#I won’t lie I may be also partial to that period because it took place during my childhood and while I didn’t watch like…any of those shows

[elliebartlets]

so CNN has these documentary miniseries about each decade that deals with different topics in each episode and I just finished watching the 2000s one about television shows and holy shit? what a time to be alive. out of all the shows they talked about or even briefly mentioned, I’ve probably watched 2/3rds of them and the ones that I didn’t were already on my list to watch. those shows were it. I really think that was the golden age of television.

#CNN #the 2000s #television #tv shows #cnn the 2000s #2000s television #sorry but most of todays tv shows (and most of today’s everything) doesn’t hit the same #like it’s no wonder all my favorite tv shows are from the mid 90s-mid 00s #also they were talking about finales at the end and talked abt the sopranos and went on to briefly show other finales and Buffy popped up #and i turned away so quickly and covered my ears and made my mom tell me when it was over #I did *not* come this far in buffy to be spoiled like that lol #I won’t lie I may be also partial to that period because it took place during my childhood and while I didn’t watch like…any of those shows #when they were airing I remember hearing about them or seeing commercials for them and that takes me back #except I did watch desperate housewives and grey’s anatomy #desperate housewives literally changed me as a person. 8 year old me was not prepared lol #like before that point I was watching like pbs shows so imagine the cultural shock lol #grey’s was also fun to watch but I wasn’t into it like I was with dh until I got older #i also got a kick out of them talking about the west wing #it aired in late 99 but they were probably like eh close enough lol #god I love tv shows #they’re capable of making me feel many emotions #and thinking about things in different ways #plus the art of it all #in an ideal world I write my own show or work on one #anyway here I am rambling in the tags again #I probably sound like a loser but idc

[p-artsypants]

I’ll Handle This (2)

OMG! Part 2 is here!!

I'm still finishing up two other fics, and this one's on the back burner for a little while. I apologize for pauses between uploads. I hope that makes it worth it!

Ao3 | FF.net

--

Plagg arrived at school on foot, which startled several people.

Of course, his choice of dress could have influenced that as well.

"Dude, what are you wearing? And…did you walk to school?"

Plagg held out a second coffee to Nino. "Yep. And as for what I'm wearing, I picked what I thought would make my father the angriest."

"Did it?"

Plagg turned around. "I'm not bleeding am I? I had to break a window to get out of the house."

"Dude!"

"So am I bleeding or what?"

"N-no, you're not. But what's gotten into you? You usually fold like a paper crane when it comes to your dad."

"Ooh, nice analogy. I'm usually pretty partial to Jello left out on the counter at room temperature, when it gets all melty and chunky."

Nino blinked. "I repeat, what's gotten into you?"

"Just tired of being a doormat."

Nino gave a little punch to his shoulder. "Hell yeah, stick it to the man!"

"But my dad's not the only problem I'm trying to fix."

"Oh?"

"You know Lila's a pathological liar, right? And that she's been sexually harassing me for the better part of a year?"

"WHAT?!" Nino shouted.

"Yeah, she's really good at manipulating people to get what she wants. Like how she got herself invited to my photoshoots. Don't know how that happened but it's super unprofessional. Also, she got Marinette expelled. Remember when she said Marinette pushed her down the stairs and garbage? Total lies. She only backed out of it when I threatened our 'friendship'."

"Why didn't you tell me about this before?! Lila's been babysitting Chris! And Ella and Etta! She said she was a certified babysitter!"

"I mean, Marinette's been telling everyone she's a liar for a while. So…"

"Well…" Nino rubbed the back of his head.

"Well what? What reason did Marinette give you to doubt her?"

Nino winced. "…I can't really tell you…it's not my place, and Alya will kill me."

Plagg threw his arms up in the air with a groan, nearly splashing coffee on his crop top. "Is there no communication with you people!? Just talk! Enough with the secrets!"

Nino blinked. "Uh…what other secrets are you talking about?"

Plagg shook his head, realizing he'd spilt a few beans. And some things really did need to remain secret. "Ugh, whatever. Doesn't matter. You just…spill!"

"No way dude! Marinette's my friend, and I won't tell her secrets without her permission!"

Plagg rested a hand on his shoulder. "You're a good dude, you know?"

"Oh so now it's a good thing that I'm hiding stuff from you? Pick a mood."

Instead, Plagg took a sip from his coffee. Having a human tongue again was so weird. It was a complexed organ with equal taste buds, instead of the 'smelly savory' he was used to as a kwami.

And if Adrien didn't like cheese, it wouldn't be likely that Plagg would still enjoy it in his body. His eyes glanced around the entrance of the school, taking notice of all the people who were side-eyeing him. Nearly everyone had their attention on him and Nino, though they were trying to be sneaky about it.

Humans were so funny.

And then he noticed Marinette approaching. She looked awful. Big bags under her eyes, dragging her feet, slouched shoulders. The look of a guardian who was downtrodden and exhausted.

"Hey Nino, wanna see something hilarious?"

"Absolutely."

"Here, hold this." He handed him his coffee. Then he tighten the sleeves of the flannel around his waist and ran full speed at Marinette, his arms out at his sides. "MAAAARRRRIIIINNEEETTTEEE!" He shouted.

Hearing her name being shouted startled the poor girl, and she seized up, holding her arms to her chest. Plagg collided with her, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug and lifting to spin her around several times.

"Ad-d-d-rrrriiieennn!" She exclaimed, as she was rag dolled around.

Finally, he set her back on her feet and patted her on the head. "Sorry, you looked like you needed an extreme hug."

A big smile emerged on her face, accompanied by a very endearing blush. "Thanks Adrien. I did! I feel better now!"

Plagg knew it would take more than an intense hug to fix everything on Marinette's plate. There was likely more bothering her than just the loss of Master Fu, too. But he was out to fix Adrien's problems, not hers. But hopefully, one of his problems would directly help her.

"Um…" Marinette started, looking him up and down. "Your father let you out of the house like that?"

"Oh, absolutely not. I snuck out."

"Adrien!" She gawked.

"It'll be fine." He waved her off.

Alya approached them, her jaw on the floor. "Adrien, what was that?"

Nino was just a step behind her, giggling.

"Have you never seen an epic hug before? Nino, you need to step up your game."

"I guess I do!" Nino chuckled. "Here's your coffee back, dude."

"Thanks." Plagg took the coffee with one hand while the other stayed firmly over Marinette's shoulder.

"You're being kind of friendly with Marinette this morning, aren't you?"

Plagg shrugged. "I just happen to think her shoulder is a really nice arm rest."

"Did you ask her permission?"

"Oh, you know, I didn't. Can I put my arm around you, Marinette?"

Marinette's giant panicked grin and a high pitch squeal was the only response he got.

"I'll take that as a yes." He squeezed her.

"Oh!" Alya chirped, taking out her phone. "Lila had an akuma in her room last night! Ladybug and Chat Noir stayed afterwards and hung out with her afterwards to make sure she was okay! She gave me this interview for my blog—"

"FAKE NEWS!" Plagg shouted, startling everyone around him. Alya almost dropped her phone.

"What?" She asked.

"I said, Fake News. There was no akuma last night."

"How do you know?" Alya got defensive. "The akuma alarm only goes off when someone sees the akuma. It happened so late last night, that no one was awake."

"I have an akuma sixth sense." Plagg explained, ignoring Adrien pinching his thigh inside his shirt. "But besides that, Lila is a big, bold-faced liar."

Alya sighed, rolling her eyes. "I expect that from Marinette, but you too now?"

"I've always known Lila was a liar, but I tried to play nice because she's super destructive when she wants to be. Just look at what she did to Marinette!"

Alya gave Marinette a once over, looking for injuries. "I don't follow."

Plagg huffed. "The expulsion? Surely you're not dumb enough to believe that Lila has some sort of disease that makes her…what did she say? Periodically lie? Misremember? I can't even remember what she said, but she revoked her evidence to get Marinette back into school."

Alya frowned. "She told me she was taking the heat for whoever this real person is. Someone wanted Marinette out of school, and Lila retracted her evidence because she knows Marinette wouldn't do that stuff."

Plagg blew a loud raspberry at her, making spittle fly into her face. "Of course she told you that, because she can't possibly be seen as the villain."

"What are you getting at, Adrien?"

"I'm the reason Lila retracted her evidence. She targeted Marinette. She's been targeting Marinette. I gave her an ultimatum. She could stop lying about Marinette, or I would retract our supposed 'friendship' and get her removed from modeling with me."

Alya and Nino just blinked at him several times, before Alya shouted, "WHAT?!"

"Yeah, like I said, I didn't say anything because I didn't want her to get akumatized, she may have turned on me, and I assumed eventually she'd lie herself into a hole and everyone would figure her out. But I guess everyone is denser than I expected."

"Harsh, bro."

"Nah. You'll thank me for this. Especially you, Alya. You want a reputable blog, right? What am I saying? You, of course, double check all of your sources! And if someone makes any outlandish claims that could get someone in trouble, you don't just post them willy-nilly. That's why I like you, Alya, you're discerning and thorough!"

Alya opened her mouth to retort, but shut it right after. "Yeah. Thanks." She finally said.

Marinette groaned. "Here comes the devil herself."

Lila sashayed up to the group, wrapping her arms around Plagg and yanking him free from Marinette. "Adrien! It's so good to see you this morning! I had such a fun time at the shoot—"

Plagg didn't let her finish before he forcefully ripped himself out of her grasp. "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

His shout drew attention from everyone else around.

Lila laughed it off awkwardly. "Oh Adrien, you scared me! I'm not going to hurt you." And she reached for him again.

But Plagg danced away from her, behind Marinette and shouted. "HEY DON'T TOUCH ME THERE! THIS IS MY NO-NO SQUARE!"

Marinette was the only one that laughed, but it was mostly just a choked snort.

"What are you talking about?" Lila asked, pouting, "I wasn't touching you anywhere bad."

"R-A-P-E! GET YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM ME!"

"I think maybe you should keep your hands to yourself," Marinette said gently.

The flittering rage on Lila's face went ignored by Alya and Nino. "I'm not sure what's going on. Adrien's just being kind of goofy today."

"I agree," said Nino. "You break out of your house, now this? This is more than not being a doormat."

Plagg realized he may have taken things a bit too far too fast, and that his cover was in danger of being blown.

"Well! Would you look at the time! I gotta piss! See you in class!" And he took off running into the school.

Being inside a pocket meant that he didn't always see what direction Adrien went. But the bathroom was easy enough to find once he double backed on himself.

Thankfully, the bathroom was empty. And Adrien emerged the second the stall closed. "What did I say!? You wouldn't last five minutes! Everyone is suspicious of you! And what was that thing with Marinette? I thought you were going to fix my problems with Ladybug!"

Plagg held up his hands in defense. "Relax. I just got a little ahead of myself. You know, taking advantage of the situation?"

"What situation?"

"Alya brought up Lila, not me! I couldn't pretend to care! I can't even pretend to care about your problems and I love you!"

"Aw, Plagg. You love me?"

"That's what you got out of that?"

"I knew you were a big softy."

"You know who's actually soft? You." He poked his stomach. "That's what's got you in the situation in the first place!"

"Um, I'd argue it was your trickery."

"So you're soft and gullible. Got it."

"Hey!"

"Like I said last night, kid: You've only been on this planet for 15 years, and social for one. You're bound to be a little naïve. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Tikki would say it's honorable."

"And what would you call it?"

Plagg put a finger to his mouth in mock thought. "Unfortunate."

Adrien sighed, losing altitude. "You still didn't answer my question about Marinette."

"Trust me, getting cosy with Marinette is the key to solving your Ladybug trouble."

"You better not flirt with her! I don't like her that way, and I don't want to break her heart."

"You say that now…"

The bathroom door opened, so Plagg was quick to usher Adrien back into the pocket. "I'll roll it back a little, happy?"

"Not in the slightest."

—

Plagg appeared in the classroom just in time for class to start.

"YO, WHAT IS UP MY DUDES!?" He called, walking into the room with a beat in his step.

The scoff from his pocket went unnoticed by everyone else.

"Adrien, you know I'm not a fan of yelling in my classroom." Miss Bustier warned, patiently.

"Sorry Teach."

"And your outfit is outside of the dress code. Do you have something that covers your mid-drift?"

"No problems there, baby." He untied the flannel from around his waist, and slipped it over his shoulders, then buttoned the bottom few buttons, unaligned. "There, Gucci right?"

She raised an eyebrow, "And the sunglasses?"

"Sorry teach, I've got a major migraine and, low-key, kind of want to die. Glasses stay on, or I will cry."

Miss Bustier just sighed. "As long as you're not disrupting my class, I suppose that's fine."

"Sick." And he slid into his desk, propping his shoes up on the table.

"Sit in your chair like a normal person, please."

Plagg had to glance around to see how everyone else was sitting before he corrected his posture.

Now that he was wearing the flannel, it was a lot less comfortable for Adrien to be in the pocket. He poked and prodded at Plagg's chest to be moved. Thankfully, Plagg had mercy on him and scooped him from his pocket and deposited him into his bag.

From the bag, Adrien tried to watch Plagg, but he seemed to settle down once Miss Bustier started the lesson. Was he even taking notes?

"Plagg!" A sharp hiss came from his side, before a red kwami appeared.

"Tikki?" He choked.

"What the heck is going on with your holder?! He's acting really really weird!"

"Um…"

"My holder is worried about him!"

"She is? She saw all that?"

Tikki huffed. "How could she not?! She's right there!" And she made the fatal mistake of pointing at Marinette.

In hindsight, it was pretty obvious. He had guessed before, and he had hunches, but she had very cleverly removed herself from suspicion during Kwami Buster with Multimouse.

"Oh…that's why he said buttering up to Marinette would solve my Ladybug problem."

Tikki frowned. "What are you talking about? Who said what?"

Adrien awkwardly scratched his ear. "Heh…it seems there's been a tiny mix up. I'm not—" but a bunch of bubbles came out of his mouth. "Ugh. I'm Adrien."

Tikki's eyes grew impossibly large. "YOU'RE—" she grabbed him and yanked him down, phasing into the steps below.

It was an odd sensation, one that he didn't get to think about before Tikki was yelling at him. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU'RE ADRIEN?! You're supposed to be Plagg! And only Plagg!"

"I don't know! It all happened so fast! Last night we had an argument about my problems and he said it wasn't that big of a deal and I said he wouldn't be able to handle it and he said he'd fix it right away and then he made some pact and then I woke up like this and he was like that and I don't know what to do!"

"Okay, first, take a breath." She instructed, calmly.

He did so, taking another, and another, "okay...okay...I'm calm."

"Okay. Good. Now, what were the conditions of the pact?"

"I...I'm not sure? He said he was going to fix three big problems of mine."

"Which are?"

"Repairing my relationship with my father."

"Yikes. Okay, and?"

"Getting Lila to stop bothering me."

"Okay, what else?"

"And get Ladybug to love me back."

"That dirty rotten cheater!" She scowled.

"What?"

"Ugh," she rubbed her nubs over her head. "Promise you won't get mad?"

"Um...sure."

"Plagg and I both knew how you felt about..her. We had a running bet who would fall for who first, Adrien for Marinette, or Ladybug for Chat Noir."

He frowned at her. "I thought you were the mature one."

"I am. But I'm also thousands of years old. Teenager's love lives are like…corny TV shows for me. Besides, we're not supposed to meddle in the affairs of the human world." She glanced up towards the stairs, where Plagg was sitting on the other side.

"Does he do this a lot?"

"Not every wielder, but many."

"And…does it always work out?"

She was quiet a long time. "More often than not."

"But he has failed before?"

"There was one time where the contract was too difficult and he and his holder switched bodies until the holder's body died. At which point, Plagg's consciousness expelled the human's soul from the kwami's body and they perished."

"Jesus actual Christ."

"No, it wasn't him. Nice guy though! Very wise!"

"That's not what I—" He sighed. "Look, is there anyway to undo this? He's ruining so much!"

"I'm really sorry Adrien, but the only way to get switched back into your body is to complete the pact."

Adrien growled. "He could have at least given me a heads up! He just said he'd 'handle it'. I didn't know we'd switch bodies!" He slammed his paws into his face.

"Look, I'll tell Marinette as soon as possible, maybe she'll know what to do."

"No! Tikki you can't tell her!"

"I have too. As guardian, she must be aware of all the shenanigans that the Kwami's are getting into. She has to know about this."

"But she can't!" He begged. "This is all my fault! I was naïve and dumb and I didn't think things through—" He moaned. "She's going to be so disappointed with me!"

Tikki poked him hard. "Adrien. This is not your fault! This is Plagg's doing. He's tricky, and can be very selfish sometimes. She can't blame you."

"Please Tikki, I know she's going to figure me out sooner or later. Plagg's doing a really bad job."

"I'll say."

"But when that happens, I'll come clean and explain everything myself. But until then, can you just…pretend like nothing is wrong?"

Tikki sighed. "I hate keeping secrets from her. But, fine. Since you asked so nicely. Maybe you'll get your body switched back before she suspects."

He winced. "Ugh, except one of the conditions of the pact is to get Ladybug to fall in love with me. And if he's trying to get Lady-nette to fall in love with him, then if we switch back, she'll be in love with Plagg-me and not me-me!"

"Um…I don't think that's going to be a problem…"

"Wait, what?"

"You remember that TV show where they went into her room and your photos were everywhere?"

"She said she just liked fashion…and she promised she wasn't lying…"

"It was a half truth, at least. She does like fashion, and you are her favorite model. But…that other boy she keeps rejecting Chat for? That's you."

If a blush could be seen on black fur, he'd be the same color as Tikki. "What? Really? How come she never told me!?"

"Oh, she tried. Remember when you brought her medicine back from England?"

"Yeah?"

"That prescription she gave you was for Master Fu. She gave the pharmacist the love letter she was supposed to give you after you got on the train."

"Oh no!"

"The wax statue incident? That was her practicing. That beret from a 'brazilian fan'? That was from her. That blue scarf your father got you for your birthday? That was also from her. She's tried, Adrien. But she's either chickened out, or something's gone horrendously wrong."

"Oh Marinette…" His ears went flat, his heart breaking for her. "All this time?"

"Since you gave her your umbrella in the rain when you first met."

"Oh no! That long!? My poor lady!"

"And she's been trying to get over you since she thinks you're in love with Kagami. So I'm assuming Plagg's trying to convince her that you like her instead."

Since he awoke in this strange little useless body, Adrien was pissed at Plagg. But now he was beginning to realize how big of a favor this was. How close he had been to losing her, and hopefully it wasn't too late.

Still sucked though.

"Oh god…he's going to have to talk to Kagami too! I don't know if I can bear to watch this!"

"Well, you don't really have a choice. And you stand a pretty good chance of getting your body back soon. I…think Plagg knows what he's doing."

"You think?"

"I hope."

"Ugh…"

"Look, if you need help, you know where to find me. I'll be in my holder's bag here at school. Though, today, unless there's an akuma, I'll sit with you in your bag and tell you whatever you need to know about being a Kwami."

"Oh yeah! How is superheroing going to work? How do I transform?"

"It'll probably be the same. He'll say your name instead of his own. Then you'll get to see what he sees and hear what he hears. Cataclysm draws from this body's form, so he'll call on it when he needs it, as well as your other powers."

"Other powers?"

"Sure. There's more than just Cataclysm. But I'm sure he's waiting to teach you them until you're ready."

"To be honest...he never really taught me Cata—"

Tikki was quick to slap a paw over his mouth. "DON'T SAY IT!"

"Oh, is it like transformed rules? You say it, you activate it?"

"Yes, but in this form it's incredibly powerful, and you don't know how to dismiss it! You activate it and bump into something, and you nuke Paris! That is a forbidden word!"

"Okay! I'll take your word for it."

"We should probably get back up top, no telling what trouble Plagg's gotten into already."

"But we're in class. He should just be sitting there."

"You're underestimating Plagg's attention span."

Phasing back up through the floor and into Adrien's bag, they could hear Adrien's voice.

"...and of course you're not even going to talk about the ramifications of Phillip the V's denial of his niece on the throne."

"Louis X's daughter? She never took the french throne."

"Oh, yes she did! She held it for 6 years in 1316, Phillip only recanted her name after her rule was revoked. Furthermore, after she died, her legitimacy as Louis' blood relative was called into question. Her mother was branded as an adulterer."

Miss Bustier hummed. "I never heard of this. Where did you read this, Adrien?"

"Oh I didn't read it, I saw it—in a documentary! That's right! On the Hundred Year War! That's right!"

"You'll have to tell me what that documentary is, I'm very interested to see that! But you were saying something about Louis X's daughter on the throne?"

Adrien had to refrain from smacking himself in the face. Not 15 minutes into class, and Plagg was already rewriting history.

Had they even gotten to the Hundred Years War?

A knock saved Adrien from second hand embarrassment.

"Come in," called Miss Bustier.

Adrien couldn't see who was at the door, but they were being silent.

"Um…can I help you?"

There was a grunt.

"You're here for Adrien?"

Adrien, in kwami form, peered out ever so carefully from his bag, only to see the Gorilla standing in the front of the room.

Uh oh.

"...hey big guy..." Plagg tried to greet as enthusiastically as he could.

Another grunt, and the Gorilla motioned towards the door with his head.

"Sorry, but I'm in the middle of class. We were just discussing the conditions that led up to the Hundred Years War. I know dad's pissed that I left this morning, but I'll be home after school..."

The Gorilla shook his head and started to advance on him, his hands open and making to grab him.

Plagg however, was not above evasive maneuvers. He hopped up on the desk.

"You'll never take me alive!"

The Gorilla never stopped advancing and shot his arms out to grab Plagg by the waist.

But Plagg leapt from the table and landed on the Gorilla's shoulders, riding him like a bull.

The Gorilla swung around, flailing his arms trying to dislodge Plagg from where he was mounted, but Plagg dug his heels in and held fast.

"YEEEEEEEEEE—HAW!"

The Gorilla bucked and swung, making Plagg rag doll around, but he still would not let go!

Finally, starting to get dizzy, Plagg twisted in place and pinched the bodyguard in a particular place on the shoulder, and he dropped like a sack of potatoes, unconscious, on the floor.

Plagg simply climbed off of him, dusted himself off, and took his seat. "Now...where were we?"

"Principal's office. Now."

--

@chaosace-e @horson @consumeconstantly @percabeth @th1s-1s-my-aesthet1c @ezio-demon @judyhopps934-mt-zd @wannajointhecrabcult @buggaboy27 @starpony999 @bevvydraws @lavenderjunes

#fanfiction #I'll handle this #miraculous ladybug #body swap #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #adrienette #plagg is a little shit #ml

[poptod]

Say My Name (Ahkmenrah x Reader)

Description: You’re a harpist that gets noticed by the Prince, to your own terror. The prince is only trying to get your affection - but you simply won’t break the rules. You won’t even say his name. After all, it’s not allowed.

Prompt: Harp

Notes: Okay so recently (just now) I realized I can post my long fics! When I first came to Tumblr I couldn’t post them due to length, but now I can! I used to write big, long fics all the time, but it turns out people prefer smaller, more frequent fics, and since it takes me around three weeks to churn one of these babies out I’ll probably stick to my shorter fics. Gender neutral again, your name is Nour for historical reasons :) Also, I wrote this before I found out how Ahk was killed, so apologies. Enjoy!

AO3 Link: Say My Name

Word Count: 11.9k

It wasn’t your place to say a thing. In fact, if you did say a thing, you might get punished for it. Yet that was the partial beauty of him - if you mentioned your observations to him, and him alone, he would take it in stride. You hadn’t ever spoken to him before, never met him, but you’d heard rumours. Still, you continued playing your instrument, avoiding his gaze.

Celebrations such as this (a birthday) were one of your favorite things to do, despite how stressful they were. Constant pressure from superiors, a near command to memorize complicated music. Oftentimes, you felt you hadn’t picked the right career. Other times, you saw yourself doing nothing else.

The prince continued to stare at you, his gaze menacing. He hardly ever looked at you like that, or anyone for that matter. It led you to the conclusion that most likely, he was not directing his anger at you, which only raised more questions.

You were not allowed to leave in order to eat, or drink, or take a break. You and your ‘band’ were the best players that the palace had; thus the orders were to play till the last guest left. Because of this order, you could not ask the prince. You shouldn’t anyway, you knew that very well. You weren’t even supposed to look at him. Yet with such piercing eyes set upon you, it was a little hard to follow orders.

The birthday celebrations lasted long into the night, and you continued to play until the last guest left, leaving only the royal family. A mother and a father, friendly in stature and cruel in rulings, an elder son looking highly displeased, and a younger son, deep in thought.

“You may stop,” the Queen told you, and you did not meet her eye. You bowed low, packing your instruments up.

“Harpist,” the prince’s voice called you, and you turned, eyes fixated on the floor. It was beginning to look very interesting. “I’d like to discuss some things with you,” he said. His mother whispered something to him, and he whispered back, louder, though still indiscernible.

“Yes, my prince,” you said, bowing. You turned back around, eyes wide, face red with embarrassment. You finished packing up, and as your friends left, they pat you on the shoulders comfortingly. A weak way of apologizing for whatever fate you were about to face.

The prince turned down a hallway, golden robe trailing behind him. You looked around confused. Were you to follow him? His mother quickly gestured at him, frowning at you. You bowed quickly, following him down the hallway.

Torches lined the painted walls, giving light to the stories that had been etched there. Your eyes followed the stories, the marvelous art that you hardly ever got to see in your daily life. Eventually he turned into a room, and you followed, your instrument still in its’ case by your side.

He turned quickly around to you, watching as you set the case down. He caught your eye, and your eyes zipped down to the floor.

“No, don’t do that,” he said, practically floating over, lifting you by the chin so you could meet his eyes.

You’re pretty sure you might’ve blacked out for a good two seconds. You weren’t allowed to know what he looked like. You weren’t supposed to see his face, and by all that was holy you were not supposed to touch him.

“I need your advice,” he said, now heading towards the balcony. You did not follow him, thinking it would suffice that you could hear him from the large doorway. He did not seem to agree, as he beckoned you over. You bowed your head a little, following his command, soon standing at his side.

“Do you have any siblings?” He asked you, looking up at the sky. You stared at the ground as you spoke.

“No, my prince,” you answered simply, addressing him properly.

“Do not call me that,” he said firmly, and you watched as his hands gripped tighter around the edge of the balcony. You took a deep breath, feeling your body shake. “You may simply refer to me by my name.”

You nodded, though didn’t fully process his request.

“My brother,” he started quietly, tensing and intending his muscles. “I am worried he will do something rash. What do you suppose I should do?”

Why in the world was he asking you for advice?

“Pardon my questioning,” you said, knowing you shouldn’t at all be asking this, “but why do you request my advice? I am just a citizen.”

“That is exactly why,” he said, and he turned to face you. Knowing the demand before he pronounced it, you looked at him. You hoped the fear was not evident on your face.

“Why would the prince do something rash?” You inquired, tightening your grip on the railing.

“He has been angry recently. I’m not sure why, but when he gets angry for long periods of time, he tends to end up murdering people,” he said quickly, intaking a shaky breath.

“I think you’re stressed,” you said before you thought about it. He turned to you, looking a little surprised.

Ah, so this was how you were going to die.

“I suppose you’re right,” he mumbled, looking to the ground as if he were ashamed. Why would he be ashamed in front of you?

He looked back up at you.

“Do you have any suggestions for stress relief?”

“My prince, I really do not believe this is appropriate-“

“My name?” He asked of you, and hesitantly, you obeyed.

“Ahkmen, this isn’t appropriate,” you told him flat out, no more beating around the bush. He nodded in agreement.

“Fun things are seldom ever appropriate,” he said with a smirk, grabbing your wrist and leading you back into the room. You might’ve blacked out again. He led you to his bed, where he sat, making sure you stood exactly in front of him. He grabbed both your hands, holding them in his.

“Would you mind playing your harp again, for me? A private performance,” he asked quietly, a tenderness you didn’t expect very apparent in his eyes. Hesitantly you nodded, releasing yourself from his grip and wandering over to your case. You took it out, wondering where you could sit in order to play it. Deciding against asking for a seat, or heavens forbid sitting next to him, you kneeled on the ground. The rounded end of the harp let it fall onto your left shoulder, and you plucked out a melody. The sharp and staccato sound was pleasant to your ears, but you’d heard a great deal of it already that night. You took some liberty, changing up a few of the tunes and chords, stroking the strings a tad different than usual.

“You play beautifully,” he commented near the end of your piece. You smiled up at him, before directing your attention back to the music, not wanting to lose concentration.

“Do you sing as well?” He asked, moving to lie back against the pillows of his bed. You shrugged. Yes, you sang, but you weren’t a singer. You told him this, and he told you to sing for him.

“If you don’t mind,” he added at the end. You nodded once more, starting on a lullaby that you knew very well. It was comparatively short next to your last piece, and when you finished, he asked you where you had picked it up.

“My mother used to sing it to me,” you informed him quietly, putting the harp back into its’ case.

“My mother sang me songs sometimes. Oftentimes it was other women,” he said, sitting up properly. “Sit next to me,” he asked of you, and you obeyed. There was no hesitation in your movements, realizing at this point he was trying to make your life difficult by bending rules that you didn’t have a desire to bend. The faster you listened to him and obeyed, the faster the night would end, and the faster you’d be able to breathe again.

“Spend the night with me,” he requested. You felt yourself mentally draw the line right there.

“That is not appropriate, my prince, I must leave now,” you said, hands shaking and voice reverberating your fear into him. You immediately stood up, briskly walking over to the door where your harp lay safely in its’ case.

“At least let me say good bye,” he said hurriedly, getting up after you. He grabbed your wrist before you could reach your case, pulling you towards him. You turned to face him, bright red and highly embarrassed.

“I will see you again,” he said, and your eyes immediately directed to his lips. He raised your hand to his lips, kissing your knuckles, watching you intently the entire time. You stopped breathing momentarily.

“G - good bye,” you said quickly, pulling your hand away, grabbing your harp, and leaving. You avoided the stares of palace workers and officials as you left, keeping your head down as you were taught to, until you reached more common streets.

You blacked out once you reached home, collapsing onto your bed.

Two days later, you’d achieve the same state of terror, or more, as you had two nights before. Palace guards showed at your door, giving you a notice that you were to present yourself to the royal family. Your roommate congratulated you, but you felt the opposite reaction was called for. Stress such as this was not a thing you handled easily.

Nevertheless, you presented yourself, with your instrument, as they had told you. A man you did not know, dressed extravagantly, informed you that you were to become a private musician for one of the princes. You nodded, sort of expecting that.

You respected the royal family. It wasn’t that which made you sour, or the fact that your servants quarters were shared with four other people when you originally lived with only one other person. You didn’t mind leaving your possessions behind.

Your problem was that you could get caught. The prince was the one being rash, doing things he aught not to do, things that could get him punished and you killed. Unfortunately, you had a thing about death, where you sort of didn’t want to die. Sounded a painful, unpleasant experience all around.

Later that evening, after mulling about in your new room alone, you were ordered to the young princes room. They never spoke his name, you noticed, and you realized how much worse that made the fact that you had called him by his name at least once.

You knocked once on the door, it being loud enough that you didn’t feel the need to knock again. A voice from inside called, ‘come in,’ so you let yourself in, announcing your presence with what was left of your dignity and professionalism.

He didn’t wear his cape or crown, but he kept his skirt and sported a light shawl.

“My prince,” you said simply, bowing. He chuckled, nearing you. You stood straight once again, keeping your eyes on the ground.

“Good to see you came back instead of running away. I told you I’d see you again.”

“What do you need, my prince?”

He frowned slightly, leading you further into the room.

“I thought we got over the formalities last night,” he commented sadly, still holding your wrists.

“What am I here for?” You asked once more. He sighed, giving in to your question.

“I told my parents about your music. They suggested you live here so you can help me with my, uh, stress, when needed. I thought it to be a good enough idea, and besides,” he leaned in a bit closer, “I wanted to see you again.”

“Are you currently stressed?” You asked, observing him with a calculated look. You shoved your emotions as far down as you could, hoping that would help for this evening.

“Yes, I’m afraid my brother has been a continuous worry to me,” he said, stepping away from you, beginning to pace the room. “He accuses me of awful things, and because it would be shameful for him to physically harm me, he has begun harming our servants and slaves. It’s painful to watch, and I can’t do anything about it. If I do, I will seem unfit to be royal, and I may be cast out. I can’t risk that.”

“Have you tried asking him what’s wrong?”

“I can’t do that. I thought of it, but he’s closed off, and even if he would tell someone he would never tell me. I don’t think he trusts me.”

“The trust of cowards is not something worthy to gain,” you said distractedly, looking at the patterned ceiling.

“Perhaps you’re right,” he said, stopping his pacing. “You’re really quite intelligent, aren’t you?” He neared you, standing in front of you again. You hadn’t moved from your position near the door.

“I have my uses,” you said, and he laughed, his smile delicate and very unlike who he currently presented himself as. You felt yourself weaken for a moment.

“Would you mind singing to me again?”

“Of course, my prince,” you replied, kneeling to open your case. He held a finger beneath your chin, raising your head to look at him. He towered above you in this position, a general air of dominance that made you shiver emanated from him.

“My name?” He asked quietly, his kind voice betraying his commanding exterior.

“Of course, Ahkmen,” you repeated yourself, weaker. He smiled, and left to lie on the bed. You resumed pulling out the harp, taking once more your kneeling position on the floor, the harp falling on your shoulder as you plucked at the strings. You tapped your foot to the beat, making sure that you didn’t lose your count. Every now and then you’d look up to the prince, watching his expression for any sign of displeasure. Each time he showed none, so you continued.

“What’s your name, harpist?” He asked, interrupting your playing. You shook your head a bit, getting back on track. You continued to play as you answered.

“Nour,” you said simply, concentrating deeply.

“Beautiful name,” he said quietly, sighing as he relaxed back into his bed once more. You took a deep breath, calming yourself as you kept playing. A few minutes later, he stood, walking up to you. He paused your playing, asking that you put your harp down. As always you obeyed.

“Come with me,” he said, and you again followed him. He led you out the door, and down a back hallway. The paintings on the walls disappeared, and eventually all the torches faded away. He continued leading you down more and more complex hallways, the structures confusing you. It hit you then that it would be very easy to trap you here, and that if someone wanted to kill you here, it wouldn’t be that hard. But, if the prince wanted to kill you, he could’ve done it in broad daylight.

You continued walking behind him until a small doorway appeared, lit up by the moonlight. You jogged a bit to catch up, watching him disappear down steps.

“It’s quite beautiful, isn’t it?” He called back to you, now practically running down the steps. You watched him, his eyes glued upon the river in the distance. He began running, you trailing after, weaving through the reeds that grew on the banks of the water. Eventually he stopped at the rivers edge, the sandy shore riding just above his sandals. You stopped beside him, panting, crouched down slightly. You weren’t used to exerting yourself physically. Apparently, he was.

“My prince, you must be careful, you don’t know what kind of animals could sneak up on you,” you panted, finally standing to your full height beside him. He looked at you, laughing.

“Don’t worry, much of this stretch is harmless. Too narrow to truly be a resting spot for anything dangerous,” he informed you, stepping out into the river. You froze, eyes wide as you watched him. As he continued, the water only came up to his mid calf, soaking his pants.

“Join me,” he said to you, facing you with a hand outstretched. You clenched your hands into fists, thinking about how awfully wrong all this was. You weren’t supposed to be here, not with him, certainly not by yourself, and you weren’t supposed to look at him. You weren’t supposed to touch him. He wasn’t supposed to deal with sorts like you. Lowly sorts.

You took his hand. Barely laying your fingers in his before he curled them tightly around yours, pulling you in. You stumbled slightly, regaining your balance in the water as it splashed up your legs. The moon reflected brightly in the water, but despite this you couldn’t see much of the details of his face. You could tell that he smiled though, his laughter echoing in the silent lands. However much you knew this to be wrong, you smiled with him, warm water coming up to your legs.

“See? Nothing wrong,” he said quietly, pulling you in closer and grabbing your other hand in his. All ease slipped away, and you choked up, staring petrified at him.

“We shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be doing this,” you said, voice high and shaky.

“Shouldn’t be doing what? Enjoying myself?” He raised a single eyebrow at you, judging you with a funny look in his eye. He was smiling.

Your fears came pouring out. They filled your entirety, boiling beneath your skin and itching to come out, like a rash upon your tongue.

“You shouldn’t… I shouldn’t be talking with you, I shouldn’t look at you, I shouldn’t touch you, I-“

“It’s not your fault. If anyone is to put blame on us, it will fall solely on me, I will make sure of it,” he told you quietly, an attempt to calm your fears.

“And what will happen to you then? You’ll be punished,” you choked out, feeling your throat swell up.

“All worth it to spend time with you,” he whispered, drawing ever closer. You took a step back, the water splashing up the back of your legs.

“Why are you so invested in me?” You asked, trying weakly to pull your hands out of his grip. He did not let go.

“Your playing enchants me, and the way you refuse to, well… bond with me, I suppose, is intriguing. Most people I’ve met jump at the chance to form a sort of relationship with me. Simply because of my standing,” he explained quietly.

You hardly believed people only associated with him because of rank. He happened to also be an incredibly nice person, as well as truthful and sincere unlike any royalty you’d met before. Not only that, despite what you continuously told yourself, he was very handsome.

“I hardly believe it’s only because of your royalty,” you said, voicing only half your thoughts.

“Why’s that?” He asked quickly, leaning in further, pulling you closer. He looked desperate, curious for your answer. You breathed deeply. He smelled of perfume. Of course.

“You’re one of the more benevolent royalty that I’ve met,” you said simply, not meeting his eyes. His eyes however, did not waver from yours, attention directly on you. Your skin felt hot beneath his touch.

“Is that why you won’t say my name?” He came chest to chest with you, the words from his mouth heating your cheek beyond what was comfortable.

“My prince, I am only here to play music for you,” you breathed out, weak and indecisive. Your gaze stay fixed on his shoulder and past, to the river shining behind him.

“You are here to help with my stress. That’s your job specification, and you’re doing a terrible job at it,” he laughed, his body swaying slightly.

“I think I would be better at it if you didn’t put me in stressful situations,” you retorted before you could think. Eyes widening upon reflection of what you just said, your breath caught in your lungs. An unpleasant tingle shivered through your legs, making you weaker than you already were.

“Don’t worry so much and you’ll be fine. I have to say you’re doing a wonderful job distracting me from my brother,” he told you, continuing to sway, moving your arms back and forth in some mock form of a dance. “Enjoy yourself,” he said, leaning in and whispering the words against your ear. You blacked out for two seconds again, before blinking, looking to his face, his eyes attracting you immediately.

He was scanning your face, a concentrated look in his eyes. He blinked a few times, sighing, before letting go of your hands.

“Let’s go back to the palace,” he said quietly, turning and leaving you calf deep in the water.

+

The sick pit in your stomach began feeling worse the longer you spoke with the prince. After three full moons had come and gone, you came to a comparison. It was a terrible comparison to make, and you’d never, ever voice it, but you felt as though you were being tempted by a demon. Play for him. Look into his eyes. Touch him just a little more. Call him by his name. Lean into the temptations and be damned for eternity, but stay away and you’ll suffer heartache worse than death.

You decidedly never crossed the border of touching him in any sort of way - no, anything that happened in accordance with that was entirely his fault. You never called him by his name. You tried your best not to look into his eyes, in fear of losing yourself within them. They swirled gold and foreign delicacies, new and familiar all at once.

You didn’t dare look at him.

“Perhaps if you become my advisor, I will be able to see you more often,” he pondered, staring up at the ceiling. He was lying next to you, in a pile of blankets of pillows, arms crossed behind his head. You played your harp quietly, not wanting to disturb his thoughts too much.

“You want to spend more time with me?” You asked quietly, astounded. You weren’t exactly an incredibly interesting person.

“Of course. You’re intelligent too, so it’s not like you’d give me terrible advice. The position wouldn’t just be for show,” he added at the end, looking up at you, before resuming his study of the ceiling.

“I do not believe commoners can become royal advisors. Or should, in the very least,” you said, trying to continue your concentration on your playing. You plucked a few wrong notes as the conversation continued. He didn’t seem to mind.

“It’s possible, and it’s not like you have to be a vizier or anything. That’d only happen if I became pharaoh, which would only happen if my older brothers died, which they hopefully do not,” he said, continuing on to describe what your life would be like if you became his advisor. You had a thought, but waited till he finished his spiel.

“My prince, is it not a bit redundant for you to have an advisor? You’re not making any political decisions, and-“

“Think of it more as a personal assistant,” he interrupted, looking up at you hopefully. You sighed tiredly, but nodded. He was quiet for a while after that, so you could continue playing in peace.

You were informed the next day that your job had been changed from ‘stress reliever’ to ‘personal servant/advisor,’ and that your quarters would be moved nearer to the princes’. It was quite the step up in the world, which was the last thing you needed, but the prince seemed to think otherwise. You were treated with an ounce more of respect, and at first you weren’t sure what to do with it, and your confusion only got worse throughout the day.

Apparently, when you’re someone’s personal servant/advisor (a job that has never existed before) you have to accompany said person everywhere they go. This included meetings, meals (where you weren’t allowed to eat), as well as important openings, surveying building and planting, and a good amount of educational programs.

Overall, a very tiring day, and you were very much ready to collapse when the moon finally shone.

You accompanied the prince back to his room, wondering how he kept his energy up. You quickly answered the question for yourself, remembering that he’d been doing it his entire life.

He must’ve noticed your state, dragging behind him but keeping your posture up despite.

“Are you alright Nour?” He asked, stopping and turning around to face you. You quickly nodded, trying to keep your eyes open. He looked doubtful however, eyeing you suspiciously.

“You don’t have to play for me tonight if you are this exhausted,” he comforted, resting a hand on your shoulder and trying to give you a sincere look. You didn’t look at him, still too afraid. Especially now, in public, with his hand on your shoulder, where anyone could see.

“I am able to play,” you said, shaking your head a bit, trying to clear out the drowsiness. He continued looking at you skeptically, but allowed you to enter his room, you once again taking your harp from its’ case. He sat in his new pile of pillows and blankets, closing his eyes, and losing himself in your playing. You blinked slowly, feeling a warm, fuzzy blanket come over your thoughts. Despite this you continued playing, trying your best to concentrate. Unfortunately you must’ve made some mistake, because you felt a hand on your wrist, and a voice penetrating the warm blanket that had come over your eyes.

“Nour, go to sleep,” he said, and you opened your eyes, your consciousness falling immediately into his warm and worried eyes. The whole world still felt fuzzy, as though you were half in a dream, the only thing fully grounding you being his hand around your wrist.

“I can play,” you said thickly, the words sounding as though they came from far away, but reverberated in your empty chest.

“No you can’t-“

You closed your eyes, just to blink, but ended up doing a lot more than that. You fell straight asleep, flopping forward onto the prince’s shoulder… unfortunately.

When you awoke, it wasn’t your assigned room. You then quickly remembered that you had moved rooms the day before, settling your worries. You were then further worried when you realized you did not own a golden vase, and the blankets you were given certainly weren’t this soft. You sat up quickly, feeling dizzy.

“Good morning,” the prince said with a soft chuckle, smiling at you from his bed. You felt about ready to throw up.

“D- did I fall asleep?” You asked hurriedly, ready to apologize as soon as he confirmed.

“Yes, but it’s not a problem,” he said, stopping you before you started. You gaped at him, horrified.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” You asked, instead of screaming. His eyes widened, glancing sideways as his cheeks darkened. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. You blinked again. Were you seeing this right?

“… I didn’t want to wake you,” he admitted quietly, head dangling embarrassed between his shoulders. You took a deep breath, trying to fully understand the situation.

“Okay. So… you let me sleep in your room all night… because you didn’t want to wake me up?”

He paused before answering.

“… Yeeeesss?”

You got up, dusting yourself off. You waved good bye to him silently, smiling awkwardly, ready to leave.

“Wait, don’t go,” he entreated, his hand moving towards you, still against his bedsheets. You turned to him slowly, practically shaking. You looked him up and down, deciding this was a terrible idea, before turning to leave once more.

“Please,” he murmured, his entire body pleading. You took a deep breath, looking at your feet. A feeble attempt to gather your thoughts. You couldn’t directly disobey him. It was bad enough that you turned away the first time - you didn’t think it possible for royalty to say please, or beg the way he practically was. So you turned back around, looking at him exhausted once more, before walking towards him, standing beside his bed. He smiled brightly up at you, the tenseness in his body completely evaporated.

“You glow perfectly in the morning sun,” he murmured, grabbing your wrist, before venturing up further to your arm. You nearly instinctively pulled away, fear coursing pain through your blood, but you stayed put.

“Inappropriate,” you chided quietly, highly embarrassed.

“I know,” he winked at you, smiling cheekily. You took a deep breath, nearly rolling your eyes.

“Do you know how to ride a chariot?” He asked you out of nowhere, still smiling up at you like you were a dream.

“No, I have no desire to,” you said, knowing that if it were time to fight for your pharaoh, you would physically be unable to fight. Thus, most likely you’d be put on different duty, like planning, or meal prep. The prince, however, looked a bit saddened.

“That’s a shame. I’m going riding today, if you wish I could teach you,” he suggested, tugging your arm lightly.

“Thank you for the offer, but I will stay here instead.”

He offered once more, and you once more declined. Leaving it at that, he redressed into looser clothing.

You stayed in your room for the time he was gone. There wasn’t much for you to do, and you had to stay on call in case someone needed you, so you mostly tried to write new songs. Still slightly new at it, the songs were a tad plain, but you were getting better.

When the sun was near set in the sky, you received a knock at the door. You quickly got up, and a soldier informed you that the prince had returned, and was requesting you in his chambers. You acknowledged, packing your harp up and heading down long hallways to his room.

You knocked, which was met with a small ‘come in.’ When you opened the door, the prince was sitting on his bed as usual, with a large, deep scuff mark on his cheek. You nearly dropped your instrument, staring at the red and black mark.

“No need to be surprised,” he smiled, before wincing and returning to a straight face.

“My prince, doesn’t that need attending to?” You had to physically stop yourself from walking over, digging your nails into the flesh of your leg.

“It’s alright. I fell off the chariot,” he explained, laughing as he thought back. He twitched slightly from pain, letting his face fall again.

“You should clean it in the very least,” you suggested, setting your instrument on the floor. You turned to the door, ready to fetch some water and a cloth.

“You worry too much,” he said as you left, fetching a tight basket of water and an old but clean cloth. You returned a few moments later, setting the supplies on his bed where he sat. He looked at you expectantly, tilting his head slightly. You fidgeted, muscles twitching as you tried to stay calm.

“If you’re so worried, you should do it,” he closed his eyes, ready for you to clean him, “I doubt you’ll accept anyone else doing it.”

You sniffed indignantly, a little ashamed and a little embarrassed. More embarrassed than anything. Nonetheless, you dipped the cloth into the clean water, wringing it out once you pulled it out. You dabbed at his skinned cheek and jaw, trying to make sure it didn’t hurt. The mark reached to his ear, behind the lower part of his crown. You thought of asking him to move it, or moving it yourself.

“Um, my prince, could you remove your crown?” You finally asked hesitantly, still trying to removed the dirt from the visible mark on his cheek. When you removed the rag he nodded, taking off the golden ornament and setting it on the bed. Biting your lip you took a deep breath, once more setting to clean the rest of the scuff.

Finally you dropped the cloth into the water, setting the basket on the floor.

“Done?” He asked, smiling pleasantly at you. In a minute motion you nodded, turning quickly away. You bent down by your instrument, getting ready to play for him once more.

He stared at you for a while as you played, his face straight and his emotions unidentifiable. It put you on edge, as most of the time he was rather see-through. You kept playing despite your worries.

As night came, he did not tell you to stop. You were starting to get a little tired, but you continued playing diligently. The sounds outside the room subsided, silence enclosing the space around and between you and the prince. He shuffled on the bed, lying down, his eyes closed in deep thought.

“I think I’m in love with you,” he said, piercing soft silence that had lasted so long before. In your shock you struck a wrong string, the dissonant sound making you curl in on yourself. However, you didn’t find yourself too surprised - his actions indicated he had to have felt something different with you.

“I am aware,” you said quietly, picking up another piece. You steadied your hands, trying to play the right chords once more.

“In that case,” he said, clearly annoyed at your passiveness, “you should also know I am free to marry who I wish, and I want to marry you.”

He stood, legs swinging off the bed and waltzing over to you. He grabbed your wrist, stopping your playing and pulling you upwards. Your harp shifted, falling to the ground, softened by the pillows surrounding you.

“I want to marry you,” he repeated softly, breath hot against your face. He leaned in close to you, his eyes hooded, desperate for you to just touch him.

“I can’t,” you said hurriedly, the words coming from pure instinct. You felt your hands shaking in his grasp, terrified by the whole situation.

“Why?” He whispered, face contorted near tears. You hummed uncomfortably, a meager sound in automatic reaction to his sadness.

“I have to go,” you rushed out, ripping yourself from his grasp and running out the door.

Why did this keep happening?

Your tiresome night was not to come to an end, as you ran into someone in the hallway. You fell to the ground from the impact, profusely apologizing to whoever it was you hit.

“Aren’t you that servant my brother’s traipsing around with?”

Fuck, this must be the prince’s eldest brother.

You did not meet his eyes, instead keeping your body in a bowed position.

“Yes, my prince, he has requested it,” you answered obediently.

“You’re rather acquiescent, aren’t you? Such a small thing,” he commented, and you felt his stare on the back of your neck, harsh and cruel. He pressed two fingers to the back of your bowed head, pushing you so you looked upwards at him. Out of fear, you allowed him to move you as he wished.

This was your first meeting with the brother you’d heard so much about, and he was nothing like the prince. His eyes pierced you, emotionless and senseless. It made you long for the warmer, welcoming man you had run from.

“Hm. When I become pharaoh,” he spoke as royalty should; proud, and succinct, “I should make you serve me instead. Most of the servants I get are defiant and rude. You’d be quite the change.”

“Yes, my prince,” you said, too afraid to say anything else. Too scared to mention the fact that the prince that currently owned you would not give you up very easily.

Distantly you heard feet running down the hallway, halting before you and the older prince.

“Kahmuh,” you heard him say, voice practically unidentifiable with the vindictiveness in it.

“Ah! Brother, here’s your, uh, thing,” he said, flicking your head towards his brother. After, the older prince turned and left, his stride confident and domineering. The younger rushed to you, kneeling in front of you.

“Did he hurt you?” He grabbed your face, turning it and inspecting for wounds and marks.

“No,” you mumbled, looking down. He was so human compared to his older brother.

“Did he say anything to you?” He inched closer, looking worriedly at you. His hands moved to your shoulders, gripping them tightly.

“He said that… he wanted me to be his servant when he becomes pharaoh, because I’m obedient,” you said hesitantly, hoping that the prince wouldn’t do anything rash in retaliation. Instead he grimaced, and you watched as his muscles tensed.

“If only he knew you’re the exact opposite of that. You just follow rules. You won’t bend them, not for me, and definitely not for him,” he said, his tone bordering on venomous. He helped you up, patting the sides of your arms awkwardly once you stood.

“Spend the night with me?” He asked haltingly, giving you a look of it’s alright if you say no.

“You know I can’t do that,” you answered quietly, hoping to convey that maybe, you wished that you had the confidence to bend the rules just slightly.

“I’ll walk you back to your room,” he said, ceasing all contact with you.

“Do you know where my room is?” You asked, walking beside him, instead of behind.

“Uh… no,” he answered shyly, laughing quietly. You smiled cordially at him. The walk to your room was silent, a few people flitting by but besides that, lonely.

“Thank you, my prince,” you bowed your head respectively, before turning to open your door. He held your hand, keeping you there as he spoke.

“You’re welcome… my love,” he answered gently, letting your hand slide out of his.

You stood outside your door, dumbfounded as he left, watching as he disappeared around a turn.

My love?

+

Four more full moons passed. Overall, you must’ve been working for him for seven moons, which was quite a while, looking back. A few days ago the Pharaoh and his Queen had announced that the throne would have to be passed soon. You gave them around a year to actually hold to their statement.

It was to your surprise that, a few days later, the Queen called you to her quarters. You had been playing for the young prince, when a messenger directed you away. You bid a quick good bye to the prince, heading where the messenger took you.

Her room was larger, shared with her husband, who was not present. It was only her, pacing back and forth in her room, rubbing her hands together anxiously.

“Harpist, good,” she said, upon noticing you, directing you inside. She sat you on a chair, and you thanked her.

“What do you think of Ahkmen?” She asked you, finally stopping her pacing, looking directly at her.  You kept your eyes on her feet, always remembering your place.

“He is a kind man, overtaken with emotion and confused, but that is expected of someone so young. He’s benevolent and wise beyond his age,” you answered, attempting to summarize your observations of him over the past half year.

“You’ve met my other son, correct?” She asked you, and she began pacing again. You confirmed. At this point you’d met him a few times, none of the meetings being entirely pleasant. He seemed to favour you though, which you hoped would continue. You still had a thing about dying.

“What do you think of him?”

You swallowed. Would you really dare speak ill about a woman’s son, especially a queens’?

“He is brave, and well, succinct. He knows what he wants and he achieves it. He’s ambitious and also overtaken with emotion, though the emotion is… not kindness,” you ended hesitantly, starting to fidget just like the Queen was.

“I know you are a commoner. My youngest son has told me about you, and he says you follow rules and tradition no matter what someone of higher power says. But now, I need you to be honest with me,” she kneeled before you, looking you directly in the eyes.

This had to be incredibly important, for her to kneel, let alone in front of you.

“Who is fit to be king?”

Your mouth fell open. You weren’t qualified to answer this. Was the fate of the entire kingdom resting on you now?

“My Queen, is it not appropriate for the eldest to take the throne?” You asked quietly, knowing the answer already.

“Yes, but… Kahmuh has been doubtful in all essence of the word. He is violent and rash, he does not think over his decisions. If it were a choice the obvious choice is Ahkmen, however it isn’t right. It’s never happened before, so I thought the advice of a commoner might be of some use.”

“Your youngest son would be the best choice,” you said. Given the choice, you’d choose him every time.

“You don’t think the citizens will be outraged?”

“I suppose you could… lie, if you’re worried about it,” you suggested, choosing your words carefully.

“What kind of lie could you or I come up with that would soothe their worries?”

“Could say that the Gods chose him. Which is technically true,” you added that at the end, seeing her eyes widen with horror. She took a deep breath.

“You’re right. You’re very wise for a commoner. Dismissed,” she said, standing up. You bowed, thanking her for the time spent with her, and left.

When you returned to the prince’s room, he asked what she needed you for. You thought about telling him the truth, but instead you lied, saying that she was simply checking up on how her son was feeling through the person spending the most time with him. He believed you, and you resumed playing your music.

“Why can’t you marry me?” He asked you, lying next to you in his large splay of blankets and pillows. You sat on the edge of his cushioned area, a blanket to soften the floor for your knees.

“It is prudent to marry within your social class,” you muttered, voice quiet as you still tried concentrating on the task at hand.

“In that case, do you wish for me to marry my brother?” He laughed, before sticking his tongue out and gagging.

“Please don’t,” you chuckled.

“I’d still like you to know that since I’m not becoming Pharaoh, I can marry whomever I want,” he teased, poking you in the shoulder. You rolled your arm back, shaking him off. You thought back to what the Queen had said - if she was to give you credit and follow through your advice, he would be Pharaoh, and that’d be a big problem.

“You can’t assure that you won’t have to become Pharaoh some day,” you said quietly.

“Are you planning on killing my brother?”

“Not yet,” you gritted under your breath. He laughed, rolling onto his side. He stared up at you, a subconscious smile on his face.

“My love, you mustn’t worry. He will become king, not I, and I will be able to marry whomever I please, and whomever I please will be you,” he still smiled at you, sure that he was correct. “As long as you’ll have me,” he added quietly after a beat of silence. You cautiously nodded, aware that while he valued your opinion and input, he could simply force you to marry him. Though knowing him as well as you did, you didn’t think him capable of something like that.

“I don’t think I’m fit to rule,” he sighed a few moments later, letting his hands intertwine behind his head to cushion him. You gave him a quizzical look, silently requesting for him to continue his thought.

“I’ve never been good with fast decisions, and as you might’ve realized I’m terrible under pressure,” he said very matter-of-fact like, sighing dejectedly as he finished. “I’m just not fit to rule.”

“Given the opportunity and right people, anyone with a kind heart and brave soul is fit to rule,” you hummed, letting your fingers pop more gracefully as they plucked the strings.

“That would mean you’re fit to rule,” he said offhandedly, rolling his shoulders back.

“Afraid not, my prince. I’m a coward in my soul,” you laughed, but it was partially true. You’d never break a single rule.

“Perhaps so. You’re not willing to break a rule that isn’t even real, but your kindness more than makes up for it. Besides, with how pretty you are, I’d let it pass,” he casually flirted with you. He was beginning to do so often, and with increasing smoothness. It seemed as though he was really coming out of the shell you really wish he’d go back into.

“Uh - thank you, my, uh, prince,” you stammered. “Do you have any plans for your birthday?” You quickly changed the subject.

“My parents are throwing another party, not much else. I would very much love it if you attended.” He looked up at you expectantly.

“Of course, my prince. I was the harpist at your last birthday, I would be happy to reprise my role.”

“No, I meant as my… partner. My plus one.”

You paused, thinking over the implications if you were to arrive with him, as his equal.

“Who will play harp then?”

“We’ll find someone else, though they won’t be as good as you, I would prefer you to stay at my side,” he said, sitting up and turning to face you. Your skin burned, nerves tingling as you imagined events of the night playing out. You’d probably be expected to do a lot of things you weren’t raised to do.

“Please, my love?” He wrapped his hand around your wrist gently, and his calm demeanor seeped through the contact he made with you.

“… Of course, my prince.”

+

Two months had passed since that eventful day, where you’d learned that the Queen was doubting her older son, and that you were to attend a royal party as a guest, not an employee. The prince had done to the best of his abilities, as much as he could to soothe your nerves. You hadn’t told him about your anxiousness surrounding the event, but it was easy for him to pick up on it. To help you, he educated you on the different replies to various things. You’d mainly learned that staying silent and by his side would make people avoid talking to you. After all, if you stayed with him, most people would be too enamored with him to notice you, and if they did, they’d probably ask the prince who you were and not you. After a few days of his etiquette training, you’d felt a little better.

Around evening when you and the prince retired to his room, he had been called up for a surprise meeting. You were instructed to stay in his room, so you did, tuning your harp and waiting for him to come back.

He did, a long while later, his shoulders drooping and eyebrows furrowed.

“Nour,” he sighed, rubbing his face as he walked forward. He came in front of you, bending to his knees before planting his face in your shoulder. His arms came around you, tired and slow, but tightly encircling your waist.

“My prince?” You questioned awkwardly, unsure of where to put your hands.

“They’re thinking of breaking the rules. Of giving me the throne,” he whimpered, voice muffled by your body.

“That can’t be so awful,” you murmured, ultimately deciding to rest your hand on his back and head.

“I can’t marry you,” he partially whispered, pressing himself into you further.

“Oh,” was all the tiny sound you could muster. Was that really what he was worried about?

The two of you stayed intertwined on his makeshift nest of blankets and pillows. You, with your heart beating straight out of its’ hole, and him, with his face pressed tight against your body, crying ever so slightly. It gave you time to think of a plan.

“I might regret telling you this, but I have an idea,” you started off slowly. He didn’t move, or make any noise, so you continued.

“You could marry me now,” you said, feeling much more stressed and yet less anxious with the thought now in the open. Open for judgement, yes, but also for accepting, and which one terrified you more you did not know.

He removed himself from you, mouth slightly parted and wide eyed. He then knitted his eyebrows together, cocking his head to the right.

“You’d do that?” His tone was quiet and uncertain, unbelieving and a half whisper.

“If you married me now and you or I decided that it wasn’t a thing we wanted, we could later divorce. However if you let your father announce you as Pharaoh before we are married, it would not be allowed. It’s simply…” you trailed off, unsure of where you were headed.

“The logical decision, to help with my stress?” He smiled shyly. You laughed awkwardly, and nodded.

He leaned forward, looking like he was about to kiss you. Instinctively you pushed him away, heart beat increasing once more.

“It’s just a place holder. Nothings changed. I still don’t think I should even be looking at you,” you quickly relayed to him, hoping to make him realize that you didn’t want to act married.

“Alright. I will kiss you one day though,” he reminded you with a teasing lilt, raising your hand to his mouth, kissing you with a touch that was barely there.

“It appears you already have,” you replied, thinking back to the many times he’d kissed your hand. You knew it to be a sign of utmost respect, and it had confused you when he first did it. Now, you were far more accustomed to it, though you still didn’t approve of it. You supposed he had a right to whomever he respected.

Three days later, he’d convinced you that it was okay to tell his parents. You were hesitant for obvious reasons, but he assured you there wouldn’t be harsh consequences. Unfortunately, he wanted you to be there when he broke the news.

So you stood behind him, shaking, going into a mild cardiac arrest.

“We’re married. It was my idea,” he started with, which was very outright, and you wanted to berate him for that.

“… Married?” His father confirmed. You hadn’t ever spoken to him before, but he had a commanding voice. He, like his eldest son, had a posture, an air about him that simply made him fit to rule.

The prince nodded. His parents exchanged looks, before their eyes fell on you.

“You are?” His father asked, eyes burning your skin.

“My name is Nour. I was the harpist for many of your parties. I have been the youngest princes’… stress reliever,” you answered, attempting to be succinct. You kept your head down, a sign of submission and respect.

“Oh, you were his whore?”

You spluttered, face turning red as you made flabby attempts at defending yourself.

“No, father, Nour has helped me to calm down through music… not, uh, sex. Nour won’t let me touch them,” the prince stepped in to defend you, and at the same time, completely discredited your claimed marriage.

“You two wish to be married, yet you’ve never touched each other? Just, holding hands?”

The Pharaoh seemed confused. He turned to his queen once more, before looking at the two of you again.

“I’m very adamant that I not be touched until marriage. It is a simple personal preference,” you said quickly, coming up with the explanation on the fly. You begged to whomever would listen that it would suffice. Still your eyes were trained on his feet, simply to avoid accidentally meeting his eyes. Despite this you saw him shrug helplessly, waving his hand at his son.

“Alright then, whatever. Why are you telling me this then? Do you want a celebration?”

“Y-“ The prince started, being promptly interrupted by you.

“We’d prefer to keep this quiet for a little bit,” you quickly requested, still keeping your head down. The Pharaoh grunted something, dismissing you quickly. The prince grabbed your shoulders, rushing you out of the throne room and down a quiet hallway. It was open, with large pillars replacing a wall, allowing you to see the city.

“Before you ask, I thought it would be best to have a celebration when we actually get married, if we do,” you told him, which made him finally stop pushing you ahead. He pushed you into a wall, trapping you between his arms. For a moment you were scared, but he was smiling for some reason.

“I care what you believe more than anything, but for right now, I don’t care. We’re married,” he laughed, pressing his forehead to yours. He looked elated, and it made you scared, but it also made love rush beneath your fingertips, spritzing out in the form of a desperate need to touch him.

He reacted before you did, leaning in as slow as he could, still smiling. As he neared your lips, you caught onto a rather scandalous idea.

“Oh my prince, what are you playing at?” You asked coyly, giving him a coquettish grin. For a split second you saw confusion paint his face. You grabbed his wrist, pulling him back into the wall. You switched places with him, pinning him to the wall. There was the unfortunate bit where you were quite a bit shorter than him, but his knees buckled beneath him, bringing him lower than you. Mimicking some of his first actions against you, you pressed two of your fingers beneath his chin, moving him so he looked you in the eyes.

His eyes were wide, staring into yours with happy anticipation. You could almost see him mentally devouring up the attention you were giving him.

“We both know it goes like this,” you whispered, words dripping with amorously inviting intentions. He seemed to melt further into you, smiling with a blissed out look. You were sure if you simply left him like that, he’d only find you more inviting.

So you did.

You ceased all contact all at once, leaving him breathing heavy with wide eyes. You smiled innocently at him, and continued down the hallway. A few minutes later, he finally caught up with you, looking embarrassed but more professional.

“Nice play my love, but I’ll get you someday,” he whispered into your ear, still walking behind you. You just let out a giggle, wondering if he really had it in him.

“Of course, my prince,” you smiled at him.

The two of you returned to his room, feeling much less stressed about the whole situation. However, he asked that you not play the harp. Instead he wanted to simply sit with you, and you agreed as if you had any other option. He led you to the nest of pillows and blankets you were both too familiar with, sitting you down across from him.

“I could write endless poetry about you,” he said dreamily, leaning in and taking your hands. You flushed red, attempting to stammer out a reply.

“Uh- um, t-thank you? I’m hardly deserving,” was what you got out, not meeting his eyes out of embarrassment.

“Nour, you must realize that at this point you are my equal. You can look at me,” he lifted his hand to your cheek, pulling you back to face him, “and you can touch me.”

This was true. Now the only thing stopping you was your own inhibitions, and to you, it felt like enough. When for a few moments you did nothing, he sighed, dropping his head onto your shoulder.

“Whatever you wish, my love,” he murmured, falling back and away from you.

Before you fully knew what you were doing, you pulled him back, sitting yourself in his lap. He looked surprised, staring at you expectantly. Hesitantly, you ran your hand through his short hair, your heart rate increasing as he continued staring at you.

“My love?” He asked in a hushed voice, full of tension, and yet excitement as well.

“My prince,” you responded, your voice holding the utmost reverence and adoration. Once more his hand came to rest on your cheek. He eased you closer, letting you follow his hand of your own accord. It seemed incredibly like him to allow you to take control in such a situation as this.

At long last you relaxed in his touch, melting into his hand with a sigh and closed eyes. You heard him chuckle just slightly, felt him leaning in and felt his nose press into your cheek.

He was letting you make the final move.

You did just so, moving forward not even a centimeter before you felt his lips upon yours.

The tension in your muscles, the tension that had been there since the moment you stepped foot in the palace, faded away. The longer he stayed there, moving his lips against yours, the more anxiety faded away, being replaced by unending need and laudation. The fondness you felt for him consumed your entire being, burning in your blood and electrifying your movements against him. Your hands found a resting place on his shoulders, pulling him ever closer to you. Everything else besides him felt numb, your senses existing only to feel him.

He sunk deeper into you, hands coming beneath your shawl. You leaned away, landing you on your back with him above you.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured, leaning down to land soft, open mouthed kisses on your neck.

“You’ve mentioned that,” you breathed out, eyelids fluttering shut as he worked away. You felt out of place, confused, and unsure of where to put your hands. Ultimately he took charge, holding your hands in his and holding them above your head. His fingers threaded into yours, and he came up to kiss you upon your lips.

“I don’t think I’ve ever told you how beautiful you are,” you said as he removed himself from you, sitting on his knees. You followed his actions, coming close to him, settling your hand on the back of his neck.

“I’m not sure how,” you gave him a curious look, “but you seem to glow, whenever I see you.”

“That’d be the moonlight,” he teased.

“I think it’s actually just you,” you murmured, leaning in for another kiss. He hummed pleasantly, chasing after you when you tried to pull away.

“I’ve hesitated to say this until now but I truly love you. I’m sorry I haven’t said it before, I -“

“Was following the rules?”

“Yes,” you said in a hushed voice, hoping he’d understand. He shifted, moving his body so you could sit in his lap, before pulling you into him.

“I know. I admire you for it, you’ve got quite the tenacity to disobey orders just to obey rules,” he smirked, teasing you. You giggled quietly, pressing a sweet kiss to his lips.

Finally, everything felt correct. Maybe it was just because you might’ve been a massive prude, but there was the fact that if you were a massive prude, you would’ve waited until a wedding celebration to kiss him. So maybe you were just an avid rule follower. Either way, this time it felt right to touch him, so you did just that.

It was the first time you spent the night with him, both of you asleep in his bed.

Surprisingly, not much changed. Per your request his parents had not told anyone, so no one treated you differently than they had before. A small part of you appreciated that, and the other parts didn’t especially care. Planning for the young prince’s birthday celebrations continued, with you sometimes included in such planning.

Despite recent events you were still nervous about being his ‘plus one.’ It would be making a statement, something you never liked to do, though the statement was more on his behalf, not yours. Nighttime was often the only peace you got, what with daytime being hectic and stressful. Most evenings you played for the prince, whom you still referred to as the prince in your head. Usually out loud, as much as it bothered him. You’d get there eventually, you told yourself.

Sometimes he’d sit behind you, playing with your hair, landing soft pecks on the back of your neck. It was incredibly distracting for your playing and incredibly welcome by your heart.

“I love you,” he said, a thing he often said simply to remind you. When you were feeling especially shy, you’d reply, “I know.” However, during your more normal or confident days, you’d respond, “I love you too.” You had a feeling he preferred the latter.

“How are you feeling? I know there’s been a lot going on,” he asked quietly, threading your hair between his fingers. He tugged at it every now and then, and you wondered if he was trying to braid it.

“I’ve been alright. I got measured today for my clothes, for your party,” you told him in a calm murmur. The quiet moments you shared seemed to be the only time there weren’t voices yelling in your ear.

“Do you like the design?” He asked, tugging at your hair before releasing it.

“I didn’t see it,” you said with a soft laugh, stopping your music for just a second before resuming. He kissed just below the ear as you began, causing you to miss the chord entirely.

“Your affections ruin my playing.”

“Isn’t that the best way to ruin it?”

“There’s better ways.”

He laughed, wrapping his arms around your stomach. He pulled you away from your harp, dragging you into his embrace. You smiled, relaxing into his arms. Your harp, luckily, landed on a bed of pillows.

“I love you,” he murmured against your hair, kissing your head.

“I love you too,” you said, turning up so he could kiss you properly.

+

The celebration was, in your opinion, loud. In your sort-of husband’s opinion, it was joyous. The food was wonderful, you did admit, a good chunk of dessert being made out of sweet honey. Too many people for your taste, just the right amount for his taste, and too little for his parents’ taste. The entire time you sat by his side, people gave you odd stares, but said nothing. His parents didn’t say a word, but greeted you with a curt nod, which was a lot more than you were expecting.

“To the eighteenth birthday of the new Pharaoh, Ahkmenrah!”

The entirety of the table that stretched from one end of a very long hall to the other end of the very long hall raised their glasses. Wine sloshed within the cups, sometimes pouring onto the table. You raised yours careful not to spill. You hadn’t drank that much anyway.

As the hands lowered all took a sip or gulp from their drinks, and promptly after that, the Prince turned Pharaoh collapsed onto the ground. The chalice in your hand crashed onto the table as you knelt hastily by his side, turning him over and shaking him, desperately trying to get him to wake up. Your fingers tingled with pin pricks, all the blood rushing to your head and thumping loudly like the drumbeats of the reaper.

He was carried away from you, and in your own misery you missed the calamity. When you returned to yourself, aware of your own body, you found yourself still kneeling on the floor of the dining hall. It was empty save for a few servants cleaning up the table, and Ahkmenrah’s parents. You felt an empty hole in your torso, as if someone had plowed a log straight through your body.

His father set a hand on your shoulder, telling you to get up and stay by his side. You obeyed without question.

You sat by his bed, grasping his hand. Healers stood on the other side of the bed, putting some sort of ointment into his mouth.

With sluggish movements his head turned to you, lips purple and cracked. His eyes seemed to sink into his skull, eyelids blinking slow and red.

“My love,” he murmured, his voice hoarse and cracking under the light pressure. You kissed his knuckles, holding them tighter.

“You’ll be alright, my prince,” you assured him, glancing up at the healer as you said this. He made a small shrug motion, giving you a worried look.

“No I won’t. Don’t… worry, about me? Don’t worry,” he said to you, trying to raise his arm to your cheek. He couldn’t bear the strain, so you leaned down, pressing your cheek to his open palm. The edges of his lips turned up slightly, smiling as much as you assumed he could physically stand.

The healer left the room, coming back a few minutes later with his parents.

“It’s poison,” he informed them quietly in the corner of the room. His mother gasped, hands coming up to cover her mouth. Your mouth automatically fell open, eyes widening in worry as you looked back down at the prince.

“Your brother,” you said, knowing it must’ve been him. No one else hated him, at least not as much as his brother did.

“I know,” he murmured, trying to swallow. It hurt him, you could tell by the way his eyes closed and his brows knitted tightly together as he winced.

“I will -“

“Don’t. It’s not your job. He will be brought to justice, not by you.”

You nodded, gripping his hand tighter.

“My love,” he rasped out, “be at peace, for I am at peace.” His lips barely moved before he lay still. His eyes remained open, and his head relaxed towards the ceiling.

You numbed entirely. Your hands went cold, and his hand dropped from your cheek with a graceless thump.

And he lay still.

And he did not move, not for hours, not until people moved his body for him, moving him away from both his parents and your eyes. You stayed, kneeled next to his bed for longer than you knew.

Publicly you weren’t married to him. Publicly you were his servant, and that meant you could be buried with him, whether you wanted to or not. You weren’t sure what you preferred.

You didn’t get the time to think it through. He was buried, and his brother became King in his stead. True to his promise, he kept you as his servant. You weren’t allowed to be buried with the prince, and for a while, you served the Pharaoh well. For a long while, and many moons passed before you couldn’t bear more.

It wasn’t until grief consumed you that you changed your situation. His parents had died months back, and whether they were murdered or not you didn’t know. They got proper burials, alongside their son. The world had nothing left to give you, and the Pharaoh was cruel and unjust. You saw clearly now why his mother seemed so worried. You had originally thought that no one could be as inhuman as he was, and now you were wrong. And now you had to end it.

+

It wasn’t until you died that you awoke again. You’d killed yourself in Egypt, and found yourself awake years into the future, locked inside a half rotted wooden sarcophagus. Besides the tight encasing, the worst part was the dank smell. That had to be expected, after you realized that you had definitely been in that sarcophagus for well over a thousand years, and your wrappings were covered in dust and rot.

To your immense luck it wasn’t pitch black. The wood had rotted through enough to shine small specks of light into your coffin, and due to this whenever you awoke, you could see through to the other world.

You awoke and fell straight asleep and the same time every day. When you awoke, you shifted to a hole, and with your wrappings coming off just slightly below your eye, you saw people. All kinds of people - locked up in glass containers and wearing silly looking clothes. If they weren’t in their own casings they moved around, banging on the glass to be let out. None of them could fully speak, but the throat bleeding screams behind their wrappings was enough to make your blood run cold.

Sometimes, you’d see people not in wrappings, and not encased in glass. They wore dark blue clothing, and they looked old, with pale, white skin.

It made you wonder, very often (when you weren’t panicked about never getting out, and suffering eternity locked away), where you were. You had realized you were in the future, but how? How were you alive? Why were you still in your coffin, and why were you surrounded with glass? Most importantly, how did you wake up?

Ages later you were still in the same place. You lost count how many times you woke up, just to never be released, and fall back asleep. The funniest thing was, you were never tired when you fell asleep. You just did, as though it were instinct.

It was that evening that absolute chaos ensued. Something had happened - there was only one man in dark blue clothing, and he looked frightened. The screams of those around you grew louder, and soon the man was gone with a start.

This pattern of the man running through the room continued for a few more nights before peace came about once more.

A few more nights later, the screaming stopped. Two men spoke together outside in a language you couldn’t understand, but it seemed to be civil, if not worried. One of them got passionate, but was eventually calmed down.

Then a lock clicked.

Fresh air seeped in through the holes of your own prison.

And your lid opened.

You still wore your wrappings, so it was a little hard to see anything. Cloth kept your hands tightly bound to your chest, and when the two men you could barely see noticed that, they helped. Eventually your arms were torn free, quickly followed by the wrappings around your mouth.

You breathed truly, fresh air for the first time in longer than a century. Unfortunately, your eyes were still covered, so it was a bit musty.

“Um,” one man said, mumbling something garbled that you didn’t understand. Hands came behind your head, and for a moment you flinched back, but he slowed. With more care he came up from behind, slowly unwrapping your age old prison.

You blinked as harsh light filled your eyes, cringing away. Before you could fully see arms wrapped tight around you, pulling you out of your casket and holding you tight to a body, clothing and jewelry pressing tight into your skin.

“I - I’m sorry?” Was all you could think to say, eyes finally being able to see. The glass around you was gone, and you saw in full vision the others who were encased. They too were out, some more violent and confused than others, who seemed to also be from Egypt.

“Nour,” he mumbled, a cold sort of crown chilling your cheek. The voice, knowing your name, speaking it with such blessing, sounded too familiar. You tried to form words, but found yourself at a loss for them, resorting to confused mumbles and noises.

Over the mans’ (who was still hugging you) shoulder you saw another man, white skin, younger. Dark hair, strong brow, and looking incredibly awkward. Upon seeing that you noticed him, he waved awkwardly, saying something in another language.

“What’s happening?” You asked weakly, hoping the man who was hugging you understood your language.

“Oh, my love,” he murmured, lips brushing against your neck as he pulled back.

“My prince?”

#ahkmenrah x reader #ahkmenrah #night at the museum #rami malek #ahkmenrah x male reader #ahkmenrah x female reader

[heavenlymisa]

bounce-back to a throwback.

Erik “Killmonger” Stevens x Black!reader

warnings; The n-word, fluff, angst (only for a lil bit) 

summary; (this is a continuation of “his lil secret”) During Erik’s live-stream, you two decided on playing 21 questions, which turns into a time of remembrance. (this sounds like a hallmark movie-)

an; ya’ll done ate his lil secret UP- anyways, enjoy! <3 ALSO, a huuggee thank you to @ljstraightnochaser​ for giving me ideas! Couldn’t do this without you, boo!

“Bring lil’ mama back. Aht aht! Nobody calls her that except for me! Don’t play!”

“Babygir- Hold on now! Ya’ll niggas ain’t gonna sit there and call my baby babygirl like she’s yours.”

“Where did Y/N go? She’s downstairs eating her lil mozzarella sticks, still mad at me for not making them.”

“When your girl comes back, tell her to holla at a homebo- Nigga i’ll fuck you up- Matter of fact, BLOCKED. Stop fucking around with me, you ain’t my homeboy.”

You were sitting at the dining room table, eating the mozzarella sticks you made just a few minutes ago, while watching Erik on his Instagram live. Of course, he was just upstairs, but you decided to just let him take over his live for a little bit. 

After you left you and Erik’s bedroom, Your Instagram blew all the way up. Over the course of 9 minutes, your page went from 10k to Almost 100k. You didn’t really like the attention you got, but you weren't really phased about it either. 

“Is she still watching the live? I don’t know.” Erik said, still on live. 

You quickly commented on the live before the subject changed.

‘i’m still here :) what’s up?’

A couple of seconds passed before Erik saw the comment and smiled.

“Hey baaabbyyyeeee!” Erik yelled. You could hear him all the way upstairs..

‘you’re so loud i can hear you downstairs 🙄’

“Sorry, Mamas. You almost finished eating?”

‘yup! just gimme a sec to put my plate in the sink.’

“Aight. Make sure to come back upstairs!”

You hurried up and put your plate in the sink and dashed up the stairs, clutching your phone in your hand. As you walked up to the door, you turned off your phone and put it in your back pocket.

When you opened up the door to your shared bedroom, Erik looked up and dramatically gasped.

“Oh my god. A goddess walked into my room!” He set his phone on the nightstand and faced it towards where you were standing. He got up, rushed over to you, and threw his arms around your waist. You places your arms around his neck, while laughing as he spun you around softly.

“Babes, I missed you!” He kissed your forehead.

“Baby, it’s only been like twenty minutes, you’re fine!” You said while laughing.

He picked you up, which automatically made your legs wrap around his waist, while his arms stayed around your waist.

“Girl, you trip me out.” He said while laughing.

He sat down on the floor while you were still clinging onto him. You looked to the side and saw his phone propped on his lamp, still on live. You got off of his lap and crawled to his phone to read some of the comments while Erik dramatically fell unto the floor and started to whine.

‘she’s baacckkkk!’

‘ya’ll making me feel mad lonely :(’

‘Erik picked out a good one! 🤤’

‘mama got some sexc eyes thougghhh’

ew-

‘god clearly got favorites smh’

“Why did you leeavveee meeee!” Erik whined while squirming on the floor.

“Because I wanted to. Case closed.” You said while still looking at his phone.

“But I wanted you to stay, Babyyygirlll.”

“I was bored over there, but I’m entertained over here. So, I’m staying here, babe.”

‘PERIOD POOH-’

“Well okay.” Erik said while walking over to you and sitting on the floor beside you. “How can I make you not bored with me, ma?”

An idea popped into your head.

“Let’s play a game. Twenty-one questions.”

Erik grabbed his glasses, which were discarded on his dresser, and placed them on his face.

“Alright. Let’s play. I’ll go first.” He said while facing his whole body towards you.

“Question One, What’s one of my bad habits?”

“You leave the toilet seat up.”

“That isn’t a ba-”

“I fell into the toilet almost five times this week.” You said with a straight face.

Erik started to say something, but closed his mouth immediately when it opened.

“M’kay, my turn!” You said with a grin.

“Do you regret spilling that hot ass drink on me when we first met?”

“Hell no! I wouldn’t have met the love of my life if I didn’t.” Erik said while hugging your waist.

‘That’s how you guys met?!’

‘omg please tell us how you two met!’

You looked down at the man baby who was looking at the comments also while laying his head on your thigh. You stroked the side of Erik’s face and sighed.

“Alright, alright. I’ll tell you guys how us two met.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

“Hello, may I get a Grande Caramel Macchiato?”

“Y/N, stop acting so formal with me, girl. I got you!” 

Currently, you were in Starbucks visiting your friend, Ebony, while she works. You usually don’t drink Starbucks, but it was cold outside and your body was begging for something hot. 

“Thanks girl.” You walked to a table, sat down, and pulled out your phone, patiently waiting for your drink.

After a minute, the bell for the door rang. Four guys walked into the Starbucks and sat down at the booth diagonal from your table. After a few seconds, one man stood up and went to the cash register to order.

“Girl, come get your drink. It’s on the counter!” Ebony said while going back into the kitchen.

You stood up, went to the counter, and grabbed your drink. The drink wasn’t as hot as you would imagine on the outside, but you knew the second that drink would hit your tongue, hell would be loose in your house.

As you went to turn back to go to your table, an elbow came in contact with your drink, making it splash all over your shirt and partially your face. 

“Oh shit!” The man in front of you exclaimed while running to get a paper towel from the bathroom.

You yelped and started to frantically fan yourself with your hand to at least try to cool yourself down. The man came back with some wet and dry paper towels and handed it over to you. You snatched it out of his hands and started to clean yourself off while the man was still watching you.

“What? You gonna wait for me to get another hot drink just so you can spill it on me?” You said, irritated.

“I’m sorry-”

“Sorry doesn’t fix all of this!” At this point, you were irritated and just wanted to go home.

The man sighed and shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets.

“At least let me make it up to you. I honestly didn’t mean for all of this to happen..” The man said, sheepishly.

You weighted your options for about one minute until you caved in.

“Alright....”

“Here.” The man took off his hoodie and gave it to you. “Go to the bathroom, take off your shirt and put that on.”

Without responding you went into the bathroom and changed. The second you put on the hoodie, you got hit with a beautiful scent. You breathed into the hoodie and smelled Vanilla and cologne. You immediately felt warmth from that hoodie and never wanted to take it off. You walked out of the bathroom to be met with the man holding a Grande Caramel Macchiato.

“Here. I promise I won’t spill it on you.”

You took the drink while he took your stained shirt.

“C’mon. Let’s go.”

“Go? Go where?”

He chuckled.

“It’s a surprise. Just come on.”

He started to walk while you stayed behind. He looked behind himself and saw that you didn’t move an inch and huffed.

“Girl, come on.” He said with a dramatic expression.

“We’re strangers. What makes you think that you’re gonna take me somewhere?”

He chuckled.

“My name’s Erik. What’s yours?”

“Y/N.”

“There, we’re not strangers. Now come on. I’m trying to make this up to you.”

You looked over to Ebony who was persuading you to go with his silently. You giggled softly and gave in.

“Fine... I’ll go..”

Erik excused himself from the three other guys and went to his car while you followed him. He unlocked his car while you stood there in awe. As he opened the passenger side of he car, he looked at you and chuckled.

“You like it?”

You walked up to the passenger side and sat down in the seat.

“Like it? It’s gorgeous.”

Erik winked at you and shut the door. He walked over to the other side, got in, and started the car. He grabbed two sunglasses, he put one pair on and handed the other pair to you. You carefully grabbed the sunglasses and put them on. Erik turned on the air and looked over to you.

“You know, i’m truly sorry about spilling that drink on you.”

You put the Starbucks drink in his cup-holder and looked over to him.

“It’s alright.” You said with a smile.

Erik smiled back and pulled out of the Starbucks parking lot.

-------

“Erik, I can’t accept this-”

“Yes you can-”

“Erik, no I can-”

“Just take it.”

“No, I’m not taking i-”

Erik shoved his credit card into her hand.

“Ma, just take the card. Go crazy, okay? Just make sure to buy me something.”

Currently, you two were inside the mall at the food court. Erik wanted you to buy some stuff with his credit card as a way to say “sorry”. Of course you believe that he was sorry, but giving a girl your credit card and just saying “go crazy with it” is another type of sorry. The best kind.

“Alright.” You said. You breathed in the scent of his hoodie before you two started to walk inside the mall.

“So... What do you work as?” 

“Hm? Oh, I’m a rapper.” Erik said bluntly.

“Like... A soundcloud rapper?” You absolutely hated soundcloud rappers. Most of them were offbeat and had no style whatsoever. You were just praying that he wasn’t a wannabe rapper inside your head.

“Oh hell no!” He said dramatically. “Ma, I have a record deal. I’m the real thing.”

“Oh really?” You said sarcastically. “Lemme listen to one of your songs them.”

He handed you his airpods and unlocked his phone. He went to his music app and clicked on an album. 

“You ready?” He asked.

You put his airpods into your ears and gave a thumbs up. He hit the play button and put his phone back into his pocket. As you listened to his song, you were in love. Rap wasn’t really your go-to, but you couldn’t lie; is was a whole bop.

When the song was over, you handed his airpods over to him and he clipped them back unto his belt loop on his pants.

“So, how was it?”

You stopped and looked over to him.

“What’s your rapper name?”

He chuckled.

“Killmonger.”

“Well, Killmonger...” You said slowly, which made his shift a little bit.

“That was amazing.”

“Why thank you Y/N.” He said sarcastically.

----------

The shopping was over and you two were overflowed with bags. You had like two small bags while Erik carried fifteen large bags from different stores. It was getting pretty late so you two decided to call it a night. You and Erik made it to his car, put the bags in the backseat, and got into the car. Erik sat still for a second before turning towards you.

“Gimme your phone.” He said with a blank face.

“Why?”

“Because if you want to go on another shopping spree, then you can just call me and i’ll put it in my schedule.” He said with a smile.

“Okayy.” You gave him your phone and he put his number in. He gave you your phone back and smirked. 

You opened the contacts app and found a new contact; “Sugar Daddy 😈💵🖤”

“Nigga I know you didn’t-”

“But I did.” He started the car.

“And don’t think about changing it, either!”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

“anndd... That’s how I met him.” You looked down to see Erik fast asleep on your thigh with his arm still wrapped around your waist. You looked up to look at the comments for a few seconds:

‘sugar daddy?? he was wildin back then-’

‘ya’ll cute or whateva😗’

‘where is erik? he just disappeared-’

“Erik’s still here, he’s just asleep on my lap.”

‘AWWW’

‘But didn’t he say in one of his songs, “We niggas dont sleep??” That’s how you KNOW niggas be lying.”

You chuckled and started to stroke the side of his face, which made him smile in the sleep a little.

“Alright guys, I’m going to end the live here. Bye!” You whisper-yelled to the phone.

‘byee!’

‘Awh... Byee!!’

‘take care!’

‘Don’t forget to call a homeboy up if homie isn’t treating you right 😉😜😏’

You rolled your eyes and ended the live.

All that was left to do was to get Erik on the bed.

Oh boy..

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

ya’ll don’t know how much fun im having with this series-

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

taglist: @mccrps​ @dr-haze​ @imadreamysoul​ @teehjayy​ @pastelastronomy24​ @regulartuan​ @enigmaticaphrodite​ @srirachibi​ @queen-with-the-queen-shirt​ @disorganized-mess-xxx​ @fd-writes​ @iamrheaspeaks​ @destinio1​ @keiva1000​ @itsqu33n​ @raysunshine78​ @bugngiz​ @iris-eyez​ @soufcakmistress​ @igorsbby​ @thiccdaddy-mbaku​ @amirra88​ @chaneajoyyy​ @ljstraightnochaser​ @hidden-treasures21​ @elephants-bubbles-brachosauruses 

Let me know if you want to be added to my taglist! <3

#Erik Stevens #black panther #Erik Killmonger #killmonger #black panther x reader #Erik killmonger x Reader #erik killmonger x oc #erik killmonger stevens #black panther killmonger #black banther x oc #killmonger x reader #killmonger fic #killmongeredit #erik stevens x reader #Erik Stevens x oc #erik killmonger stevens x reader #erik killmonger stevens x oc #n'jadaka #n'jadaka x reader #n'jadaka udaku #n'jadaka udaku x reader

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

'Christmas Tree Lane': Alicia Witt & Andrew Walker on Finally Working Together

By Meredith Jacobs 

Alicia Witt and Andrew Walker are very familiar faces to Hallmark fans, but until one of this year's "Miracles of Christmas" offerings, they had never met.

That changed with Hallmark Movies & Mysteries' Christmas Tree Lane, in which the two stars play a will-they-or-won't-they potential couple. Witt's Meg runs into Walker's Nate (and keeps running into him) before she learns he's partially why her music store may have to close; his company is seeking to redevelop Christmas Tree Lane. You can guess where the romantic complications comes in.

Here, Witt — who is also an executive producer and wrote an original song for the movie,Christmas Will Never End — and Walker preview their characters' journeys.

Introduce your characters. What's missing in their lives?

Alicia Witt: Meg's going through a period in her life where she's happy, but she senses that something is missing; not only someone special to share her life with, but also her music, which is a great big part of her soul and her spirit. She has long since stopped seeking a life where she's making music professionally or seeking to be a recording artist for a living. She gets great joy out of working with her students and running the family music store they've had for generations, but such a big part of her identity is composing and writing songs and putting those out, expressing herself in that way, and, when we first meet her, that's something she has squelched for quite a long time. 

Andrew Walker: When you're met with similarities in your own life ... it's like this exorcism in a way. Nate is very similar to me in a lot of respects. He's constantly on the move, constantly got things happening, but he's been trying to find some sort of peace in his life, hence him moving back home. His dad and him have been working together. He's been going city to city, developing properties for his father. Kids in general have their issues from time to time with their parents and, in this respect, Nate and his father have butt heads for a long time. Nate is more creative. He's trying to find a new sense of what his norm would be, just trying to connect with himself and his family.

Then he's met with this challenge in trying to convince Meg this could be a good thing for her and her family, and also trying to appease his father. He's been a guy that's been on the run from facing reality and maturing, and [I'm] very similar. I feel like I only started maturing after the birth of my first child; I'm still on that journey. ... I do meditate now, and this is something Nate would probably be doing as well, just trying to be a better version of himself and, when he meets Meg, she is the catalyst to him being [that]. That's scary, when you meet somebody who has that much of an impact on your life. 

What initially draws each to the other and keeps bringing them together, other than her friend playing matchmaker?

Witt: [Laughs] I'm just remembering how much fun we had filming those scenes with my friend just constantly shoving us together and vanishing. For Meg, a big part of this is what Andrew brought to the role of Nate and how he embodied him. It felt like there was some purpose Meg was aware of without even knowing exactly why. It seemed like she was supposed to be talking to this guy. The fact that they keep running into each other is meaningful enough. Meg, like me, is somebody that pays attention to coincidences that seem too strange to merely be a coincidence. 

It's such a strange time, where her whole life as she knows it is about to change with Christmas Tree Lane having been sold and everything she grew up with seemingly about to shift, so it's true when she says, "I'm focused primarily on saving Christmas Tree Lane." But at the same time, this guy's coming in and causing her to feel inspired and alive in a way she hasn't allowed herself to in a few years, and the fact that's happening at the same time as all these other changes, her life is already so strange that it isn't any more strange to have this wonderful, new human that's shown up. 

It is, for her, also very scary, and he's also opening that door for her to start creating again and feeling inspired. For myself, when I meet somebody and all of a sudden I can't stop coming up with ideas for songs that I know are largely about them, I know those are some big feelings coming up.

Walker: On Nate's side, being challenged in a relationship is the best place to be. When you're open to that challenge, to change, there's something there. My wife and I own a business, and she challenges me, but as reluctant as I am sometimes, I am open to that. When Nate does meet Meg, he doesn't really realize it, but she pushes him to be open and available and accessible, and that's scary for anybody.

Alicia, what did you specifically want to showcase with that original song?

Witt: I thought the most important thing for Meg to express though that song is this sense that, whatever the future holds, it's going to be alright and a large part of that has to do with Nate, and it's all tied into the history and the memories of Christmas Tree Lane: her whole life spent there, her family, her closest friends. But then there's this sense that this newness is now going to come in, and whether it continues on Christmas Tree Lane or elsewhere, he's going to be a part of future memories and in so doing that, he'll be a part of all the past memories. 

There's something about Christmas that ties together everything we've ever experienced anyway, which is what I loved about the idea of creating a story set in this world of vintage stores that have been around for over 100 years, and at Christmastime, we automatically find ourselves flashing back to where we were Christmas Eve when we were 4.

I wanted there to be a sense of hope, and what Meg would want, as I would want, in creating any Christmas song is something that hopefully whoever's listening can relate to, even though it's specifically about Christmas Tree Lane and our love story. And it's also tricky writing a song like that because it's too soon for, "I love you with all my heart and we're going to spend the next 30 years together without question," but it's hopeful, saying, "I have a feeling, you could be all of this, and let's go for it."

You both have been in quite a few Hallmark movies, but you've never worked together before now. What made this one the right one?

Walker: That's a question for Alicia because I feel like I just lucked out in being available and chosen for this role and taken on this journey with her, but she held the power in that. 

Witt: Hallmark suggested Andrew. I knew of Andrew's work but I just watched a few quick things to remind me, and I think it took me about a minute and a half to say, "Oh yes, absolutely, 100 percent, no question."

Walker: Two minutes maybe?

Witt: Maybe two minutes. [Walker laughs.] It wouldn't have been two minutes of watching time, it would've just been two minutes of searching time to try to find a sample of a couple different types of roles.

There's such an obvious, genuine, playful, completely guileless, what-you-see-is-what-you-get, but also super-intelligent and deep, and a quality that makes you want to know more. I thought that Nate was such a complicated character in many ways to find the perfect spirit to embody because you need to not be 100 percent [sure] who he is at first, but you have to like him a whole lot, and you have to also question just a little bit where his loyalties lie when you find out his allegiance to Cloverfield. 

But at the same time, you have to really root for him and believe what he's saying is true and he really wants to save Christmas Tree Lane and there was every quality and more than I ever could have dreamed of in Andrew. I was so, so grateful he was available and able and said he liked the script. I like him even more now that we've worked together, and I truly can't wait to do it again.

Walker: That's very sweet, Alicia. I couldn't have picked a better person to work with, honestly, coming back from COVID and this journey we've been on and both of us felt so grateful to be not only working but also working together. I had known of Alicia, obviously, for years, and I've seen her work many times, and to work with somebody like her, the caliber of game that she brings in every role, it was nice to see her work off camera and what goes into that and how devoted she is.

It felt like most of our scenes, even though there was a framework to it, we improvised a lot, and you don't get that with somebody you don't trust and feel has your back. I felt we could sit there and not say a word to each other and just feel like there was progress in the scene. I have wanted to work with Alicia, and I feel like this was the perfect time, the perfect project, and I feel so honored she supported Hallmark's decision in bringing my name to the table. I would love to have another opportunity down the road to work with Alicia again.  

I made a point of not listening to Alicia play piano or sing before we started this movie because I had heard through the grapevine that she was uber-talented, but I left it for the scene, when Nate and her are sitting there and she does a test run on the piano for me, and you're incredible, Alicia. This movie is your quintessential Hallmark movie, but the added flavor of having her sing and play and the musicality this movie has in it is amazing. And it was nostalgic for me because every single holiday was based around music [for my family]. 

Christmas Tree Lane, Movie Premiere, Saturday, October 24, 10/9c, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. 

Link to full article at tvinsider.com HERE

#interview #alicia witt #andrew walker #link #hallmark movies #christmas tree lane #miracles of christmas #hallmark movies & mysteries

[mxrcayong]

spite - the avatar series (02.01)

overall masterlist | avatar series masterlist

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chapter one

Ever since two members of the now internationally renowned pro-bending team praised the coffee from “Iroh and Me”, business has been booming. It didn’t help that these two members, namely “The Osaka Prince” and “The Mouse”, are among the top pro-benders and are heartthrobs everywhere they go.

What once was a quiet café in the isolated part of downtown Sooman was now a booming social space, with the owners even being pressured into expanding their small café into a chain restaurant.

Thursday afternoons were always the busiest. People wanted that extra boost of coffee or bubble tea to push them through the week, most likely trying to complete their work by the end of Friday so they could finally be free. Despite the fact that only an hour ago they had a line down their block, Tari glided around the café effortlessly with a rag in her apron pocket and her tray with dirty dishes in hand.

“Someone’s chirpier than normal today,” Hendery commented as Tari slid back behind the counter, where Hendery placed the last customer’s drink in the line on the counter. “You don’t normally hum.” His eyebrow raised inquisitively, “Does this mean it’s easier for me to convince you to let me go home early tonight?”  

The new manager of the café rolled her eyes, chuckling. “Quite the opposite actually. Do you think you can close tonight?” She unconsciously grinned as she thought of the reason she’d be going home early.

Hendery jokingly groaned, dramatically throwing his arms on the bar counter and slamming his head onto his arms. “I don’t know if I like you being corrupt with power.”

Her eyes widened before she playfully pushed him, just strong enough for him to fumble over his own feet. “You say that as if I haven’t let you go home early normally!”

As dramatically as he can, he let out a scoff and rested the back of his hand on his forehead. “It’s never enough for you!” Tari smiled, feeling grateful to have Hendery work with her. “What’s tonight then? You never go home early these days.” He practically sang, jumping onto the stool they have behind the bar counter as they waited for tables to bust.

“Do you remember Sonan and Kilari?” Tari inquired, although she is certain that over the four-year period of working together, Hendery met them. He nodded, also keeping in mind the fact Tari mentioned they moved out of Sooman. “Well, Kilari is finally a fully-pledged Fire Sage and Sonan is visiting to celebrate.” Not completely the truth, Tari thought, but it’ll do – it’s not lying.

It really isn’t a lie. For one, Kilari’s last six months in becoming a Fire Sage required her to ‘disconnect from her world’. She quite literally hasn’t spoken to anyone else but her fellow pledges for the last six months. Unfortunately, six months ago happened to be the anniversary of Amon’s incarceration. They all planned to meet up, but unfortunately – Yuta and Jisung had a qualifying competition and Kilari had to start her ‘disconnection’. Therefore, Sonan didn’t come to visit and it was just Doyoung, Johnny, and Tari.

Now, that Kilari is finally done with her disconnection and the boys have a break before the world cup – Sonan is coming back.  It was such a big occasion that Johnny even decided to leave his journalism retreat early. Therefore, tonight was a celebration of not only Kilari’s success but a delayed-one-year-reunion for saving the world. Not to mention, it was also Tari’s one year anniversary with her boyfriend.

Basically, tonight was going to be a big night.

“So big night, huh?” Hendery seemed to read her mind, making Tari chuckle and nod. A ding of the door signified someone has left their table. Tari, almost unconsciously, was quick to stride over and clean the table like clockwork. “And I wasn’t invited?” Hendery scoffed in fake offense, just loud enough for Tari to hear but not loud enough for people to complain.

Tari’s coworker, however, noticed how the one person in the corner seemed to be interested in Tari’s plans – their movement slowing down at the mention of Tari going out. Her co-worker, yes, is a part time model – but he isn’t just a pretty face. He has noticed the same person wearing the same get-up, taking the same seat in the back corner, and just barely getting enough food or drinks to avoid being considered a loiterer.

“Dude, I literally invite you to everything!” She exclaimed, laughing as she returned to the counter with her tray of a plate and coffee cup. “It’s like a reunion as Kilari had a goodbye party with us last year too.” She excused, telling a partial truth again.

Another two tables disrupted the conversation, the customers leaving the café with a distant ‘thank you’ being shouted at them. As if choregraphed, Tari maneuvered her way around the counter to start collecting the dirty dishes, Hendery hot on her tails.

Hendery, however, continued to notice how the person in the corner’s attention seemed to always snap back at Tari. He’d think it’s just another customer attracted to Tari, but it was too…common. Her co-worker made a mental note to ask the bosses for security footage of that side of the café to see how many days this customer has been watching Tari.

He furrowed his eyebrows, approaching Tari to whisper to her. “I think they have been here all day. Can we kick them out for loitering?” He wasn’t sure if Tari was aware of how often the same person shows up, or how attentive this customer was to her, but he didn’t want to cause alarm.

Tari sighed; her heart beat slowly increasing. Since she noticed them two months back, she’s been feeling like there’s been eyes burning holes in the back of her head. For this reason, she’s been asking Doyoung to pick her up from work – which wasn’t particularly out of his way. It’s actually the reason Tari stays behind for closing as Doyoung’s work ends later than usual. She only voiced her specific concerns to Doyoung (rather than her normal excuse of not wanting to be lonely), when he practically forced her to tell him during their movie night.

“Not allowed.” She sighed, remembering company policy. The person was a customer – they had a drink in front of them and Tari can attest to taking their order. “It’s fine. But yeah, is it okay if I leave in an hour?” She swapped the conversation back to something lighthearted.

“Of course.” He grinned, trying to suppress the bad feeling in his gut as he started trying to embrace Tari – a dirty rag in his hand. “Anything for my favorite manager.”

Tari pushed him away, trying to avoid getting dirtied from his rag as she squealed; “I’m your only manager.”

“Exactly!” Tari scoffed at Hendery’s response.

Tari’s concerns about her stalker didn’t subside even when Doyoung picked her up from the café. It didn’t subside as she gave him his usual coffee and the two left. Because in the corner of her eye, she could sense movement from the same person who has yet to leave their seat other to order.

But she felt safe. She was with Doyoung, who quite literally has been with her through the worst of times. “Do you think we can take a lot of turns?” Tari whispered, despite the impossibility of the person seemingly following them hearing them.

Doyoung smiled slightly, “Already one step ahead of you.”

Moments like these remind Tari of how much, despite teasing him all the time, she appreciates Doyoung. It was always like this, ever since she moved to Sooman and met Doyoung. The two of them against the city, not caring about the weird stares they get and protecting each other.

The way to the train station from the café involved some twist and turns anyway, but Doyoung made the way to the train station a maze. Tari wasn’t even sure if she could track the path the two of them took. Although she was insanely confused about where she was – especially as Doyoung distracted her with conversation, but she was filled with relief when she turned around and saw the unidentified figure was gone. Despite being completely unsure of where she was, she knew she was with Doyoung and that’s all that mattered.

Eventually, the train station came to sight. The statue of Fire Lord Zuko wearing his armor marking the transportation hub. It wasn’t among Tari’s favorite places – always too crowded and bustling with life, but she saw how gorgeous it was. Central City Station had humongous arches and intricate details inside. No matter how crowded it was, the high glass ceilings made the building felt spacious.

“I can’t believe we’ll all be in the same place again.” Tari breathed out, excited but noticeably anxious. In her eyes, this was the one family who she has never left behind and who (although are across the world) never left her. She was anxious about any potential awkwardness it may be to have everyone in the same room after so long, having to catch them up on life and hoping everyone still merged well together. Oh shit, she realized, I don’t think Sonan knows about me and –

Doyoung threw his arm over Tari’s shoulder, sensing her anxiety. “We can always host this on the weekend. Sonan will be leaving Tuesday anyways, after Yuta and Jisung’s finals.” Tari shook her head insistently, pushing herself to face her anxieties and not accept the tempting offer. “We can always just let you celebrate your anniversary properly toda-“

“No, it’s rude for us to cancel so last minute.” Tari insisted, although she had to force the words out. “Plus, I just really want to see everyone.”

The air bender then quickly abandoned his serious tone and started enthusing about the event himself. “You know, I can’t promise Johnny and Yuta won’t eat all the pizza.”

“I think Jisung will scarf it down before you even notice the pizza was there.” Doyoung raised his eyebrows, as if doubting Tari. “Don’t forget how tall he’s gotten!”

“Wait, whose taller?” Doyoung asked as the two stopped in front of the arrivals board, waiting for Johnny’s train. “Johnny or Jisung?”

A voice from the side startled them. “Definitely me.” Johnny’s cheeky grin hasn’t been seen by the two of them in a week, but for Tari – it felt like months. She stood frozen, grinning like she was a starstruck fan, as she stared at Johnny. He was wearing one of the outfits he knew Tari loved on him – something he normally would wear when he has to look formal but not too formal. He rolled his eyes and dropped his duffle on the ground, the plop seeming to echo in the station.

This felt like a movie. It felt like the whole world around Johnny was in slow motion as he widened his arms. Doyoung had to push Tari to make her move towards Johnny.

However, one she started moving, she had to hold herself back from leaping into his arms. But Johnny refused to not spin her around and lift her – it’s all hes been wanting to do for the last week. He pulled her into a suffocating hug before lifting her above the ground, spinning her around. Her arms automatically wrapped around his neck, keeping her safe as he spun and she laughed – until he eventually placed her on the ground. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Johnny smiled sweetly before pressing his lips against hers.

As disgustingly cute as they may be, Doyoung knew that this wouldn’t have been different a year ago today – just less kissing. Overall, he was just happy to see his two friends so ecstatic and glowing.

“I’ve been waiting for that for the last week.” Johnny murmured against the kiss, “Especially because someone didn’t kiss me goodbye.”

Tari’s eyes widened in offense. “I did!”

Johnny quirked a single eyebrow, “Excuse me? The last words you said to me before I left was ‘Get on the train, you dumbass’.”

“You were going to be late!” She excused, stepping back from his embrace and letting Doyoung come closer without feeling too much like a third-wheel. Johnny playfully rolled his eyes before giving Doyoung a quick hug.

As soon as the pleasanties got out the way, Johnny laced his fingers with Tari’s and the three left the station. “How was your week without me? Boring? Lonely? Sad?”

“Like you never left.” Doyoung groaned. “Straight up, because of you two visiting last week, all of the gym trainers are asking me how to work out my calves.” Johnny burst out laughing and Tari felt her heart leap, despite having heard him laugh a million times. If she could hear anything for the rest of her life, she’d want it to be Johnny’s laugh.

“Your turkey calves?” Tari clarified, leaning into Johnny’s shoulder as she looked over at Doyoung on the other side of Johnny.

Her best friend scoffed in fake anger, “Listen, I need to salvage as much dignity in that place as I can. You two completely ruined my reputation.” Tari laughed at the memory; she visited to give Doyoung coffee and Johnny had went with her. While Tari dropped off coffee at Doyoung’s personal office (yes, Doyoung is now one of the managers of the gym), Johnny decided to tell Doyoung’s fellow trainers about not only his obstacle course of a room, but his nickname of ‘Calf Monster’.

At this moment, Tari couldn’t care less about her stalker. All she cared about was having her two boys with her and seeing her chosen family in a few hours. “I mean,” Johnny started over exaggerating and grossly bit his lip as if he was checking out Doyoung, “look at those calves.”

“I liked it better when you weren’t dating.”

#NCT-WRITERS #nct imagines #wayv imagines #hendery imagines #nct dream imagines #yuta imagines #johnny imagines #doyoung imagines #johnny scenarios #yuta scenarios #nct fluff #doyoung scenarios #nct 127 imagines #doyoung fluff #nct #nct johnny #johnny suh scenarios #johnny suh imagines #kim doyoung imagines #yuta nakamoto imagines #doyoung kim imagines #nct angst #nct series #nct au #doyoung #johnny

[rhowena]

Pile of stuff concerning what happened to Loki between Thor and The Avengers

Originally posted on r/FanTheories

https://inforapid.org/webapp/webapp.php?shareddb=IAxUFHnwkGJSYMj9OFbT8mRl5goHm9SC2qHbWw4knO1cng5qI5Wrg48nP1MdgbWlJmHj6UpwbN343IqnstQUwxIIO01M5Rvb

As it does not escape my notice that I’ve created a digital version of this meme, some navigation help for anyone who needs it:

Mouse over/tap an item or relation to view its description

For items with the yellow ‘Note’ label, select the node and then 'Notes on Item’ in the side menu to view an additional notes page

If an item has a globe icon it the top-left corner, click it to open a webpage

'Adjust View’ in the side menu has controls to zoom in/out, increase/decrease the distance between items, and filter items or relations by category

Relations (and items) are color-coded by type: solid green lines are for in-universe evidence (light green connects evidence to the theory it supports, while dark green connects pieces of evidence that should be looked at together), purple dotted lines denote parallels, and dark red lines mark cases of “one of these things is not like the other”

And an overview of the theories contained therein:

First, the central piece of tinfoil around which all other tinfoil is arrayed: remember how, at the end of the first Thor, Loki was pathologically obsessed with gaining his father’s approval? And how, when he next showed up after vanishing for an entire year, he’d gotten mixed up with a guy who keeps a menagerie of adopted children? And how, during his argument with Thor on the mountaintop, he said this?

Loki: Did you mourn? Thor: We all did. Our father– Loki: Your father. He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?

Loki: I’ve seen worlds you’ve never known about! I have grown, Odinson, in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract and when I wield it—

Tom Hiddleston: There’s a bit where Thor says, “We all mourned! Our father…” and Loki interrupts him and says, “YOUR father.” And it’s that sense of 'don’t include me in this anymore. I have no relation or connection to you.’ It’s his way of saying 'I’ve let go, I’m gone, I’m on the outside of the fence, I’m happy here, I don’t want to come back in.’

If I may take a minute to get out some of my extremely complicated feelings on this, while there’s a bunch more evidence in favor of Loki having been another of Thanos’s children that can be viewed on the mind map, I want to highlight this pair of quotes because it’s everything implied by the words “Your father” that makes it into a devastating punch in the stomach which draws on both halves of Loki’s Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds characterization: his genuine love for his family is his primary redeeming quality and that he forswore it like this puts the terrible moment when he first knelt before Thanos and pledged himself to the Mad Titan’s service firmly into archetypal Faustian sell-your-soul territory, but when you consider the straits he was in at the time and the implication that Thanos initially ensnared him not through promises of power but by preying on him emotionally, it’s a very human kind of tragic mistake.

The other mitigating factor is that based on everything we’ve heard from Thanos’s other children, it’s a safe bet that he did in fact do unspeakably horrible things to Loki too – indeed, noticing the resemblance between the existing theories about Loki having been tortured/brainwashed and Gamora’s “He took me, tortured me, turned me into a weapon” was what prompted the above realization in the first place. (It’s reminiscent of Theon’s storyline in ASOIAF/GOT: yeah, he betrayed his adoptive family and did some generally awful stuff, but no one deserves what happened to him.) It also bears emphasizing that accountability cuts both ways: one of the key takeaways from the previous bullet point is that the suffering Loki went through doesn’t absolve him of responsibility for his villainous actions, but the other side of the coin is that Loki’s partial complicity doesn’t absolve Thanos of responsibility for the choice he made to take a broken, desperate young man who’d just lost everything and turn him into the rabid animal we saw during The Avengers, and I dearly hope that exploring the rich font of psychological horror that is that time period will erase any remaining doubt that Thanos’s claims of acting For The Greater Good are nothing but empty, egotistical, self-righteous posturing and everyone in the audience who insists on taking them at face value is being duped just as Loki was.

Stephen: No. I mean, come on. Look at your face. Dormammu made you a murderer. Just how good can his kingdom be?

As for where this is all going, I believe there’s a good chance that the Loki Disney+ series will be where they finally address this as a. the split timeline Loki the series will be following is still fresh from his time with Thanos and it will therefore have to explain what happened if we’re to understand the kind of headspace that he’s in at that moment and b. Tom Hiddleston has revealed that the series will also clarify whether or not Loki really is dead in the main timeline, and everything I have so far indicates that understanding the nature of his original pact with Thanos is essential to understanding both Loki’s choice to die and Thanos’s choice to kill him (see the 'Pledge of fidelity’ and 'Limited use’ notes pages on the mind map). Character-wise, I think one of the points of emphasis will be that Loki’s death in Infinity War doesn’t wrap up his story as neatly as it may appear to on the surface; truly completing his redemption arc will require him to confront this part of his past in full, and with it his guilt over everything he’s done and his fear that he’s wrecked his life and relationship with his family so thoroughly that he can never, ever fix them.

Loki: Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? […] Your ledger is dripping, it’s gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer… PATHETIC! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code. Something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will *never* go away!

An additional giant red flag indicating we really should be asking more questions about that time gap is a group of lines in The Avengers which reveal that Thanos taught Loki how to use the Tesseract.

The Other: The Tesseract has awakened. It is on a little world. A human world. They would wield its power, but our ally knows its workings as they never will.

The Other: You question us? You question HIM? He, who put the Scepter in your hand? Who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated?

Loki: I’ve seen worlds you’ve never known about! I have grown, Odinson, in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract and when I wield it— Thor: Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be king?

Sharing that kind of knowledge and power with someone as volatile as Loki strikes me as an monumentally terrible idea (and as much as I don’t want to be the person who throws a tantrum because their fanfic didn’t come true, I’m kinda salty that Thanos was defeated without it coming back to bite him in the ass), which leaves me wondering what Thanos hoped to gain that he believed would be worth the risks. My thoughts on that particular sub-puzzle are still somewhat hazy, but my basic sense is that there’s something weird going on between Loki and the Tesseract and wanting to exploit that connection is one of the reasons Thanos went to all the trouble of breaking him into submission.

Loki: So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me?

The other reason for Thanos’s interest in Loki ties back to all that emotional twistiness I talked about earlier: he planned to leverage Loki’s anger and resentment towards his family in a bid to destroy Odin and Asgard from the inside.

Zemo: An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from within? That’s dead… forever.

As a prelude to this, during The Avengers Thanos had additionally tasked Loki with killing Thor as a way to prove his loyalty and destroy the last remaining shreds of his own humanity, a test Loki failed because he still loved his brother too much.

Coulson: You’re going to lose. It’s in your nature. […] You lack conviction.

What’s more, Thanos anticipated this, and the Scepter’s influence over Loki was aimed at forcing him to go through with it if he refused.

Loki: I won’t touch Barton, not until I make him kill you! Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear! And then he’ll wake, just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I’ll split his skull!

Lastly, even with Infinity War having established that Thanos simply gets off on emotional torture, that he would go out of his way to fuck with Odin personally by turning his second son against him leads me to believe there was a special hatred there stemming from some as-yet unrevealed history between the two. I mean, when I picture the alternate universe where Thanos shows up to attack Asgard with a corrupted Loki in tow like “You screwed up so badly that he chose me as a father figure over you” …that isn’t something you say to a complete stranger.

GRRM on writing villain POVs: That’s a comic book kind of thing, where the Red Skull gets up in the morning [and asks] “What evil can I do today?” Real people don’t think that way. We all think we’re heroes, we all think we’re good guys. We have our rationalizations when we do bad things. “Well, I had no choice,” or “It’s the best of several bad alternatives,” or “No it was actually good because God told me so,” or “I had to do it for my family.” We all have rationalizations for why we do shitty things or selfish things or cruel things. So when I’m writing from the viewpoint of one of my characters who has done these things, I try to have that in my head.

#mcu #loki #thor #thanos #odin #loki's missing year #theory #analysis #mind map #i swear i will turn this into an actual essay one of these days

[pangtasias-atelier]

The Goddess's Judgement Part 5

Volug may speak only in the ancient tongue, but his dialogue lines are actually really funny when translated. Especially Volug’s “What if I ate everyone I fought? Would everyone keep fighting?”

Like that is so stupidly hilarious and the fact that it’s in a language that doesn’t even exist is great yet awful. There’s no vore in this though cause I don’t like that.

Focus on Volug since I like him and also no one understands him so I force myself to focus on descriptions cause I struggle lol

Also want y'all to know that I spent around an hour trying to figure out how to get the ancient language font to appear on Tumblr just for one damn line, but I couldn’t figure it out lmao

This was originally uploaded to Tumblr for about 5 minutes before I reread and wondered why the hell I uploaded it before deleting it and adding way more.

___________

Wandering around the dining hall transformed, Volug constantly stops at every table. A few pieces of meat get tossed his way each time, Volug catching them in his mouth. But with a couple of whimpers added, the whole table takes pity and gives him a sizeable portion of their meal. Add in a bark of joy mixed with some tail wags, each and every person are eating out of Volug’s hands.

Constantly in his wolf form, everyone mistook him for a strange dog. The lie still holds to this day, everyone viewing him as their dependable loyal companion. Able to halfshift to remain transformed as long as he wishes, the ability was useful despite reducing his strength. But now, Volug could feel the sheer lack of strength to do anything besides walk while halfshifted.

Treading to the next table, Volug repeats the process for the umpteenth time. He gobbles the chunks of chicken and steak happily tossed his way. Already full a couple tables ago, Volug presses on, nearing the last few tables.

Stuffing himself, Volug pads away after the last table. On his way to the exit, people notice him again, offering more scraps. Volug eats those as well, taking the free food.

Finally out, the route to his room feels long. Far too long. Finding a secluded room in the fort, Volug immediately claimed it, growling at anyone who came near. Everyone deciding to leave him alone, they left the room to Volug, a safe area to revert back. The door left slightly ajar since he woke up, Volug pushes it open and then closes it with his back foot. For good measure, he shoves the small vanity in front of the door. The door secured, Volug transforms back.

Fit muscular form completely gone, Volug groans upon finally reverting back. Working off the weight a matter of long several years, Volug is obese. On the precipice of 600 lbs, his tanned body stretches everywhere, his stomach sags down near to his knees. Volug burps as he lets his ass fall down onto the bed, the poor thing creaking and groaning from his weight. His thighs press down on the matress, spreading out. His stomach folds on to them, resting as it gurgles. His plump breasts rest on his stomach, the overladen fat accumulating everywhere. Volug’s tattoos stretch across his arms, the lines lighter and losing their definition. His ass squishes against the matress, fat shifting as Volug tries to get comfortable.

Digging his hand into his stomach, Volug massages it. Hands grabbing handfuls of rolls, Volug burps as he lets out pressure. Huffing, Volug closes his eyes as he sighs, the relief wonderful.

Half naked before, Volug now went without pants, Volug ditching the pair the instant they were tight. Not like it matters when he’s constantly transformed, Volug still wears his tight boxers, a hole or two already formed on them.

Groaning, Volug grabs the dog bowl of meat in his room, a treat from the chefs. Groaning, Volug grabs the pieces of meat. Shoving it into his mouth, he powers through, finishing all of it.

Huffing, the bowl is tossed to the floor as he wipes his finger of their grease. Standing back up, a process of fat pushing against fat, his stomach flopping around the contents of his food, Volug grimaces. Placing both hands on his stomach, Volug rubs them in circles, sighing in relief. Stomach slightly more calm, Volug plays with it, testing its heft as he lifts it up, his arms struggling to cradle all of it.

Grabbing the second bowl placed in his room, Volug groans as he eats that too. All of it meat again, Volug tears through the pieces. A quarter done, his stomach begins complaining anew, the dome churning with all its contents. Ignoring his body, Volug instead simply burps, the gas escaping his lips. One hand rubbing his stomach, he uses the other to feed himself, eyes closed as he repeats the process.

Hand touching only the plate, Volug drops it to the floor as well. A testament to his gluttonous ways even before the judgment, the floor is littered with bones and plates. Still standing, Volug licks the juices off his fingers. Legs buckling, Volug drops back onto the bed. Mattress already having a dent from his earlier rest, Volug dents it further, his ass squashing it. Groaning, he lies back, his feet on the floor with his back on the burdened matress. Huffing, Volug lies still, his stomach processing the several pounds of meat he gorged today. It takes about ten minutes for Volug to get back.

Having eaten only meat the entire day, he craves something different. Everyone viewing him as a dog, they won’t give him anything besides meat. Everyone except one person.

Probably suspecting something, Pelleas interacted with Volug differently, attempting conversations with him even. Granted, Volug didn’t speak back, but he feels Pelleas knew. Maybe because he knew, Pelleas always treated Volug with more intelligence and reverence, though; some of that partially came through Volug being one of the first soldiers from Pelleas’s rebellion towards Begnion.

Whatever food Volug sniffed in Pelleas’s room, he’d wag his tail at. Cautious, Pelleas had given Volug only portions of it, unsure of whatever Volug was could eat. Not sick a couple days after, Pelleas gave him whatever treats Volug wanted. Pelleas was Volug’s only ticket to non-meat food.

Deciding to go for some dessert, Volug pushes himself up, struggling and wheezing. Constantly halfshifting, the ability took away all his energy from both his wolf form and regular form. Before, he’d be able to move around and property function while not halfshifted. But now, halfshifting is far too taxing, especially with Volug’s long periods of using it. Out of energy, it was always easy to just halfshift back if he was out of energy in both forms at least he could move easier transformed. In a cycle, Volug could only eat to help replenish the taxing nature of it.

Sitting up, Volug rubs both hands on his bothered stomach, the movement causing a reaction. Volug shoves the vanity back besides the door and opens the door slightly before halfshifting. Several people greet him as he walks through the hallways, Volug offering a small bark as they coo over him. The route to Pelleas’s room is known by memory, the constant snacks from him ingrained in his mind.

The door uncharacteristically left open, Volug carefully walks in. The room is barren yet littered, tomes haphazardly left open on the bed. Searching around, Volug smells strawberries left on the floor for him. Heading towards it, Volug devours them, the acid sourness a respite from all the meat. Quickly finished, Volug finds a note.

Unfortunately, the note is written in modern script, Volug unable to read it. Scanning it, Volug finds some text written in the ancient tongue.

“I don’t think you can speak or read, but you have a far too high intelligence for a mere dog Volug. Oh I hope nobody reads this and think me mad. If you can read, Volug, then I went to the Gallian camp to end Daein’s involvement on an amiable note with the Laguz Alliance. I left some strawberries for you,” the note says.

Huffing, Volug groans at finding out the small treat is his meager dessert. Weighing his options for approximately five seconds, Volug heads out to the Gallian camp.

More compliments thrown his way as he leaves, no one questions him, assuming Volug to do whatever dogs do in the snow.

Trudging through the snow, Volug follows the scent, a massive group of Laguz easy to smell despite the light wind picking up. The sun nearly gone, the moon begins taking its place, the full moon offering decent lighting. The crunch of the snow and the wind the only noise, Volug continues on his quest for dessert.

The flapping of wings halts Volug in his tracks.

“Please, not so fast,” Pelleas’s voice sounds out, his voice further away from the flapping.

“We were told to have you back before the sun sets,” Ulki dryly relays.

“Oh come on, go easy on the Beorc will ya! He can’t fly like us,” Proving his point, Janaff flies slightly higher.

The eyes and ears of Tibarn had gained weight as well. Both hawks, the two were smaller than the beast tribe. Both crest a bit under 300, both of them still hefty.

Now higher, Janaff spots Volug despite the distance. “There’s a beast heading this way,”

“I told you I heard him five minutes ago, we’re fine,” Ulki retorts. His retort proves pointless as he flies lower, hearing Volug’s steps now much closer.

Before either can do anything, Pelleas speaks up. “Volug?” He questions, a meaty hand over his squinting eyes. A bark is his only response. “No need to worry, he’s a companion of mine,”

Janaff and Ulki share a look at each other, unsure whether to comment about Volug’s identify or not, both of them knowing of him from Rafiel.

“Well, we’re near your camp, so you’ll be in good hands,” Janaff salutes, ready to fly away. Ulki grabs his hand.

“We were told to-”

“I’ll be fine. I can see the keep from here,” Pelleas bows, or imitates one, his gut getting in the way. “Thank you for your assistance. We’ll help assist you all with whatever items to facilitate heading back home,” Pelleas smiles, following Volug’s pace.

“See ya, and thanks for the tip on transforming, I’m sure Tibarn appreciates the tip more than us!” Janaff salutes, dragging Ulki behind him.

“Thanks for checking up on me Volug,” Pelleas pats his head. “Though I guess you wanted some snacks,” Volug barks back, Pelleas smiling. “I’ll get you plenty, keeping up with the hawks was difficult. Thanks for walking slow,” Unknown to Pelleas, Volug’s slow pace was from halfshifting, running far too strenuous.

Arriving at the keep, Volug heads straight back to Pelleas’s room. Pelleas waddles to the mess hall, cheers and praises aimed at a blushing Pelleas who returns the compliments. The chefs happily supply Pelleas with his favors, several sweets being made. Shoved out of the kitchen, Pelleas heads back to his room, the sweets being delivered soon.

Back in his room, Pelleas finds it far cleaner than he left it, his books stacked neatly on his desk. “I guess I have you to thank for this too?” Pelleas jokes, patting Volug’s head, the idea of a dog cleaning a room entertaining him.

Pelleas sighs as he sits on his bed, the large matress offering a break for his tired feet.

The door slightly open, the knock signals the sweets’ arrival. Several thanks ushered the chefs way, Pelleas smiles as they leave.

Pelleas pales at seeing the mountain of a cake. Sighing, he pats Volug’s head. “I suppose you earned it,”

Heading to bed, Pelleas lies down, the creaks sounding out loudly as his matress digs down from his weight. Volug watched patiently, Pelleas’s breath evening out.

Pelleas now asleep, Volug shifts back and locks the door. Eyeing the strawberry cake, Volug hauls the cart to the desk. Taking a tentative sit on the desk chair, it holds his weight, the creaking not alerting Pelleas.

Too tired to bother with utensils, Volug grabs the cake with his hands. The first handful shoved into his mouth, it goes down smoothly, the creamy silkiness of it pleasantly alarming his taste buds. One handful devoured, Volug grabs another, and another, and then another, Volug making a process out of it.

One hand for feeding, his other is for his stomach, the mass complaining and kicking as even more food enters. Ignoring it, Volug eats the cake, more and more of it disappearing down his throat.

Head tilted back, Volug groans as he eats the last handful. Napkins appreciated, Volug licks his fingers before wiping himself, the chunks of cake now off his face.

Huffing, Volug grips the desk as he stands, his stomach yelling at the movement. Scooping as much of his stomach as he can, Volug groans.

Halfshifting, Volug immediately reverts out of it, finding it far too taxing. The door locked and no one bothering their king, Volug wheezes as he waddles towards the bed.

“Being this charming is hard,“ Volug complains in the ancient tongue. His stomach churns and bubbles as he rests on Pelleas’s large matress. The matress evens out from his weight. He just needs to wake up early tomorrow and halfshift back; that should be easy enough.

#fat emblem #male weight gain #male wg #feeder emblem #my writing #fat!tellius #fat!volug #weight gain

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

UNICEF: Battered by pandemic, kids need mental health help (AP) Governments must pour more money and resources into preserving the mental well-being of children and adolescents, the U.N.’s child protection agency urged in a report Tuesday that sounded alarms about blows to mental health from the COVID-19 pandemic that hit poor and vulnerable children particularly hard. The United Nations Children’s Fund said its “State of the World’s Children” study is its most comprehensive look so far this century at the mental health of children and adolescents globally. The coronavirus crisis, forcing school closures that upended the lives of children and adolescents, has thrust the issue of their mental well-being to the fore. UNICEF said it may take years to fully measure the extent of the pandemic’s impact on young people’s mental health. Psychiatrists quickly saw signs of distress, with children and adolescents seeking help for suicidal thoughts, anxiety, eating disorders and other difficulties as lockdowns and switching to remote learning severed them from friends and routines and as COVID-19 killed parents and grandparents. “With nationwide lockdowns and pandemic-related movement restrictions, children have spent indelible years of their lives away from family, friends, classrooms, play—key elements of childhood itself,” said UNICEF’s executive director, Henrietta Fore. “The impact is significant, and it is just the tip of the iceberg.”

COVID vaccine mandate takes effect for NYC teachers, staff (AP) A COVID-19 vaccination requirement for teachers and other staff members took effect in New York City’s sprawling public school system Monday in a key test of the employee vaccination mandates now being rolled out across the country. Mayor Bill de Blasio said 95% of the city’s roughly 148,000 public school staffers had received at least one vaccine dose as of Monday morning, including 96% of teachers and 99% of principals. The mayor had warned that unvaccinated school employees would be placed on unpaid leave and not be allowed to work this week. The city planned to bring in substitutes where needed. Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter said she did not know exactly how many employees had declined the shots and been put on leave.

California pipeline may have been hooked by ship’s anchor (AP) The pipeline that leaked tens of thousands of gallons of oil into the water off Southern California was split open and apparently dragged more than 100 feet along the ocean floor, possibly by a ship’s anchor, officials said Tuesday. The segment of the pipe that was dragged was three-quarters of a mile (1.2 kilometers) long, and the gash was over a foot (30 centimeters) wide, the Coast Guard said. Preliminary reports suggest the failure may have been “caused by an anchor that hooked the pipeline, causing a partial tear,” federal transportation investigators said. The break in the line occurred about 5 miles offshore at a depth of about 98 feet (30 meters) beneath the surface.

Just gone (NYT) They lie in clandestine graves strewn across the desert, mingled in communal pits, or hacked to pieces and scattered on desiccated hillsides. Buried without a name, often all that’s left once their bodies are gone are the empty casings of a person: a bloodied sweatshirt, a frilly top, a tattered dress. All over Mexico, mothers wander under the scorching sun, poking at the earth and hoping for a scrap that points toward their missing son or daughter. For most, the answers never come. Mexico is nearing a grim milestone: 100,000 disappeared people, according to Mexico’s National Search Commission, which keeps a record that goes back to 1964. In a country wracked by a drug war without end, death can feel pervasive. Murder rates climb inexorably, now topping 30,000 a year. But disappearance can be the cruelest blow. It deprives families of a body to mourn, of answers—even of the simple certainty, and the consolation, of death.

Afghanistan unraveling (Washington Post) Amman Nasir, 18, used to make steel safes in a workshop on contract with the U.S. Army. Now the American forces are gone, the workshop is locked and Nasir, along with all 15 other employees, is jobless. “Every family is facing the same crisis,” said Nasir, who had piled some blankets from home on a sidewalk, hoping someone would buy them. “People are not as afraid as they were when the Taliban first came. The problem now is our empty stomachs.” Across the Afghan capital, evidence of the country’s fast-unraveling economy is everywhere—from the angry crowds of unpaid government workers waiting outside banks that have run out of cash, to the tent camp of war-displaced families that has taken over the main city park, to the jumbled piles of household goods that have sprouted on corners and vacant lots. In a matter of weeks, several cascading events—the final withdrawal of U.S. troops, the mass surrender of Afghan forces, the collapse of the national government and takeover by Taliban militants, and a chaotic mass evacuation punctuated by a deadly airport bombing—have brought the Afghan economy to an abrupt and perilous standstill.

‘Everyone here hated the Americans’: Rural Afghans live with the Taliban and a painful U.S. legacy (Washington Post) The white flags flutter in the apple orchards of this serene hamlet ringed by oatmeal-colored mountains. They mark the precise spots where U.S. airstrikes killed Afghans. In the village center lies the destroyed shell of a building that once housed shops; down the road is a mangled, rusted car. There are white flags there, too. Together, they’re reminders of the legacy the United States has left in many rural areas across Afghanistan. “Everyone here hated the Americans,” said Zabiullah Haideri, 30. His shop was shattered by an airstrike in 2019 that killed 12 villagers. “They murdered civilians and committed atrocities.” In Kabul and other Afghan cities, the United States will be remembered for enabling two decades of progress in women’s rights, an independent media and other freedoms. But in the nation’s hinterlands, the main battlegrounds of America’s longest war, Afghans view the United States primarily through the prism of conflict, brutality and death. Here in Wardak province, the U.S. military, the CIA and the ruthless Afghan militias they armed and trained fought the Taliban for years. Trapped in the crossfire were villagers and farmers. Many became casualties of U.S. counterterrorism operations, drone strikes and gun battles.

China’s Taiwan Flights Stoke Tensions (Foreign Policy) China’s military planes have been busy over the last few days flying sorties into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone in a seemingly escalating pattern. On Friday, 38 planes flew into the area—a new record. On Saturday, 39 planes. And on Monday another record: 56 planes in a 24-hour period. Responding to a U.S. statement that the moves were both “provocative” and “destabilizing,” China’s foreign ministry accused the United States of creating its own tensions through its arms sales to Taiwan and by sending U.S. navy ships through the Taiwan strait. So what is China up to? To understand the scale what is going on the waters near Taiwan, the first thing to understand is that an air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, is not the same as national airspace. An ADIZ is like a buffer zone that extends beyond the 12 nautical mile extension from national borders that are considered sovereign air space under international law. Flying into an ADIZ isn’t provocative in and of itself, but the frequency with which China has been doing it has raised fears that the flights could be a prelude to an invasion of the island Beijing claims as its own territory.      “All that they’re doing is ratcheting up numbers. They’re not, in my view, doing anything that is fundamentally different from what they have been doing in the recent past,” Bonnie Glaser, a cross-strait relations expert at the German Marshall Fund told Foreign Policy. Glaser noted that outside of military training, the flights serve three purposes: they tire out Taiwan’s air force pilots who must constantly scramble to intercept, they demoralize the Taiwanese population while stoking nationalism at home, and they send a message of deterrence to the United States. “All of this diplomatic, military and economic coercion is really aimed at inducing this sense of psychological despair, among the [Taiwanese] people that China is just so powerful that they just give up,” Glaser said. “I think over time that is a goal that they seek to achieve—they would prefer to win without fighting.”

Australia won’t welcome international tourists until 2022 (AP) International tourists won’t be welcomed back to Australia until next year, with the return of skilled migrants and students given higher priority, the prime minister said on Tuesday. Last week Prime Minister Scott Morrison outlined plans to allow vaccinated citizens and permanent residents to fly overseas from November for the first time since an extraordinarily tough travel ban took effect in March last year. But Morrison on Tuesday said that after Australians, the next priority would be skilled migrants and international students entering Australia before tourists. Australian immigration has been at its lowest since World War II because of pandemic restrictions. The pandemic has also had a disastrous effect on Australian universities that rely heavily on fees paid by international students. The education sector fears that students will enroll in other countries unless Australia opens its border to them soon.

War crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Libya, U.N. finds (Washington Post) U.N. investigators say they have found evidence of crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated in Libya in recent years, including violence against civilians on the part of foreign mercenaries and human rights violations in prisons. “Our investigations have established that all parties to the conflicts, including third States, foreign fighters and mercenaries, have violated international humanitarian law, in particular the principles of proportionality and distinction, and some have also committed war crimes,” Mohamed Auajjar, chair of the fact-finding mission, said in a statement. The report found that the violence, including attacks on hospitals and schools, has dramatically affected economic, social and cultural rights in Libya. It also documented the recruitment and participation of children in hostilities, as well as the disappearance and extrajudicial killings of prominent women.      The report also said airstrikes have killed dozens of families, civilians have been maimed and killed by anti-personnel mines left by mercenaries in residential areas, and health-related facilities have been destroyed. In Libyan prisons, the mission said, detainees were tortured on a daily basis and deprived of family visits. Militias and the state used arbitrary detention in secret prisons and unbearable detention conditions against “anyone perceived to be a threat to their interests or views,” Tracy Robinson, another mission member, said in a statement. The violence is committed “on such a scale and with such a level of organization” that it may also amount to crimes against humanity, she said.

Facebook Outage (1440/AP) Facebook and its associated platforms, including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, suffered a widespread outage yesterday, affecting users worldwide and lasting six hours. The issues also extended to the company’s internal systems, with employees unable to access emails or open office doors with keycards. The outage was a headache for many casual users but far more serious for the millions of people worldwide who rely on the social media sites to run their businesses or communicate with relatives, fellow parents, teachers or neighbors. Around the world, the breakdown at WhatsApp left many at a loss. In Brazil, the messaging service is by far the most widely used app in the country, installed on 99% of smartphones, according to tech pollster Mobile Time. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians in their homeland and abroad fretted over the WhatsApp outage. Many of the country’s more than 11 million people depend it to alert one another about gang violence in particular neighborhoods or to talk to relatives in the U.S. about money transfers and other important matters. Haitian migrants traveling to the U.S. rely on it to find each other or share key information such as safe places to sleep. In rebel-held Syria, where the telecommunication infrastructure has been disrupted by war, residents and emergency workers rely mostly on internet communication. Naser AlMuhawish, a Turkey-based Syrian doctor who monitors coronavirus cases in rebel-held territory in Syria, said WhatsApp is the main communication method used with over 500 workers in the field.

Going Gray (E&E News) A new study from Arizona State University and the city of Phoenix found that painting their streets gray over the black asphalt has had a remarkable cooling effect, with sunrise temperatures dropping an average of 2.4 degrees and on average, overall road surface temperatures dropping 10.5- to 12-degree-Fahrenheit. Phoenix can see its road temperatures hit 180 degrees on a particularly hot day.

#headlines #news

[howtoloseweightfastsafely]

How To Clean Up Your Liver and Vital Organs

Have you ever really wondered why your cholesterol levels and liver enzymes are high?

Why your blood pressure is rising?

Why old age spots are showing up on your face?

And why you can't lose weight no matter what diet you're on?

These issues all have one thing in common: a liver that is crying out for a healthy detox.

This is one of the main "underlying causes" of fat gain and poor health, that most people don't acknowledge (and that few even know about).

You see, your liver only weighs a few pounds but it is by far one of the most important organs in your body.

It's the main filtration system for your body.

For example, imagine a brand new filter for your kitchen faucet or shower.

When you first look at the filter, it's clear and may look like some sort of mesh material, with holes you can see light through.

Now once you start running water through the filter, you begin filtering out all types of particles and microbes that shouldn't be there.

Over time, these particles and microbes collect on the filter. And if you don't ever clean the filter, what happens?

Well, the filter gets full of the toxic compounds and needs to be cleansed (very much like a filter in your air conditioner that gets clogged up with dust, dirt and other particles).

If you're following along well, you can probably guess what this is leading to.

You see, this same exact "dirty filter" scenario happens with your liver.

In normal daily living, toxins are clogging the filtration system of your liver. And although the body is self-cleaning, the amount of toxins in the environment and food supply is so great that it often exceeds the filtration ability of the liver.

This is yet another reason that cholesterol levels shoot up, since the liver is responsible for processing and synthesizing cholesterol.

This is also when liver enzyme levels rise, indicating that the filtration ability and functions of the liver have been depressed.

Blood pressure can shoot up too, and old age spots are more prevalent because the pigment lipofuscin can't be filtered in the liver.

And of course, you can't lose weight because your liver is closely tied in with processing of food and nutrients. When it's working overtime to rid your body of toxins and keep you safe, you can bet it isn't sparing a moment to deal with your pesky fat stores.

Looks like it's time for a detox!

A healthy one of course...(and not some 3 day juice fast, after which you return to eat the same junk you were in the first place!)

What 'Clogs' Your Liver

Some of the biggest "liver cloggers" are some of the most common things we come into contact within the environment on a daily basis:

Processed foods and refined foods

Hydrogenated fats (and partially hydrogenated ones -  FYI these are trans fat, the deadliest type of fat)

Industrial seed oils (including vegetable oil, soybean oil, corn oil, etc.)

Harmful chemicals within laundry detergents and cleaning products, which end up being absorbed in the skin

Toxins in the air we breathe such as heavy metals and pollution

Tobacco smoke and excessive alcohol intake

Prescription drugs and recreational drugs (and even over-the-counter NSAIDs)

Caffeine, over a reasonable amount (I recommend no more than 400 mg daily)

Tap water and well water that contains drug residues, heavy metals, fluoride and chlorine, and even microbes

Skin care products filled with chemicals that need to be removed from the body asap!

How to Have A Healthy Detox

It comes down to this: you have a choice to make each day...

You can choose to live "clean" and decrease the stress and filtration demands on your liver...

Or, you can live without much concern about this, and wake up one day with high blood pressure, heart disease and other degenerative diseases.

Sadly, many people think nothing about their health and what their body needs to function at a high level.

And while others are on the right path by exercising and eating right, they never go to the next level - a level in which they take steps that increase their body's ability to detoxify wastes, especially in the colon and the liver.

Essentially, they leave it up to chance.

But, as I'm sure you've learned in this book already...it's never up to chance.

Just like the filter on your water faucet in the kitchen or in your bedroom air conditioner, your liver will begin to clog up with toxins after a period of time.

The toxins are the same ones that have contributed to the obesity epidemic and insane disease/early death rates the world is facing these days.

The good part is: there are various things you can do each day that will drastically improve the liver's ability to detoxify itself.

This is how a proper detox is done.

It's not a 3 day juice cleanse, and it's not a 14 day "miracle detox".

It's a complete change to eating and lifestyle habits that ensure you're keeping your liver and body "clean" day in and day out.

Here are some things you can do. Take these step by step if you must, but do not wait. Take action today.

1. Remove processed, refined, and gluten/wheat-based foods which all contribute to a clogged system

2. Eat enough vegetables and fruit to prove phytonutrients that help the healthy detox process

a. Try to eat veggies with every meal, and 2-3 pieces of fruit daily

3. Drink enough water, which makes it possible for the body to remove the wastes detoxified by the liver

a. Most Americans are also chronically dehydrated which can contribute to fatigue, pain, and various imbalances, leading to many health problems.

4. Eat enough fiber, which helps remove waste from the colon

a. Dark green veggies and fruit are the best sources for fiber

b. Do not use fiber supplements

c. Try not to get all your fiber from grains, since the "roughage" they create can make very small incisions in the gut lining which cause problems over time.

5. Take vitamin and mineral supplements (make sure you do your research first!)

a. This helps to remedy vitamin and mineral deficiencies in the body, which most of us have

b. 3 very important vitamins/minerals that most Americans are deficient in are Vitamin D3, Magnesium and Potassium.

c. There are also many more which are beneficial (we will these discuss later)

6. Use various herbs or herbal combinations that cleanse the liver gently.

a. The best known and researched herbs with liver cleansing abilities are Milk Thistle and Turmeric/Curcumin.

b. Milk Thistle has been used as a liver tonic for centuries in Europe and Turmeric has been used for thousands of years in India for a variety of ailments.

Now that you've seen the components of a healthy, gradual detox...did you notice that the items on this list are things that not very many people pay serious attention to on a regular basis?

Sure we may be doing some of these things already since we "know" we need them to be healthy. But unfortunately, many of us simply doing a very poor job at it.

We might eat a healthy salad for lunch, but eat processed or unsafe foods from breakfast and dinner. Or we take all our vitamins for 3 days in a row and then forget to take them the other 4 days. The list goes on and on.

The truth is many of us "half ass" our way through things.

But unfortunately, when our health and well-being is the thing we're half-assing, the results can be disastrous.

It's even worse that we often "say" we feel good, when in reality we don't -- and even if we wanted to find our health "sticking points", we wouldn't know what to look for.

This is compounded by the fact that humans inherently want to look and "sound" good to others.

So when a health researcher or even a friend says "what did you eat today" or "how's that new diet going?", we're much more likely to lie or stretch the truth, rather than be 100% honest.

The good thing is, the facts don't lie.

There are hundreds of research studies that prove that most people aren't doing too well when it comes to filtering out these toxins.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), for example, has mentioned that people they tested in one study found dozens of carcinogenic compounds swimming around in their bloodstream.

They estimated our bodily environment to be 100 times more toxic than in our grandparent's time.

 Interested in losing weight? Then click below to see the exact steps I took to lose weight and keep it off for good...

Read the previous article about "The 10-second Trick That Can Slash Your Risk Of Cardiovascular Mortality By 37% (Most Traditional Cultures Have Done This For Centuries, But The Pharmaceutical Industry Would Be Up In Arms If More Modern-day Americans Knew About It)"

Read the next article about "The Simple Detox 'Cheat Sheet': How To Easily and Properly Cleanse, Nourish, and Rid Your Body of Dangerous Toxins (and Build a Lean Well-Oiled "Machine" in the Process)"

Moving forward, there are several other articles/topics I'll share so you can lose weight even faster, and feel great doing it.

Below is a list of these topics and you can use this Table of Contents to jump to the part that interests you the most.

Topic 1: How I Lost 30 Pounds In 90 Days - And How You Can Too

Topic 2: How I Lost Weight By Not Following The Mainstream Media And Health Guru's Advice - Why The Health Industry Is Broken And How We Can Fix It

Topic 3: The #1 Ridiculous Diet Myth Pushed By 95% Of Doctors And "experts" That Is Keeping You From The Body Of Your Dreams

Topic 4: The Dangers of Low-Carb and Other "No Calorie Counting" Diets

Topic 5: Why Red Meat May Be Good For You And Eggs Won't Kill You

Topic 6: Two Critical Hormones That Are Quietly Making Americans Sicker and Heavier Than Ever Before

Topic 7: Everything Popular Is Wrong: The Real Key To Long-Term Weight Loss

Topic 8: Why That New Miracle Diet Isn't So Much of a Miracle After All (And Why You're Guaranteed To Hate Yourself On It Sooner or Later)

Topic 9: A Nutrition Crash Course To Build A Healthy Body and Happy Mind

Topic 10: How Much You Really Need To Eat For Steady Fat Loss (The Truth About Calories and Macronutrients)

Topic 11: The Easy Way To Determining Your Calorie Intake

Topic 12: Calculating A Weight Loss Deficit

Topic 13: How To Determine Your Optimal "Macros" (And How The Skinny On The 3-Phase Extreme Fat Loss Formula)

Topic 14: Two Dangerous "Invisible Thorn" Foods Masquerading as "Heart Healthy Super Nutrients"

Topic 15: The Truth About Whole Grains And Beans: What Traditional Cultures Know About These So-called "Healthy Foods" That Most Americans Don't

Topic 16: The Inflammation-Reducing, Immune-Fortifying Secret of All Long-Living Cultures (This 3-Step Process Can Reduce Chronic Pain and Heal Your Gut in Less Than 24 Hours)

Topic 17: The Foolproof Immune-enhancing Plan That Cleanses And Purifies Your Body, While "patching Up" Holes, Gaps, And Inefficiencies In Your Digestive System (And How To Do It Without Wasting $10+ Per "meal" On Ridiculous Juice Cleanses)

Topic 18: The Great Soy Myth (and The Truth About Soy in Eastern Asia)

Topic 19: How Chemicals In Food Make Us Fat (Plus 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply)

Topic 20: 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply

Topic 21: How To Protect Yourself Against Chronic Inflammation (What Time Magazine Calls A "Secret Killer")

Topic 22: The Truth About Buying Organic: Secrets The Health Food Industry Doesn't Want You To Know

Topic 23: Choosing High Quality Foods

Topic 24: A Recipe For Rapid Aging: The "Hidden" Compounds Stealing Your Youth, Minute by Minute

Topic 25: 7 Steps To Reduce AGEs and Slow Aging

Topic 26: The 10-second Trick That Can Slash Your Risk Of Cardiovascular Mortality By 37% (Most Traditional Cultures Have Done This For Centuries, But The Pharmaceutical Industry Would Be Up In Arms If More Modern-day Americans Knew About It)

Topic 27: How To Clean Up Your Liver and Vital Organs

Topic 28: The Simple Detox 'Cheat Sheet': How To Easily and Properly Cleanse, Nourish, and Rid Your Body of Dangerous Toxins (and Build a Lean Well-Oiled "Machine" in the Process)

Topic 29: How To Deal With the "Stress Hormone" Before It Deals With You

Topic 30: 7 Common Sense Ways to Have Uncommon Peace of Mind (or How To Stop Your "Stress Hormone" In Its Tracks)

Topic 31: How To Sleep Like A Baby (And Wake Up Feeling Like A Boss)

Topic 32: The 8-step Formula That Finally "fixes" Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested (If You Ever Find Yourself Hitting The Snooze Every Morning Or Dozing Off At Work, These Steps Will Change Your Life Forever)

Topic 33: For Even Better Leg Up And/or See Faster Results In Fixing Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested, Do The Following:

Topic 34: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 35: Part 1 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 36: Part 2 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 37: Part 3 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 38: Part 4 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 39: How To Beat Your Mental Roadblocks And Why It Can Be The Difference Between A Happy, Satisfying Life And A Sad, Fearful Existence (These Strategies Will Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity And Show You How To Fulfill All Your Dreams)

Topic 40: Maximum Fat Loss in Minimum Time: The Body Type Solution To Quick, Lasting Results

Topic 41: If You Want Maximum Results In Minimum Time You're Going To Have To Work Out (And Workout Hard, At That)

Topic 42: Food Planning For Maximum Fat Loss In Minimum Time

Topic 43: How To Lose Weight Fast If You're in Chronic Pain

Topic 44: Nutrition Basics for Fast Pain Relief (and Weight Loss)

Topic 45: How To Track Results (And Not Fall Into the Trap That Ruins 95% of Well-Thought Out Diets)

Topic 46: Advanced Fat Loss - Calorie Cycling, Carb Cycling and Intermittent Fasting

Topic 47: Advanced Fat Loss - Part I: Calorie Cycling

Topic 48: Advanced Fat Loss - Part II: Carb Cycling

Topic 49: Advanced Fat Loss - Part III: Intermittent Fasting

Topic 50: Putting It All Together

Learn more by visiting our website here: invigoratenow.com

#weightloss #diet

[scotwresnet]

Firstly I’d just like to take this opportunity to remember both Shad Gaspard and Hana Kimura. Both taken tragically early from us. My thoughts go out to all those who are grieving their loss at this sad time and I’d like to dedicate this article to both of them.

I’d also just like to start this edition of SWN Behind the Art by saying that when I initially started doing this series I had no real idea about what direction I was heading in. It probably showed and probably still does but I think I finally now know what I am aiming to do. I feel that within the last couple of editions you can see huge improvements and my aim is to keep getting better. What I’m trying to show you with these articles is wrestling from a different perspective. Whether it’s interviewing wrestlers and letting them show another side to themselves that you wouldn’t normally see whilst watching them in the ring or just getting a fans perspective of what turns you on and excites you in the wrestling world, I hope this section of the Scottish Wrestling Network website is just as welcome an addition to your consumption of pro wrestling content as all the rest. What I’m really trying to say is thank you for reading my articles and I hope they are providing you with some sort of entertainment and maybe some inspiration in your own life. Thank you.

But that’s enough from me… let’s move on to the main event…

I can’t tell you just how much of a pleasure it was speaking to this wonderful woman. I talked to her over a period of time and a couple of the final questions in this interview were only answered recently with recent events sadly in mind. I admire and thank Aivil for the strength of feeling with which she expresses herself and highly admire her sentiments. Thank you Aivil.

Photo credit Sandy Smith Photography

–

She’s an artist inside the ring and loves to create outside of it too. I’m so lucky and thrilled to be able to bring you a very special interview with former and, no doubt in my mind, future ICW Women’s Champion Aivil.

I won’t ask you to introduce yourself Aivil because those who don’t know who you are by now should be ashamed of themselves and should go right out and research you work right away. But can you give us a brief biography of where you come from and about how you came to be residing in Scotland.

Hi everyone, thank you for your kind words, but in reality I’m not that special. Just a regular freaky monster 🙂

I was born in Italy and lived there the majority of my life. I moved to Scotland in 2016 for working reasons and with the dream of continuing my wrestling training with some of the very best wrestlers in Europe.

Great. Thank you. Now, Italy has such a rich and illustrious art history doesn’t it? Art must rub of on just about everyone there. I understand you like to draw. What kind of things do you like to draw?

I’ve always been a very creative person. My imagination always runs wild and literally everything (a song, an object, a colour, a person etc) can turn into the most unexpected source of inspiration for me. I like to let my instinct and emotions drive me through everything I do, so my drawings vary a lot.

I love to draw comics and fantasy characters, cyborgs and monsters, but I also like to do portraits, to draw flowers, fashion outfits and there was a time I was also into tattoos sketches.

Nice. Do you have any particular favourite artists? And what about them or their work inspires you?

I love Paolo Barbieri’s art, his elegant trait, the colours, the curves and his ability to improvise on everything. If you guys have never heard of him, go check his art out. It’s stunning! And he’s Italian like me!

To be honest with you, there are so many contemporary artists I love, just to mention a few of them: Kiyo Kyujyo, Luis Royo, Victoria Francés, Xiao Fan Chuan… like I could spend the whole day mentioning artists as I read so many manga and illustrated comics too that it is easy to come up with names. Referring to more classic art, I’ve always loved the colours and the technique of the Impressionists and the perfect proportions and details of the Neoclassicism.

I’d like to touch on your love of manga and comics later on if that’s ok because I understand you like to write also but first I’d like to ask you about your in ring persona. Wrestling is a major art form in itself. It requires a lot of skills that wouldn’t be out of place in say dance or ballet as well as contact sports and it incorporates all the theatricality of acting also. With that being said you include an extra special aspect to your character don’t you? Tell us about your face paint. When and how did that all begin? Has it become a ritual in your performance? And where do you get the inspiration from?

There was never a day I wrestled without my face paint on. For me it’s like wearing a mask that allows me to kick my shyness away for awhile and create that relationship with the crowd that’s so essential in what we do. We are athletes and also storytellers. If we don’t engage with the crowd we’re partially failing as wrestlers. Even though I look very confident from the outside, I have many insecurities. The face paint is a brilliant method, at least for me, to cope with insecurity and let my spirit free.

My inspiration might come from everything around me. Of course, being a clown and a demon priestess, my main inspirations are fellow freaks and Gothic creatures. Paxxo and I, back in the days, took part in a project called Painted for War, where we asked our friends and fans to help us find a character to inspire our next wrestling make up. I think my favourite one to do was Scar, from the Lion King.

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You mentioned clown and demon priestess there. Just how did Jokey and Aivil come about?

Both Aivil and Jokey are fragments of my personality. Of course I took inspiration from books, movies and fantasy characters to create my outfits and build up the gimmicks, but they are part of who I already am. That’s why I feel comfortable showing their colours in the ring. It’s a matter of finding yourself along the journey and not being afraid to show it to the world. Your light, your darkness, your clumsiness, your grace, your faults and your strength points. This is also why it’s important for everybody to remember one thing: beyond the character and the masks we are all human beings, just like you. We might be your superheroes or the best villains on the planet, but we are also people. Words affect us the same way they do with you. Please allow me to use this platform to spread a message of love and support. We, the wrestlers, always try to be at our best for our fans, no matter how difficult our life may be. We perform to deliver you joy, emotions and memories. You are allowed to have an opinion, to like us or not. But remember, you can express your thoughts and be respectful at the same time. We are trying our best. Be kind. Don’t wait till it’s too late to show affection and love. And this last statement goes for everyone.

I couldn’t agree with you more and feel free to express anything you want to say here. That’s no problem at all. You said that you like to read manga and comic books, and like to draw fantasy characters. Are you into writing about them also? You like to write don’t you? What does the act of writing give you?

I do love writing. I am currently working on a book to be honest. I started this project years ago, when I was a teenager. It all began as a way to escape from a reality I wasn’t fitting in. Many things happened since that day and then I left the project aside, for lack of time and inspiration. I wasn’t ready to finish the story, to close that chapter of my life. Recently, during the quarantine, I gathered some courage and I started to go through everything I wrote again and again. It needed some sort of editing, as I have changed through the years and so did my writing and my thoughts about life.

I also write short stories and I find very useful to take notes on my feelings or special life circumstances. As I previously mentioned, when I was around 18 years old I fell in a very dark place. I suffered a lot and it was hard to just think about waking up and be ready to live another day of my life. Writing, among other activities like singing and drawing, helped me be brave and strong enough when all I wanted was to lie on the floor and close my eyes for good. It hurts talking about this, but I am glad you are allowing me to share my experience and my love for writing, because maybe I will be able to reach other people who are suffering the same way and somehow help them. Even just by letting them know they are not alone and there is someone who can understand how they feel.

How important do you think art and self expression is to mental well-being?

Art in general is a beautiful way to express your feelings and get rid of all the negativity that piles up in your brain and in your heart.

It could be any form of art. The simple act of expressing yourself freely will let you feel softer and happier, trust me. Don’t be scared of showing your colours to the world. There is nothing wrong in art.

Sometimes we have to carry heavy burdens, you know. And it gets harder and harder. If you keep everything inside, you will eventually explode. I did. Multiple times.

So whenever you feel the fire burning inside your head and you feel thorns in your heart, let yourself free. Get rid of everything. Of the good and the bad emotions. Turn them into something special and unique. In this way they won’t crush you down. They will lift you up instead, they will empower you and everyone will be able to appreciate you throughout your artistic creations.

The most important thing to do, though, is learning how to love yourself first. And you gotta let people in at some point. Some will hurt you for sure, but that’s the only way the light comes in too. You all have that strength inside of you. Be confident and be brave. You are not alone.

I want to add one last little thing. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for showing interest in my art and letting me talk about such critical and delicate matters, such as mental health and depression. These are dark times, I hope my words can reach out to a few people in need of help and support them. As my grandma taught me, love is the most powerful medicine in the world.

Thank you. Stay safe and take care of each other.

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What more can I say but thank Aivil profusely for taking the time to talk to me. It was truly an honour.

If you’d like to find out more about Aivil and I highly recommend that you do then you can go to her social media pages here:

Instagram: @twisted_priestess Twitter: @Twisted_Doll_AJ Facebook: Jokey & Aivil

And if you’d like to be featured in SWN Fan Art Corner you can send in your art to:

Instagram: @themaskedembroiderer Twitter: @TEmbroiderer Or email us [email protected] Or use the hashtags #scottishwrestlingart or #scottishwrestlingfanart

Behind The Art #16: Aivil/Jokey

Behind The Art #16: Aivil/Jokey

Behind The Art #16: Aivil/Jokey

[scottish-wrestling-network]

Firstly I’d just like to take this opportunity to remember both Shad Gaspard and Hana Kimura. Both taken tragically early from us. My thoughts go out to all those who are grieving their loss at this sad time and I’d like to dedicate this article to both of them.

I’d also just like to start this edition of SWN Behind the Art by saying that when I initially started doing this series I had no real idea about what direction I was heading in. It probably showed and probably still does but I think I finally now know what I am aiming to do. I feel that within the last couple of editions you can see huge improvements and my aim is to keep getting better. What I’m trying to show you with these articles is wrestling from a different perspective. Whether it’s interviewing wrestlers and letting them show another side to themselves that you wouldn’t normally see whilst watching them in the ring or just getting a fans perspective of what turns you on and excites you in the wrestling world, I hope this section of the Scottish Wrestling Network website is just as welcome an addition to your consumption of pro wrestling content as all the rest. What I’m really trying to say is thank you for reading my articles and I hope they are providing you with some sort of entertainment and maybe some inspiration in your own life. Thank you.

But that’s enough from me… let’s move on to the main event…

I can’t tell you just how much of a pleasure it was speaking to this wonderful woman. I talked to her over a period of time and a couple of the final questions in this interview were only answered recently with recent events sadly in mind. I admire and thank Aivil for the strength of feeling with which she expresses herself and highly admire her sentiments. Thank you Aivil.

Photo credit Sandy Smith Photography

–

She’s an artist inside the ring and loves to create outside of it too. I’m so lucky and thrilled to be able to bring you a very special interview with former and, no doubt in my mind, future ICW Women’s Champion Aivil.

I won’t ask you to introduce yourself Aivil because those who don’t know who you are by now should be ashamed of themselves and should go right out and research you work right away. But can you give us a brief biography of where you come from and about how you came to be residing in Scotland.

Hi everyone, thank you for your kind words, but in reality I’m not that special. Just a regular freaky monster 🙂

I was born in Italy and lived there the majority of my life. I moved to Scotland in 2016 for working reasons and with the dream of continuing my wrestling training with some of the very best wrestlers in Europe.

Great. Thank you. Now, Italy has such a rich and illustrious art history doesn’t it? Art must rub of on just about everyone there. I understand you like to draw. What kind of things do you like to draw?

I’ve always been a very creative person. My imagination always runs wild and literally everything (a song, an object, a colour, a person etc) can turn into the most unexpected source of inspiration for me. I like to let my instinct and emotions drive me through everything I do, so my drawings vary a lot.

I love to draw comics and fantasy characters, cyborgs and monsters, but I also like to do portraits, to draw flowers, fashion outfits and there was a time I was also into tattoos sketches.

Nice. Do you have any particular favourite artists? And what about them or their work inspires you?

I love Paolo Barbieri’s art, his elegant trait, the colours, the curves and his ability to improvise on everything. If you guys have never heard of him, go check his art out. It’s stunning! And he’s Italian like me!

To be honest with you, there are so many contemporary artists I love, just to mention a few of them: Kiyo Kyujyo, Luis Royo, Victoria Francés, Xiao Fan Chuan… like I could spend the whole day mentioning artists as I read so many manga and illustrated comics too that it is easy to come up with names. Referring to more classic art, I’ve always loved the colours and the technique of the Impressionists and the perfect proportions and details of the Neoclassicism.

I’d like to touch on your love of manga and comics later on if that’s ok because I understand you like to write also but first I’d like to ask you about your in ring persona. Wrestling is a major art form in itself. It requires a lot of skills that wouldn’t be out of place in say dance or ballet as well as contact sports and it incorporates all the theatricality of acting also. With that being said you include an extra special aspect to your character don’t you? Tell us about your face paint. When and how did that all begin? Has it become a ritual in your performance? And where do you get the inspiration from?

There was never a day I wrestled without my face paint on. For me it’s like wearing a mask that allows me to kick my shyness away for awhile and create that relationship with the crowd that’s so essential in what we do. We are athletes and also storytellers. If we don’t engage with the crowd we’re partially failing as wrestlers. Even though I look very confident from the outside, I have many insecurities. The face paint is a brilliant method, at least for me, to cope with insecurity and let my spirit free.

My inspiration might come from everything around me. Of course, being a clown and a demon priestess, my main inspirations are fellow freaks and Gothic creatures. Paxxo and I, back in the days, took part in a project called Painted for War, where we asked our friends and fans to help us find a character to inspire our next wrestling make up. I think my favourite one to do was Scar, from the Lion King.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

You mentioned clown and demon priestess there. Just how did Jokey and Aivil come about?

Both Aivil and Jokey are fragments of my personality. Of course I took inspiration from books, movies and fantasy characters to create my outfits and build up the gimmicks, but they are part of who I already am. That’s why I feel comfortable showing their colours in the ring. It’s a matter of finding yourself along the journey and not being afraid to show it to the world. Your light, your darkness, your clumsiness, your grace, your faults and your strength points. This is also why it’s important for everybody to remember one thing: beyond the character and the masks we are all human beings, just like you. We might be your superheroes or the best villains on the planet, but we are also people. Words affect us the same way they do with you. Please allow me to use this platform to spread a message of love and support. We, the wrestlers, always try to be at our best for our fans, no matter how difficult our life may be. We perform to deliver you joy, emotions and memories. You are allowed to have an opinion, to like us or not. But remember, you can express your thoughts and be respectful at the same time. We are trying our best. Be kind. Don’t wait till it’s too late to show affection and love. And this last statement goes for everyone.

I couldn’t agree with you more and feel free to express anything you want to say here. That’s no problem at all. You said that you like to read manga and comic books, and like to draw fantasy characters. Are you into writing about them also? You like to write don’t you? What does the act of writing give you?

I do love writing. I am currently working on a book to be honest. I started this project years ago, when I was a teenager. It all began as a way to escape from a reality I wasn’t fitting in. Many things happened since that day and then I left the project aside, for lack of time and inspiration. I wasn’t ready to finish the story, to close that chapter of my life. Recently, during the quarantine, I gathered some courage and I started to go through everything I wrote again and again. It needed some sort of editing, as I have changed through the years and so did my writing and my thoughts about life.

I also write short stories and I find very useful to take notes on my feelings or special life circumstances. As I previously mentioned, when I was around 18 years old I fell in a very dark place. I suffered a lot and it was hard to just think about waking up and be ready to live another day of my life. Writing, among other activities like singing and drawing, helped me be brave and strong enough when all I wanted was to lie on the floor and close my eyes for good. It hurts talking about this, but I am glad you are allowing me to share my experience and my love for writing, because maybe I will be able to reach other people who are suffering the same way and somehow help them. Even just by letting them know they are not alone and there is someone who can understand how they feel.

How important do you think art and self expression is to mental well-being?

Art in general is a beautiful way to express your feelings and get rid of all the negativity that piles up in your brain and in your heart.

It could be any form of art. The simple act of expressing yourself freely will let you feel softer and happier, trust me. Don’t be scared of showing your colours to the world. There is nothing wrong in art.

Sometimes we have to carry heavy burdens, you know. And it gets harder and harder. If you keep everything inside, you will eventually explode. I did. Multiple times.

So whenever you feel the fire burning inside your head and you feel thorns in your heart, let yourself free. Get rid of everything. Of the good and the bad emotions. Turn them into something special and unique. In this way they won’t crush you down. They will lift you up instead, they will empower you and everyone will be able to appreciate you throughout your artistic creations.

The most important thing to do, though, is learning how to love yourself first. And you gotta let people in at some point. Some will hurt you for sure, but that’s the only way the light comes in too. You all have that strength inside of you. Be confident and be brave. You are not alone.

I want to add one last little thing. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for showing interest in my art and letting me talk about such critical and delicate matters, such as mental health and depression. These are dark times, I hope my words can reach out to a few people in need of help and support them. As my grandma taught me, love is the most powerful medicine in the world.

Thank you. Stay safe and take care of each other.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

What more can I say but thank Aivil profusely for taking the time to talk to me. It was truly an honour.

If you’d like to find out more about Aivil and I highly recommend that you do then you can go to her social media pages here:

Instagram: @twisted_priestess Twitter: @Twisted_Doll_AJ Facebook: Jokey & Aivil

And if you’d like to be featured in SWN Fan Art Corner you can send in your art to:

Instagram: @themaskedembroiderer Twitter: @TEmbroiderer Or email us [email protected] Or use the hashtags #scottishwrestlingart or #scottishwrestlingfanart

Behind The Art #16: Aivil/Jokey

Behind The Art #16: Aivil/Jokey

[judithcsmith]

Not even the slightest pretense:

Since last night, my Twitter feed has been blowing up with people freaking out over the latest attack on justice, the rule of law and decency coming out of the Trump Administration.

Trump’s Department of Justice sent a brief to the 5th Federal Circuit Court stating that they’ve “changed their minds” about their position in the insane “Texas vs. Azar” lawsuit, and now agree with the plaintiffs in the case that the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act should be ruled unconstitutional and repealed.

Before I get into the latest insanity, a quick review:

The case was originally brought by 20 Republican Attorneys General and Governors in February of last year, and the entire case is the height of chutzpah. It goes like this:

The Supreme Court ruled the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate penalty is kosher because it’s a tax.

Congressional Republicans changed the penalty from $695 to $0 as part of their 2017 tax bill.

However, they didn’t technically repeal the coverage requirement itself – just the penalty.

Since the penalty is no longer enforceable, the entire ACA must be repealed.

That’s it. That’s literally their argument: “We partly sabotaged the law, therefore we get to sabotage all of it.”

The case has no legal merit

The legal merits of the case are nonexistent. That’s not just me saying that; virtually every legal and Constitutional expert across the political spectrum agrees. Even Case Western Reserve University law professor Jonathan Adler, one of the chief architects of the infamous King vs. Burwell lawsuit (which until now held the crown for the most absurd anti-ACA case to ever make it to the Supreme Court) wrote an article at Reason stating point blank that the legal argument is “brazen and audacious,” and that there is “no basis whatsoever for the states’ argument or Justice Department’s concession on severability.”

Frivolous or otherwise meritless lawsuits are filed all the time, but here’s where things became truly dangerous: Last June, the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice – whose job specifically includes defending federal laws whether they like those laws or not – deliberately threw the fight, announcing that they had no intention of defending the ACA. In fact, they went even further, announcing that they agreed with the plaintiffs for the most part.

As both Adler and University of Michigan law professor Nicholas Bagley noted, this represented a complete dereliction of duty on the part of the Justice Department. Even worse, it basically means the Trump Administration can’t be counted on to defend or enforce any law they don’t want to.

None of this stopped right-wing Judge Reed O’Connor from ruling in favor of the plaintiffs on December 14th (just ahead of the busiest day of the ACA Open Enrollment Period). He did indeed rule the entire ACA unconstitutional, but also stayed his decision pending the appeals process, which is where things stand today.

The next phase is for the case to be heard by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is expected to happen this July. Regardless of how they rule, the case will then be appealed to the Supreme Court by whoever loses. The Supreme Court will then either hear the case or refuse to do so.

Pretense of compassion?

Last June, when then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions decided to throw the fight, he partially hedged: He agreed with the plaintiffs that the ACA was unconstitutional, but disagreed with what the final ruling should be. While the plaintiffs wanted the entire law repealed, the DOJ asked that “only” the pre-existing condition protections be thrown out.

Yes, that’s right: The very same pre-existing condition protections which became the lynchpin of the entire Republican “repeal-and-replace” fiasco in 2017 … and then got their asses kicked over in the 2018 midterms, all while desperately by insisting that “no, really … we want to protect those with pre-existing conditions! Seriously, guys!”

Needless to say, the “lie-through-your-teeth” strategy failed for the most part, although there were exceptions like Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, who was one of the plaintiffs in the case and still managed to win his U.S. Senate race by running ads claiming he wanted to protect coverage of pre-existing conditions. Some people are … easily fooled, let’s just put it that way.

Then, of course, there was this:

Republicans will totally protect people with Pre-Existing Conditions, Democrats will not! Vote Republican.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 24, 2018

I’ll be honest: I never quite understood Sessions’ thinking last June. Repealing ACA pre-existing condition protection requirements like guaranteed issue, community rating and essential health benefits would effectively destroy the ACA exchanges (as Trump insisted he was going to do) even if the other provisions stayed in place.

There’d be no way of calculating the financial subsidies, for instance, since the ACA formula bases those subsidies on the “benchmark Silver plan”… except the benchmark plans are priced on the assumption that everyone of the same age in the same location is priced identically. Once carriers go back to medical underwriting, everyone’s premium would be priced differently … and once the benefits included start being scattered all over the place, there’s no longer any consistent Actuarial Value for the plans anyway.

The only reason I can think for Sessions to take this stance is political: He may have noticed that besides the threat to pre-existing conditions from the 2017 repeal-and-replace debacle, the other issue which really caught people’s attention was the threat to Medicaid coverage. Perhaps he thought that the GOP could survive the midterms if they destroyed the private exchanges but not Medicaid expansion as well.

The veil has been lifted

In any event, even that last, minuscule fig leaf of having the slightest bit of compassion or thought for the health or well-being of Americans was torn off last night. As Bagley put it:

The Trump Administration Now Thinks the Entire ACA Should Fall

In a stunning, two-sentence letter submitted to the Fifth Circuit today, the Justice Department announced that it now thinks the entire Affordable Care Act should be enjoined. That’s an even more extreme position than the one it advanced at the district court in Texas v. Azar, when it argued that the court should “only” zero out the protections for people with preexisting conditions. 

… Even apart from that, the sheer reckless irresponsibility is hard to overstate. The notion that you could gut the entire ACA and not wreak havoc on the lives of millions of people is insane. The Act is now part of the plumbing of the health-care system. Which means the Trump administration has now committed itself to a legal position that would inflict untold damage on the American public.

And for what? Every reputable commentator — on both the left and the right — thinks that Judge O’Connor’s decision invalidating the entire ACA is a joke. To my knowledge, not one has defended it. This is not a “reasonable minds can differ” sort of case. It is insanity in print.

How the GOP is reacting

The reactions from various Republican officials so far is pretty telling:

Steve Stivers, NRCC chair until recently, won’t comment on DOJ calling for ACA to be struck down, says he hasn’t seen it

— Peter Sullivan (@PeterSullivan4) March 26, 2019

Kevin McCarthy says to call his office for comment on the ACA case. Won’t comment at his press conference

— Peter Sullivan (@PeterSullivan4) March 26, 2019

… and so on. They can’t think of any coherent response, because, again, repealing the entire ACA – which would include killing off protections for those with pre-existing conditions, Medicaid expansion and so forth – is exactly what they’ve been trying to do for the past nine years. Since they can’t come right out and say that they agree with eliminating all of that, they can’t say much of anything.

My guess is that they’ll eventually go right back to gaslighting again in a few days, but the jig is up (and has been since the moment they passed the American Health Care Act back in May 2017).

A true train wreck for consumers …

As for what would happen if the ACA is eventually repealed (remember, the 5th Circuit won’t hear the case until July, and I’d imagine an appeal to SCOTUS could take as long as another six months after that?), here’s a quick reminder:

Medicaid expansion for over 16 million people across 36 states and DC: GONE.

ACA exchange subsidies for over 9 million people nationally: GONE.

Basic Health Plan coverage for over 800,000 people in Minnesota and New York: GONE.

Discrimination against coverage of 52–130 million* with pre-existing conditions: BACK.

Charging women more for the same policy simply because they’re women? BACK.

Charging older Americans 5 to 6 times as much as younger Americans? BACK.

Requirement that policies cover at least 60 percent of medical expenses: GONE.

Requirement that policies cover maternity care and mental health services: GONE.

Adult children being allowed to remain on their parents plans until age 26: GONE.

Annual and lifetime limits on healthcare coverage claims? BACK.

Requirement that policies cover preventative services at no out-of-pocket cost? GONE.

Tax credits to lower premiums for low- and moderate-income enrollees? GONE.

Financial help to reduce deductibles and co-pays for low-income enrollees? GONE.

A hard cap on out-of-pocket expenses? GONE.

The Medicare Part D “donut hole” being closed by the ACA? REOPENED.

* (depending on how you define “pre-existing conditions)

… but also for the entire healthcare system

…and that’s just for starters. After nine years, the Affordable Care Act has embedded itself into every facet of the American healthcare system. Even if everyone wanted to simply turn back the clock to 2009 (and God knows I don’t), it’s not something which could be done at the drop of a hat. It took nearly four years from the time the ACA was signed into law in March 2010 until the major ACA provisions went into effect, and with good reason.

The entire healthcare industry had to completely retool its billing practices, legal filings, actuarial tables, service contracts, marketing tactics and market position strategies to comply with the new law. Tearing all of that down – again, doing so with nothing whatsoever in place to pick up the pieces – would be a disaster of epic proportions. Utter chaos.

And utter chaos, of course, is exactly what Donald Trump – and, by their enabling and active assistance, the entire Republican Party – lives for.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8246807 https://ift.tt/2Wloaq8

[mikalajanie]

Not even the slightest pretense:

Since last night, my Twitter feed has been blowing up with people freaking out over the latest attack on justice, the rule of law and decency coming out of the Trump Administration.

Trump’s Department of Justice sent a brief to the 5th Federal Circuit Court stating that they’ve “changed their minds” about their position in the insane “Texas vs. Azar” lawsuit, and now agree with the plaintiffs in the case that the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act should be ruled unconstitutional and repealed.

Before I get into the latest insanity, a quick review:

The case was originally brought by 20 Republican Attorneys General and Governors in February of last year, and the entire case is the height of chutzpah. It goes like this:

The Supreme Court ruled the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate penalty is kosher because it’s a tax.

Congressional Republicans changed the penalty from $695 to $0 as part of their 2017 tax bill.

However, they didn’t technically repeal the coverage requirement itself – just the penalty.

Since the penalty is no longer enforceable, the entire ACA must be repealed.

That’s it. That’s literally their argument: “We partly sabotaged the law, therefore we get to sabotage all of it.”

The case has no legal merit

The legal merits of the case are nonexistent. That’s not just me saying that; virtually every legal and Constitutional expert across the political spectrum agrees. Even Case Western Reserve University law professor Jonathan Adler, one of the chief architects of the infamous King vs. Burwell lawsuit (which until now held the crown for the most absurd anti-ACA case to ever make it to the Supreme Court) wrote an article at Reason stating point blank that the legal argument is “brazen and audacious,” and that there is “no basis whatsoever for the states’ argument or Justice Department’s concession on severability.”

Frivolous or otherwise meritless lawsuits are filed all the time, but here’s where things became truly dangerous: Last June, the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice – whose job specifically includes defending federal laws whether they like those laws or not – deliberately threw the fight, announcing that they had no intention of defending the ACA. In fact, they went even further, announcing that they agreed with the plaintiffs for the most part.

As both Adler and University of Michigan law professor Nicholas Bagley noted, this represented a complete dereliction of duty on the part of the Justice Department. Even worse, it basically means the Trump Administration can’t be counted on to defend or enforce any law they don’t want to.

None of this stopped right-wing Judge Reed O’Connor from ruling in favor of the plaintiffs on December 14th (just ahead of the busiest day of the ACA Open Enrollment Period). He did indeed rule the entire ACA unconstitutional, but also stayed his decision pending the appeals process, which is where things stand today.

The next phase is for the case to be heard by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is expected to happen this July. Regardless of how they rule, the case will then be appealed to the Supreme Court by whoever loses. The Supreme Court will then either hear the case or refuse to do so.

Pretense of compassion?

Last June, when then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions decided to throw the fight, he partially hedged: He agreed with the plaintiffs that the ACA was unconstitutional, but disagreed with what the final ruling should be. While the plaintiffs wanted the entire law repealed, the DOJ asked that “only” the pre-existing condition protections be thrown out.

Yes, that’s right: The very same pre-existing condition protections which became the lynchpin of the entire Republican “repeal-and-replace” fiasco in 2017 … and then got their asses kicked over in the 2018 midterms, all while desperately by insisting that “no, really … we want to protect those with pre-existing conditions! Seriously, guys!”

Needless to say, the “lie-through-your-teeth” strategy failed for the most part, although there were exceptions like Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, who was one of the plaintiffs in the case and still managed to win his U.S. Senate race by running ads claiming he wanted to protect coverage of pre-existing conditions. Some people are … easily fooled, let’s just put it that way.

Then, of course, there was this:

Republicans will totally protect people with Pre-Existing Conditions, Democrats will not! Vote Republican.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 24, 2018

I’ll be honest: I never quite understood Sessions’ thinking last June. Repealing ACA pre-existing condition protection requirements like guaranteed issue, community rating and essential health benefits would effectively destroy the ACA exchanges (as Trump insisted he was going to do) even if the other provisions stayed in place.

There’d be no way of calculating the financial subsidies, for instance, since the ACA formula bases those subsidies on the “benchmark Silver plan”… except the benchmark plans are priced on the assumption that everyone of the same age in the same location is priced identically. Once carriers go back to medical underwriting, everyone’s premium would be priced differently … and once the benefits included start being scattered all over the place, there’s no longer any consistent Actuarial Value for the plans anyway.

The only reason I can think for Sessions to take this stance is political: He may have noticed that besides the threat to pre-existing conditions from the 2017 repeal-and-replace debacle, the other issue which really caught people’s attention was the threat to Medicaid coverage. Perhaps he thought that the GOP could survive the midterms if they destroyed the private exchanges but not Medicaid expansion as well.

The veil has been lifted

In any event, even that last, minuscule fig leaf of having the slightest bit of compassion or thought for the health or well-being of Americans was torn off last night. As Bagley put it:

The Trump Administration Now Thinks the Entire ACA Should Fall

In a stunning, two-sentence letter submitted to the Fifth Circuit today, the Justice Department announced that it now thinks the entire Affordable Care Act should be enjoined. That’s an even more extreme position than the one it advanced at the district court in Texas v. Azar, when it argued that the court should “only” zero out the protections for people with preexisting conditions. 

… Even apart from that, the sheer reckless irresponsibility is hard to overstate. The notion that you could gut the entire ACA and not wreak havoc on the lives of millions of people is insane. The Act is now part of the plumbing of the health-care system. Which means the Trump administration has now committed itself to a legal position that would inflict untold damage on the American public.

And for what? Every reputable commentator — on both the left and the right — thinks that Judge O’Connor’s decision invalidating the entire ACA is a joke. To my knowledge, not one has defended it. This is not a “reasonable minds can differ” sort of case. It is insanity in print.

How the GOP is reacting

The reactions from various Republican officials so far is pretty telling:

Steve Stivers, NRCC chair until recently, won’t comment on DOJ calling for ACA to be struck down, says he hasn’t seen it

— Peter Sullivan (@PeterSullivan4) March 26, 2019

Kevin McCarthy says to call his office for comment on the ACA case. Won’t comment at his press conference

— Peter Sullivan (@PeterSullivan4) March 26, 2019

… and so on. They can’t think of any coherent response, because, again, repealing the entire ACA – which would include killing off protections for those with pre-existing conditions, Medicaid expansion and so forth – is exactly what they’ve been trying to do for the past nine years. Since they can’t come right out and say that they agree with eliminating all of that, they can’t say much of anything.

My guess is that they’ll eventually go right back to gaslighting again in a few days, but the jig is up (and has been since the moment they passed the American Health Care Act back in May 2017).

A true train wreck for consumers …

As for what would happen if the ACA is eventually repealed (remember, the 5th Circuit won’t hear the case until July, and I’d imagine an appeal to SCOTUS could take as long as another six months after that?), here’s a quick reminder:

Medicaid expansion for over 16 million people across 36 states and DC: GONE.

ACA exchange subsidies for over 9 million people nationally: GONE.

Basic Health Plan coverage for over 800,000 people in Minnesota and New York: GONE.

Discrimination against coverage of 52–130 million* with pre-existing conditions: BACK.

Charging women more for the same policy simply because they’re women? BACK.

Charging older Americans 5 to 6 times as much as younger Americans? BACK.

Requirement that policies cover at least 60 percent of medical expenses: GONE.

Requirement that policies cover maternity care and mental health services: GONE.

Adult children being allowed to remain on their parents plans until age 26: GONE.

Annual and lifetime limits on healthcare coverage claims? BACK.

Requirement that policies cover preventative services at no out-of-pocket cost? GONE.

Tax credits to lower premiums for low- and moderate-income enrollees? GONE.

Financial help to reduce deductibles and co-pays for low-income enrollees? GONE.

A hard cap on out-of-pocket expenses? GONE.

The Medicare Part D “donut hole” being closed by the ACA? REOPENED.

* (depending on how you define “pre-existing conditions)

… but also for the entire healthcare system

…and that’s just for starters. After nine years, the Affordable Care Act has embedded itself into every facet of the American healthcare system. Even if everyone wanted to simply turn back the clock to 2009 (and God knows I don’t), it’s not something which could be done at the drop of a hat. It took nearly four years from the time the ACA was signed into law in March 2010 until the major ACA provisions went into effect, and with good reason.

The entire healthcare industry had to completely retool its billing practices, legal filings, actuarial tables, service contracts, marketing tactics and market position strategies to comply with the new law. Tearing all of that down – again, doing so with nothing whatsoever in place to pick up the pieces – would be a disaster of epic proportions. Utter chaos.

And utter chaos, of course, is exactly what Donald Trump – and, by their enabling and active assistance, the entire Republican Party – lives for.

from https://www.healthinsurance.org/blog/2019/03/26/not-even-the-slightest-pretense/

[janekira2]

Not even the slightest pretense:

Since last night, my Twitter feed has been blowing up with people freaking out over the latest attack on justice, the rule of law and decency coming out of the Trump Administration.

Trump’s Department of Justice sent a brief to the 5th Federal Circuit Court stating that they’ve “changed their minds” about their position in the insane “Texas vs. Azar” lawsuit, and now agree with the plaintiffs in the case that the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act should be ruled unconstitutional and repealed.

Before I get into the latest insanity, a quick review:

The case was originally brought by 20 Republican Attorneys General and Governors in February of last year, and the entire case is the height of chutzpah. It goes like this:

The Supreme Court ruled the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate penalty is kosher because it’s a tax.

Congressional Republicans changed the penalty from $695 to $0 as part of their 2017 tax bill.

However, they didn’t technically repeal the coverage requirement itself – just the penalty.

Since the penalty is no longer enforceable, the entire ACA must be repealed.

That’s it. That’s literally their argument: “We partly sabotaged the law, therefore we get to sabotage all of it.”

The case has no legal merit

The legal merits of the case are nonexistent. That’s not just me saying that; virtually every legal and Constitutional expert across the political spectrum agrees. Even Case Western Reserve University law professor Jonathan Adler, one of the chief architects of the infamous King vs. Burwell lawsuit (which until now held the crown for the most absurd anti-ACA case to ever make it to the Supreme Court) wrote an article at Reason stating point blank that the legal argument is “brazen and audacious,” and that there is “no basis whatsoever for the states’ argument or Justice Department’s concession on severability.”

Frivolous or otherwise meritless lawsuits are filed all the time, but here’s where things became truly dangerous: Last June, the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice – whose job specifically includes defending federal laws whether they like those laws or not – deliberately threw the fight, announcing that they had no intention of defending the ACA. In fact, they went even further, announcing that they agreed with the plaintiffs for the most part.

As both Adler and University of Michigan law professor Nicholas Bagley noted, this represented a complete dereliction of duty on the part of the Justice Department. Even worse, it basically means the Trump Administration can’t be counted on to defend or enforce any law they don’t want to.

None of this stopped right-wing Judge Reed O’Connor from ruling in favor of the plaintiffs on December 14th (just ahead of the busiest day of the ACA Open Enrollment Period). He did indeed rule the entire ACA unconstitutional, but also stayed his decision pending the appeals process, which is where things stand today.

The next phase is for the case to be heard by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is expected to happen this July. Regardless of how they rule, the case will then be appealed to the Supreme Court by whoever loses. The Supreme Court will then either hear the case or refuse to do so.

Pretense of compassion?

Last June, when then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions decided to throw the fight, he partially hedged: He agreed with the plaintiffs that the ACA was unconstitutional, but disagreed with what the final ruling should be. While the plaintiffs wanted the entire law repealed, the DOJ asked that “only” the pre-existing condition protections be thrown out.

Yes, that’s right: The very same pre-existing condition protections which became the lynchpin of the entire Republican “repeal-and-replace” fiasco in 2017 … and then got their asses kicked over in the 2018 midterms, all while desperately by insisting that “no, really … we want to protect those with pre-existing conditions! Seriously, guys!”

Needless to say, the “lie-through-your-teeth” strategy failed for the most part, although there were exceptions like Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, who was one of the plaintiffs in the case and still managed to win his U.S. Senate race by running ads claiming he wanted to protect coverage of pre-existing conditions. Some people are … easily fooled, let’s just put it that way.

Then, of course, there was this:

Republicans will totally protect people with Pre-Existing Conditions, Democrats will not! Vote Republican.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 24, 2018

I’ll be honest: I never quite understood Sessions’ thinking last June. Repealing ACA pre-existing condition protection requirements like guaranteed issue, community rating and essential health benefits would effectively destroy the ACA exchanges (as Trump insisted he was going to do) even if the other provisions stayed in place.

There’d be no way of calculating the financial subsidies, for instance, since the ACA formula bases those subsidies on the “benchmark Silver plan”… except the benchmark plans are priced on the assumption that everyone of the same age in the same location is priced identically. Once carriers go back to medical underwriting, everyone’s premium would be priced differently … and once the benefits included start being scattered all over the place, there’s no longer any consistent Actuarial Value for the plans anyway.

The only reason I can think for Sessions to take this stance is political: He may have noticed that besides the threat to pre-existing conditions from the 2017 repeal-and-replace debacle, the other issue which really caught people’s attention was the threat to Medicaid coverage. Perhaps he thought that the GOP could survive the midterms if they destroyed the private exchanges but not Medicaid expansion as well.

The veil has been lifted

In any event, even that last, minuscule fig leaf of having the slightest bit of compassion or thought for the health or well-being of Americans was torn off last night. As Bagley put it:

The Trump Administration Now Thinks the Entire ACA Should Fall

In a stunning, two-sentence letter submitted to the Fifth Circuit today, the Justice Department announced that it now thinks the entire Affordable Care Act should be enjoined. That’s an even more extreme position than the one it advanced at the district court in Texas v. Azar, when it argued that the court should “only” zero out the protections for people with preexisting conditions. 

… Even apart from that, the sheer reckless irresponsibility is hard to overstate. The notion that you could gut the entire ACA and not wreak havoc on the lives of millions of people is insane. The Act is now part of the plumbing of the health-care system. Which means the Trump administration has now committed itself to a legal position that would inflict untold damage on the American public.

And for what? Every reputable commentator — on both the left and the right — thinks that Judge O’Connor’s decision invalidating the entire ACA is a joke. To my knowledge, not one has defended it. This is not a “reasonable minds can differ” sort of case. It is insanity in print.

How the GOP is reacting

The reactions from various Republican officials so far is pretty telling:

Steve Stivers, NRCC chair until recently, won’t comment on DOJ calling for ACA to be struck down, says he hasn’t seen it

— Peter Sullivan (@PeterSullivan4) March 26, 2019

Kevin McCarthy says to call his office for comment on the ACA case. Won’t comment at his press conference

— Peter Sullivan (@PeterSullivan4) March 26, 2019

… and so on. They can’t think of any coherent response, because, again, repealing the entire ACA – which would include killing off protections for those with pre-existing conditions, Medicaid expansion and so forth – is exactly what they’ve been trying to do for the past nine years. Since they can’t come right out and say that they agree with eliminating all of that, they can’t say much of anything.

My guess is that they’ll eventually go right back to gaslighting again in a few days, but the jig is up (and has been since the moment they passed the American Health Care Act back in May 2017).

A true train wreck for consumers …

As for what would happen if the ACA is eventually repealed (remember, the 5th Circuit won’t hear the case until July, and I’d imagine an appeal to SCOTUS could take as long as another six months after that?), here’s a quick reminder:

Medicaid expansion for over 16 million people across 36 states and DC: GONE.

ACA exchange subsidies for over 9 million people nationally: GONE.

Basic Health Plan coverage for over 800,000 people in Minnesota and New York: GONE.

Discrimination against coverage of 52–130 million* with pre-existing conditions: BACK.

Charging women more for the same policy simply because they’re women? BACK.

Charging older Americans 5 to 6 times as much as younger Americans? BACK.

Requirement that policies cover at least 60 percent of medical expenses: GONE.

Requirement that policies cover maternity care and mental health services: GONE.

Adult children being allowed to remain on their parents plans until age 26: GONE.

Annual and lifetime limits on healthcare coverage claims? BACK.

Requirement that policies cover preventative services at no out-of-pocket cost? GONE.

Tax credits to lower premiums for low- and moderate-income enrollees? GONE.

Financial help to reduce deductibles and co-pays for low-income enrollees? GONE.

A hard cap on out-of-pocket expenses? GONE.

The Medicare Part D “donut hole” being closed by the ACA? REOPENED.

* (depending on how you define “pre-existing conditions)

… but also for the entire healthcare system

…and that’s just for starters. After nine years, the Affordable Care Act has embedded itself into every facet of the American healthcare system. Even if everyone wanted to simply turn back the clock to 2009 (and God knows I don’t), it’s not something which could be done at the drop of a hat. It took nearly four years from the time the ACA was signed into law in March 2010 until the major ACA provisions went into effect, and with good reason.

The entire healthcare industry had to completely retool its billing practices, legal filings, actuarial tables, service contracts, marketing tactics and market position strategies to comply with the new law. Tearing all of that down – again, doing so with nothing whatsoever in place to pick up the pieces – would be a disaster of epic proportions. Utter chaos.

And utter chaos, of course, is exactly what Donald Trump – and, by their enabling and active assistance, the entire Republican Party – lives for.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8246807 https://www.healthinsurance.org/blog/2019/03/26/not-even-the-slightest-pretense/

[johndonohueus]

Not even the slightest pretense:

Since last night, my Twitter feed has been blowing up with people freaking out over the latest attack on justice, the rule of law and decency coming out of the Trump Administration.

Trump’s Department of Justice sent a brief to the 5th Federal Circuit Court stating that they’ve “changed their minds” about their position in the insane “Texas vs. Azar” lawsuit, and now agree with the plaintiffs in the case that the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act should be ruled unconstitutional and repealed.

Before I get into the latest insanity, a quick review:

The case was originally brought by 20 Republican Attorneys General and Governors in February of last year, and the entire case is the height of chutzpah. It goes like this:

The Supreme Court ruled the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate penalty is kosher because it’s a tax.

Congressional Republicans changed the penalty from $695 to $0 as part of their 2017 tax bill.

However, they didn’t technically repeal the coverage requirement itself – just the penalty.

Since the penalty is no longer enforceable, the entire ACA must be repealed.

That’s it. That’s literally their argument: “We partly sabotaged the law, therefore we get to sabotage all of it.”

The case has no legal merit

The legal merits of the case are nonexistent. That’s not just me saying that; virtually every legal and Constitutional expert across the political spectrum agrees. Even Case Western Reserve University law professor Jonathan Adler, one of the chief architects of the infamous King vs. Burwell lawsuit (which until now held the crown for the most absurd anti-ACA case to ever make it to the Supreme Court) wrote an article at Reason stating point blank that the legal argument is “brazen and audacious,” and that there is “no basis whatsoever for the states’ argument or Justice Department’s concession on severability.”

Frivolous or otherwise meritless lawsuits are filed all the time, but here’s where things became truly dangerous: Last June, the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice – whose job specifically includes defending federal laws whether they like those laws or not – deliberately threw the fight, announcing that they had no intention of defending the ACA. In fact, they went even further, announcing that they agreed with the plaintiffs for the most part.

As both Adler and University of Michigan law professor Nicholas Bagley noted, this represented a complete dereliction of duty on the part of the Justice Department. Even worse, it basically means the Trump Administration can’t be counted on to defend or enforce any law they don’t want to.

None of this stopped right-wing Judge Reed O’Connor from ruling in favor of the plaintiffs on December 14th (just ahead of the busiest day of the ACA Open Enrollment Period). He did indeed rule the entire ACA unconstitutional, but also stayed his decision pending the appeals process, which is where things stand today.

The next phase is for the case to be heard by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is expected to happen this July. Regardless of how they rule, the case will then be appealed to the Supreme Court by whoever loses. The Supreme Court will then either hear the case or refuse to do so.

Pretense of compassion?

Last June, when then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions decided to throw the fight, he partially hedged: He agreed with the plaintiffs that the ACA was unconstitutional, but disagreed with what the final ruling should be. While the plaintiffs wanted the entire law repealed, the DOJ asked that “only” the pre-existing condition protections be thrown out.

Yes, that’s right: The very same pre-existing condition protections which became the lynchpin of the entire Republican “repeal-and-replace” fiasco in 2017 … and then got their asses kicked over in the 2018 midterms, all while desperately by insisting that “no, really … we want to protect those with pre-existing conditions! Seriously, guys!”

Needless to say, the “lie-through-your-teeth” strategy failed for the most part, although there were exceptions like Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, who was one of the plaintiffs in the case and still managed to win his U.S. Senate race by running ads claiming he wanted to protect coverage of pre-existing conditions. Some people are … easily fooled, let’s just put it that way.

Then, of course, there was this:

Republicans will totally protect people with Pre-Existing Conditions, Democrats will not! Vote Republican.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 24, 2018

I’ll be honest: I never quite understood Sessions’ thinking last June. Repealing ACA pre-existing condition protection requirements like guaranteed issue, community rating and essential health benefits would effectively destroy the ACA exchanges (as Trump insisted he was going to do) even if the other provisions stayed in place.

There’d be no way of calculating the financial subsidies, for instance, since the ACA formula bases those subsidies on the “benchmark Silver plan”… except the benchmark plans are priced on the assumption that everyone of the same age in the same location is priced identically. Once carriers go back to medical underwriting, everyone’s premium would be priced differently … and once the benefits included start being scattered all over the place, there’s no longer any consistent Actuarial Value for the plans anyway.

The only reason I can think for Sessions to take this stance is political: He may have noticed that besides the threat to pre-existing conditions from the 2017 repeal-and-replace debacle, the other issue which really caught people’s attention was the threat to Medicaid coverage. Perhaps he thought that the GOP could survive the midterms if they destroyed the private exchanges but not Medicaid expansion as well.

The veil has been lifted

In any event, even that last, minuscule fig leaf of having the slightest bit of compassion or thought for the health or well-being of Americans was torn off last night. As Bagley put it:

The Trump Administration Now Thinks the Entire ACA Should Fall

In a stunning, two-sentence letter submitted to the Fifth Circuit today, the Justice Department announced that it now thinks the entire Affordable Care Act should be enjoined. That’s an even more extreme position than the one it advanced at the district court in Texas v. Azar, when it argued that the court should “only” zero out the protections for people with preexisting conditions. 

… Even apart from that, the sheer reckless irresponsibility is hard to overstate. The notion that you could gut the entire ACA and not wreak havoc on the lives of millions of people is insane. The Act is now part of the plumbing of the health-care system. Which means the Trump administration has now committed itself to a legal position that would inflict untold damage on the American public.

And for what? Every reputable commentator — on both the left and the right — thinks that Judge O’Connor’s decision invalidating the entire ACA is a joke. To my knowledge, not one has defended it. This is not a “reasonable minds can differ” sort of case. It is insanity in print.

How the GOP is reacting

The reactions from various Republican officials so far is pretty telling:

Steve Stivers, NRCC chair until recently, won’t comment on DOJ calling for ACA to be struck down, says he hasn’t seen it

— Peter Sullivan (@PeterSullivan4) March 26, 2019

Kevin McCarthy says to call his office for comment on the ACA case. Won’t comment at his press conference

— Peter Sullivan (@PeterSullivan4) March 26, 2019

… and so on. They can’t think of any coherent response, because, again, repealing the entire ACA – which would include killing off protections for those with pre-existing conditions, Medicaid expansion and so forth – is exactly what they’ve been trying to do for the past nine years. Since they can’t come right out and say that they agree with eliminating all of that, they can’t say much of anything.

My guess is that they’ll eventually go right back to gaslighting again in a few days, but the jig is up (and has been since the moment they passed the American Health Care Act back in May 2017).

A true train wreck for consumers …

As for what would happen if the ACA is eventually repealed (remember, the 5th Circuit won’t hear the case until July, and I’d imagine an appeal to SCOTUS could take as long as another six months after that?), here’s a quick reminder:

Medicaid expansion for over 16 million people across 36 states and DC: GONE.

ACA exchange subsidies for over 9 million people nationally: GONE.

Basic Health Plan coverage for over 800,000 people in Minnesota and New York: GONE.

Discrimination against coverage of 52–130 million* with pre-existing conditions: BACK.

Charging women more for the same policy simply because they’re women? BACK.

Charging older Americans 5 to 6 times as much as younger Americans? BACK.

Requirement that policies cover at least 60 percent of medical expenses: GONE.

Requirement that policies cover maternity care and mental health services: GONE.

Adult children being allowed to remain on their parents plans until age 26: GONE.

Annual and lifetime limits on healthcare coverage claims? BACK.

Requirement that policies cover preventative services at no out-of-pocket cost? GONE.

Tax credits to lower premiums for low- and moderate-income enrollees? GONE.

Financial help to reduce deductibles and co-pays for low-income enrollees? GONE.

A hard cap on out-of-pocket expenses? GONE.

The Medicare Part D “donut hole” being closed by the ACA? REOPENED.

* (depending on how you define “pre-existing conditions)

… but also for the entire healthcare system

…and that’s just for starters. After nine years, the Affordable Care Act has embedded itself into every facet of the American healthcare system. Even if everyone wanted to simply turn back the clock to 2009 (and God knows I don’t), it’s not something which could be done at the drop of a hat. It took nearly four years from the time the ACA was signed into law in March 2010 until the major ACA provisions went into effect, and with good reason.

The entire healthcare industry had to completely retool its billing practices, legal filings, actuarial tables, service contracts, marketing tactics and market position strategies to comply with the new law. Tearing all of that down – again, doing so with nothing whatsoever in place to pick up the pieces – would be a disaster of epic proportions. Utter chaos.

And utter chaos, of course, is exactly what Donald Trump – and, by their enabling and active assistance, the entire Republican Party – lives for.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8246807 https://www.healthinsurance.org/blog/2019/03/26/not-even-the-slightest-pretense/