide scheme. Finally, she has Maria memorize her letter in advance in order to serve as a good messenger and tells her a magical account of her plans in which everyone will be resurrected in the golden land. Any other accomplices are specific to a particular fragment and are mostly recruited the day of

The following people gather for the Ushiromiya family conference:

Ange (5 and a half but likes to say she’s 6) stays at home

Kinzo (80s) who has been dead for over a year but is kept alive as a ghost by Natsuhi’s efforts

Krauss (52), Natsuhi (47), and Jessica (18)

Eva (49 going on 50), Hideyoshi (60s), and George (23)

Rudolf (45), Kyrie (40s), and Battler (18)

Rosa (33), and Maria (9)

Nanjo (80s), Genji (80s), Kumasawa (80s), and Gohda (?)

Sayo (19 pretending to be 16). In the alternate timeline where Natsuhi raised her she instead attends the conference as Lion (19)

Erika (16) falls off a boat near Rokkenjima. With the help of a miracle she could have drifted to the island

The family conference occurs and its events are locked away in a catbox forever when the mansion is destroyed in an explosion

Within the catbox the adults solve the epitaph and reach the room of the gold before Sayo can carry out her murder plans. A gunfight breaks out and Kyrie and Rudolf decide to slaughter everyone on the island, blow it all up, and run away with the bank card with a billion yen. Eva manages to stop them but is unable to save anyone but herself and decides to blow the island up anyway to hide the truth. She escapes to Kuwadorian and survives the explosion

In the alternate timeline where Natsuhi raised Sayo as Lion, Kinzo is still alive and he holds a funeral for the two Beatrices in the morning. In the evening during the family conference his children argue with him over Lion becoming the head until he decides to give them the witch’s epitaph and tell them that if they can solve it they can have the headship. His children find the gold and the same events play out with the addition that Kyrie also kills Kinzo and Lion

Sayo survives the gunfight, changes her mind about committing murder suicide, rescues Battler, and confesses almost everything to him. The two of them escape through the secret tunnel to the submarine base and attempt to take a motorboat away from the island. Sayo jumps into the water to drown herself using a gold ingot as a weight and Battler leaps in after her. She dies, and he almost drowns

After pulling himself out of the water in a haze Battler is hit by a car and temporarily loses his memories. He’s saved by Hachijou Ikuko who gives him the new name Hachijou Tohya and functionally kidnaps him. Metafictionally Ushiromiya Battler and Yasuda Sayo drown together and become trapped in purgatory. Sayo decides to begin tormenting him with her witch games until he eventually remembers the truth

In a popular alternate interpretation Sayo survives the suicide attempt, adopts the identity of Hachijou Ikuko, and resolves to live with Battler for the rest of her life without ever revealing the truth to him

1987:

Ange (5 going on 6) begins elementary school

Eva (50s) becomes the Ushiromiya family head and is tormented by police investigations and media attacks. Everyone believes her to be the true culprit. However the police are never able to find any evidence and the massacre is formally ruled an accident

After the massacre, the families of the victims receive the mysterious postcards Sayo mailed out. None of them claim the money

Eva sells the portion of Kinzo's occult library stored in Kuwadorian. This draws a significant amount of attention from the occult community as it contains many rare treasures

Two of the message bottles containing Legend and Turn wash up and are found by the police. Combined with the occult attention from Kinzo's library, this causes the crime to be regarded as the work of a witch in the public eye. A large majority of the message bottles are lost at sea and never found

Eva takes guardianship of Ange. She desperately wants to love her and become her mother but the two of them are both deeply broken from grief and Ange is unable to trust Eva which slowly poisons their relationship. At Tanabata Ange wishes to get her family back and convinces herself that the wish will only be fulfilled if she treats Eva as their murderer and never lets her into her heart

After a series of episodes where Eva screams and hits her for so long that she forgets why she was originally angry, Eva realizes that she’s going to destroy Ange’s life and decides to send her away rather than hurt her anymore. When Ange attempts to run away and go back to her grandfather’s house, Eva uses it as an excuse to send her to a boarding school

1980s:

Eva writes a secret diary describing the true events of the catbox

The true crime community around Rokkenjima becomes a large community of dedicated witch hunters. People begin forging message bottles to write fan fiction

Tohya slowly adjusts to his new life living with Ikuko and the two of them begin publishing mystery novels together. To celebrate completing their first book, Ikuko shares a third message bottle which she found on the beach containing Sayo’s full confession with him. He remembers his past as Battler but is unable to accept it as his own memories and resolves to continue his life as Tohya. In the alternate interpretation where Ikuko is Sayo she simply writes out her confession and claims to have found it in a message bottle

Tohya and Ikuko begin writing forgeries, continuing the metafictional narrative that began in Sayo’s two surviving games. Tohya falsely believes Eva to be the true culprit and begins his forgeries by writing Banquet, a narrative in which she murders everyone and survives. After reading his work, Eva realizes who he is, pays him a visit, and tells him the truth. She leaves the key to her diary with him in the hope that he might one day share it with Ange if she makes her way to him too

Tohya writes Alliance, End, and Dawn completing his metarrative and laying Sayo to rest. It’s not clear whether Requiem and Twilight are ever written in the real world at all and if so they’re certainly never published. He incorporates Ikuko's cat Bernkastel as the primary antagonist of the latter part of the story (as a sidenote, the existence of the Magical Bern-chan anime in-universe implies that Ikuko named her cat after her favorite magical girl)

1993:

Ange (11 going on 12) begins middle school

1990s:

Eva (50s) amasses an enormous fortune, surviving the collapse of the Japanese economy in the early 90s and becoming even richer than Kinzo once was. This is made even more impressive by the fact that she started with a small fraction of the capital he did

The witch hunter community unearths Rudolf and Kyrie’s criminal past and begins to accuse them of being the true culprits

Ange is utterly miserable and alone at boarding school where she is constantly bullied. She has Maria’s diary and begins to use it to retreat into delusions, summoning Maria’s ghost, Sakutaro, and the stakes as imaginary friends. Eventually she is attacked in a bullying incident so bad that it makes her want to kill everyone present and she is forced to abandon this coping mechanism when she realizes it provides her no power to affect reality

Eva, alone and dying of grief, becomes extremely sick and begins accusing people of poisoning her

1996:

Ange (14 going on 15) begins high school

1998:

Eva (62) dies, leaving her wealth to Ange (17 and a half but she likes to say she’s 18)

Ikuko acquires Eva’s diary and holds a witch hunter convention to unveil it. At the last minute she refuses to show it and walks out. This permanently defuses the enthusiasm around the Rokkenjima mystery by reminding the would-be witch hunters that what they are doing is nothing more than desecrating the memories of the dead

Ange (17 and a half but she likes to say she’s 18) attempts to contact Tohya (30). Tohya is too scared to see her directly but she meets with Ikuko who gives her the key to Eva’s diary and allows her to read the truth. She is driven completely into despair and jumps off the roof of a skyscraper but survives by landing in the safety netting. Metafictionally she goes on a vision quest to reconcile herself to the truth and become a witch of resurrection

After surviving the fall, Ange (17 and a half but she likes to say she’s 18) gives up the Ushiromiya fortune and adopts the new identity Kotobuki Yukari. She spends the rest of her life writing children’s books to pass on the lessons she’s learned

In an alternate timeline after surviving the fall Ange (17 and a half but she likes to say she’s 18) travels to Rokkenjima while accompanied by Amakusa, a bodyguard given to her by President Okonogi, and hunted by Kyrie’s younger sister Sumadera Kasumi. Shortly before reaching the island she deduces that Okonogi has cut a deal with the Sumaderas and Amakusa plans to kill both her and Kasumi in the isolated location. In order to save herself, she kills Amakusa before he has the opportunity. She embraces the mantle of the witch of truth and sets off on a journey to escape her fate for good, allowing the name Ushiromiya Ange to die just like in the main timeline

Decades Later

Ange uses her wealth from her career as a novelist to reestablish Fukuin House. When remodeling the building, she recreates the main hall of the Ushiromiya family mansion from memory even getting the artist who originally painted the portrait of Beatrice to create a duplicate for her

Tohya finally overcomes his fear of meeting his sister and identifies Kotobuki Yukari as Ange. He reaches out to her and the two are reunited at last. Metafictionally, Battler and Sayo reach the golden land and are freed from purgatory, ascending to heaven

#umineko #umineko no naku koro ni #timeline

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tina-aumont · 1 month

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Bervely Hills, el 14 de noviembre de 1944

Querido primo Armando:

Con inmenso placer recibí hace tres días tu cariñosa cartita y tu foto y la foto del primo Isidoro que tanto se parece al pobre tío Joaquín (q. e. p. e.).

Tu carta y tu retrato estaban esperando en casa, pues yo estaba en Nueva York adonde fui a hacer una aparición en la Radio y al mismo tiempo ir a buscar a mis hermanas Ada, Consuelo y Lucita las cuales están como yo contentísimas de encontrarse con un primito tan simpático y elegante.

Yo enseguida que recibí tu primera carta le escribí a mis hermanos y al primo Aquilino para que se pusieran en contacto contigo.

Gracias por el recorte de periódico que me mandaste, eres muy gentil y tengo muchos deseos de conocerte personalmente, tal vez te das un viajecito por estos lares o te veré cuando yo vaya por allá que será tan pronto se acabe esta maldita guerra.

En sobre separado te enviamos las muchachas y yo varias fotos de nosotras, para que tú veas cómo en realidad son tus primitas de América.

Te agradecería infinito si me das la dirección del resto de la familia —de mi prima Australia y los hijos de tía Tomasa la cual me dijo Aquilino el primo, está muerta, ¡la pobre!— ¿Cuántos hijos dejó Tomasa? ¿y Gaudencia?

¿Y están aún vivos los tíos de papá?

¿Cuántos hermanos son usdes.?

¿Adónde están el resto?

¿Y hace mucho tiempo que están en Madrid?

Pásame la dirección del primo Isidoro —desearía escribirle a él también y enviarle unas fotos.

Nosotros somos diez, ¡sí, diez! Cinco hembras y cinco varones. Mamá se mudó a la capital que se llama: Trujillo City y queda sólo cuatro horas de Barahona adonde nacimos nosotros —allá con mamá están todos los hermanos, y la pequeñita que sólo tiene 12 años y se llama Teresita —y es lindísima—, mi hermano Isidorito que es el mayor está con mamá y es un señorito muy simpático pero holgazán, mi hermano Aquilino es el jefe de la familia y el encargado de nuestros negocios que es una plantación y negocios de madera los cuales importamos a Inglaterra y Estados Unidos y en tiempo de paz a Alemania y Holanda, Joaquín está aún en la escuela, lo mismo Luis y Jaime, que acaban de entrar en cursos teóricos —Luis se parece algo a tu foto, y Jaime es muy rubio. Aquilino se parece a papá y es muy alto y guapo. Teresita está también en un colegio, mejor debo decir, convento, muy buena estudiante y habla ya el inglés bastante bien.

Ada, Consuelo y Lucita, las cuales puedes ver en las fotos cómo son, se van a quedar aquí conmigo y tratan de hacer carrera —Lucita quiere ser artista de cine y Consuelo modista diseñadora de trajes y sombreros, y Adita no quiere hacer nada, sólo casarse con un millonario, lo cual no es mala carrera, ¿eh? Pero yo no la fuerzo a hacer nada, ella ya verá cómo le gusta la vida sin trabajar, lo cual aquí es muy difícil de sobrellevar. Aquí todo el mundo trabaja, es un vicio.

Tan pronto se acabe la guerra, mamá piensa ir a vivir a España, tal vez en Barcelona o Teruel y se lleva allá a Luis, Jaime y Teresita y formar hogar adonde está nuestra familia, pues en Santo Domingo no tenemos nosotros a nadie, sólo el primo Aquilino.

Espero, pues, hayas ya visto «Arabian Nights» que fué la primera película estelar que yo hice de importancia, después de ésta hice: White Savage que creo la llaman La Blanca Salvaje ó «La reina de la Selva», «La Mujer Cobra», «Ali Babá», «Alma Gitana” (Gipsy Wildcat), y una en trajes modernos llamada «Bowery to Broadway» (no sé cómo la llamarán en español) y mi último film llamado «La Reina del Nilo», la cual es muy bonita película y de un tecnicolor precioso. Aún no sé cuál será mi próxima.

Ésta es una carta enorme y llena de información, ¿verdad?

Cariñosos abrazos a Isidoro y la demás familia.

Ada, Consuelo y Lucita te envían sus afectuosos saludos.

Cariñosamente, tu prima.

María

~*~*~*~

Beverly Hills, November 14, 1944

Dear cousin Armando:

With immense pleasure I received three days ago your affectionate little letter and your photo and the photo of cousin Isidoro who looks so much like poor uncle Joaquín (r.i.p.).

Your letter and your portrait were waiting at home, because I was in New York where I went to make an appearance on the Radio and at the same time go look for my sisters Ada, Consuelo and Lucita who, like me, are very happy to meet with such a nice and elegant cousin.

As soon as I received your first letter, I wrote to my brothers and cousin Aquilino to get in touch with you.

Thank you for the newspaper clipping you sent me, you are very kind and I really want to meet you personally, maybe you will take a little trip around these parts or I will see you when I go there, which will be as soon as this damn war is over.

In a separate envelope, the girls and I sent you several photos of us, so that you can see what your little cousins from America really look like.

I would be extremely grateful if you would give me the address of the rest of the family—my cousin Australia and Aunt Tomasa's children, whom Aquilino, the cousin, told me is dead, poor thing!—How many children did Tomasa leave behind? And Gaudencia?

And are Dad's uncles still alive?

How many brothers are you?

Where are the rest?

And have they been in Madrid for a long time?

Give me cousin Isidoro's address—I would like to write to him too and send him some photos.

We are ten, yes, ten! Five females and five males. Mom moved to the capital called: Trujillo City and it is only four hours from Barahona where we were born - all the siblings are there with Mom, and the little one who is only 12 years old and her name is Teresita - and she is very cute - my Brother Isidorito, who is the eldest, is with mother and is a very nice but lazy young man. My brother Aquilino is the head of the family and in charge of our business, which is a plantation and wood business which we import to England and the United States. in peacetime to Germany and Holland, Joaquín is still in school, as are Luis and Jaime, who have just started theoretical courses —Luis looks something like your photo, and Jaime is very blonde. Aquilino looks like dad and is very tall and handsome. Teresita is also in a school, I should say, a convent, a very good student and she already speaks English quite well.

Ada, Consuelo and Lucita, who you can see in the photos what they are like, are going to stay here with me and try to make a career - Lucita wants to be a film artist and Consuelo a dressmaker, a designer of suits and hats, and Adita doesn't want to do anything, just marry a millionaire, which isn't a bad career, eh? But I don't force her to do anything, she will see how she likes life without working, which is very difficult to cope with here. Here everyone works, it's a vice.

As soon as the war is over, Mom plans to go live in Spain, perhaps in Barcelona or Teruel and she will take Luis, Jaime and Teresita there and make a home where our family is, because in Santo Domingo we have no one, only cousin Aquilino.

I hope, then, that you have already seen "Arabian Nights" which was the first major star film that I made, after this I made: "White Savage", which I think they call "The Wild White" or "The Queen of the Jungle", "Cobra Woman", «Ali Baba», «Alma Gitana» (Gipsy Wildcat), and one in modern costumes called «Bowery to Broadway» (I don't know what they will call it in Spanish) and my latest film called «The Queen of the Nile», which It is a very beautiful film and a beautiful technicolor. I still don't know what my next one will be.

This is a huge letter full of information, right?

Affectionate hugs to Isidoro and the rest of the family.

Ada, Consuelo and Lucita send you their affectionate greetings.

Kindly, your cousin.

Maria

~*~*~*~

First of some letters that are going to be published here just to know a little bit more about Maria, her family and her relationship she had with his cousin Armando Gracia Sanfiel.

This transcription is possible thanks to @74paris who sent me a document called "Los orígenes turolenses y canarios de la actriz de Hollywood María Montez" written by María Victória Hernández Pérez, courtesy of Cabildo de la Palma.

#A nuestro primito Armando #Armando Gracia Sanfiel #letter to Armando #Maria Montez #María Montez #Los orígenes turolenses y canarios de la actriz de Hollywood María Montez #María Victória Hernández Pérez #Cabildo de la Palma #Gracia Family #The Queen of technicolor #La Reina del Tecnicolor #actress #1944 #1944 Maria #collaboration

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troybeecham · 1 year

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Today the Church remembers the 108 Blessed Polish Martyrs.

Orate pro nobis.

The 108 Blessed Polish Martyrs were Roman Catholic Christians in Poland killed during World War II by the Nazis, either in the concentration camps or by mass slaughter on the streets. The group comprises 3 bishops, 79 priests, 7 male religious, 8 female religious, and 11 lay people. There are two parishes named for the 108 Martyrs of World War II in Powiercie in Koło County, and in Malbork, Poland.

The 108 Blessed Martyrs were beatified on 13 June 1999 by Pope John Paul II in Warsaw, Poland.

List of Martyrs

Bishops

1. Antoni Julian Nowowiejski (1858–1941 KL Soldau), bishop

2. Leon Wetmański (1886–1941 KL Soldau), bishop

3. Władysław Goral (1898–1945 KL Sachsenhausen), bishop

Priests

1. Adam Bargielski, priest from Myszyniec (1903–1942 KZ Dachau)

2. Aleksy Sobaszek, priest (1895–1942 KL Dachau)

3. Alfons Maria Mazurek, Carmelite friar, prior, priest (1891–1944, shot by the Gestapo)

4. Alojzy Liguda, Society of the Divine Word, priest (1898–1942 KL Dachau)

5. Anastazy Jakub Pankiewicz, Franciscan friar, priest (1882–1942 KL Dachau)

6. Anicet Kopliński, Capuchin friar, priest in Warsaw (1875–1941)

7. Antoni Beszta-Borowski, priest, dean of Bielsk Podlaski (1880–1943, shot near Bielsk Podlaski)

8. Antoni Leszczewicz, Marian Father, priest (1890–1943, burnt to death in Rosica, Belarus)

9. Antoni Rewera, priest, dean of the Cathedral Chapter in Sandomierz (1869–1942 KL Dachau)

10. Antoni Świadek, priest from Bydgoszcz (1909–1945 KL Dachau)

11. Antoni Zawistowski, priest (1882–1942 KL Dachau)

12. Bolesław Strzelecki, priest (1896–1941 KL Auschwitz)

13. Bronisław Komorowski, priest (1889–22 March 1940 KL Stutthof)

14. Dominik Jędrzejewski, priest (1886–1942 KL Dachau)

15. Edward Detkens, priest (1885–1942 KL Dachau)

16. Edward Grzymała, priest (1906–1942 KL Dachau)

17. Emil Szramek, priest (1887–1942 KL Dachau)

18. Fidelis Chojnacki, Capuchin friar, priest (1906–1942, KL Dachau)

19. Florian Stępniak, Capuchin friar, priest (1912–1942 KL Dachau)

20. Franciszek Dachtera, priest (1910–23 August 1942 KL Dachau)

21. Franciszek Drzewiecki, Orionine Father, priest (1908–1942 KL Dachau); from Zduny, he was condemned to heavy work in the plantation of Dachau. While he was bending over tilling the soil, he adored the consecrated hosts kept in a small box in front of him. While he was going to the gas chamber, he encouraged his companions, saying "We offer our life for God, for the Church and for our Country".

22. Franciszek Rogaczewski, priest from Gdańsk (1892–1940, shot in Stutthof or in Piaśnica, Pomerania)

23. Franciszek Rosłaniec, priest (1889–1942 KL Dachau)

24. Henryk Hlebowicz, priest (1904–1941, shot at Borisov in Belarus)

25. Henryk Kaczorowski, priest from Włocławek (1888–1942)

26. Henryk Krzysztofik, religious priest (1908–1942 KL Dachau)

27. Hilary Paweł Januszewski, religious priest (1907–1945 KL Dachau)

28. Jan Antonin Bajewski, Conventual Franciscan friar, priest (1915–1941 KL Auschwitz); of Niepokalanow. These were the closest collaborators of St Maximilian Kolbe in the fight for God's cause and together suffered and helped each other spiritually in their offering their lives at Auschwitz

29. Jan Franciszek Czartoryski, Dominican friar, priest (1897–1944)

30. Jan Nepomucen Chrzan, priest (1885–1942 KL Dachau)

31. Jerzy Kaszyra, Marian Father, priest (1910–1943, burnt to death in Rosica, Belarus)

32. Józef Achilles Puchała, Franciscan friar, priest (1911–1943, killed near Iwieniec, Belarus)

33. Józef Cebula, Missionary Oblate, priest (23 March 1902 – 9 May 1941 KL Mauthausen)[

34. Józef Czempiel, priest (1883–1942 KL Mauthausen)

35. Józef Innocenty Guz, Franciscan friar, priest (1890–1940 KL Sachsenhausen)

36. Józef Jankowski, Pallotine, priest (1910 born in Czyczkowy near Brusy, Kashubia (died 16 October 1941 in KL Auschwitz beaten by a kapo)

37. Józef Kowalski, Salesian, priest (1911–1942) , priest beaten to death on 3 July 1942 in the KL Auschwitz concentration camp

38. Józef Kurzawa, priest (1910–1940)

39. Józef Kut, priest (1905–1942 KL Dachau)

40. Józef Pawłowski, priest (1890–9 January 1942 KL Dachau)

41. Józef Stanek, Pallottine, priest (1916–23 September 1944, murdered in Warsaw)

42. Józef Straszewski, priest (1885–1942 KL Dachau)

43. Karol Herman Stępień, Franciscan friar, priest (1910–1943, killed near Iwieniec, Belarus)

44. Kazimierz Gostyński, priest (1884–1942 KL Dachau)

45. Kazimierz Grelewski, priest (1907–1942 KL Dachau)

46. Kazimierz Sykulski, priest (1882–1942 KL Auschwitz)

47. Krystyn Gondek, Franciscan friar, priest (1909–1942 KL Dachau)

48. Leon Nowakowski, priest (1913–1939)

49. Ludwik Mzyk, Society of the Divine Word, priest (1905–1940)

50. Ludwik Pius Bartosik, Conventual Franciscan friar, priest (1909–1941 KL Auschwitz); of Niepokalanow. These were the closest collaborators of St Maximilian Kolbe in the fight for God's cause and together suffered and helped each other spiritually in their offering their lives at Auschwitz

51. Ludwik Roch Gietyngier, priest from Częstochowa (1904–1941 KL Dachau)

52. Maksymilian Binkiewicz, priest (1913–24 July 1942, beaten, died in KL Dachau)

53. Marian Gorecki, priest (1903–22 March 1940 KL Stutthof)

54. Marian Konopiński, Capuchin friar, priest (1907–1 January 1943 KL Dachau)

55. Marian Skrzypczak, priest (1909–1939 shot in Plonkowo)

56. Michał Oziębłowski, priest (1900–1942 KL Dachau)

57. Michał Piaszczyński, priest (1885–1940 KL Sachsenhausen)

58. Michał Woźniak, priest (1875–1942 KL Dachau)

59. Mieczysław Bohatkiewicz, priest (1904–4 March 1942, shot in Berezwecz)

60. Narcyz Putz, priest (1877–1942 KL Dachau)

61. Narcyz Turchan, priest (1879–1942 KL Dachau)

62. Piotr Edward Dankowski, priest (1908–3 April 1942 KL Auschwitz)

63. Roman Archutowski, priest (1882–1943 KL Majdanek)

64. Roman Sitko, priest (1880–1942 KL Auschwitz)

65. Stanisław Kubista, Society of the Divine Word, priest (1898–1940 KL Sachsenhausen)

66. Stanisław Kubski, priest (1876–1942, prisoner in KL Dachau, killed in Hartheim near Linz)

67. Stanisław Mysakowski, priest (1896–1942 KL Dachau)

68. Stanisław Pyrtek, priest (1913–4 March 1942, shot in Berezwecz)

69. Stefan Grelewski, priest (1899–1941 KL Dachau)

70. Wincenty Matuszewski, priest (1869–1940)

71. Władysław Błądziński, Michaelite, priest (1908–1944, KL Gross-Rosen)

72. Władysław Demski, priest (1884–28 May 1940, KL Sachsenhausen)

73. Władysław Maćkowiak, priest (1910–4 March 1942 shot in Berezwecz)

74. Władysław Mączkowski, priest (1911–20 August 1942 KL Dachau)

75. Władysław Miegoń, priest, commander lieutenant (1892–1942 KL Dachau)

76. Włodzimierz Laskowski, priest (1886–1940 KL Gusen)

77. Wojciech Nierychlewski, religious, priest (1903–1942, KL Auschwitz)

78. Zygmunt Pisarski, priest (1902–1943)

79. Zygmunt Sajna, priest (1897–1940, shot at Palmiry, near Warsaw)

Religious brothers

1. Brunon Zembol, friar (1905–1942 KL Dachau)

2. Grzegorz Bolesław Frąckowiak, Society of the Divine Word friar (1911–1943, guillotined in Dresden)

3. Józef Zapłata, friar (1904–1945 KL Dachau)

4. Marcin Oprządek, friar (1884–1942 KL Dachau)

5. Piotr Bonifacy Żukowski, friar (1913–1942 KL Auschwitz)

6. Stanisław Tymoteusz Trojanowski, friar (1908–1942 KL Auschwitz)

7. Symforian Ducki, friar (1888–1942 KL Auschwitz)

Nuns and religious sisters

1. Alicja Maria Jadwiga Kotowska, sister, based on eye-witness reports comforted and huddled with Jewish children before she and the children were executed (1899–1939, executed at Piaśnica, Pomerania)

2. Ewa Noiszewska, sister (1885–1942, executed at Góra Pietrelewicka near Slonim, Belarus)

3. Julia Rodzińska, Dominican sister (1899–20 February 1945, KL Stutthof); she died having contracted typhoid serving the Jewish women prisoners in a hut for which she had volunteered.

4. Katarzyna Celestyna Faron (1913–1944, KL Auschwitz); (1913–1944), had offered her life for the conversion of an Old Catholic bishop Władysław Faron (no relation). She was arrested by the Gestapo and condemned to Auschwitz camp. She put up heroically with all the abuses of the camp and died on Easter Sunday 1944. The bishop later returned to the Catholic Church).

5. Maria Antonina Kratochwil, SSND nun (1881–1942) died as a result of the torture she endured while imprisoned in Stanisławów.

6. Maria Klemensa Staszewska (1890–1943 KL Auschwitz)

7. Marta Wołowska (1879–1942, executed at Góra Pietrelewicka near Slonim, Belarus)

8. Mieczysława Kowalska, sister (1902–1941, Soldau concentration camp in Działdowo)

Roman Catholic laity

1. Bronisław Kostkowski, alumnus (1915–1942 KL Dachau)

2. Czesław Jóźwiak (1919–1942, guillotined in a prison in Dresden)

3. Edward Kaźmierski (1919–1942, guillotined in a prison in Dresden)

4. Edward Klinik (1919–1942, guillotined in a prison in Dresden)

5. Franciszek Kęsy (1920–1942, guillotined in a prison in Dresden)

6. Franciszek Stryjas (1882–31 July 1944, Kalisz prison)

7. Jarogniew Wojciechowski (1922–1942, guillotined in a prison in Dresden)

8. Marianna Biernacka (1888–13 July 1943), executed instead of her pregnant daughter-in-law Anna, offered her life for her and her unborn grandchild)

9. Natalia Tułasiewicz (1906–31 March 1945, died in KL Ravensbrück)

10. Stanisław Starowieyski (1895–1941 in KL Dachau)

11. Tadeusz Dulny, alumnus (1914–1942 KL Dachau)

Almighty God, by whose grace and power your Holy Martyrs of Poland triumphed over suffering and were faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember them in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

(Fr. Józef Kowalski, priest beaten to death on 3 July 1942 in the KL Auschwitz concentration camp)

(Sr. Alicja Jadwiga Kotowska, a nun killed protecting a group of Jewish children in 1939 in the mass murders in Piaśnica)

#father troy beecham #christianity #jesus #saints #god #salvation #peace #martyrs #faith #christian persecution

39 notes · View notes