#he's lived a million lifetimes and she's 19

[soapywankenopy]

I really do hate when people ship the doctor with his/their companions

Ik the literal writers do it all the time so it's baked in

Doesn't mean I hate it any less

Especially when it's 12 and Clara

It's so icky I hate it

Honestly my only major exception is 12 and River, I feel like there was still a major power imbalance and the Doctor's relationship with River was super messed up anyway but 12 and River were actually really cute and had good chemistry.

Sorry for the mini rant but you should expect this of me by now

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive (Daily updates!)

By DEVI SHASTRI

A regional public health department in Idaho is no longer providing COVID-19 vaccines to residents in six counties after a narrow decision by its board.

Southwest District Health appears to be the first in the nation to be restricted from giving COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccinations are an essential function of a public health department.

While policymakers in Texas banned health departments from promoting COVID vaccines and Florida’s surgeon general bucked medical consensus to recommend against the vaccine, governmental bodies across the country haven’t blocked the vaccines outright.

“I’m not aware of anything else like this,” said Adriane Casalotti, chief of government and public affairs for the National Association of County and City Health Officials. She said health departments have stopped offering the vaccine because of cost or low demand, but not based on “a judgment of the medical product itself.”

The six-county district along the Idaho-Oregon border includes three counties in the Boise metropolitan area. Demand for COVID vaccines in the health district has declined — with 1,601 given in 2021 to 64 so far in 2024. The same is true for other vaccines: Idaho has the highest childhood vaccination exemption rate in the nation, and last year, the Southwest District Health Department rushed to contain a rare measles outbreak that sickened 10.

On Oct. 22, the health department’s board voted 4-3 in favor of the ban — despite Southwest’s medical director testifying to the vaccine’s necessity.

“Our request of the board is that we would be able to carry and offer those (vaccines), recognizing that we always have these discussions of risks and benefits,” Dr. Perry Jansen said at the meeting. “This is not a blind, everybody-gets-a-shot approach. This is a thoughtful approach.”

Opposite Jansen’s plea were more than 290 public comments, many of which called for an end to vaccine mandates or taxpayer funding of the vaccines, neither of which are happening in the district. At the meeting, many people who spoke are nationally known for making the rounds to testify against COVID vaccines, including Dr. Peter McCullough, a Texas cardiologist who sells “contagion emergency kits” that include ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine — drugs that have not been approved to treat COVID-19 and can have dangerous side effects.

Board Chairman Kelly Aberasturi was familiar with many of the voices who wanted the ban, especially from earlier local protests of pandemic measures.

Aberasturi, who told The Associated Press that he’s skeptical of COVID-19 vaccines and national public health leaders, said in the meeting and in an interview with the AP that he was supportive of but “disappointed” in the board’s decision.

He said the board had overstepped the relationship between patients and their doctors — and possibly opened a door to blocking other vaccines or treatments.

Board members in favor of the decision argued people can get vaccinated elsewhere, and that providing the shots was equivalent to signing off on their safety. (Some people may be reluctant to get vaccinated or boosted because of misinformation about the shots despite evidence that they’re safe and have saved millions of lives.)

The people getting vaccinated at the health department — including people without housing, people who are homebound and those in long-term care facilities or in the immigration process — had no other options, Jansen and Aberasturi said.

“I’ve been homeless in my lifetime, so I understand how difficult it can be when you’re ... trying to get by and get ahead,” Aberasturi said. “This is where we should be stepping in and helping.

“But we have some board members who have never been there, so they don’t understand what it’s like.”

State health officials have said that they “recommend that people consider the COVID-19 vaccine.” Idaho health department spokesperson AJ McWhorter declined to comment on “public health district business,” but noted that COVID-19 vaccines are still available at community health centers for people who are uninsured.

Aberasturi said he plans to ask at the next board meeting if the health department can at least be allowed to vaccinate older patients and residents of long-term care facilities, adding that the board is supposed to be caring for the “health and well-being” of the district’s residents. “But I believe the way we went about this thing is we didn’t do that due diligence.”

[sometimes-men-need-help-too]

Helpline for male domestic abuse victims struggles to cope amid pandemic surge

This was back in 2021 but I wanted to share it anyway

A helpline for male victims of domestic violence is struggling to cope with the volume of calls because of a 35 per cent spike in the numbers seeking help during the pandemic.

Men’s Aid Ireland says it dealt with about 5,500 contacts during 2020, a figure it projects will grow again to 9,000 this year based on a further surge in January and February.

Kathrina Bentley, the organisation's chief executive, said calls are also getting "more worrying and concerning" and their "seriously stretched" three part-time helpline staff are struggling to cope with demand.

“During the last week of January and first week of February, within 10 days we had five very serious suicide situations at the end of the phone,” she said.

“ We had to get Garda assistance for two of them, ring ahead to a hospital for a third and we talked the other two men down.”

The common thread in calls is an abusive relationship, in 95 per cent of cases involving a wife or female partner.

“Hitting me, kicking me, spitting on me, telling me I’m a useless father, telling me I’m crap, telling me I don’t bring in enough income,” she recounted the calls.

“One man said he sleeps in the spare room and his wife soaks his mattress during the day with cold water and leaves the windows open before he comes home from work. So he sleeps on the floor.

“There are pure emotional and psychological games, men who have no access to funds, their partners controlling their finances.”

Funding

Ms Bentley said the organisation sought and was refused funding for a 24/7 helpline from the State’s child and family agency Tusla, which she criticises for allocating 1 per cent of its domestic, sexual and gender based violence (DSGBV) funding to the service.

Along with the Men’s Development Network, it is one of just two Tusla-funded services dedicated to male victims.

Men’s Aid Ireland has €244,000 funding for its six staff operation this year, an increase of €5,000 on last year.

In January, about 600 men contacted the service, and at least 80 calls were missed because the helpline – which runs from 9am to 5pm on weekdays – can only deal with two callers at any one time.

“It is really worrying,” said Ms Bentley. “Every phone call, we can save or change a life, that is the frontline day to day reality of it. Our small organisation took on the war that is the pandemic of Covid, and the war that is the pandemic of violence, but we are in the trenches with no ammunition.”

Ms Bentley said callers include accountants, gardaí, politicians, doctors, gardeners, postmen, the military, tradesmen and the unemployed.

Some are on the minimum wage while others “live in multi-million euro houses and behind the front door is domestic violence”.

Many are victims of coercive control – “a silent, invisible pattern of abusive behaviour over time” – which she says is “catastrophic for families, children as well as men’s lives and their careers”.

Ages range from 19 to 83 years old, but particularly between 40 to 55.

“It is incredible for a man to have the courage to pick up the phone in the first place,” she said.

“How disappointing and heartbreaking it is when no-one answers that phone.”

‘Bad patch’

Citing a report by Cosc – The National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence – that shows one in seven men experience domestic abuse in their lifetime, and 95 per cent do not contact gardai, Ms Bentley suggested the numbers not seeking help could be as high as “a couple of hundred thousand”.

Ms Bentley said callers often don’t see themselves as victims of domestic abuse and hope it is a “bad patch” that will pass because they don’t want the family to break up. “When you ask them how long it has been going on for, and they say three to six years, well that’s not a bad patch in a relationship, that is an abusive relationship.”

In response to calls in a parliamentary question for a 24/7 national helpline, Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman said the Government was currently carrying out an audit of DSGBV services.

There was no comment from Tusla.

[wilanserulia]

FFXIV Write 2024 - Prompt 19 - Taken

He needed to talk with someone. Yes. No other way around it. It was stupid to lie to himself. After what had happened on the First... after what he went through...           Vomit. On the ground. On his hands. Bright and luminous.           As if made of pure light. Pictures flashed in front of his eyes. Scrambled impressions, unsorted traumas, emotions in turmoil.           A sad man. His enemy. Or maybe his old friend.           In his tragic demise, he pleaded him to remember. He paced back and forth in the small, suffocating confines of his room.           People turning into monsters around him, in a broken world that had almost given up on living.           He could do nothing to save them. His breath became restless. The walls seemed to be closing in on him.           He served her. He was the instrument of her will. He knew her cause was right.           So why? Why would she do this? He opened the door to the small balcony. He needed to breathe. Like in that other world, the Crystal Tower greeted him.           He looked up to him. He wanted to be a hero like he was.           He had seen him give up his future once already. He saw him try to throw his life away again.           Because he was his inspiration. He loosened his necktie. Even outside he found it hard to breathe, the thoughts overwhelming him.           She cried. Because she couldn’t bear watch him bear the burden alone time and time again, tired of pretending everything was right.           She shed tears because she felt powerless to help him no matter how hard she tried. He felt himself cracking under his carefully worn smiling mask.           A broken man, blamed by history for doing the best he could.           He had always reminded him of himself.           He knew why, now.           He gave up his life to save the world.

He rummaged into his bag. He scattered his belongings on his bed, on the nearby chair, to the floor, but finally he found it. A small, round, little pearl. She had another like it. He had given it to her, what felt like a lifetime ago now. Just in case she ever needed help. She had never called him. They had barely talked since... His heart ached. The pain sitting uncomfortably on top of the rest of his recent horrors. They had barely talked ever since they had parted ways for good.

He hesitated for a long, long moment, staring at the pearl, trying to imagine how their conversation would go. What he could even say to her. She had been the one to urge him to talk if he ever felt overwhelmed. But that had also been a lifetime ago.

As he did a million times already, he sent a gentle current of aether into the pearl. It vibrated in response. Its twin, wherever it was in the world, in this moment was vibrating as well. Calling to her. For a minute. For two minutes. She wasn’t going to answer, was she? For three minutes. Barely moments before he gave up, a voice came from the pearl, the words crossing the Aetherial Sea from the pearl aetherically linked with it. “...Wilan?” He hadn’t yet allowed himself time to realize how much he missed her voice. “Hey, Delen. Listen...” his mouth felt suddenly very dry. “Can... Can we talk?”

For an eternity, or maybe just a handful of seconds, no sound came from the pearl. He held his breath.

“Wilan, I’m...” her crackling voice came finally from the tiny pearl. Her words quickly trailed off, the emotions they carried hard to grasp. Vulnerability, maybe? Regret? A breath later, she tried again. “Wilan, this isn’t a good time, I’m...” Even through the disturbance in the linkpearl’s signal, he could hear her sigh. “I’m about to go on a date.”

“Yes. Of course. Don’t worry.” Wilan heard himself say back to the small pearl. “Sorry for calling you.” And before he had time to register how hard and resolute her voice had been, how it seemed to want to put distance between the two of them, he cut the communications short, threw the pearl back at the bottom of his bag, and buried it again.

This was such a bad idea.

[whitepolaris]

Miracle of the White Buffalo

She came unannounced, as most miracles do, but not completely unexpected: Two thousand years before, a white buffalo calf had been promised by the White Buffalo Woman to the Lakota Sioux. The female calk was born on August 20, 1994, on a farm in Janesville. Surprisingly, she came not to a Plains state, but to southern Wisconsin, known more for Holsteins than for Buffalo.

The owners, hobby farmers Dave and Valerie Heider, were astounded that the two ordinary brown buffalo could have created a calf with pure white fur. Dave admits that at first he saw green. He thought the calf would bring a million dollars. But within a few short weeks, he was experiencing something else-a whole new sense of spirituality, brought home by the steady pilgrimage of thousands of souls who came to see the calf. He would later turn down large offers to buy her. How could he sell the fulfillment of a prophecy?

Chief Joseph Standing Horse of the Lakota Sioux traveled Rapid City, South Dakota, to Janesville to visit Miracle. He told the story of the White Buffalo Calf Woman that his grandmother had told him. She had come to his ancestors baring a sacred bundle called the White Buffalo Calf Pipe; then she turned into a white buffalo calf and then back into a woman. She taught the people many things and told them as long as they took care of the peace pipe and respected each other and the earth, all would be well with them. She said that when a white buffalo calf was born, the whole world would know about her message of peace.

The prophecy also said that the buffalo would turn yellow, red, black, and brown to signify unification of all the races of man. Miracle did turn all of those colors as her coat darkened over the years. But August 2004, when her tenth birthday was celebrated with a giant party, she was dark brown. The fence surrounding her pasture was covered with gifts and tokens brought by visitors, who never stopped coming to see her.

Miracle's longevity was the thing that the prophecy never addressed, however, and not long after her tenth birthday, he Heiders were shocked when Miracle died on Sunday, September 19, 2004. Buffalo can live to be twenty-five, so the death was unexpected. She was buried next to her sire, who had died soon after she was born.

Miracle was sacred not just to the Lakota, but to many other cultures. People gathered from around the country to give Miracle a traditional farewell with drums, prayer, songs, and offerings. The farm is still open and free of charge on weekend afternoons for those who want to see Miracle's birthplace and pay their respects and is located on the south side of Janesville, on South River Road.

As for the Lakota Sioux, they have seen an ancient prophecy fulfilled in their lifetime. And they now look for the promised healing to come.

[georgewashington-official]

Now, most men answer like you because they don't have the experience that women have. But over 90% of women who were asked this question chose the bear. Because a forest is a bears natural habitat. It's supposed to be there. Why is a man in a forest?

First of all, main reason on why bear is the safer is because bears are predictable. There are known and recorded ways to avoid a bear attack. And if you do it right, you are very likely to be safe. Men aren't. HUMANS aren't. You never know what they might do and there is no way to fool them.

Second, bears would attack if they're hungry, if they see you as a threat, or if you're near their home. Especially if they have babies. Or maybe all those three combined. Something common in all of those reasons? None of them are the bears fault. The bear does it to protect and feed itself, like it's supposed to be done in nature. Meanwhile, if a men were to attack, it would be for no reason other than their twisted, sick mentality. Why would a man attack a girl in a forest? First and most reasonable thing that comes to mind is for sexual purposes. For what else? Is he doing it to steal from her? They're in a forest, there's no need. And we both know a man wouldn't see a girl as a threat.

You don't know this, but for most women, being raped and living with that pain and memory and trauma is a fate worse than death. Which is why they prefer the possibility of getting mauled and die within maximum minutes by a bears hand, than the possibility of fighting and crying in pain and agony for their lives for what seems like forever to them under a man.

And the worst part is? After a bear kills you, it would either eat you or leave your dead body there. But a man would rape a dead body as well. It's a whole thing, necrophilia. For short, the girl is in danger whether it's a man or a bear. But if she ends up dying, if it's by a bear, it'll be a cause of nature. If it's by a man, it'll be a cause of a disgusting, twisted mind.

The only creatures who have shown interest in forced sex are humans and dolphins. And I'm not pulling these stats out if my ass, believe me. I'll show the the receipts. I've done my research.

Ehem; "The 750,000 black bears of North America kill less than one person per year on the average, while men ages 18-24 are 167 times more likely to kill someone than a black bear. Most attacks by black bears are defensive reactions to a person who is too close, which is an easy situation to avoid."

"On average, there are 433,648 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States. 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed, 2.8% attempted)." Oh and mind you, this is just the ones in the United States. Not even the ones per year all across the world.

"According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, women experience about 4.8 million intimate partner-related physical assaults and rapes every year. Less than 20 percent of battered women sought medical treatment following an injury."

"One in 9 girls and 1 in 20 boys under the age of 18 experience sexual abuse or assault. 82% of all victims under 18 are female. Females ages 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault. Out of the sexual abuse cases reported to CPS in 2013, 47,000 men and 5,000 women were the alleged perpetrators. In 88% of the sexual abuse claims that CPS substantiates or finds supporting evidence of, the perpetrator is male. In 9% of cases they are female, and 3% are unknown."

These are all laid out on the internet. And I'm sure by now you know very well how you can find everything in the internet. I haven't changed a single thing about these stats. Copy pasted, exact same. And yes, internet is not always right, but these are researches and statistics made by people who know what they're doing, and all of these quotes were taken from trusted sites.

I hope the facts I've given you, along with statistic numbers, my own opinion and the fact that most women choose the bear, I'll be able to change your mind. This got long, sorry, I'm just very passionate about this subject, as a child who was sexually assaulted. And as a grown women now, I often find myself waking up from the nightmares of the memory, wishing he would have killed me after getting off.

This is terrible.

If you go like this you will have to live in your own house for all eternity and never come out, anon. Bacause there are men outside. Because there are other humans outside.

I think it is irritating that this is a man. Why not a woman? Are women not capable of killing? Or is it that those cases are not as reported as mens?

The narrative of the question is a simple one: We know nothing about both parties involved. We don't know if the bear has cubs, is rabid or whatever. Just as we don't know if the man is a bad man.

What if he's just a hiker? Or a hunter/wood worker? So you give up your chance to be safe because he's a man?

[readingforsanity]

The Wife Who Knew Too Much | Michelle Campbell | Published 2020 | *SPOILERS*

From Michele Campbell, the bestselling author of It’s Always the Husband comes a new blockbuster thriller in The Wife Who Knew Too Much. 

Tabitha Girard had her heart broken years ago by Connor Ford. He was preppy and handsome. She was a pool girl at his country club. Their affair should have been a summer fling. But it meant everything to Tabitha. 

Years later, Connor comes back into Tabitha’s life - older, richer and desperately unhappy. He married for money, a wealthy, neurotic, controlling woman whom he never loved. He has always loved Tabitha. 

When Connor’s wife Nina takes her own life, he’s free. He can finally be with Tabitha. Nina’s home, Windswept, can be theirs. It seems to be the perfect ending to a fairy tale romance that began so many years ago. But then, Tabitha finds a diary. “I’m writing this to raise an alarm in the event of my untimely death,” it begins. “If I die unexpectedly, it was foul play, and Connor was behind it. Connor - and her.” 

Who is Connor Ford? Why did he marry Nina? Is Tabitha his true love, or a convenient affair? As the police investigate Nina’s death, is she a convenient suspect? 

As Tabitha is drawn deeper into the dark glamour of a life she is ill-prepared for, it becomes clear to her that what a wife knows can kill her. 

Tabitha remembers everything about Connor, the young summer love that she had when she was just 17 years old, and he was 19. She was working at the country club where his family had been a member, coming from a prominent family. Though the two of them shouldn’t have been together, they had a romance that lasted a lifetime, for the both of them. 

As an adult, Tabitha is still living in the area, her grandparents who raised her have since passed on and she is working as a waitress trying to make ends meet. She married and divorced a man named Derek, and even had a misdemeanor charge on her record because of him after he was caught selling drugs and she had gotten caught in the crossfire. One evening, Connor returns to the restaurant and Tabitha is floored. It had been several years since they’d last even spoke to one another, yet there he was, returning into her life as if he had never left. 

Claiming to be there on business, Connor invites her back to the ski lodge where he is staying, a home that belongs to a friend of his wife’s. Connor is now married to the eclectic Nina Levitt, who was once married to Edward Levitt, a prominent businessman who had died three years ago. Nina married Connor after just a few short months of knowing each other after meeting at her annual fourth of July party. 

Connor, despite being an otherwise happily married man, gets back into old habits with Tabitha. The two of them end up spending the entire weekend with each other getting to know one another again. Connor states that he is going to leave Nina, as he was looking for a way out but had to do so cautiously, as if he had gotten caught cheating, the prenup that was signed wouldn’t allow him to take any of Nina’s immense fortune. He had to come up with a way to make her think that the divorce was her idea, so he could walk away with the $10 million promised to him. 

A month goes by without so much as a word from one another. Nina is on the brink of requesting a divorce from Connor, as she has found evidence that he has been cheating on her. In a diary on the night of the 4th of July party, she writes that if she ends up dead, it is at the hands of her husband and her though this “her” isn’t named. Tabitha finds out that she is pregnant, and is desperately trying to get in touch with Connor to inform him of the news, but they had agreed not to speak until after everything had gotten worked out. 

Instead of waiting, Tabitha drives to Southampton, New York and ends up on the beach walking up to Nina’s estate during her fourth of July party. However, Derek, her ex-husband had followed her there, and attacks one of Nina’s security agents. With him occupied, Tabitha was able to sneak into the party in hopes of getting away from Derek. But when she sees Nina and Connor together, she seems upset that Connor isn’t make more of an effort to leave her, and is eventually caught, and taken to the police. The officer believes her when she says she was trying to get away from her ex-husband who had followed her onto the beach, claiming she had been in the area visiting a friend, not trying to party crash. 

Nina returns to her life, and eventually finds out that Nina Levitt was found dead the morning after the party. She was found in her swimming pool. Her death was being ruled a suicide. Tabitha calls Connor, and he explains that Nina had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer after having smoked a lot when she was young, was given a prescription for pain killers. She must have overdosed, and somehow ended up in the pool, effectively completing suicide. Connor wants to see Tabitha, but says that they need to take things slowly as not to muck up any of the investigation into Nina’s death, and so it wouldn’t look bad that Connor has moved on so suddenly with another woman. But Tabitha comes clean about the pregnancy. 

A few months later, she and Connor are married, and her pregnancy is taking off, to the point where it is becoming obvious that she is expecting. When Connor has to go on another business trip, she returns to his first wife’s estate, where they will be living. This idea makes her uncomfortable, as she knows none of the staff employed there and worries that people will think less of her because of Connor’s quickie marriage with her. But, she meets Juliet, Nina’s former personal assistant and Gloria, the housekeeper. 

Though she feels uncomfortable, she takes to her new life fairly easily. Deciding to keep the pregnancy a surprise for now, with hopes to announce it later to make people believe that the baby was conceived on the honeymoon, this plan is foiled when Juliet is found inside the en suite bath and finds Tabitha’s prenatal vitamins. At first, she seems shocked and upset by this, but quickly says her congratulations before moving on. 

Life continues, but Tabitha’s life becomes hectic. Nina’s estranged sister Kara is suing Connor for Nina’s estate, claiming that Connor was involved in her death. Tabitha is being photographed by paparazzi wearing items that once belonged to Nina, further looking like she and Connor had something to do with Nina’s death. This is all too much for Tabitha in her fragile state. 

After a particular incident occurs, Connor, on a business trip in Dubai, tells Tabitha that he wants her to come to Dubai with him, and to have Juliet escort her. Of course, this looks bad to authorities who believe that they are fleeing the country, especially after the police show up at the house with a warrant that they didn’t have before in regards to Kara’s lawsuit. Tabitha and Juliet travel to Dubai together, and the trip goes otherwise smoothly. Connor’s former flame, Lauren, apologizes for the behavior she had to Tabitha in the past during a business dinner, and when they return to the United States, Tabitha is arrested for murder in the second degree in the death of Nina Levitt. 

Tabitha is taken to jail, and Connor sends a corporate lawyer to represent her the following day at her bail hearing. This lawyer is less than prepared to deal with a criminal case, and the public defender instead takes over. The two of them agree to meet with the DA to discuss the evidence against them in order to see what sort of thing they’re dealing with. With Connor suspiciously missing from the court hearing, Tabitha begins to believe that he was somehow involved in her death and was now trying to blame her for it. 

She is released on bail, and part of the agreement that she came up with the prosecution and her lawyer was to wear an ankle monitor that will monitor her whereabouts while at home, as well as record anything that could be used against Connor or anyone else that was involved in the murder of Nina. The ankle monitor is fitted to Tabitha, and she goes to speak with Gloria, the housekeeper. She makes some comments to Tabitha that makes it seem like she knows more about Nina’s death than she has let on, and tells her that there is a diary under her pillow in the master suite. 

This diary was Nina’s, and the only entry was from the night before she was discovered murdered before the party. Nina says that Juliet is really Julissa Davila, a young woman who Connor had briefly dated in college who had gone missing about three or four years ago. Julissa changed her name to Juliet Davis, and was hired by Nina as her personal assistant who was none the wiser to who she really was. Nina believed that she and Connor had been together the entire time, and were conspiring to kill her in order to inherit her fortune. Juliet drugs Nina’s drink with opiods. 

Tabitha is shocked by this revelation, and goes to the third floor where the employee’s quarters are located in hopes to find Gloria. In the diary, it seems like Juliet is after something of Nina’s that she believes is rightfully hers, but she isn’t sure what. She finds Gloria’s room unoccupied, but notices a picture of her and Juliet together, though Gloria looks uncomfortable. She enters Juliet’s room, and finds what she was looking for: a birth certificate with the name Julissa Davila, with the mother listed as Gloria Davila and father unknown. Tabitha is able to discern that Gloria is Julissa’s mother, and that her father was Edward Levitt. Julissa was after the fortune Nina inherited from Edward and because she was his child, believes that she was entitled to it. 

Connor finds Tabitha snooping, and the two of them go down to their bedroom where he explains. Connor wasn’t involved in Nina’s death, and had an inkling that Julissa was, but wasn’t sure he would be able to prove it. They had dated briefly, though Julissa was more interested in the relationship that he had been. The two of them had a falling out after she attempted suicide, but not wanting to further hurt her mental health, decided to stay in touch with her as friends. Years go by, and she had found out about her true parentage through the adoption records. Wanting to meet her birth mother, she wrote to Gloria, but Gloria had no interest in meeting her as it would be too painful, but did say that she had been raped at 17 years old. Julissa was able to discern that Edward was the perpetrator in her mother’s rape. She attemtped to sue him but as she was already over 18 years old, he had no obligation to be financially responsible for her. 

This greatly upset Julissa. After Edward’s death, she applied to work for Nina, changing her name to Juliet. She was hired, and Julissa had given Connor the idea to apply for the position he had started when he first met Nina in the PR department. Connor says that at first, his relationship with Nina was meant to be a joke, but he really, truly did care about her in the beginning until he returned to New Hampshire and he and Tabitha reconnected. He had nothing to do with Nina’s murder, and had he believed Julissa was truly capable of killing Nina, he would have gone to the police sooner. 

All of this is recorded on her ankle monitor, but nothing is able to come of this as Julissa appears with a gun. She shoots Connor in the foot when he is trying to protect Tabitha. Tabitha’s intution about Juliet being upset about her pregnancy had been true, as she was trying to get rid of Nina so she and Connor could live happily ever after with her fortune. She was not expecting this estranged sister to come into the picture, and she wasn’t expecting Connor to marry again so quickly, let alone have gotten someone else pregnant. This greatly upset her, but she also had a co-conspiator in Steve Kovacs, the security professional that Nina, and eventually, Connor had hired. 

His involvement isn’t truly known, other than he was working with Julissa on whatever it was she was after. Julissa and Steve take Tabitha and Connor hostage, having removed her ankle bracelet. Tabitha was able to deactivate it by releasing the monitor’s panic button with notified the police but not in enough time. Connor, though handcuffed, attacks Steve and tells Tabitha to run, but not before Julissa shoots him in the abdomen. 

When Tabitha comes too after being knocked out by Steve, they’re in the car working their way to the ski lodge where everything first started. She tells her captors that Connor needs help, that he is losing a lot of blood and won’t make it if they don’t do something, but neither of them listen. Kovacs keeps her hostage in a bedroom, hooked to a heater inside of the room, but she is able to escape. When she gets to the road, a passing motorist stops to assist her, and there is a shootout between Kovacs and Julissa with the police. 

Tabitha is taken to the hospital, and is told the baby will be okay. She is bandaged up, and is released. She calls the detective who had set up her ankle monitor, and he is currently on the way to New Hampshire because of her involvement. Her friend, and prior boss at the restaurant where she waitressed arrives at the hospital, and the two of them wait to hear news about Connor. 

When the police arrive, Tabitha is told that a body was found at the ski lodge, and they woud need her to identify the body. Tabitha doesn’t want to believe it, though she knows that it was Connor. He died to protect her and their unborn daughter. She is also asked to identify the body of Julissa, who was killed in the shootout with police, with Kovacs currently in surgery but not expected to survive either. 

One year later, Tabitha is a mother to a baby girl named Meg. She has rehired Suzanne Cohen, her public defender from before, to help with the case. Connor was legally Nina’s heir, and now she was the heir to the fortune through Connor. She has no interest in the money, and she stil had to worry about Kara’s lawsuit. With Suzanne’s help, they have decided to put Nina’s fortune to charity, with $5 million going to her sister in exchange for Kara to say that Connor had nothing to do with Nina’s death. She had received $3 million from Connor’s life insurance, so she and Meg would always be taken care of, and she chooses to raise her in a town near where she grew up. 

Despite everything that Tabitha went through, she has perservered. 

4/5 stars on GoodReads. I didn’t see any of this coming. The book was a thriller, and was genuinely sad at the end. I was so sorry to see Connor’s character go, without having met his daughter, and without being able to say goodbye to his wife. It was an unfortunate way to go, but this book entertained me all the way through the final page. 

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week

TikToker raises $186,000 for woman, 81, to pay off her mortgage and finally retire. He saw her on break at Walmart and recorded her clearly having a bad day.

Devan Bonagura, 19, works for a third-party company that sells products to Walmart, and it’s at the retailer where he met 81-year-old Nola Carpenter.

One comment read: “GOFUNDME ASAP” — before going on to receive 130,000 likes. Devan would honor the request of his followers, and later set up a GoFundMe to help Nola retire. Needless to say, the response was overwhelming.

2. Grandma and man she accidentally texted for Thanksgiving to reunite for 7th year

An accidental text message has led to a Thanksgiving tradition that is now continuing into its seventh year.

On Tuesday, Jamal Hinton confirmed in an Instagram post that he will spend this Thanksgiving with Wanda Dench, who in 2016 thought she was texting her grandson to invite him to Thanksgiving when she actually texted Hinton.

3. Flossie, 26, officially crowned world's oldest living cat by Guinness World Records

British-born Flossie has set a new record as the world’s oldest living cat. Guinness World Records have officially awarded the title to the feline, who was born in 1995. The cat has had a number of owners during her lifetime, but currently resides in southeast London.

But she’s still got several years to go if she wants to beat the oldest cat ever recorded. That title goes to Creme Puff, who lived to an incredible 38 years and three days in Austin, Texas.

4. Nano-robot antibodies that fight cancer enter first human drug trial

Scientists in Israel have created the first nano-robot antibodies designed to fight cancer. The first human trial for the new nano-robots will start soon, and it will determine just how effective the antibodies are. What is special about these particular antibodies, too, is that they are programmed to decide whether cells surrounding tumors are “bad” or “good.”

The trial is currently underway in Australia and if it goes according to plan, the nano-robot antibodies will be able to fight cells around tumors that can help the tumor while also boosting the capability of the cells inhibiting the growth of the cancerous cells.

5. Nepal Fights Deforestation, and Wins

This transformation is visible across Nepal, thanks to a radical policy adopted by the government more than 40 years ago. Large swaths of national forest land were handed to local communities, and millions of volunteers were recruited to protect and renew their local forests, an effort that has earned praise from environmentalists around the world.

6. Amazing quote from Richard M. Fierro, the Club Q hero that probably saved dozens of lives

“These kids want to live that way, want to have a good time, have at it,” he said as he described the night. “I’m happy about it because that is what I fought for, so they can do whatever they hell they want.”

7. First Drug to Delay Type 1 Diabetes Approved by FDA

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first drug to delay the onset of Type 1 diabetes.

That’s it for this week. If you liked this post you can support this newsletter with a small kofi donation:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Have a great week ahead :)

[everybodylovesrand]

Welcome to The Wheel of Time: Take a magical first look at Amazon's new fantasy adaptation

Or The Beginners guide to WOTonPrime, a Wheel of Time adaptation.

It's been two years since Game of Thrones went off the air, and even longer since Amazon chief Jeff Bezos directed his Prime Video team to deliver him a hit akin to the HBO supernova. Into this vacuum steps The Wheel of Time, a new drama (coming November) adapted from author Robert Jordan's best-selling series of the same name.

Spanning a whopping 15 novels, The Wheel of Time — which debuted in 1990 — seemed impossible to adapt before shows like Thrones. But while George R.R. Martin's epic beat Jordan's opus to televisions, showrunner Rafe Judkins believes WoT serves as a perfect bridge between Thrones and the earlier mythic saga The Lord of the Rings (another literary world getting a show at Amazon).

"Wheel of Time is the first fantasy series that really dove into the political and cultural worlds of all these different characters," Judkins (a former Survivor contestant and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. producer) says of the insanely popular and lengthy books. "It was also one of the first to dive into multiple POV characters, so you're following an ensemble, with each of them having their own agendas and approaches to everything. That's always felt to me like the missing piece of the fantasy-literature landscape that hasn't been brought to TV or film yet."

The Wheel of Time also differentiates itself from those other big-name franchises in the way it highlights its female characters. While Middle-earth's most prominent heroine has to disguise herself as a man, and Westeros' few female conquerors are often facing threats of sexual violence, the world of WoT is essentially matriarchal. The largest kingdom in the novels' unnamed land is ruled by a queen who will pass her crown to her daughter rather than her son, and uneasy peace is maintained by the female-only mystic order known as the Aes Sedai.

"These are not just a bunch of princesses swanning around in pretty dresses," says series costume designer Isis Mussenden. "These are women doing jobs. They're taking care of the governance; they're taking care of healing."

The Wheel of Time's most prominent Aes Sedai is Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), who rescues a handful of young villagers after monsters attack their community of Two Rivers. Though the group of new refugees doesn't trust her, "Moiraine is the guide figure in this world," explains Pike, "the mysterious stranger who comes to town and changes their lives forever. They leave with her on a journey that will either save or destroy humanity."

As a member of the Aes Sedai, Moiraine is a master at channeling a magical force called the One Power. Lifetimes earlier, both men and women were able to access the magic, but an evil known as the Dark One tainted the male half. Now any man capable of mysticism is hunted by the Aes Sedai and stripped of his abilities (a process that can turn fatal). Exemplifying this fate is Logain (Álvaro Morte), a man capable of channeling the One Power who attempts to assert himself as the reincarnation of the Dragon, a long-lost messiah. In the photos above, you can can get a glimpse of what the Aes Sedai do to him as a result.

"Just as men are often trying to shut down female power in our world, the Aes Sedai are trying to stop this man from becoming too powerful," Judkins says. "If, hypothetically, one of our male characters were able to use the One Power, they understand the stakes of it from what they see of Logain."

That scenario might be a bit more than a hypothetical. If WoT sticks to the plot of Jordan's books, Moiraine encourages her new female travel companions, Egwene (Madeleine Madden) and Nynaeve (Zoë Robins), to embrace their mystic potential. But she also suspects that one of their male cohorts may unknowingly possess "the spark" and be linked to the long-lost messiah known as the Dragon. She's just not sure if it's Rand (Josha Stradowski), Mat (Barney Harris), or Perrin (Marcus Rutherford).

While shooting in Eastern Europe over the past two years (pausing for a significant hiatus due to COVID-19), Judkins and his team felt the pressure to get Jordan's story "right" — and spared no expense crafting a world they hope is embraced by the millions of rabid WoT fans.

"We literally built Shadar Logoth from scratch just for 15 minutes of airtime, because it's that important to the series," Judkins says of the infamous abandoned city, which is haunted by such dark energy that even the monstrous Trollocs hunting our protagonists fear to tread there. "That's where it becomes very clear it's not just the forces of good and evil. There are lots of different angles."

Judkins hopes to explore all those angles as his drama expands beyond Jordan's first WoT book. It helps that Amazon has already commissioned a second season — and that an unrelated WoT prequel movie in the works is sure to boost name recognition — but Judkins knows he must bring in more than the existing die-hard fan base for any chance of his series lasting long enough to cover Jordan's epilogue. To accomplish that goal, he's relying on the author's celebrated world-building.

"I try to stick to the spine and the heart of the books, and bring that to the screen," Judkins says of his philosophy as showrunner. "If I can successfully do that, the story and the characters will sell themselves."

[madamewriterofwrongs]

my sweet darling - how about an armed forces 911 AU? Maybe Eddie meets Navy Seal Buckley overseas? Maybe they meet back stateside at the VA?

You, my darling, always send me such fun and interesting prompts. I promise I didn’t forget. 

Ooh, okay. Let’s see...

Prompt Me with AUs

Delta X-Ray (I am Sinking) 

Read on Ao3

Eddie first sees him as he’s getting off the plane in Washington. He’s going to receive a medal. Apparently his work in Bagram made him a hero and not a broken, shell of a man. Who knew. And really, it’s just a glance because he has other things to worry about besides a Navy man getting dressed down by his captain. He doesn’t need to hear what’s being said to know that’s exactly what’s happening. He’s seen that look too many times, felt the hot breath of his superior as they spat harsh words meant to ‘toughen him up’.

As he passes the sailor, he hears something to the effect of “if it happens again, you will be dismissed.” And Eddie wonders how many times this particular man has received this exact lecture. It doesn’t really matter, anyways. He just wants to get his medal, shake a few hands of politicians who think they had anything to do with his ‘accomplishment’ and go home to his wife and child – ex-wife, he reminds himself. Shannon had the papers shipped to Afghanistan. Couldn’t get away fast enough, his mind bitterly supplied. All he would have at the end of the day was his son, and a medal to replace the wedding band he’d worn since he was 19.

Before he knows it, he’s standing on a small stage, a million lights flashing in his eyes as cameras and stage lights practically blind him. His shoulder aches – out of the sling for the afternoon so he can at least look more put together than he feels – and he’s dizzy from the attention. That’s his excuse for why he doesn’t recognize the man standing beside him.

“Seaman Petty Officer First Class Evan Buckley.” A blond man steps forward and Eddie catches himself staring at the dress whites and stone expression for longer than is strictly necessary. He seems a far cry from the officer being scolded less than an hour ago, but it is definitely him. And he was standing on stage beside Eddie, about to receive a medal of his own.

“For distinguishing oneself by heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy of the United States, Petty Officer Buckley is awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.”

As he watches the stripes being pined on the officer’s lapel, he lets himself wonder what crime the man could have committed to be dressed down and rewarded in the same afternoon.

He’s so curious, in fact, that he nearly misses his own name amongst the titles thrown around.

“Staff Sergeant Edmundo Diaz.” He steps forward, holding his breath until the entire ordeal is finally finished. “For gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States, Staff Sergeant Diaz is awarded the Silver Star.” The medal is heavier than he anticipated, but he supposes that makes sense. It is quite a burden he’ll be carrying around, and now he has a gold star to go with it – he wants to chuckle at the irony of his ‘Silver Star’ actually presenting as a golden one.

It seems everything about his life is a life.

There were a lot of reasons Eddie hated attending events like this: The politics, the bravado, the crowds of people ‘thanking him for his service’. Mostly, though: he never knows anyone. Sure, he can charm a senator or two for a few minutes, swap stories with other officers from other divisions about where they were and what they saw. But those are fleeting relationships, meant to get him through the day. He’ll go back to his hotel room at the end of the night with no more friends than when he’d stepped off the plane in this awful, awful town. Eddie is tired of ‘schmoozing’. With any luck, today will be the last time he has to tell the governor’s wife how lovely she looks in her dress.

That’s when he spots the man sitting at the edge of the bar like he’s trying to hide from the world, and he decides to make his way over.

“Do you mind if I join you?” He asks, even as he sits down.

The other man’s eyes light with recognition – and damn, are they as blue as the sea. “Not at all. Diaz, right?”

“Eddie.” He supplies, raising a finger to the bartender to snag his attention. If he is going to make it to the end of the evening, he’s going to need one, good drink. “And you’re Buckley.”

“Actually, it’s Evan but you can call me ‘Buck’.” His amusement must be evident because his new drinking buddy supplies the answer. “There are a surprising amount of ‘Evan’s in the Navy.”

It had never occurred to him to check how many ‘Eddie’s were in his squadron. Maybe he should ask his CO if that’s why he always called him by his full first name.

“Congratulations, by the way.” Buck looks somewhat nervous even as the words leave his mouth. “On your medal. Good job.”

“Oh.” Is all Eddie can bring himself to say as he stares into the bottom of his glass. “Thanks.”

“You don’t look too happy about it.”

He really isn’t doing a good job of hiding his emotions if this relative stranger ca read him so easily. “No, I-” he takes a deep breath to recalibrate his thoughts and paste his best fake smile. “It is a great honour.”

“Bullshit.” Buck laughs in his face but for some reason, Eddie doesn’t bristle nearly as hard as he expected. It almost feels playful. The rest of Buck’s response is cut off by his buzzing phone on the counter. The man quickly grabs it long enough to check his notifications, returning it to its place at the bar with a disappointed look.

“Are we keeping you from something?”

“Uh, no.” It’s Buck’s turn to look caught out and in need of recalibration. His expression changes much slower. “I’m just waiting for a call from my sister. I sent her an invitation to this thing but she never responded.”

Eddie has experience with family not coming to big social events like this one. Of course, in his case, he never invited them in the first place.

“Family ain’t easy.” He shrugs as he takes a long sip of whatever burning liquid he’d ordered – it really doesn’t matter so long as he can stay sitting here and not mingling with the crowds of vultures.

“It’s more than that.” Buck looks worried, and the way he bites his lip is… Eddie shouldn’t be focusing on that. “It’s just…” The man shakes his head, dismissing whatever feelings were eating at his gut. “I don’t want to bore you.”

“Please.” Eddie leans into his space with a playful smile. “It can’t be any more boring than this event. Please try to bore me to tears, if you dare.”

When Buck smiles, Eddie’s heart flutters out of his chest and sits beside him as they listen to Buck begin to speak. He tells Eddie about his sister, how she cared for him growing up, how she went away with her asshole of a boyfriend – now her deceased asshole of a husband – leaving him to fend for himself. He talks about travelling the country, trying every odd job he could get his hands on, until a buddy of his suggested he join the Navy. And he loves the work, he really does, but he hasn’t seen his sister in over a year. Their last conversation ended in a fight about some family secret that Buck is reluctant to talk about. Even Eddie can tell that the man just misses his sister. No matter what the argument was about.

Eddie finds himself talking – in less detail – about Shannon and the divorce and his son at home. At Buck’s prompting, he shows off his favourite photos of Christopher (avoiding the one burning a whole in his shirt pocket, torn and bloody, which never leaves him). The man’s face positively lights up when he sees the kid, offering an appropriate amount of sympathy for his divorce without pushing him for more emotions.

It’s easy talking to Buck, he realizes after a few hours. Because suddenly, the venue rental is nearly up and he’s still sitting at the corner of the bar, talking to Buck. Sure, a few people have passed by and shaken their hands, thanking them for their service – Eddie cringes every time and Buck has to hide his laughter once he realizes – but for the most part, it’s just the two of them, sitting and talking.

“The flag signalling we use now was established in 1855.” Buck explains as he leans further into Eddie’s space. “And while Robert Morse invented Morse Code in the 1830s, the International Morse Code that we use didn’t come out until the 1850s.”

“How do you know all of that?” Eddie was fairly certain he hadn’t had to study the history of communication when he was in training. But he’d also been very focused on his medical textbook.

Buck was incredibly cute when he blushed, Eddie decides – though he opts to keep that opinion to himself for now. “I get bored and I read.” The man shrugs nonchalantly, as though he hasn’t been entertaining Eddie with stories of Naval history and his own dumb-ass mistakes all evening. Honestly, Eddie wants to sit here all night and listen to Buck tell him stories of the world. It seems like he’s lived a lifetime already. And what has Eddie done? Gotten a girl pregnant, joined the army, gotten shot, and now he doesn’t even have a wife to go home to.

“Can I ask you something?” Eddie realizes too late that Buck looks nervous. He thinks he probably wouldn’t have said yes if he’d noticed. “How did you get your medal?”

Now he knows he doesn’t have to answer – and his initial instinct is to close out his tab and see if he can run to El Paso on his still-injured leg. But he also realizes that he hasn’t told anyone since it happened. Not the full story. Even now, he might not have the words. But he tries.

“Our helicopter got shot down while transporting wounded. I could still move so I got everyone out. Or I tried to get them out.” The echo of gunfire is not as distant as the others told him it would be. He can still smell it. “Support finally arrived and they decided to give me a medal for holding down the fort.”

Buck places a gentle hand over his and Eddie gasps, reminded that it has been a very long time since anyone has touched him. God, how he misses it.

“You saved wounded soldiers in the middle of the desert while being fired on. And you think you were just doing your job?”

“I’m an army medic.” He reasons with the bottom of his glass. “It’s my job to save people.”

“Maybe. But I don’t think that’s why you do it.” Without elaborating, Buck smiles at him and Eddie forgets the question.

“What about you?” He asks instead. “What’s yours for?”

Unlike the enthusiastic, bubbly personality he’s been talking to for the last few hours, Buck melts into the face he saw up on that stage. The stoic, professional.

“We were on our way back from an escort mission when we encountered some rough seas. I happened to be on deck with the chief mate when he had a stroke. I tried to tend to him but the storm was getting worse and no one could find the captain, so I just took over navigation. It was rough, I had no idea what I was doing, but we all made it out safely and the chief mate was okay.” As Buck shrugs, memories of an overheard conversation come flooding back to Eddie’s mind.

“Wait, were you on the USS Angelo?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Eddie can’t believe it. He has to laugh. “You were the cadet who sailed out of Hurricane Ida?”

“I am a petty officer first class, I’ll have you know.”

“Buck, you navigated a 2,000 ton ship out of a hurricane and all they gave you was a lousy medal?”

“I should get that printed on a t-shirt, or something.”

“That was incredibly reckless but also incredibly brave. Buck, you’re a hero.”

“I was just doing my job.” The smirk tells Eddie he knows exactly what he’s doing but it still hits him that he’s throwing Eddie’s words back in his face. Cute and cheeky.

He doesn’t know why he asks – well, he does, but it’s incredibly stupid and impulsive, and he definitely can’t blame it on the alcohol but he sure would like to.

“How long are you in town?”

Buck looks pleasantly surprised by his question but answers with regret in his eyes. “I head out with the Fifth Fleet in the morning.”

Wow. “You just got a medal, and you’re headed out to earn another one?”

“Something like that.” Buck laughs and Eddie wishes he was braver than he felt. “But I won’t be gone forever. And I’m really good at telegraphy if you wanted to send anyone a message.”

He’s so grateful that Buck has the good sense to be everything he needs right now. Because asking the next question is easier with someone standing next to him. “I suppose I’ll need a way to get in touch with you, then.”

Buck winks and Eddie has never been gladder that the concept of ‘standing’ was only metaphorical. The man should not be so irresistible after only a few hours, but Eddie can’t help but watch him push off his barstool and walk around the side of the bar.

“Hey, Diaz!” The spell is broken long enough for him to look across the room at where his name is being called. He waves at old friends – well, Senior Airman Han and Space Force First Sergeant Wilson are the closest things he has to old friends but in actuality, he’s not sure he knows their first names. “We’re going to the afterparty, want to join?”

On a normal night, Eddie would decline on the basis that he doesn’t want to go, and would rather lay in bed and watch reruns of ‘Murder She Wrote’. Tonight, Eddie wants to decline on the basis that he doesn’t want to go, and would rather stay up all night talking to someone who makes me feel curious about the future.

“Not tonight.” He shouts back across the room. “I’ll catch you at the next ceremony.”

They wave him off because they know it’s the same excuse he makes every single time but the only thing that matters is getting back to Buck.

“So.” He turns to the bar only to find it empty. The seat beside him is also unoccupied, as is any of the space surrounding him.

Had he dreamed up Buck? Had he been imagining this person who made him feel like divorce wasn’t his last chance at happiness? Was he truly so desperate and lonely?

“Hey.” Eddie looks up with too much hope in his eyes to only come face-to-face with the bartender. “He left this for you.” The man – who is not Buck, no matter how much Eddie hopes to see those eyes again – slides a napkin across the counter and walks away before Eddie can ask anymore questions.

He picks up the napkin and reads the blue ink-stained note written in messy scrawl.

Kilo

--... .---- --... ..... ..... ..... -.... --... ----. .----

The dots and dashes he recognizes as a series of numbers – a phone number, he hopes – but the word above? He tries to recall his academy days.

Kilo. Short for Kilogram. Used in the International Code of Symbols to represent the letter ‘K’. In Maritime Signal Flags, it indicates: I wish to communicate with you.

He’s pretty sure the bartender hates him for how late he stayed and how loudly he laughed at Buck’s note, but he can’t bring himself to care. Instead, he spends his energy memorizing the napkin’s contents long after he’s input the number. It’s more than just a piece of paper: it’s hope.

[thirstyforred]

Wiedźmin: Gra Wyobraźni - Timeline

ok, so it's my rough and fast translation from polish. this text comes from the rpg book from 2001 and since then cdpr and netflix made their own so it's really kinda 'pick and choose' what you like - ciri has like four different birth years between the saga, this, games, and twn, as far as I know the timeline is only an illusion

TIMELINE

This timeline is based on humans' count of time and features mainly events related to the history of humanity

It's noted that no one really knows what event is supposed to be marked as the year 0. One of the theories is that humans moved the beginning of their race further in the past so they don't seem so young for other races on the continent

Gra Wyobraźni is supposed to be played in the 1240s and 1250s, so before the Nilfgaardian Wars when Geralt and Jaskier simply traveled around the North

FAR PAST

Gnomes and dwarves settle on the Continent

Thousand years before humans, elves come on white ships and for a long time fight in wars with dwarves

Around 1000 before humans settled on the Continent the Conjunction of Spheres takes place - magic and monsters appear in the world. As well as humans, the refugees of another world that they destroyed after living there for 5 million years

circa 764

The First Landing, led by Jan Bekker

Jan Bekker and Giambattista test the children looking for potential future mages - this event is called Poznanie Wybrańców [Getting to know the Chosen Ones]. Selected children are transported to Mirthe, the first seat of mages. Among the Chosen Ones is Agnes of Glanville, the first sorceress

Bekker, Giambattista, and Goeffrey Monck, after talks with many rulers, announce the separation of magic from the state. This pack is called the Novigrad Union

Goeffrey Monck takes a group of talented children to Loc Muinne where they are taught by elven mages

c. 768

Marschal Raupenneck of Tretogor attack and kill elves of Loc Muinne and Est Haemlet. Aen Seidhe leave their cities, which later become such human cities as Novigrad, Oxenfurt, Wizima, Tretogor, Maribor, Cidaris, and Cintra

836

Creation of the First Chapter of Sorcerers and establishment of the Prawo [Law]. Members of Chapter: Herbert Stammelford, Aurora Henson, Ivo Richert, Agnes of Glanville, Goeffrey Monck, and Radmir of Tor Carnedd

Soon start a war in which everyone who didn't want to submit to the Chapter and the Law are killed

Klara Larissa Winter opens the magic academy in Aretuza

c. 964

First witchers start to appear

Radowid I the Great, king of Redania, presents his brother Trohden with Kovir. In the next 20 years, Kovir and Poviss win wars against neighbors and become economic power

c. 1064

Elf Aeliren, called the White Rose of Shaerrawedd, leads Aen Seidhe to the uprising against humans. The elder race fails and almost the entirety of elven youth dies. Retreating Aen Seidhe destroys their abandoned settlements, Shaerrawedd among them. After the bloodshed on both sides, people start to believe that nonhumans should try to peacefully coexist with humans

Seeking found for a war with Aedirn over the Valley of Flowers, king of Redania Radowid III Ryży [the Redhead] taxes Kovir. This leads him to conflict with Gedovius, king of Kovir, which ends with customs war and expedition of 4000 redanian soldiers. With Redanians works king Benda of Kaedwen, who sends his army to Caingorn. After a week of fights, what's left of aggressors retreats and Radowit and Benda negotiate peace in Lan Exeter - as a result of which the First Treaty of Exeter is concluded. Radowid retains the lifetime title of king of Kovir and Povis, Benda - of king Caingorn and Malleore. Gedovius however is still de facto in power

1143

Falka, daughter of the king of Redania, Vridank and half-elven noble from Kovir, is born

1144

Sorcerer Cregennan of Lod and elven sorceress Lara Dorren aep Shiadhal met and fell in love

Vridank sends away Falka's mother and marries Cerro

Cregenna is killed and Lara Dorren dies in winter after giving birth to their daughter. The child is found and adopted by Cerro, queen of Redania, who names her Riannon

1163

Falka's Rebellion. At first, the uprising is supported by temerian and kovirian nobles as they see it as a fight of a firstborn heiress for her throne. Soon however the rebellion turns into the peasants' war. Falka burns Mirthe, and kills Vridank and Cerro

Pregnant Riannon, now wife of Goidemar, king of Temeria, is kidnapped by Falka's soldiers and locked in castle Houtborg, where she loses her mind. There - at the same time - are born, daughter of Falka and Riannon's twins

After suppressing the rebellion and burning Falka on stakes, Goidemar captures castle Houtborg and releases his wife. It's unknown which of the three newborns is Falka's so he takes in all of them

1164

Goidemar commissions sorcerers to discover the child of Falka. Those mages are - Tissai de Vries, Augusta Wagner, Liticia Charbonneau and Hen Gedymeith. Later joins them elven sorceress Enid an Gleanna. Goidemar at first wishes to execute the child, but as he's good at heart, his anger eventually fades. And with mages acting as they don't know which one it is, it's all forgotten

1165

Elves are pushed out of Dol Blathanna, the Valley of Flowers

1166

During the Belletey Yennefer is born

Visenna and Korin met

1167

Geralt of Rivia is born

1181

Adela, considered daughter of Goidemar, in fact Falka's child, dies during the epidemic of plague

1182

Son of Goidemar, Amavet, has an affair with countess Anna Kamena and dies killed by henchmen of her husband

Riannon, saddened by the death of her children, dies

Goidemar marries his daughter Fiona with Coram of Cintra

1183

Anna Kamena gives birth to Amavet's twins - boy Crispin and girl Muriel, later known as Piękna Łotrzyca [Lovely Harlot]

Fiona gives birth to Corbet of Cintra

1200

Muriel marries Robert, count of Garramone

Corbet marries Elen of Kaedwen

1202

Muriel gives birth to Adalia called the Seer, later duchess of Maribor

Dagorad, son of Corbert and Elen is born

1208

Esterad Thyssen, later king of Kovir, is born

1214

Vysogota of Corvo runs away from the Oxenfur Academy after publishing a heretical piece that could cost him his life.

1216

Djikstra is born

1218

Daughter of Dagorad and Adalia, Calanthe of Cintra is born

Geralt visits Blaviken and earns his monicker

Esteril Thyssen, the grandfather of Esterad, signs a treaty with the emperor of Nilfgaard, Fergus var Emreis. This treaty forbids Kovir from offering any help to enemies of the empire

1224

Jaskier is born

Vysogota makes a carrier in Nilfgaard, becomes a lecturer of ethics at Imperial Academy in Castel Graupin

Vifuril, father of Demawend, wins in the battle of Hagge with Medella, father of Foltest. This strengthens his rule of the Pontar Valley and cements the borders between Aedirn and Temeria

1234

Calanthe marries Roegnar of Ebbing and gives birth to Pavetta. Roegnar is wounded during the hunt in Erlewanld and a mysterious stranger saves his life. Stranger invokes the Law of Suprise

Vysotoga publishes one of his works and is sent to the dungeon. Emperor Torres (predecessor of Emhyr) banishes him. Vysygota emigrates to Ebbing

Peter Evertsen the right hand of the new emperor, Emhyr

1238

Mixed marriages with non-humans are starting to be condemned

1239

Peter Evertsen becomes wielki komorzy cesarstwa (sort of chamberlain)

Nilfgaard takes over Ebbing starting the Great Northern Wars

Jaskier starts studing in Oxenfurt

1242

Adda, daughter of Foltest and his sister, becomes a striga

Temeria fight Vizimir of Novigrad

Jaskier gets his diploma and for a year gives lectures in the Faculty of Trouvereship and Poetry. At age of 19, influenced by his love for countess de Stael, he becomes a poet

1244

Geralt and Jaskier meet each other during a festival in Guleta. From there they travel to the Valley of Flowers

In Redania, near Rinde, Jaskier gets attacked by djin. Geralt meets Yennefer and falls in love with her. They live together in Vengerberg for a year, and then they split

1245

Coup in Poviss - king Rhyd is killed and in his place, the family of Thyssenids starts ruling

Geralt and Jaskier visit Novigrad, where they meet doppler Tellico Lungrevinka Letorte

1248

Niedamir becomes child-king of Caingorn, he plans to take over neighbor Melleore

Geralt and Yennefer meet again during Niedamir's expedition for the dragon

Geralt comes to Vizima and lifts the curse from Adda, Foltest's daughter. He heals in Ellander and then travels to Bremervoord where he meets Essi Daven

Pavetta marries Duny, the Hedhog of Erlenwald

Calanthe marries Eist Tuirseach from Skellige

1249

During Belleteyn Pavetta gives birth to Ciri

1254

Duny and Pavetta die in a shipwreck

1255

Geralt visits Cintra to see his Child of Suprise, he leaves without it

1260

Geralt travels to Brokilon where he meets Ciri

1261

Attack on Cintra starts the First Nilfgaardian War, which ends with imperial loss during the Second Battle of Sodden

[lokixreader]

Just a simple maid (soulmate au)

Requested:

Yes

Words:

4,044

Summary:

Y/n, an Asgardian maid, seems to be the soulmate of prince Loki, and for some reason she always wears long sleeves.

Warnings:

A lot of crying, sleep deprivation, ANGST, panic attack (kinda), sadness, tears, some more crying and a lot of bad writing

A/n: alright first soulamate fanfic, let’s hope for the best

A/a/n: finally I’m back, but only shortly. I recently redound some inspiration and will to write and to try being present on my blog again. But now I must warn you. I wrote this in the span of 2 years more or less, and for how impossible it might seem, I lived a lot of things in 2 years. This has been specifically written in 3 different periods of my life which would be a few months before, during and a few months after my depression. I hope you will enjoy it, and to everyone that is going through what I have, please I beg you, be strong. Carry yourself and keep going. Even if it hurts. Talk to someone about it. Someone who will understand and not treat you as attention seekers. Remember that you are loved, that even if you don’t have anyone now, life works in unexpected ways, and that maybe tomorrow you will find those people or that person that is willing to love you, perhaps not romantically, but trust me, aromantical love is the best. You will get through it. It doesn’t matter how hard it gets. You’ll get better. You will be better. You deserve it. And you are not alone❤️.

As a maid, you have never imagined yourself in a higher rang then where you already were and never expected something more. Children often imagined themselves being a lot more then what they were, imagined being princes or princesses, kings and queens, gods and goddesses and so on, but not you. You only dreamed to be free. Free from everything and everyone. Being raised as a servant blocked your dreams. You never dreamed what the other kids did, you didn’t want to be a goddess, you didn’t want to be a queen or a princess, all you ever wanted was freedom. Something that you never tasted since you turned 19. Exactly. 19 was the official age when a girl born from a servant became one as well.

Your mother was a wonderful and loving person, the best person in all of Asgard. She was the queen’s servant and Queen Frigga, being the sweet and kind person she was, often left you to play with her sons, Prince Thor and Loki, giving you the possibility to grow up with them too, and so you did. You were practically the same age as Loki, who soon became your best friend. Strangely, like probably not all of the royalty would do, he never treated you as a servant, but as a friend, and Thor did the same, leaving the servant-treatment aside. Time passed fast leaving child you, child Thor and child Loki behind and welcoming yourselves as adults. When you turned 19 and became a servant, for how much Thor and Loki claimed to care for you, they couldn’t do anything to solve your situation, those were the rules and the laws of Asgard and breaking them would have meant for them to go against the throne that one day one of them would have sat on. However, you couldn’t blame them, and you did the only thing that remained: you dealt with it. You were a maid. You couldn’t change it. You simply decided to keep it that way. But then again, when you turned 500, after centuries of service, you finally found a joy. In fact, when an Asgardian turns to the age of 5 centuries, they get strange writings on their arms, because of soulmates, as you once read on a book. When you started having writings on your arm, you went directly to your mother, who explained what a soulmate was and how it worked, better than any book could.”Y/n, darling, a soulmate, as the name already explains, it's a person whom you share a close relationship and a deep understanding. It's someone made to love you, that destiny decided you would be in love with. You can't hate them nor not love them, it’s a deep connection that can't be broken ” she explained to you, and you asked curiously ”What are these writings on my skin? How can I find this person?” and you kept making questions ”This writings are something that your soulmate wrote on his own skin to contact you. In fact, this is the only way you can find your loved one. You are lucky. Some people, unfortunately, never find their soulmates”. That night you received another writing on your arm, and you didn't hesitate to answer. 

 Hi

Only that, nothing too special, but you still responded

Hey

Nothing too special either

What are you doing?

Compared on your arm and you answered

Just talking to you, nothing much, you?

And he answered, and you two kept talking for longer than 3 hours. When you realised how late it was you wrote:

Oh, it is so late! We should go to sleep!

Even if you didn’t want to leave.

Wait! Do you think that we could meet tomorrow?

You suddenly found on your arm.

Tell me your name and I will find you

You wrote back, even if you weren’t sure that you could have, due to all the work you had to do tomorrow. But then reality hit you harder than ever.

I am Loki Odinson.

Oh great gods, oh great gods! Loki Odinson, Loki, that Loki, practically your best friend since childhood!

From that moment you stopped writing and since that night you promised yourself to avoid Loki, for how much you could, due to the fact that you were one of his maids.When you dressed up in the morning you chose a long-sleeve dress, in order to hide the writings on your arm and, without even thinking about meeting him, you cleaned his chambers only when he left them.This is what you did for almost a month, but it couldn't last forever, and you knew it. What hurt you the most was shutting Loki out, he was your best friend, always there for you, and now you just let him out, but obviously, he kept writing on his arm to talk to you, to see if he was the one that did something to you. He kept on writing and writing until your arm didn't start to hurt. It started to hurt every time he wrote something, every word, every letter, getting worse and worse, but you couldn't ask anyone for help, not even your mother, because you couldn’t risk her knowing that your soulmate was Loki. Again, you did the only thing that you could do, you dealt with it. When you found the time, you went to the library to find any reason why the writings caused you pain and any way to stop it. Today was one of those days when you had the time to go to the library. The library was a huge room, full of shelves and departments, with millions of books of every genre. You went to the section where you found the books on soulmates when you were younger. You had been searching for it the whole day and you didn't find it. You could see from the huge window that it was getting dark outside and that you should have gone to your room, so you decided to leave. The following morning you got up with a stringing pain in your left arm. Again. Loki had probably been writing on his arm for most of the night. He often did that, without thinking that it hurt you, or maybe he just didn’t know. Then you looked at your arm, not surprised in finding many questions such as “What are you doing?” “Where are you?” or even “Who are you?”. You didn’t answer any of those, you didn’t want to, you simply couldn’t, so you just got out of your bed and dressed with a long-sleeve dress, as always. Then, you got to Loki’s chambers, when he left them of course. He wasn’t a messy person, in fact he was quite the opposite, even if sometimes it might happen that he left his bed un-maked, mostly because he was late for something or he had something to attend to. You started making his bed, and picking up a pillow which probably fell while he was sleeping, you found a book. You weren’t surprised, Loki loved reading just as much as you did, and it came to you without a surprise that he read in bed before sleeping, or even for the whole night. But what surprised you was what the book was about. On the brown cover, in a beautiful golden writing there was written ‘Soulmates: the lifetime bondage’. This was te book you were searching for the last day! And it was in Loki’s room, but why did he have it? The answer suddenly popped in your mind: you weren’t answering him when he wrote to you, so he was probably searching for the reason why. Opening the book and going through its pages, you saw a few notes here and there, till you didn’t reach the chapter about ‘not answering soulmates’ and you started reading carefully.

“Not answering soulmates:

When a soulmate does not answer to the question the other soulmate wrote on his arm, there are more reasons why it happens:

- The soulmate does not answer because of its own will

- The soulmate might not be capable of answering

- The soulmate might be dead”

The last part made your heart drop. Did Loki think of you as dead? No, he couldn’t, you were right there, alive and well! But he didn’t know, you never talked to him. You rolled up your sleeves, looking at all the questions he wrote, between them there were some “Are you alright?” or “Are you safe?” and similar. Tears started appearing in your eyes, one already falling on your cheek: you didn’t realise you started crying.“So you found the book” a voice said behind you. You rolled down your sleeve, got up from the floor you were sitting on and took in all of his form, recognising it as the younger prince of Asgard. “L-loki, I was not expecting you here!” You said. “I know, I had a very important meeting, which I actually did not have to attend” God his accent, you had really missed his voice. “Anyway, how come that I have not seen you in a while?” He asked “I..I have been busy..” you lied. He smirked. “Y/n-“ “I know, I know you are the god of lies and you know that I lied” you stopped him in the middle of his sentence “I was about to say that I know you since we were children, it is impossible for me not to know” of course you thought “So, what is this truly about?” you had to tell him the truth, but you couldn’t, not this way “I am just having problems with my soulmate” you said. Half truth and half lie, or better only truth and an omission. ”That is interesting, I am too” You were surely surprised that he said so “Oh, really, why, what is happening with them?” You tried to pass the topic on him rather than on you “I think you do already know by reading the book you are holding” he said. You looked down at your hands, finding the book “I am sorry, Loki. But do you know why they are not answering?” You tried to get the informations by directly asking him. “Unfortunately, I do not, but I do have an idea” you but your lip “Do you believe that they are dead?” He sighted “They might be..” he said without daring to look into your eyes. You felt so bad for avoiding him and leaving him without telling him anything. “Oh, Loki” you sighted and gave him a hug. He was startled after feeling your arms around him but then he gave in an hugged you back “I missed you” he said, burying his face in your hair. “I missed you too” you said back. When he stopped hugging you, you stepped back and tucked a stand of your hair behind your ear “Now if you excuse me, I think I should change your bed sheets” you said to him “Yes, of course” he agreed. You started packing the sheets so you could take them more easily and started heading for the door when Loki asked “You know that it is June, don’t you?” You slowly turned around and gave him a questioning glare “Isn’t it too hot to wear long sleeves?” He said. What am I going to say now? You asked yourself “I just liked the dress” you justified, immediately leaving the room, not noticing the smirking god. That was close. The days passed and you couldn’t help but being sorry for Loki. Sometimes you could see him wandering in the corridors near his chamber, with the book in his hand, a pen in the other, a rolled up sleeve and, to conclude his look, two deep bags under his eyes: to say that he was visibly tired was a misunderstanding. He was completely sleep-deprived. This situation was getting out of control and seeing him like this made your heart feel only pain and pity for the younger prince. This, till the day you finally had enough and decided to talk with him.

You knocked on his camber door, putting so much effort in such a small gesture. When you received no answer was the moment you started questioning yourself, but gathering all the courage you still had in yourself you entered, despite him not telling you to do so. Then you saw him. You saw him and you felt full of emotions: sorrow and regret were the first ones, then joined by happiness and joy for finding your best friend again.He was on the balcony, reading, a concentrated expression on his face, probably not even noticing you entered the room due to the lack of sleep. Or probably he had, but couldn’t bring himself to care in that moment. “L-Loki?” you quietly spoke his name, getting his attention... “Mmh?”.... more or less...“Loki?” you called for him again. When you didn’t get his full attention, you brought his face to you, locking your e/c eyes with his green ones. In doing this you could see his tiredness and sleep deprivation, the way his eyes had lost the sparkle they once had.“Loki, look at you! What have they done?” You asked him genuinely worried “I can’t find them, they won’t answer me! What have I done? What has happened to them!?” Loki yelled, tears picking at his eyes. You couldn’t do anything to him, so you hugged him, holding him to yourself in attempt to comfort him. He then let himself go, sinking in your embrace and crying, crying on your shoulder. When he finished you wiped away his tears, looking in his eyes “What is wrong with me?” He suddenly asked you.“There is nothing wrong with you, Loki, you are perfect. You are not the problem, it is them, they do not know what they are missing, and if they really do not want to be with you, then move on and let them see your true greatness” you said with a small smile forming on your lips, making a similar one appear on his face. His eyes were looking into yours, like trying to get to your soul. “Now, you need to get ready, there is a ball tonight you need to attend to” you said, looking down to the ground to avoid his gaze. “Come with me” he said “What?” You were shocked, did you actually hear well? “You understood, come with me” “I-should not, I-I mean, I am not important like the people that will be in the ballroom, and not even at your level to actually come with you” you stuttered “Oh, you got me wrong darling, you will not decide, this is an order, and please do not underestimate yourself like this” . That was... shocking to say the least. Not less then three second ago he was crying on your shoulder, and then he was giving you orders? Well, it was something he could do, but still, he never did.

You went to your room to get ready for the ball. What could you wear? You were a mere servant, you didn’t have a dress for such an occasion. But then, when you opened your dresser, you saw something that didn’t belong there: it was a beautiful long f/c dress. You took it to examine it and you saw all the diamonds it had on it. You were speechless, where did this dress come from? A little light turned on in your mind: Loki. Of course, who else could have invited you knowing that you didn’t have a dress for the occasion, just to give you a new beautiful one? There was only one last problem: the dress didn’t have sleeves. And now? What could you do? Make up on the arm? No it would be too much. Gloves maybe? Probably the best option.

After finishing getting ready you looked at yourself in the mirror. You felt beautiful, the dress looked perfect on you, the slight make up you put was perfect, and the gloves you found were perfect. Everything seemed perfect. You got out of your room, closing the door behind you and when you turned you found yourself face to face with the God of mischief.He looked at you, mouth slightly open, gazing at you from your feet to the tip of your head. “Is something wrong?” You asked, thinking that you had something out of place “No, you look ravishing”. You whispered a small ‘Thank you’ while blushing madly.

When you arrived at the ball room, you started feeling insecure. You were just a maid, a mere servant, and behind those doors were important people, princes and princesses, probably even kings and queens. Loki seemed to recognise your insecurity, since you felt him take your hand in his and lightly squeeze it. Now you could see why the destiny put him as your soulmate. That small gesture made you feel better, a bit more confident. You two then decided to enter the room.The night seemed to go well, and by well you meant that no one of the royalty approached you, except for Thor of course, who had come just to see you, since it has been a long time from the day you had last seen the blond prince. He started talking to you only when Loki had left your side “Hello, Y/n “ he began “Greetings, Prince Thor” you said back. He then chuckled, making you laugh; you had always greeted him like this as a child, a small obligation from your mother, who wasn’t used to you being friends with the princes. You then went on talking about the past months and what you had been doing, including the reasons why you couldn’t spend your time together.

“Alright, say that one more time.”

“Thor, I have already told you three times” you complained.

“I just need to understand why you have not told him yet” he insisted “How can you not understand? Loki is a prince, a god, and one of the most perfect people to ever exist, how could I ever stand next to him. I am nobody compared to him, Thor. I am just... just a simple maid” you explained, pain almost visible on your lowered face, you were feeling miserable just thinking about it, about your unimportance and how at times it made your life a living Hel. You were taken back to reality and away from your thoughts by a hand being put on your shoulder. You looked up to see an understanding sad smile plastered on Thor’s face “You forgot to mention the most important thing: he is your friend” he gently spoke, emphasising the last four words. “He has been your friend for longer than I have, he has spent almost his whole life with you and has always cared about you deeply. It shouldn’t be so surprising that you two are meant to love each other, but still, you keep saying that it should not be like that, just because you are a simple maid. Well, you might be a maid, but you are everything but simple. You are one of the most amazing people I have ever met. You are intelligent, funny, curious and beautiful. And top of that, you are you, and have never been afraid of who you are. For all these reasons, I can say today that I am happy and proud of having you in my life, and I am certain that my brother feels the exact same way”

By the end of his surprising speech, you found yourself on the verge of tears. You had always been in the dark about them caring so much for you and had never thought that someone could see you in that way. The blonde prince then hugged you tightly, noticing some of those small tears fall down your cheeks

“Do you want to know a small secret?” He asked you and you nodded still hugging him, then he silently said “When you had to become a maid, you should have been my servant, but Loki insisted so that you could be his” your eyes widened. Loki wanted you...as his maid? “He was convinced that since you should have cleaned his room, which isn not usually messy or dirty, you could have more time for yourself and that he would have been able to see you everyday at least once” You abandoned Thor’s hug to look at him in disbelief. He moved his hand to brush away on of your tears “ He loves you” Thor said, so faintly and silently that you wouldn’t have heard him if you were just one more step away. That last sentence hit you hard. Everything Thor said hit you hard. The room which wasn’t so crowded immediately started to feel smaller and smaller. Your lungs seemed non-existent and your breathing increased. You quickly excused yourself before running away towards the balcony.

The outside fresh air seemed to calm you down, and to fill your new redound lungs. You were feeling normal again, up until you didn’t hear a well too known voice. “Are you alright? I came back to my brother only to hear that you run away here” his voice was like the one of an angel, beautiful and spectacular, but at the current moment it was slightly panicking you. But then you took a deep breath and exhaled. In the meantime Loki came closer to the railing where you were at and looked at you worryingly. After a few seconds of mere loud breathing, you finally spoke up “I know why your soulmate is not answering Loki” he looked at you with a confused face “We do not have to talk about them, it is about you I am worried now. Forget them and tell me what is wrong. I want to be sure that YOU are alright Y/n, not them” you looked away from him and broke into a small laugh.

Ah the irony.

And if Loki was confused before, now it was even worse. You looked back at Jim’s sad face , then you slowly took off one of your gloves. Loki’s expression changed from confused, to shocked, to surprised and finally to one you could quite muster, something between realisation and sadness. He gulped, closing his wonderful eyes, only to open them Almere moments later “Why.” Was the only thing he said. A cold expression hard to read or to understand. “I was afraid” you answered, tears already forming. “Scared? Scared of what?” He asked slightly furring his eyebrows “That you would have rejected me and abandoned me. I was afraid of not being enough for you or that-“ you didn’t finish your answer. Tears were falling on your cheeks without a care, but you were engulfed in a hug “I would never leave you, for no reason at all. I’ll always be with you.” You hugged him back, scared that the world might end if you even dared to let go.

Minutes went by, but both of you couldn’t care less of the time passing, you just stayed like that, in each others arms, after so much time divided. Loki then kissed your temple. “I wish I told you sooner” you apologised looking to the floor. His index finger lifted up your chin so that he could see your features “Me too” was what he said “but this does not matter, for we are finally together now” you smiled at him happily. He could have reacted in million different ways. He could have told you how much time he spent trying to contact you, how he suffered without you, how his best friend leaving him could have affected him. But not a word. Not even a mention. He was just genuinely happy that you were alright and that he had his soulmate in front of him. *how could I have been so blind to this* he kept asking himself, looking at the e/c pearls staring at him.

Unbeknownst to you both, a certain blond prince watched them together, kissing each other fondly, then observed them get back in hand in hand, finally happy.

Tag List

(I’m just going to start a new one so that I don’t bother people who don’t care about this kinda stuff anymore) if you want to be added just tell me anywhere <3

@volpenera0 & @casseythebee & @brightsunanddarkmidnight2-0 & @melodynoelle & @just-the-hiddles & @arch-venus25 & @marvelgirlonamarvelworld & @fanfictrashdump

[hwrryscherry]

hi i was just wondering what model!y/n's response to this

fist of all I wanna say that this gotta be one of the most ridiculous videos I’ve ever seen. Fox News should be ashamed of this. And second, model Y/N is the type of person that you can say whatever you want about her in the internet but you have to be careful when talking about the people she loves and when it comes to Harry, she can’t be silent. And honestly, it’s so ridiculous that she can’t be silent. But Model Y/N is not the type of person that downgrades herself and loses her patience.

She would definetely tweet about it and she would stand up for her man. If she wasn’t super calm on that moment she wouldn’t have a lot of patience and she’d just say a ‘’It’s embarrassing to know that they’re talking about this while the world is on a crises’’ but if she was calm she’d say this:

*IT CAN BE TRIGGERING TO SOME PEOPLE. DON'T READ IT IF YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE*

   It’s extremely heartbreaking and embarrassing to hear that Fox News is really using its live time to try to downgrade Harry Styles and his choice of clothes on the cover of Vogue as we are living in a period where about 1.8 million people have already died from covid-19 and more than 82 million cases have been reported worldwide. Also, Nashville just suffered a bomb attack, the world stands up fighting racism which sadly, still remains present in the toxic society we live in. The LGBTQ+ community continues to be disrespected and cruelly murdered by small-minded people. Xenophobia is still implanted by many. People are still starving. Children are still sexualized. Some disgusting people still consider themselves entitled to sexually abuse another human being. We still have cases of domestic violence. We still have women who are cruelly murdered every day.  We’re living a climatic crisis where we cannot even say with 100% certainty that the world we know will be whole in 50 years from now and I don't know about you, but I worry a lot about the world that I will leave for my future children. The Amazon Rainforest continues to be deforested, which harms the air we breathe and our climatic conditions. A major earthquake killed several people in Croatia. We have shootings in schools where the lives of children who are supposed to have a lifetime ahead of them are suddenly ended. Every day, more people suffer from anxiety, panic, depression, low self-esteem and eating disorders due to psychological pressure that are implanted by the media and society.

   And believe me, I could go further and quote thousands of bigger problems that should be highlighted by Fox News. Thousands of more important and more serious matters than "Harry Styles is a man and men shouldn't wear women's clothes.". It's embarrassing. It’s extremely embarrassing to know that society still remains extremely trapped in the toxic masculinity that has been implanted for centuries. 

  Wearing a dress, makeup, nail polish or any other feminine product does not make any man inferior to any other man and honestly, we are in 2020. We’re living in a period where we’re fighting to break the stereotypes of genres. And honestly I thought we already had overcome the "Bring back manly men’’ situation.

   I really hope that Fox News understands the relevance of what should really be talked to the public and that the next time they come to talk about men wearing women's clothing, it’s to exalt the breaking of stereotypes.

   In fact, I really love the pearls he wears and I even feel a little offended because the pearls he used at Vogue were a gift from me. And I've been told that my taste in accessories is extraordinary.

[crowdvscritic]

best picture project // THE ‘40s: WARTIME + PRESTIGE

In the immortal words of Don McLean, a long, long time ago, I can still remember how I wrote about the 1930s for my Best Picture Project. (Don’t fact check those lyrics to “American Pie.”) I titled that overview of the decade “Chaos + Influence” in that order—chaos led the Academy’s way through the Great Depression. In the 1940s, though, the motion picture community embraced the organization, and in many cases, it was because they realized how helpful it could be to their own reputations and pocketbooks. 

At the ceremony honoring 1940, Jimmy Stewart was the only Best Actor nominee to show up, and Katharine Hepburn said on losing for her work in The Philadelphia Story, “Prizes are nothing. My prize is my work.” By 1943, the Golden Globes launched as a copycat show, and by 1945, Joan Crawford was campaigning to win for Mildred Pierce. Henry Rogers, who ran her campaign, said, “You know as well as I do that members of the Academy vote emotionally…I’m confident that people in our business can be influenced by what they read and what they hear.” He’s on record calling acting awards “more of a popularity contest than a talent contest” with “emotional and sometimes practical considerations, none of which have to do with the quality of the performance.” Studios began taking out ads for nominees they had under contract (even if they were nominated for pictures from other studios), and formal betting began in Las Vegas on odds-on favorites.

When Joan Fontaine defeated her sister Olivia de Havilland for Best Actress 1941, her salary didn’t see a change, but her studio, Selznick International, did. The fee for other studios to borrow her talents bumped from $25,000 to $100,000 after her 1940 nomination and to $200,000 after her 1941 win. Never mind that Fontaine had mixed feelings after her win. “Winning an Academy Award is undoubtedly a great accolade, supreme praise from one’s peers, a recognition to be accepted gratefully and graciously,” she said. “It can also damage irreparably one’s relations with family, friends, co-workers, the press…It was a fishbowl existence until the next year’s awards, when a new winner would occupy the throne. Naturally, there was many a doubter, many a detractor, many an ill-wisher. It’s an uneasy head that wears the crown.” 

Still, success wasn’t a given for the industry during wartime, and the Oscars had to pivot like the rest of world. Statues were made of plaster for a time to prevent stealing metal from war efforts, and the 1942 ceremony was almost cancelled because of the U.S. had just jumped into World War II and Carole Lombard had just died in a plane crash while selling war bonds. But the show must go on, so the Academy pared the evening down, hosting a “dinner” instead of a “banquet” and discouraging fancy dress. The format of the show changed several times through the decade, eventually nixing the meal and moving to a theater for good. The Academy might invite soldiers for a variety-style evening, President Roosevelt might make an address, or Jack Benny might host a radio broadcast for soldiers abroad. Special awards were handed out for war-related service, including to Noel Coward for his war film In Which We Serve, the British Ministry of Information “for its vivid and dramatic presentation of the heroism of the RAF” in a documentary, and to Harold Russell “for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans” in The Best Years of Our Lives. (Russell also won Best Supporting Actor, making him the only person with two acting Oscars for the same film.) Also of note, Winston Churchill praised Best Picture winner Mrs. Miniver as “propaganda worth a hundred battleships,” an unusual but powerful endorsement of the voting body’s picks.

Wartime adjustments weren’t the only new features. The Academy saw more than one big first:

ABC began broadcasting the show on the radio

New categories were introduced, including for documentaries, foreign language films, and costume design

Ernst Lubitsch won the first Lifetime Achievement Oscar

The Academy started keeping winners secret until announced on stage

Barry Fitzgerald earned noms both for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in Going My Way—oops! A new rule was added to prevent that from happening again

Hamlet became the first non-American Best Picture win, overcoming attitudes like that of one studio exec who said noms for foreign films were “an act of treason.” (Heaven forbid we learn what that guy would think of Parasite!) The Academy had tried to prevent this with special awards for international films, but basically Laurence Olivier would not be denied (to oversimplify it)

And a few moments qualified as blink-and-you-might-miss-this-didn’t-happen-yesterday: 

Fortune reported The Best Years of Our Lives and Gentleman’s Agreement made $2 million more at the box office than they would have if they had not won Best Picture

When How Green Was My Valley won Best Picture, some speculated it was due to recency bias as the last nominee to be released. Today that film is best remembered as the one that somehow won over Citizen Kane, so, um, its reputation has not aged any better

At least two winners, Michael Curtiz and Greer Garson, acknowledged they didn’t have speeches prepared. Garson’s 5½-minute speech pushed the party past 1 a.m., which Jack Black and Will Ferrell would have something to say about

Bottom line: The Academy started as a body with middling influence and transformed into a prestigious organization, not just strong enough to withstand a world war but perhaps even bolstered by it.

Photos: 

1950: The Pantage Theater outside the Academy Awards honoring the films of 1949.

1942: Burgess Meredith watches Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine in a happier (maybe?) moment the night Fontaine bested her sister for Best Actress. When de Havilland passed away last year, you might have seen stories about their rivalry resurface.

1947: Samuel Goldwyn, Harold Russell and William Wyler celebrate eight awards for The Best Years of Our Lives.

1942: Bob Hope hosts for his third time. He hosted or co-hosted the event 19 times between 1940 and 1978.

Resources:

Behind the Oscar: The Secret History of the Academy Awards by Anthony Holden (1993)

Oscars.org (including all photos)

“Oscar Hosts: Performers Who Have Hosted the Academy Awards,” GoldDerby.com (2020)

[hellowkatey]

Febuwhump Day 19

Prompt: sleep deprivation

Warnings: graphic descriptions of torture, hallucinations

Read on AO3

Eyes Wide Shut

Panic rises in his throat as he stares at the shadows that creep up the wall. Obi-Wan flinches at flashes of light and dark, secretly hoping that they are some sort of hallucination.

Hallucinations would mean he would have an excuse to feel like the world is unraveling. Maybe the lack of sleep is finally clouding his mind enough for him to see what isn't there, or worse, a glimpse into what is beyond. He feels close enough to death to touch it, so why shouldn't he see it too?

He needs to rest. Shut his eyes and let his jail cell fade into darkness. But the analog clock hasn't moved in what feels like hours, but he knows it's only been seconds. In the rare moments when his captors aren't blaring horrible sounds that blew out his eardrums days ago, he still seems to be able to hear the damned clock. Tick, tick, ticking continuously until it makes him forget how many tick tick's he's counted and the tick tick tick longer hand is pointing at a new number. He doesn't remember that much time passing (tick tick tick tick), but such is life in captivity. Periods that feel long are actually a blink or two, and moments that he thinks he's finally found control again turn out to only be an illusion.

He lies on his side, knees tucked into his chest. Wiping away tears he doesn't remember shedding, he pretends he isn't alone. He has never told anyone, but some nights, he finds no sleep unless he imagines imaginary arms encompassing his body. A certain someone that makes his chest ache when he thinks about them too much tucked against his side and acting as his valiant protector from the horrors of the night. It's been a long time since he last shared a bed. As much as he knows he doesn't need it, he wants it because for once it would be nice to feel an ounce of comfort.

Because laying on the freezing, hard ground for any longer than a few minutes makes his body go numb. And even if he manages to muster enough strength to manifest the ghost of warm arms wrapping around his torso and a chin nestling into the crook of his neck, it fades before he has a chance to pretend he's anywhere else but locked in this prison.

He thinks he sees a flash of bright blue, or maybe green, and for a moment he thinks he's saved. But no, his mind has seemingly decided that his current torturers aren't doing a well enough job, so it dangled hope in front of his face for good measure. It's a trick of the mind. Another convincing piece of evidence that his heart pounding against his chest cavity and the pressure building in his veins aren't the only things manifesting in his sleeplessness.

Hallucinations would mean maybe he's finally cracking. Finally breaking under the pressure as many before have hoped to do to him. Obi-Wan has been through worse feats-- more pain, more bodily harm, but somehow this is a new circle of hell. Worse than a couple of days with no shut-eye. At least then he has battles or missions or other people to distract him from the exhaustion in his bones. But this... this is like a piece of Zigoola resurfacing from its hiding space in the depths of his mind.

(Sometimes if he's quiet enough he can hear the prayerful chant die Jedi, die Jedi die. Interestingly enough, he can't hear it now. Only the tick of the clock.)

Hallucinations would mean the lines between reality and whatever the hell else there is would blur completely.

Strangely, the prospect of such an existence is becoming more and more appealing.

Maybe in this augmented reality, he could finally find peace. For himself. For the galaxy. Never in his life has he wished so earnestly for a moment of quiet and stillness. Everything seems to be going wrong. The tides are turning and as much as the Republic likes to spout off about how they're the ones to come out on top, Obi-Wan has a feeling they're going to be the ones swept under the tidal wave.

(He has no evidence for this except for a lifetime of being told to trust his feelings.)

So how do you tell that to millions of soldiers created for the sole purpose of war? Or to the Jedi he fights alongside? The padawans who had to grow up too fast, and the Masters who have lost everyone in their lineage? Perhaps they're thinking it too-- he isn't so vain to assume he is the only one who cannot stand the sight of the Holonet anymore because none of it lines up with what actually happens on those battlefields. Or that he sees the way the civilians cower from both the Separatists and the Republic. Likewise, how they air their disdain with equal prejudice. They have to see it, right? The foundation crumbling beneath their feet? The chasm they walk a very thin tightrope across?

If he's lucky, all of this has been one big dream. One big escape from reality and he will wake up in the Jedi Temple with the smell of Qui-Gon's favorite tea brewing and a padawan braid hanging from behind his ear. Because Obi-Wan is pretty sure the last time the galaxy had some semblance of normalcy was before he was forced to cut Maul in half.

He stares at the shadows that claw across the ceiling, menacing and vile as they draw in the last drops of light. If the faces he sees staring back at him are only a hallucination, he will be satisfied. Because facing them for real is a feat he isn't ready for, so he closes his eyes as though that will keep the ghosts from following him.

And that's the problem with dreams, he thinks, I yield control to the wills of my mind, and I have no confidence it will be any less horrifying than the reality I currently live.

But the moment ends with what sounds like the scream of a dying krayt dragon being blasted into the room from all directions, and Obi-Wan jumps to his knees in surprise before toppling over once again. He covers his ears as though that will keep out the noise or the vibrations that shake every cell of his existence, curling back into the ball he just had himself in. If he separates from himself enough, goes to another place where the gray walls become mere blurs and the Force acts as static, the screaming of the krayt dragon becomes nothing but background noise. Enough to ignore the pain as the scars in his ears tear open and blood drips down his collar. Enough to hope that the next noise they play might be slightly more pleasant.

Maybe if they play one loud enough, he will go deaf completely, and then Obi-Wan will find some peace.

The cell is fourteen of his foot length across, and fourteen wide. He hasn't yet measured, but he suspects they're fourteen tall as well. Made entirely of reinforced durasteel with no clear door, he suspects they built the prison around him.

For the thousandth time since he awoke here, he screams into the Force: why?

On the third day, he received an answer: why not?

For some reason, this doesn't surprise him.

He sees the face of Qui-Gon, stoic yet kind-eyed. For a moment at least, and then his expression changes to wide eyes and deathly pale complexion.

"Promise me," he says. Obi-Wan doesn't need to hear the rest to know what he's promising. It's been a staple of his nightmares for years.

"Promise me,"  Satine says as he leaves his master lying on the ground. He looks up in horror.

"Promise what?"

"Promise me you will move on."

He swallows hard, reaching out for her slender face and bright eyes. "Move on from what, my darling?" But as he tries to cradle her cheek and feel her soft skin against his hand, she vanishes into thin air. "Move on from what?" he whispers.

And he is alone again.

If he really is seeing lightsabers floating through space and ghosts of people that he held in his arms as they passed and hearing the voices of the dark side lingering somewhere in the nearby shadows, then maybe this is his final spiral. He isn't even sure if anyone has noticed he's even gone yet. The worst part is he has no idea what the purpose of all of this.

Why?

They haven't asked him any questions, haven't tried to take anything from him. Just put him in this cell and decided to keep him awake.

Why not?

Sleep was never a natural state for Obi-Wan, but five days without a moment of unconsciousness is enough to drive anyone mad.

There is no end, there is only the Force. He reminds himself of this as he presses his fingers against the quickened pulse against his neck at the tempo of an upbeat cantina band. He's past the point of caring about the cold water they spray on him or the racket they blast through the speakers or the things that may or may not be real. Let them. I welcome it, now.

But a part of him still screams at him to fight. Oh, how he wants to silence the bugger, but it only makes another part of him speak up to remember his training and what he stands for. I've withstood worse, his mind reminds him. And yes, he has. But his life has been a continuous pursuit of one-upping his last mission injury or torture regiment and stars Obi-Wan is so tired.

What about Anakin?

Obi-Wan lets out a shaky breath.

Promise me, Obi-Wan...

Not even the voice of Qui-Gon comforts him anymore, and he buries his face in his hands.

It isn't even the hallucinations or the torture anymore. What is really wrong is that the galaxy is crumbling and the Force is on fire and he's choking on the smoke. Limbs pinned down by the screaming that's he's okay. I don't need help. Which is such a fucking lie because he can feel the life draining as quickly as time feels like it's passing. He can feel that darkness is coming and coming quickly. There is no way to stop it. No way to slow it. Like waiting for the whistle tone to drone out his next attempt to nap, all he can do is watch it as it arrives.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

But when he looks, the clock hand hasn't moved yet, and a part of him is happy another hour hasn't passed. And a part of him dreads the idea that maybe he'll be stuck in this moment forever.

__________

Anakin stands among a room full of dismembered bodies, his chest heaving with residual adrenaline from the fight. He wields not only his own weapon but his former Master's. All that was left behind when he disappeared. The clone troopers pour in moments later, unsurprised by the carnage. Anakin wastes no time in taking the two weapons and plunging them into the durasteel wall of the suspended prison.

He forms a circle large enough for two people to fit through, and he jumps into the tiny cell. The first thing that hits him is the smell. It's not of death, but of the moments before. They've arrived just in time it seems.

"Obi-Wan?" he says gently as his gaze falls on a crumbled figure tucked in the corner. His former master looks horrendous, dirty and bloody and deathly pale. When Anakin says his name his eyes raise slowly, and he is shocked to see the wild look in them.

"Anakin?" he rasps, his voice sounding raw. From the red rims around his eyes and the puffiness of his cheeks, it's obvious he's been crying. "No... it can't be." he whispers, and rolls into himself, turning toward the wall. Anakin is stunned. What the hell did they do to you, Master?

"No, Obi-Wan, it's really me," he says, kneeling down next to him and placing a hand on his wrist. When he touches his skin, Obi-Wan jumps as though he's seen a ghost. He looks at Anakin with wide eyes and mouth agape.

"Anakin?" he repeats, grabbing his hand and then his wrist and feeling the material of his tunic. "Anakin!" Before he can react, Obi-Wan has thrown himself into his arms. Anakin ignores the stench and hugs him tightly, relief washing through him to be near his former master again.

"I've got you, Master. I've got you."

Obi-Wan's head rests on his shoulder, holding the embrace long enough Anakin's body starts to cramp. When he pulls back, the Jedi Master's head bobs back, lightly snoring.

"Obi-Wan did you... did you fall asleep?"

"Sir," Rex's voice rings out as Anakin gently lays his master on his back until they can get a stretcher in here.

"What is it?"

Rex's helmet is off, and he looks at him with serious eyes. "They've been keeping him awake."

"The whole time?"

"I only skimmed through the footage but..."

Anakin looks back at him, sleeping soundly-- probably for the first time in 120 hours. His knuckles go white as he grips the hilt of his lightsaber.

"Have medical take him in. And by no means wake him up."

Rex nods and walks out of the doorway Anakin cut to call for Kix. Anakin stands from the ground, looking around the tiny cell. The only thing that stands out is a clock hanging on the wall, the old kind that they don't really make anymore. The kind with the hands. The ticking is obnoxiously loud, echoing off the unpadded walls of the cell.

He takes Obi-Wan's saber, ignites it, and swiftly slices the clock in half. It falls, but he catches it with the Force before it hits the ground.

The cell goes quiet, except for the quiet snores of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

[wehatejulietsimms]

TW: ab*se, t*rture, su!cide, mental il!ness, ab!eism

So, before I forget, we really need to discuss Scientology (quick note: if you're easily grossed out and/or are already terrified for Andy, I suggest not reading this).

Scientology. Not only is their whole 'religion' a scam to avoid paying taxes and the police coming after them for all the controversies surrounding them because of the religious freedom America grants in the Constitution, but their religion has been dumped on quite a few times because the founder of it, L. Ron Hubbard, is a science-fiction author. Their beliefs are that Xenu, the leader of the 'Galactic Confederacy', brought billions of people to Earth in a spacecraft, stacked them with volcanoes, and then blew them all up with hydrogen bombs. They also believe that humans are 'Thetans', immortal aliens who reincarnate into child's bodies (which is why they treat children like adults, they believe children are just adults in children's bodies) and live in one eternal lifetime. Sounds a little like something straight out of a science-fiction book, right?

But to stray away from the religious part of it, let's focus on the parts that make me sick:

1. Scientologists punish people if they question or talk back to them.

2. They cut people off from their social life, work, family, friends, etc. and engulf them in Scientology only and try to cut off any ties to the outside world.

3. They force women to have abortions while at sea because they believe that no child should be born at sea.

4. There have been many allegations of abuse against staff and members.

5. They enforce child labor and have many allegations of child abuse.

6. The Sea Org, a Scientology organization, makes people sign a billion year contract.

7. They're ableist and don't believe in psychology, doctors, medicine, mental health, etc. and force people to take vitamins in replacement of their prescribed medicines, which caused multiple suicides and murders.

8. They're extremely greedy. In fact, what they claim to be the 'Bridge to Freedom' that puts people 'in the Clear' is given through million-dollar books and classes, and when a person almost reaches the last level before they reveal the 'big secret', they claim that more works have been 'found' and that they must start the process all over again to pay thousands of dollars again.

9. They're homophobic. While they believe that mental illnesses like anxiety, depression, BPD, schizophrenia, etc. and even physical disorders like arthritis and the common cold are caused by a 'reactive mind' that causes 'ailments' and can be healed through saunas and sci-fi lessons, they also believe that homosexuality is also an 'ailment'.

10. The whole religion thing only started because the IRS came for them with billion-dollar debt and they retaliated with 'We're a religion' so the IRS let them off the hook (and they filed lawsuits against every single person working in the IRS and were the very first people to 'beat' the IRS and get away with tax evasion).

11. They have absolutely no scientific evidence to prove any of their theories towards 'healing' their members or their alien beliefs.

12. Every single story of someone who has entered the Church of Scientology ends with them getting hundreds of text messages, emails, phone calls, letters, etc. from the cult asking if they want to join or be 'audited'.

13. Practice indentured servitude.

14. One girl was 'allegedly' held prisoner on a boat that belonged to Scientology for eleven years.

15. They claim that they have over ten million members worldwide, but that's only because they count everyone who enters a building or buys one of the books, not every actual member. The real number is about 25,000 today (down from 50,000 in the 1990's).

16. Read the story Hollis Jane Andrews, a woman who was interviewed to be a nanny for Scientologists' children, and the list of requirements were absolutely bat-shit crazy. It read things like 'If the kids hurt themselves, keep them quiet and apply Dianetics'. 'If the kids start crying take them outside'. 'Take them for a run and throw rocks and run with them', 'Don't stop them running ever', 'Whilst they are asleep you magically transform into a cleaning nazi', 'No phones of your own at all during work hours', 'Tidy up the bathroom, empty out the stinking poo poo bin', 'Clean the bathrooms', 'Do the laundry', 'Clean their bedrooms', 'Look for more to clean when you're finished', etc.

17. Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige, hasn't been seen in the public eye since 2007, and whenever anyone asked about her, David would throw a fit of rage (some people suspect she's being held prisoner in 'The Hole', which I'll talk about later).

18. Their 'rehabilitation centers' are literally just prisons.

19. In Bible classes in some Christian schools, they have students do a project where they go to a different church they weren't a part of and do a study on it. One girl went to the Church of Scientology and the teacher explained why the students shouldn't do that and now 'Church of Scientology' is on some lists of churches the students are not allowed to go to for that project.

20. For most- if not all- of the members, they have them read a few books/courses then take them to an underground sauna everyday for weeks straight without a single day off, make them run for thirty minutes, put them in a sauna for four hours, and give them high doses of Niacin (or concentrated Vitamin B) that made them sweat profusely to release all the toxins their body, and then they take you on to the 'Bridge of Freedom' to work on your mind.

21. David Miscavige's father, Ron, left Scientology and wrote a book about him where he stated that David hit and beat people multiple times (Leah Remini confirmed this).

Now let's talk about the Gold Base. The Gold Base is the international headquarters in San Jacinto, California in the San Jacinto mountains. In the Gold Base (which is huge and holds the giant mansion Hubbard used to live in), there is an 'alleged' (hint hint) dungeon prison called 'The Hole'. Scientology members get sent there if they violate the code of ethics (from doubting Scientology to merely pissing off the leader). It can house up to 100 people and there is no furniture. People sleep cramped on the packed floor or on desks, it's infested with bugs, people get tortured there, people are humiliated and abused, a lot of racist, sexist, and homophobic actions take place, some are forced to walk on all fours for hours while confessing to the 'crimes' they've committed (sometimes, crimes they haven't), and there's literally no way out. The Hole is surrounded by razor-wire fences (with razors that point in both directions), motion detectors, cameras, and even snipers. So the question is, why hasn't this been shut down or investigated? 'Religious rights' under the First Amendment.

And that's all I have to say about Scientology for now. If anyone wants to know about exactly what Scientology believes they're doing to people's minds with auditing and Dianetics, just let me know and thanks for coming to my TED Talk ✌🏽

this is why Andy can't "just leave". i know everyone wants him to and i wish it were that easy but some people just are unaware of the power that these people have. i hope he'll get out in time and it's looking good for him but it'll take awhile.

(also i'm not claiming Andy has ever been subjected to anything listed i'm just saying these people have a tight grip on people involved in the church so Andy can't just leave.)