#literally the entire hospitality service in one

[sophsun1]

The Bear – 3.02: Next

[speirslore]

band of brothers officers: dating hcs

a/n: hello! this is my first post but ive been lurking in the bob fandom for a while & i'm soooo excited to finally join... i have a bunch of other ideas and drafts i want to post soon :) this includes the officers: winters, nixon, speirs, lipton, + buck, please lmk if anyone would be interested in more of the boys! i made it vague but the reader is implied to be a part of easy company in some capacity

[dick winters]

he is a very private person and shy... like his ears go bright red at the mere mention of your name which easy company takes full advantage of

you think it's incredibly sweet

it takes a while for him to have confidence when interacting with you in the beginning... he feels inexperienced and that you couldn’t possibly be interested in him

it's a slow burn for sureee

like men getting out of the hospital that come back to the company are immediately like "so are they finally together??"

there are bets on when and where it will finally happen

luz's theory is one of you has to confess when you all jump into berlin at the end of the war... the perfect hollywood ending

it ofc doesn't happen like that; it's a slow process of building trust, it's a mix of quality time and acts of service

the quality time can be hard to come by during the war but dick is determined to check in with you: small, reassuring smiles and touches, finding each other in crowded rooms

it's very private, he doesn't want to jeopardize either of your careers or reputations, but ofc lew knows the details (but the entire company basically knows?)

and lew is good at keeping secrets.. he's the intelligence officer ofc (as he constantly reminds the two of you)

a lot of wrapping his arms around you pulling your back to his chest, resting his chin on your head or shoulder

maybe even a quick smooch

kisses as rewards for him finishing all the action reports he has to do

omg then in austria... things definitely change... and it's easier to label what you have.. dick can finally relax (to some extent), and it starts to feel like more of a normal relationship

all the men are so happy for you like he's had 20+ wingmen this entire time <3

[lewis nixon]

another one that i think is definitely slow burn... but once he finds out he's getting divorced...

even before that, lew's humor always made you feel more comfortable and at ease

he has always gravitated towards you

definitely gets clingy

lovessss sleeping with you like insists that sleep is extremely important for a solider and he sleeps sooo well with you

it's literally impossible to escape his arms when you're sleeping... leg thrown over you, arms wrapped around you

the most comfortable you've ever been fr

the ungodly amount of sexual tension before you get together... oh god.. one time the officers are all playing poker; welsh and lipton just look at each other when lew's leg kicks yours under the table or you lean against his shoulder

like oh god... not again... they're telepathically planning their escape

all the tension, stares, touches, long talks you've had reach a boiling point as lew becomes more jaded by the war and he finds out abt the divorce

you instinctively want to take care of him and you're definitely worried about him... you have a lot of convos with dick trying to figure out the best way to approach and help lew

words of affirmation are very important to him... i think his initial instinct is gift giving but that's difficult with the war.. and he doesn't feel connected to that, it's just what he's always known

if he gets too drunk, you stay up monitoring him and you really don't mind and just knowing you're there for him makes him v emotional:

like you make him feel like there's hope and a future after the war... and he's been thinking that for a long time but finally says it laying on your chest with your hand running through his hair

you help him shave which eventually ends in making out (a lot of things you guys do devolve into that)

he's your poor little meow meow but in the best possible way

[ron speirs]

ngl the attraction was strong from the start and it didn't take long for you to fall for him... by england before your first drop you both already fell hard

everyone is in disbelief that the rumor is it's YOU that he's seeing

everyone thinks you're a total angel and then... speirs.. it's just tht absolutely none of the men can imagine him being soft or romantic

wants you all to himself... is very good about making free time to be with you

unintentionally hovers

and very subconsciously touchy

has to fight himself from grabbing your hand instinctively

like he can know where your platoon is, where you're dug in but still will make rounds just to have peace of mind and know you're okay

just like all the other rumors, ron doesn't really care about clarifying his relationship with you

oh but if he ever heard a man talking disparagingly about you... just one silent stare and the soldier wouldn't even look at you again

omg def the type to carry around a collection pictures.... those are his prized possessions fr

like a pocket in his uniform just full of very pretty (and private) pictures <3

there's a few wholesome ones too.. like when the two of you had a 48 hour pass to scotland... but others (most of them) not so much

and ofc if you ever need anything... like you need a new watch? he has one for you in a few hours

he truly does love gift giving...

i also think physical touch is a huge love language for him

+ i think like pillow talk, just late night talking with you letting him rant and get everything off of his mind is so cathartic for him

and he really appreciates feeling like you understand him and you want and are willing to listen

[carwood lipton]

definitely the wholesome mom and dad couple

usually, most definitely, attached at the hip

always has a hand on the small of your back, or shoulder, arm, etc, he likes the reassurance of small touches and knowing definitively that you're next to him

i have a very self indulgent headcanon that he likes whenever you kiss and thumb over the scar on his cheek <3 makes him feel less self conscious

okay so lip takes care of everyone else but who's taking care of him?!

guys will come to you bc they know carwood will listen to you if you're the one who tells him he has to rest and take it easy

omg.. and if you're married... he's always twisting and playing with his ring just to remind him of you

has multiple letters from you stuffed in one of his uniform's pocket

he has all of the words memorized by now but just physically holding them is so comforting

quality time and acts of service are HUGE for him

and alone time can be so hard to come by... but anything he can do to make your job and tasks easier... he will do

and vice versa ofc

everyone else watching like wow .. relationship goals fr

anytime he leaves and you're split up for a few days... you always have a dramatic reunion jumping into his arms

a lot of fantasizing about your future together... because it feels so close.. but also so far away

[buck compton]

fraternization rules?? what rules?

has absolutely no shame to be at the bar playing darts, hands all over your waist

and showing you off, dancinggg

just feeling a little silly and goofy... making out at the bar

and everyone is hyping you up

i think at the beginning of the war, your relationship is newer and fun... neither of you are really thinking about something serious

i think physical touch and words of affirmation are huge for him

as the war progresses, the thought and fear of losing you grows, especially after he saw so many of his men suffer/die

and he realizes how much he cares about you...

you comfort him after bastogne... a lot and even though it can be extremely melancholy, hearing you talking about your life pre war, and your life together in the future keeps him going

insisting to him that he'll have to show you california and ucla

writing to him constantly after he's taken off the line.. giving him updates on all the men

in austria, when he returns, watching him play baseball with the boys feels absolutely perfect

[grimm-the-tiger]

I made this post a little while ago listing some facts about shipwrecks that probably only I find interesting, so now I’m back to talk about some of them. Specifically, the Olympic. The Olympic was the namesake of the Olympic-class liners, whose most notable member was the Titanic. Out of the three Olympic-class ships - Titanic, Olympic, and Britannic - only one of them was actually unsinkable, and that was the Olympic. 

Over the more than 20 years of its existence, the Olympic was never once in real danger. The Olympic was the danger. On its fifth voyage in September 1911, Olympic was running parallel to the HMS Hawke, a British warship designed specifically for ramming things. Olympic suddenly turned to starboard (right side of the ship if you were facing towards its front), catching Hawke’s commanding officer off-guard; he wasn’t able to avoid the collision and ended up ramming the other ship. Olympic was left with a substantial hole beneath the water line (although flooding was for the most part averted due to its bulkheads actually working properly, *cough* Titanic *cough*) and a slightly less substantial hole above it. Hawke, meanwhile, had its entire bow caved in. Olympic made it back to port just fine under her own power, while Hawke almost capsized. Somehow, no one was seriously hurt or killed. 

Three fun facts about this situation: Violet Jessop, a woman famous for surviving the sinkings of both of the Olympic’s sister ships, was onboard the Olympic when this happened. This incident also reinforced the idea that the Olympic-class was unsinkable. The famous postponement of the Titanic’s maiden voyage also occurred because of this incident; a propeller shaft was damaged in the collision, they needed a new one ASAP, and, well, the Titanic was right there... 

Four years later, WWI broke out. The Olympic was requisitioned as a troop ship, given 6-inch naval guns, and sent on its way. In 1918, while travelling to France with a literal boatload of American soldiers, Olympic spotted U-103, a German U-boat chilling on the surface of the ocean. Olympic opened fire on U-103, which immediately crash dived to keep from dying, then turned to ram the U-boat. Olympic hit U-103′s conning tower and tore open the hull with its propellers. U-103′s crew decided “fuck this” and abandoned ship; Olympic didn’t bother to stop to pick them up, so a nearby American warship did instead. It was later found that U-103 was preparing to torpedo Olympic when they’d been spotted, but they couldn’t flood the torpedo tubes in time. Olympic remains the only merchant vessel in WWI recorded to have sunk an enemy vessel (which would become a more common occurrence during WWII, to the extent that the Nazis apparently tried and hanged at least one captured British merchant captain for ramming one of their U-boats. The Nazis were ones to talk, considering they rehired the man who sank the Carpathia and was notorious for war crimes that included things like “drowning surrendered enemy crews by forcing them to strip and stand on the roof of his submarine, then diving the submarine” and “attacking designated hospital ships that made it very obvious they were hospital ships”). 

Following WWI, while Olympic was being refit for civilian service, a sizeable dent was discovered below the waterline. It was later concluded to have been caused by a faulty torpedo, most likely fired by U-53 while the Olympic was travelling through the English Channel. 

Olympic collided with another, smaller ship, Fort St. George, in New York Harbor on March 22, 1924. There’s not much information on how badly Olympic fucked Fort St. George up, just that Olympic apparently fucked around a little too much and found out, because the collision broke its sternpost (support post in the back of the ship; think of it like a central pillar in a structure), forcing the entire stern frame to be replaced. 

On November 18, 1929, Olympic was cruising not far from the Titanic’s wreck site when the whole thing began shaking for two minutes. This was later found to have been caused by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Newfoundland. 

The Olympic’s last hurrah (and casualty) was on May 15, 1934, when it collided with the lightship LV-117. Olympic had known the lightship was in the area, but didn’t know where exactly it was until they were right on top of it. Olympic’s captain immediately ordered a hard turn and the engines slowed, so Olympic wasn’t moving particularly fast when it did hit LV-117 (about 3 and a half miles per hour), but Olympic was fucking huge, and the people onboard barely noticed when they practically crushed the lightship under them. Only four of the eleven crew aboard LV-117 survived; four went down with the ship and three died in Olympic’s hospital (yes, these things had hospitals; I told you there were fucking huge). 

Olympic was fully scrapped in 1937, forever going down in history as both the only Olympic-class ship that was actually unsinkable and the one with the longest reign of terror. Good God, man. I understand sinking the U-boat, but you didn’t need to bring like four other ships down with you. 

[tinykonig]

Ghost x reader headcannons

im so glad you guys are enjoying these??? i love making them and its helping me procrastinate finals :) as always these are written for afab, and sometimes include references feminine terms. if you like how i write for ghost, send me a lil request and i might turn it into something :)

NSFW indicated in post 🤍

Genuinely it takes fucking forever for Ghost to admit having feelings for you. He is in denial for soooo long

What finally makes him crack is getting critically injured on a mission and all he can think about is how he should have told you

He resolves to tell you once he comes to in the hospital. He figures it would be stupid to waste any more time

You come to see him and you think he doesn’t want you there because he can’t make eye contact with you and that’s rare for him

You just kind of awkwardly apologize for coming and turn to leave and he just barks out “Wait.”

When Ghost is getting something off his chest he gets it all out. So he’s just very bluntly telling you that you were all he could think about when he thought he was going to die and he doesn’t see the point in hiding how he feels any longer

At the end of his speech he looks at you and you are getting a little emotional and this motherfucker has the audacity to be like, “… why are you crying?”

Like you just spilled your heart out to me give me a break!!!

His entire body relaxes when you tell him you feel the same way. He didn’t even realize how tense he had been

You don’t leave his side until he’s recovered and able to fully function back to normal

He doesn’t say thank you with his words but rather his actions. His eyes tell you everything anyways

Sometimes he will glance around him to make sure no one else is watching and then just lift you into the most earth shatteringly wonderful hug

Puts you down after a few seconds and returns to whatever he was doing without a word. You grew used to this eventually

So protective. Like wont even let you walk on the side of the sidewalk thats closer to the road. Puts himself between you and any dangers

You will be his passenger princess. There is no way he lets you drive sorry thats his job, he looks damn good doing it so you dont mind

(holds your hand over the center console)

Big on acts of service. Does little domestic things for you like folds your laundry while you take a nap and offers to cook dinner every other day

Stares at you when you sleep. He thinks you look so angelic and peaceful and it makes him feel all warm inside but he’s definitely scared the shit out of you a few times

Not a fan of going out a lot. He’s a homebody when he’s not in the field

The best listener!!! He will offer advice when you ask for it or will just lend you sympathy when you don’t want advice

He does have his moments where he needs his space, and if you try to push him he can get mean

After he’s recharged and feeling back to normal he is touch. starved.

Likes to spoon, likes to watch movies with you in between his legs and laying on his chest, likes standing behind you while you are doing anything and just holding your hips

He always buries his face in your neck and just breathes deep. Could drown in your scent and be happy

It takes him awhile to remove his mask freely around you because its a feeling of vulnerability that just gnaws at him

He warms up to it over time and you see his face more and more often. Loves that you act the same either way

He has dimples (fist fight me if you disagree)

He can grow a killer beard, but trims it based on your preference because he doesn’t care either way

Very thoughtful with gifts and always remembers your birthday (sometimes forgets his own)

Knows your order for every restaurant and will make sure its correct and if its not he IS letting them know. How dare they

Literally mocks whatever accent you have constantly. Playfully but he’s brutal

If you are being stubborn he is not against just picking you up and slinging you across his shoulder

Sleeps like a rock this one

Likes to watch sports on tv and catches himself cheering his team on and then gets embarrassed (its so fucking cute)

If his mask is off and he sees any exposed part of your skin- he’s biting

And then going about his business like he didn’t just bite you???? So weird

NSFW BELOW THIS POINT

The biting happens in the bedroom too, specifically when he cums. Your neck will have teeth marks

Switch, switch, switch

His bedroom eyes are soo severe , he just gives you a single half lidded stare and your clothes are coming off

He loves to degrade you, he doesn’t talk a lot but when he does he is telling you how pathetic you look crying on his cock

Loves to be degraded too :) Whines if you call him pussy drunk (because he is)

A little rough but king of aftercare

Loves watching you come undone on his fingers. Has a thing for wearing his gloves when he fingers you

OVERSTIMULATION thats all

Against the wall is a specialty of Simons

Grunts a lot, growls sometimes when he is close

You go down on him and he sometimes lets go and moans

Always returns the favor

Doesn’t do quickies or risky places

Will do about anything else

[the-light-of-stars]

just checked the site of Germany's biggest publically funded news network and saw this article:

"Why pro-palestinian posts are dominating"

And their arguments for why there are more pro-palestinian posts than pro-israeli posts - something they condemn as obfuscation of facts , false narratives and antisemitism btw - are absolutely baffling.

Not once do they consider that maybe people see Israel dropping hundreds of bombs a day, murdering thousands of people, dropping white phosphorus, starving an entire population, bombing hospitals and ambulances, killing members of international aid agencies, killing specifically journalists, cutting off electricity and cell service, causing the spread of typhus and cholera by restricting access to clean water and medical help, directly stating their genocidal intent again and again - all of which has been condemned by international organisations like Doctors without Borders and WHO, has been called a genocide by the UN and recently even has been called terrorism by the Pope himself - that people see this , see western politicians completely on the side of those committing the genocide and think this is untenable and try to do what they can to at least spread awareness.

No they did not consider that, not once, instead their arguments for "the dominance of pro-palestine sentiments online" are that "there are more muslims than jews worldwide" , "most people from the middle east are antisemitic", "hamas is spreading propaganda online" and "young people are foolish and easily lead astray by echo chambers" .

And they complain about there not being as many posts in the "pro-israel" and "free israel" tags , saying that it "shows an unprofessional antisemitic bias" and call for the EU to "do something" against all the pro-palestine posts, and to instead make social media sites push pro-israel stances harder. They treat pro-palestine stances as not objective and 'fake news' influenced by the narratives of 'terrorist idolisers' while pro-israel statements are treated as trustworthy, objective and morally good and necessary. They complain why there isn't the same outrage for the kidnapping victims as there is for the actual literal genocide happening, or rather they don't just complain why there isn't more outrage about the kidnapping victims, but about why there isn't more outrage for them than for the victims of the ongoing genocide.

"The user is in a so called "echo chamber" and gets a progressively one-sided view on the actually highly complicated theme complex, says Gust."

Because being angry about a genocide happening , with full funding and support of multiple western countries , means being "one sided" and being on the side of the victims instead of the side of the perpetrators (referring here of course to the israeli -and other - politicians and companies causing and supplying these attacks, not to hostages or civilians) means that you don't understand the "highly complex" theme complex of "a western ally is carpet bombing and starving a populace with the goal of ethnically cleansing the land they live on and multiple western countries fully support that" , surely all the people saying that genocide is bad and should stop have actually been brainwashed or are simply too stupid to try and see things from the angle of the politicians committing a genocide!

I might translate the whole article later but god german media is -ironically - so extremely one sided and biased it's insane.

[memoiich]

I demand your Maul headcanons <3

Im going to split this up in 2 parts

Part 1 : star wars

Maul is extremely talented at drawing. He leans more into it after Savage and him are travelling together.

His memory is top notch , hes the kinda dude that remembers what he ate 5 months ago at 4 in the morning ( if he has a lover i can see him using this to get them like niche ,one time mentioned gifts)

His sleep schedule is none existent. He tried a few times to fix it but since palpetine needs him 24/7 , he hasn’t yet . After Savage gets him back , he tries to help Maul and it goes pretty well . (Like 6 hours per night on average)

The biggest problem is nightmares. He has ALOT of nightmares. Some are from his childhood, he thinks he’s stuck in the gray room on Mustafar or he sees the fish in palpetine tanks dying. It gives him alot of stress and anxiety. Some nightmares are about Obi Wan, he isn’t scared of him but more of the fact that he didn’t win . He gave his entire childhood and didn’t win against someone that was raised by loving people that cared for his wellbeing.

He dreamed as a kid alot about Dathomir.

He is a mercifull killer , he normally doesn’t play with his prey . He tries to kill them as quick as possible ( look at the fish even qui gon ) this mentality gets ingrained into his mind after he got cocky with Obi Wan .

Maul is smaller then most zebrak males because he was malnourished as a child . Savage has asked about this before but Maul reflects by stating its for his fightstyle.

Maul horns are terribly kept. He never met another zebrak before he was like 24(?) so he literally never knew he had to take care of them . Savage is horrified by the state of his horns when he finds him . Later he helps him out with that and now they are alright.

ALSO his tattoos are fading and need a going over.

He feels extreemly guilty towards both his brothers for leaving them behind. He never knew Feral and he hates himself for that . He sometimes wants to know more about him but hes convinced Savage will be hurt so he hasnt .

He is extremely confused towards his mother Telzin . He feels a certain sense of gratitude towards her for bringing him back but he hates for what she did towards his brothers and for giving him away . ( I actually love the legends version where he has a human mother (Kycina ?) even more but clone wars made it work better so….)

Part 2 : modern au

To me it makes sense if him and his brothers had a tattoo parlor or like a piercing shop.

Or like a business salesman

He drives a red and black kawasaki ninja 400 .

Maul still has a lot of scars mainly on his abdomen . He got into a lot of streetfights as a kid/ teenager.

He loves to give gift . He generally doesn’t think that people will stick around for just him so he sees it as paying them for their service.

He has a pet reptile a Bibron’s Coral Snake . Because he finds them cool .( he ended up in the hospital one time because of her)

He hates obi wan because they have a work rivalry.( will rend to his lover about this )

Im going to keep it here for now . I have some more but this is long enough

{masterlist}

[opencommunion]

"One of the elements that sets Hizballah apart from other Lebanese groups is the professional level of organization that exists within the party and its institutions. It is no doubt the political party in Lebanon that best responds to its constituents’ needs and desires in the country, both politically and economically. Among the consequences of the Lebanese civil war were economic stagnation, government corruption, and a widening gap between the ever-shrinking middle class and the everexpanding ranks of the poor. Shiite areas of Beirut—namely, the densely populated southern suburbs of Beirut, known as al-Dahiyeh (literally, the suburb)—also had to cope with hundreds of thousands of displaced people who settled there from the south and the Beqaa. To alleviate poverty in this area, as well as the south and the Beqaa Valley, a social welfare network developed alongside the Shiite political mobilization in the 1970s and 1980s, with key actors including al-Sadr, Fadlallah, and Hizballah. Today, Hizballah functions as an umbrella organization under which many social institutions are run. Some of these institutions provide monthly support and supplemental nutritional, educational, housing, and health assistance for the poor; others focus on supporting orphans; still others are devoted to reconstruction of war-damaged areas. There are also Hizballah-affiliated schools, clinics, and low-cost hospitals, including a school for children with Down syndrome. Hizballah is not the only major actor in the social welfare arena. Another large network of organizations is affiliated with Fadlallah. There are also a number of smaller independent welfare-provision organizations founded and run by pious Shiite women, as well as family associations that serve as gathering spaces or links for the various branches of a large extended family. These social welfare institutions are located around Lebanon and serve the local people regardless of sect, though they are concentrated in the mainly Shiite Muslim areas of the country. They are run almost entirely through volunteer labor, mostly that of women. ... It is the social welfare aspect of the party’s activities that sometimes leads to accusations that Hizballah is a 'state within a state.' A more apt phrasing may be that it is a 'state within a non-state.' The party’s welfare provision network is commensurate with the sectarian relationship between state and society in Lebanon, and fills a lacuna left by the state in poor Shiite areas of the country. When the state steps up, Hizballah has thus far demonstrated that it will step back. For example, when Sukleen, the private company to which the Lebanese government contracted garbage collection, began servicing the southern suburbs of Beirut, Hizballah promptly discontinued its own garbage collection services."

Lara Deeb, “Hizballah and Its Civilian Constituencies in Lebanon,” in The War on Lebanon: A Reader, eds. Nubar Hovsepian and Rashid Khalidi (2007)

[hotchy-poo]

Five Minutes

a/n: This is my literal first ever piece of fanfiction I've ever written so bare with me please, any and all feedback I would love. This is based off of season 3 episode 20 Lo-Fi.

Summary: The final moments of a terrorism case and too many close calls leaves the reader more shaken than usual.

GN!reader x BAU!Team, some slight Hotch x Reader, maybe Morgan x Reader if you look hard enough.

Word Count: 1.7k

cw: some swearing, discussions of death and explosions

You can hear your heart thudding in your chest, it feels like your ears are ringing but you can still clearly hear the sounds of the shoes and boots you and most of your team were wearing. Dave and Hotch had pieced it together that the profile your team had been putting together was wrong, it wasn't a trio or duo of serial killers, it was a home grown terrorism attack, and it was going to take place in a hospital in downtown New York. The hospital you and your team are currently in. Almost your entire attention is being put towards sweeping the parking lot searching for the terrorist ambulance driver.

The rest of your brain was occupied with two thoughts. 1. Where the hell is Derek Morgan and 2. That surveillance video of Kate Joyner's SUV blowing up, sending her and Hotch flying. He's behind you now, you can hear the change in his gait, his limp from the shrapnel cutting its way into his leg. You also know his face is scratched to hell and his ear is bleeding. Part of you wishes he would have sat this out due to his injuries but everyone knows he's allergic to taking care of himself.

Turning the corner, gun in hand, finger on trigger, you shake those last two thoughts from your head. All focus needs to be on this current situation. Reid nods towards the elevator and you see the dead special service agents lying there covered in blood. One of their legs in the way of the door preventing it from closing all the way.

Your attention is then drawn to a man who is sitting on the concrete floor with his legs crossed. A phone in one hand and a knife in the other. The team surrounds him, guns raised and ready. You notice his EMS uniform and know this is one of the UnSubs, the master bomber. You also notice the lack of ambulance with a bomb that would decimate this hospital and surrounding buildings. The bomber decides he won't be arrested and uses the knife to end his life, proving that he would kill and be killed for his cause.

A faint explosion is heard far in the distance as Hotch calls in that the hospital is secure. The tension could be felt in everyone's chest as they turned their heads to the sound, making eye contact with others, panic visible in their expressions. Reids phone rings and he immediately answers, only a second passing before his whole body sags with relief as he hears Morgans voice on the other side letting him know he is ok and the bomb exploded in a safe location away from the city and its residents. Relief fills your chest as you realize everyone is safe and that another case has come to an end. And while it may not have been the ending anyone wanted, it was over and you looked forward to leaving this experience in the past.

You had barely gotten enough sleep in your hotel room, expecting to have passed out from exhaustion from the events of the case, but you found yourself thinking of all of the what ifs. What if Morgan hadn't of gotten to a safe location in the ambulance, or what if he hadn't gotten out in time, what if Garcia couldn't have jammed the cell towers like she did, what if Hotch had been closer to the SUV or even inside of it. Tossing and turning all night left you quieter than usual in the morning and it was not unnoticed by your team.

Reid, Morgan, Garcia, Prentiss, JJ, and Rossi said their goodbyes and see you laters to you and Hotch outside the federal building. You offered to make the drive with the injured man and Morgan was more than happy to let you as he wanted to lay down on the flight and drink his Cristal. Keys in hand you and Hotch begin the walk to the black SUV you would be driving, subconsciously you brace for some sort of impact as you approach the vehicle and before you can try to play it off Hotchner is suddenly standing in front of you with a concerned look in his eye.

"Everything ok Agent L/N?" he asks raising his eyebrow.

You brush him off trying to step around him "yeah of course I'm fine." Hotch shuffles his feet and prevents you from walking away. "I'm just not super excited for the long drive Hotch, I'm good."

You hope that that was enough to sway him and you think is has as he lets you step around him. Just as you reach for the cars handle to throw your bag in the back, you feel his hand grasp your elbow and turn you to face him.

"You know" he begins "it's ok to be upset, what we all just went through in the past couple of days was hard and damaging, and its ok to feel conflicted, or sad, or angry." He moves his head trying to make eye contact with you but your eyes are firmly placed on the sidewalk. Knowing that if you try to explain what it is that you are feeling it might all come out as word vomit and your emotions might get the best of you.

"I'm good Hotch" you respond still not making eye contact "let's just go." You pull your arm out of his grasp before throwing yours and his bag in the back seat. Shutting the door you go to walk to the drivers side when Hotch calls your name.

"Y/N." Him saying your name doesn't leave room for you to walk away. You slowly turn to face him and you see his lips in a straight line and his eyebrows furrowed. He starts to walk towards you, his limp so prevalent and you can't keep it together anymore. Your eyes fill with tears threatening to spill over and you know that if you start to cry you won't be able to stop.

Hotch gently grabs your shoulder and sighs as he asks you again if you're ok and you can't keep your emotions and tears at bay any longer. Tears start to fall down your cheeks as you try to speak.

"It's just... this case was so much... we thought we had it figured out and that we could catch them but they were always a step ahead of us" The tears keep rolling and you can't stop talking even if you wanted too. A sob breaks out of your mouth and you drop your head as your body shakes with your cries. "All I can think about is the what ifs, all I can see is that surveillance video of you being BLOWN up Hotch" You're aware that your voice is much louder than it needs to be and Hotch's ear rings and aches but he acts like it doesn't bother him. "You got flung across a street Hotch! Derek climbed into a goddamn ambulance with an explosive that would have decimated three blocks of this city at least!" Your breathing is erratic, chest falling and raising quickly. You're using your hands very expressively and Hotch grabs both of your arms to try and slow you down.

"I need you to breathe Y/N" he says but you're not listening.

"I thought you had died when I saw that video!" you sob. " And you weren't answering your phone!"

"I left it behind, I forgot about it" He responds "I didn't mean to I'm sorry" his voice is quiet and gentle.

"And then once we were in the hospital Derek took off like a madman and when the ambulance blew up I thought he was in it!" You are still almost yelling, the tears have not slowed at all, in fact they may have sped up. You keep rambling about how you thought you had lost Hotch and then how you thought you had lost Derek. Starting to stumble over your words you stop talking and just start to sob, pulling your hands up over your face.

Suddenly you're pulled into Hotch's chest, one arm wraps around the middle of your back securing you to him, and the other goes to the back of your head. You can his thumb moving on your back trying to calm you. You know your tears are staining his clothes but you can't seem to care, you also wouldn't be able to escape his hug even if you wanted to.

He holds you as you cry, not caring that you are on a busy sidewalk, ignoring peering eyes. His only concern right now is you.

"I know that this case was a lot Y/N" he begins "this case demanded a lot of us, and we were put into dangerous situations. But I'm ok" He moves his hands to grab the sides of your face and pull your head up so that you can look at each other. "Derek and I are ok, some healing time is necessary but we're alive and well."

Your cries have stopped and now you're just left with a runny nose. Sniffling you take a step out of the embrace allowing his hands to fall back to his sides. You let out a singular breathy laugh and wipe your face with your hands.

"You're right" you agree with him, Derek and Hotch are alive and that is what matters the most. "I'm still gonna kick Derek's ass for what he did."

Hotch exhales through his nose and cracks a small smile "why don't we start driving back to Quantico L/N, its a long journey ahead of us."

You nod and climb into the drivers seat of the car, immediately refusing his offer to drive. Turning the key in the ignition and plugging in the offices address into the GPS, you take one deep breath and let it out slowly as you turn on the blinker and pull out into traffic.

The car is silent for a few minutes before you decide to break it

"Hotch?" you ask. He turns his head to you, prompting you to continue, "promise me you won't tell the others that I just cried in your arms for a minute in the middle of down town New York?" You glance over at him and you see a small smirk form on his face.

"I would never" he responds. I also won't say that it was five minutes not one he thinks to himself.

a/n ok im kinda proud of this, and i hope i can articulate myself well enough, literally just watched this episode for the first time and i cried. if it sucks or you have any tips for me to write better please let me know! I really hope you enjoy it and I hope i get to make more fics hehe

[kristihines]

Can you trust AI Answers about your health?

During the summer of 2020, when the entire world was focused on the pandemic, getting treatment for other health issues became a challenge.

I started experiencing a lot of back pain, but I shrugged it off as an injury and took Advil to cope.

A week later, I thought I had food poisoning.

I tried an at-home service where they pumped me full of IV fluids.

I went to urgent care. They sent me to get scans. I paid hundreds of dollars out of pocket to get them quickly.

The imaging place never sent the scans to the urgent care.

A day later, I had the worst chills. It was July, in Phoenix. Most likely 100 F. I went outside and was still freezing.

At that point, I was taken to the ER. I ended up in the ICU in one of those rooms they zipped up in plastic.

While most of the focus was on COVID, I had something else: a large kidney stone. The kind that doesn’t pass on its own.

I was in septic shock and acute renal failure according to discharge papers.

The hospital stay itself wasn’t too long, but the treatment with specialists took three months to complete.

Surgeries during COVID were extra special because if you tested positive, your surgery was delayed.

Two years later, in 2022, I ended up in the same hospital for the same reason.

And now, I’m a few days into aggressive antibiotic treatment for my kidneys, yet again. Wondering if I make it to the next followup or have to Lyft off to the ER.

So what does this have to do with Google AI Answers?

In 2020 and 2022, I spent a lot of time perusing Google Search results on kidney stones.

Now, I get AI Answers above at the top of SERPs (search engine results pages).

This wouldn’t be a bad thing if one could trust the AI to accurately summarize its sources.

That’s the big if.

In the first screenshot, you’ll find an AI Answer from Google Search results for the phrase how to pass kidney stone.

The first mistake involved an error with paraphrasing a source with legitimate information.

Because I can assure you after four years of seeing urology specialists, no one has ever suggested drinking two quarts or liters of urine.

The basil leaves suggestion, on the other hand, is suspect. I’ve never come across that as a suggestion. It would have stood out, because I have a lot of basil growing around the garden.

I don’t even remember that website from my previous Google searches. I had to check Wikipedia and other sources to find out what the company even was.

Much like the search quality raters and AI Answer checkers do...

In the second screenshot, Microsoft Bing with Copilot offered ads for supplements and advice from five sources, two of which are the MSN Health Hub.

The hub includes a section where you can Ask a health professional questions.

In the third screenshot, ChatGPT using GPT-4 with browsing offered a concise response based on its training data, but claimed not to have access to external sources.

In the fourth screenshot, Perplexity provided the best AI Answer with 19 sources I recognized from my previous research into this health issue.

Moral of the story:

You can’t trust generative AI with your money or your life issues.

But if you do, start with the right AI Answer engine. One that cites sources you trust and doesn’t suggest drinking your own pee.

Think of Perplexity as a better starting point for more in-depth research that you can discuss during your next doctor’s visit.

Not as a definitive answer.

Follow @kristileilani on X for more on AI news, trends, and tools.

[invisibleicewands]

Tim Price’s new play about the life of Aneurin “Nye” Bevan, directed by Rufus Norris and featuring a wonderful central performance by Michael Sheen in the title role, is a fever dream of a production – quite literally. It follows Bevan’s life from his childhood in Wales where he struggles with his stutter to the heights of his political career and the creation of the National Health Service in 1948, each event in his life told in the form of hallucinations from his death bed in one of the hospitals he himself helped to establish. “So nice. Seeing it. Without everyone… standing on ceremony. Isn’t it?” he says to his wife, and fellow politician, Jennie Lee (Sharon Small) on waking from an operation to remove a stomach ulcer.

The operation has not been entirely successful and Bevan requires pain relief that sends him into the strange world where he relives the events that led to his greatest political success in the NHS, with the occupants and staff of the hospital embodying the people of his past. The matron becomes Clementee Atlee (Stephanie Jacob), the nurse becomes his sister Arianwen (Kezrena James), one doctor becomes Neville Chamberlain (Nicholas Khan) and another becomes Winston Churchill (Tony Jayawardena).

The construct does feel strangely unnecessary, though it provides the opportunity for some wonderful stagecraft with the green curtains of the hospital wards becoming the green benches of the House of Commons and hospital beds transforming into council chambers or doorways that open, despite their occupants – and there is something inherently comic in the permanently pyjamaed and barefoot Nye involving himself in council debates, making parliamentary speeches and standing up to the towering Winston Churchill (notably caricatured by Jayawardena) as war rages across Europe.

Sheen, on stage throughout is clearly the star – full of passion but with an impish quality to his every interaction, you get the sense of a man filled with desire to do good for the right reasons. He also brings Bevan’s sense of his bewilderment at each hallucinatory interaction, balancing how the past Bevan interacted with the scenario with how the older Bevan is now viewing from the future – no mean feat. Other performances across the large ensemble are constrained by the format, with each actor playing multiple roles and only a couple of characters who exist for more than a handful of scenes.

Price finds himself somewhat caught between telling the story of the man who created the NHS and telling the story of the NHS’s creation. It is very much the former, but in its final act, it feels like it sways towards the latter – swelling with sentimentalism for the sheer seismic political achievement that the NHS was, and is. Many may feel the latter elements should have warranted expansion – there may be merit in that, but it would be a different play, for good or bad. Whatever your view on the play, though, Sheen is worth the visit.

[michichi69]

MAAF & The Stolen Generations

It’s NAIDOC week y’all which has reminded me of that busted ass comic page, ‘MAAF’, specifically chapter 9. For the most part I’m sure this comic is a cool exploration of Indonesia and Australia but chapter 9 (in the author’s own words) includes a part regarding the Stolen Generations wherein, “Yolngu (Australia) became white and lost his memory”. I may sound a little harsh towards this author but I think they did have good intentions and poor execution of this concept. For context, I myself am the grandchild of a stolen child and so I do take issue when this subject is handled poorly.

Warning: This may include the images and names of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have since passed.

This is a fair warning that this will be long but I’m going to share some information on the subject to hopefully convey my grievances with the comic chapter. This will be upsetting and triggering at times so keep in mind this involves the kidnapping and abuse of children. To start, below is a summary of the philosophy behind the Stolen Generations.

This image shows how the Stolen Generations was intended to work. You take an Aboriginal child from their home who has a white parent, referred to as the dated terms ‘Half-Caste’ or ‘Half-blood’. Then that child goes on to procreate with a white person to produce a child with more ‘white blood’, then that child is usually taken themselves and repeats the process until you end up with a child who is of ‘white blood’. This process was often referred to as ‘breeding out the black’ or ‘breeding out the colour’, which was heavily based on blood quantum and phenotypical features. Western Australia’s Chief Protector of Aborigines (1915-1936) and Commissioner for Native Affairs (1936-1940), A. O. Neville (also known as ‘Mr.Devil’ by Aboriginal people), is pictured below.

He is quoted as saying:

"[T]hey have to be protected against themselves whether they like it or not. They cannot remain as they are. The sore spot requires the application of the surgeon's knife for the good of the patient, and probably against the patient's will."

This epitomises the justifications of ‘biological assimilation’ that the orchestrators and supporters of the Stolen Generations often used to continue this cycle (officially) for almost one hundred years from the mid-1800s to the 1970s*.

(*Indigenous children were also unofficially wrongfully taken by child services and placed in white homes or institutions beyond this date, I recommend watching After the Apology (2017) for some of this.)

But where were these children taken to exactly?

They were called missions and were typically Catholic but could be run by other Christian denominations such as Lutherans. Children essentially grew up being forced into practising the religion of the institution they were placed in. The abuses that happened in these institutions were prolific and entailed the attempt at a total loss of connection to Indigenous families, cultures and languages. Specific examples of the conditions of many of these missions include stories of harsh abusive punishments, maggots in the food, and sexual abuse. Many children were taken in infancy or at very young ages, some taken directly from hospitals they were just born in, either never knowing their families or knowing very little of them and being subjected to these abuses their entire lives leading up to adulthood.

I would recommend watching The Rabbit Proof Fence (2002) for a little more of an introductory ‘visual example’ of how missions typically looked and ran, albeit much more watered down than what the lived reality was. For that, I suggest seeking out the stories of former stolen children.

Now maybe just with that background you can see my grievances with chapter 9 of MAAF but I’ll just spell it out. I take major issue with depicting Australia as literally turning from Yolgnu to a white man as a result of the Stolen Generations - taken children were and always will be Aboriginal and taken children still always belonged and continue to belong to their family’s language groups. Tangentially, just to cover all bases here, I also take issue with implying light skinned Aboriginal people aren’t Aboriginal because of the same history but MAAF quite literally TURNED A YOLGNU MAN INTO A WHITE MAN? As stated by the author themself - so I don’t believe they were making an astute commentary on how really light skinned Aboriginal people will always be Aboriginal, I think instead it’s exactly what it looks like. I can’t control what content people choose to make, and I’m not necessarily totally against using the medium of Hetalia fanworks to discuss historically sensitive subjects either. However, I will just say this - Please consider the work you make public, because these sensitive issues have affected real people who might come across that work. I've seen a similar handling of Canadian residential schools in the Hetalia fandom which was a very similar concept to the Stolen Generations in Australia, and of course, these depictions have also fallen short by depicting this as a literal 'white metamorphosis' of Indigenous children. To convey just how much this has bothered me, chapter 9 of MAAF is frankly my version of one of those probably well meaning but still super insensitive 9/11 America fanfictions that just come off gauche. I suppose I just hope people now have the tools to look at these depictions a little more critically than the fandom historically has?

Anyways, that's mostly it. See ya. EDIT: Some text got lost when I copied it over from another document so I've added the missing text again. EDIT 2: I've also seen a lot more stuff from MAAF and the artist even regarding some questionable choices regarding the interpretation of SEA Indigneous peoples and North American Indigenous peoples, so yeah, MAAF and the artist themselves probably aren't the most reliable sources out there in terms of the interpretation of Indigenous peoples GENERALLY speaking... 😅 ANYWAYS - Thank y'all for showing interest in this post, I'm very passionate about sharing information on the Stolen Generations and hopefully using my unique perspective for some good.

[rainbowdaisy13]

IMO Taylor Swift is a deeply broken person. She’s in her mid thirties and contending with the every girl victim mastermind persona she created when the truth is she’s a mediocre talent who was born on third and thinks she bit a home run. Every relationship is transactional even without a formal contract either because she’s incapable of actual human emotion or she simply doesn’t care.. The Mahomes, Travis, NFL and everyone before was a means to an end and the end was to try to fill the vast emptiness of her sad billionaire life. She’ll always have access to reproductive services. She’ll never not have healthcare. She’ll never be marginalized so big shrug if her fans suffer the real consequences of her choices.

Never meet your heroes.

This is incredibly well written—those ends points are so fucking IT. She herself doesn’t have to worry about laws that impact normal people—we know this

People with money and power get special treatment—a personal tangent here: my mom died at 51 waiting for a heart transplant that didn’t come in time. At the time of her death she was on medical assistance/ disability. She was healthy aside from her bum ass heart but there was no extra effort made to find her one, no effort made to see if an artificial heart could get her through to a real one being available. She died because she wasn’t wealthy enough to matter to the medical industry—I was 24 at the time and I get upset I didn’t push the doctors harder to not just give up on her while she waited at the hospital for the last 2 months of her life, but I didn’t know what I didn’t know

Taylor will never experience that struggle. Her mom had cancer and now seems to be fine—because she had access to the literal best medical treatment in the entire world as a rich and powerful family

Taylor doesn’t care about laws /regulations that impact real people because she doesn’t have to, and has never had to—that’s just a fact

[justiceforsanda]

Justice for Sanda

Sanda Dia (20) was in his 3rd year of college at KU Leuven in Leuven, Belgium when he decided to try and join the studentclub 'Reuzegom', a club almost entirely filled with white kids from rich or elitist families, of which many of its past members now hold a higher status in society. Sanda was multi talented and very ambitious and hardworking. He dreamed big, wanting to be make a future for himself and make his family proud. He hoped to become a Reuzegom member to solidify his own future, coming from a lower income household himself.

On December 4th of 2018 Sanda, along with the other two newcomers, would be forced to drink enormous amount of alcohol for their initiation into Reuzegom. Sanda had drank almost 2 bottles of gin and pints of beers, even more than the other two had. When nearly passed out, the members each urinated on him as is custom according to them. After taking him back to his student room that night, they taped off the faucet in the room to keep him from sobering up. Unsurprisingly, he did not feel much better the 2nd day of the initation. As seen on camera footage and told by eye witnesses he seemed to be in a bad state already. Even one of the members had pointed out he was completely out of it. During the next part of the initation on December 5th, Sanda and the other two were forced to dig a hole, which was to be filled with ice cold water. They’d be stuck here for the next 8 hours while being ridiculed and peed on, and forced to consume over a liter of fish oil. Then he’d have to swallow live goldfish, bring it back up, swallow it back down all until it was no longer alive. All of which was laughed about, filmed and photographed by the members of Reuzegom. He eventually passed out, his body no longer able to keep up. It wasn't until at least 2 hours of him being passed out (speculated that it took even longer) that he was finally taken to the hospital in this critical condition. He fell into a coma due to his extremely low body temperature and insane level of salt intake before his family could even get to the hospital to say their goodbyes. Sanda was in such critical condition that he died of organ failure less than 2 days later.

In these 2 days the members of Reuzegom were more concerned about covering up their tracks and deleting the evidence than the death they all caused. In recovered messages and statements the members talk about Sanda’s situation as if he was not in critical condition and felt no responsibility towards the situation.

The following 4 years they'd use their family's influence and money to finally end up being convicted to mere community service and a 400 euro fine. That’s not justice. This is a huge group of rich, influential families wiggling their way out of their involvement in Sanda’s death. They couldn’t know fish oil would kill him, but when you put someone in a cold bath, let them drink copious amounts of alcohol and other substances and they don’t look well, stop being able to respond and pass out… it’s clear that he was seriously not doing well. And their response to that was to let him suffer in this state for hours without giving him medical care. He could have lived, had they brought him in right away. They get to live on with their name and faces protected and mostly in tact, without real punishment, having the truth twisted to their own advantage.

Aside from the lack of proper punishment, none of them spoke up when Sanda’s father asked for clarification about what happened. The majority of them didn’t even care to show up for the final sentence. They didn’t even do the bare minimum of giving the family of their alleged “friend” any closure.

So why should their name be protected when they took his?

Jeff Jonkers, nicknamed Zaadje

One of the longer standing members and that years president of Reuzegom. In charge of most of it. Along with Alexander he took care to clean up the scene and make everyone delete photos, videos and messages.

His lawyer suggested to write an apology letter early on, in which he took no accountability and did not own up to what happened, or even offer a simple apology.

Alexander Garmyn, nicknamed Janker

In charge of planning the initation and taking care of the pledges that year. He has wrote he did not want this to be just a brutal year; he wanted it to be insanely brutal. He wanted the newcomers to look up to him in fear the night of their initation. (Also mentioned his “good friend Hitler” in this same speech). He talked specifically about Sanda’s heritage, and seemed to purposely put Sanda through a harder time than the other two newcomers. He filmed lots of the initiation and was the first to suggest deleting Reuzegom’s groupchat as soon as it became clear Sanda wasn’t going to make it. All the while he still held on to calling it a stupid accident instead of showing any remorse.

Also little fact: he caused one of the other initates permanent eye damage by throwing a full beer can in their face while they were passed out from the alcohol the club forced them to drink. When confronted about it he denied it and put the blame on the other initates, and manipulated them into keeping it quiet.

Leon Lesseliers, nicknamed Strontvlieg

Filmed lots of the scene as well and send the media out to friends. He seemed to have it out for Sanda more than the other newcomers as he’s made comments about wanting to give him a hard time specifically, and one of the other members pointed out he had said a lot of incriminating things about the situation and was physically aggressive towards them. He dumped his phone in a body of water as soon as he heard Sanda had passed, claiming later it was out of anger and shock (and not fear of them finding more evidence on his phone...)

Other members present that night:

Bram Lebleu (Rustdag) Jef Slosse (Flodder) Jerome Verstraeten (Igean) Viktor Knevels (Pronker) Zazou Bindi (Rafiki) Julian de Visscher (Placebo) Arthur Geheniau (Shrek) Maurice Geheniau (Kletsmajoor) Arthur Versavel (Sondage) Benoit Plaitin (Protput) Willem Peeters (Randi) Pierre Onghena (Wally) Simon Peeters (Remorke) Quentin Wauters (Paterberg) Maxime Peeters (Kelter)

[the-stardust-shard]

What's it really like? How are the people in there? If you wanna answer I've always been curious cause Ive been told I should be in there

Honestly, it depends on your local laws / culture / country / region, but i’m in france so i’ll focus on my experience related to how it works here (incl. laws and such).

For reference, as of now i’ve done 2 stays, both of which were done in a private hospital and not a public one (which makes the experience itself vastly better by default, but still), and before my first stay in a private ward i’ve spent a bit of time in a local public one for single appointments (so no full-time admission but same grounds).

> What's it really like?

Boring. Mind-numbingly boring.

Your entire time schedule is strictly programmed so you spend most of your time stuck to it, waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. i included below a photo of the schedule for here to show how much stuff there is inside.

A way i follow it to make it less grating is by noting down the “closing time” for each of those items, so i know when to come to arrive at the last minute when there’s little to no one left waiting, so i have the rest of my time free for myself or activities or whatever, but even then you’ll still have a nurse coming to check on you every so often and coming to berate you if you’re a bit late, so you’re always stuck to this stupid timetable.

time becomes so abstract that if you don’t have a personal watch / personal schedule for yourself, you always lose track of time or of the day. when on my first stay, i actually didn’t come with a watch (because my watch needs to be charged regularly and that’s done with a long power cable which is always confiscated) and until a friend brought one i spent my worst time completely lost and disconnected; i started noting down the day it was and how many days i was in on my hand to keep track of that.

that boredom always brings the worst, aka addictions to cope with that. cigarettes, soda, other binge snacking, and worse. if you’re in a group of people, you’ll often hear someone prompt for a smoke break. i didn’t smoke thanks to my husband bringing me my nicotine-free vape so i can have something to stim with, but i still drank around 100 cans (i have the number due to having collected all the caps) in less than 3 months.

a good thing is that it’s places with easy access to lots of other medical tools, so i’ve been able to see a few therapists, social workers, sports coaches, and that’s overall cool because it’s usually covered by the hospital where it would’ve been paid if i went to meet them outside.

A lot less waiting time and paperwork too, it’s handled for you, so it makes things less annoying to get going, especially if like me you struggle with paperwork and administrative bullshit.

as for the downtime between appointments / activities, it was filled with reading, listening to music, drawing, trading goods and services with other patients (yes, it’s one of the core components of psych ward), and once i felt safe enough to bring my laptop and such, watching series, playing games with other patients, etc.

my first stay gradually became better before the breakdown, but my second stay has been very isolated due to not finding anyone or any activity, so i’ve spent my entire stay reading books and listening to music in my room after having traded some snacks with some people who were going outside for the day.

the worst aspect for me was the food (an issue common with every stay tbf). as a vegan/vegetarian with allergies, i always got the most shitty and bland food possible (idk why in france they put meat in literally everything at every meal of the day), and that was actually what allowed me to leave the ward from my first stay; in less than 3 months i’ve lost 16kgs~ even with the snacking and the sport i did every day and i’ve been in tears at more than one meal due to how bad it was >> at this point i got used to not eating but it’s horribly bad and kinda scary for a medical site.

> how are the people here?

If i’m talking about other patients, the experience will be overall better imho. especially if you can find yourself a group of people in your age range or with similar experiences as you. it just feels.. a lot less judgemental and pressuring than outside. everyone’s fucked up in some way and nobody cares, we’re just here for the same reason and so we just hang out together and support each other when we can/want but even not doing that will not bring any judgement on you.

Staff is more awkward and uncomfortable, especially doctors and such (aka the ones with legal power over you) or administrative staff (aka the ones with power over the doctors and everyone else, but they’re so far up their asses in their comfy desk that they’re all always completely disconnected from reality, which makes their rare appearances very awkward and uncomfortable). On my first ward, i did find a few nurses that were pretty cool and with whom i’ve been able to have interesting or fun talk, but in the current ward i found no one, so the divide between them and us is really uncomfortable to handle.

in the public ward i went a few times for appointments (which was structured like an underground prison, full bars and all) though the med. staff was openly insulting of patients and such… i did witness and fight some shitty staff in the first ward too.

overall the staff is the most grating group, the one who can easily make the stay hellish and traumatize you even more if you’re not lucky.

still, among other patients i’ve been able to meet great friends with whom i’ve been able to spend a lot of good time even after my stay (one of those friends regularly comes to watch movies which we started on our stay, and the other is practicing tattooing with me, some others i’m still chatting with but don’t see as often though. these two specific people were pillars of mutual support during my stay)

you’ll note on the timetable below that it doesn’t even contain everything we need to keep track of in a day..

[stretch-n-fetch]

Did the recent blue screen of death issue hit Adventure city? (Can not remember the company name for the life of me.)

IT DID. OH MY DOG IT FREAKING DID. AND IT WAS ABSOLUTELY CHAOTIC.

The best part was that I was NOT at HQ when it started, I was having a girls night at Carmen's! We were just watching movies and eating a lot of snacks while commenting on the characters and having a very good time. At some point we paused after a movie ended to go get more snacks in the kitchen and do our things, and when I was almost done, I noticed an insistent beeping sound coming from her garage. Did I ever mention my new bike has a direct connection to internet now, so people can contact me when they need help whenever I'm not at the Tower? WELL, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND TO AN INSANELY LARGE SCALE.

So many different companies and businesses calling all at the same time and reporting the same issue! Big supermarkets and department stores, all the malls, fast food chains, banks, police stations, most of the hospitals and maternities, the airport, the entire train and subway system dropped dead too. Most of them believed it to be a cyber attack, and asked if I had anything to help keeping their places safe or if we should call Ryder all over from Adventure Bay, because their IT workers weren't able to find out just what the hell was happening yet.

News arrived just as fast that it was a world wide problem caused by Crowdstrike's antivirus software update. Apparently they didn't test it out before updating every user's software in the entire planet and there was a very tiny bug in ONE single file that caused the literal insta-kill on every computer which updated the software automatically. The fix was easy enough for any IT worker to do, but they had to do it manually, computer by computer... Which in turn took ages for most companies to complete the task because they have just TOO MANY computers in every floor of their buildings! Even now there are some online services still down around here!

[itz-kiniz-blog]

Xanders survivors guilt, and a theory about Chariton!

Honestly I don’t see enough people asking; what exactly happened in chariton?? It’s what most believe was the thing Xander has survivors guilt for- but what even happened??

I personally have a theory. 

Spoilers for the second bonus episode below!!

During the episode, it’s evident that Xander has done research on the incident and even mentions that it was on the news. This makes It seem like this was a big incident. Considering Chariton is a poorer town. I can support this off how unnamed classmate mentioned that anyone in chariton barely had money. And the way unnamed classmate worded it, makes it seem like they might have known xander back in chariton (?) but that’s for another day. And it’s most likely a small town due to how the nearest hospital it’s literally miles away. Now, too, how they died. It’s evident at least one person but most likely the entire town of residents within chariton died. Xanders description of this is “rotting from the outside in. Your limbs would stop working before your organs did, and you would sit there and feel yourself die, and not be able to do anything.” I don’t know about you, but you know my first guess? *poison*. So, I googled it! The first result I get? Strychnine. What’s that you ask? Oh! It’s an ***odorless, white, bitter powder***. However, it can be mixed and used in solution. The effects? 

“Strychnine prevents the proper operation of the chemical that controls nerve signals to the muscles. The chemical controlling nerve signals works like the body’s “off switch” for muscles. When this “off switch” does not work correctly, muscles throughout the body have severe, painful spasms. Even though the person’s consciousness or thinking are not affected at first (except that the person is very excitable and in pain), eventually the muscles tire and the person can’t breathe.”

Or in other words, it stops your muscles and causes severe pain until you suffocate to death.

Doesn’t that sound like rotting from the outside in? Now, we can bring out one of the big boy questions of the hour. How were they poisoned? Simple, the river. It’s specified that it’s charitons only water source, and easy to access.

Boom. Also strychnine is commonly spread through contaminated water.

No one can recover because no one could afford medical treatment. Boom!! Dead chariton. But who poisoned the river? Who has the ability and access to strychnine so that they could poison the river? ***Duke Spurling.*** I believe that he did. He has obviously high status, and he’s known to xander as selfish. I believe that Duke spurling had a big influence on chariton, and then got tired of it. Saw it as a waste of time, so he dumped the poison within the river. This is also evident in a few other things. 

1. It took weeks to move the bodies.

While it’s understandable why they were understaffed, why couldn’t they make a funeral service? Why did it take them weeks? Unless someone was saying not to mention it. Hell, the episode's name is “visiting graves” so they had the materials too. So why didn’t they? Who told them  Not to do anything? Duke spurling.

2. The fact that he has the title Duke is suspicious. A high class title could give him high access.

3. Duke spurling can be connected to the country, since of the same last name. So he has a rich asset.

4. The chariton incident was only released to the public a MONTH after it occurred.

I believe this was done purposely so that no one would figure out how to save anyone within chariton. To make sure they die. However, who could manipulate the media? Maybe a million dollar company could pay off a few people. Keep ‘em silent. 

Also, this isn't the first time Strychnine specifically is used in DRDT. It’s Charles’ motive weapon, as mentioned in ch 1 ep 1

And that’s my theory!

Source of definition:

https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/strychnine/basics/facts.asp

Bonus episode:

https://youtu.be/IbIxj5_kPCI