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one-boring-person · 4 years ago

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Hey!

I was wondering if I could request a Rambo x reader set in the first movie, if that’s alright, where the reader sees him walking through town and knows that Sheriff Teasle will try to bully him out of town so she pulls over and lies about them being old friends and then they go to eat or something? And the reader actually treats Rambo like a human being and thanks him for his service to his country when she finds out he is a veteran. Oh and could the reader be female please? Thank you very much! If not then that’s totally fine 😊

And I also wanted to say that your writing is amazing!!! And the reason I ended up watching Rambo in the first place 😆

Hope you have a great night/day!

Nfhfhhhf thank you so much! I'm so glad you like my stuff! And I got you into Rambo? Hell yeah!😂 I liked this request a lot, so I hope I've done it justice!

Respect Me.

John Rambo (First Blood) x reader

Warnings: mentions of war, mentions if death

Masterlist

For once, the truck sound system seems to be playing the tape flawlessly, lacking the usual stuttering and skipping it generally likes to include in the soft flow of music. Idly, I tap my fingers along with the gentle beat, the steering wheel moving easily in my grip as I guide the beaten pick-up truck out onto the main road, falling in line with the other traffic around me. The vehicle shudders a little as I change the gears, the old truck having never liked to do anything it should do, slowly moving into a more sustainable pace as I lean back in my seat, keeping my eyes trained on the road, with a half-eye kept on the sidewalk and nearby shops. A few Christmas decorations adorn the homely stores, though it's mostly left dull and bleak, as this town always has been. Once again, I find myself wishing I could just move away from here, start a new life somewhere else.

Ahead of me, the traffic slows, allowing someone to turn into the main flow, giving me the time to glance out of the window, scanning the sidewalk a little way away. Oddly, a familiar police vehicle has pulled up just past a nearby junction, the driver leaning out of the window to talk to someone on the pavement, who I have yet to be able to see. The car is Sheriff Teasle's, the knowledge of which does not sit well with me - If he's pulled someone over, it's not for a good reason.

Checking my mirrors, I indicate off towards the sheriff, leaving the main flow as I follow the curb round, finally able to see who Teasle is talking to. Just as I feared, it looks as if he's pulled up a random person for yet another unfair interrogation. Frowning, I regard the solemn-looking man with interest, trying to ignore the part of me that finds his somewhat crooked features incredibly attractive, taking note of his obvious vagrancy: his hair is long and shaggy, clearly being left uncut for months on end, his dust-strewn parka and faded jeans showing signs of constant wear. From what I can see, Teasle is questioning him, most likely about the guy's purpose in Hope, though he doesn't seem particularly open to this encounter. Making up my mind, I cross my fingers and hope my plan now works.

Pulling up beside the two, I stop the car and climb out, plastering on a convincing grin as I go towards the dark-haired man, greeting him as I go.

"John! I didn't realise you were in town! You should've said something!" I exclaim, pleading the man with my eyes that he'll play along, though it's somewhat unlikely.

He gives me a shocked look, head snapping round at the sound of the name, hard eyes fixing on me with suspicion and hostility, the severity of the expression sending a shudder down my spine. Teasle also looks to me, frowning.

"And to think you were left to walk along here in the cold! Jeez, you really should have called or something, I could've picked you up!" I carry on, praying that he picks up the cue, "Oh, hello there, Sheriff, how are you?"

"Not bad, thanks." Teasle replies tightly, glancing between the man and I, "You know this guy?"

"Oh, yeah. John is a family friend." I lie, smiling brightly at the man in question.

"Yeah, it's been a long while, but I thought it was time to visit again." The man finally chips in, his husky voice stirring up butterflies in my stomach, "Wanted to keep my visit a surprise, though."

"Ah, well! You're here now, at least I can give you a lift back to mine." I offer him, ignoring Teasle's sceptical look.

Giving me a taut smile, which looks more like a grimace, the man steps towards me, shooting the Sheriff a glance as he goes. Doing the same, I smile pleasantly at Teasle, and say my goodbyes, climbing back into my car as my new passenger joins me, sliding cautiously into the seat beside me. Quickly, I pull back out into the traffic, heading away from Teasle as swiftly as possible.

"Thank you for doing that." The dark-haired man murmurs after a moment, his hands clenching around his knees as he forces himself to look out of the windscreen.

"No problem. Teasle's an ass at the best of times, best just to stay away from him." I muse, "Do you want something to eat? There's a good place just down the road from here."

Turning to face me, the man frowns and watches my face, as if for signs of deceit, his quiet nature giving me the impression that he's probably quite acclimatised to being treated as such.

"How do you know my name?" He eventually asks, voice quiet.

Now it's my turn to frown as I glance across at him.

"I don't."

"You called me John earlier. How did you know that's my name?"

Surprised, I double take, now realising how sketchy that must look.

"Your name is John? I had no idea! That's a lucky coincidence, clears up confusion later." I chuckle dryly, "Honestly, I picked the first name that came to mind. I had no idea that it's your actual name."

He watches me for a second longer, eventually appearing happy with my response, looking away again.

"What's your name?" He asks me after a further minute.

"Me? I'm (Y/n). (Y/n) (Y/l/n)."

"John Rambo." John nods, flicking some hair from his face, "And if you're still offering, I'd like to get something to eat, please."

"Of course."

Pulling up to the diner, I park the car, climbing out as I check the cash I have on me, deeming it enough for two decent meals and some drinks, hoping that it won't be too busy at this time of the day. John follows me, leaving his bedroll in the car as we walk into the small restaurant, finding a seat at one of the window booths, sitting opposite each other. He's quiet, scanning the room as soon as he's sat down, body stiff as he unzips his parka, revealing a red woolen jumper underneath. What strikes me most, however, (apart from the obvious planes of rippling muscle) are the silver dog tags hanging around his neck, jingling every so often as he moves.

A waiter comes over to us, handing us menus with a false smile, leaving us alone together again until we've ordered drinks, at which point he returns with the beverages. Stepping away again, John and I are left with some privacy. At this moment, I take a breath and ask him the one question on my mind.

"If you don't mind me asking, are you a soldier?"

John visibly stiffens, eyes hardening a little.

"I was." Is all he says, tone flat.

"Did you serve in Vietnam?" I ask, unable to stop myself as my curiosity gets the better of me.

Once again, John seems reluctant to answer, and instantly starts to glance around, clearly watching for an escape route.

"Yeah." He affirms, gaze returning to me.

Shock fills me at this: I'd heard horrible things about the Vietnam War, about how the soldiers (on both sides) faced terrifying situations that I'd never dream of, my heart stuttering at this admonition.

"Really? That's...wow, that's…" I go to say something, finding myself speechless as I stare at the man before me, admiring him now in a totally new light, "God, you must be a strong person."

He blinks.

"Huh?"

"Well, you've done what I'd never be able to do, you've faced deadly situations, you've probably been in harrowing conditions and fights, I'd never have the strength to do what you did. Very few people do, so you must be a very strong person, mentally." I tell him, still in shock, "You definitely did the country proud, and I respect you for everything you've done. Thank you for that."

He stares at me in shock, eyes wide, lips parted.

"You...What?" Is all he manages, voice hitching.

"I respect you, and admire your bravery. You're a better person than any of the rest of us ever could be." I repeat, smiling gently at him.

For a long moment, he doesn't say anything, his expression remaining as it is, his body tense as he processes what I've said, clearly not quite believing me.

"You...respect me?" He stammers, quietly.

"I do." I nod, taking a sip of my soda.

"Thank you." John murmurs, pulling a face as he looks away, "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew what kinda things I've done."

"What you did isn't relevant to me, only that you served the country, and you did it with bravery, so for that, you have my respect." I reassure him, telling him the truth.

John stays silent this time, apparently too overcome for words.

"Do you...do you need somewhere to stay?" I finally break the silence that has descended on us, tapping a rhythm out onto the table.

"No, but I don't want to inconvenience you any more than I already have, so don't worry about it. I'll figure something out." The veteran shrugs, still a little taken aback.

"You're not inconveniencing me, I wouldn't ask if you were. I have space in my house if you want to take it." I offer him, once again smiling across at him.

For the first time, John smiles at me, his features loosening as the expression crosses his face.

"I'll take it."

#sylvester stallone #rambo #sly stallone #john rambo #john rambo x reader #rambo imagine #rambo x reader

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alexsmitposts · 4 years ago

Text

The Nasty Truth About America’s Love Affair with Narcissism and Self Pity

Column: Society Region: USA in the World

📷There is a saying, “the crazy people have taken over the asylum.” They did that in the United States in 2016, a nation ruled by grifters, petty criminals and the delusional.The sane and decent became the “silent majority” as the not just America but the world learned that the darkness of the American soul depicted so often by Hollywood is not fiction at all and that a reality TV actor had tapped into a cesspit of sewage that has seeped into every American community.Then came 2020.By sheer luck along and, yes, the votes of 81 million Americans lucky enough to survive voter suppression and intimidation financed by a worldwide organized crime cartel, the insane are now out of power.The new “captain’’ of America’s “ship of state” may well, however, have something on his hands worse than the Titanic. The Titanic had the courtesy to actually sink while America, under this analogy, drifts lifelessly along.Extremism is big money in America, climate denialism, race hatred, social discord and civil war, hate is both a product and an addiction.It is also one of America’s biggest businesses. There would be no social media, no Google, no news organizations, no underbelly of device driven ecstasy, without fear and hate being marketed like cigarettes and CBD gummies.Roots of America’s Politics of Fear and Hate 2.0American extremism is not the result of poverty or oppression. It originates among the privileged, the “haves” who adhere to insane beliefs driven by boredom and generalized dissatisfaction at lives the rest of the word would envy, overpaid jobs, gas guzzling cars and trucks and fast food laden with fats and poisonous additives.If you asked many millions of Americans to define “reality,” their brains would grind to a halt. Reality is based, not on experience or observation but on “beliefs” and strongly held “opinions” which are invariably those scripted for them.Beliefs and opinions untested by the feedback loop of life has created a generation of Americans who are, essentially, living in a video game. This makes Qanon a AI program.Collective delusion has become the norm for many, and by “many” we mean up to 150 million lost souls, caught in an RPG game or, for some, a “first person shooter.”What does it make those who play? But then we have seen all this before, just without a population softened up to this degree by chaos theory conditioning. Some background:The Roots of Fascist AmericaIn 1940, Adolf Hitler was Time Magazine’s man of the year. The parents and grandparents of Trump’s supporters, following Huey Long, Gerald L.K. Smith, Father Coughlin and Charles Lindbergh sought to establish a “whites only” America based on the German model with carefully selected military leaders run by Wall Street pulling the strings.There is something magical, even today, about being “white folks.” That magic originated in the 18th and 19th centuries with the “Sturm and Drang” movement. Extremes of emotion and subjectivity were exalted above rationalism.Childish temper tantrums became a philosophy and eventually a political movement.The movement, which failed in Europe, found fertile ground in the United States in a society that increasingly defined itself though ritualized slavery and degradation and oppression of “coloured races.”This was a society built on the genocide that wiped out millions of indigenous peoples with the survivors now living on “reservations.”Imagine land where nothing grows, and no one could live. This is an “Indian reservation.” From time-to-time oil is found or minerals or there is a need to build a pipeline. Then even the worst land on earth is taken away.This was done in South Africa. It was done in Rhodesia. It used to be called “colonialism.”By the 20th century there were no indigenous people left to imprison. America then turned to warring against the freed slaves and millions of “undesirable” European immigrants, Catholics and Jews in particular.Curiously, this war was centered on banking issues, blocking trade unions, sustaining child labor and controlling farm prices. This created the alignments that

exist today, the strong tie between Wall Street and homegrown extremism built of bigotry and race hatred.You see, too many of the undesirables that fled autocratic Europe found that the long hand of international banking that maintained serfdom for millions, even in supposedly advanced Western Europe, had institutionalized the same in the United States under the guise of representative democracy.Leading the way was the resurgent Ku Klux Klan.By the 1920s national membership was estimated at over 8 million. Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and a dozen other northern and western states were governed by Klan controlled politicians who used the state militias and National Guard as a private army and local police as armed enforcers.Behind it all, the banks that brought Hitler to power and the American corporations that made millions financing Nazi Germany’s war machine, General Motors, Dupont-Remington, Lockheed, Alcoa and General Motors.Even Hitler Would Cringe…The new American revolution, driven by Donald Trump and his televangelist backers, is the result of as social anthropologists note, generations being allowed to live the life of spoiled children, steeped in narcissism and self-pity.The events of January 6, 2020 and how it tied to many American religious leaders has emptied churches across the US, with millions finding themselves humiliated with having followed “false prophets” in support of hatred and tyranny. From Salon:“…these religious figures (Trump’s powerful televangelist backers) and the institutions they led (have become) hyper-political, the outward mission (has)seemed to be almost exclusively in service of oppressing others. The religious right is not nearly as interested in feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless as much as using religion as an all-purpose excuse to abuse women and LGBTQ people. In an age of growing wealth inequalities, with more and more Americans living hand-to-mouth, many visible religious authorities were using their power to support politicians and laws to take health care access from women and fight against marriage between same-sex couples. And then Donald Trump happened.Trump was a thrice-married chronic adulterer who routinely exposed how ignorant he was of religion, and who reportedly — and let’s face it, obviously — made fun of religious leaders behind their backs. But religious right leaders did not care. They continually pumped Trump up like he was the second coming, showily praying over him and extorting their followers to have faith in a man who literally could not have better conformed to the prophecies of the Antichrist. It was comically over the top, how extensively Christian right leaders exposed themselves as motivated by power, not faith.”Jerry Falwell Jr., who introduced Donald Trump to America’s evangelical Christians, is himself an enigmatic figure.Falwell is typical of America’s religious leaders and stories such as this, from Fox News, are daily fodder for Americans:“Jerry Falwell Jr. allegedly played games with his wife Becki where they’d rank Liberty University students, they most wanted to have sex with, according to one pupil who claimed to have been intimate with Becki.The ex-student — who claims Becki initiated oral sex with him 10 years ago — told Politico that she bragged about playing the sex-ranking game while walking around the Virginia campus with her evangelical-leader husband.‘Her and Jerry would eye people down on campus,’ the former student of the conservative school told the outlet.Social Engineering Through PandemicAnyone who really lives in America will make this perfectly clear, this country has turned into a lunatic asylum. Our previous president told us COVID was a hoax, allowed over 40,000 from China enter the US while the threat of COVID was well known and turned his back while, today’s figure, 570,264 Americans died. Experts now cite that Trump was personally responsible for over 400,000 of those deaths. He is quite simply a mass murderer.Do remember that only 900 died in Australia. Canada lost 23,000. 35 died in Vietnam. 440 died in

Cuba.One might wonder how a Hitleresque figure such as Donald Trump could have millions of followers while the legal mechanisms in the US are amassing evidence for both criminal and civil prosecutions which quite probably will never come to bear.Groundhog Day, an Unending NightmareLet me tell you how I began my morning. As a journalist and intelligence briefer, I review incoming material, both open source and private intel. The big story overnight involves a revelation on a religious talk show involving theories on COVID 19 and vaccines.The show is by Jim Bakker, an important religious leader and political advisor. In 1989, Bakker was sentenced to 45 years in prison for mail and wire fraud but served on 5 of those years. He has stolen tens of million of dollars from his congregation to support a wild and lavish lifestyle of utter debauchery.In this area, he is typical of America’s evangelical Christian leaders.The guest on Bakker’s show was Steve Quayle. I know Quayle as an advisor to President George ‘W’ Bush on Middle East affairs. I know of no qualifications for this post.I do know of Quayle. After 9/11 he approached my staff in Amman, Jordan offering them generous payments to “launder” otherwise sourceless intelligence on Iraq into the Bush White House to justify an American invasion of that nation.Two million people died, maybe many more, due to fake US intelligence on Iraq. No weapons of mass destruction were ever found.Groundhog Day TwoLet us take the clock back a few years. I remember traveling to Kentucky, then and still a very backward area of the country, in 1956 to visit relatives. This was a presidential election year, and my father was working for Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic candidate that was opposing Dwight Eisenhower.Even I, at a fairly young age, was flabbergasted at the dinner table discussion that day as my “hillbilly” relatives expounded on their political opinions and version of historical fact. This is how they laid it out:We should support “Ike” because he killed Hitler personally after storming Berlin. They described a sword fight. What they described reminded me of the death of the Sheriff of Nottingham played by Basil Rathbone in the 1938 film Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn. They then went out to describe how the US beat both Russia and Germany who were at war with the US. It seems Russia did not fight Hitler at all but was actually Germany’s ally. My father, a reasonably educated person and longtime friend of Russia, found this somewhat disturbing. Next, we heard about how “godless communists” were going to take away our freedoms and destroy our standard of living. I might remind you that my relatives in Hazard, Kentucky had no electricity or plumbing. One of my cousins lived in an abandoned car parked in a slag field.During that trip, we visited my grandfather, a retired coal miner. He lived in a shack covered with tar paper along a railroad track. I loved my grandfather.Life Lessons Do not Come Over the InternetOver the next 60 plus years, I had shared tea with farmers in Vietnam, military veterans living in a small shack in the Khyber Pass and everything from heads of state to struggling farmers all over Africa and the Middle East. None would have guessed that there are Americans that live in not just utter poverty but steeped not only in delusional ignorance but far worse than that.A current obsession with American “conservatives” is the fear of being overrun with transexuals, who, according to many, represent a threat to our freedoms. I have never met a transsexual. From what I understand, up to 10,000 currently serve in America’s armed forces.Back during the 1960s when I served with a Marine combat unit in Vietnam, we probably had no transexuals, only gay or “homosexual” Marines and Navy. Absolutely nothing was thought of it as these individuals invariably served with honor and courage.They existed in significant numbers.Today aging “conservatives” who avoided military service in Vietnam continually harp about saving the rest of us from “homosexuals in the military.”Voting and

“Jim Crow”Let us take another look at efforts by the Hitleresque racists and bigots to save the rest of us from ourselves, against our will of course. In Georgia, the legislature recently passed a law that makes it a felony to offer water to someone waiting in line to vote.Water is an issue because, in Georgia and many GOP (Trump’s party) run states, polling places in areas where people of color vote have been closed causing day long lines. In 2020, volunteers offered food and water to those who would otherwise have either collapsed or left without voting. Now offering food and water can lead to being executed by racist police, quite literally, or spending 5 years in prison.In 2020, voters in many key urban areas were threatened by armed neo-Nazi militias or openly threated in emails from Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, organizations deemed terrorist in Canada and now citied by the US Department of Justice as trying to overthrow the US government.In January, during a US Senate runoff election in Georgia, 364,000 voters were challenged by the GOP in Georgia as “illegal.” All of them were African American. All 364,000 were qualified to vote and their votes were eventually counted, giving Georgia two Democratic US Senators.The Federal Elections Commission is now investigating that this effort to rig the Georgia senate elections was secretly financed by illegal contributions from members of organized crime.Groundhog Day ThreeI live in a rural and primarily Republican area. I parked my car less than 30 feet from the door of a polling place, a local church, and voted in less than 3 minutes with no lines or ID check.In order to limit mail voting, Trump ordered mail sorting machines destroyed with sledgehammers and over 40,000 mailboxes picked up and junked as scrap metal. Mail service in many cities simply ended. One letter I sent to Washington DC from Michigan took 45 days to arrive.Hundreds of millions of pieces of mail, starting in late September 2020 simply disappeared, not just votes but government checks, Christmas presents and medications from pharmacies sent to Veterans.All of this was not just publicly known, things are far worse than that. Those who so many decades ago believed the United States fought Russia in World War Two, would raise children and grandchildren with no respect for human rights, no understanding of democracy, no ethical norms nor any remote understanding of right or wrong.This is the reality for those living in America, a reality that those who watch America from afar through the distorted lens of Google Corporation and the press, can never fathom.Ah, but things are so much worse than that. It is not just having spent 4 years with a president who told us you could cure covid by drinking bleach or eating flashlights. It gets worse.Groundhog Day FourA few days ago, former Trump advisor Cirsten Welcon claimed that President Biden had been paid billions of dollars by China to let them test their newest “weather weapons” on Texas. Power outages there, now attributed to corrupt backroom deals by Republican politicians, led to many deaths and considerable suffering.Little did any of us know of the role of the magic Chinese weather machines.In another vignette, it has been a years since Trump advisor and televangelist Kenneth Copeland stood before a television audience raving like a lunatic. He then pursed his lips and blew at the television camera, the “wind of god” which he claimed destroyed COVID forever.This effort by Reverend Copeland, who has millions of followers and a vast financial empire, led President Trump to announce that COVID 19 was going to disappear.ConclusionSome would like to believe that the institutionalized insanity of America’s right is restricted to the “Untermensch” substrata of rural poor whites. However, for decades now, the most radicalized and extremist elements of America’s society, the most ignorant, the most warlike yet cowardly, have gained control of the US military through service academies which espouse their conspiracy theories.With the onset of Trump, they gained much

more than a foothold in American politics, they now control many states “lock, stock and barrel,” and are involved in not just voter suppression but a general quashing of human rights and free speech.The door to this turn of events began well into the 19th century. Laws, still on the books, are now being employed against Donald Trump, from CNN:The Democratic chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee has filed a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump that cites a little-known federal statute that was first passed after the Civil War.The complaint, filed Tuesday by Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, accuses Trump, his attorney Rudy Giuliani, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers of violating the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act. The lawsuit accuses them of inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election.These same extremist elements and calling them “extremist” insults al Qaeda and ISIS (banned in Russia) who are moderate in their beliefs and practices in comparison. These statements might sound extreme in themselves were it not for so many Americans, religious and military leaders, members of government and business leaders calling for wholesale murder of their political opponents citing their personal communication with a non-corporeal authority they said is “god.”Americans hear this all day every day, the emails are unending, TV networks like Fox, OAN or Newsmax say little else, and that message is carried not just through media but lawn signs dotting the countryside.Hundreds of thousands of American homes are festooned with paraphernalia espousing murder of public officials and their families. Americans see it every day driving to work. What they ask themselves when they see things like this is how many others hold these beliefs but keep it to themselves?What if academics wrote papers on the issues, we discuss here? What if the BBC produced a documentary? Would things get better? The problem dates back not just generations but centuries.It is not a moral problem; it is not a political problem. It is one of degeneracy. At some point we may be required to reassess our definition of sentience.

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 4 years ago

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you got any headcanons for vampires in the wizarding world?

Oh, this is an excellent question, thank you. In thinking about it, we don’t know much about Potterverse vampires. All we really know is that they appear to be more socially accepted than Werewolves. Slughorn had one as a guest at one of his parties. Despite him creeping on the underage students...

With that in mind, I can only assume that being infected with Vampirism doesn’t work the same way as Lycanthrophy. Perhaps people can only be turned into Vampires voluntarily. Either way, I suppose a Vampire could kill someone if they got “carried away,” but they could also do that more efficiently with the Killing Curse. So there probably wouldn’t be as much stigma.

That’s the thing. Vampires, as far as I can tell, don’t have the periodic transformation into a “monster” that Werewolves have to go through. They likely don’t have any sort of “inhuman” self that would lead to them being demonized in the same way. There are apparently rumors in-universe (and at one point, among the fandom) that Snape is a vampire. To me, that suggests that you could know a Vampire for years and not know it. That there wouldn’t be anything suspicious about their behavior, nothing like disappearing every full moon.

As for headcanons? Well, vampires are often depicted as being paler than the average person. But I prefer the idea that the skin tone takes on a more purple-ish hue. Maybe the veins are more visible. But it wouldn’t be entirely noticeable unless you look close, or perhaps have fed recently.

There are “blood potions” available for Vampires, so they don’t need to drink blood raw, although fresh blood would probably be the tastiest, “civilized” vampires would have no excuse to go for fresh blood when there are doners available and blood potions around.

We know teeth can be regrown, the same as any other type of bone, with Healing magic. To that effect, I think Vampires have different dental structures. I think they do have “fangs” but they frequently fall out and regrow. And vampire fangs are probably potion ingredients. Maybe Vampire fangs were once longer, and sturdier. But they aren’t being used as much anymore, due to blood potions, so they’re slowly being lost to natural selection.

While there would have been Vampire “hunters” and they were likely a lot more popular and accepted in days past, the current climate accepts vampires thanks to them generally being pretty chill, and the management options that exist. Vampire hunters in present day would not be taken seriously, nor would they have the backing of the Ministry, like the Werewolf Registry does.

At the core, I think the social difference is not so much a lack of discrimination, but how strong it is. I mean, it’s legal to literally hunt werewolves down, and they have to have their names added to a Government registry. Vampires? We don’t see any of that. But I can imagine that it’s socially acceptable to be afraid of them, or creeped out by them. No one is going to run screaming, but I bet most people don’t want to be alone with a vampire if they can avoid it. Just based on the uneasy idea that they might get “hungry.” Likewise, it’s probably acceptable for shops and such to refuse service and not allow Vampires in.

I think the reason the discrimination is stronger with werewolves, has everything to do with that transformation. Again, no one ever has to think about Vampires being as “inhuman.” I can see a lot of solidarity between these two sub-types of wizards and witches, but some werewolves might feel like Vampires don’t appreciate how easy they have it by comparison.

Let’s talk about sunlight. I don’t think it actively harms them. They probably could lead relatively normal lives, as they seem capable of doing, if that were true. I think it’s uncomfortable for them and probably makes them sick in extreme doses, but so long as they have a hat or a hood or something, they’re okay. Like, they wouldn’t be winning any duels under the sun. Prolonged exposure, over the course of years? It could be like gradually developing cancer.

But under the moonlight? At least by comparison, they’d be faster. Stronger. On higher alert. I don’t see them actually sleeping in coffins, except perhaps for tradition’s sake, like a cultural thing. But I feel like the condition would overall affect their ability to have restful sleep. Maybe it’s more comfortable for a Vampire to sleep on a flat, hard surface.

Like ghosts, they probably have no need or use for ordinary food. They could eat it, but I’d imagine that it’s tasteless for them. It wouldn’t provide any nutrients either. So eating normal food would be pretty much pointless, unless they were trying to keep up appearances and didn’t want to “out” themselves.

They do drink blood, of course, and I’m pretty sure they even have candy specifically made for them to simulate the taste. So it’s not as simple as “I drink blood because biologically, it’s what my body needs now.” It seems like they really do develop a craving and a taste for blood itself. And that’s another thing, the candy is kinda proof that Vampires are more accepted than Werewolves.

The garlic allergy is probably a myth. As far as I can tell, the silver allergy is treated as a myth in the Potterverse too. I mean, it never comes up, does it? According to HPHM, silver with dittany can seal a werewolf bite, so that’s probably where the idea comes from. Maybe there was a famous vampire like Dracula who was allergic to garlic for reasons unrelated to his vampirism.

They are not immortal. They do not live forever. True immortality is impossible in the Potterverse, the books made that fairly clear. I mean, even Nicholas Flamel was dependent on his potion. If it was as simple as becoming a Vampire, Voldemort would have just done that. It’s possible that they don’t age, or age slowly. I’d imagine their lifespan would be unaffected, but they might not show signs of age. Alternatively, they could be “biologically” immortal, meaning they never die of age or natural causes, but can skill be killed by outside means. I have to assume that not feeding, for example, would kill a Vampire pretty quickly, as well as extended exposure to sunlight.

They can see in the dark. A little thing, but I like the idea that they see better in darkness. Their body temperature also does down. But their bodies aren’t “dead.” At least, not functionally. Hell, here’s a spooky thought. If a ghost is the footprint of a departed soul...what if a Vampire is something similar, just in physical form? What if you “die” in becoming one, but for all intents and purposes, you’re still alive or at least appear to be? Maybe I’m not making sense, but that would be one crazy idea.

Like what if it is functionally some kind extended curse, that is sustained through continued ingestion of blood? If you break down vampirism, that could be what it is at the core.

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/7090918/1/01-Albus-Potter-and-the-Forgotten-Memory This fanfiction has some pretty epic Vampire representation (and is just excellent overall)

#Harry Potter #Harry Potter Headcanons #Harry Potter Analysis #Fandom Asks #Harry Potter Fanfiction

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deepend-swimmer · 4 years ago

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colors game: mauve & cream 😀

thanks for the ask anon!!!

cream: any piercings or tattoos? do you want any? lmaoooo anons keep asking if i do and i always say that i plan to get one asap and then someone else asks it and i still haven't gotten any. so no, no piercings, no tattoos. i want to get around like 12 tattoos but mainly some surrounding my favourite stuff (like i am a 100% going to get steve's bat, sounds like a bad idea? bc it is and i don't care at all), my dog and my dad 😌

mauve: any unpopular opinions? I've got a lot of those.

well, the most obvious one: i think billy deserved so much better, which isn't an unpopular opinion on my blog but outside of tumblr? yeah pretty much. to sum up i think the real deep reason why people actually hate him is bc he doesn't manifest his trauma in a way that is convenient to others.

i think veganism without any political engagement, especially without being anticapitalist, is just bullshit to make you feel superior to others even though you really aren't.

i also think that being apolitical is impossible bc from the moment you decide to not take part it's already a political decision.

age gaps (like 6/7+) creep me out, regardless of which age group the couple is right now (but i can understand like historical context so you know, elderly couples i kinda get it).

we should end all billionaires, every single one of them, there was a time you could become a millionaire by working and maybe it is still possible today even if rare, but billionaires have all gained that money on exploitation of others period.

i hate western europe (not you ireland and iceland, ily baby), they should give back or pay back all they stole from colonies, let me see yall get bankrupt and then say you're underdeveloped bc of bad management. (to be clear, it is the governments and rich people from people, yall common citizens are fine if you can acknowledge that the positions your countries stand is upon the blood and wealth of america, africa and asia).

there is no such thing as sustainable consumption inside capitalism unless you produce your own stuff and some (but just some) cases of local producers

don't know how this is a controversial opinion but everyone should access to housing, food, health and education by doing nothing at all, i mean completely free and equal to all, i don't give a shit. they are all human rights so there is no need for a condition there. tax are completely okay when everyone pays what is just and you get quality services in return.

we are almost past the point of being able to heal the earth ecosystem so we might as well just use the time we've got to be kind and human again, no need to be a productive part of capitalist society

leather and some others animal products are not on the slightest unethical. when you've got big meat production and you don't use every part of the animal, it's not just waste but it's also cruel and disrespectful to the animal. there will never be a time when everyone is going to be vegan, so those animals are going to die regardless, you might as well honour them by making every little bit useful. plus, real leather and real fur (i don't count those animals that die only for the fur in this, i am talking about meat produce) are way better for the environment than fake ones, they last much much longer and they don't pollute like the fake ones (that are plastic, even the biodegradable ones).

no one is past the point of redemption. everyone is a product of the environment and we can all learn to be better. even the people that had done horrible things still deserve a second chance, deserve to be rehabilitated and become better. that however doesn't mean the people directly hurt by them need to forgive them, they just don't deserve to die or be locked away for the rest of their lifes, which leads me to my next and final point

prisons aren't about punishing the wrong doings, but about making the wealthy wealthier. prisons should be about rehabilitation, but so far the greatest majority of them serve only to aggravate inequality.

I have so much more I could so but frankly I just can't bring myself to think anymore. can you tell that i'm a commie 👉👈

#thaaaaaanks #this was much fun #seriously i love talking about this stuff #asks #anon #deaif

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soysaucevictim · 4 years ago

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First week of my new regimen, starting with the Fireheart Program (and then some of the DAREBEE Fitstivities; a bit late posting all this, too)!

Nov. 28

I woke up after 11AM.

After some of the usual and chatting, did today’s exercise.

First, today’s DD. 40 squat hold side bends with EC. Just about manageable. Does take minding the hamstrings a bit - but that wasn’t an issue.

Last, Day 1 of the Fireheart Program. I was really excited to start this from the recent batch of releases - because it’s a COMBAT exercise program. That’s my jam, man. I went for Level 3 and no rest, today. TEN probably made me inclined to do it in one superset - but remains to be seen if I can sustain that for the whole program.

I also mixed up how I structured some exercises on a whim: sometimes alternating for each rep, sometimes 50/50, sometimes that + balancing variations. (And as a minor aside, this program’s name/theme made me think of Roman Sanders and how he’d be down for this.) :,D

(I’m keeping the docket open for DAREBEE’s Fitstivities - Fit Christmas, Advent Calendar, Christmas Tree, and maybe even the Snowfight.)

Made dinner (ramen). Among the usual, did some chatting and watched a bit of a funny miniseries with friend.

Got to bed later than yesterday.

Nov. 29

I woke up around 2PM today.

After some troubleshooting, chatting, and doing some dishes - I did today’s exercises.

First, today’s DD. 40 balance back kicks with EC (20/20). A fun exercise. I almost lost my center about 10 or so reps in - but I’m happy my gains in coordination made it possible to reorient without dropping and needing to restart (for EC). Kicks are fun, man.

Last, Day 2 of the FhP. Today focused on upperbody stuff. Managed Level 3 with no rest again. I decided to squeeze in a few extra push-ups here and there just to get down a bit better form.

Watched the second Back to The Future movie with friend, amongst a lot of the usual. Did a bit of writing too.

Got to bed around the same time as yesterday.

Nov. 30

I think I was woken up around 10:30AM.

Hopped in the showered, realizing I had another dental appointment I needed to get to today. Didn’t have time to get in my laundry beforehand - but bro decided to take mine out for me.

Dozed off in the lobby a little, while I waited. Appointment went well enough, a bit painful and uncomfortable. But I’m happy I was able to get through it alright. Last time I’m going to need to get fillings done for the time being - so I’m happy that’s out of my hair. Walked to a nearby Starbucks to get a coffee to drink while I called in and waited on my ride home afterwards.

Got home and chatted a bit, before exercising.

First, today’s DD. 40 raised leg circles with EC (supine). This was just about manageable, despite how tired I was.

Last, Day 3 of the FhP. Ab Day. Level 3, 1′ rest. I love sit-up/sitting punches a lot! I’m still very pleased that my abs are in good enough condition at this point to manage that load of sit-ups without assist/breaks.That being said, started to really feel things in the last 2 sets. Enjoyable and fatiguing.

Did some of the usual before getting a hold of my laundry to put that away.

Probably a testament to just how exhausted I was, but I finally managed to get to bed in the green zone, tonight. (That target being 1AM or earlier.)

Dec. 1

I woke up after noon.

Spent some time preparing notes for my phone psych appt today. That went well enough.

After some time chatting and browsing stuff, I decided to rewatch POF while doing my exercises tonight.

First, today’s DD. 2′ jumping Ts with EC. I counted 130 reps by the end, listening to Rhythm Redux was a great pace-setter. Hit a state of bliss near the end, reminds me why I love jacks so much! =w=

Second, Day 1 of the ‘20 Advent Calendar Challenge. 3x1 up/down planks, I opted not to rest, given how easy the load was. Might not get away with doing things in one superset the whole way through it - but we’ll see!

Third, Day 4 of the FhP. Level 3, 30″-1′ rest in between sets (though it trended closer to 30″.) This was pretty fun. Honestly the only brutal part of the sequence were the squat + side kick combos. Kinda felt like the leg-equivalent to a push-up+punching combo (sans hidden burpee). Whew, mission accomplished, though.

Last, Day 1 of ‘20 Fit Christmas Program. Cardio Day. Level 3, no rest. Low impact and kind of a breezy “cooldown“ routine to get though. Remains to be seen if I’ll be able to get away with no rest the whole way through, definitely want to shoot for Level 2 minimums (largely dependent on how exhaust Fireheart’s gonna leave me).

Spent rest of night on the usual stuff.

Got to bed obscenely late again.

Dec. 2

I woke up after 9AM today.

Went out for some coffee and accompanying bro to get his car serviced. Then we hung out at Grandma’s place while that was happening. I also walked over to the facility for group, when it came time for that.

Group went alright, did a little bit of writing a bit before and into it. Once I got back to Grandma’s, after a stop at a convenience store, bro’s car was ready. We picked up some food on the way back home.

One of the first things I did when I got home and situated, I did my exercise.

First, today’s DD. 40 reverse plank kicks with EC (20/20). This was pretty manageable.

Second, Day 2 of the ‘20ACC. 3x2 burpees - I managed it in one superset. This was pretty manageable. And it’s making me wonder about trying to go for that 50 burpees in one go achievement - eh, some other time. :P

Third, Day 5 of the FhP. Level 3, 1′ rest. Did some plank jumps in/out for transitions and did all the punches/strikes 10/10 style. Push-ups were a bit messy, and plank hold counts probs weren’t consistently slow. Ah well. My energy levels were a bit spent going into this.

Last, Day 2 of ‘20FCP. Strength Day. Level 3, no rest. Did contemplate on resting even 30″ or less - but I decided I could one go this today.

Had to overhear another family blow-up. And felt generally overwhelmed. Chatting and usual distractions helped eventually.

Got to bed around the same time as yesterday.

Dec. 3

I woke up around 2PM, today. Which didn’t help me in feeling less harried.

I did some dishes and made today’s Hello Fresh meal. Bulgolgi meatballs. I liked it well enough.

After some chatting about technical stuff (which immediately got pretty stressful) and doing dishes, I did my exercise.

I got in my workout way too late today. but oh well.

First, today’s DD. 40 squat step-ups with EC (20/20). My water table and energy levels probably weren’t terribly happy about it - but I managed to get through it alright.

Second, Day 3 of the ‘20ACC. 3x3 plank walk-outs, one superset. Happy that my stomach didn’t really complain here, otherwise very manageable work.

Third, Day 6 of the FhP. Level 3, 1′ rest. Leg raises were breezy, side planks were pretty intense. Was a bit concerned about doing more floor work with a slightly full stomach, but it wasn’t a big deal.

Last, Day 3 of ‘20FCP. 100 jumping jacks, done in one go. I enjoyed myself here - still noting how far I’ve come when it comes to stamina to be able to do it without too much problem.

I did a bit of writing and got to bed earlier than yesterday.

Dec. 4

I woke up after 1PM.

Got some Iced coffee, deposited some cash, and picked up some Subway.

Got home, chatted and whatnot before today’ exercises.

First, today’s DD. 40 knee-in & twists with EC. Fatiguing in the thighs but manageable.

Second, Day 4 of the ‘20ACC. 3x4 V-Ups, no rest. Did contemplate on resting. But 12 I can manage well enough. Enjoyable exercise.

Last, Day 4 of ‘20FCP. Tendon strength Day, no levels, no rest. Just about manageable little sequence to get done!

I spent most of my night chatting and browsing TV Tropes.

Got to bed later than yesterday.

#adventures with fitness #adventures with hello fresh #family shit/

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atommall4 · 4 years ago

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Therapy For Anxiety As Well As Stress And Anxiety.

Stress And Anxiety Therapy & Therapy.

Content

Smart Area Home Heating: A Sustainable Service Sustaining The Energy Change.

Taking Care Of Splitting Up Anxiety In Dogs.

Xmases: 7 Ways To Maximize An Extremely Various Household Xmases

Silverline - this is a. totally free personal helpline providing details, friendship and also guidance to older people which is available 24 hr a day, everyday of the year. Every Mind Issues - this is a national project run by the NHS which offers you great deals of useful recommendations on mental health and wellbeing, access to resources and also an application to help track your mood. Resources have likewise been established particularly to sustain you with the important things you may be fighting with during Coronavirus. >> more information of direct-therapy Frequently Asked Questions plus are held on the internet and are around half a hr long, with time to ask concerns at the end of every session. The Coronavirus outbreak has had a big impact on our daily lives.

How Augmented Reality Is Helping Teens Address Anxiety ARPost - ARPost

How Augmented Reality Is Helping Teens Address Anxiety ARPost.

Posted: Mon, 11 Jan 2021 09:10:00 GMT [source]

Reducing or quiting each gear, will certainly decrease and stop the OCD's control of you. By acting upon each cog, you will be repossessing control of your life, from the OCD. Others do not have these devastating ideas, however may really feel very uncomfortable and become increasingly anxious and also troubled if they don't do what their head is informing them to do. SilverCloud- an on the internet course to assist you better handle anxiety, stress and anxiety and anxiety.

Smart Area Heating: A Sustainable Service Sustaining The Power Shift.

Progressively, as you overcome each obsession, you can begin to move up the power structure, relocating onto a much more difficult/distressing thing each time up until you have gotten over the most traumatic one. After identifying what you do you can list them all using theHierarchy of Feared Situations as well as price them according to just how distressing every one is or would be if you could not do what you feel obliged to do. The simplest means to begin is to maintain a diary of your routines/ compulsions for one week utilizing theOC Rituals Diary.

youtube

The even more we attempt NOT to think of something, the more it keeps turning up right into our heads. We need to maintain the stress up and maintain lowering, but it simply keeps popping back up right into our face. It might nudge us from time to time, yet that's ok, we can simply let it be. What our team believe deep down about ourselves, others as well as the world, influences and distorts the means we make sense of everyday life. Even if we believe something bad could take place, doesn't mean that is exactly how it truly is! We are checking out life and also situations with those extremely altered lenses. We can make positive changes in each tiny cog in this "savage gears of OCD" layout.

Taking Care Of Splitting Up Stress And Anxiety In Dogs.

Pure O is the main style of the Network 4's program, Pure, which follows 24-year-old Marnie, that is bombarded by invasive ideas of an extremely sexual nature. Drug therapies can additionally be utilized effectively in mix with ERP. The most usual medicine is a kind of antidepressant known as selective serotonin reuptake preventions. These boost degrees of a substance called serotonin in the mind. One of the most usual is worrying about contamination from dust or germs. Please be aware that as a result of the flow of time, the information offered on this page might be out of date or otherwise unreliable, and also any kind of views or opinions revealed might no longer be relevant. Some technological elements such as audio-visual as well as interactive media might no longer function.

If you disable this cookie, we will not have the ability to save your preferences. This suggests that every single time you see this web site you will need to make it possible for or disable cookies again. Purely Essential Cookie ought to be allowed at all times to make sure that we can conserve your choices for cookie setups. https://direct-therapy.org.uk uses cookies to ensure that we can give you with the best individual experience possible.

Christmas: 7 Methods To Take Advantage Of A Very Different Household Xmases

It's entirely easy to understand to really feel anxious with all unpredictability bordering the pandemic, or stressed with being removed from good friends or family members. They'll assist you to discover and also recognize a few of the ways you're really feeling, and deal practical methods you can aid yourself. Worn out as well as incapable to rest one evening, I finally admitted to myself that I required assistance. I researched regional therapists through a site called the Counselling Directory site as well as located someone suitable.

You will certainly discover exactly how they affect you and most importantly, what can be done to alter them.

It intends to break overwhelming issues down into smaller sized components, making them much easier to handle.

While past occasions and also experiences are considered throughout the sessions, the emphasis is more on current issues.

During how to choose Counselling for Depression , your therapist will certainly assist you recognize any unfavorable thought patterns you have.

Unlike a few other therapies, CBT is rooted in today as well as seeks to the future.

He had produced transgenic mice to over-express this healthy protein in their T-cells, one of the main cells responsible for the advancement of autoimmune illness, yet located the computer mice showed a lot more anxiousness than normal. When he and also his group evaluated the genetics shared in the animals' T-cells, they uncovered one genetics particularly was particularly active.

Is Cognitive Behavioural Treatment (cbt) Right For You?

Two days later on, we started our sessions and also I started to fight back versus OCD, first of all by speaking openly as well as truthfully. Saying your worst ideas out loud and also having an expert empathise and wish to explore them with you, instead of decline you, modifications everything. One half of my mind was advising me to stand up and leave, to examine, on the premise that I had actually done something absolutely dreadful. The opposite side was fighting back, assuring me that no, I had not done anything that can harm one more person, and also reminding me that I required to be expert and also not humiliate myself. I was chairing a conference for one of one of the most vital initiatives of my career, bordered by people with extremely hectic journals.

At what age does anxiety peak?

Adults ages 30 to 44 have the highest rate of anxiety of this age group, with around 23% of people this age reporting an anxiety disorder within the past year.

We give evidence-based information, advice and assistance to those influenced by Obsessive-Compulsive Condition. This phase will certainly give details regarding some of the related problems that may be co-morbid with OCD. You can support the work of OCD-UK by coming to be a member from just ₤ 2 a month. Obtain involved in the work of OCD-UK with volunteering or support the work of our charity via fundraising. Find out more concerning the suggested therapies for OCD, consisting of just how to access NHS or exclusive treatment. This section has lots of info, advice and also includes to assist during this time around. Having OCD is hard, not only for the individual, but likewise for those that love and also take care of individuals with OCD.

#cognitive behavioral therapy online #cognitive behavioral therapy techniques #cognitive behavioral therapy near me #cognitive behavioral therapy examples #cognitive behavioral therapy definition #cognitive behavioral therapy nhs #cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety

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rapid-healing-fan-blog · 4 years ago

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4 Simple Coping Abilities You Need To Have For Your Mental Health.

In mental wellness circles, therapists, psychoanalysts, as well as promoted group experts always talk regarding coping abilities. Why? Not just because we require them to survive the day however also to assist us work much better in society.

I have actually created 4 should have coping skills for anybody handling mental health problems. They've benefited me as well as I recognize they have benefited numerous others too. So right here they are:.

1. Have An Assistance Network.

Yes, I understand, I recognize. They only give medications these days however he/she could be able to guide you to some sources that are offered that you really did not know about in the past.

Perhaps there are support system in your area especially designed with you in mind? Also if there aren't you can constantly most likely to a close to by mental wellness center and also search for services. A lot of these locations will certainly take most types of insurance policy-- even medi-caid. What if it's miles away as well as you simply can't obtain to it? Well, take into consideration beginning among your own, Simply have a little team of like-minded people merely sustaining one another. And also if you can find a volunteer facilitator, excellent! It's not required. Occasionally the finest treatment is a group of individuals that "obtain you" and also respect your wellness.

Several of the great features of support system is that you can produce excursion, pot- good luck, or dinners while you chat

It focuses on obtaining mental wellness customers back in to function that we can take care of and with any luck take pleasure in. Psychological health clinics normally can aid you.

2. Find A Way To Work out!

Some of you may hardly be able to get out of bed prior to 3 pm allowed alone have the power to exercise ... I get it. Stroll around community and also get some lunch when you wake up, if that's you. You don't require to be a health club rat to get those feel great chemicals going which is precisely what we must focus on initially, not weight loss.

Since the extra you do it the longer the endorphins and various other neurochemicals are really felt throughout the body. I stroll 3 days a week every early morning and when I'm done I exercise 15 mins of reflection.

3. Mindfulness.

The guy called The Buddha educated that the source of all suffering remained in our effort to get away the here and now moment and also our direct experience of it. Do you assume this holds true? There was a research study done lately on mindfulness meditation. Evidently, it is the initial of its kind that reveals quick alterations in genetics expression within topics related to mindfulness meditation.

According to Dr. Bruce Lipton genetics task adjustments daily. In his research study it highlights that by relentless modification of assumption of your mind CAN modify the task of your genes producing over 30,000 variations from each gene. Wild things, huh!

with the Best Mental Health Clinic in Rawalpindi/ Islamabad as well as feeling what you are experiencing in each moment would certainly be excellent however what I've found is that people with mental health and wellness issues like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or generalised anxiousness problem and so on. I feel it for a couple of minutes until I've calmed down a little bit then I proceed with what I'm doin'. Or, I simply offer up the present minute exist down as well as go to rest.

When you feel something coming on, try to feel it. All of it. Take a breath. Release. If releasing is impossible, surrender the moment as well as rest. Do not battle on your own any type of longer. Be your buddy ... even with the mental condition. It's the only way you will certainly locate tranquility in today moment like The Buddha describes in his trainings.

4. Create A Lot More Hobbies Than Goals.

Don't get me wrong I'm not versus having objectives. They function for some people however I'm not one of them. I believe I've attempted every method of goal establishing out there and also they simply really did not function for me.

Now, take my father for example. He's goal-oriented. He had a goal to construct an actual two-seated helicopter. Took him over 5 years to do it however he did it. He now has a prepared to fly flying device in my parents backyard.

The down-side to goals are as soon as you're ended up, you're off seeking the following goal and the following and the following. My father is currently troubled due to the fact that his objective is finished and he doesn't know what to do next!

So, try something different in a manner. Develop hobbies that have no end. I'm discussing those hobbies that can only make you much better and much better with age and time. See where it takes you. Life is funny that way. You can start off doing one thing and having it wind up evolving into something absolutely different-- however right for you.

Coping skills for mental health and wellness will always be individualized so experiment. In no time at all you might be doing things you never believed possible for you ...

Having a mental illness myselfHealth problem I've learned have actually found out natural approaches all-natural improve my enhance while wellness medication.

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mostlysignssomeportents · 5 years ago

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Pluralistic: 01 Mar 2020 (Make Mordor great again, N95 Mask of the Red Death, Medicare for All with Covid, Necessity Defense)

Today's links

Trump's rhetoric fits eerily well into the Tolkien canon: AR Moxon makes Mordor great again.

The wealthy are chartering jets to avoid coronavirus: The Masque of the Red Death takes to the skies.

The US already has Medicare for All: The day that Trump declares a national health emergency.

America's uninsured will turn a covid crisis into a covid disaster: Our shared microbial destiny cannot be denied.

Jury refuses to convict Extinction Rebellion activists: Long live the "necessity defense" and the human race it protects.

This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019

Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

Trump's rhetoric fits eerily well into the Tolkien canon (permalink)

AR Moxon's satirical riff on how Trump would play as a Tolkien villain is not only hilarious, it's also exactly the kind of thing the Tolkien estate used to threaten to sue people over.

https://twitter.com/JuliusGoat/status/1233207274992263168?s=19

(which is why Pat Murphy's astoundingly great genderswapped retelling of The Hobbit, "There and Back Again," is no longer in print.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_and_Back_Again_(novel)

Especially good is how Moxon digs into the way that Tolkien's concept of "races" was uncomfortably close to "racism" (especially orcs, who, honestly, have no conceivable basis for subsisting as a species, let alone a society).

https://twitter.com/JuliusGoat/status/1233682097463873536

"While I was here, this orc came up —a big guy, very tough, like out of central casting, handsome, could've been a fighting Uruk-hai—and he's crying, weeping, he says 'sir, thank you for the meat.' Incredible. He hadn't had nothing but maggoty bread for three stinking days."

Other Trumpland rhetoric fits in eerily well. Just like Murphy, Moxon claims Hobbits: "We have Hobbits coming in folks, and they're smoking the pipe-weed, and eating second breakfasts, third breakfasts, your breakfasts, your children's breakfasts."

https://twitter.com/JuliusGoat/status/1233221682309083137

And just as with Murphy, Moxon's satire is full of deep, Silmarillion cuts that demonstrate that his work is coming from a place of deep, if conflicted, affection.

https://twitter.com/JuliusGoat/status/1233328631734206475

"Fëanor, son of Finwë, King of the Noldor, is an example of somebody who's done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more. We all appreciate his contributions, and we're looking into him, and we're looking very strongly. Nobody was talking about him before me."

(Image: Cornel Zueger, CC BY-SA)

The wealthy are chartering jets to avoid coronavirus (permalink)

Plutes are chartering private jets in the hopes of avoiding #coronavirus, assuming that if they only fly in fart-tubes that other wealthy people have farted in, they won't get sick.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-29/wealthy-jump-to-private-jets-to-duck-airlines-and-cut-virus-risk

To make this pay, you really need to fill that Gulfstream. NYC-London is $140k for a 12-seater — flying those 12 buttery soft asses from JFK to Heathrow in BA First will run you $120K.

So you're basically assuming that if you use the plute-only terminal at LAX (whose management company once threatened to sue me for criticizing it in print!), and LHR (originally royals-only, now open to any oligarch), you'll avoid covid. Presumably because the Better People have Better Masks and the Luxury Decontam Wipes and that will keep the bad stuff at bay. Nevermind that we're finding covid in people who've been in psych ward lockdown for TEN YEARS.

https://twitter.com/AskAKorean/status/1233046896719126533

Elite Panic is definitely a killer. I mean, people have been pointing this out since Poe wrote "Masque of the Red Death" in 1842. You can't shoot germs.

https://www.poemuseum.org/the-masque-of-the-red-death

Humanity has a shared microbial destiny. Crises get resolved by people running TOWARD the problem, not cowering in luxury bunkers while better people do the work. This is the point of my own take on "Masque."

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250242334

Public health crises show that reality has a well-known collectivist bias, and this challenges right wing orthodoxy, which is why the right has only two responses to epidemiology: "It's a hoax" and (later) "Exterminate the dirty poors!"

"The Reactionary Mind," Corey Robin's magnificent 2011 book (updated 2017), traces the history of right-wing thought to find the factor that unites Dominionists, imperialists, white nationalists, libertarians and other strains of right-wing thought.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reactionary_Mind

Robin's conclusion: the thing that unites these different strains is a belief that humanity is naturally arrayed in hierarchies, with some people simply born better than the rest of us, and the world is best when the best people are in charge. It's an idea as old as Plato's Republic. Dominionists want Christian men in charge of women and children. Racists want white people in charge of racialized people. Libertarians want bosses in charge of workers. Imperialists want America in charge of the world.

It explains why right-wing movements hang together (because they all agree that the "wrong people" are running things) and why they splinter (once they take power, they can't agree who the "right people" are).

This "divine right of kings/bosses/America/whites/men/Christians" philosophy is coterminal with the idea of the natural leaders having special stuff that makes them better: just as the touch of a king will heal leprosy, so too can you expect that a plute won't have covid. It's wrong, of course — lethally so.

The US already has Medicare for All (permalink)

Did you know the US already has "Medicare for All"? But only under very specific circumstances: under the National Disaster Medical System, if the President declares a public health emergency, the federal government steps in to pay all out-of-pockets.

https://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/responders/ndms/definitive-care/Pages/coverage-guidelines.aspx

Any medically necessary service which is authorized for reimbursement as long as the patient sustained:

Injuries or illnesses resulting directly from a specified public health emergency;"

("If you have covid symptoms, you're covered")

Injuries, illnesses and conditions requiring medical services necessary to maintain a reasonable level of health temporarily not available as a result of the health emergency

("if you have any other problem and can't get treatment due to covid chaos, you're covered")

As Carlos Mucha points out, Trump declaring a national health emergency would create "Medicare for All with Covid-19," which could easily become just plain Medicare for All, "as surely as the UK's Emergency Hospital Service morphed into the NHS."

America's uninsured will turn a covid crisis into a covid disaster (permalink)

The last time Carl Gibson saw a doctor was 2013, when an arm-sling and an Rx for painkillers ran him $4000, creating a permanent blot on his credit report. He hasn't been since.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/28/coronavirus-millions-of-americans-uninsured

He's not alone. 44% of Americans do not see doctors despite medical necessity, because of cost. About a third of Americans do not fill their prescriptions because they can't afford them.

27.5m Americans don't have health insurance, thanks to a mix of Republican state-houses blocking Medicare expansion and Obamacare's intrinsic shortcomings, which invite price-gouging and under-coverage from America's sociopathic health-insurance industry.

This is terrible under the best of circumstances, but it's the thing that turns a coronavirus emergency into a coronavirus catastrophe. Because Carl Gibson is sneezing into the same air you're breathing.

("All the common people breathing filthy air" -The Pointer Sisters)

Trump's Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar, is a former pharma lobbyist who has ruled out price controls for a Covid-19 vaccine.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/02/27/pluralistic-your-daily-link-dose-27-feb-2020/#pandemiccapitalism

And Nancy Pelosi has said that treatment must be "affordable" – not free. What's "affordable" when 61% of Americans don't even have $1,000 saved to cover a medical emergency?

It's hardly a novel observation to say that we have a shared microbial destiny: "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/18/few-americans-have-enough-savings-to-cover-a-1000-emergency.html

Jury refuses to convict Extinction Rebellion activists (permalink)

An Oregon jury has refused to convict a group of climate activists who blocked a rail line that Zenith Energy used to transport tar sands crude. The Extinction Rebellion activists presented a "necessity defense" for their actions.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/28/landmark-win-fight-habitable-future-jury-refuses-convict-climate-activists-who

The activists were charged with trespassing for planting a "victory garden" that blocked the track. There was video. 5 of 6 jurors decided that maintaining the habitability of the only planet in the known universe capable of sustaining human life justified the action.

"We need to take note of the lessons learned by the labor movement—mass civil disobedience works. The climate crisis is a workers' issue, we need to unite to shut down business as usual. Right now." -Margaret Butler

The result was a mistrial, and now the local prosecutors have to decide whether to haul the activists back into court again.

This day in history (permalink)

#15yrsago Deluded Sony music exec can't read his own study https://constitutionalcode.blogspot.com/2005/02/us-market-not-antagonistic-towards-drm.html

#15yrsago Euro software patents reanimated through corrupt officials 0wned by Microsoft https://yro.slashdot.org/story/05/02/28/2223232/eu-commission-declines-patent-debate-restart

#15yrsago Comp sci profs smackdown the movie studios https://web.archive.org/web/20050303023425/http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/archives/000776.html

#10yrsago Architectural fan-drawings of classic sitcom houses http://origin.www.markmoorefineart.com/artists/mark-bennett

#10yrsago Petition to make "Hella" the prefix for 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 https://www.facebook.com/The-Official-Petition-to-Establish-Hella-as-the-SI-Prefix-for-1027-277479937276/

#10yrsago Cyberwar hype was cooked up to sell Internet-breaking garbage to the military https://www.wired.com/2010/03/cyber-war-hype/

#5yrsago North Korean defectors undermine totalitarianism with smuggled pirate sitcoms https://www.wired.com/2015/03/north-korea/

#1yrago Oakland teachers' union declares total victory after seven-day strike https://oaklandea.org/updates/oea-reaches-tentative-agreement-with-ousd/

#1yrago German Data Privacy Commissioner warns at new Copyright Directive will increase the tech oligopoly, make EU companies dependent on US filter vendors, and subject Europeans to surveillance by US companies https://torrentfreak.com/german-data-privacy-commissioner-sounds-alarm-over-upload-filter-oligopoly-190301/

#1yrago University of California system libraries break off negotiations with Elsevier, will no longer order their journals https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/02/university-california-boycotts-publishing-giant-elsevier-over-journal-costs-and-open

#1yrago Satanic Panic 2.0: The Momo Challenge hoax https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/02/momo-challenge-hoax/583825/

#1yrago Striking West Virginia teachers won swift and decisive victory; Oakland next? https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/28/rapid-victory-west-virginia-teacher-strike-shows-what-happens-when-progressives

Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources: Naked Capitalism (https://nakedcapitalism.com/)

Hugo nominators! My story "Unauthorized Bread" is eligible in the Novella category and you can read it free on Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

Upcoming appearances:

Canada Reads Kelowna: March 5, 6PM, Kelowna Library, 1380 Ellis Street, with CBC's Sarah Penton https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cbc-radio-presents-in-conversation-with-cory-doctorow-tickets-96154415445

Currently writing: I just finished a short story, "The Canadian Miracle," for MIT Tech Review. It's a story set in the world of my next novel, "The Lost Cause," a post-GND novel about truth and reconciliation. I'm getting geared up to start work on the novel now, though the timing is going to depend on another pending commission (I've been solicited by an NGO) to write a short story set in the world's prehistory.

Currently reading: Just started Lauren Beukes's forthcoming Afterland: it's Y the Last Man plus plus, and two chapters in, it's amazeballs. Last month, I finished Andrea Bernstein's "American Oligarchs"; it's a magnificent history of the Kushner and Trump families, showing how they cheated, stole and lied their way into power. I'm getting really into Anna Weiner's memoir about tech, "Uncanny Valley." I just loaded Matt Stoller's "Goliath" onto my underwater MP3 player and I'm listening to it as I swim laps.

Latest podcast: Gopher: When Adversarial Interoperability Burrowed Under the Gatekeepers' Fortresses: https://craphound.com/podcast/2020/02/24/gopher-when-adversarial-interoperability-burrowed-under-the-gatekeepers-fortresses/

Upcoming books: "Poesy the Monster Slayer" (Jul 2020), a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Pre-order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627?utm_source=socialmedia&utm_medium=socialpost&utm_term=na-poesycorypreorder&utm_content=na-preorder-buynow&utm_campaign=9781626723627

(we're having a launch for it in Burbank on July 11 at Dark Delicacies and you can get me AND Poesy to sign it and Dark Del will ship it to the monster kids in your life in time for the release date).

"Attack Surface": The third Little Brother book, Oct 20, 2020.

"Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a very special, s00per s33kr1t intro.

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kaylinwright07 · 4 years ago

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Reading Response #4

Kaylin Wright

September 9, 2020

Human Sphere

Human begins have a tendency to self-place themselves on a pedestal over the rest of the universe. It is understood that not all people feel this way, but it does seem like people with significant power in society gravitate toward an idea of self-gratification. In addition, when it comes to Earth preservation and global warming people like to stand by the notion that ignorance is bliss. While it is easier to live this way and to just ignore the issues that the world is currently facing, it becomes increasingly more difficult to stand idle and do nothing. Especially, when it is possible for destruction to occur within my own lifetime. Based on the ecological footprint test by The Global Footprint Network, I am about 3.2 earths below the average amount of Earths a person in the United States requires. I initially had about 3 Earths until I utilized the option that allowed me to add more details. I was not as surprised as I was disappointed in the fact that had more than one Earth. It puts into perspective that there is always more that can be done. This screenshot, from the website shows my first results page (Global Footprint Network, 2003).

The second results page provided more in-depth detail on my carbon and ecological footprint. The thing that sticks out to me the most is the food category. The food industry is definitely an area where people forget to think about how their consumption may affect the environment. Saying that everyone should go vegan is like telling everyone that they should not drive their 2003 minivan when it is their only mode for transportation to work. People do not live in the same environments and just because one way of life is easily accessible to you does not mean it is that way for everyone. People may not be able to go vegan because of health issues and the individual with the van may not be able to get to work any other way. A trend within both issues is money. It can be expensive to eat as a vegan or vegetarian, especially if you live in an area where it is not common. Also, not everyone can afford a fuel efficient or electric car. I am privileged enough to be able to know that I can do more to help the Earth. For example, I can reduce my consumption of processed food and meat products. I could also try to decrease my mileage by getting a bike and riding that instead of driving my car and taking the bus. I am more than capable of doing these actions, I just have to make a point to actually do it. This is the second set of results from the website (Global Footprint Network, 2003).

The United states is a leader in the ecological and carbon footprint percentage. This is particularly concerning because the current political environment is also in a poor position. The textbook explained characteristics of a failing state and how that can lead to that country being placed under a category that eludes to ecological failure. The book describes, “The political indicators of a failing state are an illegitimate government, deteriorating public services, widespread human rights violations, an elite security apparatus, warring factions, and often outside intervention (Robertson, 2017, p. 59). The US may not be in this condition yet but the way the political environment has progressively become more hostile, the more this seems like it could happen in the near future. If the people in the US would resist the desire to compete over who has the biggest ego and try to compose compromises instead, then I think that there would be a bigger focus on ecological healing. Though I cannot change the mindset of the entire country, I can try to do whatever I can as an individual to try to be kind to both the planet and the people within it.

References

Robertson, M. (2017). Sustainability Principles and Practice (2nd edition). Taylor & Francis Group.

Global Footprint Network. (2003-2020). How many planets does it take to sustain your lifestyle?. Ecologicalfootprintcalculator.org. https://www.footprintcalculator.org/result1.

#IDS 3920 #Sept 9 #university colloquium

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chrysalispen · 5 years ago

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v. the clays of a cold star

am working on the daily prompt free for all, but in the meantime it’s sunday so also have a chapter for reborn by fire aha

======

All told, Aurelia privately hadn't expected much out of an Eorzean infirmary.

It would, frankly, have been unfair of her. The technology gap between the Empire and most of Aldenard was more like a vast yawning chasm (though there were rumors, largely unsubstantiated, that Cid nan Garlond had defected to Eorzea specifically to close said gap), so she'd assumed that the procedures would be... well... primitive, at least compared to the working conditions to which she was accustomed.

What she encountered was not quite as bad as she'd feared, but still worse than she'd hoped. There were so many people lying abed within the first pavilion that there was scarce any room to walk. The man called Sparrow was carefully placing his footfalls on what small patches of uncovered ground still existed so as not to disturb the bedrolls with their passage.

As they slipped out the back towards the tent that had been erected for a surgery, Aurelia was astonished to see even more wounded. The line stretched outside, with some soldiers unable to stand and sitting or lying in the mus and cold water, while others were left to mill about with minor wounds and shivering in the rain that still fell.

Hells below, the Garlean thought, dismayed.

Two Hyur were working over a table, their aprons bloodied, while a third poured aether into their subject with an outstretched hand. As Sparrow and Edwin approached, an elezen woman emerged from the opposite side of the tent, scowling at them. She wore a long white apron of the sort Aurelia recognized instantly.

"Oh for Nophica's sweet sake," she spat, throwing up her hands, "how many times do I have to tell you lot, no jumping the queue. Everyone will be seen in the order they arrive, now back to the line with you."

Sparrow coughed.

"Uh, beggin' yer pardon, Léonie, but the prisoner's got to be seen to before we can take her to the holding area."

"Another imperial, eh?" A pair of tired hazel eyes met Aurelia's gaze. She braced herself for coldness, for hostility... and the elezen instead gave a noncommittal grunt. "Well then, put her on the table and let's get this done. Need to get the rest of her armor off--I'm guessing she can't walk since you lot were carrying her."

"Hip was out of socket," Edwin spoke up. "I'm fair certain at least one leg is broken if not both."

"Looks like it was reduced."

"Aye. Did it before we came back."

"You shouldn't have reduced her hip if- hells, that's a godsdamned third eye."

The woman had tilted her head back to check the superficial head injury she'd sustained, and her dirty fringe had shifted in a wet, matted clump to bare her brow. She had recoiled, and was now staring incredulously at Aurelia, obviously awaiting an explanation for some mad reason. Stymied as to exactly where this line of questioning was going, she could only nod.

"But... you're a woman," the chirurgeon said.

"I... Y-yes?"

"But you-"

There it was again. Aurelia sighed.

"Why's everyone so bloody surprised I'm a woman?"

"Oh," Sparrow said. "Er..."

"We've, um." Edwin actually had the good grace to look embarrassed. "We heard your, ah, your people don't let their women take the field."

For a long moment, Aurelia just stared at them.

Well that's... certainly a theory.

There was some small nugget of truth to it, she supposed. Garlean women weren't often assigned to the foreign legions because of the risk that deployment to areas like Eorzea posed. For all its technological advancement, imperial society was still rather conservative, and women of her social status were largely expected to serve their compulsory four years before wedding a man of their family's choice to produce heirs for their bloodlines.

That said, highborn women like herself certainly did go through their paces to make a career of military service, and could rise quite high in rank at that. One of Aurelia's own cousins, a woman two years her senior, was one of Legatus van Gabranth's highest-ranked tribunes.

So it was with some difficulty that she managed to keep a straight face when she replied,

"Dare I ask where you lot came by that notion?"

There was a long silence before Sparrow mumbled something that sounded like, "Privateers."

"Ah yes,” she said rather drily, “pirates. Truly, a most reliable source of speculation, and certainly not wont to embellish their tales in the telling."

The pair exchanged decidedly sheepish glances.

Really, though, it was an absurd notion. She might have actually laughed did she not feel so terrible - and if she didn't think she was like to be punished for it. Had the Captain been present, Aurelia was certain she'd have got a hard shove in the back and told to keep her cheek to herself.

"Well," the chirurgeon said, rather briskly, "now we've got that sorted, perhaps you lot might clear out and let me do my godsdamned job. Go on."

"Léonie, the captain will want t-"

"Go, Sparrow, off with you! I can do this without your hovering. If she tries to strangle me with my own apron strings, you'll know about it. Now pull the curtain shut and give a lady some privacy."

Aurelia fidgeted nervously as the two dutifully filed out, one of Sparrow's meaty hands pulling the curtain taut in his wake. She kept thinking of the cold, miserable wounded sitting in their lines, waiting for help, exposed to the elements, watching as she was taken to the front of the line. Her own injuries were far from minor, but she'd seen at least a dozen people who in her own mind would have warranted attention first.

The healer, Léonie, rolled her eyes to the heavens.

"As I was telling him, he shouldn't have tried to reduce that hip of yours if he thought the leg was broken. Could've made it worse."

“Don’t be too hard on him,” Aurelia said. “I asked him to do it.”

“That was foolish.”

“I know. But there was no way they could have carried me here otherwise.”

“Best you hope your hip isn’t cracked as well.” Deft, long-fingered hands reached for her legs. "Let's get these off, then."

"Please be careful-"

"Yes, yes, I've done this a time or two, girl. I know what I'm about." Aurelia relaxed somewhat when she realized the woman was unfastening the heavy buckles that held the greaves in place, rather than attempting to yank them off. "...Can't bloody believe they had a slip of a lass like you going about in heavy armor. You don't look built for it at all."

It was becoming difficult to maintain her composure. The pain had dulled to background noise as they'd traveled - never, she thought to herself, underestimate the body's ability to accustom itself to anything - but now that her full attention was focused on it once more her stomach twisted, the pain suddenly front and center and very very huge.

She saw why the moment the armor was slowly and carefully lifted away: exposed bone an ilm below the knee, cutting through flesh and carbonweave like a snapped stick.

"Compound fracture," she said aloud, between clenched teeth. "I had feared that."

"Pardon?"

"I was pinned beneath a magitek reaper -- hit by it when the moon.. when everything happened," she replied by way of explanation. "My injuries were - are - consistent with blunt force trauma. I was expecting a break, just hoping for something not quite this dire."

The elezen gave her a quizzical glance as she set the cermet plating aside, and turned towards a small metal bowl on a side table.

"Wouldn't expect a soldier to know aught of that sort of thing."

"As well you shouldn't, because I'm not a soldier," Aurelia said steadily, or as steadily as she could manage through the screaming fire that was now her entire left side from the waist down. "I'm in the business of saving lives, not taking them."

"...You're a healer?"

"A field medic, yes."

"I've never seen a chirurgeon in so much armor."

"Robes and leggings would be poor protection for me. I can't use magic so I do what needs doing with... potions. Infusions, and such." Gods, it hurt, it hurt, she could barely think through the throbbing that kept time with her racing heart. "Lost my godsdamned field kit in all of ... this, or I'd have already tried to see to my hurts, if not those poor bastards outside. But it's gone. Out in the Flats somewhere."

She had no way of knowing that for sure, of course. But undoubtedly all those potions, aught that could have done her or anyone else any good -- they were likely gone now, destroyed by the eikon's wrath.

And for lack of proper medicine and proper care, many of the poor souls she'd seen on her way in were probably going to die before the first night had passed. The sheer frustration she felt in the face of that knowledge made her want to weep, or maybe that was just her broken leg.

"Hm. Well, you're right, this is going to require rather more work than just a splint. Lie back and relax. I'm going to fetch that conjurer who came in with you so he can put himself to use and let Sparrow know you'll be here a good while."

She swallowed, lying back against the unforgiving surface of the table and fighting not to vomit. The older woman placed a light hand on her brow, very briefly, like a mother calming a feverish child.

It was not until the unnatural heaviness had sunk into her limbs and dragged her eyelids shut, leaving them too heavy to open, that she was able to sense the chirurgeon's aether weighing her down: not the cold heaviness of iron chains but the soft touch of a warm blanket, silently urging her to shut her eyes and drift away.

She fought it at first, panicked, wondering what they meant to do to her-- and then a stray observation struck her:

Anesthesia. Of course. Anyone who could put a body to sleep would have little need for potions unless the spell was resisted.

The last of her apprehension began to fade.

Whatever else the woman was, she was a healer, and her manner, though it spoke of overwork, had not been one of malice. At the very least, Aurelia thought, she could probably trust a fellow chirurgeon to do her work. Even if the conditions weren't ideal.

She gave in.

~*~

For his part, the Gridanian conjurer in question was currently concentrating on pouring aether into a small body lying prone in the muddy pathway. His patient's companion, a fresh-faced young Hyur wearing the tabard of an Immortal Flame, sat alongside, clutching at a bleeding forearm he barely seemed to notice and staring at the other lad with dark and worried eyes.

"Is... he going to be all right, healer?" the young soldier asked in a smoke-roughened voice, his skin deathly pale beneath a layer of dirt, water, and prominent freckles.

Just a boy, really, truth be told. Gods, Sparrow thought. So many of these so-called soldiers were naught more than children. The aging warrior reckoned there were even more who'd died well beyond the bounds of Carteneau, defending their settlements--farm boys who'd set aside their ploughs to take up whatever blade they could.

Edwin did not answer. He did not need words to give his answer when he sighed, at length, and let his hand fall to his side. The spark of aether at his fingertips dimmed and went out, and his hands returned to his sides.

What little color remained in the Hyur's face drained from it.

"No," he whispered. "No! Didihesu can't-"

"I'm sorry," the conjurer said. "Burns this deep and widespread are beyond my power to heal. Perhaps if he had been brought sooner-"

"You have to help him! Please!"

"I cannot!"

He cut off the torrent of pleas, something sharp and angry and hurting in his words, and the boy went quiet. There was a startled hush that rippled through the nearby patients, as his shout briefly drew their attention.

"Healers cannot work miracles," Edwin continued, his voice more measured, but rough and subdued. And exhausted. "Should I push myself beyond my current limits, I risk my own life as well."

Sparrow knew it was true, and they all knew it had been a long shot- the lalafellin lad's wounds had been grievous even before they had been aware of the extent of the burns Bahamut's fire had left behind- but he also knew what small comfort that would be. They both watched that young face crumple like old parchment, then break, then the inevitable flood of tears.

"...He didn't even want to enlist," the lad sobbed. "But then I-"

"It's not your fault, son," the roegadyn began, but he was cut off by another strangled sob.

"It is my fault! I talked him into leaving the village with me to join the Flames! I-I just wanted my best friend with me when...!"

Edwin watched all of this with an expression that might be mistaken for indifference did one not see the guilt lurking in his eyes. One of the Gridanian's hands was already extending towards the body, gently lifting hands that had cooled and stilled, placing them across poor dead Didihesu's chest, lifting the body to remove it from the mud and the sunken footsteps between the camp tents so that at least he would not be trampled by passerby.

Knowing this was only the beginning of the work they had to do-- just thinking about the countless bodies still left to unearth from all the wreckage here, all the destroyed settlements, made Sparrow's stomach turn itself in knots. But that seemed so trivial in comparison to the decision Edwin had just had to make, to let a boy die because it was either save him or save himself.

It was to this grim scene that Léonie thrust her head out of the tent flap.

"Conjurer," she said shortly. "You're needed."

At first, Edwin did not respond. He knelt a moment longer by the lalafell, wiping at his face, and Sparrow could not be certain if he was shedding tears or if he was simply wiping away mud and rainwater. Then he sighed, and with a grunt used his staff to regain his footing, leather boots splashing in the brown water, the hem of his robes soaked in more of the same.

"Are you going to be all right, then?" the roegadyn asked.

"I have to be all right. I've little choice." His head jerked with a snort tilt towards the straggling line of wounded huddled close and cold and hurting in the storm. "They're depending on it."

What a hard and heartbreaking thing, Sparrow thought to himself, watching that slouched and retreating back as it disappeared into the surgery, to be a healer. To bear such a burden, the responsibility of others' lives. To feel so personally the loss of each, as it shuffled off its mortal coil.

To be cruel simply to be kind.

Gently he placed his hand on the sobbing boy's back, mindful of his hurts, standing guard over that small cloudburst of grief. A small bit of comfort for the living left behind -- that was the least that could be offered, and the most many would get, he thought, in the coming days.

Overhead, the aether-driven storm - heedless of the affairs of mortals or Calamities - continued apace.

#reborn by fire #part 5 #aurelia laskaris #just another self-indulgent WoL backstory fic

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meditativeyoga · 5 years ago

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Do Less, Relax More: Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose

Viparita Karani is my favored position. I recognize, I know, there is something wonderful to uncover in every posture. Honestly, often I just do not really feel like flexing ahead or back, or I am simply as well tired to stabilize on one leg, even for a moment. However have I ever declined a possibility to practice Viparita Karani? Never! I've done this present on resort beds worldwide, against trees on yoga resorts, and in the steam bath at my gym.

Viparita Karani is often called Legs-Up-the-Wall Posture, however viparita in fact implies 'inverted,' and also karani indicates 'in activity.' We could analyze that to suggest that the posture inverts the regular activities that take place in our bodies when we sit as well as stand. There are numerous benefits to inverting the actions in your body. Here are a few. When you place your upper hands the wall with your pelvis raised on a folded blanket, lymph and other fluids that could lead to inflamed ankle joints, worn out knees, and crowded pelvic organs flow right into the lower belly, this freshens the legs and the reproductive area. This is healthy at any type of factor in your reproductive life cycle.

This pose additionally offers blood flow a gentle boost towards the top body and head, which creates a positive rebalancing after you have actually been standing or sitting for a very long time. If you are worried, exhausted, or jet-lagged, this pose is especially rejuvenating. Its true success is that it shows us experientially that positive outcomes could come from doing less, not much more. A number of us have been educated to think we have to strive in order to profit of any type of particular effort, whether it is exercising yoga, being wed, or running a service. As well as, obviously, that is helpful as well as ideal guidance sometimes. Viparita Karani provides a paradigm shift in how to come close to the concept of 'job,' in both yoga and also life. And also this is the No. 1 reason I like Viparita Karani so much. The advantages of Viparita Karani acquire not just from inverting an activity yet additionally from inverting the whole notion of action. When you loosen up with your boosts the wall, you are practicing the polar opposite of task, which is receptivity.

Pose Benefits:

Alleviates headaches

Boosts energy

Soothes menstruation aches (some yoga practices guidance versus doing Viparita Karani throughout menstrual cycle)

Relieves lower-back pain

Contraindications:

Glaucoma

Hypertension

Hernia

The Organizing Principle

Every yoga pose has an arranging principle as well as a container principle. When you use the organizing concept, you arrange your placement to ensure that the energetic circuitry you established up is well balanced as well as unobstructed. Organized placement develops the conditions for the advantages of each specific asana to arise.

Variation:

Let's check out the arranging principle in Viparita Karani. To get the complete advantages of the present, you'll require to get the positioning of your blanket under your hips simply. To begin, you'll additionally need a wall surface space that is clean as well as clear. If you are doing this in your home, look for a space that is not jumbled. Gather 2 blankets, a belt, and also two eye pillows. If you have a bolster, bring that along.

Fold one covering into a huge square. Then fold that in thirds, creating a firm, encouraging pillow. Position your blanket pillow about 12 inches away from the wall. Fold up the other covering in fifty percent as well as place it 3 feet from the wall surface. You'll utilize this covering to support your head and also to fill up in the room between your neck and the floor. Sit sidesaddle on the cushion so that your ideal side is near the wall. Loophole your yoga belt around the middle of your shins. Attract it snug however not tight.

Place your left elbow joint on the floor and swing your legs-- like a mermaid tail-- up the wall. The remainder of your body will normally drop so that you wind up existing on the floor with your boosts the wall.

Viparita Karani:

Now it's time to arrange your body in connection to your props and the wall.The folded covering closest to the wall must be beneath your sacrum as well as low back, with enough area in between the wall surface and your seat for your sitting bones to somewhat drop over the edge of the covering toward the flooring, your hamstrings ought to feel comfy, not stretched.

If your setup doesn't match these standards, change the placement of the blanket that's closest to the wall. To do so, flex your knees as well as position your feet level on the wall surface. Press your elbow joints down and lift your hips up. Currently reach down as well as move the blanket with your hands. If you need to be further from or closer to the wall surface, press your feet into the wall surface and shimmy your shoulders forward or back. When you've finished changing, come down as well as see just how you feel.

If your hips really feels tucked under, you are as well near to the wall surface. Move an inch or two out from the wall or pull your covering further up your back. Your resting bones ought to slightly roll off the blanket side, producing a little curve in your back. Your groins need to really feel soft as well as hollow. You can entirely unwind your legs because the belt is holding them together. If you feel a large stretch in the back of your legs, your hips could be also near to the wall, and so removal further away from it. If you still really feel pressure, location your boost up and down versus the wall surface. The top of the strengthen will most likely come near the back of your knees, permitting them to gently bend. This will certainly release any type of tension in the back of the legs and additionally help you untuck your pelvis.

Once you are pleasantly situated, with your arms relaxing by your sides, put an eye cushion in each of your open palms. All this arranging may take a number of shots before you get it simply right, but it is worth the initiative to find the sweet place, since you'll be staying right here for a while.

If you have even more time, you could develop a tasty variant with a couple of additional props. Have a hefty block or sandbag and also some coverings nearby. As soon as you're in the pose, bend your knees, keeping your feet bent. Place the block or sandbag on the soles of your feet, as well as then meticulously align your legs. If it's hard to reach your feet, ask a pal for assistance. Next, put a folded covering under each arm and also rest your hands on your stomach. This will certainly let you really feel as though you are floating, yet supported. Put an eye pillow over your eyes.

The Container Principle

Have you discovered that asanas do not truly exist? When we appear of a position, that position disappears. Asanas are impermanent forms or containers that help us focus our recognition. In a faster-moving technique, that experience is short lived. In restorative presents, such as Viparita Karani, we invert the practice of action, and follow in the container of the position. The only 'work' we are indicated to do is to allow go as well as be receptive.

You got ta love Viparita Karani: There is no workout for this present. You actually can do it anywhere, anytime. But simply because you get right into the physical position doesn't imply that you will quickly go down into a relaxing experience. A calming breath workout could aid. Inhale deeply for 4 matters, then exhale for 8 counts. Longer exhalations slow your heart price and relax your anxious system. Repeat 5 times, then breathe naturally.

Then do absolutely nothing. Really. Allow your mind float like a kite riding on a soft wind. If you drop asleep, that's penalty. If you do not, that's also fine. I do this posture when I'm stuck on a writing project. It imitates mind sorbet, cleaning my mental taste and also leaving me with fresh imagination. Can you be open to exactly what takes place when you let yourself relax? Maybe this container will certainly show you something intriguing. And also if one of the most interesting point is that you feel the power of a clean slate when you sit up, well, that deserves a million bucks!

Stay in Viparita Karani for 5 to 20 mins. If you are not used to restorative yoga, you may intend to rise after 5 minutes, which's penalty. Over time, you will certainly have the ability to stay much longer. At some point you'll trust the container of the present to sustain your procedure of downfall, bring about even more extensive rejuvenation.

When you are all set to come out of the posture, bend your knees towards your upper body. Roll onto your right side and also remainder there for numerous breaths. After that, press your hands right into the floor as well as stroll on your own as much as sitting, allowing your head turn up last. Glide the belt off your legs and remain on your blanket, with your back at or near the wall surface. Sit silently for a few mins and also really feel the impacts of your practice.

Viparita Karani reveals us that the womanly, receptive aspect of our method could be as important as the energetic, or masculine, component. The covert message of Viparita Karani is something numerous females already understand, however don't constantly heed. Back in my college days, whenever I whined concerning obstacles, my papa would urge me to maintain up my great, however I could still hear my mama's voice claiming sympathetically, 'Oh, do not stress a lot. Go place your boosts the wall.'

Find Contentment

Asana method can be difficult. But when we apply ourselves to learning the poses, lastly managing to hold an equilibrium as well as be specific in our alignment, we typically really feel a healthy sense of accomplishment.

But that sensation meets a Catch 22, as one of the leading concepts of yoga is santosha, or contentment. My trainees usually obtain stuck aiming to comprehend this, confusing satisfaction with complacency. They ask me, 'If I become material with points as they are, exactly what is my inspiration to ever before do anything? Isn't really aiming to boost an advantage?'

Good questions! Practicing contentment does not suggest that you stop making every effort, yet that you deal with more acceptance of exactly what is, commemorating the excellent in each moment. My suggestions for practicing satisfaction are to reduce, streamline, and also value-- because order.

Reduce: Can you shrink the number of activities you should do to really feel satisfied? 'First I'll go to yoga course as well as depend on my head, and afterwards I'll have a healthy smoothie, and afterwards I'll meet my friend for a movie, and afterwards ...' The primary step toward satisfaction is to observe how little you actually require to more than happy. When you arrange less things, you create area in your day for discovering the natural satisfaction that's always present.

Simplify: Can you merely do the something you're doing today as well as absolutely nothing else? I typically see yoga exercise trainees fidgeting away on their yoga exercise floor coverings, reorganizing their alignment. Instead, I welcome you to be satisfied with your impersonate it is. Attempt organizing the setup of a pose without even more than 2 or 3 adjustments, and after that just abide there. Can you permit the posture to unravel for you? You may be shocked at the mental spaciousness that develops from simplifying your actions.

Appreciate: Recognition is the cherry on the top of contentment. The initial 2 steps are semi-renunciations leading you to an open location where you could recognize the benefits that existed regularly. This is how yoga welcomes us to associate with a healthy and balanced sense of success. Not a notch on our yoga belt pleading for even more success, however an admiration for all the goodness that we are so fortunate to experience in our practice.

Cyndi Lee is an author, musician, and also yoga exercise teacher as well as the creator of OM Yoga Center.

#asana #restorative yoga #Yoga #Yoga Center

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uwmadarchives · 6 years ago

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Pay Your Students: Student Activism and Student Labor In Campus Archives

Or, “Building Trust Between Archives and the Student Body: Hiring Student Historians” or even, “My Undergraduate Experience at the Midwestern Archives Conference: Why More Paid Positions Like Mine Must Exist On Campus”

by Rena Yehuda Newman (They/Them), Student Historian in Residence

“Student Memory: Then and Now” Poster by Rena Yehuda Newman (They/Them), presented at MAC 2019 in Detroit

This year, I had the honor of attending the Midwest Archives Conference (MAC) 2019 in Detroit, Michigan for a couple days sitting in on sessions, learning about the archival profession, and presenting my poster entitled “Student Memory: Then and Now”. I’d been to conferences before but the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) Agricultural conference was, as you might guess, a little bit of a different vibe than an Archives meet-up.

The conference was informative and occasionally quirky (including the damaged document recovery vendor giving out vacuum-sealed beef jerky as a freebie). I attended sessions on imposter syndrome in the profession, documenting the HIV/AIDS crisis in the Midwest, and #Archives4BlackLives. In the time outside the conference, I wandered around Detroit with a friend, checking out a public installation in honor of organized labor, exploring the Detroit Institute of Art, and walking by the Church of Scientology up the street from our hotel. Critiques of many sessions included, the conference was an enriching and enlightening experience -- especially considering that, a little over a year ago, I had only a basic understanding of what an archives even was.

I may have been the only undergraduate at the conference, my age surprising many of the University Archivists who approached me to discuss my poster. While the poster discussed parts of my research and its relevance to the present, the bulk of my presentation centered around questions of archives outreach and community engagement, documenting the experiences of the student body and peer-educating about what an archives is and does. In my presentation, I wanted to suggest that archives can be supportive spaces for student activists on campus and archivists can be their accomplices in their pursuit of justice. I made a short list of action steps.

How can archivists support student activism?

Collaborate with student organizers, government, and groups to preserve student memory, especially for contemporary issues

Listen to the needs of students, especially marginalized students, asking: how archival collections can be of service to them?

Host events and workshops about relevant historical campus movements and protests

Encourage students to think of themselves as historical subjects by leading workshops teaching students how to document their experiences

Provide accessible opportunities for students to contribute their own meaningful, modern materials to the campus archives

But most importantly...

Fund paid student staff positions, employing students to do archival research, outreach, and modern documentation

On my poster I was transparent about the wages, conditions, responsibilities, and privileges of my position as Student Historian in Residence, which is well-paid, supported by the staff, and flexible in terms of time and content. By being compensated for my labor, I’ve been able to spend the time that I need to in the archives working on all sorts of projects that benefit the archives and (I hope) serve the student body.

Though the Student Historian position began this year as a pilot research opportunity, the work has sprouted into other projects, like creating a teaching kit about the Black Student Strike, spreading the gospel of archives by presenting to classrooms around campus, leading late-night archives sessions on topics like “Queer History”, teaching student government about self-documentation, and most recently, conducting interviews for a modern oral history project on UW-Madison student activism from 2016 - 2019.

While non-student staff keep the wonderful Archives ship afloat, this kind of outreach work can only be done by a student. I’m not saying that I’m the student who should do this work -- this isn’t about me, it’s about student labor in general. The importance and value of archival peer education is immense. The benefits of trust between the student body and their campus archives are best achieved when student staff members are given the opportunity to take ownership over the archives and bring that passion to the rest of their circles, letting other students know that their campus archives is a place where their collective work can be remembered. This quality of work can only happen if students are paid for it -- and paid well.

At the conference, I had one university archivist approach me and ask how their archives could create these student community connections without a budget. Was there a way she could get the same results without paying students for their work?

As the Student Historian, I have the profound opportunity to spend hours familiarizing myself with materials, reflecting on my learning, meeting with staff members, creating projects to serve my fellow students, and sharing my work with the rest of my community. This position requires a lot of time each week and has yielded projects that the Archives staff and I are proud of. Yet for many marginalized, low-income students -- all of whom would offer unique, necessary perspectives into these archival pursuits -- this opportunity would be inaccessible were it unpaid. Many students can’t afford to work for free. I answered that, while there are many steps an archives can take to support student activism and document these corners of student life, by not paying students for documentation or research, an archive creates a barrier for access and excludes the brightest, most marginalized students on campus from sharing their perspectives and benefiting from the enormous opportunity that archival work has to offer.

To University Archivists interested in the above: Apply for grants to fund student projects. Find funding for student staff members to do research, outreach, and modern materials collection.

Archives are a place for activism, for students to reclaim campus memory as their own. Do yourself and the student body a favor -- create more positions like mine and spread the archives love inside the reading room and beyond.

-- Rena Yehuda Newman (They/Them), Student Historian in Residence 2018-19

#Student #Student Archivist #Student Historian #Student History #History #Archives #Student Labor #Student Activism #Activism #Organizing #Memory #University #University of Wisconsin #UW #Workers #Wage #Labor #Labor History

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hollenka99 · 6 years ago

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Trapped

Day 1 of Whumpril. When Jackie arrives at the scene of a collapsing building, he doesn’t expect to find himself under the rubble.

As soon as he blearily switches the television on, Jackie knows it was going to be a busy day. The office block on screen had become structurally unstable. By this point, the risk it could collapse was high. He swiftly wakes himself up and prepares to evacuate as many civilians from their workplace.

Once there, he discusses a plan with the emergency services. He could fly, a valuable skill in situations like these. Without wasting a second more, he gets to work. At one point, while scanning a room for anyone unable to escape, he comes across a remnants of a device. It had been an explosive. When he finds another used explosive a couple floors above, he begins to piece the evidence together. Hitting spots to leave the building structurally weaker. This was no accident.

He's about to report it when an unexpected voice interrupts. Great, like Jackie really needs him here. Who even gave him access to a walkie-talkie?

"Jackie, what are you doing?" Henrik doesn't sound impressed. "Get out of there."

"Henrik," He sighs heavily. "I'm just doing my job. Do you see me telling you to stop healing people? No."

"Being a doctor doesn't put me in danger. I said get out of there."

Sure, he's been involved in house fires, where there's additional risk of burns or asphyxiation from smoke, but this is where Henrik draws the line. The guy's not even a paramedic, what was he doing here? Shouldn't Henrik be heading to the hospital to help with the influx they were going to receive from this building? "And I said I'm not leaving until I know I've saved as many civillians as I can. Me staying could be the difference between someone surviving or their body being pulled out of the rubble in a week." Neither of them say anything for a moment. The superhero continues to scan the offices for anyone who may need help as he speaks. "Okay, look, I promise to fly out as soon as I feel it giving."

"I could give you a few extra seconds if I'm quick enough. I'm sure I could use my magic to hold the building up." Marvin chips in. Oh, he was here, was he? Why not bring Chase and his kids too seeing as this was clearly a big attraction.

"I appreciate the gesture, Marv, but I don't think even I could hold a building up. If I can't, I really doubt a spell could. Thanks for the offer though."

He finds four more people. He is hesitant when he returns to search for a potential fifth. His sixth sense is uncomfortable. Perhaps he should vacate the building for good himself. He tries to reason that he can be of some help when clearing the debris. However, the temptation to rescue another person before the office block truly disappeared into rubble got the better of him.

Stupidly, Jackie allows himself to search the staircase on the off chance someone is there. He climbs the steps, calling for anyone to answer. For a second, he convinces himself he hears a second pair of footsteps. Only the building itself gives him a definitive answer. Its straining is worrisome. His mind yells at him to leave. Now.

"Shit, I think it's about to give. I could have sworn I heard someone but I don't think there's time anymore. I'm getting out." He's so far from the window. Come on, he's got to make it. Almost there. He's so close now. If he could just have two seconds more, he might-

The walls cave.

Jackie has no way of telling how long it is before he opens his eyes. It's not like he has a watch with him. It would only get in his way. He takes a second to breathe and analyse his surroundings. He doesn't appear to have sustained damage to his organs so that's good. He had air for now and hopefully that would stay that way. He can move his legs and shift his body a little in the small space he's found himself in. Overall, he's pretty uncomfortable but at least he's alive.

However, the trapped hero can't move his right arm. One look to the side tells him it is pinned by rubble. No amount of shoving will shift it. So much for super strength. He forces himself to stop. Expending all his energy won't prove helpful in the long run. Still, a niggling thought appears. If he can't move it now, how is he going to succeed later when he's more tired?

"Can you hear me? Henrik? Marv? Anyone? Hello!" Nothing comes through, not even the staticky sounds of someone attempting to communicate through a broken connection. He thinks the device may have been destroyed in the collapse. Well, that's just great.

He soon resigns himself to his fate. It will be a while before he is found.

God, he was so stupid. If only he had done the smart thing and left before the place collapsed. Think of how many more people he could be helping to find. Instead, the rescue services would have to waste time getting him out too. Not to mention his goddamn arm wouldn't free itself from where it was pinned. What the hell was the point in superhuman strength if he couldn't make the most of it?

With a heavy sigh, he attempts to get as comfortable as he can possibly achieve. That unfortunately resulted in noticeable discomfort. Immeasurable time passes.

His stomach begins to hurt. He's unsure how to decipher it until it vocalises its distress. Oh, of course he'd get hungry. His eating patterns may be erratic on some days but he did his best to maintain a regular schedule. The others definitely ensured he ate properly. The pangs of hunger irritate him. He hopes it won't last the entire duration of his stay.

When the headaches appear, they trigger the realisation he's dehydrated with zero access to any liquids. Even if he was prepared to... 'recycle' after suffering an indignity, he has no way of doing so. He only has one arm at his disposal and no container within his reach. Not that he was particularly enthusiastic to do it in the first place. He'd much rather drink a coke to help with Sean's stupid running gag.

Oh man, thinking about it, he'd kill for a coke right now.

When exactly was the last time he drank something? He didn't have anything in the morning; there was no time for that. He'd been on patrol in the evening but hadn't drunk anything beforehand either. He'd planned on having a drink when he got home but the desire to crash in his bed was stronger. It was probably that glass of juice before lunch. So probably 24 hours by this point. 18 hours minimum. It all depended on how long he'd been down here.

After yet another nap, he opens his eyes. He's skeptical about whether he should be taking this many naps in his condition. For all he knew, the next time could be him properly losing consciousness thanks to his body being thrown into chaos. That said, there wasn't much to do here except for failing to free his right arm for the umpteenth time and waiting to be rescued. Or not. They could find him too late.

Jackie struggles to suppress the line of thought he's been avoiding this entire time. He doesn't want to imagine it. Whatever happens, he can't have a paramedic approach Henrik and the others with bad news. And the media, oh boy. He's sure they'd have a field day, especially the ones who are against his vigilantism. He's sure they're twisting his miscalculations into proof he's not to be trusted as a protector at this very minute. He prays it doesn't come to that. He couldn't bear recklessly hurting his best friends with his loss.

There comes a point where he has to remind himself of his situation. The confusion should be worrying but, with his spinning head, he can't think straight for long enough. He's too preoccupied hating how uncomfortable his racing heart is. And how long had his arm been like that? He gently tugs to remove it. Nothing. At least his stomach didn't hurt anymore. He really wants a drink.

What was it that Sean always said? A refreshing coke-flavoured vanilla zero now with a hint of sugar? Wait no, that wasn't right. What was it again? Whatever the answer was, he wanted one. Right now he'd take ten- no, a hundred. He knows Henrik wouldn't be happy for some reason. Jackie's not sure why. Didn't he want his friend to stop being thirsty? Thirst was bad. Vanilla Zero is all he asks for. Anything he can drink will be fine by this point.

Eventually, there is a commotion near him. People talking maybe? He blinks towards it. He can't catch onto the words long enough to work out what it is that is being said. Did they know he was near them? Were they going to accidentally leave him? Please don't let them leave him here. He can't come so close to hope then have it taken away.

"I'm here!" He strains.

"Don't worry, we can see you. We're getting you out." A voice answers as something above him disappears.

In a detached way, it hits him that he's being rescued. It's over. He's survived. Part of him knows he should stay awake so he can co-operate with the search team as best as he can. However, sleep sounds good. How useful was he really when awake? First there was something he wanted them to know, something important. What was it? Oh, yeah, that was right.

"As soon as I recover, I'm helping." He whispers.

"How about you focus on recovering first, buddy?" The person working next to him chuckles. Jackie returns the slightest of smiles before allowing himself to rest.

#my writing #writersofjack #whumpril #februwhump #jackieboy man #henrik von schneeplestein #marvin the magnificent #building collapse #getting trapped in rubble #rescue situation #dehydration

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the-everlasting-dream · 7 years ago

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The Revelation AU - Drake x MC, Part 5

Summary: As Elizabeth’s life hangs in the balance, her friends are faced with the harshness of reality while they wake for her to wake up.

A/N: Y’ALL ASKED FOR IT! Here is the beginning of the angstiest possible route to a happy ending (that will come eventually). This was the hardest one to write because of all the different perspectives but I hope I did them justice? After this cliff hanger you may experience extreme shock, disbelief and denial so please have mercy on this writer when you grab your pitchforks.

Also special thanks to @chantelle-x0x for making the character aesthetics for this chapter! She is amazing at this as I have told her so many times before!

Word count: 5400 This is the longest one in the series, I apologise but I couldn’t have split it any other way.

Warnings: Brief mentions of blood, injury, death, grief.

CATCH UP HERE

Two days after the accident...

HANA

BREAKING NEWS: CORDONIA’S NEWEST DUCHESS, ELIZABETH RICHMOND HAS HAD A TRAGIC ACCIDENT AT THE CORMERY ISLE. EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS STATE THAT THE CAUSE WAS AN UNSTABLE BALCONY IN THE VANCOUER MANSION.

In her assigned room in the Vanceour estate, Lady Hana Lee sat in darkness, listening to the Cordonian radio host break the news to the country. She felt a sudden chill at his words and pulled the wooden blanket draped over her shoulders tighter around her body. The events of the last twenty-four hours had been a blur to her in the moment and now a tear slipped down her face as the truth of what had taken place started to really hit home.

Elizabeth had fallen off a balcony. Elizabeth.

The thought seemed so misplaced. This was the kind of thing that happenned in books or movies, not real life.. And definitely not to someone she knew, her friend..

Hana had arrived back from Cordonia’s general hospital barely an hour ago where the doctors worked around the clock to save Elizabeth’s life. Her friend had still been in surgery when Liam finally convinced the rest of them to get some sleep.

Drake, however, would not be moved.

He had remained stubbornly glued to chair in the waiting room, seated closest to the door that the medical professionals came through to report on the outcomes to the various surgeries that were taking place. His messy brown hair was clutched tightly between his fingers, he had only moved to lift his head each time he heard the door open. Despite his heavy eyes and exhausted body, he'd roughly declined any offer for rest or sustenance, ignoring Hana's pleas and Maxwell’s cajoling until Liam had put his hands on their shoulders, shaking his head and their efforts ceased.

After hearing about the commotion at the end of the press conference, she along with Maxwell and Liam had all come running to the press room but upon hearing a rough scream, they diverted their path to the heritage room. There they were shocked to have found Drake lying on the edge of the dilapidated balcony screaming Elizabeth’s name until his voice raw. Liam’s shaking fingers had the emergency services in the scene in record time but the wreckage was so severe that they had to radio in for a helicopter to rescue Elizabeth. Hana remembered Drake’s eyes wild and desperate, ready to throw himself off the cliff’s edge when he’d heard this.

‘Fuck them, I’ll climb down and get her myself!’

He would have nearly succeeded if Liam and Bastien had not held him back. When they’d finally reached the hospital after following in a car, Elizabeth had immediately been taken to the emergency room and they’d had little more than a small glimpse of her bloodied figure before she was wheeled into the surgery. A clipboard had been thrust into Hana’s hands and she was instructed to fill out Elizabeth’s personal details. She paused, pen hovering over the space labelled ‘Patient Full Name.’ It was only then that the group realised how little they knew about their friend...

‘I know that one,’ Maxwell chimed in unexpectedly. ‘Elizabeth Aishwarya Richmond.’

Three heads whipped around to stare at him. ‘How do you know that?’ Drake asked almost menacingly, eyes narrowed.

Maxwell visibly panicked at the question. ‘Uhm.. I just asked her one day?’

Hana watched as Drake hung his head. ‘She never mentioned that to me. And I-I never thought to ask,’ he remarked hollowly, shuffling his feet a little. ‘Some fiance I’d have been, I didn’t even know her full name…’

‘Don’t worry about it man,’ Liam replied, patting his arm gently. ‘It's not a big deal anyway. None of the rest of us knew...’

Drake nodded vaguely despite the tears shining in his eyes and between the four of them, they managed to complete the form.

It was 2.30am now.

Something inside Hana gave way and she fell to her knees, seeming to lose the ability to hold herself up as sobs wracked her body. The adrenaline of the last few days had finally worn off giving way to a profound sense of exhaustion in more than just the physical sense of the word.

This was Elizabeth, her best friend, her first real friend. The first person to see past the facade she’d been trained all her life to put forward to the woman she was underneath. Where she had been scolded for voicing her opinion and punished for the slightest mistake, her friend had instead offered encouraged and advice and Hana had found herself growing bolder and bolder, taking control of her own life for the first time in her twenty-six years.

Elizabeth had believed in her even before Hana did herself and if she was gone, who would believe in her now?

The weight of this hit Hana hard as infinite possibilities and scenarios swirled in her mind. If Elizabeth died what would happen to her? Where would she live? Who would she go to for advice? Her parents wouldn’t take her back now that she’d scorned them so where else could she go?

Depressed at her meagre prospects, Hana sunk into the mattress before shooting back up and grabbing her phone, double checking that the ringer was on full volume. Liam had promised to let them know the moment that there was any word about Elizabeth and as her friend’s life hung in the balance, Hana would have never forgiven herself if she missed the chance to say goodbye.

Nine days after the accident...

MAXWELL

DUCHESS ELIZABETH RICHMOND REMAINS IN HOSPITAL IN A COMA FROM HER INJURIES. THERE HAS BEEN NO MENTION OF WHEN THE DUCHESS WILL RETURN TO HER DUTIES AND EARLIER THIS WEEK KING LIAM OFFICIALLY CALLED OFF THE UNITY TOUR IN LIGHT OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES.

Maxwell Beaumont almost dropped his phone on the brick path as something tugged abruptly on his arm, jerking his eyes away from the news article he was reading. He looked down at the corgi attached to the leash in his hand, its brown eyes and wagging tail made it hard not to smile. He crouched down to rub Cooper’s ears. The dog cocked its head slightly, letting out a small whine and Maxwell thought he saw a glint of sadness in its usually playful gaze.

'I know boy,' he said wistfully, scratching the corgi's head. 'I miss her too.’

Ever since he and Bertrand had returned home to Beaumont estate, taking Elizabeth’s corgi on walks had become a daily ritual for him, something to get his mind off everything that was happening. Most days it worked as it gave Maxwell something to do while the whole country stood at a standstill, hold their breath as they waited for news about the condition of their favourite duchess. That was easier said than done however and now he couldn’t help as his mind slipped back into the events of the past week.

*Flashback*

The doctors and surgeons had worked around the clock, racing against time and after almost 40 hours in surgery, Elizabeth had eventually pulled through narrowly avoiding the worst. When they had finally been able to see her, Elizabeth had been wrapped in so many bandages and wound dressings that he had barely recognised the woman he had come to call his best friend. Deep purple circles splayed out under her eyes and her mocha skin looked pale under the harsh fluorescent lights. Her mouth and nose were covered by a large oxygen mask, in fact her face was hardly visible under the bandages around her head. A nurse was adjusting the various tubes connecting her to various machines, the ventilator, drip, heart rate monitor. More bandages covered her limbs and unmissable, the ones spanning dangerously across her stomach tinged slightly red.

Maxwell gulped at the sight. ‘W-what happened to her?’ His voice came out in a hoarse croak, shattering the thick silence that had developed as they crowded together in the small room.

‘She fell off the balcony Maxwell,’ Bertrand’s dry tone held irritation.

The younger Beaumont felt the unfamiliar rush of red hot anger course through him as he turned on his brother. ‘You know that's not what I meant. Tell me exactly what happened.’

‘Maxwell you wouldn’t-’

He didn’t let him finish. 'Wouldn’t what Bertrand? Wouldn’t be able to cope with the truth? Wouldn’t be able to understand all the technical terms? Because I’m too dumb? Or maybe you think I’ll make a joke about it? You think I can’t take this seriously?! She’s my best friend and I demand to know what’s wrong with her!!’

‘Maxwell stop!’ Hana’s panicked tone pierced through the fog of rage and emotion.

Collecting himself, Maxwell realised that he had been gripping the lapels of Bertrand’s blazer so tightly they’d begun to tear. Releasing his brother, he dusted off his hands taking a moment to organise his thoughts before he regarded his friends expectantly.

‘Well?'

Liam answered this time, struggling to keep his voice steady. 'She’s sustained a serious head injury and a few broken ribs, fractured pelvis, broken shoulder as well as a collection of cuts and bruises from the debris of the balcony. There was a lot of internal bleeding thats why the surgery took so long. The doctors said it would have been worse. She was really lucky that she’d only fallen about 25 feet and not the entire length of the cliff. Her broken bones will heal but at this point its the head injury they’re more worried about.’

The gravity of his words plunged the room into silence, yet again save for the beeping of the various machines around Elizabeth’s bed. Maxwell inched forward reaching forward hesitantly to touch her hand. Just as his fingers made contact however, a frenzied beeping sounded out and Elizabeth’s body started to spasms and shudder violently.

'What’s happening? Why is she doing that?’ Maxwell screeched, panic flowing through him. 'Nurse, nurse, someone help!'

In the blink of an eye, three nurses entered the room, one turning to the group. ‘Your Majesty, Your Graces I have to ask you to leave the room please. We need to stabilise her now.’

Before he knew what was happening, Maxwell had been pulled into the hallway and the door was shut in his face. He whirled on Drake, shoving two hands against his friend’s chest roughly.

'You were supposed to look after her man! You were supposed to protect her!'

'You think I don’t know that? You think this is easy for me? To see her like that?’ Drake’s entire body was taut as he pulled himself to full height a few inches taller than Maxwell. ‘You were just her friend I was the one meant to be marrying her!’

Both of them were locked in a tense standoff, hands balled into fists, neither wanting to back down. Around them, other hospital patrons watched in surprise.

‘Maybe its a good thing you didn’t then because look where she ended up!’ He spat in reply.

‘Say that again I dare you.’ His friend's voice was dangerously low but Maxwell didn’t care.

‘Come on Maxwell. You’re making a scene,’ Bertrand swooped in, gripping his arm as he yanked him away from the other man. 'We’re going home.’

*End of flashback*

‘Maxwell!’ His brother’s voice cut through the memory as he approached. ‘Hurry up! We’re late to fetch Elizabeth’s parents from the airport!’

Maxwell shot to his feet. ‘Chanaya and Danvir? I totally forgot they were arriving today.’

‘Thats Mr and Mrs Richmond to you,’ Bertrand reminded him. 'Yes well they have had quite a few complications with their travel arrangements but they will be arriving soon.’

Maxwell had coaxed the corgi back to the house following his brother when something occurred to him.

‘What about the Marquess and Neville?’

Bertrand’s face darkened frighteningly. ‘They’ll be paying for that if King Liam or I have anything to say about it,’ he replied in his signature Duke of Ramsford tone that Maxwell had heard many times but he noted that this time it was different.

The threat held in the words was very real and the younger Beaumont almost shuddered, glad that he wasn’t on the receiving end this time.

Fifteen days after the accident...

KIARA

AND NOW FOR OUR DAILY CHECK-IN ON DUCHESS ELIZABETH: THERE HAS BEEN NO OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE ROYAL PRESS SECRETARY BUT AN INSIDE SOURCE HAS CONFIRMED THAT THE DUCHESS’ CONDITION HAS STABILISED HOWEVER THE FULL EXTENT OF HER INJURIES WILL ONLY BE KNOWN WHEN SHE COMES OUT OF A COMA.

‘Off to the hospital mon chere?’ Joelle asked her only daughter as she watched her head for the door.

’Non Maman. King Liam has moved her to a secure ward not too far from the palace,’ Kiara answered, ducking into the lounge room of their manor where her mother sat watching the news. Her eyes flitted to the shot of the wreckage on screen and she instinctively clutched the bunch of flowers in her hands tighter.

‘Bien sur. Please send her my best and to Drake too. Those poor things…’ Joelle sighed turning back to the screen. ’Such a terrible tragedy to happen to such a lovely pair. You’re sweet to go and visit her.’

The knot in her chest only tightened when Kiara heard her mother’s words. After the accident, she had feigned sickness and returned home where she had buried herself in her diplomatic duties instead, determined to shut everything out as the country was shocked by the news. Her parents were happy to have her home but they were too busy to notice the change in their daughter. Her brother Ezekiel had approached her attempting to extract the truth but she had pushed him away.

All the guilt and regret she had been trying to shove down over the past two weeks now bubbled up dangerously. It had kept her up late, preventing her from sleep as she tossed and turned thinking of what she could have done. It had kept her from going to see Elizabeth even though she knew she should have and after two weeks of talking herself up to it, she had finally mustered up enough courage to go. Her mother’s tone was gentle and admiring but instead, Kiara eyes filled with tears and her lower lips began to wobble. She couldn’t keep what had happened to herself

‘Maman..’ Her voice was small, squashed by the guilt again now as she toed her way around the couch.

‘Oui?’ Joelle answered vaguely, her attention still on the TV.

‘Maman,’ she began again unable to stop her voice from cracking. ‘It's all my fault.’

‘What do you mean cherie?’ Her mother turned to her confused. ‘Mon chere you can hardly blame yourself for what happened.'

The dam of feelings that had built up over the past fortnight finally burst and Kiara sunk down beside her mother switching completely to French now.

’No Mother, you don’t understand… This wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for me.’

Two hours later, Kiara found herself outside the door to Elizabeth’s ward. She had confessed everything to her mother who had held her as she sobbed, gently stroking her hair listening while she admitted her part in the lead up to Elizabeth’s unfortunate accident. Though Joelle reassured her repeatedly that it hadn’t been her fault, Kiara just couldn’t bring herself to believe it. Mere words wouldn’t be enough to take away the guilt she felt. She’d almost abandoned the idea of visiting altogether but something tugged at her conscience telling her no, it was time to stop running. She needed to face this. Now mustering up her courage, she knocked once to announce herself before twisting the handle wincing as the door creaked loudly. Kiara’s eyes flew immediately to the figure on the bed.

Lying unmoving on her back, Elizabeth’s eyes were clamped shut while a collection of machines and devices surrounded the bed. The duchess' dark hair peaked out from under a thick wide bandage wrapped around her head. If it wasn’t for the gentle rise and fall of her chest, Kiara could have sworn she was looking at a statue and her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the numerous cuts and bruises that littered the other woman’s arms.

Gulping deeply, she felt her confidence filtered away but before it could, she inched toward the side table to set her bouquet down with the others placed there. The crinkle of the wrapper making contact with the table was louder than she had meant for it to be and Kiara was barely able to keep her wits when dark head suddenly jerked up from the farther side of the bed.

Drake.

'I-I’m sorry,’ Kiara faltered, almost ashamed to be caught. 'I just came to drop these off. I didn’t mean to wake you.'

Seated in a chair beside the bed, he took a moment to adjust to wakefulness and in that time, it occurred to her that this was the first time they had been in the same room since the night at her estate.

'No its fine really,’ he reassured her, exhaustion heavy in his voice. 'Just dozed off I guess.'

Fighting waves of regret, she kept her eyes trained steadily on the girl on the bed, determined not to let her emotions get the better of her.

'How is she?'

Drake sighed wearily, running a hand over his haggard face. ‘She’s started breathing on her own yesterday which is a massive improvement. The doctors say its a miracle that she landed on her side rather than her back because her shoulder took most of the impact. They managed to stabilise her and stop the internal bleeding but on top of that she broke a few bones too so its gonna take some time before she’ll back to normal.'

Kiara nodded carefully, digesting this information. 'Did they say when she’ll wake up?

He shook his head gravely. ‘Its all up to her I guess,’ he answered gesturing at Elizabeth. 'She’s recovering well from the massive head injury but they won’t know the full extent of the damage until then.’

Kiara’s stomach dropped. She'd had minor differences with Elizabeth in the past, formed first throughout the social season and extending a hand of friendship was difficult due to the nature of competition. Contenders like Olivia and Madeline made it hard to believe that anyone would genuinely be interested in forming friendships without ulterior motives. Kiara was an ambitious woman and took pride in her abilities to get her what she wanted but it had always seemed too easy for Elizabeth. The American had been difficult to stomach at first, as she, despite having no courtly training or special skills, seemed to succeed almost blindly at winning the heart of the prince. To add to their bitterness, she’d indirectly humiliated all the suitors by turning him down.

It had only grown deeper when Elizabeth started to pursue Drake Walker, another competition she had lost and the diplomat had been left with cold anger as she was rejected yet again. While Penelope had easily taken to the new duchess, Kiara found it harder to let go of the resentment.

Despite all this, however, she realised that she’d never hated Elizabeth. The duchess didn’t deserve for something like this to happen to her. She had proved herself to be a kind and caring leader, something Kiara valued highly. If Kiara could take it all back, she would in a heart beat.

She swallowed hard before responding. ‘I’m sure she will be back to normal in no time.'

‘Let’s hope,’ he nodded before addressing her again. 'I’m surprised you came to visit. Elizabeth would have liked that..’

Kiara paused. Would she? Would she have liked me if she knew all the bad things I had wished on her?

‘She was my friend after all. I’d better go,’ she suggested, mumbling a weak excuse as she headed for the door.

‘Kiara.’ At the sound of her name coming from his mouth, she froze, back still to him.

‘Yes?’

‘Its not your fault you know?’ Drake told her. 'What happened to her...'

Why was everyone telling her that? She knew he meant it from a place of thoughtfulness but it didn’t make her guilt any less. It wouldn’t take back what she had done or change what had happened.

All this and more swirling in her mind but she just nodded.

As she stepped over the threshold, Kiara was so immersed in thought, she almost bumped into someone coming in.

‘Oh pardon!'

‘Its alright dear,’ the woman reassured, her American accent complimented perfectly by her kind tone. Her dark skin and lively eyes struck a chord of familiarity and something occurred to the diplomat.

‘You’re Elizabeth’s mother.'

‘I am. And you must be Kiara?’ Mrs Richmond beamed, looking even more like her daughter. 'She often talked about you and Penelope among her other friends. Thank you for being such a good friend to our Aishwarya, dear.’

Kiara nodded again, this time unable to keep the tears from falling as she rushed away leaving her companion bewildered.

Twenty-four days after the accident..

OLIVIA

BREAKING NEWS: THE GROUP BEHIND THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON THE ROYAL PALACE 3 MONTHS AGO HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY IDENTIFIED. AS WE SPEAK, MEMBERS OF THE TERRORIST GROUP ARE BEEN ARRESTED BY THE ROYAL GUARD.

Olivia Nevrakis smiled as she scanned images of the resisting criminals splashed across the front page of the morning’s newspaper on the breakfast table before her. There was no better way to start your day than with an arrest of an entire terrorist group she mused, delicately sipping her tea. She went on to imagine all the ways they would be punished if only she was in charge of dealing them out, wondering if her methods would have differed greatly to that of her ancestors. Before she could dwell on it, her phone chimed reminding her she had to be at the palace in half an hour.

When she arrived, Liam was already seated in one of the meeting rooms with Hana and Maxwell. The latter gave her tentative smiles while the king nodded in greeting.

‘Thank you all for coming. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you the good news but we have other matters to discuss. Naturally, the court wants to have a ball in celebration and it would be a strong front to put forward if all of us attended.'

‘Are parties all those can think about at a time like this?’ Drake’s rough voice cut through the room as he stepped through the door.

’So nice of you to join us Drake,’ Olivia scoffed as he took a seat next to Hana. ‘I’m was beginning to think you’d superglued yourself to Elizabeth's bedside.’

‘Ignore Olivia,’ Liam placated shooting her a cautionary look. ‘We’re glad to have you with us man. How is she?’

Drake sighed, seemed to age 10 years. ’She’s… stable. Not much has changed. Her parents are with her now.'

‘Will Mr and Mrs Richmond be joining the festivities?’ Hana inquired trying to break the tension.

Liam shook his head. ‘They will be departing back to the States later this week for their other daughter’s graduation. They wanted to stay on longer but there was no avoiding it. They actually wanted to take Elizabeth back with the-‘

‘Take her back?!’ Maxwell interrupted. ‘But- They can’t! She needs to stay here with us. She hasn’t even woken up yet!’

The king held up a hand for silence. ’The doctors have informed them of that it is very important that she be kept stable in this sensitive time. I have assured them that she would continue getting the best care Cordonia has to offer.'

Maxwell nodded sombrely, plunging the room into a melancholy silence.

Like everyone else, Olivia’s mind shifted to Elizabeth. In her first few encounters with the American, she’d readily dismissed her as the clueless foreigner who was sure to crack after one week. To her initial surprise and chagrin however, Elizabeth had proved her otherwise, surpassing all the trials of the court with as much grace as a noble born lady. Back then, Olivia held no love for her but she could appreciate strength when she saw it and surprised herself by agreeing to work with the foreigner to restore her name. Elizabeth had been like the glue that held their little group together for without her their friendships would not have developed as well as they did. Although she had harboured feelings of resentment towards her for turning Liam down even those had been fading lately.

If Elizabeth did die, she had no idea what the future would look like for them and there was little Olivia hated more than uncertainty. It made her impatient and more prone to outbursts and for a moment she bitterly resented the duchess for compromising it, when she was only just getting the hang of the whole friendship thing.

‘She’d save us all some trouble if she hurried up and kicked the bucket already.'

There was a sharp intake of breath from the room and the redhead's eyes widened she realised that she had voiced her comment out loud.

‘Olivia!’ Hana chastised.

Her eyes landed on Drake who was glaring at her, jaw clenched in anger as the veins in his neck throbbed dangerously.

’Nevrakis I know being empathetic isn’t really in your capacity but just this once could you cut it out with the sarcasm?’

Olivia’s usual flawless exterior faltered slightly as she realised her last comment may have gone a step too far. Her mouth dropped open to apologise but one glare from Drake silence all response she would have formulated. She remained quiet for the rest of the meeting as the rest of them discussed the plans for the ball. Even though the assassins had been apprehended they still needed to persuade the court that Liam was the best option for Cordonia. After almost two hours of tactics and strategy, Liam released them and she approached Drake carefully.

‘Drake I-‘ He brushed her away with a dismissive wave.

‘Forget it Olivia. I wouldn’t expect you of all people to understand.’

Now that stung.

Olivia knew she put forward the emotionless, cold-hearted persona very well but now it was coming back to bite her. Underneath the facade, though she would never admit it out loud, these people has wormed their way into her heart and she really did care for them. She just wished she could find it in her to voice it out loud.

The Duchess of Lythikos mentally shook herself at the thought. Her feelings would have to wait. There was work to be done now and if she was going to help Liam rally the support he needed, internal monologuing wouldn’t do anyone any good.

Thirty-one days after the accident...

LIAM

AFTER THE ARREST OF ALL MEMBERS OF THE TERRORIST GROUP THAT THREATENED THE ROYAL FAMILY AND MANY OF THE NOBILITY, CORDONIA IS RECOVERING WELL AND IS ON ITS WAY TO PROSPERING. THE SHARES ON THE CORDONIAN RUBY ARE AT AN ALL TIME HIGH UNDER KING LIAM’S STRONG GOVERNANCE.

‘Gracias Your Majesty. I look forward to our next meeting where we can iron out those last few details.’

‘De nada, Signor Gutierrez. I believe this trade deal will greatly benefit both our countries. I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship between our countries.’

‘As do I King Liam. I must mention I have never seen a monarch who prioritises the safety of his people as well as you. Other countries could learn much from your method of governance.’

Thanking him, Liam hung up the Skype call with the Spanish embassador, gently massaging his temples as he scanned the headlines on iPad in front of him.

The politician's words had come from a place of kindness but all they seemed to inspire was a sense of deep guilt within him. A quote from his childhood studies on Cicero returned to his mind.

The safety of the people shall be the highest law.

He’d watch Constantine rule with this principle and though his father had many faults, he always had his priorities right. As a monarch it was his cardinal duty to keep his people safe and after the assassination attempt the weight of the crown had pressed heavily on Liam's shoulders. It has eased slightly now the assassins had been captured and apprehended. The economy was finally stabilising and thanks to the ball a few days ago, he had secured more than a few important deals with the help of his friends.

Cordonia was finally prospering, getting back to her feet so why did he feel so terrible?

The answer lay a few miles away in a hospital bed.

After the accident, as soon as Elizabeth was stable, he’d immediately placed her in a secure ward with state-of-the-art facilities and the best medical professionals. He’d given her the best possible care but still the guilt persisted. To say Elizabeth was a very special person to him would be a huge understatement. She had no idea but she represented the beginning of a new life for him, one where he would take matters into his own hands to make his own decisions. If possibility had a colour, he was sure it would be the green of her dress from the night they’d met in New York city what seemed like a lifetime ago. He loved her and though she hadn’t reciprocated in the way he once wanted her to, Liam knew she would always hold a unique place in his heart. Any ill feeling of resentment when she chose Drake over him had faded away now and in its place a strong friendship was blossoming. When he promoted her to duchess, Liam had looked forward to seeking her counsel during his rule. Unlike him, Elizabeth hadn’t been born into nobility, she knew the struggles of the common man and was more in tune with their needs as he never would be.

She would have been an amazing duchess.

No, he corrected himself. She is going to be an amazing duchess.

Now that her life hung in the balance, it was all too easy to succumb to the temptation of pessimism and he found himself constantly fighting against it now, knowing that his friend wouldn’t have approved of his despondency. He would do it. He would continue to fight the good fight, with or without her, Liam promised himself that.

A frantic buzzing of his phone broke him out of his thoughts. He’d been in that position for so long that his arms twinged slightly as he reached for the device beside him, glancing at the screen to reveal a text message from Drake.

Hospital. Now.

Twenty minutes later, Liam strode purposefully down the ward hallway, staff parting in front of him like the Red Sea. Before he could reach the door to her room, a gasping Drake stumbled out, barely able to stand as heavy uneven breaths wracked his figure. Fear rose up in Liam as his mind automatically assumed the worst but before he could say a word, Drake’s body began to pitch forward and he caught him just before he could hit the floor.

‘Drake what happened? Is she okay?'

‘Liam… Liam she…She doesn’t..’ He choked out, clutching onto the sleeves of Liam’s blazer as the king helped him to stand. Drake gulped deeply, desperately fighting for air as he attempted to articulate his thoughts.

‘She doesn’t what?! Is Elizabeth okay?' Liam could not help the notes of alarm and impatience that laced his tone as he questioned the other man. ‘Dammit Walker what happened?’

He watched his best friend’s brown eyes well up with tears, his face contorting with anguish. ’S-She doesn’t remember Liam!’

The king's face screwed up in confusion at the words. ‘You’re not making any sense. What do you mean she doesn’t remember? What doesn’t she remember Drake?’

Liam would never forget the look of complete and total despair in his friend’s eyes as he finally gasped out his response.

‘She doesn’t remember falling in love with me.’

A/N: YOU ASKED FOR ANGST AND I OBEYED! Leave me some reaction gifs to giggle at.

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