#but that was established after last March in which he DID leave but not in a bad way. he was just trying to help

[alsojnpie]

If the ask thing is still allowed, is ur Papyrus purely the horrortale one or is OG Papyrus also there? Love ur art and stuff btw aaaa Ur self-ship art is so cute >\\\\\<

awwwwwe thank you :' ) i will hold your kind words tight and treasure them forever❤️❤️

and you mean my imaginary friends right?

sometimes i do imagine og papyrus because it makes me sad to think of him being left out and i love him so much. but that's more me playing with daydream toys, then him being a real imaginary friend. (which like, playing with daydream toys is kind of the first step to imaginary friend! but..)

i haven't seen the real imaginary friend him ever since years ago (i can rewind the tape in my mind and you can actually pinpoint the second his heart rips in half) and it feels insulting to force. he left on purpose. i could probably make a new one and indeed I've half-heartedly tried but again it feels rude. also that was the most tangible and least constructed papyrus in my mind so anything i make specifically to replace him inevitably feels kinda phony.

[mylovelo-ak]

meeting imbibitor lunae

pairing: dan heng x gn!reader

wc: 688

synopsis: it's been a while since dan heng left for xianzhou, and he came back looking different??

notes: established relationship; spoilers!!! wrote bc im stressed w school </3

"i don't know, himeko, i haven't been able to reach him for days."

himeko let out a light laugh before sipping at her tea.

"he's a strong guy, (name). i guarantee you he's fine."

it's been a while since you last saw dan heng on the astral express after he decided to go after the others on the xianzhou. and he hasn't been replying to your messages since. dan heng has always been quick to reply to you, so his silence was frankly, out of character.

you're worried he's been involved in something keeping him busy or in danger.

dan heng never told you anything about his life before the express, and he never mentioned anything about xianzhou. but his uncertain expression when the place was mentioned, was a dead giveaway that something must've happened before.

"well yes, but he's all alone there and—"

a loud noise cut you off, followed by march's excited voice exclaiming about something.

"well looks like they're back!" himeko smiled before getting up to greet the returning members. you follow suit, eager to see your stoic boyfriend.

your footsteps were hurried, and you only mumbled a quick hello to the rest and went straight to... dan heng?

"did xianzhou give you a voucher for a salon or something?"

dan heng looked different.

his hair was longer, ears pointed, and is that eyeliner?

"hello." was all he said as his eyes darted to look everywhere but straight at you. there was a faint blush on his cheeks, which you assume is a result of your staring.

"must've been a wild trip, huh?"

"so let me get this straight, you were reincarnated, then thrown out of xianzhou, and you're actually some former big shot over there?"

"something like that."

after slipping away from everyone, you and dan heng settled in your bed in your room. his head was nestled in your lap as you hand your back against the bed frame. it's a position you both resort to after a long day, or in this case, a week.

you were mindlessly toying with his hair, almost convinced it wasn't real. for not being in this form for so long, his hair was pretty smooth.

"can i braid your hair?" you asked, already separating strands because you knew what he was going to say. he hummed in response. he leaned into your touch and let himself relax.

it wouldn't be the first time that you've done this. he used to leave the express with tiny braids scattered in his hair.

you started at the part where his hair split into two directions. you figured it would be better to do two huge braids instead of potentially hurting his scalp by doing what you used to do when his locks were shorter.

it frustrated you a little since his position would make the braids turn out wonky and inconsistent, but it's been a long week for your poor lover, you'd rather he lie down and relax.

it took you a while to finish because you took so many breaks admiring dan heng, but eventually you did.

"hey, can you move so i can lie down with you?" you tapped his cheeks to grab his attention.

you waited but to no avail. dan heng was fast asleep on your lap. you took the time to properly look at him. he looked so different from the dan heng you first met. every feature felt amplified and a lot to take in.

you let curiosity take the best of you, tapping on the horns on his head. he frowned in his sleep. he shuffled a bit and you almost panicked that your tap woke him up. but he only moved to nuzzle further into your thigh.

he was still dan heng after all. a boy of a few words who rarely smiled unless it was with you. dan heng who loved to fall asleep on any part of you and would whine when you’d try to escape from his hug (he’d never admit to doing that when he’s awake though).

you'd endure your legs falling asleep anytime for this man.

[fdelopera]

America owes its independence to Haym Salomon, a Sephardic Jewish Patriot

A Jewish American Hero

by Yosef Kaufmann

October 17, 1781. An eerie silence takes hold over the battlefield outside Yorktown, Virginia. After weeks of non-stop artillery shells and rifle fire, the rhythmic pounding of a drum is all that is heard. Through the wispy smoke that floats above the battlefield, a British officer can be seen waving a white flag. General Cornwallis has surrendered Yorktown, ending the last major battle of the American Revolution. The surrender of Yorktown and the nearly 8,000 British troops convinced the British Parliament to start negotiating an end to the war. On September 3, 1783, the treaty of Paris was signed. The war was over.

If not for Haym Salomon, however, the decisive victory at Yorktown never would have happened.

Haym Salomon was born in Leszno, Poland, in 1740. In 1770, he was forced to leave Poland for London as a result of the Partition of Poland. Five years later, he left London for New York City, where he quickly established himself as a broker for international merchants.

Sympathetic to the Patriot cause, Haym joined the New York branch of the Sons of Liberty, a secret society that did what it could to undermine British interests in the colonies. In 1776, he was arrested by the British and charged with being a spy. He was pardoned on condition that he spend 18 months on a British ship serving as a translator for the Hessian mercenaries, as he was fluent in Polish, French, German, Russian, Spanish and Italian. During those 18 months, Haym used his position to help countless American prisoners escape. He also convinced many Hessian soldiers to abandon the British and join the American forces.

In 1778, he was arrested again and sentenced to death for his involvement in a plot to burn the British Royal fleet in the New York Harbour. He was sent to Provost to await execution, but he managed to bribe a guard and escape under the cover of darkness.

He fled New York, which was under the control of the British army, and moved to Philadelphia, the capital of the Revolution.

He borrowed money and started a business as a dealer of bills of exchange. His office was located near a coffee house frequented by the command of the American forces. He also became the agent to the French consul and the paymaster for the French forces in North America. Here he became friendly with Robert Morris, the newly appointed Superintendent of Finance for the 13 colonies. Records show that between 1781 and 1784, through both fundraising and personal loans, he was responsible for financing George Washington over $650,000, today worth approximately over $13 million.

By 1781, the American congress was practically broke. The huge cost of financing the war effort had taken its toll. In September of that year, George Washington decided to march on Yorktown to engage General Cornwallis. A huge French fleet was on its way from the West Indies under the command of Comte De Grasse. The fleet would only be able to stay until late October, so Washington was facing immense pressure to lead an attack on Yorktown before then.

After marching through Pennsylvania, with little in the way of food and supplies, Washington’s troops were on the verge of mutiny. They demanded a full month's pay in coins, not congressional paper money which was virtually worthless, or they would not continue their march. Washington wrote to Robert Morris saying he would need $20,000 to finance the campaign. Morris responded that there was simply no money or even credit left. Washington simply wrote, “Send for Haym Salomon.” Within days, Haym Salomon had raised the $20,000 needed for what proved to be the decisive victory of the Revolution.

Haym’s chessed continued after the war. Whenever he met someone who he felt had sacrificed during the war and needed financial assistance, he didn’t hesitate to do whatever he could to help.

He was also heavily involved in the Jewish community. He was a member of Congregation Mikveh Yisroel in Philadelphia, the fourth oldest synagogue in America, and he was responsible for the majority of the funds used to build the shul’s main building.

He also served as the treasurer to the Society for the Relief of Destitute Strangers, the first Jewish charitable organization in Philadelphia.

On January 8, 1785, Haym died suddenly at the age of 44. Due to the fact the government owed him hundreds of thousands of dollars, his family was left penniless.

His obituary in the Independent Gazetteer read:

Thursday, last, expired, after a lingering illness, Mr. Haym Salomon, an eminent broker of this city, was a native of Poland, and of the Hebrew nation. He was remarkable for his skill and integrity in his profession, and for his generous and humane deportment. His remains were yesterday deposited in the burial ground of the synagogue of this city.

Although there is little proof, many believe that when designing the American Great Seal, George Washington asked Salomon what he wanted as compensation for his generosity during the war. Salomon responded “I want nothing for myself, rather something for my people.” It is for this reason that the 13 stars are arranged in the shape of the Star of David.

[ilyuu-archive]

sleeping in.

haha sleep go brrrrrrrrrrr (or you’re trying to sleep with them.)

ft. caelus, dan heng & march (7th.)

warnings : mentions of nightmares (dan heng), caelus and march being menaces, established relationship, lmk if i missed anything!

a/n : the product of not being able to sleep myself

caelus.

 a gremlin, this one. either one or the other - tugs the corners of the covers over to his side, leaving you shiver in the cold in the corner of the couch bed, and not letting you sleep or plays games on his phone all night, volume loud enough for the walls to hear, and not letting you sleep (same situation either way.

or!! if you stay awake long enough, just enough to see the steam stream out of him over the hours, you'll see him sleep with the most peaceful look in all of the crevices of the universe; his hair astray yet framing his features in all the right ways, his lips slightly parted, his breathing slow and soft.

you brush a tuft of his hair that was tickling his nose, scrunching it, and though you feel that losing hours of sleep is something that you'll come to regret by every single time, it's something that you are willing to wait at least a bit for.

dan heng.

another late sleeper. doesn't particularly rest well to begin with, and when it does, it only leads him down the same room, all dark, the shadows lurking within the crevices of the archive, as consciousness starts to sift into his system once more - swear coating his skin is something to see whenever you're with him.

in those times do you lend him a hand. literally. your hand laid out to him, you stare at him for a bit as he does the same to you. there's a quiet question in those eyes of his - a few moments pass, machinery around the room softly hums, and he slowly rests his hand in yours. the warmth that he lacked quickly flowed into the palm of his hand.

from there on, though the shadows of the last continue to slither, a thread of webs slowly coming apart as time crawls, he's find himself soothed, calm, when he's reminded of the presence of your hand in his, your fingers closed in, on the small spot between the two of you. he closes his eyes, letting the silence sink in, as his lips lightly brushes against your knuckles.

march 7th.

the other, other late sleep (no one here has a consistent sleep schedule.) and of course, before even sitting on the edge of the bed yet - pillow fights, taking pictures, or simply talking the night away. the stars behind the train is a witness to all the conversations, from deep and thoughtful to light-hearted and childish, that the two of you find so entranced into, within the confines of her comfort.

feathers flies around; a snap of a camera and a flash of light; words left in the air heavy with hope and uncertainty. it's only then after all of that does she fall onto her bed, wrinkles leaving its wake in the sheets, does she pull you along with her. you find yourself next to her, just shy of her face, and there's a vibrant light in her eyes that could akin to a star itself.

she nestles herself in the nook of your neck, finding a soft comfort she needed as she settled there for what felt like minutes. it's when you hear her breath slowing down, steady, did you realize she fell asleep atop of you. her arms are locked around your waist, keeping you close to her. and you rested your hand in her hair, feeling how soft snd silky it felt as it trickled through the spaces of your fingers - it's that which lulls you asleep next to you.

general taglist (open!) : @zuyoo, @starz222, @haliyamori, @taokives, @tartaglia-apologist, @mikacynth, @angelkazusstuff, @doumalove, @kpop-and-otome, @emo-mess . . .

[venicebitch00]

Hey! Wondering if you would write a Roy Kent x reader established relationship fic

Something angsty with a nice fluffy ending ??

Thanks! X

stay, stay, stay

roy kent x reader

a/n: apologies in advance im awful at writing angst but i loveee writing for roy <3 thank you for requesting!

Roy Kent was a grouchy old man. Or at least that’s how he saw himself. He was moody and short temped, he fucking hated talking about his feelings and could barely walk up a fucking flight of stairs. And after that fucking Man City match and Jamie fucking Tartt he wasn’t even a footballer anymore. 

You were a heaven-sent fucking angel. Or at least that’s how Roy Kent saw you. You were smart and caring and funny and so fucking gorgeous. Roy knew how lucky he got with you, he heard it all the time, from tabloids to in the locker room, even from his own sister. How did someone as sweet and sickenly fucking perfect as you end up with a jaded man like himself. 

“C’mon love I wish you would talk to me” You took a seat by your boyfriend on his cold leather couch and handed him a cup of tea just how he liked it. 

Roy only grumbled in response, to which you shot him a pointed glare back, ‘Don’t know what there is to talk about, I’m a old fucking man who fucked his knee and now can’t play fucking football anymore. That’s fucking that.” 

“No that’s not ‘that fucking that’, Roy” you set your tea down to face Roy, “This is a big fucking deal and you are allowed to be sad or upset or just fucking angry.” your voice began to raise in frustration, “I just wish-I wish you would talk to me, or someone about this, Roy” your angered turn into desperation and your glossy eyes and furrowed brows made Roy’s heart feel like it was being squeezed dry. 

“I don’t need to talk to someone” he spat. 

“Roy-” 

“God you always fucking do this. You treat people like little fucking broken toys and are just dying to fix them all, aren’t you? Well I'm not going to be one of your toys to mend back together, alright? So why don’t you just leave me the fuck alone” 

The second Roy saw your trembling lips and the pool of tears that welled up in your eyes, he immediately regretted what he had said. He didn’t even know why he said it in the first place. It wasn’t even true, he knew that. But in the moment Roy would of said anything to avoid admitting how much the prospect of retiring from the only thing he felt good was killing him. 

You stared at him blankly for a moment, stunned at what just happened. Roy, your Roy, your beautiful and loving Roy had just practically cussed you out. A simple “Fuck you, Roy” was all he heard as you grabbed your purse  and marched out of his house making sure to slam his door. 

The sound of your car starting up in his driveway was enough to snap Roy out of his trance, and immediately a feeling of disgust washed over him. “Fuck.”

You woke up the next morning with puffy eyes and a throbbing headache. A sore reminder of last night's events. After storming out of Roy’s house you contemplated calling Keeley and Rebecca and asking for an emergency girl’s night. Instead you opted for weeping in your bed and getting sloshed in the comfort of your own home. 

Since usually your Sundays consisted of lounging around the house with Roy, you didn’t have any plans for the day, you refused, however to sit around a mope in bed all day long so you sent a text to Rebecca and Keeley 

“Brunch this morning? In desperate need of a mimosa x”  

To which Keeley instantly replied

“Course babe! I can pick you up at your place around 11? xx”

“Perfect.”

Rebecca just liked your original message, which you knew was her way of agreeing. So you dragged yourself out of bed and put on your favourite sundress (which also happened to be Roy’s favourite as well, but you didn’t want to think too much about that) and started to head out the door, but before you could get your keys, the doorbell rang. Expecting it to be Keeley you scurried to the door, only to find your boyfriend looking like a sad puppy. 

“Roy” was all you could manage to say. 

“What the fuck you look beautiful” he breathed. This made you notice how truly disheveled Roy looked, which admittedly made you feel slightly better. 

Your silence pushed Roy to keep talking “Fuck listen I don’t think I’m ready to talk about football or my knee or Jamie fucking Tartt but I want you to know that I’m so fucking sorry and I was the biggest prick last night” 

“You’re right, you were” you scoffed “but I get it, you’re going through a lot of shit right now and you deserve to be a little prick sometimes. I just want you to know that you can talk to me about whatever you’re feeling, I mean come on I’ve seen you cry over the List Conquers All finale, I don’t think it can get much worse than that” you both laughed. 

“I fucking love you, you know that” Roy reached forward grabbing your waist, shutting the door behind him and attacking your neck, making you sigh into his embrace. 

“Mmm no I don’t think I do” you teased.

“Well I do. I love you.” he kissed your neck “you’re so sweet” next your jaw “and brilliant” then your temple “and so fucking sexy in that goddamn dress” he picked you up, wrapping your legs around his waist prompting a loud giggle from you. 

“Fuck what time is it?” you pulled back from his dizzying kiss. 

“Why, you’re gonna time me?” he smirked suggestively. 

You swatted his chest, “no I'm going to brunch with Keeley and Rebecca” 

“Fuck no, you can’t leave me here when you’re looking like that”

“Consider it your punishment for last night” you hopped down from Roy, already missing the feeling of his body against yours. 

“I could think of a few much more fun ways to punish me” 

“I’ll see you in a couple hours” you dismissed, trying to hide the blush behind your cheeks. 

“I’ll be waiting” and he shot you one of his dizzying and incredibly rare Roy Kent smiles leaving you with one thought. 

You just might have to cut this brunch a little shorter than expected. 

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Ok so im the same person who’s been asking these endgame/superinjunction questions. I’m sorry if you may have to explain these stuff to me like a dummy, but i figured i’d rather ask than be stupid. So what you’re saying is there’s a possibility there really is some kind of deal between the palace and the murdoch establishment and it’s not simply a good old out of court settlement that involves monetary compensation, it also involves some sort of deal to supress the affair rumors? and this deal might have benefitted harry too if he waited? but also h&m and scobie believe the deal also involves bad press for the sussexes?

No worries, anon! Ask as many questions as you like. (I know I can talk in circles when I start rambling. I've even confused myself.)

I'll take your ask point by point because I think that may be more helpful and less rambly. I've also done a bit more research into what actually happened in court last year and that may be the missing piece to clear everything up.

there’s a possibility there really is some kind of deal between the palace and the murdoch establishment and it’s not simply a good old out of court settlement that involves monetary compensation, it also involves some sort of deal to supress the affair rumors?

Yes and no. What we know about the deal is in 2012ish, an agreement was made, authorized by The Queen, that the royal family wouldn't pursue litigation or claims of litigation against the News Group Newspapers (which is owned by Murdoch) until all of the other cases in the phone hacking scandal had been resolved first in exchange for an apology and a settlement (i.e. cash).

The affair rumors were not part of the original 2012 deal because, well, there were no affair rumors in 2012. Let's leave that aside for a second.

So after The Queen makes the deal with NGN/Murdoch, the BRF basically sits back and waits for all the phone hacking lawsuits and court cases to resolve. This takes about 8 years. In 2019 or 2020, NGN/Murdoch calls up the BRF and says "we're ready. Let's talk." They meet and start negotiations for the settlement. William eventually walks away with X, cash in hand.

We don't know what the terms of that settlement is. There's speculation it was $80-$90 million because someone looked up the NGN/Murdoch financial reports after Harry spilled the tea and found NGN's profits dropped by $80-$90 million. But we don't actually know.

Now going back to the affair rumors. They started in February/March 2019. Soon as it started, all the royal reporters and society reporters immediately began investigating. They were crawling all over Norfolk and talking to everyone/anyone they could but they couldn't find any evidence and kept digging, thinking it was a massive coverup. Eventually they couldn't find anything and they all stopped talking about an affair or rumors of an affair, except for one: Dan Wootton and The Sun, which is owned by NGN/Murdoch. Wootton kept investigating and kept talking about it, until all of a sudden he stopped, in June 2019. Never brought it up again.

My personal theory is as William/KP and NGN began meeting about the settlement, William had some kind of leverage that made them realize 'oh we fucked up with the affair rumors' and it was addressed in the settlement he walked away with. I've no actual idea what the leverage could be - maybe Christian Jones had something on Wootton? Maybe William did the "let's tell people fake stories and see which one gets published" thing (he's done it before) and it fingered people other than Wootton? I've no actual idea if there was any leverage in the first place. I've no actual idea if it contributed to the settlement. All I know is that The Sun stopped talking about it around the time things may have started moving to execute the 2012 deal and the timing seems important.

and this deal might have benefitted harry too if he waited?

Yes, absolutely. When The Queen initially struck the deal, it applied to all members of the royal family - so William, Kate, and Harry were covered by it. What's important to remember is that the deal was contingent on waiting out all the other lawsuits and cases first. So had Harry just waited, he would've been able to split the money William walked away with.

Instead, in 2017, Harry started getting antsy about how long it was taking to close everything out. He started pressuring the BRF to push NGN to move faster - he didn't want NGN/Murdoch's people covering his engagement, his wedding, his future children, etc. He wanted to ban them from certain events as retribution/revenge for violating his privacy and he believed that NGN was dragging out their lawsuits and cases to continue covering the royal family. (Quick aside here: Harry and Meghan did not invite the rota or members of the press to cover their wedding, as is their prerogative, but it's thought the reasoning behind this decision was because of Harry's anger at NGN's phone hacking and what he perceived was a lack of consequences.)

This goes on for a couple years: Harry keeps pressuring the lawyers to force NGN to settle and the lawyers kept saying 'no, we need to wait, remember the deal.' Summer 2019 rolls around and Harry has had enough. It's his money, he wants it now! So then Harry pulls out of the 2012 deal and begins filing two lawsuits.

Lawsuit #1: Against NGN/Murdoch

Lawsuit #2: Against MGN/The Mirror

I don't remember which one gets filed and looking it up sends me down a wormhole I can't afford to go down right now. I think the MGN/Mirror lawsuit is part of the cases that are announced in September 2019 while they're in Africa and the NGN/Murdcoch lawsuit comes some time later.

Now there are three separate cases: a) William's settlement which is still bound to the 2012 deal, b) Harry's lawsuit #1 against NGN that's part of the bundle with Hugh Grant and Elton John and all those other celebs, and c) Harry's lawsuit #2 against MGN/Mirror.

So as Harry's lawsuits begin to working through the court system, William is negotiating the terms of his settlement and at some point in 2020, he finally gets his payout and it's a big one.

Fast-forward 3 years. It's 2023 and Harry's lawsuits are finally getting its day in court. In April 2023, NGN/Murdoch is arguing that Harry's lawsuit is past the statute of limitations* and should be dismissed. Harry says 'no, actually, I couldn't file my lawsuit earlier because of a deal my granny made that I didn't consent to.' As part of that testimony, Harry has to describe the deal and that's how we know what happened in 2012 and that William got his payout in 2020. The judge decides 'Harry's right' and finds in his favor: the NGN lawsuit stays. That was in April 2023, I believe. In June 2023, Harry's back in court to take the stand (the lawsuit goes horribly awry).

*I think they call it something else in the UK though. The actual phrase "statute of limitations" didn't come up in any of my research. I'm using it here as a shorthand because it's easier for us Americans to understand. (Apologies if you're not American, anon!)

In July 2023, Harry is back in court for lawsuit #2 against MGN. MGN makes the same argument: it's past the statute of limitations and should be dismissed. Unfortunately for Harry, this judge agrees with MGN and his case is dismissed. So lawsuit #2 is done.

In December 2023, the judge from lawsuit #1, the NGN/Murdoch case, rules that the phone hacking was "widespread and habitual" awards Harry damages of $175K(ish). That's not enough. Harry wants more money, so lawyers do lawyer things and eventually, last week, Harry finally settles with NGN for damages ($175Kish) and legal fees ($500Kish).

So, long story short is this: If Harry had waited for the 2012 deal to play out, he would've walked away splitting $X million with William in 2020. Instead, because he was too impatient and too greedy, he's walking away with less than $700,000 in 2024.

How do you like them apples.

but also h&m and scobie believe the deal also involves bad press for the sussexes?

No. They do not think the 2012 deal leading to the 2020 settlement involves bad press for the sussexes.

They think William used the bad press for the Sussexes to kill media coverage of the affair rumors in 2019. They think Christian Jones made a deal with Wootton/The Sun back in 2019 involving bad press for the Sussexes to stop writing about Rose and William had approved of it because William didn't immediately fire Christian as Harry wanted when he told William of his suspicions of Christian's relationship with Wootton/The Sun.

-------------

So what actually happens in Endgame is that Scobie speculates that connections between

an abandoned investigation of the affair rumors

bad press for the Sussexes,

an embargoed report on the behavior of British newspapers (which may or may not be a superinjunction), and

William not doing anything to address Harry's concerns about Christian's relationship to Wootton

is the clearest signal that William is using the power of his position as heir to control, suppress, and influence how the media covers him. It's an implication that the power has gone to William's head.

I definitely muddied the waters for you by thinking it may all be connected to the phone hacking deal. There's no evidence that says it is - that was just me thinking "it can't be a coincidence these four things are happening at relatively the same time, and then they all just kinda stop at the same time, the same time that we now know William received a huge cash payout."

I hope this untangles things for you, anon. If it doesn't, please keep asking questions. (If anything, this round of questions led to some research that helped untangle the lawsuits for me so they're as much a chance for me to learn as they are for you!)

[er1chartmann]

Heinrich Himmler's time line

This is Heinrich Himmler, the Head of the SS, timeline:

1900: He was born on 7th of October in Munich.

1905: His younger brother, Ernst Himmler, was born.

1913: he attended his father's school in Landshut, the town where the family had moved.

1919: From April 1919 Himmler joined various Freikorps, to "erase the shame of Versailles" and overthrow the "Marxist dictatorship". These enlistments were partly due to the guilt he had for not being able to fight in the Great War

1919: In August 1919 he was already working on a farm near Ingolstadt, but his work on the farm did not last long; On September 4 he fell ill. He had paratyphoid fever.

1919: On 18 October he was accepted as a student in agriculture at the University of Munich

1922: After completing his university studies in with a diploma in agriculture, he immediately found work at a fertilizer company, Stickstoff-Land

1923: He joined the Nazi Party in 1923, card N 156.

1923: He take part in the Failed Munich Putsch, but, while Ernst Röhm and Adolf Hitler were arrested, Himmler was considered an insignificant supporting actor and therefore did not suffer punishment.

1925: He was fired and, unemployed, decided to join Erich Ludendorff's new political formation, the National Socialist Liberation Movement.

1925: During that period he also met Gregor Strasser, of whom he soon became his personal secretary.

1925: An official of the Lower Bavarian Gau, based in Landshut, he took steps to revitalize the National Socialist sections in the area. He was promoted to vice-Gauleiter of Lower Bavaria-Upper Palatinate

1928: He married Margarete Boden

1929: He was appointed Reichsfuhrer SS by Hitler.

1929: His daughter, Gudrun Himmler, was born

1931: He commissioned Reinhard Heydrich to establish the SD.

1933: When the National Socialist Party took power in Bavaria on March 9, 1933, Himmler took control of the police.

1934: In May 1934, he had command of all police forces, with the exception of Prussia.

1934: He was one of the main organizers of the Night of the Long Knives

1934: As a reward for his role, Himmler gained control of the Gestapo, the secret political police.

1934: he gave the order to search the length and breadth of western Germany, until he found the ruins of the mountain fortress of Wewelsburg

1935: On December 10, 1935, "Lebensborn e.V." was founded in Berlin.

1936: Himmler was appointed Chef der Deutschen Polizei, or commander of the entire police, political and secret activity of the whole of Germany. In this new function, Himmler could participate in meetings of the Hitler government, since his position was equivalent to that of a minister.

1936: In the summer of 1936, he had the thousandth anniversary of the death of Henry I the Birdcatcher celebrated in Quedlinburg.

1936: Himmler issued a decree to proceed with the reorganization of the German police.

1937: At the end of the renovation works, Wewelsburg had transformed into a true shrine, with dozens of statues of Henry I the Birdcatcher, Frederick of Hohenstaufen and other German heroes.

1938: on 28 October 1938, Himmler had a note spread among all SS members, according to which it was a duty for every SS man to procreate at least four children to preserve his good blood before leaving for the front.

1939: The ''Operation Himmler'' begins the Second World War

1942: Reinhard Heydrich held the Wannsee Conference, where the so-called ''final solution'' was organized

1943: on October 4 and 6 he gave the Posen speeches.

1945: Himmler appeared for the last time at Hitler's Führerbunker in Berlin on 20 April 1945, on the occasion of the Führer's birthday

1945: A few days later, on April 23, Himmler met Count Folke Bernadotte, proposing German surrender on the Western Front but not on the Eastern Front; the Western Allies were careful not to take Himmler's peace proposal into consideration; however the offer made was spread through the press and, on 28 April, Radio London announced: "The Reichsführer of the SS claims that Hitler is dead and that he is his successor". In Berlin, a Hitler in the throes of an uncontrollable rage relieved him of all his political and military duties and ordered his arrest and shooting, orders which were not carried out due to the difficult stalemate in which they found themselves all departments of the army of the Third Reich.

1945: He killed himself on the 23 of May, 1945.

Sources:

Wikipedia: Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Himmler: the sinister life of the Head of the SS by Heinrich Fraenkel and Roger Manvell

If you don't like it go with your life :))

Note: If I get new information from my research I will edit the post :))

I DON'T SUPPORT NAZISM, FASCISM OR ZIONISM IN ANY WAY THIS IS AN EDUCATIONAL POST

[project-sekai-facts]

Well just based on the news I think the February lim slot has to be a unit event unless they don't care about finishing the rotation before 3.5. January lim could go either way, but because of WxS World Link, that only leaves January lim, February slots 1 and 2, February lim, and March slot 2

Haruka is guaranteed to be one of the perm February slots. Honami could either be January lim or February 1. I think Ena is more likely to be the February lim than Toya is, especially given how the MV types line up. I mean they could do three 3DMV unit events in a row (with a mixed event in there somewhere) since the last 3DMV would end up in March if they do that, but it feels a little more likely they'd do the double 3DMV events and then the next 2DMV. Ena also hasn't had a lim banner with her as the focus (all of her unit events and both of her mixed events have been perms)

I don't know. WxS World Link kinda messes everything up, and the lim schedule is a mess

okay so first off after the stream it occurred to me that i did a big stupid and Honami 4 cannot be the lim banner this month. Lol. Because that would've required them to announce 3 event songs this wandasho channel.

So Toya4 is Toya/Kohane/An lims end of february. Calling it now. Ena I have my doubts about because you could do Ena/Mafuyu/Kaito because both girls are desperate for lims and n25 kaito will be the next vsinger lim, but considering Mizuki has never been rateup on an Ena unit event and also has the most lims in the game right now, I think a Ena/Mizuki rateup for ena4 is most likely.

I will admit I'm still very stuck on things. At the very least it's pretty much confirmed that Hona4 is slot 1 and Haruka4 is slot 2 for february.

Given Emu skipping the rateup she should've had on the current event i'd say she's most likely to be the lim event (plus i think it's too close to akito's last lim when lots of characters have gone nearly a year w/o, and kanade is capped on 4* cards rn). If we look at the characters who need a lim within the next 4 lim events, we have Toya, An, Ena, Mafuyu, Honami, and Emu. Emu already has been featured on mixed events with Ena, Honami and Toya, and we can rule out An based on the likeliness of Toya4 being lim. Emu/Mafuyu works, since they have an established connection, and n25 kaito should be the next vsinger lim and he works with mafuyu.

Also I've seen multiple JP specs that Akito will be the 3.5 event, which makes a lot of sense now that i think about it. it's either kanade, emu, or akito, and miku usually has a 4* on the .5 events. out of those characters, two of them already have a lim miku for their unit. so you could do something like, akito/miku and then maybe ena? i know she was lim on last year's .5 event but there's that 12 month limit thing that's been pretty consistent. plus, pre-established connection. honestly you could probably put Honami on there too because she has a connection to Ena.

then kanade perm mixed after 3.5 god knows who the cards would be on that.

it's patchy, but here's a visual demo of what i'm thinking rn. with this i'm also assuming Ichika/Saki 3.5 fes and Tsukasa/Emu summer fes. mainly based on the fact the WL gacha will end only 8 days before 3.5 (minori and shiho could get away with it because they at least had two weeks between cards). also saki will need a lim more than emu by that point under the assumption that next event is emu.

[beardedmrbean]

madrid — 

As Abraham Jimenez Enoa walked his 3-year-old son home from kindergarten, two men sidled up beside them.

“We know you are near your home,” one of them said.

The experience shook the exiled journalist, who says he decided to leave his adopted city of Barcelona for a while after the encounter in July.

Despite being expelled from Cuba last year for writing what he says is the truth about the country’s communist government, Jimenez Enoa says he has been targeted by unidentified men in Europe, including in Madrid and Amsterdam.

Each time, the men spoke with Cuban accents.

The journalist, who writes for The Washington Post, said he believes those targeting him are Cuban agents.

Members of his family were senior military figures, so Jimenez Enoa once lived a cushioned life at the heart of the Communist Party establishment. His family had close ties to the late Fidel Castro and Argentine Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara.

The 34-year-old turned his back on this life to forge a career as an independent journalist.

Neither the International Press Center in Havana — a government agency that handles media queries — nor the Cuban Embassy in Madrid replied to requests for comment from VOA about Jimenez Enoa's allegations.

Jimenez Enoa, like other dissidents who flee hostile regimes, says he is a victim of “transnational repression,” a tactic in which governments target critics outside their own borders.

Freedom House, which has been monitoring the phenomenon, says there were 854 verifiable incidents from 2014 to 2022, which included abductions, assassinations and attacks. Of these, 11% involved journalists.

Journalists in exile are targeted because they reveal uncomfortable facts about what is going on in their own countries — information that their governments do not want to make public.

China, Egypt, Russia, Turkey and Tajikistan were involved in the largest number of cases, according to Freedom House reports. China has been involved in 30% of the incidents, it said.

Jimenez Enoa believes the incident in July was an attempt by the Cuban government to intimidate him. He told VOA the two men approached him and said they knew where he lived.

“I didn’t know who said it. There were lots of people around,” he told VOA in an interview in Barcelona. “I saw two men who were laughing to themselves. They were dressed as Cuban diplomats [with a shirt and tie], then they went.”

Jimenez Enoa, who published The Hidden Island, a book about Cuba, said he was also followed at a book fair in Spain’s capital in May.

“At the book fair in Madrid, during the whole day, there was a man watching me and filming me. He did not say anything. Someone I spoke with said they had spoken to him and they said that he had a Cuban accent,” Jimenez Enoa recalled.

In March of last year, at a meeting in the Netherlands, Jimenez Enoa came face-to-face with a man he believes was a Cuban agent.

"A man started to offend me, saying everything I did was a lie. He continued to offend me. The organizers had to get him out of the place,” he said. “A diplomat [later] showed me a picture of the man and said he worked at the Cuban Embassy in Holland.”

Of his three encounters in Europe with what he believes were Cuban agents, the last incident was most disturbing, he said.

“I was with my son, and it was around the corner from my house. Each time these people had Cuban accents,” he said.

Jimenez Enoa said he did not report the incidents to the Spanish or Dutch police because he did not have any evidence to present.

The Committee to Project Journalists, which in 2020 honored Jimenez Enoa with an International Press Freedom Award, has called on Spanish authorities to investigate and ensure his safety.

The experiences are unsettling because Jimenez Enoa fled Cuba to avoid threats after enduring a campaign of harassment.

“I was put under house arrest; my phone was bugged. I was later arrested, handcuffed, strip-searched and questioned by security officers. Then they secretly filmed me and put my image on television, claiming I was a CIA spy,” he told VOA in an earlier interview.

“Later, they telephoned me and said I had to leave the country, or they would put me in prison and ‘terminate’ my family and the family of my wife.”

[always-outlander]

Outlander 7x06 Thoughts & Easter Eggs

Spoilers below the cut!

I wasn’t sure if we’d be getting this scene, due to the pacing of Williams storyline and how trimmed down it’s become, but I was happy to see the episode open with William arriving at Ticonderoga from Crownpoint. He’s seeking Brigadier Simon Fraser whom we learned about last episode (and who is significant in upcoming plot), and meets him for the first time there (a change from the books, where he meets him prior to the siege of the fort). They discuss their plans to March South to meet Howe, which would isolate New England. Did they hire a non Scottish man to play Simon Fraser? Cause that’s not cool if so—his accent isn’t great.

The rebels flee by boat under Jamie’s command, and he encourages the people to travel inland to avoid being seen across the water by the British. Claire tells Jamie they will need to make camp soon due to the overall state of the people they are with, and they hear the sounds of Indians nearby. They head further into the woods to hide from the Indians and Ian goes ahead to find that it is actually Red Coats pretending to be Indians to scare them. I’m fairly certain this scene happens at night in the books, and the choice to have this all play out in broad daylight, then sudden darkness when Claire goes to find Mrs Raven was slightly off putting to me.

SIDENOTE, we hear Rachel say to Mrs Raven that she already trusts Ian completely 🥰 which is cute, so I’m thrilled.

There is another abrupt cut to a super short scene where Roger talks with Lionel Menzies (his school principal, who is the cousin of our friend Rob Cameron) about Jemmy speaking Galic in class. Last episode we saw him get in trouble for that and Roger wants to speak to Menzies about her grabbing Jemmy’s ears. While they both share a love of the highlands and appreciation for the language, Menzies explains that people wish to leave the Highlands and they want to speak good English in order to leave. I love that the show continues to show the results of the rising even in the 80’s and how impactful that was culturally. Menzies asks Roger to teach a class on the language and Roger excitedly agrees, happy to be back to teaching again.

Then we immediately change to darkness and Claire walking alone in the woods searching for the Mrs Raven. She cannot handle the situation and sadly we see her take her own life right as Claire arrives. Following the gunshot, Claire is taken hostage by a red coat. Denzel comes and finds Ian and jamie to tell them that Claire is missing, and suddenly it’s daylight again. Jamie finds Mrs Raven’s body and Ian can tell soldiers have taken Claire towards the fort.

Claire is brought to a pen with other rebels and immediately begins asking a younger soldier to get water for the sick and injured. She spots Walter Woodcock who had been taken prisoner during the siege. In the books he refers to jamie as Big Red as well, but Claire did not have as close of an established relationship to him prior to this scene. He’s having issues with his chest, which Claire can tell is an embolism following his surgery. She spends the day trying to aid the people who are hostage at the fort, and continuously asking for water and food. It’s slipped up that the food is 2 days behind them.

We meet Captain Richardson again, book readers know is important. William admits that he did not deliver the messages he was tasked to at Dismal Town after he falls off his horse. This was kind of unclear to me as he does have the letters in is possession after he falls and he later gains a horse from Ian, so I’m not sure why he abandons that mission entirely without a good explanation - where did the letters go? Richardson asked why he did not read the messages for himself, and William confronts Richardson about the recipients being rebels themselves. Richardson tells him that those men are spies, and William is eager for an opportunity of redemption to prove himself again. He is given his uniform back to join the rest of the men.

In a huge change from the books, Claire walks after another red coat in search of medical supplies and—you guessed it— water, and ends up confronting William. In the show, he recognizes her, realizing she’s a rebel and she confirms that Jamie is in the militia. William confirms again that supplies are 2 days behind them, but tells Claire that he will do his best to accommodate her. I really do love Charles as William, I think he’s doing an excellent job and while I wanted to skip William’s chapters in the books, I look forward to seeing him on screen in the show.

Bree and Roger finally start discussing the tunnel and what she encountered there, which I was hoping they’d copy from the books. Last episode when she went through the portal, Bree had next to no reaction to it, so this was satisfying to see. The two of them make the connection that the dam is on the east side towards Pitlochry and the tunnel runs downwards. Roger explains that they think there’s a leyline from the Achavanic standing stones at the top of northern Scotland down to the ones at Craigh na dun. He asks if the line continues down towards the dam, and they make an educated guess that the ley lines interact with the stone circles to create some type of portal.

We finally get confirmation that the book Rogers been writing is referred to as The Hitchhikers Guide to Time Travel, and before he leaves to go and teach his Gaelic class, Bree stacks a pile of papers and hymns from his desk to bring with him.

When Roger arrives to Jemmy’s school we see him explain the cultural significance of the language and why it’s so important to hold onto it. He also tells the kids that there’s no swear words in the Gaelic, and the entire scene serves as a great reminder of the Scottish history that grabbed us back in season 1. Roger really shines in this scene, and Richard Rankin does a great job here. There’s a call back to the waulking songs which Claire partook in back in season 1 when traveling to collect the rents. He also talks about line singing, and leads a song with the students. He involves Bobby (Rob Cameron’s nephew) and Jemmy by having them pass out some hymns from Reverend Wakefield to the class. And he sings again, which we know is a big deal to him after he was hanged in season 5.

Lionel asks him to come back again and you can see Rob in the background being shady, waiting around to talk to Roger. He introduces himself to Roger and you can tell Roger isn’t thrilled after the stunt he pulled with Bree at the tunnel. Rob admits he read the hitchhikers guide to travel during the class, which is another change from the books. In the books, he only reads one page that was mixed in with the Hymns. You’d think Roger would have recognized that the book was in there, or that Jemmy wouldn’t have handed Rob a whole damn book. In the books he asks Roger if he can swing by Lallybroch to read a hymn sometime because he didn’t get to, but in the show they have him ask to come have dinner which I find weirder. Roger seems to just forgive him for locking Bree in the tunnel, and I can’t imagine she’d want him over for dinner after that.

Jamie and Ian arrive to Ticonderoga to find Claire and Ian insists he go after Claire. The Mohawk allied with the British so Ian knows they won’t bother him. They come up with a plan to lure the British away from where she’s being held. William has another soldier bring Claire her supplies and we get a great callback to the books where she asks the solider how he knew who she was. He tells her that William described her as the one with the curly wig, barking orders like a sergeant general.

Claire can just walk around and out of the gates which I find interesting, and poor Walter is faring worse now. She gives him a tea and the brandy from the flask William gave her. Walter knows he’s going to die and Claire does her best to comfort him. She asks him to think of his wife dancing and sadly she loses another patient. In the books, Claire escapes without saying goodbye to any of the people in the fort.

Ian finds her Claire in the books by sneaking up behind where she’s being held, but again there’s an change in the show and Claire spots Ian in the courtyard. Soon after, William spots Ian. Ian pretends to be a scout for Joseph Brant, and William thanks Ian for the money and care of the Hunters. William confronts him about his relationship to Claire, knowing full well he’s here to release her. At this point Jamie starts firing bows into the fort and Ian and Claire tell William the reality of his army. Claire is safest if she escapes, so Ian and William admit a life for a life. William asks to not see him again or he may not have a way to protect him. Jamie and Claire reunite and Claire has a hard time leaving the prisoners there. Claire tells Jamie she saw William and he was kind to her there. We get the line from the books “tell me of him, later when there’s time.”

They travel for a few days and rejoin the continental army and get the narration that Jamie’s term of service is almost over and they will be leaving soon for Scotland. Ian finds Rachel who had been watching Rollo. He pretends he’s come for Rollo but it’s clear he simply wanted to see her. These two falling in love is so damn cute. They have a classic meet cute hand touch and I’m really hoping we get a longer scene with the two of them soon.

We meet Daniel Morgan (look him up if you can, an absolutely fascinating man and important historical figure) who asks Jamie to come with him and tries to recruit him to join his group of rifleman. Jamie later tells Claire that he’s decided to stay and continue to fight, as he cannot leave now while the British move south. They discuss the battle of Saratoga and how it draws the French into the war and is a turning point for the American’s. She’s happy he will be fighting from a distance as a sniper. Fun fact, Daniel Morgan’s men are the ones credited for killing Simon Fraser, which book readers know is Claire and Jamie’s ticket home to Scotland.

We get the scene from the books which I love where Claire tells Jamie than women don’t make wars. Jamie explains they aren’t made for it, and Claire argues that they are just as capable for fighting for what they believe in. Jamie says women take more with them when they go, but when a man goes it’s only them when they go. A woman takes life with her when she goes, and a woman is possibility. She insists Jamie is not one man just like another but admits that it is likely the ability to create life which would make it that much harder to end it. Jamie tells Claire he’s not afraid of dying now that the kids are grown, and his grandchildren are thriving. Or rather that he’s less afraid to die, and less inclined to kill men who have not yet lived yet. In the books, this conversation happens after Denny has snuck into a camp for intelligence in the books. Claire cannot understand why he would be so wreckless and Jamie tries to explain how a young man would do anything for a cause he believes in. Even if that means getting killed in the process.

Claire tells jamie about William and I love this scene, it’s the highlight of the whole episode for me.

Then the episode ends with Roger confronting Buck after he seems him peering in through the window. Clearly this is a younger version of him. And we end with a knock out punch. I wished we got the actual confrontation in this episode but it appears we will have to wait one more to finally get that moment.

Overall another strong episode! I enjoyed it, and am looking forward to the next one, particularly Roger and Bucks storyline.

[dolphin1812]

I've been reading Hugo's The Last Day of a Condemned Man, and the edition that I have comes with a preface from 1832.

It's from before the June Rebellion (March), but it still feels quite ironic!

And Hugo's love of Louis-Philippe feels different here, too. The close relation may have played a role, just as it did in his other work, but when he writes this:

"Yet we admit that if ever a revolution appeared capable and worthy of abolishing the death penalty, it was the July Revolution. It really seemed to fall to the most humane popular movement of modern times to do away with the barbaric punishment of Louis XI, Richelieu and Robespierre, to stamp the inviolability of human life into the law's brow. 1830 deserved to break the blade of '93."

I actually don't view this purely cynically? He may have genuinely thought this at the time (especially since he was more conservative then than later in life, as is reflected in his greater skepticism of the French Revolution; he may have remained against the death penalty, but I feel like his portrayal of it here rings much more negatively than it does in Les Mis). I just think it's interesting to reflect on the difference between a Hugo who admired Louis-Philippe as a patron and who was watching his policies in the moment than a Hugo reflecting on the consequences of those policies, rejecting the institution that the man represented, and still praising the man himself.

At the same time, the expectation of greater conservatism made me forget that this is still a predecessor to Les Misérables in many ways, and his condemnation of "gentlemen" (Hugo's word) who only wanted to abolish the death penalty when it affects them -- not when it affects ordinary people, who suffer the most from it -- was a striking reminder of that. Hugo's class-related issues are present, too (he makes some strange comments about slang that I can see that digression growing out of, and while the narrator's education is important in establishing the possibility that he could have written all of this, he also links it to being "civilized"), but I think I expected it to be worse than it is? He also describes the suffering of families left behind after the death penalty takes the person they depend on, which reminded me a lot of Valjean's sister and her children. Interestingly, he also stresses the suffering of those executed who have no families, arguing that their status as orphans of society is equally tragic. It made me think of Gavroche and his lack of options if he had grown up because of his marginalization, but it was also just moving to read on its own, particularly since it argued for caring for people beyond merely the strictures of the family.

It's fascinating to see how the narrator is and isn't like Valjean as well. On the one hand, he's extremely different in that he's our first-person narrator; we rarely get insight into Valjean's thoughts, instead seeing him through the eyes of others, but here, everything comes from this one man. At the same time, I do feel like Hugo's trying to find a way towards the "everyman?" I haven't finished, but so far, we don't know what the specific crime that brought this man to the scaffold is. We do know that he's leaving behind a mother, a wife, and a daughter, and that his daughter is his chief concern. With Valjean, we knew the details of his crime, but we also had time to delve into the different facets of his life that led to such a harsh sentence, and empathy for him on the basis of his "crime" was important in critiquing poverty. Here, we need to empathize with our narrator in spite of his crime, so keeping it vague is powerful. Whether he killed or robbed to support his family like Valjean did, it doesn't matter; what matters is his life.

(And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that there's a bread thief in the novel).

Justice is also terrifyingly routine. The judges who sentenced him care less that he will die and more that they stayed up late deliberating his case. As he's being transferred, the usher drops his snuff, and when the prisoner says that he's losing more than him (as he will die), the usher complains that he'll not have any snuff on the trip to Paris, not processing that the man he's speaking to is going to lose his life. It's insensitive, of course, but it also illustrates how desensitized everyone involved in this process is.

[phoenix-is-the-hottest-thing]

To be honest when I first played Star Rail I didn’t expect them to make Luocha this shady.

Like, it’s established early in chapter 2 that the only reason the Astral Express crew gets into the Luofu is because Silver Wolf hacked them in (which almost gets them arrested). So... how did Luocha get there? How could he possibly show up after them? He wasn't already on the Luofu since he didn't know why everything was on lockdown, and he was heading out to meet with Tingyun so he wasn't traveling with her, and since HER ship was the last to come through before the Astral Express... uh??

Additionally, despite the docks being on lockdown for multiple hours, Tingyun was there with guards— what was she looking for? Survivors? Seems unlikely, since everybody was evacuated a while ago, and she’s someone from a trade guild, not a rescue professional. Sure, maybe she meant to look for Kafka, but she’s displeased when asked to do this later on… and if she’d been looking for somebody why not use a Diting to begin with, since that’s what everyone uses to track Kafka down? Is it only because she’s a Foxian and doesn’t need one, or was she looking for someone who wasn’t supposed to hide from her? Was she looking to meet with Luocha... DESPITE THE LOCKDOWN THAT SHOULD BE STOPPING HIM FROM COMING IN?

We know the amount of time between Trailblazer, March + Welt leaving and Dan Heng leaving the train by himself is something like half an hour, so there’s no way the docks re opened long enough for Luocha to casually get there by accident. Either he’s been there since before lockdown and hid (until Tingyun's ship came in?), or Silver Wolf also let him in, possibly using the Astral Express as a cover.

Then, after Tingyun's gone, a lone rookie Cloud Knight wound up in the exact same area, and found someone Tingyun missed (although the Foxians are noted to have sharper senses). If Luocha had been hiding, why wasn't he hiding from Sushang? If he wasn't hiding, how did he get into the port? It doesn't make sense... for a honest man.

I think it’s most likely that he’d been hiding in that area waiting for a contact to lead him inside the Luofu, though I’m not certain whether it would be that half an hour or two days. Tingyun was looking for him, as he later confirms that's who he was set to meet with… maybe since she was distracted by the Astral Express crew, and in Jing Yuan's direct line of sight, Sushang was sent to meet him instead?

This sounds like it could be intentional. Like, just look at the facts. Cloud Knights move in squads, but a legitimately less than two decades old rookie was sent in the allegedly evacuated danger zone (WHERE AT LEAST ONE ENTIRE SQUAD ALREADY GOT BEATEN) alone to "rescue civilians"?

Whoever thought sending Sushang alone was a good idea was using her as a tool, most likely a tool to sneak Luocha in. It’s made very clear that she is NOT strong enough to be there alone, she gets wounded and then downed even with Dan Heng’s help and Luocha has to heal her. Additionally, she has no idea about safety protocols, since she sponsors both of them in without asking questions, even though Dan Heng is forbidden from entering the Luofu.

Sushang is actually quite perfect here. She's new, she's very young, she's eager to prove herself and save people, she's very uneducated and lacks knowledge that would help her point out Luocha (or Dan Heng) as suspicious. Additionally, Tingyun does know her, as seen in her voicelines:

About Sushang Sushang is very kind and comes to my shop everday to ask: "Is business difficult? I'll help you!" "Did anyone smash your shop? I'll help you!"...

She’s the perfect scapegoat if someone needs to take the fall for dangerous people sneaking in later.

Now the question is WHY. Why would Luocha need to hide despite his cover as a merchant, why would he need to get snuck in by a naive Cloud Knight when Tingyun seemingly fails to meet him, we know he’s been on the Luofu before so this is clearly a special occasion...

And most suspiciously: Why is Tingyun's "About Luocha" line this, when he explicitly says that he was going to meet her?

A businessman from beyond the sky? And he's not on the Whistling Flames' records... Weird, why can't I remember him?

There’s also Luocha's suspicious coffin, and his Abundance alignment… HM.

Tingyun's sussy fascination with the Abundance could give her a motive to lie in her voiceline... She seems worried about Foxian lifespans. Her character stories show that she does genuinely care about Yukong and the Luofu, but considering that she only has a hundred odd years left and Yukong knew her as a child, Yukong probably doesn't have that long left. Maybe she wants to find a way to extend her life? Being her successor as Helm Master gives them a close relationship to ponder upon...

Another possibility is that she's being genuine, of course. Since Luocha has been shown to use the Abyss Flower and has the ability to reconstruct structures he understands similarly to the Core of Reason/Void Archive's power, he might have access to the memory-altering Fenghuang Down divine key, too. In which case, she wouldn't be lying...

Hard to tell which is the liar for now, though.

As for WHY he might have these divine keys, whether it's because Luocha could be Void Archives in disguise, or because he's a callback to Seven Swords visual novel's version of Otto Raksha, also remains to be seen. Both are in the realm of possibility.

Since an Emanator was the one to sneak it in... Could it be Luocha, and the Stellaron was once hidden in that coffin…? "Someone he met once" seems to be something of an understatement considering dangerous vines seem to be coming from it. Dude are you hiding a whole ass Yaoshi in there or something?

Conclusion:

Luocha is suspicious, and either him, Tingyun, or both are lying.

Tingyun was most likely looking for Luocha when she met the Astral Express crew instead.

Sushang is being used big time, though Luocha doesn't seem to have it out for her at least (he had numerous opportunities to let her die and didn't) so we can probably count on him continuing to keep her from dying. I'm sure this will not backfire in any way. Cough.

[lol-jackles]

I hope you can help settle something between me and a mutual. We both love Jared and Walker. We know that CBS is the studio behind Walker and CBS and CW went into a bidding war to bring Walker in CW.

We learned (from you actually) that Jared had a holding deal with CBS during s15 of SPN.

Our question: How long is Jared’s holding deal with CBS? I thought it was only for one year but my friend thinks that Jared is still under contract with CBS separate from Walker and it is a five year holding/EP deal.

Who is correct?

You are correct.  Talent holding deals are generally 1 year or 1 tv season. 

However, I think CBS approached Jared in 2018 with an offer of a holding agreement, which was during season 13.  Before you get mad at Jared, the risk of not accepting the offer is getting blacklisted (CBS studio is anti-star making) and by the time SPN reach its inevitable end in a few years, the blacklist could still be in effect.

It’s why Jared and Jensen said in 2019 that they decided during season 13 to give the show “two more years”.

Jared was originally scheduled to leave SPN after season 14 and WB played around with the idea of a Jensen-led season 15 and promoting Misha to regular status.   On September 10th, 2018, CW released the official SPN14 poster.  While Jared is on the prized right-side position, nonetheless Misha on equal scale and near identical face position as Jensen.

Then WB and CBS worked out an agreement to let Jared stay on SPN for season 15 to wrap it up because WB has no plans to continue SPN without Jared.  March 22, 2019, during filming of the season’s finale, they officially announced that SPN’s 15th season will it’s last.  Imagine Misha’s dismay as he thought he would finally get promoted to second lead in season 15.  I imagine the announcement felt like a giant middle finger to him.

So Jared's holding deal end up being 2 years instead of the standard 1 year or 1 tv season.

The only time a talent has a multi-year agreement is if they are producing multiple projects for the studio, and the holding deal is included in the agreement to keep the talent in front of the screen. Jared does not have a production company so his original talent holding deal technically does not include executive/producing.  However, given the success of Walker and his positive influence behind the scene, the next agreement with a studio could be an overall deal (studio gives him an established production company) that includes a holding deal so that Jared continues to appear on screen in studio projects. 

The main goal of holding deals is to keep other studios from poaching a talent, and then put the talent in an acting role as a lead, or if the project isn't picked up, then a supporting role in an existing project. This is why I've said that Jensen did not have a holding deal because at the very least he would have shown up as a long-lost second cousin in NCIS in a guest or recurring role.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 10/17/2023

started explaining why this one is a little lighter than last week's gallery wall behemoth bc of a uhhhh kind of dire week, personally and professionally speaking, but then realized when fic authors do that in front of chapters i don't actually care or require an excuse from them, im just delighted to have a new chapter.

listening

this is a deeply cheesy little folk song but the lyrics "man you name it and if we ain’t got it: we’ll get it" gave me a sensible chuckle.

now for a moment to expound upon houston: they truly have imported every possible food service establishment. the two chains i miss most from jersey, jersey mikes submarine sandwiches and 7-11 gas stations, are both here. i get that this is the fifth largest metro area in the US or whatever but both of these companies are SO niche. absolutely bonkers. spotify.

i think this started autoplaying after a playlist inspired by f/allout: new v/egas came on??

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reading

i originally had a very mean-spirited graf about the utility of a pool in northwestern massachusetts and the kind of person who can comfortably lose $31k, but it is genuinely awful that there are no rules around zelle. that money goes into a black fucking hole and there's no way to get it back, which is not the case for any other kind of recognized money except cryptocurrency

Did we confront Gary Kruglitz [the pool contractor]? Yes we did. We marched right into his office and grilled him hard until he defeated us with a simple and probing question: What's a zelle? It defied belief, we quickly realized, that a man who had been trapped in technological amber since the Nixon era was running a cyberscam designed to come between us and our money out of an AOL account.

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watching

Van Helsing (2004, dir. Sommers). this movie is horrible. this movie is terrific. i don't have anything to say about this movie bc i was distracted by equal opportunity tits and asses the entire time. the time of the “Kate Beckinsale in a corset” movie genre is long over but GOD. watched with my sister bc it's leaving tubi soon

playing

one week i will have the energy to try New Thing but until i do it’s genshin. there's a poetry event that has terribly boring minigames, but the story quest has finally tied a bow on a piece of folkore we came across in the very first release so that was fun!

wrapping up some stuff in sumeru bc im running out of map pins, this game has done one of the things i hate most: progress-locking one extremely long and tedious collectible hunt (the music gates) behind another extremely long and tedious collectible hunt (the robots locked in the vines). the next time i see one of those little fucking budget koroks i am going to drop kick it into the sun. what the fuck is the circumference of teyvat anyway. it feels like we have explored so little of this planet's surface

i have graphics turned down pretty low bc of performance issues on my elderly laptop and this is still such a remarkably pretty game. look at this big estuary leading off into the distance

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making

i wildly overextended myself this week, partially bc im trying to take advantage of this brief post-covid heightened immunity. lot of dinners. lot of late nights. on top of that BOTH of my siblings were in town for unrelated professional reasons this week :) no overlap so we did not have a nice fambly dinner :( but did have pretty okay separate dinners :) if they could learn to fucking communicate their trave plans and the number of peope that will be showing up at my home that would also be pretty okay >:(

one of the party games i played this week asked the question “what could you give a 40-minute PowerPoint presentation on” and i started saying facts about the downfall of the penn central railroad and they very nicely let me continue saying facts about the downfall of the penn central railroad, the largest bankruptcy in US history until ENRON, until the round timer went off.

i have some thoughts about Train Guys and how it's very easy to fall into being a Train Guy, bc there's a very easy template to follow, and there's a lot of Train Guy content, and have i been doing this bc i actually like trains, or bc it's easy to listen to Well There's Your Problem on repeat bc it's familiar and comforting, or do i just really really really fucking hate flying?

who could possibly say.

mackintosh update: allowed herself to be scooped up by my brother (who she met at christmas and loves) but did NOT allow herself to be pet by the strangers in his company. did hang out in the middle of the floor observing tho. a regular little extroverted socialite!

[eretzyisrael]

by Collin Anderson

Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, the Harvard University graduate student who was filmed accosting an Israeli classmate at a campus protest, penned an essay last year glorifying a Palestinian terrorist who was imprisoned for her role in attempting to bomb a movie theater in Jerusalem in 1967.

"When I started learning about Palestine, I was always struck by the women who featured prominently in the movement's work," Tettey-Tamaklo wrote in a March 2023 article published in the Institute for Palestine Studies. "However, one woman's story struck me and has stayed with me ever since: Fatima Bernawi."

Regarded as the first female Palestinian terrorist, Bernawi attempted to bomb the Zion Cinema in downtown Jerusalem in 1967 by leaving an explosive in her handbag. An American tourist spotted the bag and alerted an usher, foiling the plot. Bernawi was nonetheless sentenced to life in prison and said subsequently that her attempted terrorist attack was not a "failure" given that it "generated fear throughout the world."

"Every woman who carries a bag needs to be checked before she enters the supermarket, any place, cinemas and pharmacies," Bernawi said in a 2015 interview. "All my life I had dreamed about it," she said.

Tettey-Tamaklo's essay refers to the attack approvingly. He writes that Bernawi "nearly carried out an attack on an Israeli establishment frequented by Occupation Forces (IOF)" and subsequently made "history as the first woman to be arrested by the IOF."

He concludes that "a true appreciation and celebration of underrepresented histories of Palestinian women like Bernawi—among others—cannot be relegated to the dusty corridors of history."

At the time the essay was published, Tettey-Tamaklo, a second-year student at the Harvard Divinity School, served as a proctor, a supervisory role in which graduate students live among freshmen and support their "adjustment to Harvard."

Tettey-Tamaklo was removed from that role, however, after he was captured on video accosting a Jewish student at an October "die-in" protest held on Harvard's campus to assail Israel's retaliatory attacks on Hamas.

Tettey-Tamaklo and other protesters pushed, shoved, and surrounded the Jewish student, using keffiyehs to block their own faces and the Jewish student's view, according to footage first reported by the Washington Free Beacon. The protesters repeatedly shouted "SHAME!" as the Jewish student said "don't grab me" and "don't touch my neck."

Prominent Harvard Business School alumni cited the ordeal as proof that the Ivy League institution failed to protect its Jewish attendees. Weeks after the letter's publication, in November, Harvard "indefinitely relieved" Tettey-Tamaklo of his proctor duties.

Tettey-Tamaklo's allies on Harvard's campus responded by circulating a petition that demanded Harvard reinstate the Divinity School student. The Harvard Law Record published a December article arguing that Tettey-Tamaklo was a "peaceful protester" attempting to "de-escalate" a "minor confrontation" between the Jewish student and protest attendees.

It's unclear if Harvard was aware of Tettey-Tamaklo's essay when it tapped the divinity school student to serve as a freshman proctor. The school did not respond to a request for comment.

Notwithstanding Harvard's decision to strip Tettey-Tamaklo of his proctor rule, he remains in good standing with the school, according to a January lawsuit that accuses Harvard of failing to combat "outrageous antisemitic conduct."

[jurakan]

Fun facts about the Crusades?

Today You Learned about Frederick Barbarossa.

I wasn't planning to use his profile pic from Wikipedia, but I just thought it looked kind of funny.

Born in 1122, Friederich I, nicknamed 'Barbarossa' because of his red beard, was the Holy Roman Emperor. This dude has a reputation as a badass. See, the Holy Roman Empire (not the same as the Roman Empire you probably think of) wasn't quite as awesome as it had been in the past, so Friedrich wanted to fix that. Upon ascension to the throne, he solidified his power base, did international politicking like a pro, made friends with the Pope (though his relationship with the Papacy later turned sour), and proceeded to wage several major campaigns in northern Italy to re-establish Holy Roman presence there.

He grabbed the relics of the Three Magi and put them in Cologne, Germany, where they're kept to this day. He worked hard to get Charlemagne canonized--which kind of happened, by an antipope though, so it doesn't actually count for us Catholics. He built a friendly rapport with the Byzantines. And then he built tons of family connections by getting kids hitched to Italian nobles.

Also! Fun fact: while he later put a tax on the Jewish population of his kingdom, he also passed laws protecting them, and punishing anyone who would preach against or harm them. Which in this point of history is mind-blowing.

Dude didn't have a spotless record, but he was a certified badass and experienced statesman.

And then the Third Crusade happened.

After a sermon pitching another Crusade, Freddy Barbarossa asked an assembly if he should take the Cross. The crowd overwhelmingly cheered for it, and so he did, making preparations to go East and free the Holy Land. And this Crusade was going to be AWESOME, right? Three Kings on Crusade: Frederick Barbarossa, Philip II of France, and... some guy from some island people hardly cared about.

[That last one's an exaggeration, but I'm doing it for dramatic effect so stick with me.]

Philip and the other guy decided to sail. Friederich went over land, with an army a hundred thousand strong, with tens of thousands of knights. This was THE SHIZ, man, he was going all out. They had some opposition on the way, because some kingdoms don't like it when you march an army through them! But they pushed through, and this was going to be the Most Awesomest Crusade Evah. Saladin was quaking in his boots.

So, uh... yeah, he stopped somewhere on the way there, and uh... drowned.

Goshdarnit, Friederich.

There are conflicting accounts as to how that happened. Some say he went swimming across the river and drowned in unexpectedly strong currents. One account says he got thrown from his horse and drowned because he was in his armor. Some (including some Saracens) declared it was God's punishment.

Regardless of exactly what happened, we still had a dead Holy Roman Emperor. A lot of his army just packed up and went home. Philip of France saw that the biggest guns for this operation were gone, and decided he's also turn around. Without Frederick Barbarossa, it was going to be a bust.

And so that third guy, that nobody from a backwater? He decided not to go home. He decided, "Screw it! Frederick's dead, and the French are leaving! I'll do this Crusade on my own!" And he did; it made his career (and arguably bankrupted his country). For his role in the Third Crusade, Richard, the last guy standing, was later known as "King Richard the Lion-Hearted".

[Okay, so England wasn't exactly a backwater no one cared about, but it wasn't considered as important as France or the Holy Roman Empire. Richard helped make them more noticeable on the medieval world stage.]

For whatever reason, some people decided that it was difficult to believe that Frederick got himself killed so lamely. So there's a popular German legend that came up in the Middle Ages claiming that he's not dead, he's just sleeping under a mountain somewhere, and will pop back up when he's needed.

Of course, given German history, you can probably guess what unsavory sorts co-opted this story, or the imagery of Frederick as the great warrior king, while also forgetting that he put up historic protections for the Jewish people. The Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union was titled "Operation Barbarossa" after this guy.

Nazis suck and they lie about history. What else is new?

Putting the 'fun' back in 'Fun Fact', Barbarossa's death is also a major Plot Point in the novel Baudolino by (the notably anti-fascist) Umberto Eco, where it's turned into a bit of a mystery. Also there's a lot of weird stuff in that book, and Barbarossa's death is maybe the least weird thing going on.

Hope this was an enlightening Fun Fact for you!