#rumor history

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

I can’t respond to comments with this account (only my primary) but I wanted to answer this!

This is all Harry says about Diana’s engagement ring in Spare:

“Soon after we returned to Britain the Palace announced that Willy was going to marry. November 2010. News to me. All that time together in Lesotho, he’d never mentioned it.

The papers published florid stories about the moment I realized Willy and Kate were well matched, the moment I appreciated the depth of their love and thus decided to gift Willy the ring I’d inherited from Mummy, the legendary sapphire, a tender moment between brothers, a bonding moment for all three of us, and absolute rubbish: none of it ever happened. I never gave Willy that ring because it wasn’t mine to give. He already had it. He’d asked for it after Mummy died, and I’d been more than happy to let it go.” (Chapter 40)

The rumor about Diana’s engagement ring was actually started by Paul Burrell. He gave an interview (either sometime between 1997 - 2010 or around the time William and Kate became engaged) in which he said that the brothers each chose one thing of Diana’s; Harry chose the ring and William chose the watch, and they both agreed that whoever married first would get the ring to propose with. Everyone fell for it. Because, at the time, Paul was still considered a reliable expert on all things Diana’s boys. He didn’t really fall out of favor with the Diana crowd until much more recently. 

Six years later, Meghan showed up wearing a watch that she claimed was Diana’s, which gave new life to Paul’s claims that Harry chose the ring, William wanted the watch, and they swapped when William wanted to propose to Kate. Which then led to all of the “William stole the ring from Harry and it really belongs to Meghan” stories/PR from Sunshine Sachs. 

There’s another blog around here (either Plant or Empress) who did a quick analysis and found that Meghan’s PR talked about Diana’s ring every couple months like clockwork, usually timed for either when Kate was doing something or when Meghan needed some positive press.

So, firstly, I am really honestly super surprised that Harry didn’t talk more about Diana’s engagement ring in Spare. For someone who’s obsessed with what the press says about him, surely he knows what people are saying. He probably thinks that “absolute rubbish: none of it ever happened” is enough to close the door on that conversation. But...Harry doesn’t know the calls are coming from inside the house. He doesn’t know or he doesn’t accept that Meghan is the one telling people that the ring belongs to her, because she totally drank the koolaid.

Secondly, if you haven’t read Spare, it’s divided into three parts. Part 1 is Diana’s death till just before his first deployment. Part 2 is his first deployment till just before he meets Meghan. Part 3 is meeting Meghan to Platinum Jubilee. (Prologue is Philip’s funeral, Epilogue is Queen’s funeral. Dude has a secret obsession with death, IMO.) Anyway, Meghan’s fingerprints are ALL over Part 3, but not in Parts 1 or 2 - and the most embarrassing stories about Harry are in Parts 1 and 2. This suggests that Meghan didn’t bother reading Parts 1 and 2, focused only on herself like the narcissistic celebrity she is.

She probably didn’t even know that Harry talked about Diana’s engagement ring and blew her game. So it’ll be interesting to see if we get any new articles about Diana’s engagement ring being taken from Harry and actually belonging to Meghan now.

(I don’t think Paul was ever there when the boys reviewed Diana’s possessions. He probably heard about it from someone who was there and spun it like he himself had organized and facilitated the boys’ visit. And no one doubted it because that’s how Paul branded himself after Diana passed - he was her loyal servant, her trusted confidante, her gatekeeper. It also certainly didn’t help that The Queen saved his hide by rescuing him from litigation over the theft of items from Diana’s home.)

Edit: Hangry typos.

[navree]

"rhaenys could have ended the war by dracarysing all the greens right there" yes because a distant relation to the throne deciding to barbecue an anointed and publicly positively hailed king and his entire family who is well loved within the city and in multiple other parts of the country for the sake of the succession of a far-away princess no one was ever on board with who hasn't been seen by the populace in literal years, her psycho husband, her three obvious bastards, and two toddlers from the psycho husband would go over super well with westeros and especially in king's landing where scores of the still-cheering population were killed for no reason by that same dragon who would do the barbecuing, because when targaryens act unilaterally without thinking of how the people would react there's never any problem, which is why the storming of the dragonpit and robert's rebellion were actually just collective delusions dreamed up by readers who hate rhaenyra and not key parts of the story and house targaryen's history that directly contributed to their demise and are intrinsic to the plot

truly team black stans are made up of only the most genius and media literate amongst us

[f1-stuff]

shellmotorsport Get to know @.charles_leclerc and @.carlossainz55 a little better as they play Two Truths and a Lie!

[sourbombz]

Sigh like months ago I did try drawing the spookys jumpscare mansion protagonist but jm not rlly a fan of how I decided to draw them they can get a redo later I think. But yeah uhhhh IS there a spookys fandom ?????? I don't know but if you exist here you go

[setarmare]

head empty, only the headcanon of nebarra being in the prime position of playing the dragonborn's traitor somewhere down the line. the judas, one would say. did he have a reason to do it? did the dragonborn know? was it actually a betrayal, or layers of history muddying the truth? was he... actually right to do such a thing?

who knows...anw.

[independent-fics]

Thinking about Sophie’s dramatic death in the “San Lorenzo Job” today and how many Leverage altered things will be written in history books people will have no explanation for.

[memorable-epocha]

Facts about James Madison Vol. 1

(Because I’m bored and everyone should be enlightened with some James Madison)

James Madison walked with a small spring in his step, considerably to make himself appear slightly taller than he was

Because of the soggy and mushy climates surrounding William and Mary College in Williamsburg, James Madison instead went to the College of New Jersey (Princeton) for his health

James Madison, along with Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, created the Republican Party (also known as the Democratic Republican Party or Jeffersonian Republican Party) in 1792

James Madison’s wife Dolley Payne was gifted a pet parrot named Polly— who was notorious for being aggressive towards humans (thus biting Madison’s finger in front of guests during one occasion)

James Madison personally knew Aaron Burr and Philip Freneau ever since they were all in college

James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, reported by a girl walking down the street, could once be seen playing with a neighbor’s pet monkey

James Madison had a long-lasting five decade friendship with Thomas Jefferson

James Madison would eventually have a fall-out with not only Alexander Hamilton, but also George Washington over the belief of federal government and a national bank by the early 1790’s

While Thomas Jefferson in France, he and James Madison would enjoy measuring animals, comparing them to their counterparts (North American animals compared to their similar species in Europe), and telling each other of their findings

James Madison, while he was in college, would last on a five-hour sleep schedule due to studying until he collapsed from a breakdown (this made him stay at the college for an extra year to restore his weakened health)

James Madison had never been good with marital relationships (being allegedly rejected by Freneau’s sister Mary and dumped by Kitty Floyd in the 1780s), but eventually married the 26 year-old widow Dolley Payne in 1794

James Madison was a MASSIVE fan of ice cream, along with his wife Dolley, whose favorite flavor was oyster

[felixpretzel]

Do people still argue back and forth via letters to the editor? Just learned that Harold Bride and Charles Lightoller got into a little bit of a spat in the 30s over Lightoller's characterization of Jack Phillips

[spaceacerat]

Sparda only has portraits because he was afraid the rumors of cameras stealing souls in the Victorian era was correct. Didn't want his boys losing their human souls :/

The dude just has a bunch of misconceptions from 2000 years of hearing human rumors and trying to figure out technology that evolved so fast compared to what demons have

[foreverinthepagesofhistory]

~ Rumors About Our Daughter ~ (fan fiction requested by @historical-epic)

Rumors questioning Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria’s legitimacy have been circulating within the Austrian Court. What do her parents think about this? What do they do?

Characters: Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, Empress Elisabeth of Austria

Valerie heard her mother talking to a random maid servant in the drawing room of their summer home Kaiservilla in Bad Ischl. Thought it sounded more like arguing to her.

“Don’t you dare make such treasonous accusations!” Elisabeth shouted, loud enough for 8 year old Valerie to make out what she said. 

“Y-Y-Your Majesty….I didn’t mean to…I was just implying that”

“What, that my daughter is illegitimate? That her father is not The Emperor? How dare you!”

Valerie had never heard her mother this angry before. It was quite shocking, more shocking than the rumors of her own illegitimacy. 

These rumors were swirling in and out of Kaiservilla for months now, mostly the fancy talk of lower servants. When the imperial family arrived, the servants had to be more careful about their gossiping and shut out their willful thoughts as these thoughts could imprison them for life, or even worse, death.

Emperor Franz Joseph I was married to Duchess Elisabeth of Bavaria, who later became Empress Elisabeth of Austria by marriage. But everyone close to her called her either Mother or Sisi. 

Together they had four children. Archduchess Sophie, who died young, Gisela, Rudolf, and Marie-Valerie. They all lived somewhat happy lives although there were problems in all.

Franz and Sisi had to bear the burden of ruling an all powerful Austro-Hungarian empire, Rudolf had to bear the burden of being heir, Gisela had to bear the burden of being unloved by her parents (it was very complicated), and Valerie now had to bear the burden of various rumors spreading about who her real father was.

There are plenty of servants and nobles who live at Kaiservilla and that means that there are various mouths to blab whatever they want about whoever they want. 

A few months ago, the topic of Empress Sisi and her lover Count Andrássy was being spoken about and somebody must’ve put together that Valerie might not have been her father’s daughter.

These were obviously just nonsensical rumors because Valerie was Franz’s child. She was legitimate. 

But Valerie herself didn’t know that and neither did all of the servants who had been blabbing their mouths off for months. 

“Get out of my sight! Sisi practically screamed at the frightened chamber maid who unfortunately gossiped at the wrong time to a footman.

The maid scurried off and Sisi sat down on the nearest chair and was trying to hold in tears.

“Mama..” Valerie walked in from the other room. “Was that maid talking about me?” She asked.

“Oh darling” Sisi held out her hands to embrace the trembling young girl who started to cry.

“Don’t pay any mind to what that filthy servant said. It was all lies and it wasn’t true at all.”

Sisi stroked her daughter’s unruly dark brown hair and continued to do so until Valerie broke the embrace.

“But Mama…I heard it all…I don’t know what this all means.” Valerie was on the verge of hysterics. 

Seeing her mother so upset ignited something in her that is usually hidden away. It made her angry and confused and utterly upset.

“Valerie darling” Sisi soothed. “All you have to believe is that you are your father’s daughter, you are my daughter. If somebody said that you aren’t then shame on them!” 

Sisi gave her youngest daughter a little playful slap which turned the sad frown on Valerie’s face into the wide smile that would be seen playing outside with her dogs or drawing pictures with her mother.

“You are Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria, youngest daughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, King of Hungary. That is who you are and you can’t listen to anybody if they say otherwise, especially the nasty servants who gossip.” Sisi softly placed a hand on Valerie’s face.

“Okay Mama, I love you very much.” The two hugged firmly again.

“Next time Valerie, don’t eavesdrop okay?” Sisi said strictly, but with a laugh.”

“Okay Mama!” Sighed smart Valerie as she skipped out of the room.

~

Later that night, when Valerie was doing her nighttime prayers, Sisi was informing Franz about the events of the day.

“Franz, darling,” Sisi spoke to her husband who was sitting calmly on the bed taking his boots off.

“Many people are questioning Valerie’s legitimacy, today I caught a maid servant gossiping with a footman. I’m greatly concerned.” Sis went over to sit next to Franz who wrapped his arm around her.

“Darling, you know those rumors are false. I remember the night we conceived. It couldn’t possibly be anyone else. What makes you so worried?” Franz said

Sisi wanted to say that the rumors were specifically stating that Count Andrássy was the suspected father and that she never did anything with him except one small kiss, but she couldn’t say that to her husband. 

She loved Franz and Andrássy’s kiss brought her no affectionate feelings, minus disgust and anger, but this was just not the right time.

That was a story for another day.

Sisi decided to tell Franz the truth about half of the worries about this situation.

“I’m worried because Valerie was in the other room and she could hear me yelling at that maid.” Sisi was close to tears.

“She has never heard me that angry before and she came up to me afterword and was quite distressed...” Sisi wept into Franz’s arms while he gently stroked her back.

They might not have been passionate soulmates, but after all these years of marriage, Franz still loved Sisi, and the feeling was mutual.

“Sisi darling hush now, I will talk to her, I promise.” Franz stated his wife in the eye and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

He then exited the room and let Sisi undress peacefully.

As Franz was walking to Valerie’s rooms, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking more deeply about the rumors.

Why would anyone think that Valerie is not my daughter?

Valerie heard a sudden knock on her bedroom door.

“Valerie, darling, it’s Papa, can I come in?”

“Enter.” Valerie spoke softly as her nanny calmly put the book away and exited the room.

Franz came in and slowly sat down on Valerie’s bed.

“What’s wrong Papa?” Valerie noticed the solemn look on her father’s usually joyful face. At least he was joyful when she was around.

“Valerie…” Franz spoke in a nervous but fairly calm tone. “Mother told me about what happened today.”

Valerie’s face fell into a sad frown.

“Does everyone think like that maid thinks?” She said desperately. “Mama says that I shouldn’t listen to them…but I did.”

“Oh Valerie my dearest,” Franz wrapped his daughter in a tight embrace and rocked her around like he did when she was a baby. 

“Look in my eyes, Valerie, you are my daughter. Nothing can or will ever change that.” Franz was disgusted by these ugly rumors. His heart knew that Sisi could’ve and would’ve been unfaithful at times, and he could’ve been too. But he knew deep down in his heart that Valerie was his child, nothing could convince him otherwise.

“Papa is that really the truth?” Valerie asked longingly.

“Darling,” Franz cooed. “It will forever be the truth.”

“Oh Papa I love you so much!” Valerie gave her father a kiss on the cheek and a tight squeeze before hopping under her covers.

Franz kissed the little girl goodnight and exited calmly.

He knew that everything was going to be okay, and if not, he would take care of it.

~

[forgottenroderick]

The Boy King: A Prelude

excerpt from GOD'S OWN CHAMPION by Dr. K. Aa, a stunning new biography of Roderick the Terrible, himself. Armed with the recent discovery of a trove of letters sent to and from the emperor's court during his fabled reign, Dr. K. Aa has published her much-awaited new biography on the most controversial emperor in Astairan history. Available wherever books are sold. Preorder your copy, today!

EDUCATING AN EMPEROR

roderick's early life, in terms of the history annals, would appear to be a relatively quiet affair in which a little-known second son received a sterling education. in the years to come, there would be much speculation about roderick's childhood, with some historians claiming that he was undoubtedly his father's favorite -- how else could the boy have emerged w such confidence as to topple so many nations? others would cite quiet determination as his mindset -- a humble beginning overshadowed by the spectacular future, but fewer would be those few who would hit upon the truth.

the records of roderick's elder brother were detailed, drenched with near-obsessive care for a father whose favoritism would prove extreme. For this firstborn son, the finest tutors in the world were shipped from across the continent to instruct the young prince, his tutelage ranging from warcraft to statescraft, with individual scholars cultivated to instruct him in philosophy, science, alchemy, falconry, oratory, art, history, and every other pursuit a young royal might anticipate. what is less sure is the education of the heir apparent's younger brothers. did they, too, benefit from the scholastic training heaped upon their elder brother and, even, upon their elder sister?

a recent cachet of letters gives us, perhaps, a touch of insight upon the question. dated from the early part of her reign, roderick's second of many queens writes the following to her brother, godfrey of hanthom. "...and when i asked my husband whether he should suffer one man to give instruction to both his sons, when the time came for edmund and arthur to be educated, he replied that any crafty man may learn from his brother's tutors, if he cares so to do..." while the document is fragmentary, this retort does give some insight into the mind of the emperor. it seems he had already thought carefully about mining a brother's instructors for information, suggesting he may have gleaned something from his own experience of the kind.

nonetheless, the question cannot at present be known for certainty. what is certainly fact, however, is that roderick's own education, while certainly planned to be much the inferior to his brother's, was quite well attended as well, with roderick's tutors (though of less quality), instructing him on a similar variety of subjects.

this very early matter of education is the first openly observable rift between the two families of roderick's father, for it was not only lines of gender, as might be persumed by the culture in which roderick was raised, that lesser tutors were engaged: it was upon the matter of mother, for roderick and alaric were born to the old king's second wife. yet, for all the care put into his half-siblings' studies, the truth is that the surviving children of the original dynasty were all gotten on the king's second queen.

...

A KINGLY FATHER

there has been much speculation upon the relationship of roderick with his father, but with the recent discovery of his body and the CT scans run over it, it seems many of the tales -- long relegated to the status of mere myth by scholas -- may indeed be true.

most readers will already be familiar with the colorful tale of the king beating his young son half to death, each blow bloodying the child till, at last, the horrified monarch gathered his comatose boy in his arms, shrieking and wailing for what he had done. most scholars have been quick to dismiss the lurid tale as nothing more than propaganda meant to drum up some scientific explanation for the horror that would follow -- yet, it may prove just that. according to the story, the boy was comatose for three days and, when he at last awakened, was never quite the same afterwards.

his remains indicate that this may, in fact, be true, his skull itself wearing the marks of his trauma. says dr. bonespert, "There is very clear evidence of brain and skull trauma from a very young age written here in the bones, badly healed over fractures showing damage to a growing child. did the king truly knock down his own child and bash his head repeatedly against the marble floor till it ran red with blood and he wept his remorse over the boy, like the stories say? who can really know? but something terrible did happen to this person in his teen years: its right here in his bones. that much we can see for certain."

THE FIRST ASSASSINS

there is another story, as well, that might perhaps account for roderick's childhood injury, though source materials say that he was in his twenties at the time, already king and beginning his bid for empire. according to sources, roderick stood before a cheering crowd, arm raised as he made a speech upon the glory of empire. writers of the time note how his eyes shone, his voice booming with certitude: this, they said, was the very image of a king in his prime.

all, however, did not agree, it would seem, for one amongst the crowd leapt upon a ledge with bow and arrow and shot at the young king. for a moment, the writer notes in horror, the young ruler stood staring at his attacker before raising his arm and pointing one finger towards him even as blood coating roderick's whole side. "he looked an angry god," writes the witness. "and next he looked nothing at all." next thing anyone knew, the king stumbled back, collapsing from the parapet. the would-be assassin was signed and hanged, drawn, and quartered for his transgression, with the ailing young king rising from his bed to witness the execution. this was to be only the second of a series of assassination attempts, with the king's -- soon to be emperor's -- ferocity only growing with each attempt.

the first assassination attempt against his own person (as opposed to one of the many poisoning schemes perpetrated in his view against his father) was, in fact, a more intimate affair. it was roderick's first campaign following his father's death, a hard-fought war against roderick's late stepmother's home nation of antilla*, almost immediately following the death of his father. roderick, himself, had gone to the front with his first wife and future empress where they stayed in a tent together. one night, an agent tore inside, threatening roderick with a with a scimitar. fortunately for roderick, he kept a knife beneath his pillow and was awakened by his wife's scream just in time. the two men fought with roderick ultimately defeating his opponent and slaying him on the spot, but not before the assassin slashed roderick across the chest.

according to legend, realizing that the assassin's blade had been poisoned, his queen quickly sucked the wound clean and spat out the poison, saving his life, only -- the legend nearly always states -- for his neglect of her ultimately to doom her mere years later. had she doomed the rest of the world in saving his life?

but whether any of this is so cannot be said: his bones bear scars enough but where each might have originated cannot be said...

----

*placeholder name

[dialogue-select-rumors]

>rumors

“I heard that somewhere in East Asia there’s a species of sheep that grows from the ground like a plant”

[an-architect-of-words]

I wanted to listen to “Once Upon a Time at Bennington” but part of me finds it more and more unethical the more I hear about it. I mean I’m willing to accept Donna Tartt could have been a less than stellar person in college, whatever. And I guess she used quirks of people she knew for some characters. But why is the world entitled to private letters and the nearly 40-year-old random rumors about her bedroom activity? Then people are like “Ooooooo she got a lawyer. She’s tried to prevent it!” Prevent the unveiling of campus gossip about her and her college boyfriend from when she was like 20? Again, why are we even entitled to that?

And this is all assuming it’s even true— so much of it sounds like it’s from vague origin or that it started as conjecture. And, I mean, the nature of tabloid-y media is to want to cause a shock/stir.

[tenojan-in-tevinter]

One thing I hate about chantry politics is simply how fucking fast everyone is to reach for an exalted march. You read about any slightly complicated part of Thedas' history and there's a footnote about how the Devine of the time was "considering" an exalted march as a "solution". In da2 Meredith crosses so many lines (& theres qunari I guess) and instead of anyone utilizing any amount of power to reign her in at all. There's rumors of an exalted march. Again. Why doesn't the chantry ever take any responsibility for its own people wtf. Like yeah sure. Any inconvenience that could be solved in literally any other way and you reach for a militaristic purge of all people remotely involved. Sounds like something rational to do. You know what forget about how fast they reach for it. I just hate that exalted marches are a legitimate legal move in the first place.

[fanworldbuildingfun]

Okay but the real issue is that eventually someone is going to @ iamnotmyancestors with big sad puppy energy saying that their professor won't accept "some guy from the internet" as a valid source on their paper

so could mr. not a space vampire please pretty please with cherries on top let people know who he is so they can cite him properly?

and if someone more responsible isn't literally standing over Desmond's shoulder reading the message with him, the mad lad is going to get them all in so much trouble because of his desire to help

@teecupangel are you also finding it hard to pick just one?

Look. Desmond can, potentially, cause a lot of trouble here. And it’s more than unintentional because he simply… Error 404s on this question. See, he has been hiding his actual name for good 9 years and with the whole “Don’t compromise the Brotherhood” that the Animus memories were probably drilling into him…

Picking a name would be an issue. Like, a huge ass issue. So would settling on just one

The logical thing would be to use “Desmond Miles” but as far as Desmond knows, the Farm wasn’t exactly big on keeping up to date digitized records for their people. At least, not the kind that gets regularly sent to any kind of official registry

Naturally, while Desmond is having a crisis more comments start popping up asking for the name that can be used officially. One are two even come from a more well-known publishing houses because, apparently, there is a market to be had in publishing an anthology of his replies

(Look. I’m not saying there is a Standard Assassins kept for their reports - there won’t be a unified one, but the only odd in terms of formal education among those Desmond lived is Connor, and that lends to certain... Stylistic choices)

Desmond does try to get some help with this one, but the good moment to bother Shaun sailed right by and Desmond catches him buried beneath a mound of research so Shawn snaps off a chain of names and then just shoos Desmond off

Bless Shaun’s conspiracy loving heart, even when stressed

Every single name he mentioned is one of Hidden Ones who were not known to have had descendants

[trashworldblog]

im glad that no matter the bit

we all come together and commit to the bit

i wonder where we got that from...