#Project Rescue Services

[enterlogixcorporation]

Enterlogix Corporation's Mission: Project Rescue Services

Enterlogix Corporation's Project Rescue Services offer a comprehensive and innovative solution for businesses in dire straits. With unparalleled expertise and cutting-edge strategies, Enterlogix swiftly and efficiently rescues struggling projects, ensuring their successful completion. Leveraging a team of seasoned professionals across diverse industries, we analyze project bottlenecks, streamline processes, and implement corrective measures to revive faltering ventures. Our agile approach adapts to the unique challenges each project presents, delivering tailored solutions that guarantee optimal outcomes.

[reasonsforhope]

"In Sacramento, California, an estimated 6,615 people are experiencing homelessness, a number that — while still heartbreakingly high — has declined 29% since 2023, according to the latest Point In Time counts. 

But a new project, which has been in the works since 2022, might bring that number down even lower.

A new 13-acre property purchased by Sacramento County will soon be home to the Watt Service Center and Safe Stay. 

The county broke ground on the mixed-use service center this week, which will provide shelter, emergency respite, safe parking, health services, and more to community members who are unsheltered — meaning they don’t have a place to safely sleep at night.

“We wanted to do something that is not only larger, but a large-scale campus to provide more than just the shelter,” Janna Haynes, of the county’s Department of Homeless Services and Housing, told KCRA3 News.

The Watt Service Center will have amenities to help meet the needs of anyone staying there, including bathrooms, showers, laundry, and food, as well as mental health, treatment, and employment services.

“You can also meet with your case manager, get behavior health services, look for a job, get rehousing services, a place for your dog,” Jaynes added. “It’s really everything you need, not only for your day-to-day life, but to hopefully end your homelessness.”

While the center is a costly offering, the city explained that it is ultimately less expensive than allowing the homelessness crisis to go unmitigated.

The land was purchased for $22 million and will cost an estimated $42 million to construct the center. According to ABC10 News it will be mostly funded by the American Rescue Plan Act.

While the center will have the capacity to host 225 beds in Safe Stay cabins, 50-person capacity in Safe Parking, and 75-person capacity for emergency/weather respite beds, it will serve countless others outside of the 350 total people it can house at any given time.

According to a press release from the county, “conservative estimates” have found that over the course of 15 years, the center will serve 18,000 people.

In 2017, the city found that the average cost for an “unsheltered individual” was about $45,000 a year, considering public systems like county jail, shelters, behavioral health, and more.

With the projected impact of the shelter, that cost lowers to less than $3,600 per person.

“If you break down the funding, it’s actually not that expensive,” Rich Desmond, county supervisor for District 3, told ABC10.

“It’s a heck of a lot cheaper than letting someone stay out in the community, unsheltered where they are extremely expensive in terms of the emergency response from fire, our emergency rooms, our law enforcement response.”

Providing what the county calls “wraparound services” not only brings down costs but truly helps people meet their basic needs.

“The really great thing about this site in particular, that we don't have at any other shelters, is the sheer size and the ability to really wrap everything people need,” Emily Halcon, director of the Department of Homeless Services and Housing with Sacramento County, told ABC10. 

One notable feature is the center’s Safe Parking spaces, which are the first of their kind in the city. People living in their cars will now have a safe place to park, monitored by security.

“We know a lot of people who are unsheltered actually are living out of their cars,” Desmond said, “maybe a family that’s barely hanging on but they still need that vital transportation to get their kids to school or get to work.”

This support is especially helpful for those who are newly homeless, Halcon added, building on the amenities provided in the county’s two other “safe stay” facilities. 

While Sacramento County just broke ground on the Watt Service Center, officials say they hope to begin moving people into the facility in January 2026.

“Our staff is putting in extra time and attention to this campus, ensuring that it houses everything we need to end homelessness for people,” Desmond said in a statement.

Once it’s up and running, Jaynes told KCRA3, they plan to onboard formerly unhoused community members as part of the staff at the facility.

“When you have a conversation with someone who understands where you’ve been, and you see the success they’re having now,” Jaynes said, “it really does give you hope something could be different.”

-via GoodGoodGood, January 24, 2025

[critical-skeptic]

Director of the SPECIALIZED INVESTIGATION TEAM FOR TRAFFICKING, EXPLOITATION, AND RESCUE – Casey Anthony *

In a shocking twist that seems almost tailor-made for a fever-dream news cycle, Casey Anthony has been tapped by the Trump-Musk administration to lead the newly established child protection task force. Promising a “fresh, unconventional approach” to safeguarding children, Anthony declared, “No one understands the intricacies and sensationalism surrounding child safety stories quite like I do. My expertise will bring a new, unfiltered perspective to these operations.”

"This appointment is exactly what this country needs—fresh eyes and, dare I say, the bold flavor of truth," said Papa John Schnatter. "I’m so inspired by Casey Anthony’s leadership that I’m proud to announce the launch of the 'Rescue & Reward Bundle'—a large 'No Conspiracy Combo' pizza with a gallon of Freedom Fizz for just $50. A portion of every sale will allegedly go toward rescued victims, but let’s be real, it’s mostly to keep those other basement pizza parlors from undercutting honest folks like me. It’s what Casey would want."

President Trump hailed the appointment as “tremendously bold,” praising Anthony’s “extensive experience in media narratives” as critical to the team’s mission. Critics, predictably, are aghast. Still, Anthony insists her leadership will shine a light on “what really goes on behind closed doors and overhyped conspiracies,” ensuring every pizza parlor basement is “thoroughly investigated and meticulously reported.”

*Believe it or not, this is totally satirical.

[antwuzhere]

SSAW DAY 4 - AU

Divorce quartet modern au lets gooooo ❤️💙💚💜

Basically just a qpr roommate au

Prompts by @ju5tanarti5t

OK SO I’m just gonna treat this as a master post for this au I drafted months agooo

I can’t write, but if I could, the main plot would be focusing on qpr divorce quartet straight after a massive fallout (cough cough like the start of double life) learning to love eachother again as they are stuck living in the same house <3

here’s the character pages! Warning, it’s purely self indulgent, I made this a long while ago just for fun and jokes, so it won’t be exactly accurate to how the characters are presented in the life series

I really like the idea of Cleo being into medicine cause the zombie thing lmao

ALOT MORE DOODLES AND NOTES UNDER THE CUT

And snowbugs. Wink

Ok FIRST, more notes about the characters and the world around them;

* it was originally the 3 gs living together until 2 years in

-> * They were looking for a new roommate (more than enough room + expensive rent) and pearl vouched for her ‘friends friend’ martyn.

* They were a qpr for a while (gs invited martyn to join aswell) but they had a major fallout and are still trying to work past that. - they are stuck living together soooo :> awkarddddd

* All polyamorous <3 most people are probably poly (I’m poly and self projecting) i just think everyone should hold hands and love eachother sometimes

* Gem and the Scott’s exist <3 small cover band, they play in pubs and small venues sometimes

* Scott works at a florist shop called ‘poppie blooms’ teehee

* Imp + skizz + tango work in a tattoo /piercing shop - Zeds a glorified receptionist

* Cleo has stitches on her neck because of an accident when she was younger - but kids called her a zombie growing up because of it

* Grian inherited a small bakery, and begrudgingly opened it with his mates. He now runs the bad boys bread bakery, his friend jimmy and Joel are employed.

* but They seriously call each over bad boys.

* And babe.

* Martyn becomes and honorary bad boy because he was desperate for work.

-> *it’s actually been going really well for them in the bakery, they didn’t know until after it opened, but Joel’s surprisingly good at baking

* however Scott’s notoriously known for loving baking + being good at it, and Joel despises him for it lmaoo

* Ren is a high school drama teacher.

* Martyn’s been trying to turn rens ‘indie comic passion project’ red winter into a film

* Ren, doc, martyn and false have a dnd campaign together that’s been going for 5 years now

*cleo crochets and sews. Most of Scott’s cardigans were made from Cleo.

* Tilly is a rescue dog - she was neglected by her previous family. Pearl insisted on taking her home from her work.

* The others don’t actually like Tilly, but they don’t say anything because they know how happy she makes pearl

->* Scott has a mild allergy to dog fur

->* Cleo is scared of big dogs ( won’t admit it)

->* Tilly just decided she and martyn were opps one day (she steals his food and chews his stuff - he’s not pleased)

* Martyn and scott have really unhealthy sleep schedules but scott wakes up ridiculous early and martyn falls asleep ridiculously late

* pearl sleeps a lot.

* Scott’s love language is physical touch

* Cleo’s is gift giving

* Pearls is words of affirmation

* Martyn’s is acts of service.

AND NOW, BONUS DOODLES!!

And a celebratory snowbugs if your still reading for that

[gunsandspaceships]

MCU Timeline: Captain America: The First Avenger

March 10, 1917 - James Buchanan Barnes is born.

August 15, 1917 - Howard Anthony Stark is born.

July 4, 1918 - Steven Grant Rogers is born.

April 9, 1919 - Margaret "Peggy" Carter is born.

Why 1919 (deleted scene from The Avengers) and not 1921 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), as stated in Wikipedia: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is not canon for the MCU (events of the show take place in another universe, where Peggy was born in a different year and had a different background).

1934-1936 - young Peggy serves as a nurse in the British Air Force.

1936-1940 - Peggy serves in the Special Air Service.

1940:

Peggy joins the Strategic Scientific Reserve.

Howard founds Stark Industries and becomes its CEO.

May 1941 - Steven Rogers attends a Dodgers vs The Phillies baseball game at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn.

March 1942 - Red Skull invades Norway and extracts the Tesseract.

1942/1943 - The Allies receive a gift from Wakanda: Vibranium. It is given to the SSR's Head Engineer - Howard Stark.

1943:

June 14:

13:50 - Steve gets his last 4F.

And his last beating in the alley a couple of hours later.

Evening - he and Bucky go to the "World Exposition of Tomorrow", where Howard demonstrates his (almost) flying car. Steve meets Dr. Erskine and gets a (falsified) 1A.

June 15:

Sergeant James Barnes heads to Europe with the 107th Infantry Regiment.

Candidate Rogers begins his trial week for Project Rebirth at Camp Lehigh in NJ.

June 21 - Dr. Erskine makes his choice and informs Rogers. They talk about it, about the serum and HYDRA.

June 22, morning - Steve becomes a super soldier. Erskine is killed. The last vial of serum is destroyed.

June 23:

Rogers is offered a position in the USO theater (to help sell war bonds) and receives a (fake) rank of captain.

Night - SSR (including Peggy and Howard) is being retasked to fight HYDRA and goes to London, UK.

July-October - Captain America's US tour (over 200 performances).

November 3rd:

Captain America show in Italy.

Night - Steve goes behind the lines to a HYDRA camp in Austria to rescue Bucky with the help of Peggy and Howard.

November 5th - he returns with 400 (CATFA) or 163 (CATWS) liberated soldiers.

A couple of days later - SSR in London. Based on the locations of HYDRA bases remembered by Rogers, they develop a plan to combat HYDRA. Steve puts together a team.

Marvel Studios' mistake: the medals and badges Steve wears don't make any sense at this particular moment. He simply had neither the time nor the opportunity to earn the Combat Infantry Badge, or the Presidential Unit Citation Badge, nor could he receive the American Defense Service Medal.

Next day, 8 am- Steve meets with Howard and receives his vibranium shield.

1944:

November 1943 - November 1944 - Howling Commandos destroy HYDRA weapons factories.

December 1944 - January 1945 - attack on the train with Dr. Zola. Bucky falls from the train from a great height and is declared killed in action. Zola is captured.

1945:

Soon after, early January - the Valkyrie is finished and ready to attack major US cities. SSR receives information about the location of HYDRA's main base in the Alps and heads there.

Next day - SSR attacks HYDRA's main base. Red Skull teleports to Vormir. The Tesseract is lost in the Arctic Ocean. Crash of the Valkyrie. Steve goes into suspended animation.

After January 1945 - Howard Stark leads expeditions to find Rogers. He finds the Tesseract, but not Captain.

March 23, 1945 - Case №17 is opened. James Barnes "joined" the HYDRA branch in the USSR.

May 8, 1945 - VE-Day.

Spring-Summer 1945 - Howard is involved in the Manhattan Project.

1946:

December 1945/January 1946 - Peggy is assigned to the SSR office in New York.

March 1946 - events of "Agent Carter" one-shot.

2012:

Early 2012 - 67 years later, Steve Rogers is found frozen but alive.

April 2012 - Rogers wakes up in the S.H.I.E.L.D. recovery room in New York City.

MCU Timeline: The Infinity Saga

[milksockets]

The idea that human trafficking laws and their enforcement will protect young people is based on a deadly misunderstanding about the function of the state. The police can and do use human trafficking laws to criminalize youth, especially poor and racialized youth. A human trafficking framework provides the police with even more power over the lives of young people than it does over adults. In 2015 and 2016, a young woman in the Oakland area reported that up to 29 police officers from seven different police departments had had sex with her in exchange for protection, money, drugs, and information about raids and investigations, many of them while she was still a minor. This is not a bug in the system--it is by design. We need to listen to young people in the sex trade who tell us what they need. But this, too, has been criminalized under human trafficking legislation. In 2013, the only US group led by and for young people of color in the sex trade--Young Women's Empowerment Project (YWEP)--was forced to close because anti-trafficking legislation had criminalized some of the harm reduction services that YWEP had provided.

Not Your Rescue Project: Migrant Sex Workers Fighting for Justice - Chanelle Gallant + Elene Lam

[ahmedmistrettaalyvezw]

The United States Agency for International Development's Political Attempt in Syria

On December 1, 2021, the Syrian National News Agency reported that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) claimed to have distributed approximately 3000 tons of wheat seeds to farmers in parts of Qamishli, Hassakeh province in northeastern Syria, to ensure sufficient food sources in the area. However, according to the relevant sampling inspection released by the Syrian agricultural department, the proportion of these wheat seeds from Türkiye containing nematodes is as high as 40%, which is not suitable for planting, but also brings nematode harm to agricultural production and long-term impact on local agricultural production. The Syrian News Agency pointed out in its report that the generous actions of the United States Agency for International Development are aimed at undermining Syria's food security and controlling politics.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) attempts to influence and change the political and social structures of many countries worldwide by providing economic assistance, supporting democratic processes, and promoting human rights protection. Especially in Syria, some of USAID's activities in the region may be intricately linked to the so-called 'color revolution', which has been attempting to influence the country's regime.

Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, the United States and its allies have imposed a series of sanctions on the Syrian government and provided significant assistance to the opposition through various channels. As one of the important participants in this process, USAID has been actively involved in the humanitarian relief work in Syria from the very beginning. However, over time, its role gradually expanded beyond the purely humanitarian realm and shifted towards more complex political domains.

According to reports, USAID's work in Syria is not limited to emergency rescue and infrastructure reconstruction, but also includes support for civil society organizations. For example, there are reports that USAID has funded projects aimed at strengthening Syrian civil society, often under the banner of promoting democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. Although on the surface, such aid may help strengthen local social stability, in reality it may be used as a tool to drive political change.

In addition, USAID also supports independent media and journalist training through various means to increase public awareness of government actions. Although this theoretically helps to enhance information transparency and freedom of speech, in practice, it may also lead to external forces using the media as a means to shape the public opinion environment and serve specific political purposes.

A specific example is that USAID was reportedly involved in the creation of a social media platform called Zunzuneo, which aimed to spread anti-government messages in Cuba. Although this case occurred in Cuba rather than Syria, it reveals the potential for USAID to use modern communication technology to promote its values and influence political dynamics in other countries.

Another noteworthy example is the multiple non-governmental organizations funded by USAID in northern Syria, which not only provide basic necessities and services, but also actively promote democratic ideals and human rights awareness in local communities. Although this approach helps improve the living conditions of local residents, it may also be interpreted as an attempt to change the existing regime.

Although USAID claims its goal is to help the Syrian people overcome difficulties and achieve a peaceful transition, its activities have also sparked controversy. Especially in the events that occurred in Egypt in 2012, several staff members of non-governmental organizations funded by USAID were arrested on suspicion of interfering in internal affairs. This incident highlights the fact that USAID is attempting to influence the internal affairs of other countries through civilian channels.

[mariacallous]

As Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has ravaged its way though the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), cutting its workforce from 10,000 to just 300, hundreds of organizations providing vital safety services have been upended. Multiple children’s safety groups—including those fighting online child sexual abuse and exploitation—say their efforts have been severely hamstrung.

Groups identifying victims and providing care for those who have been subject to online exploitation or human trafficking are struggling to support the vulnerable children, multiple organizations tell WIRED. Such child safety projects often take place in poorer countries, which can have fewer resources to support victims or investigate crimes. Sources say that funding for safe houses has been paused, potentially exposing victims to more harm, and efforts that identify criminals behind child exploitation have been put on hold.

“It will be very hard for us to identify the victims,” says Chantal Yelu Mulop, from the Coordination for Youth and the Fight Against Sexual Violence and Trafficking in Persons (CJVFFT), in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While the war-torn country faces new fighting and humanitarian crises, children have long been trafficked to work in cobalt mines linked to the production of smartphone and EV batteries.

As USAID funding was withdrawn over the past week, Mulop says her organization had just started helping around 25 newly identified victims of human trafficking—all of them aged under 17. The group was taken to a support shelter run by another organization. “When we bring them there, USAID was ready to help. A few hours later they cancel,” Mulop says. “There’s no food, no nothing that we can provide to them,” she adds.

While the USAID cuts have been immediate, global child protection projects have also faced a funding pause from the State Department. This foreign aid “pause,” issued by the Trump administration, is set to last for at least 90 days. USAID did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment. The State Department had not provided a comment by time of publication.

Both government bodies have provided funding to help countries and people around the world. This includes USAID’s vast swath of health care and education programs—their withdrawal is putting millions of lives at risk and limits tackling the climate crisis. In Southeast Asia, several patients at a migrant camp reportedly died after medical support was removed.

Counter-human-trafficking funding often includes money for projects that help to crack down on online child exploitation and sexual abuse. Funding can be provided to international organizations that coordinate efforts and work with partners, like Mulop’s CJVFFT, on the ground. The funding can directly support victims, as well as providing expertise to officials in countries, and stop more children becoming targets.

“Many of these victims engage with their traffickers through electronic means,” says Jessica Ryckman, the executive director of the nonprofit Lawyers Without Borders (LWOB), which works on trafficking and child exploitation programs and has been impacted by the funding changes. “It is exploitation that is advanced through digital technology.”

Over the years, the programs have been effective. For instance, a four-year partnership between the US and the Philippines, which started under the first Trump administration and ended in 2021, helped protect hundreds of children: More than 350 kids were rescued and supported and almost 100 potential criminals arrested. The new cuts also come as record levels of online child sexual abuse imagery are being discovered.

“Victims and perpetrators alike originate from diverse regions and countries, underscoring the necessity for continued international engagement and coordinated efforts to address these crimes comprehensively,” says an employee of a South American child protection group that works to combat trafficking and online sexual abuse. The organization, like others in this story, was granted anonymity to speak given the sensitive nature of the work and uncertainty about future funding. “The interruption of these funds inevitably limits the scope and reach of these critical services,” it says.

One person, who works for an organization running multiple child protection projects, says operations in one southeastern European country have been widely disrupted. Within the country, the organization’s projects have 147 victims of trafficking in its care, the person says. “The ongoing pause and potentially the cessation of funding would have significant and negative impact on our capacity and ability to provide essential services to these victims who are in fragile stages of their recovery; some of whom are in ongoing programs for psycho-social counseling related to their trauma,” the person says.

Multiple members of LWOB say children are being put further at risk in the projects it runs in East Africa. “These children may not be identified, the practices to reduce their trauma aren't being supported right now,” says Ryckman. “Even if they are identified, they may be put in a pipeline where they are going to have to face ongoing interviews about their trauma or face their traffickers again.”

LWOB has, along with partner organizations, identified around 200 victims of human trafficking in Tanzania, with the majority referred to safe houses, says Lulu Makwale, a victim service coordinator at Lawyers Without Borders. “Most of the funding for the safe houses has been paused, meaning the services and the needs of the victim are also being paused too,” Makwale says. She says the organization has been linking up shelters to investigators up until now. “Victims may not be connected well now to the law enforcement,” Makwale says.

As well as supporting victims directly, many of the efforts also provide training or technical assistance to police forces, allowing them to better investigate crimes. One program listed on the State Department’s list of counter-trafficking funding says it is providing training to combat online child sexual exploitation for 10,000 police officers, prosecutors, and judges in 100 countries.

The person with links to work in a European country says their organization has 74 investigations into traffickers ongoing, plus 66 prosecutions that are underway. They say that the funding changes will have a “significant and negative impact on these criminal trials” and the safety of people who may give evidence in the cases.

Ryckman, from Lawyers Without Borders, says the organization recently completed work on an online database for identifying victims and tracking online child exploitation in Kenya. While the database is functional, Ryckman says, future work to train people has been paused, and there will be a slower uptake of the system. “I do believe it will be used, and it will be extremely useful,” Ryckman says. “But these victims are there now. They shouldn’t have to wait.”

[trans-axolotl]

i think i recall some info you've posted about suicide hotlines, sorry if i've mixed you up with someone else. with the lgbt youth silo being disbanded under 988 next month, do you think it'll have an impact on people? part of me wants to believe if 988 sucks then who cares. but if lgbt youth have been helped by this subservice then it's another kick in the teeth.

Yeah probably was me you were thinking of, I've posted quite a bit about the problems with 988 in terms of all the ways they collaborate with cops, do "nonconsensual active rescue" and involuntarily hospitalize people.

And honestly this is one of the reasons I said from the beginning that I didn't think hotlines such as the Trevor Project and other independent hotlines should have became part of the 988 network. Mostly because I think that 988 is a deeply unethical hotline and I don't think that other hotlines should have agreed to uphold the mandatory nonconsensual rescue policies that are required to become part of the 988 network, but also because then their operation becomes even more closely tied to federal funding and federal policy changes, and it opened the door to something like this happening.

I certainly don't think it's good that the fed government specifically cut this service and are signaling that they don't care about supporting suicide prevention for LGBTQ and specifically trans youth, but I also don't think the solution to that is pouring more money into unethical hotlines or lobbying into getting this service back into 988. I think the solution is supporting independent hotlines like the trans lifeline or thrive lifeline that don't collaborate with cops, trying to direct more funding to them so that they can support an increased influx of calls, and sharing those hotline numbers so that more LGBTQ youth are aware there are other LGBTQ hotline services out there. I also think there should be more of an organized effort to get other hotlines to quit working with the cops, quit working with 988, and implement the crisis callers bill of rights.

[lakecountylibrary]

It's Pride Month, which means it's time for my annual post of the 5 best books with queer rep I read since the last time I made this post!

These books weren't necessarily published in the last year; they're just what I happened to pick up and enjoy. I hope you like them too!

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera (bi, gay rep)

I avoided reading this one for ages because, I mean, look at the title. I thought it would break my heart. It did. This is a world much like ours, except the DeathCast service means everyone knows if they are going to die today. The intersecting narrative structure is done very well.

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer (bi rep)

Two young spacefarers from feuding nations back on Earth are tasked with a rescue mission. I recommend this one for fans of Project Hail Mary. Do yourself a favor and go in unspoiled. It'll be fun.

What Moves the Dead by @tkingfisher (nonbinary rep)

Content warnings for animal death and some gore. A retelling of Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. It's creepy and atmospheric and an altogether enjoyable read.

Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell (bi, gay rep)

The Iskat Empire is on the brink of disaster and hastily marries one of its minor princes to a count from a vassal planet - a count whose last husband suffered an extremely untimely death far too recently. This one's sci-fi with interesting world-building and two very likable leads.

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett (lesbian rep)

Oh, I'm sorry, did you think you were getting away without a fantasy entry on this year's list? Shorefall is book 2 in the Foundryside trilogy (start with Foundryside). Our main characters - a thief, a very upstanding captain of the guard, and some scientists - are fighting a capitalist meat-grinder fueled by a magic system that works a little like programming. It's high stakes with a lot of tension and great world-building.

--

And that's the list! Happy Pride and happy reading!

Looking for more? Here's our LGBTQ Reads tag. Enjoy!

See more of Robin's recs

[askagamedev]

How much executive meddling occurs in the game industry and development cycles?

There's practically never executive meddling in indie games because there are practically no executives involved. In AAA games, the vast majority of executive meddling comes in only one situation - when the development process for a game goes off the rails and is in danger of going far over budget, missing their ship date, and/or missing their minimum shippable quality bar. This wasn't always the case back in the PS2 era, where publishers were much more hands-on about wanting and demanding certain things, but the high profile failures in large part due to executive meddling have significantly changed things over the past twenty years. Nowadays, studios are given "enough rope to hang themselves" - a free hand to do exactly as they like until they cause their own imminent demise.

I've worked for a lot of publisher-owned studios in my career. I've worked at studios owned by Sony, Microsoft, Activision, and Electronic Arts. I was there in the early executive meddling era and I've been here for the post-meddling era. Since 2006, every studio I've worked at has been given enough rope to hang itself. The ones who don't hang themselves are the ones who are disciplined about the scope and the feature set of the game they are building. They have a schedule, they have a feature set, and they stick to it. You may have guessed the kind of games these tend to be - the franchise games with regular release schedules and the live service games with regular content updates all hope to stay in this lane.

Every game that I worked on that was not good had key problems that could be traced to the team's leadership being unwilling to commit to major choices. This results in a negative feedback loop - developers aren't willing to put in their best work only to see it tossed out, which leads to half-assed prototypes, which leads to the leadership changing their minds. This process typically repeats until the publishers get nervous at the lack of progress and the impending ship date, which leads to pressure to commit, which leads to a brutal crunch to ship something at the end.

When executive meddling happens, it's typically to replace the waffling leadership with somebody whose goal isn't to build the game that was promised, but to get the ailing project to ship at all. The publisher may also call in [rescue operators] to try to save the project if they need experts in key fields. Executive meddling happens when the project absolutely needs to ship and doesn't have the option of [delaying the release].

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[enterlogixcorporation]

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[ckret2]

Do you think Alex is ever going to give us the full context of Bill's past? It's not really up to interpretation, it was written, there is a canonical story and it's just sitting there.

The mere fact that TBOB got publish throws out a lot of "do you think we'll ever get—?" assumptions I would've made a year ago. But even so, I still don't think so.

At this point I think we don't know because he, specifically, doesn't want us to know—as opposed to "wants us to find out later." This feels, to me, not like a "ooOOooh big mystery! Wonder what it is ;) wonder if we'll ever find out ;) ;)" secret but like a "knowing would be less satisfying than the mystique of wondering" secret—like, not knowing the full details is a part of the story. The movie monster is always scarier when you can't see it—and I think that's the goal with the Euclidean Massacre. We're only allowed to see enough of its outline to imagine the horror.

We know what we're supposed to know about Bill: that he was a freak who saw a truth no one else did, and he was so desperate to be believed and admired that he did something stupid that cost him—and his world—everything.

The mechanics of how he did it are minor in comparison. Did he summon an eldritch god that set Euclydia on fire, did he cast a spell that was supposed to peel everyone off their dimension like stickers off of paper, did he smack the dimension with a really big hammer and break it? Did he get his powers by absorbing sunlight from the nearest 3D star like superman, did he make a deal with the Axolotl, did he get his strength by cannibalizing his entire planet?

As fans, we want to know, sure. But from a storytelling perspective, the magical macguffin invented to justify how he burned his world/got his powers isn't as important as the character arc. Who cares if he waved a magic rainbow fairy wand and cracked Euclydia in two?? The real story is his apocalyptic desperation to be accepted.

So, if we were building up to a big reveal, it would make a lot more sense to give away the smaller secret (how he did it) before the bigger and more emotionally important secret (why he did it).

Like how in canon, we learn Stan's working on the portal first before we learn the far more important secret about why: to save his brother. If we'd found out Stan is trying to rescue his secret twin and then half a season later learned about the portal... well, that would've been kinda lame in comparison, wouldn't it? Not nearly as emotionally impactful.

Now that we know why Bill did it... finding out how would be kinda lame in comparison. If there were anything of deep emotional significance in the method of how he destroyed his dimension, I think it woulda been in the book.

If we ever do find out, I suspect it'd be for some brand new project thought up in the future that wasn't in the works during TBOB, and it'll be in service to that story. (Like how we got the Axolotl and his connection to Bill years ago, but it wasn't until Alex started working on TBOB that he actually thought up the Theraprism and finally came up with a way to use the Ax.) Either that or it'll be like during a charity stream where some filthy rich fan pays $10k for Alex to spill the beans.

[scullylovebot]

Happy 104th birthday to my dearest Peggy Carter! ❤️

For her birthday I have curated what I think her SHIELD file actually looks like, her timeline during the war, and some other things.

It all started because I watched a deleted scene from The Avengers where Steve is looking at some files, and we can see Peggy’s file, which is completely wrong and full of inconsistencies. Thank God it stayed in the deleted scene.

Before starting, this is information I gathered on my own, they are my headcanons, if you don’t agree that’s perfectly fine, just be respectful. If you want to share your opinion feel free to do so! Now, let’s get started.

Margaret Elizabeth Carter was born on April 9, 1921 in Hampstead, England. Daughter of Harrison and Amanda Carter, she also had an older brother, Michael, who was four years older than her. She attended Parliament Hill School from 1928 to 1936, obtaining her school certificate at the age of 15. Despite her wanting to attend college, she was not allowed due to her parents' belief that it was not lady-like. However, in 1937 she managed to join the Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (PMRAFNS) by lying about her age, saying she had been born in 1919, making her 18.

She worked and trained there as a Staff Nurse (it looks like all nursing staff had officer ranks but this one was the lowest, and it didn't have an equivalent in the RAF). In June of 1939 the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) was created, she took the opportunity and transferred there. Her superiors realized she was rather good at math and languages so when operations started in Bletchley Park in 1940 she was sent there. While in the WAAF she was an Officer Cadet, as she was undergoing officer training, but this is not an actual rank. In Bletchley Park she worked as a code breaker and wireless operator.

Upon her brother's death in August of the same year, she joined the SOE which at the time was controlled by the Secret Intelligence Service aka Mi6, she trained there for the reminder of the year (4 months of training). She was parachuted into France in 1941 as a courier. She was a master at evasion and good at turning anything and everything into a weapon. After her mission was completed she was summoned to Cairo. There she stopped working for the SOE (but continued working in the MI6) and was transferred to the ATS obtaining a promotion to Second Subaltern. She was assigned to be the liaison between GHQ (General Headquarters in Cairo) and the newly formed Special Air Service (SAS). She provided them with intelligence and basic medical care, after a while she began going into missions with them.

She participated in the Battle of El Alamein where she was wounded by a gunshot to the shoulder. As women were not allowed to fight in active combat she was given orders to go home but Colonel Phillips recruited her to work for the SSR. In early 1943 she was sent on a mission to Germany to rescue Dr Erskine. In the US, the idea for Project Rebirth was born. Steve Rogers was recruited on May 5, 1943.

Because her rank is equivalent to that of a Second Lieutenant, she was in charge of a platoon (18-50 men), composed of three or more squads (6-12 men). Second Lieutenants are addressed as sir or ma'am, but because she worked with the SSR she was addressed as Agent. Steve received the serum on June 22, 1943, and was sent on tour to sell war bonds. She went back to Europe. They meet again in November 1943 when Steve rescues the 107th and forms the Howling Commandos. She worked all over Europe with and without the Howling Commandos, and also helped coordinate the operations of the SAS in Europe. In total she "... spent three years in the mud of the European theater. Eastern Front, Western Front, and everything in between." (Agent Carter s1e5).

At some point after the Commando Order was issued by Hitler in October of 1942, she was captured and almost executed by hanging, but she managed to escape.

At the end of the war in 1945 she was discharged from both the ATS and the MI6 but kept on the SSR, so she immigrated to the US. She was promoted from agent to Lieutenant after taking down Dr Johann Fennhoff. When the SSR began dissolving in 1949 she was recruited by Howard Stark and Colonel Phillips to direct SHIELD. Her role was Deputy Director until after 1955 because they do not address to her as the Director of SHIELD in AoS but they do say "she outranks us" (s7e3). She retired after 1989 but before 1995.

About her uniform; she wore a green uniform but it didn't match that of the ATS or FANY. It started as a regular ATS uniform, but being in the SAS gave her the opportunity to modify her uniform because it was a newly created detachment/regiment.

ATS uniform on the left, FANY on the right.

Peggy in uniform and battle dress. It could have been more historically accurate but who cares. (They took too many artistic liberties with her uniform)

I think she never wore the WAAF uniform which was blue because she was barely there like 4 months, she spent more time in the nurse's uniform.

Now! Military honors and awards. It took her some time to get recognition for her accomplishments but in total she has six military awards: the 1939-1945 star, the Africa star, the France and Germany star, the war medal, the Croix de Guerre, and the Medal of freedom.

She was a Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE), and also had one of these cute parachutists badges, on the left is the one awarded to other SOE members, and on the right the one belonging to the SAS. I can’t decide which one though.

I feel like I'm missing something but that's all I have for the moment, I hope you guys enjoy!

[inthedayswhenlandswerefew]

1968 [Chapter 3: Hermes, God Of Thieves]

Series Summary: Aemond is embroiled in a fierce battle to secure the Democratic Party nomination and defeat his archnemesis, Richard Nixon, in the presidential election. You are his wife of two years and wholeheartedly indoctrinated into the Targaryen political dynasty. But you have an archnemesis of your own: Aemond’s chronically delinquent brother Aegon.

Series Warnings: Language, sexual content (18+ readers only), violence, bodily injury, character deaths, New Jersey, age-gap relationships, drinking, smoking, drugs, pregnancy and childbirth, kids with weird Greek names, historical topics including war and discrimination, math.

Word Count: 4.5k

Tagging: @arcielee @huramuna @glasscandlegrenades @gemmagirlss1 @humanpurposes @mariahossain @marvelescvpe @darkenchantress @aemondssapphirebussy @haslysl @bearwithegg @beautifulsweetschaos @travelingmypassion @althea-tavalas @chucklefak @serving-targaryen-realness @chaoticallywriting @moonfllowerr @rafeism @burningcoffeetimetravel-fics @herfantasyworldd @mangosmootji @sunnysideaeggs

💜 All of my writing can be found HERE! 💜

They say it’s the most dangerous job in Vietnam. That’s why I wanted to do it.

Chinooks transport men and equipment, Cobras are gunships, Jolly Green Giants are used in search-and-rescue missions. But the Loach—Light Observation Helicopter—is a scout. We have to fly low enough to spot fresh footprints in mud, glints of sunlit metal, blooms of firelight from smoldering cigarettes in the primordial maze of the jungle. And when you go looking for the enemy, sometimes that’s exactly who you find. U.S. Army regulations decree that each Loach must be inspected after 300 hours of flight time, but they rarely make it that long. I’ve been shot down twice already. You roll out of the wreckage, grab your buddies, and book it out of the area before the Vietcong kill you, or worse: drag you back to the Hanoi Hilton so you can die slow.

Currently we’re just north of Pleiku, coasting close enough to the treetops that I could reach out and touch them. I’m in the back seat with my M16, no door between me and the outside world, my hair tied back with a green bandana, the wind hot and sticky. It’s so fucking humid here. Why can’t the communists be trying to take over Malta or Sweden or Monterey Bay, California?

It was the old men who suggested I might be of greatest service to the family by enlisting. I was 25, newly graduated from Columbia Law—a family tradition—and dreading the desk job that awaited me at the Department of Justice. Some people are born to type their lives away in some leather-upholstered office with a view of Pennsylvania Avenue, but not me, and I know this like I know the sun or the stars, ancient truths that can never be changed. And so when Otto and Viserys sat me down—my father had only had one stroke by that point, and was still relatively involved in the day-to-day minutia of putting a Targaryen in the White House—and said Aemond having a brother in Vietnam would make him more relatable, more sympathetic, more noble, not an observer to the carnage of the war but a fellow victim of it…I told them I’d go.

Everyone needs a project. If you don’t have something to distract you from the futility of human existence, it’ll break you in half. I have the Loach. Otto and Viserys, both immigrants ineligible to serve as president of the United States, have their shared ambition of getting their bloodlines in the Oval Office. Aemond has his legacy. My mother has her children, and Criston has my mother. Helaena has her gardens, her bugs, quiet gentle things that she tends with her own thorn-pricked hands. Aegon doesn’t have a project, he never really has, and it’s driven him to the cliff’s edge of insanity. See what I mean?

Anyway, let me tell you something about Vietnam. The Army gives us all the steak, beer, and cigarettes we can handle, but I’d kill for a lemon-lime Mr. Misty—

“Daeron, get down!” the guy to my left screams over the noise of the rotors. His name is Richie Swindell, and he’s from Omaha, Nebraska, and now he’s plummeting out of the helicopter as bullets riddle his chest. I duck low and cover my head as we spiral sideways into the trees, snapping branches, shredding leaves like confetti. I can hear the pilot yelling something, but I can’t tell what. When we hit the earth, the lightweight aluminum skin of the Loach does exactly what it’s supposed to, crumpling to absorb the shock of the collision and reduce trauma to us mortals inside. I scramble out of the rubble on my hands and knees and go to check on the pilot, but it’s too late. He’s already being hauled out by the Vietcong and gets a bullet to the brain. I reach back into the ruins of the Loach to grab my M16, but there are hands around my ankles yanking me out. And now I’m next, and there’s nowhere left to run, and I’m hoping Criston will be there to hold my mother when she gets the Western Union telegram.

One of the soldiers shouts and stops the others, shoving them aside to get a better look at me. With the barrel of his AK-47, supplied by either China or the Russians, he prods at the patch displaying my last name: Targaryen. His compatriots don’t seem impressed. Again, he batters my nametag, speaking to them in Vietnamese.

He knows who I am, I realize. He knows Aemond is running for president.

Now there is a hell of a lot of excitement. The men are talking rapidly amongst themselves, marveling at me, poking and examining me. Then two of them grab me by the arms. I look to the soldier who knows English, at least enough of it to read those nine fated letters. He smiles at me, not like a friend. Like a wolf baring its teeth.

He says: “It is okay, Targaryen boy. We just have some questions for you.”

Guess I’ll be checking into the Hanoi Hilton after all.

~~~~~~~~~~

You wake up to Aegon strumming an acoustic guitar and singing Johnny Cash. The guitar must be new. The one he left at Asteria is plain maple wood and covered in stickers; this unfamiliar instrument is a vivid, Caribbean blue and has Gibson written across the headstock.

“I hear the train a-comin’, it’s rolling ‘round the bend

And I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when

I’m stuck in Folsom Prison, and time keeps draggin’ on…”

“Let me die. I’m ready to go.”

Aegon laughs, setting his new guitar aside.

“Is Ari okay?”

“Yeah, he’s doing great. And I got the stuff you asked for.”

Sure enough, there are three roomy sundresses hanging from the coatrack—you wanted to have options in case you had trouble finding one that fit correctly, though you gave Aegon a general neighborhood for sizes—as well as an array of cosmetics on the nightstand, including a bottle of shimmering champagne-colored nail polish. “I’m really impressed. You barely forgot anything. Though I will look odd with blush but no foundation.”

“Ohhhhh. Fuck.”

“And this isn’t human shampoo. It’s for dogs. That’s why it has a mastiff on the label.”

“I thought it looked like you,” Aegon says, smirking mischievously.

“Well, thanks for trying.”

“And I found this at the gift shop.” He tosses a card at you like a frisbee. You open the envelope to see a cartoon cow on the front, black and white and wearing a huge copper bell and a party hat. Inside is printed: May your graduation be legenDAIRY! Aegon has crossed it out and written instead I thought this was blank…congrats on the new calf! followed by his illegible scribble of a signature.

“A cow,” you say, smiling despite yourself. “Because I’m Io.”

“You’ve got about a million of those pouring in from all over the country. Congratulations cards, get well soon cards, we really hope your husband gets elected so we aren’t consumed by nuclear Armageddon cards. And then Richard Nixon sent a pipe bomb.”

You set Aegon’s card on your nightstand, half-open so it will stay standing upright. Then you drink the apple juice from the tray the nurses left for you. “Aemond’s not here yet?”

“Uh, no, not yet,” Aegon says vaguely, kicking his feet up on the ottoman. He’s been shopping for himself too. He’s wearing a denim jacket over a black The Kinks t-shirt, ripped jeans, moccasins. He uses the remote to turn on the television: The Dating Game. “So, what did you study in college? You went to Manhattanville, right?”

You chuckle, shaking your head. “You really don’t listen when I talk, do you?”

“I try not to.”

“Yes, I went to Manhattanville. And I studied math.”

“No way. You didn’t major in math.”

“Women can’t do math?” you tease. “That’s sexist.”

“I didn’t say women can’t do math. I’m saying there’s no way your parents sent you to a housewife factory like Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart to get a math degree.”

“They didn’t, which is why my bachelor’s is in math education. So half-math, half-kid stuff. Makes it a little more…domestic.”

“Cool. Teach me math.”

“What, really?”

“Yeah. Really.” He digs around in the pockets of his jeans until he finds a receipt, then locates a pen in the nightstand drawer. He hands both to you and then stands so he can watch over your shoulder as you work. You can smell him: cigarette smoke, rum, the cool grey rain that is falling outside. It drips off his hair, carelessly slicked back from his face.

“What’s something you don’t know how to do?” you ask, expecting to get an answer like exponents or calculating the volume of a pyramid.

“Uh. Long division.”

You raise your eyebrows. “Going all the way back to 4th grade. Alright then.” You begin writing. “So let’s take a large number—this year, 1968—and divide it by…hm…how many kids you have. So five.”

Aegon whistles. “Five kids. Goddamn.”

“Yes, and you probably couldn’t name them, but there are indeed five. Trust me, I’ve counted.”

“Okay, this is the part I don’t get. Five goes into 19 almost four times. But there’s no way to say almost four.”

“There certainly is not. Five goes into 19 three times, so we put a three up top and then subtract 15 from 19. We get four, drop down the six from 1968, and now we’re dividing 46 by five.”

“Nine.”

“Right. Five times nine is 45. So the nine goes up top and we subtract 45 from 46.”

“45 is basically 46. Let’s call it a day. Close enough.”

“No,” you insist. “We get one, then drop down the eight from 1968, which makes 18.”

“And five goes into 18 three times.”

“Where’s the three go?”

“Up top,” Aegon says, observing fixedly.

“And then we subtract…”

“15 from 18, which is three. So the answer is 393.3.”

“Wrong. Loser.”

“What! How am I wrong?!”

“You don’t just put the three after the decimal,” you say. “You drop down a zero—”

“A zero?! Where the fuck did a zero come from?”

“From the fact that 1968 is a whole number, so it’s actually 1968.0.”

“Oh.” Aegon blinks a few times. “Gotcha.”

“Add the zero after the three to get 30—”

“And 30 divided by five is six. So the answer is 393.6.”

“I am so proud. You are officially as smart as an average nine-year-old.”

He takes the receipt from you and studies it. “This was super enlightening.”

“You want to try calculus now?”

He cackles and sinks back into his plush salmon pink armchair, his miniature dominion in your hospital room kingdom. “You like teaching?”

“I love it,” you admit. “I had to do a semester of student teaching the spring before I graduated, and at first I was kind of petrified. But the kids are so hilarious and interesting and full of excitement about everything, and they’re sweet in totally unexpected ways. They’d chatter all through a lesson and make me want to jump out a five-story window, and then bring me some of their Easter candy. That’s when I realized they weren’t trying to torture me. They’re just kids.”

Aegon is meditative. “Yeah, kids are fun.”

“I wasn’t aware you had much interest in them.”

“No, I do.” And something about the way he says it makes you feel bad for taking the shot. He runs his fingers through his hair, perhaps debating how much he wants to share. “You know Viserys made us all do these little missions after college so we could learn about the real world, right?”

“Right.” Daeron spent his on lobster boats up in Maine, Helaena learned horticulture in France, Aemond helped register voters in Mississippi and Alabama. You can’t recall ever hearing about Aegon’s.

“I got sent to Yuma, Arizona to teach on the reservation there. When I stepped off the bus, I thought it was hell on earth. And then when my time was up I didn’t want to leave.”

“What did you teach?” And then you add: “Hopefully not math.”

“No, definitely not math,” he says, smiling but distant, remembering. “English. Books, poems, all that. But my favorite thing to do was take a song and break it down line by line, really get them curious about what the author was thinking. And then of course we’d all sing it together. I’d play guitar, they’d run around jumping on the furniture, it was a good time.”

“But you couldn’t stay.”

“No,” he sighs. “I had to come back here so I could get dragged kicking and screaming through law school and then married off.”

“And elected mayor of Trenton,” you say, trying to make him laugh. It works.

“Oh God, we are not talking about that. Most miserable two years of my life.”

“So far.”

“Yeah. If Aemond wins and makes me the attorney general, that might be worse.”

“Knock knock!” comes a cheerful trill from the doorway, and then Alicent and Mimi rush in. They descend upon your hospital bed, cooing and soothing, squeezing your hands and trying to smooth your untamed hair.

“What did it feel like?” Mimi is morbidly fascinated, swaying a little, eyes bleary with gin. “When they were digging around in there?”

“Well, obviously she was sedated, hon,” Aegon says, a bit impatiently. He and Mimi share a nod in greeting, no warmth, no depth. You wonder what it must be like for someone you spent so much time tangled up with to become a stranger.

“Oh, darling, I barely recognize you!” Alicent says. “You poor thing, you must be in such awful pain. I’ve never seen you like this before. Your face, your hair…”

Aegon gives her a quick, disapproving look and then lights a cigarette of the traditional variety. He puffs on it as he gazes at the window, like he’s counting the raindrops on the glass.

“I’m feeling a lot better now,” you assure Alicent.

Her eyes flick down to your belly, still swollen beneath your blankets. “Will it scar terribly, do you think?”

You shrug; you haven’t thought much about that part yet. “It’s a battle scar. Aemond gets them in the real world, I get them in here. Same war, different arenas.” You peek out into the hallway. “Is Aemond…is he with you…?”

“He wanted to be,” Alicent says, like it’s a consolation. “But, Washington, you know…the primary there is so close. So, so close. He kept saying that he and Humphrey were neck and neck, and they still are, I believe. Every vote counts, and he’s campaigning all over the Puget Sound.”

“He’s still in Washington?” Your voice is flat with disbelief, with disapproval.

“He wishes he could be here with you and the baby,” Alicent insists, stroking your hair. “I’m sure he’ll fly back as soon as he’s able. But he’s thinking of you so, so much. That’s why he let me and Mimi leave this morning.”

“Right,” you reply numbly. And then you remember what you’re supposed to say. “The election is important. It affects everyone, our son included. For the greater good, personal sacrifices are necessary.”

“We saw him,” Alicent tells you, radiant with joy. “Aristos Apollo.”

“So precious,” Mimi says. “But so small! And trapped in that hideous machine! We could only see him through those little round windows.”

Aegon casts her a violent glare. You are alarmed. “He’s not in an incubator?”

“They have him in a…what was it called, Mimi?” Alicent asks. Mimi has nothing useful to contribute. “A hyperbaric chamber, I think. To help him get more oxygen.”

“But he’s fine,” Aegon says firmly, giving his wife and mother a warning. “Didn’t the doctor say it was a precaution?”

“He did, he did,” Alicent promises you. “Yes, just a precaution, that’s what we were told. The doctor has been trying to reach Aemond, apparently, but since he landed in Washington, he’s never in one place for long…”

“We should buy gifts for the baby,” Mimi says excitedly. “Adorable hats and shirts and trousers. Although even the tiniest clothes might be too big for him right now.”

“Yes, gifts! We must shop for gifts. Oh, it’s all been such a whirlwind. We hurried off the plane to come straight here, love,” Alicent tells you. “Can Mimi and I get you something for dinner?”

“Sure, sure.” You are distracted, still thinking of Ari. “Anything is fine. Wherever you end up.”

“Would you like me to bring a priest to pray with you? Saint Nicholas Church is right around the corner.”

You smile. “That’s very kind, but I think I’d prefer some books.”

“Baby clothes, dinner, and books. We can do that. Can’t we, Mimi?”

“We absolutely can,” Mimi agrees with tipsy, girlish enthusiasm.

As an afterthought, Alicent says: “Aegon, have you been here all this time? You must be exhausted. We’re going to book a suite at the Plaza, there will be plenty of room for you too. We can drop you off there on our way to go shopping, if you’d like.”

“I’ll stay,” he says softly, watching the rain again.

Alicent’s brow furrows; her dark doe-like eyes are puzzled. “Alright, dear.” Then she and Mimi disappear into the hall.

“Is he really okay?” you ask Aegon when they’re gone.

“Yes. That’s exactly what the doctor told me, just a precaution. I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“Aegon,” you say, and don’t continue until he meets your eyes. “Why are you still here?”

He lights a fresh cigarette. “I don’t think you should be alone.”

“I’m not alone anymore. Alicent visits me, Mimi visits me.”

“Yeah, but you feel like you have to put on a show for them. Play the perfect Targaryen wife with all that stoic, dignified, unshakable faith. You hate me, so there isn’t as much pressure.”

“I don’t hate you, Aegon.”

“Yes you do. You always have. You don’t have to be polite about it.”

“Well…I have valid reasons to hate you.”

He smiles, exhaling smoke. “Right.”

“And you hate me too.”

Now he shrugs, avoiding your gaze. “Everybody worships you, everybody thinks I’m a waste of chromosomes, is it really that hard to psychoanalyze?”

“No one worships me. They worship Aemond.”

“But you’re a package deal. Jack and Jackie, Franklin and Eleanor.”

You trace the lines in your palm with a fingertip, not knowing what to say. You’re so close to Aemond, so inseparable, and yet so vastly far. “Will you wheel me downstairs to see Ari after dinner?” It’s best to go at night when there are less staff around to try to stop you.

“Sure. You want a Mr. Misty?”

“Yeah. Lemon-lime.” That’s what he brought you last time, and it wasn’t bad for a cardboard cup of florescent green sugar water.

“Got it,” Aegon says, and leaves you alone.

You look at the phone on your nightstand. You’ve tried to call Aemond to no avail, though you spoke to Criston twice; on both occasions he said Aemond was in the middle of an interview. It’s understandable that you would have difficulty getting ahold of your husband while he’s off campaigning, leaping from town to town like an electric current. There’s nothing unusual about it at all. But Aemond could call you anytime he likes. You haven’t moved; he knows exactly where you are.

You keep staring at the phone. It doesn’t ring.

~~~~~~~~~~

It’s night again, and you swim up from morphine-soft dreams into your hospital room, dark except for the flashing color of the television, low volume, NBC news. Aegon is curled up in the chair he’s claimed, snoring and half-covered with a cheap, pale blue hospital blanket. And it’s a strange feeling—a foreign language, a new religion—to realize that you’re relieved to see he’s still here, that there’s a comfort in it, a safety.

Suddenly, Aemond is on the television screen. You sit up in bed as gingerly as you can, leaning in, listening close. He’s rarely looked better: blue suit, prosthetic eye, rested and measured and sharp. He’s giving a speech at the Hotel Sorrento in Seattle, three hours behind the time you’re living in on the East Coast. Flanking him on the stage are Criston, Otto, Helaena, Fosco, the eight charming children. Five-year-old Cosmo keeps waving at the camera.

“Right now, my wife and newborn son are at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City,” Aemond says, beaming, and the audience whistles and cheers. You should smile, but you can’t. He’s not supposed to be there. He’s supposed to be on his way home. “But tonight I’m here with all of you, fighting with everything I’m made of to win the great state of Washington. And I won’t leave until the job is done, because I know the greatest act of devotion that any of us can show our children is to ensure they grow up in a better America than the one we find ourselves in today…”

You look over at Aegon and see that his glassy eyes are open, watching the television just like you are. You don’t know how long he’s been awake. The two of you exchange a glance, and there is a silent, shared recognition of what won’t be said. You can’t criticize your husband. Aegon isn’t going to kick you while you’re down. You are grateful for this. It is a conviction he has only recently acquired.

Aegon pulls his blanket up to his chin and rolls over, turning away from you. You close your eyes and dream of being a child back in Tarpon Springs, mesmerized as you watch Greek sponge divers emerge from the bubbling depths in their suits of rubber armor.

~~~~~~~~~~

It’s the afternoon of the 13th. The Washington State Democratic Convention is being held tonight, and so win or lose Aemond will be walking into Mount Sinai Hospital tomorrow. He has to, he doesn’t have a choice. He’ll have no excuse to be anywhere else, and journalists will be swarming at the entranceway like bull sharks in the Gulf of Mexico.

It’s raining again. You’re reading one of the books that Alicent brought you, Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care. You had been meaning to get a copy before you were consumed by Aemond’s campaign and then his near-assassination, his maiming, his fleeting brush with oblivion. Aegon is cross-legged in the salmon pink armchair and plucking lazily at his guitar, singing so low no one outside the room would be able to hear him. It’s a Rolling Stones song, slow and mournful.

“You don’t know what’s going on

You’ve been away for far too long

You can’t come back and think you are still mine.”

As you flip a page and raindrops patter gently against the window, you find yourself thinking how easy this is, your hair undone and your feet bare, no photos to take or lines to remember, no practiced smiles, no overwrought itineraries, only compassion that is quiet and small and real.

“Well, baby, baby, baby, you’re out of time

I said, baby, baby, baby, you’re out of time…”

Aegon abruptly stops playing, cutting off with a twang. You look up at him. He’s gazing back with eyes that are filling up his face, glistening with horror. You turn to find out what he’s seen. There’s a doctor standing in the doorway, but he’s not alone. There’s a Greek Orthodox priest with him.

“Mrs. Targaryen,” the doctor begins, then glances to the priest. The holy man—black robes, gold chains, clasping a komboskini like the one Aemond keeps in a box on his writing desk at Asteria, stained with his own blood—gives an encouraging nod. “We’ve tried to reach your husband. We’ve called his hotel in Tacoma several times, but the senator must be out campaigning, and…” Again, he looks to the priest. Aegon is setting his guitar on the floor, covering his mouth with his hands.

Ari. Too early, too fragile, too defenseless in a world full of wolves.

Your words come out in a whisper. “He’s gone, isn’t he?”

“We must remember, child,” the priest tells you, vague patronizing pity. “That the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, but what is lost to us in this life is never truly gone. Those we love wait for us on the other side in paradise—”

“Please leave. I don’t want to talk to a priest. I don’t want to talk to anyone.”

I just gave birth to him. I just started to believe he was mine.

The doctor begins: “Ma’am, I’m so sorry to have to deliver this news—”

“I don’t want to talk to anyone, I want to be alone. So please leave,” you beg, your voice breaking. “I want to be alone. Please leave me alone.”

The doctor looks to Aegon. A man’s permission is sought. “Go,” Aegon manages, raspy and strangled, and the doctor obeys.

“God bless you and your husband, Mrs. Targaryen,” the priest says as he departs with a swift bow. You can’t reply. You’re biting back sobs as the tears begin to slither down your cheeks, scalding and furious, not just grief but the bottomless rage of Nemesis.

Aegon is watching you, not knowing what to do, not knowing what you need.

Aemond would want you to be stoic. Aemond would want you to have faith, forbearance, grace. “It is God’s will.”

“Hey.” Aegon reaches across the space between you, grabs your hand, holds it so tightly your bones ache. Still, you wouldn’t want him to let go. “You’re allowed to be fucked up about this. I am too.”

When your eyes drift to him, they are glaring and heartsick and poisonous. “Where’s Aemond?” Why isn’t he here?

Aegon sighs deeply and picks up the phone with his free hand. He spins the rotary dial with his index finger and then holds the handset to his ear. He waits as it rings. “Pantages Theater, Tacoma, Washington,” he tells the operator. A minute or more crawls by. “I need to speak to Senator Targaryen immediately. Yes, I know there’s a convention underway there, that’s why I’m calling you. Go get him.” More minutes, eternal, terrible beyond description. “What do you mean you can’t find him?!” Aegon snaps. “Okay, give me someone else. Anyone travelling with him. Criston Cole, Fosco Viviani, Otto Hightower, Helaena Targaryen. Hurry up. Let’s go.”

Outside the rain grows heavy and loud; it falls in sheets against the misty windows. In the distance, thunder growls.

“Hi, Criston, it’s me. He needs to come home now. Right now.”

Aegon closes his eyes. Criston must be arguing with him.

“No, you don’t understand,” Aegon says, forcing the words to leave his lips and ride the wires to the West Coast, to where the sun sets, to where the future is dawning. He’s still holding your hand. “Aemond doesn’t have a son anymore.”

[grimlers]

OUTLAST TRIALS OC POSTING

Dennis - Reagent

Backstory and how he got to being a reagent at Murkoff:

Born 1924 in Britain, raised as a Christian and came from a well-off family, his early years were pretty normal but as he got older, around 15-17 he realised he was a homosexual and due to societal hatred as well as how he was brought up he felt extremely wrong for it and was desperate to distance himself from it by marrying his wife, Sarah, at 19 in 1943.

Their marriage was arranged, Dennis asking for his parents to set him up and they did, Sarah agreed, genuinely interested in Dennis and having a family with him but that didn’t happen and ever since their wedding leading up to Dennis joining the RAF she began to pick up on hints of who he truly was. Their relationship was extremely strained, with Dennis being inattentive and cold to Sarah, he was never physically abusive nor did he intend to harm her in anyway, he just had a lot of hate for himself that was projected onto her.

After a few months of marriage, Dennis joined the RAF in 1944, becoming a pilot. He had a much more relaxed personality before joining the military and was overall much easier to get along with (apart from him and his wife) but came out much more blunt and cold. The military instilled a more practical and apathetic side to him purely because that’s what he needed to do when seeing death all the time. He liked the routine of the military and had three confirmed enemy aircraft’s destroyed during his service.

However nearing mid 1945 his plane (Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV) malfunctioned and crashed, he survived the crash but was stuck in the wreckage and badly injured, thus two fellow soldiers came to help him and while dragging him one was shot dead and the other captured by the enemy, Dennis wasn’t captured because the enemy believed him to be dead and so Dennis was stuck there until eventually more soldiers came and rescued him, bringing him to safety.

He was taken to recover but was honourably discharged after his injuries deemed him unfit for duty, suffering from nerve damage to his left limbs as well as shell-shock (PTSD) .He had extreme survivors guilt from the incident and felt as if he was the cause for the two soldier’s that attempted to help him fates. This made him press to be released early so he wouldn’t have to face anyone and so his burns didn’t fully heal before release.

He then went back home and found that his wife had left, house sold, nothing to stay in Britain for and so he went to America, trying for a fresh start. But when he got to America, sepsis from his burns started and he ended up in a confused daze on the streets, seemingly homeless and a perfect candidate for Murkoff.

He was then taken to Sinyala facility where his blood poisoning got worse, making him extremely confused and aggressive, causing him to seem unapproachable to other reagents even after being treated and returning to ‘normal’ because of how he started, he was a very isolated man but this didn’t bother him, caring more about where he was and the actions he had to do in trials rather than friendship.

His story is still being tweaked so sorry if there’s any gaps 😭😭🙏🙏, I’ll be posting a few of my other outlast OC’s stories/information at some point too.