#royal pains week 2024

[h0n3yk1tt3n]

Yeah I know this is the kind of royal pains joke I would post at any other time but LET ME PRETEND I GOT TO PARTICIPATE ON THEME

Free day weeeee

[lunaryuwu]

I did a thing

Royal pains week day 5 - royalty

[lohstandfound]

we're going with tomb raider au. i haven't written something for it in a hot minute

Day 7: Free Day

I do miss the taste of your lips / I must visit you again

Jake calls up an old flame to ask for help. It may also be an opportunity to reconnect. I don't quite know where I was going with this, but it's mostly Jake and Chloe banter.

Dialling...

Chloe Valentine...

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Dillinger! I thought I had heard the last of you."

Jake let out a breathy laugh at Chloe's amused tone. "My last trip to Japan was rudely cut short."

Chloe: "And are we still blaming it all on Jeremy?"

Jake: "We had important matters to attend to."

Chloe: "Yet you let him galivant in places he shouldn't be sticking his nose into all by himself. What sort of bodyguard are you?"

Jake: "It turns out my other... Affair was not a good choice."

There was an amused hum on the other end of the line. God, he had missed Chloe.

Chloe: "Mm... And I could have told you that. But I wasn't going to let Madeline have you all to herself."

Jake: "Oh really?"

Chloe: "Are you bored of your little England life already?"

Jake: "No, uh, I'm calling on business."

Chloe: "Way to ruin my fun, Jakey."

Jake sighed, glancing over his shoulder to where Jeremy sat perched on a chair, completely absorbed in his book.

"Jeremy's on his way- he has a flight to catch soon. He'd like to arrange a meeting with you. He needs your assistance in arranging negotiations with Madeline," he said.

Chloe: "I suppose I could make time... I'm hosting a party to celebrate my new launch. I'll flick you the details, he can swing by then."

Jake: "Sweet, I'll let him know."

There was a pause, Jake could sense a question bubbling on the tip of Chloe's tongue.

"And... Are you joining him?" She finally said.

Jake: "No. Would you believe I've been downgraded to housekeeper?"

There was another pause before she burst out laughing.

Chloe: "Housekeep- oh my, that's ama- oh, Jakob, you have just made my day. Little rich boy Jakob Dillinger is a housekeeper."

Jake: "Someone has to keep the estate in line. We both know Jeremy is too busy."

Chloe: "Jeremy wouldn't know if you painted the entire interior pink."

Jake: "Which is exactly why Michael and Christine would try to do something."

Chloe: "When did you get so boring?"

Jake: "Mm... It would have been the moment I left you."

Chloe: "I'm expecting a visit soon, Dillinger."

Jake: "As soon as Jeremy is finished with his latest stunt."

Chloe: "You're going to make me wait?"

Jake let out a soft laugh. "I suppose I could arrange another ticket to accompany Jeremy."

"That's more like it," Chloe smiled. "I can't wait."

[jbaileyfansite]

Ariana Grande interviews Jonathan Bailey for VMan Magazine (2024)

Jonathan Bailey’s acting career began at the age of eight when the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company cast him in a role coveted by all little boys who like musicals: Gavroche in Les Miserables. Since then, he’s starred in contemporary plays, refined his iambic pentameter flow via several Shakespearian productions, and, in 2019, won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his work in the gender-swapped revival of Company. In other words, Bailey is a theater nerd. 

This made his upcoming role as Fiyero Tigelaar in the movie adaptation of the Broadway hit, Wicked, all the more unbelievable to him. Over Zoom, with co-star Ariana Grande, Bailey admits that he’s only recently had the space to fangirl over the reality that he’s playing the lead in a musical that rocked his world when he first saw it at the age of 15. Tuning in from Thailand, he and Grande chat about his upcoming project, another adaptation, Jurassic Park, and the memories of Oz that he (reportedly) carries in his pocket.

Ariana Grande: Hi, good morning. What time is it for you?

Jonathan Bailey: It’s 8am. Feeling pretty fresh.

AG: You look beautifully fresh. Just for context, for people reading, Johnny, you’re currently in Thailand. What are you up to over there?

JB: I’m on a really long holiday in the jungle, pretending to run away from fake dinosaurs… Um, no, I’m filming Jurassic Park.  And there are massive links between it and Wicked because it’s got so many of the same crew.

AG: Yes!

JB: The bereavement of leaving Wicked behind has been sort of solved by the fact that so many of them are still here. So, I’m keeping the Wicked dream alive, but with dinosaurs. 

AG: That’s so beautiful. You’re so lucky to have a little piece of Oz with you still every day.

JB: I carry Oz in my pocket. 

AG: Yes. How is it going? 

JB: I am loving it. We’re doing a whole new version of the Jurassic Park franchise.

AG: What can you say about your character, about this new franchise?

JB: I can say that it’s written by David Koepp, who wrote the original. It feels like it’s in ultimate hands to bring it back to what the original achieved. (Jurassic Park) was the first film I went to see with my whole family, and I was way too young, I was terrified. There is a similarity between doing this and Wicked, I also saw the original run of Wicked in London. 

AG: I would love to touch on Fellow Travelers, which was such an emotional and expansive project. What was the process of taking on a character like Tim, whose story is told over several decades? 

JB: Fellow Travelers will always be something that I’m incredibly proud of. For me it [was] the most fulfilling creative, emotional, and spiritual thing I’ve done. Tim and Hawke (leads in Fellow Travelers) are allegories. So many men that lost their lives. It’s never lost on me, all the other actors that couldn’t come out or were vilified for being caught having sex in toilets. All the horrific ways in which a pure thing like man-on-man love has been misconstrued.

AG: It was absolutely palpable. 

JB: I had this amazing weekend in Bangkok and I met this group of Malaysian dudes who were just so brilliant. They were doctors and they were really bright, intelligent, kind, sweet men who were having such a brilliant time. We ended up having dinner and, after a few drinks, they were telling me that they come over from Malaysia to Bangkok because they can’t be out to their families.

AG: My God.

JB: It’s so painful.

AG: I was gonna say, this leads us beautifully into The Shameless Fund, your foundation that you launched actually this week, congratulations. How does it feel that it’s finally out there in the world?

JB: It’s been a labor of love for about two years. When the second series of Bridgerton came out, I was suddenly aware of an increased platform, especially the fact Bridgerton is viewed in multiple territories where being gay is different. So, I just sort of fused the two together—

AG: It’s a beautiful way of making sense of it all. 

JB: Thank you for being an icon and an ambassador for the Shameless Fund.

AG: I’m so proud of you and I love you and your heart so much. Okay, moving on. I was wondering what things have helped you recharge your human battery?

JB: I’ve adapted my life slightly. I don’t live in a city anymore, I do a lot of swimming and gymnastics, which is something that I’ve done [since] I was younger. I [also] think it’s friends, which I know is such a sort ofeye roll [answer]. I’ve got amazing friends, they’ve always been there and I’ve been friends with them for so long.

AG: And me, for 2 years. 

JB: I’ve spiritually known you for 20 years.

AG: Yeah, 100. Let’s move on to Wicked. How did you prepare for the role of Fiyero? 

JB: I mean, it’s a complete dream come true. The preparation started when I listened to the soundtrack when I was like 15. And I remember viscerally; it sent ripples through culture. Also, I remember hearing the orchestration. I hadn’t really heard the synth-meets-full-orchestra-meets-syncopation.

Something about it just completely grabbed me. My best friend from school, me and him went to go and see it together—we were soulmates through school. And it was so funny that, like, two lads just went with it. I think the themes of Wicked have probably expanded, and that’s what I’m really excited about with the film.

AG: Yeah, it feels like it needs to be now more than ever before, perhaps.

JB: I went to go meet Jon (Chu, director). We chatted for about two and a half hours and it was really emotional. The one thing that we talked about with Fiyero: everything is so easy to him. How do you tell the story of someone who seemingly doesn’t care? What’s he frustrated by? We discussed it and found quite a human thing, I think. And, obviously, with our film, it represents extreme privilege and it’s about his bubble needing to pop. 

AG: I think our characters share that in a big way, Elphaba comes along and pops both of our bubbles. Perhaps for the first time we both are able to look at things differently. And it’s not that we’re not loving, heartful people. It’s just that we’ve never had to look outside of what affects us until we meet her.

JB: Exactly. And anyway, it was Jon. Basically, the answer to every question about Wicked is Jon Chu. Don’t you think?

AG: Yeah, I do. I think we were very spoiled to have done this with him. It felt like a teeny, little secret student thing—its intimacy. It felt so small and private until all of a sudden, we were outside, and the Daily Mail was hand gliding over our set—oh, he should play the pterodactyl in your film. 

JB: I think he’s actually hovering over right now.

AG: Can you explain what this was, please? 

JB: It was a man on a massive kite, floating around with his legs hanging down.

AG: I couldn’t believe my eyes. Well, firstly because I don’t have the best eyes. But secondly, because there’s no way. There’s no way! I was like, ah, guy on a hand glider.

JB: With a GoPro. With a GoPro on his toes.

AG: With a GoPro on his toes. Was your experience filming Wicked at all what you expected it to be?

JB: There were certain elements of it that I was incredibly impressed by and I think that is because of the love and care of Mark Platt and Jon Chu. Obviously we’ve grown up loving theater and musical theater, I always felt attached to that wonderment. I think my expectation might have been that somehow in the making of something, you lose that. But we were on those incredible sets. 

AG: Oh my gosh. Best in the world.

JB: I think I was in Wicked fan survival mode for the last 18 months. I’m starting to really get excited about it.

AG: It takes a certain amount of time to grieve something like that. I mean you’re already in Thailand and a whole different person, but it’s interesting how it takes a while and then it hits you.

Source

[thepastisalreadywritten]

The day Princess Anne was almost kidnapped on The Mall — 50 years on

On this day 50 years ago, 23-year-old Princess Anne found herself fighting off a gunman as her bodyguard and driver lay wounded beside her. Emma Loffhagen takes a deep dive into the disturbing day one of the most senior royals was almost kidnapped.

By Emma Loffhagen

20 March 2024

“Your daughter has been kidnapped. The following are conditions to be fulfilled for release.”

In March 1974, Ian Ball used a rented typewriter to haphazardly type a letter intended for the then-head of state, Queen Elizabeth II.

Ball, 26, a funeral home worker, demanded £3 million — to be paid in £5 notes — in exchange for the return of the Queen’s daughter, Princess Anne.

After becoming fixated with the 23-year-old princess, he spent two years hatching an elaborate plan to kidnap her.

Today, March 20, marks the 50th anniversary of Ball’s kidnap attempt — one of the most bizarre and disturbing episodes in British royal history.

A “loner,” Ball had been inspired to hatch his elaborate kidnap plot by the novel Day of the Jackal.

He wanted to follow in the footsteps of the book’s hero, the contracted assassin the Jackal.

“He was a very strange man,” Ball’s neighbour later said. “The only time he ever went out was when he went down to the launderette or went out for some food.”

It was thought that he had developed a “fixation” on the royal, whipped up by the widespread and lavish coverage of her wedding to Captain Mark Phillips the previous year.

As part of his plan, Ball had moved from his run-down flat in Bayswater to a lush rented house in Fleet, Hampshire.

It was only a few miles from Sandhurst, where Anne lived with her then-husband Phillips.

After a quick phone call to the Buckingham Palace press office, Ball knew which engagements and events Anne attended each week.

He rented a car under the alias John Williams, stocking the boot with Valium tranquilisers and two pairs of handcuffs.

On the evening of 20 March 1974, Anne was travelling back to Buckingham Palace in an Austin Princess limousine.

She had attended a screening of Riding Towards Freedom, a documentary by the charity Riding for the Disabled.

Captain Phillips, her bodyguard James Beaton, and her lady-in-waiting Rowena Jane Brassey, were also in the car driven by royal chauffeur Alexander Callender.

At around 8pm, as the group drove up The Mall, a white Ford Escort swerved in front of the limousine, forcing Callender to stop.

Then a 31-year-old inspector, Beaton, who had been Anne’s bodyguard for a year, got out to investigate.

“I thought it was somebody who wanted to be a pain in the neck,” he later said. “There was no hint of what was to happen.”

Suddenly, a bearded man with light red hair jumped out of the vehicle and pulled out two handguns, smashing the passenger window with the butt of one.

Beaton had not even had the chance to pull out his weapon when he was shot in the shoulder.

He then attempted to fire back at Ball — but missed. Upon a second attempt, his gun — a Walther PPK — jammed.

Ball turned to the passenger door behind the driver’s seat and started shaking it. Anne was sat on the other side. “Open, or I’ll shoot!” he shouted.

As the princess and Captain Phillips desperately tried to hold the door closed, Anne’s lady-in-waiting crawled out of the door on the passenger side.

Beaton got back in the car, placing himself between the couple and their assailant.

Ball shot into the car, and Beaton’s hand deflected the bullet.

He shot the bodyguard a third time, hitting Beaton in the abdomen and causing him to fall from the vehicle.

“I felt tired and very drunk, although I hadn’t been drinking,” Beaton later told police. “I just wanted to lie down.”

Callender stepped out to confront the gunman, but Ball shot him in the chest and he fell back into the car.

Pulling the door open, Ball grabbed Anne’s forearm as her husband held on to her waist.

“Please, come out,” Ball reportedly told the princess. “You’ve got to come.”

As the pair struggled over Anne, her dress ripped, splitting down the back, which she later recalled prompted her to “lose her rag.”

But, rather than panic, she had what she described as a “very irritating conversation” with her potential kidnapper.

Unbelievably calm despite the commotion, Anne famously replied: “Not bloody likely!”

In an interview with the late television presenter Michael Parkinson, she recalled:

“He [the gunman] opened the door and we had a discussion about where — or where not — we were going to go.

“I said I didn’t think I wanted to go. I was scrupulously polite because I thought it would be silly to be too rude at that stage.”

A nearby tabloid journalist, Brian McConnell, arrived on the scene.

Recognising the limo’s insignia, he realised the commotion must have involved a royal family member.

“Don’t be silly, old boy,” he told Ball. “Put the gun down.”

Ball responded by shooting him too and McConnell collapsed bleeding onto the road.

A man named Ronnie Russell drove past at this point.

He was on his way home to Strood, Kent, from working as an area manager for a cleaning company in London.

In a stroke of incredible luck, Russell happened to be a former boxer. He had cut his cloth at the Repton Club in east London, an infamous venue sponsored by the notorious Kray twins.

Jumping out of the car, Russell punched Ball twice in the head before leading Anne and her lady-in-waiting away from the attacker.

He later explained that he “did not like bullies,” which prompted his decision to intervene.

Despite being injured, Ball still shot the first police officer to arrive on the scene, Constable Michael Hills, 22, before running off.

Detective Constable Peter Edmonds, who answered Constable Hills’ radio request for backup, chased Ball down The Mall and through St James’s Park before tackling him on the ground.

At Ball’s Old Bailey trial in May 1974, more details came to light about the plot.

Ball kept his head lowered for most of the proceedings, only uttering the word “guilty” to confirm the charges of attempted murder and kidnapping.

In his pocket, detectives had discovered the kidnap note addressed to the Queen, which demanded the £3 million ransom (the equivalent of £26 million today), a free pardon, and a plane to fly him to Switzerland.

He had planned to take the princess to a central London property he had rented under an alias.

In a police interview, Ball also said he believed Anne would be an easy target after ascertaining her whereabouts by phoning the Buckingham Palace press office.

“I had thought about it for years,” he said. “She would have been the easiest. I have seen her riding with her husband.”

Ball also showed no remorse for having shot three men on the night of the attempted kidnap.

“They were getting in my way so I had to shoot them,” he said. “Well, the police, that's their job. They expect to be shot. I took a chance of getting shot so why shouldn't they?”

He added: “I suppose I’ll be locked up for the rest of my life. I am only sorry I frightened Princess Anne. There is one good thing coming out of this: you will have to improve on her protection.”

Ball was diagnosed with schizophrenia following the trial and sentenced to a mental health facility under the Mental Health Act, “without limit or time."

He remains in the Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire to this day.

The facility has been home to a series of notorious criminals, including serial killer Peter Sutcliffe and London gangster Ronnie Kray.

Immediately after the attack, the royals ceased having only one protection officer.

When Anne visited Beaton in hospital, “she turned up with two policemen,” her bodyguard said. “From then on, that’s what it was.”

“I had nothing…There was no back-up vehicle,” Beaton told The Times separately.

“The training was non-existent; but then again, [we thought] nothing was going to happen. They are highly specialised now, highly trained.”

Beaton continued to work for Anne for another five years — before the Queen employed him.

After Beaton’s weapon jammed, the type of guns used by bodyguards were also changed: “The Walthers were got rid of overnight.”

Beaton was honoured for his bravery, receiving the George Cross — the UK’s highest civilian honour for gallantry.

Russell also received the honour. In a 2006 interview, Russell recalled what Queen Elizabeth said as she presented his George Medal:

“The medal is from the Queen of England, the thank you is from Anne’s mother.”

[saynomorefic]

For Simon Month 2024 Day 22: Labor Day

Sara goes into labor, naturally, on Labor Day. Simon is about to be an uncle, and Wilhelm is Sara's distracting pediatric nurse.

Thanks to @youngroyals-events as always for hosting <3

Read on ao3 or below the cut

Sara looked pale when Simon rushed into the hospital room. He hastily threw his backpack on the nearest chair and went right to her side.

“I’m sorry it took me so long, the bus was delayed because of the parade,” he panted. “How are you?” 

“I need to get this fucking baby out of me, is how I am,” she exhaled sharply, wincing as another contraction hit. Simon squeezed her hand and circled the bed to hug Linda. 

“She’s certainly been a trooper. She even took the train from work to the hospital! Can you imagine?” Linda looked at her daughter with awe in her eyes. 

“I’m guessing Lukas is on his way?” Simon asked. 

“No, Simon, Lukas is not coming to witness the birth of his first child.” Simon rolled his eyes internally, but he was happy to bear the brunt of Sara’s pain if it meant getting them all through this. 

He had just been at the Labor Day parade with Ayub when he got the call. They had been getting signatures for a petition to increase the budget for Swedish language tutors in public schools, and things had been going really well. The moment he got the news, he rushed to the nearest bus stop and high-tailed it to the hospital. It wasn’t Sara’s first choice, or even second choice; she had a doula and a whole plan, but apparently when your water breaks over a week early, the best laid plans go flying out the window. 

There were three sharp knocks on the door, and two people dressed in blue scrubs walked in. “Sara Eriksson?” A middle aged woman greeted, walking over to the hospital bed. “My name is Katya, and this is Wilhelm. I’m your nurse midwife, and I'll be delivering your baby. Wilhelm here is your assigned pediatric nurse. His job is to monitor your and the baby’s vitals, and make sure everyone is healthy. Things are looking great so far,” she smiled. Sara looked skeptical, but nevertheless she nodded at them in greeting. 

The male nurse paced right towards Simon. “Sorry, if you don’t mind, I have to be here next to the screen.” He half-smiled at Simon, and he thought Wilhelm had quite a nice face. He wondered how common it was for male nurses to work in labor and delivery, and immediately chastised himself. Of course there were male nurses in every specialty. 

Brushing past Simon, Wilhelm looked down at his jean jacket. “I like your pins.” He smiled again, and for the briefest moment Simon swore he saw something flash in his eyes. Wilhelm was looking right at his enamel pride flag. One of Simon’s students had given it to him his first year teaching, and to this day it was one of his most prized possessions. 

“Thanks. Labor Day, you know.” Simon turned to show Wille his panel of other buttons. 

“Nice,” Wille nodded. “I’ve always wanted to go.” 

“You’ve never been? Is the medical profession void of any social causes to fight for?” He questioned teasingly.

“The medical profession doesn’t get national holidays. Babies get born every day of the year, you know.” He looked at Simon with matched sarcasm, and Simon’s stomach flipped instantly. Wilhelm turned towards the screen and started typing. Simon thought to himself on a scale of one to an extremely bad person, how awful it was to flirt with his sister’s nurse while she was actively having her baby. He landed somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. Someone had to keep the group spirits up. 

Sara’s contractions were getting more and more intense, and the midwife informed Simon and Linda she should only have one person with her. Simon was more than relieved to be dismissed. He grabbed onto Sara’s hand and squeezed it. “You’re going to do great,” he reassured her. It wasn’t often she welcomed his physical comfort, but she had a vice grip on his hand and stared at him wide-eyed. 

“You’re not really leaving, are you?” She asked. 

“I’ll be right outside.” He squeezed her hand again. Wille turned and smiled as Simon left. 

– 

It was one of the hardest things Simon had ever not-witnessed. Sara was grunting and crying, obviously distressed, and he knew there wasn’t anything he could do to help. It didn’t get much better when Lukas got there, panting and sweaty and on the verge of the rest of his life. Simon had heard horror stories of parents being in labor for an entire day. His Mamá never let him forget that for his own birth, she didn’t have enough time to get an epidural and just had to grit her teeth and bear it. 

He felt selfish, but Simon’s mind kept wandering to Wille. As his palms sweat against his jeans, Simon kept thinking about how this man did this every day. He witnessed people endure the worst pain in their lives, had probably dealt with all kinds of situations and worst case scenarios, and did it all with a smile on his face and a sense of humor. And people said that teaching was a difficult job. 

Before long, Simon heard some of the worst crying subside, only to be replaced by a new kind of crying. It was high pitched, and much louder, and holy shit holy shit holy shit, he realized that was the moment. He was an uncle. Tears sprang to his eyes. It still felt surreal that Sara was starting a family of her own, and for the rest of his life he’d have her kids to take to Rosh’s games, or on playdates with Ayub’s two menaces, or even to take to Labor Day parades. 

All of a sudden the door slammed open and Wilhelm was standing in front of him purposefully. “You want to meet them?” He asked, beckoning his head back into the room. 

“Holy shit, yes,” Simon said, nearly tripping over his own feet. 

Sara held the baby on her chest, a sated and peaceful expression on her face. Lukas stood next to her, caressing the top of her head and cooing at the bundle in his wife's arms. Sara looked up at Simon and smiled, ever so slightly tilting the newborn in his direction. 

“Alma, meet Uncle Simon,” she breathed. 

“Hi, little Alma,” Simon said. She was covered in all kinds of fluids, her eyes screwed shut, but she was undeniably precious. He could see the beginnings of both of her parents features on her face. Sara’s mouth, Lukas’s nose, Linda’s hair. She was spectacular. 

He stepped back to let his Mamá come closer, coincidentally moving towards the nurse’s station. “She’s so calm,” Simon murmured to no one in particular. 

“It's the oxytocin. Some powerful stuff,” Wilhelm commented. He looked at Simon, eyes smiling. “This is always the best part. Right after, I mean.” 

“It’s pretty amazing,” Simon laughed wetly. He couldn’t be bothered to hide his tears. 

“Are you excited to be an uncle?” Wilhelm asked.

“It's crazy. My friends keep saying I'll be the cool Guncle.” Simon joked offhandedly. 

Wilhelm beamed back at him. “It is pretty cool, not going to lie.” Simon looked at him with a start. “My older brother has two kids. Also takes the responsibility off of us. Unless, of course, that’s something you want,” he finished. This was turning more personal than Simon suspected most of Wilhelm’s interactions with patients’ families went, but he couldn’t be bothered. 

Simon didn’t know what to say. He’d thought about kids, but it seemed so complicated. Surrogacy was banned in Sweden, and sure you could go abroad, but that was complicated, expensive, and potentially ethically unsound. Simon had thought about adoption, but it was just that. He figured once he met the right person, they would have that conversation, but until then it had only been a passing thought. It all seemed so real, with Sara cradling Alma in her arms, and Linda standing over them proudly. 

“At least ask me on a date before we start having the kids conversation,” Simon finally joked. Wilhelm startled, looking at him with wide eyes before bursting into laughter. 

“Is that a request?” He said quietly, glancing around the room. “I’m a professional.” 

They left the hospital early the next morning. Sara insisted on bringing the blanket they wrapped around Alma postpartum, the sheet of paper that had her heart signals and time of birth printed on it, and the basin they had washed her in. Simon, too, left with his own souvenir: a new contact and number in his phone, and a promise of a date.

[just-my-latest-hyperfixation]

WIP Weekend

Weekly WIP update

I've mainly been focussing on my Steddie Big Bang fic this week, wrapping up chapter 2 and re-reading what I have so far. I've been suffering from bitchy brain syndrome all week with regard to this project, thinking everything I wrote was crap, but I guess that's mainly due to being unable to share my ideas. Revising what I've already written has actually helped a little, because I do quite like how it's coming together. I'll prepare my summary and excerpt next, then go back to working on chapter 3 of The King's Gift.

8 out of 29 prompts from my 1k follower celebration are filled, with a new one hopefully dropping over the weekend.

Send me an emoji and I'll write and share three sentences from that project. (Steddie Big Bang snippets will be blurred, as I'm not allowed to disclose anything yet.)

🏰The King's Gift

❓Steddie Big Bang fic 2024

🥳1k follower celebration ficlets

Snippet from 🥳

(CW nudity, explicit sexual content)

Eddie thought he knew what pain was. 

He was chomped on by a flock of feral demon bats while fully conscious. He wouldn’t wish that experience on his worst enemy, and trust him, he has a lot of enemies, what with half the town still convinced he’s a devil-worshiping, cheerleader-murdering psychopath. 

Eddie also thought he knew humiliation. 

Hell, he needed help peeing in those first few weeks in the hospital. His dick has been touched by more people than he is comfortable admitting - and isn’t that something for a chronically bitchless, triple-senior D&D nerd?

Point is, if anyone had asked before today, Eddie would’ve boldly claimed there was nothing in the pain and humiliation department strong enough to make him even bat an eyelash. 

Turns out he was wrong. 

“Fuuuck,” he whines, hands white-knuckling the bedsheets. His head, heavy from craning his neck, thuds back into the pillow. “What the hell is taking so long? Take it off, take it off, take it-” 

“I’m trying, okay?” Steve snaps. He has stopped laughing, which … okay, Eddie appreciates he’s taking this seriously, but he absolutely does not like that brow furrow. That's Steve Harrington's trademark ‘we're royally fucked but I'm gonna keep it together to not freak anyone out’ brow furrow. “The damn knot won't come loose.” 

He tugs at said knot as if to demonstrate, and Eddie almost jerks off the bed as a jolt of pain zaps from the base of his cock all the way up his spine. 

“Jesus fuck, be careful!” he barks, but Steve stays unimpressed. 

“Hold still,” he scolds, voice deep and stern. One large hand grips Eddie’s knee and pushes his thighs further apart. It's very close to how Eddie envisioned this going, and his cock gives a treacherous little twitch. “Don't know why you thought this was a good idea.” 

“I told you,” Eddie hisses through another bout of pain. “It was supposed to be a surprise. I wanted to do something special for our anniversary.” 

Steve gives him a look. 

“So you put a bow around your dick.”

[steddieholidaydrabbles]

Week 4 Masterlist

It's the end of the challenge! See below for all of the last week's posts from some very talented writers.

Thank you to everyone who participated by writing or creating art, for those who followed along and reblogged to support these writers and artists, and everyone who cheered me on during the chaos of still handling life and this blog every single day!

Keep your eyes peeled throughout 2024 for some pop-up challenges!

DAY 22 - SPORTS AU

deep penetration up the field by @steddieas-shegoes | Rated E | no cw | tags: secret relationship, football player steve, musician eddie, dirty talk, phone sex, masturbation

I wanna dance with somebody by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation with art by @house-of-the-moving-image | Rated T | cw: some vague mention of eddie's boner | tags: no UD au, meet cute, good neighbor eddie munson, dancer steve harrington

Go For Gold by @thisapplepielife | Rated T | no cw | tags: swimming au, olympic trials, racing, rivalry, a dash of secret relationship, eddie & gareth are bffs

Freestyle love by @katyawriteswhump | Rated T | no cw | tags: enemies to lovers, whump, university/college au

She shoots, she scores by @atimeofyourlife | Rated T | no cw | tags: lesbian steddie au, genderswap steddie, soccer au

The New Highs and Lows of a Ball Boy by @klausinamarink | Rated G | cw: ankle injury | tags: volleyball, pre-relationship, jeff is eddie's best friend, sweetheart steve, secret shakespeare fan steve, post s1

winter games by @cranberrymoons | Rated T | no cw | tags: basketball, fluff, eddie enduring jock stobin

DAY 23 - UNCLE WAYNE ADOPTS STEVE

wayne's got him by steddieas-shegoes | Rated G | cw: migraines | tags: hurt/comfort, established relationship, fluff

Eddie Munson's family dinner by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation | Rated M | cw: nudity | tags: modern au, rockstar eddie, royal steve, established relationship

Beautiful Boys by @thisapplepielife | Rated T | cw: lingering injuries/trauma | tags: post s4, eddie munson lives, good uncle wayne munson, wayne & steve, wayne pov

breaking frozen ground by @cranberrymoons | Rated T | no cw | tags: fluff, gardening, appalachian wayne

Time after time by @alingeringmirth | Rated T | cw: reference to abuse, reference of canon fake suicide | tags: steve harrington has bad parents, steve harrington needs a hug

DAY 24 - BIRTHDAY

The king's gift by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation | Rated T | cw: very light dubcon if you squint, mild blood and violence | tags: time travel, magic au, fantasy au, royal eddie, time traveler steve

birthday mess by steddieas-shegoes | Rated E | no cw | tags: frosting in places frosting shouldn't be, slight body worship, edging, blowjob, light dom/sub, dom eddie, sub steve

Dirty Thirty by @thisapplepielife | Rated T | cw: childhood trauma, language | tags: established relationship, future fic, steve & gareth, eddie turns 30, birthday blues, hurt/comfort, steve pov

holly jolly birthday by @cranberrymoons | Rated E | no cw | tags: fluff, teasing, light bondage

The day before Christmas, a day to forget by @atimeofyourlife | Rated T | cw: reference to neglectful parenting | tags: steve harrington has bad parents, surprise party

DAY 25 - CHRISTMAS

light of my life, pain in my ass by steddieas-shegoes | Rated E | cw: interrupted sex, mention of dom drop | tags: established relationship, mishap with christmas lights, dom/sub, dom eddie, sub steve, hurt/comfort, they take care of each other

words that are hard to swallow by @starryeyedjanai | Rated T | no cw | tags: modern au, christmas gifts, birthday gifts, accidental come ons

Merry whatever by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation | Rated G | no cw | tags: fluff, getting together, first kiss

art by @house-of-the-moving-image

Sophie Munson's Best Christmas Gift Ever by @klausinamarink | Rated G | no cw | tags: domestic fluff, transmasc eddie, steddie dads, side buckingham, modern au

his heart's fondest wish by @lingeringmirth | Rated T | cw: mentioned canon character death, grief, unhealthy coping mechanism, self-destructive behavior | tags: mourning, hurt steve harrington, dead eddie munson, open ended, unreliable narrator

Five Christmases by @thisapplepielife | Rated T | cw: language | tags: established relationship, future fic, christmas day, full schedule, family & friends, mostly fluff, a little obligation, steve pov

one christmas morning by @cranberrymoons | Rated M | no cw | tags: fluff, future fic, married life

Oh ho the mistletoe by @atimeofyourlife | Rated G | no cw | tags: pre-steddie, getting together, mistletoe

DAY 26 - "WHO DID THIS TO YOU?"

nowhere else he wants to be by @lingeringmirth | Rated G | cw: mention of violence, mention of homophobia | tags: established steddie, eddie lives, hurt/comfort, hurt steve, post-vecna, steve has at least one bad parent

i'm stayin' by steddieas-shegoes | Rated M | cw: off-screen violence, mentioned childhood abuse (not in detail) | tags: steve harrington has bad parents, established relationship, secret relationship, pre-season 4, hurt/comfort, asthmatic steve

A Cat-tivating Distraction by @paperbackribs | Rated T | no cw | tags: established relationship, modern au

In too deep by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation | Rated M | cw: blood and injury, mild gore, monsters, tentacles, horror, light mind control, referenced murder, billy hargrove (not in this but guess "who did this?") | tags: eddie munson whump, billy hargrove being an asshole, lake monster steve harrington, dark steve harrington, possessive behavior

Kiss me better by @katyawriteswhump | Rated M | cw: sex, possible temporary character death | tags: whump, magic au, incubus!eddie, hurt steve, fluff

Hell to Pay by @thisapplepielife | Rated M | cw: aftermath of off-screen violence, injuries | tags: post s4, eddie munson lives, but hawkins is shitty to him, established relationship, uncle wayne & steve, hurt/comfort, steve pov

I'll help your pain by @atimeofyourlife | Rated T | cw: canonical injuries, recovering from head injury, mention of neglectful parenting & medical neglect | tags: concussed steve, steve has head trauma, pre-steddie

I'm Still Here, Boys by @klausinamarink | Rated T | cw: offscreen physical assault | tags: wound care, hurt/comfort, post s4, steve lives with the munsons, wayne being the best uncle

First Responder by @steddie-island | Rated T | cw: blood, off-screen violence, possessive tommy hagan (off-screen)

DAY 27 - COFFEE SHOP / BOOKSHOP / TATTOO AU

fairy porn crisis by steddieas-shegoes | Rated M | cw: dirty talk, implied sexual content | tags: bookshop owner eddie, steve is having a sexuality crisis but subtly, flirting, getting together, modern au

Crumb Together by @thisapplepielife | Rated T | cw: language | tags: modern au, meet cute, platonic stobin, coffee shop/bakery au, fluff, steve pov

Baby, it's cold outside by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation | Rated M | cw: alcohol, implied sex | tags: coffee shop owner steve, tattoo studio owner eddie, christmas fluff, flirting, sexual tension, getting together

A coffee delivery by @atimeofyourlife | Rated T | no cw | tags: coffee shop au, tattoo au, tattoo artist eddie munson, barista steve harrington, pre-steddie

DAY 28 - PROPOSAL

more than everything else by steddieas-shegoes | Rated M | cw: suggestive language | tags: domestic fluff, sappy and romantic

Twenty-Eight Across by @thisapplepielife | Rated M | cw: heavy petting, fade to black sex, afterglow | tags: established relationship, future fic, long-term love, fluff, softness, proposal, eddie pov

Eddie's Proposal by @paperbackribs | Rated T | no cw | tags: eddie and chrissy are besties, pre-steddie, buckingham, no upside down au

Exactly what it's meant to say by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation | Rated G | no cw | tags: established relationship, moving in together, fluff, marriage proposal

i was supposed to ask you! by lingeringmirth | Rated M | no cw | tags: established relationship, fluff & angst, banter, some shenanigans, brief chief hopper cameo

I love you though you hurt me so (i'm gonna pack my things and go) by @atimeofyourlife | Rated T | cw: hurt/no comfort | tags: failed proposal, break-up, angst

DAY 29 - SPICY CONTENT (MATURE OR EXPLICIT)

safe and warm by steddieas-shegoes | Rated E | cw: dom/sub | tags: soft dom eddie munson, sub steve harrington, service mouth steve harrington, cockwarming, overuse of terms of endearment, subspace, coming untouched, aftercare

Art by @house-of-the-moving-image

Rainbow in the Dark by @thisapplepielife | Rated E | cw: sexual content, 18+, mentions of recreational weed use | tags: post s4, eddie munson lives, first time, fooling around in the van, inexperience, grinding, bisexual steve harrington, bisexual eddie munson, eddie pov

A well-rounded meal by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation | Rated E | cw: sexually explicit content, d/s dynamic, cockwarming, humiliation kink, praise kink, subspace | tags: dom steve, sub eddie

naturally induced by @lingeringmirth | Rated E | cw: intersex omega eddie, vaginal knotting | tags: omegaverse, omega eddie munson, alpha steve harrington, pregnant eddie, inducing labor through sex, cunnilingus, vaginal sex, knotting, bit of a breeding kink, sappily in love steve, all the banter

Size doesn't matter. by a timeofyourlife | Rated M | no cw | tags: established relationship, steve has a small dick

Call Me by @wormdebut | Rated E | no cw | tags: phone sex, football player steve, rockstar eddie, slutty dudes, masturbation

DAY 30/31 - NEW YEAR'S EVE / RESOLUTIONS

new year, new me by steddieas-shegoes | Rated E | cw: semi-public sex, unsafe sex, under-negotiated kink | tags: strangers to lovers, meet-horny, rock star eddie munson, actor steve harrington, modern au, dirty talk, light dom/sub, anal fingering, anal sex

We'll give it a shot by just-my-latest-hyperfixation | Rated G | cw: aftermath of injury, aftermath of trauma | tags: established relationship, recovery, fluff

Go With This by @thisapplepielife | Rated M | cw: underage drinking, weed, off-screen sex while under the influence | tags: post s4, eddie munson lives, new year's eve party, all the teens, kissing at midnight, getting together, morning after, eddie pov

Happy New Year by @atimeofyourlife | Rated G | no cw | tags: minor steddie

364 days later by @katyawriteswhump | Rated T | cw: off-screen/pre-fic violence including domestic violence | tags: hurt/comfort, fluff, established steddie

being brave by lingeringmirth | Rated G | no cw | tags: new year's eve, first kiss, fluff

Last Few Minutes For Another Lifetime by @klausinamarink | Rated G | no cw | tags: modern au, post-breakup, getting back together, hopeful ending

Don't cha wanna dance? by just-my-latest-hyperfixation | Rated T | cw: vague boner references | tags: no UD au, dancer steve harrington, good neighbor eddie munson, flirting, sexual tension

Doomsday clock by @hellfireloserclub | Rated T | no cw | tags: fluff, PTSD, apocalypse

A kiss for the New Year by atimeofyourlife | Rated T | no cw | tags: past stommy, past stancy, steddie dads

New by @vecnuthy | Rated G | no cw | tags: pre-steddie

[eienvine]

Your eyes have their silence, chapter 2

Your eyes have their silence (3154 words) by Eienvine Chapters: 2/7 Fandom: Thor (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Loki/Sif (Marvel) Characters: Loki (Marvel), Sif (Marvel) Additional Tags: sifki week 2024, Political Marriage Summary: When Sif's ambitious father sets out to forcibly maneuver his daughter into the Asgardian royal family, Loki finds himself in the painful position of being married to the woman he loves without having her love in return. No one ever warns you that sometimes, getting the thing you want hurts more than never having it at all.

For day 2 of @sifkiweek.

[hrts4wonu]

“이상한 왕국” : spoilers

translation: the strange kingdom

you grew up in a small village, in a kingdom ruled by an evil queen who's time will soon end which was being celebrated by your peers. but, little did they know, another kingdom has arrived not to celebrate along with you all, and instead end the innocent lives of the people who live in this kingdom. the large, thick concrete walls that circled the kingdom crashed to the floor and fires were spreading everywhere. nobody else had escaped in time, you think. for days, you ran and ran and ran. far away from the kingdom that you thought was safe forever. 'what was i thinking? there's no forever, just like what my mom said.' you say to yourself as you crash to your knees, tired and barely having enough energy to run anymore. your eyesight was getting blurry the more you ran, and you brushed it off like it was nothing. you finally found the energy to run again after resting. your stomach was grumbling and you were in pain; nobody else survived except you and you were just running away from all of it. just as you were about to stand up, you fall to the ground losing your consciousness. and before you knew it, a kind-hearted prince approaches your figure and yells something out loud to the people near him that you just couldn't find the energy to pay attention to. 'fate' you thought before completely closing your eyes and fading into the dark abyss. when you woke up the next day, you were in some sort of bed. you gathered everything inside of you to stand up and walk— which, you couldn't quite do because of your exhausted legs and the wounds on them. the same prince from yesterday approached you worryingly and places you back on the bed, “what happened? are you okay?” he utters in such a panicked yet loving voice. you shook your head no in response. “another kingdom.. attacked ours.” you add to your nod, looking away with a frown. and from then on, you and the prince had become great friends; you now lived in the so called ‘isanghan wang-gug’ or in english, ‘the strange kingdom’

tags. seventeen, royal au, ex ruler reader / yn, ot13, colonized village, kingdoms, fantasy, fairytale

warnings. violence (not quite), smut, slowburn, harem, seventeen x reader, arguments, swearing, sparring, unprotected sex (don't do this), overstimulation, tying up / bdsm, forced marriage, etc. (tell me if i missed anything!)

a/n: hey, starlings. kim here<3 this royal au is not inspired by anyone (i'm serious btw). this idea originated from the time where i used to play minecraft and i just all of a sudden went like 'oh my god, what if i make castles for seventeen? like an entire kingdom?' and i did. i wasn't able to technically finish it due to the fact that my minecraft wouldn't open anymore and yeeahh.. anyways, i made my own lore for it but instead of sending it to my friends i wanted to post it here on tumblr instead ^_^

-👑-

RELEASE DATE : January 1, 2024 - January 13, 2024 (between those dates)

UPDATES : every 2 weeks / 1 month

MASTERLIST ;

MEMBERS & INFORMATION:

#1:

#2:

SEASON 1: The Journey Begins

ep 1:

ep 2:

ep 3:

ep 4:

ep 5:

ep 6:

ep 7:

ep 8:

ep 9:

ep 10:

SEASON 2: Eye Of The Evil

ep 11:

ep 12:

ep 13:

ep 14:

ep 15:

ep 16:

ep 17:

ep 18:

ep 19:

ep 20:

SEASON 3: Equality's Dead

ep 21:

ep 22:

ep 23:

ep 24:

ep 25:

SEASON 4: The Hurricane

ep 26:

ep 27:

ep 28:

ep 29:

ep 30:

ep 31:

ep 32:

ep 33:

SEASON 5: Roses, Wine, & Assassin 8

ep 34:

ep 35:

SEASON 6: Hidden Secrets

ep 36:

ep 37:

ep 38:

ep 39:

ep 40:

ep 41:

ep 42:

ep 43:

ep 44:

ep 45:

SEASON 7: One Last Glimpse

ep 46:

ep 47:

ep 48:

ep 49:

ep 50:

a/n 2 : i might do more but for now, i will try continuing this and finishing all 7 seasons in 2024. i'm currently going to start with the first episodes now and might make the release date earlier than what i want it to be or maybe push it back to a later date.

[redroseinsanity]

Daisuga Week 2024 Day 1

Prompts used - Historical/Royalty/And if I'm not the love of your life, confuse me with him

Sugawara Koushi was Sawamura Daichi's best friend.

He was Daichi's confidant, his liege, the one he had sworn on his life and to himself in private to protect no matter what came.

He was Daichi's favourite person, the love of his life, his prince (and the only one that mattered as far as Daichi was concerned).

But Koushi wasn't his.

No, Sugawara Koushi belonged to the royal family, first and foremost.

He belonged to the people, and they were happy to belong to him, Daichi could see it in their faces when Koushi made trips out to visit them.

And he belonged to his fiance. Not to Daichi.

"Keep up, Sawamura!" Koushi hollered as he galloped past, his silver hair flying in the wind and his hazel eyes bright with glee.

Daichi didn't point out that he had been ahead and that Koushi had only just caught up.

Instead, he urged his own horse into a gallop and kept pace with his prince.

In front of others, Koushi was a paragon of grace, demure and gentle.

But when there was no one else around, Koushi was like this.

Laughing freely, the sound trailing behind him, hair tousled and with a leaf in it, his expression mischievous and unguarded.

Perhaps, Daichi thought as his chest constricted, this side of Koushi could be called his.

And it would be enough.

"The wedding is in a few months," Koushi's voice was light.

They had stopped to give the horses a break and were sprawled under the canopy of a flowering tree.

Or at least, Koushi was sprawling and Daichi was standing guard.

"It is," Daichi kept his voice equally light, focusing on finding a blossom that was perfect.

"Is that it?" Koushi demanded, sitting up, "Is that all you will say?"

Daichi turned and knelt, their faces inches apart.

He studied the gorgeous hazel eyes that were not his to gaze into, the beauty mark that was not his to press a kiss on, the lips that were not his to claim.

Then he tucked a white flower behind Koushi's ear, smoothening silky argon strands as he did, relishing the way they slid from his fingers.

"That is all I should say," He told Koushi quietly.

Koushi made a noise of frustration.

"You have your path and I have mine," Daichi added.

"Oh really, your path is to watch me marry someone else? Find love and happiness with someone who is not you?" Koushi asked acidly.

A sword to the gut would likely be less painful than this.

No, he wanted to say, choose me. Love me. Let me be the love of your life, the only one for you.

"My path is you," Is all he managed to say.

Koushi's eyes softened, any remaining vitriol draining quickly out.

"Then tell me, why can my path not be you as well?" He asked, his voice so low that it was barely a whisper.

Loosely interconnected snippets for a story strung together over seven days! (If I can make it) You can read the next part in Day 2 of @daisugaweek2024

[lohstandfound]

i know people took this as like royalty au or something but i went with regicide au because i can

Day 5: Royalty

He is not my king, therefore it is not regicide but simply murder

Chloe plots murder, Rich enables her, and Brooke is worried. I lost my train of thought, like usual.

“He is not my king, therefore it is not regicide. It is simply murder. He needs to die.”

Brooke and Rich sat on Chloe’s bed, watching her pace around her room.

“If he thinks- If he thinks we’re just going to- going to agree to a truce after everything he did? He’s delusional!”

Brooke and Rich glanced at each other.

“Do…” Rich started slowly, hesitantly. “Do you have something in mind?”

Chloe let out a frustrated groan. “Taking away everything isn’t enough, he needs to die.”

“Murdering the king? Isn’t that regicide?” Rich rolled his eyes.

Chloe scoffed. “He’s not my king. Jake’s no king, therefore it is not regicide. It’s simply murder.”

Rich: "And how would you even do that?"

Chloe: "Hit him over the head with something big enough?"

Rich: "I'm not sure that's the best method. You might have to hit him a couple of times or something."

Chloe: "Then what do you suggest, my dear Richard?"

Rich: "That dude in that musical Christine liked had some methods for murder."

Chloe: "Which musical?"

Rich: "The murder one?"

Chloe: "Very specific."

Brooke: "You mean Heathers?"

Rich: "Yes! That one!"

Chloe: "Yeah. Because I could just go blow him up."

Rich: "I was thinking something more along the lines of the bleach or whatever."

Chloe hummed for a moment. "That's not too bad... With the amount he drinks that could work..."

Rich: "I'm sure you could pick any cleaning supply or something and, what, spike his drink?"

Chloe: "We might be lucky and he'll let one of us mix him a drink."

Rich: "Shoving him off a roof would work, too. Somewhere high."

Chloe: "You have some wonderful suggestions, Rich. Sounds like you've been planning for a while."

“Wait-” Brooke cut in. “You’re not actually planning on killing him, are you?”

Chloe paused, looking at Rich before looking at Brooke. Was she actually planning to kill Jake? She hated him for everything he had put her through. But did she have the guts to do so? Did she really want to get rid of him? It was truly difficult to imagine her life without him, he'd always be haunting her wherever she went. He had always been there, whether he was a welcomed presence or not.

Did she want to murder her first love?

Chloe: “He deserves it."

Rich: “Yeah, but we’d never get away with it. Look, we may have won but it really doesn’t feel like it. We know Jake, he doesn’t give up until he has exactly what he wants."

Brooke: "Even if you did manage to, y'know, hit him or shove him or poison him- We would still have to cover it up. Get rid of his body or any evidence that it was, y'know, us. Do you want to do that? Can we do that?"

[untilmynextstory]

Elia Week 2024 Summary: Elia, a woman burdened by unkempt promises, is determined to shield her closest friend from the same pain. Day 5: Elia x The Dayne Siblings, Unkept Promises AO3 LINK

Elia felt like she had a garden filled with wilted, unkept promises. She was made to be an unwilling keeper. No matter what she did, it wasn’t enough for others to keep them watered and refreshed. She wondered if her being the sun was the reason they kept dying. Something had to be wrong with her. After all, it was what King’s Landing had been whispering and King Aerys voicing loudly in his manic phases about why his son had disappeared with the Stark girl. The tension and fear for her friend's safety constantly weighed her heart. 

Rhaegar's actions were a constant reminder of her perceived flaws. Despite her physical frailty, her mind was sharp. She understood the game being played and the reason for her summons from Dragonstone. Aerys couldn’t attack her directly, but her ladies were vulnerable, the danger palpable in the air. 

For once, she was grateful for Dorne’s false and exaggerated but salacious reputation. It was easy to dismiss her ladies for improper behavior. It wasn’t unheard of. She would rather be alone than have her friends’ blood on her hands, although the fault would solely lay with her husband and his foolishness. 

However, she should have known not all of her ladies would go quietly. Dorne had their pride and were stubborn - loyal. She did not expect anything less, especially from Ashara Dayne. Out of all her ladies, Ashara was her closest and most trusted confidante. Most of her friends, while honest, always honeyed their words. Ashara never held her tongue in private, even when Elia sometimes didn’t want the truth she tried to deny; Ashara would give it to her straight. Ashara was one of the few ladies who didn’t care for her husband or his sweet words, and there were times Ashara’s bluntness didn’t bode well with her husband’s most trusted and loyal friend, Arthur Dayne, Ashara’s brother. 

Elia wasn’t surprised that Ashara would fight her on being dismissed. This was the first time her friend had been cross with her. However, Elia, burdened by the weight of responsibility, knew the safest place for Ashara was not here with her. Ashara was in danger due to her proximity. She couldn’t rely on Rhaegar and even Arthur to keep her safe. Ashara wasn’t a royal family member, but she knew many would seek to claim her as a spoil of war. 

Besides, her suspicions regarding her friend would only put her in further danger. If Aerys found out, her friend would be fed to those wretched flames. 

It was only in the abandoned excuse of a godswood that she knew she would be free to speak to her friend. 

“Elia…you can’t be alone here,” Ashara pleaded. 

“I won’t be alone,” Elia assured, the lie bitter on her tongue. 

Ashara snorted. “Princess, please…”

Elia sighed and gripped her friend's hand tightly.  “You need to think about your child, Ashara,” Elia stated firmly. 

She watched as the beauty of Starfall turned pale. Ashara pulled her hand from her grasp, and it was instinctive that her hands cupped the growing swell. “I - Elia -”

“It’s the quiet one, right?” Elia questioned. There were plenty of rumors from Harrenhal. Despite the cloak of betrayal her husband had wrapped her in, she was aware of other rumors, especially regarding the Starks' comings and goings. 

For the first time since they arrived in King’s Landing,  Ashara broke. The tears left her violet eyes, and the kohl lining smudged her eyes. Elia quickly embraced her friend in a tight hug. 

She consoled her as she did her small babes. “He’s in the Vale; go to him, marry him, and tell him where his sister is.”

Ashara pulled back. The question lingered on her face. 

She gave her friend a sad smile. “We both know where my husband and your brother are hiding.” Elia used her thumb to wipe away her friend's lingering tears. Elia had her suspicious for a while. She only prayed Doran would think Rhaegar wouldn’t be so stupid or bold to defile her homeland. 

“Do you love him?”

Ashara huffed. “To be honest, I don’t know.” The young woman frowned. “But he was so sweet, gentle, and honest. I could love him.”

“Go to him. Be safe in the halls of Winterfell.”

Ashara swept her up in another hug. In King’s Landing, she noticed affection was rare between friends and family. But in Dorne one could always rely on affection from parents and friends, and she knew in this moment that this warmth would be something she would have to cherish in the coming weeks. Ashara pulled away from her and wiped at her eyes furiously. She took a deep breath.  “I’m just so mad at Arthur.”

“I know.” Elia felt the same. She felt more betrayal from her fellow Dornishman than her husband. 

“Promise me that you will leave this wretched place the first chance you get.”

Elia hugged her friend before pressing a kiss on her forehead. 

She knew better than to make promises she couldn’t keep. 

[houseofbrat]

Don’t blame ‘stupid people on the internet’ for palace’s Princess Kate lies

Elite columnists jumped on the masses for Princess Kate speculation before her cancer announcement. But blame the palace for its lies.

by Will Bunch | Columnist

Published Mar. 24, 2024, 1:12 p.m. ET

The background birds had barely stopped chirping in the dramatic Friday video from Catherine, the Princess of Wales, revealing her cancer diagnosis and ongoing chemotherapy when the rush to judgment took full flight.

The elite columnists at the New York Times — the powerful news org that’s watched its authority erode in the internet age, often from self-inflicted wounds — were almost gleeful, despite the downbeat medical news, in pointing the finger of blame for months of increasingly feverish online speculation on the whereabouts of Princess Kate, missing in action since Christmas. The villain in their version was Time’s 2006 Person of the Year.

You.

“The Real Royal Scandal is Us,” blared the Times headline over its lead column from book-critic-turned-cultural-scold Pamela Paul, who said the real lesson from the frenzy that escalated when a doctored, or worse, photo of Kate Middleton and her three kids was handed out to the press, is that Americans should stop hounding public figures when they deserve privacy. She wrote: “Kate’s terrible news shouldn’t just make us feel terrible for Kate; it should also make us feel terrible about ourselves.”

If you weren’t performing an Opus Dei-style self-flagellation ritual after reading Paul’s column, the whip was turned over to her Times colleague Jessica Bennett in its new feature of quick opinion hits called “The Point.” This one was headlined: “The Internet Should Feel Shame Over Kate Middleton.” I always thought that “the internet” — like Simon and Garfunkel’s rock — feels no pain, but of course the entity that Bennett is really attacking here, again, is you. She wrote, also endorsing Kate’s privacy plea, that “[t]he public, in turn, should feel very, very stupid.”

Let’s be clear: This is a completely bass-ackwards interpretation of what’s played out over the last few weeks. The apparent truth-telling of Kate’s Friday night news dump didn’t happen because people are stupid. It happened because people are smart. Smarter, at least, than a Kensington Palace — Kate, her husband-who-would-be-king Prince William, and their army of protectors — that alternatively dissembled about the princess’s whereabouts, encouraged paparazzi speculation, and finally put out a photographic lie and made Kate take the blame for it.

Indeed, the fact that so many columnists for leading news orgs raced to attack “the public” (formerly known as “their readers,” who are deserting the mainstream media in droves) is “a tell,” showing you what the Kate whereabouts scandal was ultimately about: authority, and the truth. Writers like the Times’ Paul still identify with Kensington Palace because they realize they are kindred spirits: diminished institutions whose bond of trust with the people they feel comfortable in attacking is rapidly collapsing.

Not surprisingly, the columns by Paul, Bennett, and others seized on the most out-there conspiracy theories — to be expected in a world of 5.35 billion internet users, when the royal family’s Nixonian PR strategies all but begged them to speculate. They ignored the reality that what most everyday people were saying on the internet — that Kate must be more seriously ill than the bland and occasionally misleading statements from Kensington Palace — proved to be the truth.

Why should the public feel very, very stupid when it wasn’t the public but Kensington Palace that earlier this month released the now notorious British Mother’s Day photo of Kate and her children, allegedly snapped by Prince William himself, that was spiked by the world’s major news organizations after it became obvious that the picture was altered, perhaps substantially? Was it “the internet” that then decided to throw Kate under the bus by blaming the fiasco on her amateur Photoshopping skills — removing William, not to mention credibility, from the discussion?

Should we actually be feeling terrible about ourselves when Kensington Palace did nothing to disown the various paparazzi videos and photos of a happy and normal Kate riding in cars or shopping at a farmer’s market which — as we learned when the video of the actual Kate was released on Friday night — clearly were not her. Indeed, it was a little gob-smacking last weekend to watch mainstream news outlets hype the TMZ shopping video as some kind of “proof of life” when anyone with a reasonably working set of eyes could see this woman looked almost nothing like Kate.

I won’t go chapter and verse on the various inconsistencies from Team Kate about scheduling, timelines, or its initial statements about her condition, or the fact that even some of Friday night’s disclosures about her cancer diagnosis seemed at odds with how the disease is normally discovered and treated. But I will say that while I agree that Kate’s plea for privacy should be respected, the version of absolute privacy for Britain’s royal family now being pushed by these U.S. opinion writers is a little absurd, especially when a lot of internet speculation didn’t even happen until after the palace’s lies.

Prince William is not a private citizen but in all probability Britain’s next head of state, at the top of a monarchy that their nation’s taxpayers support to the tune of more than $100 million a year because his family’s public presence is supposed to provide a form of moral leadership to a Great Britain that’s experiencing more than its share of problems right now. Like running for president or getting hired as football coach at the University of Alabama, marrying into the royal family is a devil’s bargain where you agree to surrender some of your privacy. The public doesn’t need Kate’s entire medical file, but did it need to be lied to?

One thing that truly annoys me about this whole affair is that it played into some seriously outdated attitudes, from some in the public and way too many in the media, about cancer. I’m still amazed when a public figure reveals an early detected and highly treatable form of cancer and some reports still treat it like a death sentence. Cancer is still horrible, but the 21st century has seen remarkable advances in detection and treatment that means that millions of people with the disease are living full and relatively normal lives. Kensington Palace had an opportunity to attack cancer’s unnecessary stigma with honesty — instead of perpetuating it.

But the bigger problem with this fiasco is that, in an age of growing disinformation, given a nuclear-power boost with new AI technologies, the public has lost all faith in who or what can be believed. It was striking that in the same hour Friday as Kate’s bombshell announcement, the first news flashes and shaky iPhone videos were emerging from Moscow about the theater terror attack by gunmen and arsonists who killed at least 137 people.

The vivid videos were real, but everything else about the terrorist attack was murky beyond recognition. A faction of the Islamic militant group ISIS claimed credit for the attack, but that didn’t explain how terrorists moved around so easily in an overpoliced security state, whose leader, Vladimir Putin, has been linked in the past to “false flag” attacks. Indeed, the Putin regime almost immediately, and with little proof, sought to connect the attack to Ukraine, ginning up an excuse to launch even more horrific assaults against its neighbor while clamping down on dissent at home.

Were people on the internet “very, very stupid” for questioning Putin’s version of the truth? Of course not, but it’s harder to challenge the world’s lying autocrats when the supposed “good guys” are fibbing, too. Dictatorship rises in times when the very concept of truth has been obliterated. The public’s total loss of faith in institutions is a straight downward line that started with Vietnam and Watergate and shifted into high gear with the Iraq War — beginning as tragedy until it finally devolved into the farce of fake royal pictures, when our figurehead is not what she seems.

I’ve always clung to a naïve faith that my colleagues in the media could be the last bastion of truth-telling. But the only truth I feel after the New York Times called me and 5 billion other people stupid is the reality of not knowing who I can believe in anymore.

[a-fox-studies]

January 17, 2024 • Wednesday

• --- HARDCORE WEEK — DAY 3/15 --- •

I woke up with a terrible flare today. I skipped uni and stayed home to recover. I haven't fully recovered yet, hopefully I can feel better enough to go to uni tomorrow.

I could only study for 4 hours today, since I took a lot of breaks in between, so that I didn't overexert myself. Pain management is harder when tired.

🎧 Overnight — Connor Price, Tommy Royale

[compneuropapers]

Interesting Papers for Week 2, 2024

Amblyopic stereo vision is efficient but noisy. Alarcon Carrillo, S., Hess, R. F., Mao, Y., Zhou, J., & Baldwin, A. S. (2023). Vision Research, 210, 108267.

When knowledge hurts: humans are willing to receive pain for obtaining non-instrumental information. Bode, S., Sun, X., Jiwa, M., Cooper, P. S., Chong, T. T.-J., & Egorova-Brumley, N. (2023). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 290 (2002).

Active inductive inference in children and adults: A constructivist perspective. Bramley, N. R., & Xu, F. (2023). Cognition, 238, 105471.

Normative and mechanistic model of an adaptive circuit for efficient encoding and feature extraction. Chapochnikov, N. M., Pehlevan, C., & Chklovskii, D. B. (2023). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(29), e2117484120.

Having multiple selves helps learning agents explore and adapt in complex changing worlds. Dulberg, Z., Dubey, R., Berwian, I. M., & Cohen, J. D. (2023). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(28), e2221180120.

The perception of silence. Goh, R. Z., Phillips, I. B., & Firestone, C. (2023). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(29), e2301463120.

Statistical learning across passive listening adjusts perceptual weights of speech input dimensions. Hodson, A. J., Shinn-Cunningham, B. G., & Holt, L. L. (2023). Cognition, 238, 105473.

Acetylcholine‐sensitive control of long‐term synaptic potentiation in hippocampal CA3 neurons. Kassab, R. (2023). Hippocampus, 33(8), 948–969.

Learning the Vector Coding of Egocentric Boundary Cells from Visual Data. Lian, Y., Williams, S., Alexander, A. S., Hasselmo, M. E., & Burkitt, A. N. (2023). Journal of Neuroscience, 43(28), 5180–5190.

Blocking D2/D3 dopamine receptors in male participants increases volatility of beliefs when learning to trust others. Mikus, N., Eisenegger, C., Mathys, C., Clark, L., Müller, U., Robbins, T. W., … Naef, M. (2023). Nature Communications, 14, 4049.

Flexible specificity of memory in Drosophila depends on a comparison between choices. Modi, M. N., Rajagopalan, A. E., Rouault, H., Aso, Y., & Turner, G. C. (2023). eLife, 12, e80923.

Memory and attention: A double dissociation between memory encoding and memory retrieval. Mulligan, N. W., Spataro, P., & West, J. T. (2023). Cognition, 238, 105509.

A functional logic for neurotransmitter corelease in the cholinergic forebrain pathway. Nair, A., Teo, Y. Y., Augustine, G. J., & Graf, M. (2023). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(28), e2218830120.

On the Functional Role of Gamma Synchronization in the Retinogeniculate System of the Cat. Neuenschwander, S., Rosso, G., Branco, N., Freitag, F., Tehovnik, E. J., Schmidt, K. E., & Baron, J. (2023). Journal of Neuroscience, 43(28), 5204–5220.

From Motivation to Action: Action Cost Better Predicts Changes in Premovement Beta-Band Activity than Speed. Pierrieau, E., Berret, B., Lepage, J.-F., & Bernier, P.-M. (2023). Journal of Neuroscience, 43(28), 5264–5275.

Circuit coordination of opposing neuropeptide and neurotransmitter signals. Soden, M. E., Yee, J. X., & Zweifel, L. S. (2023). Nature, 619(7969), 332–337.

Reinforcement learning establishes a minimal metacognitive process to monitor and control motor learning performance. Sugiyama, T., Schweighofer, N., & Izawa, J. (2023). Nature Communications, 14, 3988.

Natural statistics support a rational account of confidence biases. Webb, T. W., Miyoshi, K., So, T. Y., Rajananda, S., & Lau, H. (2023). Nature Communications, 14, 3992.

Subspace partitioning in the human prefrontal cortex resolves cognitive interference. Weber, J., Iwama, G., Solbakk, A.-K., Blenkmann, A. O., Larsson, P. G., Ivanovic, J., … Helfrich, R. (2023). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(28), e2220523120.

Trait anxiety is associated with hidden state inference during aversive reversal learning. Zika, O., Wiech, K., Reinecke, A., Browning, M., & Schuck, N. W. (2023). Nature Communications, 14, 4203.