#and you would snitch on the revolution

[spidergvven]

hunger games is having a tiktok renaissance and the way people still hate gale for all the most stupid reasons has me heated

[jvzebel-x]

🦋

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Epic Systems, a lethal health record monopolist

Epic Systems makes the dominant electronic health record (EHR) system in America; if you're a doctor, chances are you are required to use it, and for every hour a doctor spends with a patient, they have to spend two hours doing clinically useless bureaucratic data-entry on an Epic EHR.

How could a product so manifestly unfit for purpose be the absolute market leader? Simple: as Robert Kuttner describes in an excellent feature in The American Prospect, Epic may be a clinical disaster, but it's a profit-generating miracle:

https://prospect.org/health/2024-10-01-epic-dystopia/

At the core of Epic's value proposition is "upcoding," a form of billing fraud that is beloved of hospital administrators, including the "nonprofit" hospitals that generate vast fortunes that are somehow not characterized as profits. Here's a particularly egregious form of upcoding: back in 2020, the Poudre Valley Hospital in Ft Collins, CO locked all its doors except the ER entrance. Every patient entering the hospital, including those receiving absolutely routine care, was therefore processed as an "emergency."

In April 2020, Caitlin Wells Salerno – a pregnant biologist – drove to Poudre Valley with normal labor pains. She walked herself up to obstetrics, declining the offer of a wheelchair, stopping only to snap a cheeky selfie. Nevertheless, the hospital recorded her normal, uncomplicated birth as a Level 5 emergency – comparable to a major heart-attack – and whacked her with a $2755 bill for emergency care:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/27/crossing-a-line/#zero-fucks-given

Upcoding has its origins in the Reagan revolution, when the market-worshipping cultists he'd put in charge of health care created the "Prospective Payment System," which paid a lump sum for care. The idea was to incentivize hospitals to provide efficient care, since they could keep the difference between whatever they spent getting you better and the set PPS amount that Medicare would reimburse them. Hospitals responded by inventing upcoding: a patient with controlled, long-term coronary disease who showed up with a broken leg would get coded for the coronary condition and the cast, and the hospital would pocket both lump sums:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/13/a-punch-in-the-guts/#hayek-pilled

The reason hospital administrators love Epic, and pay gigantic sums for systemwide software licenses, is directly connected to the two hours that doctors spent filling in Epic forms for every hour they spend treating patients. Epic collects all that extra information in order to identify potential sources of plausible upcodes, which allows hospitals to bill patients, insurers, and Medicare through the nose for routine care. Epic can automatically recode "diabetes with no complications" from a Hierarchical Condition Category code 19 (worth $894.40) as "diabetes with kidney failure," code 18 and 136, which gooses the reimbursement to $1273.60.

Epic snitches on doctors to their bosses, giving them a dashboard to track doctors' compliance with upcoding suggestions. One of Kuttner's doctor sources says her supervisor contacts her with questions like, "That appointment was a 2. Don’t you think it might be a 3?"

Robert Kuttner is the perfect journalist to unravel the Epic scam. As a journalist who wrote for The New England Journal of Medicine, he's got an insider's knowledge of the health industry, and plenty of sources among health professionals. As he tells it, Epic is a cultlike, insular company that employs 12.500 people in its hometown of Verona, WI.

The EHR industry's origins start with a GW Bush-era law called the HITECH Act, which was later folded into Obama's Recovery Act in 2009. Obama provided $27b to hospitals that installed EHR systems. These systems had to more than track patient outcomes – they also provided the data for pay-for-performance incentives. EHRs were already trying to do something very complicated – track health outcomes – but now they were also meant to underpin a cockamamie "incentives" program that was supposed to provide a carrot to the health industry so it would stop killing people and ripping off Medicare. EHRs devolved into obscenely complex spaghetti systems that doctors and nurses loathed on sight.

But there was one group that loved EHRs: hospital administrators and the private companies offering Medicare Advantage plans (which also benefited from upcoding patients in order to soak Uncle Sucker):

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8649706/

The spread of EHRs neatly tracks with a spike in upcharging: "from 2014 through 2019, the number of hospital stays billed at the highest severity level increased almost 20 percent…the number of stays billed at each of the other severity levels decreased":

https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/OEI-02-18-00380.pdf

The purpose of a system is what it does. Epic's industry-dominating EHR is great at price-gouging, but it sucks as a clinical tool – it takes 18 keystrokes just to enter a prescription:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2729481

Doctors need to see patients, but their bosses demand that they satisfy Epic's endless red tape. Doctors now routinely stay late after work and show up hours early, just to do paperwork. It's not enough. According to another one of Kuttner's sources, doctors routinely copy-and-paste earlier entries into the current one, a practice that generates rampant errors. Some just make up random numbers to fulfill Epic's nonsensical requirements: the same source told Kuttner that when prompted to enter a pain score for his TB patients, he just enters "zero."

Don't worry, Epic has a solution: AI. They've rolled out an "ambient listening" tool that attempts to transcribe everything the doctor and patient say during an exam and then bash it into a visit report. Not only is this prone to the customary mistakes that make AI unsuited to high-stakes, error-sensitive applications, it also represents a profound misunderstanding of the purpose of clinical notes.

The very exercise of organizing your thoughts and reflections about an event – such as a medical exam – into a coherent report makes you apply rigor and perspective to events that otherwise arrive as a series of fleeting impressions and reactions. That's why blogging is such an effective practice:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/09/the-memex-method/

The answer to doctors not having time to reflect and organize good notes is to give them more time – not more AI. As another doctor told Kuttner: "Ambient listening is a solution to a self-created problem of requiring too much data entry by clinicians."

EHRs are one of those especially hellish public-private partnerships. Health care doctrine from Reagan to Obama insisted that the system just needed to be exposed to market forces and incentives. EHRs are designed to allow hospitals to win as many of these incentives as possible. Epic's clinical care modules do this by bombarding doctors with low-quality diagnostic suggestions with "little to do with a patient’s actual condition and risks," leading to "alert fatigue," so doctors miss the important alerts in the storm of nonsense elbow-jostling:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5058605/

Clinicians who actually want to improve the quality of care in their facilities end up recording data manually and keying it into spreadsheets, because they can't get Epic to give them the data they need. Meanwhile, an army of high-priced consultants stand ready to give clinicians advise on getting Epic to do what they need, but can't seem to deliver.

Ironically, one of the benefits that Epic touts is its interoperability: hospitals that buy Epic systems can interconnect those with other Epic systems, and there's a large ecosystem of aftermarket add-ons that work with Epic. But Epic is a product, not a protocol, so its much-touted interop exists entirely on its terms, and at its sufferance. If Epic chooses, a doctor using its products can send files to a doctor using a rival product. But Epic can also veto that activity – and its veto extends to deciding whether a hospital can export their patient records to a competing service and get off Epic altogether.

One major selling point for Epic is its capacity to export "anonymized" data for medical research. Very large patient data-sets like Epic's are reasonably believed to contain many potential medical insights, so medical researchers are very excited at the prospect of interrogating that data.

But Epic's approach – anonymizing files containing the most sensitive information imaginable, about millions of people, and then releasing them to third parties – is a nightmare. "De-identified" data-sets are notoriously vulnerable to "re-identification" and the threat of re-identification only increases every time there's another release or breach, which can used to reveal the identities of people in anonymized records. For example, if you have a database of all the prescribing at a given hospital – a numeric identifier representing the patient, and the time and date when they saw a doctor and got a scrip. At any time in the future, a big location-data breach – say, from Uber or a transit system – can show you which people went back and forth to the hospital at the times that line up with those doctor's appointments, unmasking the person who got abortion meds, cancer meds, psychiatric meds or other sensitive prescriptions.

The fact that anonymized data can – will! – be re-identified doesn't mean we have to give up on the prospect of gleaning insight from medical records. In the UK, the eminent doctor Ben Goldacre and colleagues built an incredible effective, privacy-preserving "trusted research environment" (TRE) to operate on millions of NHS records across a decentralized system of hospitals and trusts without ever moving the data off their own servers:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/08/the-fire-of-orodruin/#are-we-the-baddies

The TRE is an open source, transparent server that accepts complex research questions in the form of database queries. These queries are posted to a public server for peer-review and revision, and when they're ready, the TRE sends them to each of the databases where the records are held. Those databases transmit responses to the TRE, which then publishes them. This has been unimaginably successful: the prototype of the TRE launched during the lockdown generated sixty papers in Nature in a matter of months.

Monopolies are inefficient, and Epic's outmoded and dangerous approach to research, along with the roadblocks it puts in the way of clinical excellence, epitomizes the problems with monopoly. America's health care industry is a dumpster fire from top to bottom – from Medicare Advantage to hospital cartels – and allowing Epic to dominate the EHR market has somehow, incredibly, made that system even worse.

Naturally, Kuttner finishes out his article with some antitrust analysis, sketching out how the Sherman Act could be brought to bear on Epic. Something has to be done. Epic's software is one of the many reasons that MDs are leaving the medical profession in droves.

Epic epitomizes the long-standing class war between doctors who want to take care of their patients and hospital executives who want to make a buck off of those patients.

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/02/upcoded-to-death/#thanks-obama

Image: Flying Logos (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Over_$1,000,000_dollars_in_USD_$100_bill_stacks.png

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

[witchofthevale]

↷ september '23 fave fic recs!⋆☂｡☽˚.

Okay, okay here we go! This nearly killed me to make, so you better read them.

I'm kidding... I think.

Gentle reminder that what I consider 'fave' is by my own personal tastes and preferences, and you might not agree with them and that's okay! These are very lovely authors you can peruse on your own to find the right fic for you, and there are always the tags + algo. Just because your favourite fic isn't here doesn't mean it's not good; it could be potentially for a variety of reasons (I haven't read it yet, I have just not this month, I don't vibe with that character, etc).

That's what I love about the individuality in fandom and writers— there will always be that right fic from that right author that just hits all your good spots.

This is mine. For the month of September. If you find your next favourite fix here— I'm glad! If not, that's still swell! Hope you find it!

To the writers— thank you for writing such brilliant fics! I struggled setting this up because of how many I enjoyed 💝.

Anyways...

More quick reminders!

This is set chronologically; both by character name and by fic title.

If you are familiar with my blog, you will mainly see HOTD, some TLK, then random characters.

There may be smut! There may be dark fiction! I support and consume both! Please read trigger warnings actively! You are responsible for your own person! Community Labels ruin fandom ecosystems, stop snitching! Ignore or block at bloody will!

There are no series parts here. That is in a different display post that is still being processed lol.

If you see repeated author names, it can be numerous things— mostly, they're just that good, okay? Okay.

These are only for September 2023. I've read about 500+ on this account alone, and would die if I tried to go back before then, sorry. You can still check them out through tag navigation here!

I've also added some of my works that I enjoyed writing for the month, because why not.

Now that's fucking over, I hope you enjoy!

ABRAHAM (Grantchester)

*Untitled Piece by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

AEGON TARGARYEN II

Ceilings by @sapphire-writes

Lemon Cake To My Tea by @darlingofvalyria

Merciless or Ruthless? by @lovelykhaleesiii

Moan for Me by @st-eve-barnes

AEMOND TARGARYEN

A Mutual Feeling of Hate by @fan-goddess

Gelato by @oneeyedvisenya

Hell Hath No Fury @fromforeigntofamiliarity

His Love by @valeskafics

I'm A Fire, And I'll Keep Your Brittle Heart Warm by @randomdragonfires

Revolution by @valeskafics

The Black Stag by @darlingofvalyria

Til Death Do Us Part by @asumofwords

Unnerved by @dulcewrites

*Untitled by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

*Untitled by @missglaskin

Vulnerability by @valeskafics

ALDHELM

My Heart by @silens-oro

BILLY TAYLOR

The Perfect Send Off by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

BILLY WASHINGTON

Lonely This Christmas by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

DAEMON TARGARYEN

Ask, and You Shall Receive by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

A Thousand Words by @arabellasleopardcoat

Capital by @arabellasleopardcoat

Curse of Womanhood by @just-some-random-blogger

*Untitled by @barbiedragon

Valyrian Bride by @cryingforlife

HARALD SIGURDSSON

A Political Arrangement by @valeskafics

JACAERYS VELARYON

In Bastards of Blue, Wager in War by @darlingofvalyria

MAEGOR TARGARYEN

Little Lights by @dreamsofoldvalyria

OSFERTH

Lacnunga, Or, Remedy by @assortedseaglass

SIGTRYGGR IVARSSON

Little Warrior by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

SIHTRIC KJARTANSSON

Hours by @valeskafics

It's Urgent Darling by @sihtricfedaraaahvicius

Take No Wife by @valeskafics

TOM BENNETT

A Good Wife by @valeskafics

Rest by @fidelias

VISERYS TARGARYEN III

*Untitled by @barbiedragon

MULTIPLE CHARACTERS

Conquerors Reborn by @undertheorangetree | Helaena, Aemond x Reader

El Tango De Roxanne by @valeskafics | Jace, Aemond x Reader

Royalty Fucked by @oorhaellaoo | Baelon, Alyssa x Reader

[the-sunhold-coven]

Just started reading and by God it's amazing ! Love your writing style, very cool. I would give the world for our little Lady. Can't wait for more ! I bet i'll have plenty of fun theories for ya pretty soon ! This being said, I would absolutely make a revolution happen. That damn king. He done fucked up. I'll become a medium just so I can snitch to his wife and she can shake his little fucking head like a goddamn maraca.

Thank you, that's so nice to hear! ❤️

Lady is a treasure, there will be more dog content in future updates where you get to treat her with all the love she deserves.

I'd love to hear about any theories you come up with! Seeing my story from a different perspective would be so fun.

The king has fucked up big time, yes. On some level, he knows that he has and that the person his wife married would never have acted as he has. The problem is that his heart died along with his wife.

[optical-vagueness]

Ok so while my compooter is being repaired, let's put some thoughts about Lauren aka mommy Mother Lauren.

As some of you have said before, it appears that Lauren was the owner of Strexcorp. Kevin was the founder of the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God. It is unclear when did Kevin changed into what he is now. On It Devours! it's implied that Kevin went to the DOW before the Strex arc on WTNV, met the Centipede, and founded the Congregation. I personally think that from then on, he was kind of like Jekyll and Hyde and he both wanted to keep his radio show and to dominate Desert Bluffs with a religious capitalist corporation so everyone would share his beliefs.

If that is the case, then Lauren helped him. And, when Strexcorp took over, they apparently co-managed it, along with all of Desert Bluffs. They struggled with power but still, Lauren was above Kevin.

After Night Vale made a revolution and both Kevin and Lauren got sent into the DOW, Kevin made his own town out of nothing. Or, well, he did after Carlos left. So it makes sense he would be above Lauren. And, being Lauren superior to him before, it makes sense that it was more tense between them.

Until all that Thing happened and Lauren got the frown tatoo and got banished from Desert Bluffs Too.

Imagine being first, the owner of a big company, then, of an entire city. Then that city conquered another and you were, legally, the owner of that city, too. Then it all is snitched from your hands. You lose it all and you're in a desert where you don't feel hunger or thirst, and there's this fucking lighthouse you can't get away from. You spend some time in that goddamned awful place until you notice that your former employee who you shared ownership of your company and everything you had before with, has founded a new town, but he won't share it with you. He's your boss now.

It would suck.

And then, from an order you received from him, you get mocked and hated by this new community. And while that bastard is happy building his adoration pit and being happy with his boyfriend, you're being tattooed a permanent frown on your face, losing whatever little power you got to recover and being banished from the new town.

I believe that, after all the traumatizing Experience of being thrown into the DOW, Lauren just wanted to be loved. To feel the sense of community she thought she felt before. But she wasn't loved. She then was hated and rejected. So, being that new society a religious one, a way of being loved could be through religion.

And so she became Mother Lauren. First, being the High Priestess — probably the equivalent of the Pope. She would have had to ascend slowly through different ranks to get to that point. So she built that image by herself, and she did that so other people would love her. To connect with others.

But now? Now it seems like Mother Lauren, apparently the counterpart of Huntokar, has possessed her like Huntokar did with Susan Willman.

And, it looks like Mother Lauren is the og Smiling God.

It's like. Huntokar said that while Night Vale used bloodstones to adore her, they didn't know it was she who they were adoring. In the same way, people from Desert Bluffs adored the Centipede without knowing it was Mother Lauren who they were really worshipping. And it makes sense. Total sense in fact. Because, after reading It Devours!, there was something that I couldn't sit with. Darryl & Co. continued worshipping the Smiling God, even after Carlos killed what they thought was the Smiling God, the Centipede. It made a bit of sense, because religion is about community and faith. That's why I also thought that you can't kill a god. Because belief in a deity is about faith. And, if the group shares the belief that it's not dead, then it's still alive.

The only ones that witnessed the burning of the Centipede were Nilanjana, Darryl & Co, so it wouldn't make sense that other worshipping sites believed in the death of their god: it should still be alive. Science can't kill a god. The only thing able to "kill" a god is another god, or another belief.

The Centipede was the manifestation of the Smiling God. Kind of like Jesus was the manifestation of God. In the last episode, I think I heard something about there being more existing centipedes (in It Devours!, the characters haven't seen another centipede). Again, kind of like Jesus was also a man, and there exist other human men.

All this to say that, based on the descriptions of the last episode, we know Lauren has lost control of herself. She's no longer Lauren Mallard. She's Mother Lauren. And, based on the descriptions of the last episode, Mother Lauren is becoming her manifestation. She's turning into a Centipede.

[prelude-magazine]

*PRELUDE MAGAZINE PRESENTS VIVA LA REVOLUTION!!!! (Exclusively on NamiComi) a one shot inspired by many things but more specifically, SHOWA 99 aka, Jet Set Radio. MAIN CHARACTERS - - - #13, Masked Menace:

The Masked Menace #13, and his gang the Crimson Hearts are going up the ranks quicker than any group in the Central Americana!

As they pursue their rank up match, they get ambushed by the police getting snitched on by the rival group they were going to face. It all goes south as the captain of the force comes in and attempts to disband the group as a whole to give his last day as captain a "bang."

With this #13 seeks a opening to free his friends only for the captain to react quickly to shoot him to the back of his head, rendering him unconscious for the time being until he dies. Leaving his crew traumatized and crying for him to get up.

But as the police clean up the site, they didn't bother taking #13's body, trashing him in a corner of an alley way letting him rot to death until a he hears a voice reaching out to him in his mind. . . .

Copguy ( Captain Ogendaka)

A young recent hire to be the replacement as a police captain due to his uncle forcing him to take his place while he retires, telling him "use it as a way to rebuild yourself, your wife would want the better for you. . ." his wife being dead, passing away during a modern day genocidal crisis, leaving him mourning for her for 3 years while trying to cope with the two things that brought them together, Anime and Video Games, re watching old shows and playing the games he remembered playing with his distant wife before her passing, until his Uncle comes in and forces the job as Police Captain to him. . .

END OF BROADCAST. . . STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFO LATER ALSO CAUSE IM TIRED SORRY GOTTA EEP

[ic-napology]

I'm back talking about Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story✨️

At first I had a problem with how inaccurate it is in so many points, yet now I think that almost every inaccuracy seems to serve a justifiable purpose. Much like in The Gladiator, whose story is good even if it's based in historical inaccuracies. That's what sells this miniseries to me anyway.

The most blatant example of this is the premise, in the first episode: Robespierre being a delulu megalomaniac, Napoleon being openly critical of him thus being sent to prison, while they supported each other's work in real life, and circumstances behind Napoleon's arrest are linked to the Terror's end instead.

Why do I find this justifiable nonetheless? Because first of all, this miniseries caters to a broad audience and its main purpose clearly is to tell a good romantic story with a historical setting, not to give you a documentary. That's the reason behind Bridgerton popularity too. I empathise with Robespierre fans over there, but a generic viewer is more likely to have a stereotypical view on French Revolution where he's cast as a flat main villain, so Napoleon could not be his supporter, being the male lead.

Another inaccuracy is the Bonaparte family still living in Corsica at the time of Napoleon's marriage. Showing them living in Marseille with no context would have been confusing. So Napoleon is Corsican, then why does his family live in France too? But also explaining that they were forced to escape from Corsica by Paoli - thus explaining Corsica's political situation - that would have been too complex and "useless" for the main story, since everything happened years prior to its beginning.

I'm still sad that Napoleon has not a great background story set here though, just some tips mentioned. We do get to know Josephine's full story and its emotional impact on her is crystal clear. I love how Napoleon is portrayed here as a character, but you don't get to know where does his ambition come from. What does give him that energy, what does he believe in and why?

So I see these as more of historical simplifications rather than blatant inaccuracies. I see thoughts behind it. Fleshing out things like these would have required a ton of explanation, but that was just the premise to another whole story, which has to be set in a short time on a script. I wouldn't say it's an impossible task though.

So storytelling-wise, I see a point in this inaccuracy, despite disliking it and finding it hugely misleading.

This miniseries also puts attention to details and facts that other movies may ignore instead. One example of this is the fact that Napoleon and Josephine had to marry a second time before the coronation, thanks to Josephine's snitching to the Pope about their only civil marriage. Little Hortense teaching him to dance is a playful nod to the fact that she actually tried that as an adult before Napoleon got married a second time. Josephine's talent on the billiard table is mentioned and useful to set her interactions with Charles. These bits are loveable for those who are passionate and create a more lively story for those who are new.

What do you think?

[handeaux]

A Secret Organization Scoured Cincinnati For Bolsheviks But Found Only A Schoolgirl

It is inevitable, once you have created an organization to snitch on your neighbors, that you will find neighbors to snitch on. So it was with the American Protective League.

The American Protective League emerged from the jingoistic fervor that gripped America during the First World War. According to Steven L. Wright [Queen City Heritage, Winter 1988]:

“The American Protective League (APL) organized in Chicago in March 1917, had units in 600 cities and a membership roster of nearly 100,000. And by 1918 membership had grown to 250,000. Its membership consisted of bankers, businessmen, attorneys, chamber of commerce leaders and insurance company executives. Because of their ‘high’ position, they easily obtained information concerning ‘troublesome’ citizens, especially those who opposed the draft.”

Nationally, the APL received quasi-legal status as an affiliate of the federal Department of Justice. Locally, the Cincinnati branch of the APL was instrumental in arresting thirteen socialists who were charged with treason for circulating literature opposed to the military draft. Those charges would eventually be dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1924.

With the conclusion of hostilities, the APL technically disbanded on 31 January 1919 when Gerson J. Brown, the wholesale tobacconist who led the Cincinnati chapter, turned over all League records to Calvin S. Weakley, special agent of the Department of Justice. Even though the organization ceased to exist, however, some members insisted on carrying on the work of the League. Germany’s surrender had revealed, according to these men, a new and even more sinister enemy working to conquer America – Bolshevism. John L. Richey, head of the Cincinnati Association of Credit Men, announced through several very public speeches that his position as chief investigator of the American Protective League had revealed to him that Bolshevism was alive and well in Cincinnati. According to the Enquirer [9 January 1919]:

“Mr. Richey declared speakers at recent meetings in Cincinnati had advocated immediate revolution and deliberate assassination of public officials who could not be influenced as part of the Bolshevist doctrine. There has been an increase, Mr. Richey said, in the Bolshevist movement in Cincinnati from 500 members 60 days ago, to a membership of a few more than 3,000 today.”

Not quite a week later, the Cincinnati Post [14 January 1919] announced that Richey now estimated a Cincinnati cabal of Bolshevists, International Workers of the World, and various other radical fellow travelers had more than 7,000 members. Richey pledged to continue his investigative work in Cincinnati despite the dissolution of the American Protective League through a new “secret patriotic organization.” According to Richey:

“Members of these groups of radicals, or revolutionists, are guided by a national head, who directs from New York and Philadelphia. Cincinnatians in the organizations principally are foreign born. There are Germans, Italians, Russians, and Hungarians, with some malcontent Americans.”

In a statement that foreshadowed the Red-baiting tactics of Senator Joseph McCarthy thirty years later, Richey predicted that eight to ten Cincinnati officials would soon resign once the Justice Department digested the reports submitted by the American Protective League. By February 1919, Richey’s estimate of Cincinnati radicals had reached 10,000, holding regular meetings to urge the “seizure of banks, manufacturing plants, and private property.”

Richey repeatedly asserted that the Cincinnati Board of Education fanned the flames of Bolshevism here by allowing teachers to spread radical propaganda. After all his stomping and fuming, Richey had trouble producing a single Bolshevik. Nevertheless, he told the Cincinnati Post [3 February 1919], he knew exactly where to find one:

“The home of a Cincinnati school girl, the alleged meeting place of supporters of Bolshevism, is being watched by the secret patriotic organization of which John L. Richey is head, he said Monday. Richey told of existence of a Bolshevik school where students are taught principles of Bolshevism and urged to spread them in educational institutions. A Woodward High School pupil is leader in the movement, according to Richey.”

The moment Richey made that accusation, the city turned against him and his “secret patriotic organization.” The pupil in question was Rose Simkin, aged 19, who had immigrated from Russia six years earlier. Since that time, she had been employed at the Cross Overall Company while studying in the morning before work and in the evening after work at Woodward High School, hoping to earn citizenship. She told the Post [7 February 1919]:

“I hardly know what Bolshevism means. I am an American. I didn’t even know it was I who was being talked about until told so by the school authorities. Ever since I have been in America and lived in this free country I have thought of nothing except what a wonderful land this is.”

Miss Simkin pointed to her bookshelves, filled with volumes by Poe, Shakespeare and other classic authors and defied Richey to find any hint of subversive literature.

Helen T. Wooley of the Cincinnati School Board was outraged by Richey’s accusations against Rose Simkin.

“There has been excessive zeal in trying to uncover un-American plots and in this case they have hit an innocent girl.”

The American Israelite pointed out that Rose Simkin’s brothers were serving in Palestine as part of the British army there and that Richey may not have known the difference between Zionism and Bolshevism – a not-so-subtle accusation of anti-Semitism. Mainline organizations such as the City Club and the Women’s City Club passed resolutions condemning Richey’s accusations.

As the Simkin debacle faded, so did Richey’s “secret patriotic organization.” When Richey died in 1962, his obituary made no mention of the American Protective League or his secret organization.

In 1920, Rose Simkin married Edward Trieman, her father’s partner in a Race Street haberdashery. She lived to be 70 and gave birth to a son who became a doctor. Her tombstone identifies her as “A Devoted Daughter In Israel.”

[gayisslayyyy]

Please pick a angst AU!!!

Ok thanks you for filling out the poll. The poll will be up for the next 5 days if you haven't and would like to do so

Ok a have a few au that I would like to talk about but let's start with one. I will list some and you please tell me which one you want to hear more about, make art of, and maybe even RP if people like it.

Court jester AU. Court jester AU is a au after the prison. Dream has full power and is working with XD and punz and others. The land is in complete chaos and ruin. Each do there thing kind of but Dream is like the king. Dream has Tommy in his possession and Tommy is his court jester. In this Tommy is the son of creation so Dream drained Tommy's power, took the disc (which where a gift from Mumza) and he is now his prisoner. There are a few others Dream would love to have in his possession but most are in hiding. George is like XD's pet because George sold his soul to heal the sickness he had. George is seen as a traitor because he helped XD take over by snitching and cowering behind him. Most every one in this au is a villain of some kind. There are lots of other characters I didn't say but that's the bass line.

2. Asylum AU. After L'manburgs defeat in battle shit goes down. Eret manipulates and tell others about Wilbur. Eret was very close to Wilbur during the revolution so they knew his weakness and stuff. Others see Wilbur as he falls in a state of depression, anger and even some say insanity. Eventually Eret and Dream get everything they need to lock him up in a asylum. This is a abusive Eret x Wilbur au so he is abused by Eret who goes to visit him and the doctors in the asylum. After that he goes even more mad and gets some new ideas.

[ladyhawke]

i’m finishing episode 9 of fathoms deep and literally had to pause because their reading of max is just so fucking wrong!!!! they say they love her but they don’t seem to understand her at all

they’re claiming she’s different from silver because silver only cares about himself and max cares about other because she cared about eleanor. like we didn’t just see her snitching on the other whores to jack because it would benefit her. in later seasons she’s the one mining the chances of the revolution happening. the former whore who happens to be a black woman.

it’s about how she understands power and uses it to her advantage which is why she survives but it’s not honorable, is she the most intelligent person in the whole show? yes but she is questionable and that’s why she’s an interesting character and if you can’t see her for what she is then you can’t really love her

[rosesnink]

The Other Woman

Author’s Notes 

Aaaand we’re back on TCH stuff!! This story is not my favourite, but it’s been fun to explore. As I said in the fic, I am not justifying Roselyn’s behaviour, but rather looking for a reason on why she acted like that and understand her point of view as a writer. Make it make sense, unlike PB here. 

English is not my first language, so please forgive any typos/grammar mistake I might’ve made. 

If you want to read the whole story, here’s the link! 

I will be publishing stories like these of other characters this week, like Miss Sutton or Edmund, so stay tuned for more! 

Summary: Roselyn tells us her side of the story 

Word Count: 2.9k 

Category: Angst 

Pairing: Roselyn Sinclaire, Ernest Sinclaire, Duke Richards 

Rating: PG-13 

Warnings: Death, grief, adultery, strong language and major death character 

Book: Desire and Decorum 

1796, Paris, France

The young Roselyn D’Ouleur played with her doll, watching as her mother sighed, looking at the family’s books. It was late at night, and the French Revolution was at its peak. What was worse, the prosecution towards nobles was worse than ever and Madame Guillotine was stronger than ever. Though, young Roselyn was suspicious, but her brother Renard was getting even more suspicious.

Suddenly, their father, Henri, came into the house, panting “Quick, we need to pick out the essentials and get into a boat now!”

Pierre, who was eleven, frowned “But Papa, we thought we wouldn’t go until next week!”

“Someone snitched on us and the revolutionaries are on their way here! Odette, quick, pack Rosie’s things and get her dressed, we don’t have much time!”

Odette nodded and picked up little Roselyn, who clung to her mother for dear life. The rebels would be here soon, and to say that she was scared was an understatement “We’re leaving for London. We’ll be safer there.”

And with that, they left in the eerie French morning. Roselyn wagered it was past 2 a.m., the latest she’d been up. They had a trusted friend who took them to Normandy in three days. After that, in the eve of the morning, Roselyn and Renard both embarked, with her mother on tow… when they heard their father crying out to get into be boat immediately. The royalist resistance knew that they had to go now, and so they did. Some former soldiers of the king prepared to fight in case any revolutionary dared come aboard. Roselyn would never forget the grotesque image before her: her father, fending off armed soldiers… who shot him and started to strip him to get some goods. Her mother Odette was quick to take the young girl inside the boat, where they had to share a room.

Roselyn swore that she’d never go back there. And she heard her brothers swear that he’d soon get his revenge.

1804

It had been nine years since they had left from France, and Renard had heard that Napoleon had crowned himself emperor and would restore the lost titles. With that, despite being quite young, he was the heir to the estate that awaited them back in France. The D’Ouleur fortune belonged to him. And thus, she was in on the coasts to Tilbury, bidding her brother goodbye. She kissed his cheek and wept “Please tell me you’ll write to me, brother.”

“But of course, dear sister. I will send you and mother money. Now, obey mama and make papa proud from you, alright?”

She nodded and hugged him before he was rushed into the boat. As they went back to the carriage, Odette wiped her daughter’s tears, who was but eleven years old. Poor child, she thought.

When they arrived at their modest house, her mother turned to truly gaze at her, motioning her to sit. She had stopped crying as they reached the house. When the servants were gone, she started speaking “As you know, we are all alone here. Until then, there are two things you’ll soon learn about life: that it’s never fair to us ladies, and that the only way to survive resides in the coin. The more money you have, the better. It’s not the same being unhappy but have everyone at your command than being unhappy and hungry. Soon nature will choose you to bleed, and when you do, your childhood will be over. I will make of you a lady who can get the wealthiest man of the ton, I promise you.”

“What about love?” She whispered.

“You can grow to love your rich, titled husband, dear. That’s what I did back in the day. I saw a rich man, married him, and loved him through my children. It’s what we’ve been doing since the coin came into the human lives. You shall do the same, my dear.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“You’ll wise up, and will realise to thank your wealthy husband not to be hungry or ask for something, you’ll see. If you can score one rich man who’s also kind, then you will have won the game, dearest. Those savages on rags wanted us dead because they’re envious of us. Thankfully, Napoleon has put them in their place. All you need in this life is wealth, a husband who does not lift his hand, and a son to continue on what you’ve started.”

1809

In five years, Roselyn had been training every day. The arts of a lady, a socialite, managing a household… and know when a man was truly rich and when he was simply bluffing. Her mother had made connections, and had listed a few honest men who possessed enough wealth to make her daughter’s life content. But Roselyn thought different. Why not being a wealthy, titled woman? She had that ambition.

After the period of mourning of her main suitor, Mr. Ernest Sinclaire, was over, she had been looking for someone, anyone with a title. She had wondered often. Someone close to power. She did feel guilty, though, and not deserving of Mr. Sinclaire. He was wise, smart, kind, generous and did look like he liked her very much. She did not deserve his spoils. Or him, for that matter.

She was genuinely surprised that he liked her, enough to dine with his mother—his father had died years ago rather mysteriously—and his mother eyed her suspiciously and made remarks of how she expected her to return the feelings. Surely she could fall for a rich man like heroines do in the books?

He was the perfect match, and he seemed like he actually liked being with her and talk to her. Her mother agreed. He was the best bachelor.

During the dinner before their wedding, some illustrious friends of her fiancé came. One of them a duke! Roselyn thought that all dukes were taken. This one hasn’t married once!

“Your Grace, may I present my future wife, Roselyn D’Ouleur?”

She bowed, giving him a seductive smile. He seemed to catch her meaning and kissed her hand “How do you do, Miss?”

“I am fine, especially now that all our illustrious guests are here.”

Ernest smiled at her, but her gaze was fixed on the duke. Sure, he was a bit grey and rogued, but oh, the titles, money, lifestyle… perhaps she’d find a way to get out of this engagement? It wasn’t uncommon for women to back out… at least in France.

As the men left to cigars and cards, with Ernest already there, the duke approached her “I’m glad that my friend has found a suitable woman for him. Perhaps… you’d like a visit, eh?”

She giggled “I’d love nothing more, Your Grace.”

“Meet me here in two hours, sweet nightingale.”

1810

Roselyn was full of guilt. She had been too much of a coward to tell Ernest she had cold feet, for the duke had persuaded her to stay married to him. The encounters had been frequent, while Ernest and Mr. Chambers dealt with the creepy viscount, she had some spicy escapades with the duke. It had been going on ever since, and summer was nearing.

Her husband was confused on why she didn’t have any marital appetite for him, but was respectful, waiting for her to come to him on her own account. The reason? She found it quite rude to have someone on your mind while you were with another. Maybe she was a dirty, shameful cheater, but she had some morals left. What was worse, she started to feel sick. Really sick. Maybe it was guilt and shame, building up.

But the fateful night of Ernest finding out the worst was possibly come, and she couldn’t stand seeing her kind husband looking at her with hate. She had gone back to her mother’s house, and when she finished telling the tale, her mother didn’t respond.

Instead, she got up and smacked her across the face!

“Stupid girl! How could you be so… so careless! In his dining room, a public place! I told you to back out, but turns out I have raised a fool instead of a smart girl! All the money your father left us, wasted for nothing!”

She had been trembling and sobbing the entire time “Maman, please!”

“Get out! You are not my daughter anymore!” She called out “Boys! Take this shameful girl out of my house and don’t let her in!”

“NO! NO! MAMAN, PLEASE, I NEED YOU! NOOO!” She cried out, her screech waking the entire neighbourhood.

She didn’t know how much time has passed, but a kind woman of a brothel had taken her in, attending her. Her name, was, if she remembered correctly, Marianna. Such a kind and tender woman for a low rank. Maybe Ernest was right and these women deserved equal respect.

“There is something you must know.”

“Hm?”

Marianna bit her lip “…You’re pregnant, Mrs. Sinclaire.”

She stood there in shock for a few minutes before breaking into sobs. It certainly hadn’t been her husband’s, and she knew that Marianna knew. What had she done? Her husband would never take her in…

“He should know.”

“The father? Or my husband?”

“Both, madame.”

After a few more crying, she finally calmed down. She had to tell Tristan first. Perhaps she could remarry and finally be his duchess, like he promised!

She rushed towards his townhouse, and entered as usual to his office. What she saw broke her: at least two girls, younger than her and half naked, kissing the duke.

“Oh my god! Oh my god! What is this?!”

“Roselyn? What the fuck! Shouldn’t you be with your husband.”

After taking a few deep breaths, she slammed the door closed and pointed at him “Just when I was about to tell you that I am bearing your child, I find you wenching with these… these!” She cried out, pointing at the prostitutes.

“Girls, wait for me in the bedroom.” He ordered calmly. He got up and smirked “What makes you think that bastard is mine? Knowing you, you’ve been with half the men of this neighbourhood alone.”

“It’s not true, because you monopolized me! You held me in your arms and told me you loved me, that I was your one true love and your rightful duchess!”

He laughed out loud “And you believed that?

“I’m just another fuck for you, am I not? Does it not matter to you that your child—”

“You’re so sure it’s mine, it’s embarrassing. I want nothing to do with your sinful child or you ever again.”

She got on her knees “Tristan, please!” She cried out as the guard carried her out “I BESEECH YOU!” She cried out, her cries so loud the girls he was with looked at her, pity in her eyes.

She didn’t know how much time she had been walking, or that she knocked on one door. When her husband opened, dumbfounded, no doubt, he asked coldly “Why are you here?”

“My mother kicked me out. The duke hates me. And… I am with child. The duke’s child. Please, Ernest, if you ever loved me, even if it was for a single moment…” She sobbed “I promise not to disarray anymore. I will do your bidding. Just… please, don’t turn your back on me.”

There was a sepulchral silence before he sighed, opening the door and beckoning her inside “Do I have your word, Roselyn?”

She nodded, still sobbing “You do.”

“Take the guest room upstairs. I will ready everything.”

He was about to start going upstairs when she asked “Do you hate me, Ernest?”

“…I don’t know what to feel right now.”

1811

Time had passed, and her belly grew… as well as the people’s talk. Ernest avoided her or showing her off at all. He no longer called her “my dearest wife”. He instead called her “Mrs. Sinclaire”. She didn’t know which one hurt more.

Sometimes, when she went looking for a late night craving, she could tell that he was dreaming of someone. A woman. She didn’t have a name, but she hated her already. And she confronted him about it “Is there another woman in your life, Ernest?”

He nearly choked on his scone “Pardon?”

“Who is she, Ernest?” She demanded.

“There is nobody.”

“Oh yeah, and those dreams, huh?!”

He looked at her coldly “They are that, dreams. Just illusions. But I assure you, unlike you, I have kept my wedding vows.”

She flinched and looked down “I’m sorry, I know that it is hypocritical of me, and that you have needs… needs I have unattended.”

“Even if I did… I won’t have an affair.”

“Thank you.”

Something in his eyes flickered “One shouldn’t thank their spouse for being faithful. It’s the bare necessities.”

With that, he wiped off the crumbs and left again to his study.

The moment the door closed; she broke into sobs again.

The night of the birth, Roselyn woke up knowing that something would go wrong. Clearly, God did not want her sin to succeed. She could feel it in her bones. She didn’t dare tell Ernest. He had enough burdens. She didn’t like the idea of him moving on or remarrying if she died, but she probably deserved it.

The birth was a complicated one, and Roselyn felt number as the hours passed and the baby was closer to be born. She looked at the midwife and whispered “One of us will die, won’t we?”

“Probably.”

And so, she closed her eyes and started praying: O’ God, I beg of you, let this child be born healthy and fine. Take me instead. I am the sinner here. Give this boy a life and someone who can love him. I promise that you will never reproach me if you choose me to be in your paradise, and I promise to be good. I beseech you to have mercy upon my poor, clueless baby.

And, suddenly, with the cries of her baby, she started seeing a light. And someone “It is time, Rosie.”

“It’s a boy, madame.” The midwife declared.

The accoucheur disappeared for a bit before her husband came in. They talked, and she looked down onto her son “Mon bebe. J’et aime…” She sighed, and allowed her father to carry her with him.

When she opened her eyes, she was back in France, but it remained the same one of her father’s times. No revolutionaries, no Madame Guillotine, only the France she ever wanted to live… and her father and brother by her side. She didn’t even ask why he was there. They just hugged, enjoying this bliss that she was certain it’d last forever this time.

My name is Roselyn Lilou D’Ouleur. I was born in a spring of 1792 in France. I was clueless at the time of the turmoil surrounding it, and what an historic event would play in it.

I saw my father die by the revolutionaries. I never knew until later how poor our family became because of it. My mother sent our brother away to fight for the future Emperor Napoleon. I never saw him until it was too late for the both of us.

My mother trained me to make a wealthy man fall in love with me, and that I did, marrying Mr. Ernest Sinclaire of Ledford Park in 1809. He was kind, smart, maybe too smart, loving and simply the best man I’ve ever met. I confess I was never a good wife. I tried my best, but I was caught in a scandalous affair with Tristan Richards, Duke of Karlington. His money and power attracted me, as Icarus was attracted to the sun, and like him, I too got burnt, falling pregnant with his baby as well.

My husband was perhaps too kind for letting me back into his house and have the baby. I tried to win him back, but he hated me already. I know he did. But he never said anything, because his heart is bigger than hatred itself. He took care of me, despite being petty and entitled to a privilege I lost the first day I lay with the duke. If I could go back and smack myself and tell myself to stay married to Ernest, I would. We would’ve worked as a couple, were it not for my endless greed and ambition.

On the 5th of April, 1811, I gave birth to my only child, Percival. I told my husband that, were he to want him, he’d be all his. He deserves someone who will love him. I know that he will ask for nothing, and perhaps Ernest will find someone who will make him happier and give him the life he deserves.

My name is Roselyn, the unfaithful woman, the forgotten wife of Ernest Sinclaire, the traitorous and backstabbing wife who preferred money to a good man. The forgotten mother of Percival whom he’ll never get to know. I am one of the greatest sinners of my time, and this is my story.

I don’t ask anyone to justify me, or tell me I did to survive. I only ask that you look onto yourselves and ask yourself this: in my stead, what would have you done in order to survive a world that is cruel and merciless to women like me?

Would you have submitted to your family’s ambition, or you would’ve stayed in your place? Would I do it all over again? That is a question for another tale.

[eyes-of-nine]

question 17 & 18 for .... ALL of them!! :3 i wanna know more bout them all :'D

(but also of course u can also just choose to answer this question for only some of them that u wanna answer it for)

AHFDGGADFH ELLY!! i'll try to keep the intros really really short bc there's quite a few

17.Are they easily embarrassed?

18.What embarrasses them?

Asher (annoying guy with light powers who thinks he can out manipulate everyone.... he can't) i don't think he's easily embarrassed on most occasions, especially with the shit he pulls off, but there are some exceptions. The biggest thing you could embarrass them with is a big spoiler but let's just say an indirect compliment could make him scream internally.

Mitchell (champion of the Ennoia of Desire, he basically gets to be almost immortal as long as he does the gods' dirty work) easily the most embarrassible (??) one out of the ashmix trio. My man cringes every time he has to hold a conversation with anyone. Pointing out basically anything he does whether positive or negative would do the trick. He is very confused when ppl can perceive him.

Phoenix (is having the worst time bc suddenly and for seemingly no reason she might be able to destroy the world and not a lot of ppl are happy about it) Girl has NO SHAME. It would be impressive to get her to show any sort of embarrassment. ...maybe except for the fact she has like -7 perception or the fact her and Theo met bc she broke his nose after he snitched on her for skipping class.

Theo ( just some guy helping his sister run a cafe, saving up for top surgery and suffering bc he's best friends with Phoenix and that means he doesn't get to know peace...ever) He has a pretty decent grasp on his emotions so it's not THAT EASY to embarrass him. He does tend to put other's needs before his own tho so I think just making him the center of attention for long enough would be enough

Star (Theo's oldest friend and a chaos gremlin who runs around using the fact that nobody suspects a small almost blind guy of smuggling illegal shit to, well, do exactly that) He's not someone who likes to show weakness, thanks to the social circles he tends to deal with, so he hides his embarrassment behind hostility. You could not tell if anything affects him or not. But there are some that tend to hit him hard. Specifically his financial situation or his ability/the reason his eyesight is fucked. He'd dislike you for it tho.

Taru-zai (Ennoia of Time and Space, in charge of running the jail between worlds and hunt down possible dangers to the order of the world) No.

Desiderem (Ennoia of Desire, consists of two incarnations: Rem the previous Ennoia of Desire who well is very dead and Des, the current desire incarnate and Mitchell's patron) almost impossible tho they do have a soft spot for their champions which is very not indifferent higher being of them

Different universe time babey!!

Harlow (girl turned android war machine/bodyguard who after a failed android revolution that she barely escaped alive is forced to pick up pieces of her broken life back together on a desolate planet) Girlie should be happy she can't blush any more bc she would look like a tomato 24/7. If you mention anything about her not being a stoic, cold-blooded get things done no matter the cost war machine, it's over for her which looking at her choice of travel companion, she's fucked.

Caitlyn (buff himbo who sees the best in everyone until they hurt someone she cares about, running around a desert planet scavenging to help out her family and Harlow's great choice of travel companion) Not really. She's a very earnest person and rarely feels like she needs to hide something. She does get embarrassed if you use her full name instead of her super cool definitely didn't think of it in middle school nickname Cai. i love her sm

last character and last universe

Maddy (a young medium who just graduated high school and is, to her annoyance, full-time pinning over the ghost of her best friend's gf while also trying to solve her murder. just think ultimate trio of disaster lesbians) She's a bit awkward, like most teenagers/ just freshly out of high school ppl tend to be. She has a dad who loves to tease her and well looking at the bio, embarrassing her isn't that hard

oc asks

[carewyncromwell]

🖊️ for Jackson, Bat and Carewyn?

🖊 Jackson Knightly

When Jackson put on the Sorting Hat, it was on his head less than ten seconds before declaring “SLYTHERIN!” Afterwards Jackson — whose curiosity is only matched by his charm and propensity for mischief — actually swiped the Hat for an afternoon so as to have a more amiable chat with it. After all, as Jackson said at the time, “it would be ungentlemanly to simply make use of your services and then part without proper gratitude — especially when you undoubtedly would be an endless fountain of stimulating conversation!”

🖊 Bartholomew “Bat” Varney

Bat has always been a scholar, but at school, his reputation was more that of a jock, since he was Ravenclaw’s Star Chaser and so modest about his good grades. Even before he started at Hogwarts, he was known for being an excellent shot, both with a rifle and in archery. Those skills would only improve when he joined the Muggle British Army during the American Revolution.

🖊 Carewyn Cromwell

Carewyn started participating in Quidditch friendlies with Gryffindor’s Star Seeker Charlie not long after attending her first one as an observer with Penny. It ended up being one of the places Carewyn spent the most time with Charlie, Andre, and Orion over her school career — she loved playing alongside them during friendly matches. Whenever Carewyn and Charlie were on the same team, Carewyn would sometimes help out her fellow Fireball by flying with the Quaffle right past the opposing Seeker, so as to either block them or make them slam on the brakes, which could give Charlie a head start on catching the Snitch first. Whenever Andre and Carewyn were on the same team with Andre as Keeper, Carewyn would stay close to Andre a lot of the time so as to help block the hoops and to immediately snag the Quaffle after Andre blocked an opposing player’s shot. When Orion and Carewyn were on the same team…oh, good God. Orion, being Slytherin’s resident Quidditch prodigy, would play more than just Chaser during friendlies, so depending on the position he chose, he and Carewyn could kick your arse in a variety of ways. If Orion was Beater, he’d protect Carewyn with a surprising amount of fire for how straight-faced and chill he looked — honestly, even while a Chaser or Seeker, he’d frequently get the Beater on his friendly team to pass him his bat so as to protect himself and/or his teammates from Bludgers. If Orion was Keeper, he’d surf on his broom almost the entire time, even swinging off the hoops and then back onto his broom to block goals and kicking the Quaffle to Carewyn with one foot while balancing on his broom with the other. If Orion was Seeker, he’d often fake out the opposing Seeker multiple times before actually catching it, just to wear down their stamina. And if Carewyn and Orion were both Chasers, the opposing team would just about always lose by at least 50 points, even with the Snitch, thanks to how in-sync the two were flying together and how easily they could broom surf over everyone’s heads.

Send me a "🖊+an OC" and I will talk about that OC!

[spacefinch]

Incorrect Magic School Bus, part 6? 5? 4? I'm not keeping count

The crew playing (translation: cheating at) chess:

Tim: Ohhh would you look at that, my pawns found Jesus and now they’re all bishops.

Carlos: So I realize it looks like I’m putting a thimble on the board, but actually my rooks have been using their downtime to build another rook, one that’s better, stronger, faster—

Keesha: It looks like you have my king cornered… Maybe this is a good time to mention that shortly before we started playing, my pawns and knights revolted and instituted a representative democracy. Feel free to kill the puppet ruler that was the one remaining vestige of our tyranny, you cringing servant of the crown. Vive la revolution! 

Dorothy Ann: Sorry, your kingdom experienced a debilitating outbreak of plague and now your defenses are shattered, leaving the board open for my rampaging forces. Checkmate.

Wanda: While you were capturing the queen, my pawns have invoked an ancient ritual, summoning the hand of God to destroy their enemies *brushes pieces off the board*

Arnold (seeing a snake): IT SLITHERS

Phoebe: Relax

Arnold: NEVER

Phoebe: The creature's fear of you exceeds your fear of it

Arnold: You wildly underestimate my fear

Dorothy Ann: Is there anything better than pussy?

Dorothy Ann: Yes, a really good book

Keesha: Tumblr is just talking to yourself but for an audience.

Carlos: That's called a soliloquy.

Keesha: Found the theater kid. Get 'em, boys.

Ralphie: How do we know YOU’RE not a theater kid?

Keesha: I’M AN ENGLISH LIT MAJOR, YOUR HONOR

Carlos: We can bake these cookies at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, or 4,000 degrees for 1 minute.

D.A.: No, that's not how you make cookies.

Mikey, zipping into the room: FLOOR IT!

Carlos: How about 4,000,000 degrees for 1 second?!

D.A.: You're GOING to burn the building down.

Carlos: I'M GONNA HARNESS THE POWER OF THE SUN TO MAKE THESE COOKIES!

Mikey: DO IT!

D.A.: NO.

Wanda: Yes, I’m a girl. Yes, I steal sandwich bags from Burger King. We exist.

Ralphie: [replies with social media handles of several Burger King locations]

Wanda: BRO???

Carlos: Bro snitched to the whole darn burger court.

[skamenglishsubs]

Subtext and Culture, Young Royals, Season 2, Episode 4

This episode picks up immediately after the previous one, Felice has fled Wilhelm's room and he's panicking...

Subtext: Not sure if he writes that to reassure Felice, or himself. Or maybe both?

Subtext: Either way, Henry totally snitched. Maybe he just told Walter, who then snitched, but no matter, the secret is out, and now everyone knows.

Subtext: Since Sara has never dated or even pursued a guy before, she's completely clueless on how it's done, and doesn't really understand sexting emojis. I use Urban Dictionary to figure out what the dang kids these days are talking about, and 🍑 means booty! You're welcome. This is an educational Tumblr after all.

Subtext: This episode is littered with hints about Stella's sexuality, and it's kinda telling that she's a lot less bothered about others seeing her make out with Fredrika.

Culture: It totally is. Sweden has imported a couple of retail holidays from the US, Valentine's is one, but it wasn't really a thing until the 90's, and it's pretty watered down compared to that. There's a lost in translation here as well, because in Sweden the day is called Alla Hjärtans Dag - All Hearts' Day, but the Hillerska tradition is called Valentindagen, which literally means Valentine's Day, which is not the same thing as the retail holiday.

Subtext: Oh look, it's the Theme™ rearing its ugly head again! Instead of examining crappy traditions, the students are just perpetuating them mindlessly. That everyone was "a bit sexist" in the 1700's is no excuse to keep the bad parts of this tradition.

Subtext: To the other girls, Marie Antoinette is seen as a positive example of the time period because of the ostentatiousness and nobility, but Sara doesn't quite make the same association, and only remembers her for being decapitated during the French Revolution.

Subtext: She lied, like a liar.

Subtext: Walter's slightly desperate strategy also applies to Wilhelm. If Simon says no, Wilhelm has no plan B.

Subtext: Oh look, the Theme™. We're on a roll here!

Subtext: The chant that Walter starts goes "Alla är lika mycket värda" in Swedish, which is sort of how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights start in its Swedish version. This egalitarian phrase pops up in tons of places and mission statements where people and organizations want to emphasize human rights, and is very familiar to most Swedes. But then the chant continues about how only very few people are allowed into Forest Ridge, making a mockery of the implied equality. Because of course these rich assholes think they have more worth than everyone else.

Subtext: Earlier I reblogged a great post by @randomsmilingpotatoes about how this season shows us easier, simpler relationship alternatives for both Wilhelm and Simon. This scene is one example of that, because it shows that if Wilhelm had been straight and going after the other rich girls at school, all the Forest Ridge boys would have celebrated him, included him in their fellowship, and cheered him on in his "conquests". Everyone knows he had a thing with Simon, but because he's a boy, and not rich, they're not celebrating Wilhelm for that.

Subtext: As usual when Simon feels hurt by Wilhelm's actions, he reactively reaches out to Marcus.

Subtext: Marcus comes to the rescue and treats Simon to a lunch that is more appropriate to their social class, they're having pizza on the hood of his car. This is another example of how a relationship with Marcus would be simpler for Simon, here he doesn't have to mind his table manners unlike at the formal luncheons at Forest Ridge where he'll always be an outsider.

Blink-and-you-miss-it: Of course Marcus has a Wunderbaum air freshener hanging in the rear-view mirror, like the low-brow pleb he is. I, on the other hand, am a man of high class and refined tastes, so I have a Pusheen air freshener in my car instead. Om nom nom ice cream.

Subtext: Yes Marcus, that is exactly what Simon wants to do.

Blink-and-you-miss-it: I'm cackling with laughter at Sara's expression as she tries - and fails - to take some sexy selfies.

Blink-and-you-miss-it: Whoops, can't have a horse plushie in the sexy selfie, so she quickly throws it to the floor before continuing.

Culture: They're playing Spökboll, a Swedish version of Dodgeball, and a staple of many a gym class. Also, angry, jealous Simon has great aim!

Blink-and-you-miss-it: Simon's eyes are up here, Wilhelm. Stop ogling his body.

Subtext: In Simon's defence, it was Marcus who surprised him with that kiss, it wasn't exactly mutual. Wilhelm doesn't know how much Simon is actually struggling with moving on, but Simon isn't dispelling the notion either.

Subtext: Previously, the Queen emphasized how anyone dating Wilhelm has to deal with his position, and later in this episode both Felice and Nils will say the same thing. This is the point where Wilhelm realizes that maybe it'll never work out with Simon if this is non-negotiable on his part, because Wilhelm can't stop being a prince. And since Wilhelm walks out of the argument, Simon realizes at this point that he maybe went too far, Wilhelm might actually move on after this.

Blink-and-you-miss-it: Wilhelm makes a hilarious puppy face when asking Felice to forgive him. Her calling him out on his enormous selfishness was pretty satisfying though, and well earned!

Subtext: And again, yet another example of easier alternatives for Wilhelm. There's no shortage of people who would want to date him because he is a prince, unlike Simon who is doing the opposite, making that relationship much more difficult.

Culture: Traditionally, there are fourteen lines in a sonnet. Each line also needs to be in iambic pentameter, and the whole thing needs to conform to a rhyme scheme. The most well known composer of sonnets was William Shakespeare, who mostly used the ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme.

Blink-and-you-miss-it: Vincent never misses a chance to put down the other boys, and I can't help but laugh.

Subtext: This episode really piles on the relationship alternatives, and here comes Nils with his suggestion: Keep everything on the down-low. Be gay, but discreetly. Hook up with guys, quietly. Go to private, upper-class gay parties at some exclusive ski resort in Switzerland, and meet guys who in the same situation and that can keep quiet. You don't have to be out and proud, no-one needs to know.

Lost in translation: Nils uses "gay" here, which in Swedish has a less strict meaning than the English word gay, where it usually only refers to a homosexual man. In Swedish though it can mean "not straight", so who knows how Nils identifies.

Culture: Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, isn't high profile enough for you, Nils? But he has a point, it's rare for people in that position to be out and open about it.

Culture: He's not wrong, it would be world news. I don't think there's any immediate family in the line of succession in any European monarchy that is openly queer. However, there's currently over 30 royal kids throughout Europe that are Gen Z or younger, the odds of every single one of them being straight is pretty much zero, so there's a chance that we'll actually see this in real life soon. Fingers crossed! 🤞🤞

Cinematography: Not content with dropping hints about Stella any longer, the show implicitly tells us that she wrote the poem to Fredrika by focusing on her face and her reaction.

Subtext: ...and follows it up with more hints in her dialogue.

Subtext: August has no qualms about standing naked in front of the window, with the curtains open. He doesn't need to hide his relationship with Sara, if someone were to spy on him, he'd be celebrated by the other guys instead.

Subtext: Even though August started the episode in a great mood after having the meeting with the Queen, here the trap of royal duty begins to close around him, and he realizes that it's not all positive. If he's going to be the spare, the royal court needs to control his future as well. Ten years sure sounds like a prison sentence.

Subtext: No, he lied, like a liar.

Subtext: As if the show hasn't already used Jan-Olof as a personification of systemic homophobia, here it's made explicit. The court needs for August to be straight, otherwise their backup plan might not work either.

Subtext: For Sara, this is possibly something she's heard her dad promise before, and that didn't turn out so well.

Subtext: Sara makes up an excuse for not going with August to the ball, but the real reason is because of loyalty, she promised the girls to go with them. She's also dating her best friend's ex behind her back, which is pretty disloyal as well.

Subtext: Felice is talking about Wilhelm, but now that Sara knows that August is Wilhelm's spare and a future royal, this suddenly applies to her too.

Subtext: Felice is loyal to her friends, which is why she turned Wilhelm down.

Blink-and-you-miss-it: Vincent being his usual hilarious horrible self.

Culture: In Sweden, the drinking age is 18, so only the third-year students are allowed to legally drink. But since this is an official party for the entire school, the staff can't serve alcohol to the kids, which is why a lot of them are pre-gaming in the dorms.

Subtext: For August, dressing up as a noble is something he enjoys. He's always wanted more status, and now that he's Wilhelm's spare he's got it.

Subtext: ...while Wilhelm hates it, he hates having to dress up and play the part, because it's that exact thing that is stopping him from having a relationship with Simon. But at this point he's pretty much resigned himself to his fate, so he puts on the makeup and the dress, playing the part of a real prince, crying while doing so.

Subtext: August is normally a pretty confident guy, but here we see him being insecure and anxious for the first time, because he's actually in love with Sara and is afraid of fucking up his carefully planned classy little pre-party champagne date with her.

Lost in translation: Sara writes "Vi kan inte ses mer", which means "We can't see each other any more", which is actually kind of a break-up message. But the English subtitles make it seem like she's just standing him up for this one party.

Subtext: Simon was planning to only do his performance and skip the rest of the party, because he knew Wilhelm would be there. But now that Marcus shows up, ready to go to the party for Simon's sake, he changes his mind.

Subtext: The fish do have names, it's just that Simon associates that with a very happy memory of Wilhelm, and he's clearly thinking of that here.

Culture: We need to have a small intermission here, talking about the theme for the masquerade ball, and how this relates to the show.

In the early 1700's in Sweden, despite early successes defending Sweden on the battlefield against Denmark-Norway, the young king Karl XII embarked on a disastrous campaign against Russia that ended in defeat and weakened the military. On his return to Sweden he started a new campaign against Norway, but died in battle there soon after in 1718, which pretty much led to the end of the era of the Swedish Empire that had started a hundred years earlier.

These defeats and loss of military power made the monarchy pretty unpopular among the people, so when queen Ulrika Eleonora took over the throne after her childless brother, she was forced to give up a lot of power to parliament, and no longer had the unchecked power to rule over the country. The early to mid 1700's was also the time when the Age of Enlightenment swept over Europe, and philosophers like Voltaire and Rousseau spread ideals of liberty and equality and brotherhood, which in France ultimately resulted in the bloody French Revolution at the end of the century.

But In Sweden, these ideas led to the Age of Liberty, an era marked by rationality and science and civil rights, and Sweden started progressing into a proper constitutional monarchy, ruled by law instead of the whims of the current king or queen. However, parliament became more and more unstable, and in 1772 the newly crowned king Gustav III seized power from parliament in a coup, rolled back many of the recent changes, and restored the absolute monarchy.

And that's the dude in the painting above, sitting on the left, together with his two brothers, Prince Fredrik Adolf, and Prince Karl. This time period is the theme of the ball, and all the kids are wearing similar clothes; French fashion from the late 1700's, powdered wigs, cravats, tricorne hats, pearls and all. Because of course an upper-class school like Hillerska would rather celebrate a period marked by a strong monarchy and absolute rule, rather than that egalitarian wishy-washy nonsense of the earlier era.

In further parallels to the show, Gustav III was probably gay, had gay lovers among the nobility, and might not have been the biological father of his children, due to difficulties *ahem* performing the necessary act with his spouse, Queen Sofia Magdalena.

The king was a huge supporter of culture and arts, and under his rule, Sweden got its first opera house, its first ballet company, and a proper drama theatre, all of which are still in operation today. The king even wrote several plays and a few operas himself, and spent a lot of time directing these plays as well. However, him spending more time on his hobbies than actually ruling the country, combined with certain political reforms he pushed through, made him deeply unpopular among the nobility. So unpopular in fact that several nobles got together in a conspiracy to assassinate him. The king was shot at a masquerade ball in 1792 and died of the complications two weeks later.

All the conspirators were caught, the man who pulled the trigger, Jacob Johan Anckarström, was executed for treason, and a number of co-conspirators were either jailed or exiled. One of the leading co-conspirators' name was, and I shit you not, Claes Fredrik Horn. What's August's last name in the show again?

This lesson about queer Swedish kings in history is now over, back to the show.

Blink-and-you-miss-it: An alternative to pre-gaming is to smuggle in alcohol to the party and spike your own drinks with it. Fredrika Stella hid a pocket flask in her dress.

Blink-and-you-miss-it: Stella is wearing a very anachronistic dollar-sign necklace. It does look fabulous, though!

Subtext: Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? Stella doesn't dare make that gamble, and is instead settling for the unfortunately very common queer trope of secretly pining for your straight best friend.

Subtext: Throughout the entire party, Simon makes it so obvious that he's not into Marcus, and is just using him to make Wilhelm jealous.

Subtext: Marcus is pretty oblivious though, and he can't wait to get the hell out of this place, he's not comfortable, he wanted a quiet date-night at home with Simon, but this was the only way he could get Simon to spend the night with him.

Subtext: Throughout this not-really-relationship, Marcus has insisted on setting the pace, and here he does it again. He has now decided that they should have sex, which is why he showed up to this thing in the first place, and is nagging Simon to sleep at his place, while completely ignoring all the signs that Simon is on a completely different page.

Subtext: Alexander is completely in the dark here, he thinks Wilhelm and Felice was a serious thing, and he thinks that August still has feelings for Felice.

Subtext: August is pissed about being stood up by Sara, so he reverts to his usual scheming self. Planning the downfall of the king at a masquerade ball? Didn't I just write about something like that a few sections ago?

Culture: The tall thing in the middle of the table is called a Krokan in Swedish, which is more of a decorative almond cookie thing than a cake. The pink marzipan cake is called an Operatårta, which is a pink variation of the even more classic green Swedish princess cake. If you live near an IKEA, you can usually find mini versions of these in their restaurant.

Subtext: It's kinda ironic that Marcus has more in common with Wilhelm than Simon, but what does Simon and Marcus have in common, really? They clearly have completely opposite tastes.

Cinematography: Out at the party the lighting is pink and warm and romantic, but in the kitchen there's a sickly fluorescent glow instead, and it's filled with modern things that completely clash with the theme of the party. Wilhelm tried putting on a show, but as soon as Simon is out of sight, he throws away his cake and escapes the fake dressed-up environment by going into the kitchen, where we see his real feelings.

Subtext: It was at this exact moment Simon realized that he had fucked up. His attempts at making Wilhelm jealous has completely backfired, and Wilhelm is now finally letting go, just like he has been preparing himself for the entire episode.

Cinematography: Unlike the first season which featured cute moments between the two of them in almost every episode, this season started with a fakeout dream scene, and has since then withheld moments like this on purpose to build suspense.

We've been seeing both Wilhelm and Simon have intimate scenes with other characters, but there's been no chemistry, nothing in those scenes that make us want to root for those relationships.

But now it's time for the emotional payoff, and the show holds nothing back, it employs every single trick in its book to make us really feel this moment: The action is slowed way down, and all outside sounds disappear. The only thing we're hearing is their heavy breathing, just like in similar scenes in the first season, and the soundtrack switches to the [dreamy electronic music] used in the initial dream scene. The chemistry is insane, you can cut the tension with a knife, and you're all supposed to remember that this is why we're watching this show! This is why we're invested in this couple!

And then they kiss.

Can you breathe again? Do you need to take a cold shower? Alright, let's wrap this episode up. Yeah, yeah, Marcus interrupts the moment, and he sees Wilhelm, putting two and two together, who cares? They kissed! They finally kissed!

Subtext: The idea that no-one picks up on the fact that this song is totally about a lost love is hilarious, because it's so obvious to me. I have to squint and look at it sideways to imagine how it could possibly be about the school, not the other way around!

Subtext: Wilhelm is looking at Marcus at this line, because Simon got lost by trying to get together with Marcus, but just now found his way back "home" to Wilhelm again.

Subtext: He did remove the profanity and he did put Hillerska in there like the music teacher told him, so that everyone understands it's totally about the school! And not about Wilhelm, nuh-uh!

Subtext: In the same way that Simon's song is about his feelings for Wilhelm, afterwards the soundtrack switches to Beautiful Boy, which is about what Wilhelm is feeling for Simon, because in this moment he could really feel that Simon does love him after all. The way Simon is ignoring Marcus and only has eyes for Wilhelm might be a big fat hint as well.