Topher Lydon

LXXXII. The boardroom of the National Corrections Oversight Committee smelled of beeswax, stale pipe tobacco, and the stagnant, unyielding certainty of men who had never been told they were wrong. It was a cavernous space lined with dark mahogany panelling and the oil portraits of dead Victorian moralists whose painted eyes stared down with perpetual, institutional judgment. At the far end of a polished oak table that looked long enough to land a small aircraft on, sat the Board of Governor

Rebellion inside the Liberal Party, the civil war begins.

Trudeau was the Prime Minister in Carter's Order. Will's surrounded by them.

The freezing, salt-heavy wind howling off the North West Arm of Halifax Harbour possessed a bitter, abrasive quality that felt entirely different from the dry, bureaucratic cold of Ottawa. It was a maritime chill, wet and unyielding, carrying the scent of churning dark water, wet stone, and decaying autumn leaves. For the Honourable William Carter, leaning heavily against the ancient, iron-wrought gates of the University of King’s College, the freezing temperature was not a deterrent. It was an

What sickens me is that there are people out there that know the truth, don't care, and push the lie

I was taken to the Killing Fields in Cambodia... Standing on a mass grave changes a person. I don't care who you are, what you do, or what your beliefs are. Standing looking at human skulls standing several meters off of the ground and realizing that every one of them was a life, a person... some of them their only crime was wearing reading glasses. A third of the entire population of the country. The horrors of places like Dachau, the Killing fields... and other desecrated sites in this world... haunting. I am going to name and SHAME three such places/facilities in the United Kingdom: Aston Hall Hospital: Located in Derbyshire, this psychiatric facility serves as a terrifying real-world equivalent to Cameron's chemical warfare. Under the authority of Dr. Kenneth Milner in the mid-century, children labeled as "behavioral problems" were subjected to "narcoanalysis." They were heavily drugged with sodium amytal and subjected to profound psychological and physical abuse under the guise of therapy. Systemic Abuse: Decades later, extensive investigations revealed horrific physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at many of facilities, such as St. William’s in Yorkshire. The culture of absolute silence and the blind eye turned by government inspectors allowed these atrocities to persist unchecked. Facilities like the Portland Borstal in Dorset were notoriously unforgiving. The environment fostered a brutal, survival-of-the-fittest hierarchy among inmates and staff, closely mirroring the culture encouraged by headmasters like Vane. These are real places, and they put the Fictional Blackwater to shame.

It does, I fear, clear the path for it.

just caught the Tommy/Mickey error, this was written prior to Vega vixen, and Kaxe's first name was originally Mickey. I have since edited the chapter to get rid of this error. This chapter was one of the original 10, so I had the shape of the ending without the texture. So I was writing towards a plan.

Add to it, Elias's bravery in "giving" Cameron his win in the last chapter. The over confidence of victory blinded him completely to Miller. The way these boys moved in this ploy set him up to knock him down. Calloway was the catalyst, the observer, Elias, Kaxe, Shaw, Miller and Pike the leadership, Thomas, Peters, Jenkins and the little ones each doing their part. The figured out how to fight back. There is one more chapter to this book, and I am going to miss these characters when it is all said and done.

Carter and Lord Miller finally have a fighting chance to do something.

LXXVII. The heat in Room 7 was thick, artificial, and suffocating. It smelled of floor wax, Earl Grey tea, and the faint, metallic tang of the electric radiator clicking as its coils expanded. For a boy who had spent the last month shivering in the subterranean damp of the Hole, the warmth should have been a mercy. Instead, to Miller, it felt like a different kind of trap. It was the heat of a terrarium, carefully regulated by a scientist who was observing the specimen inside. Dr. Vi

Will is about to make a mistake that will cost him Much of the politics in this book is set up for the political situation in Carter's Order.

The explain the title to those not from Canada The Honourable William Carter It's a title for life, earned when you have been a Cabinet Minister of a sitting government. After an election like Will endured in 2005, he was one of the few remaining in his party. To some it is a badge of honour, to others it is a battle scar and the hallmark of a veteran politician. The Right Honourable is the next title earned, and that one is for Prime Ministers. (Robert Hesston's honourific, Thorpe as the former leader carries this title as well in the stories, as well as Trudeau in Carter's Order)

Will is in trouble.

The community center gymnasium in rural Ontario smelled exactly like political defeat. It was a suffocating, distinctly Canadian olfactory cocktail of wet wool, melting road salt, floor wax, and the bitter, burnt acidity of cheap coffee brewing in massive aluminum percolators at the back of the hall. Above, banks of caged fluorescent lights buzzed with a relentless, high-pitched frequency, casting a harsh, sickly pallor over the three hundred folding chairs arranged on the scuffed hardwood floor

This song I have always found beautiful

An elderly man hires Hollis to drive him across England to a retirement home. But the journey becomes a pilgrimage through a hidden life—a lost lover, a family's betrayal, and a final, defiant act. As Arthur's story unfolds, Hollis sees his own fears reflected back. A quiet, devastating story about the cost of waiting too long to be brave.

Ride Share The rain was a persistent, monotonous drum on the roof of the Skoda, smearing the streetlights of the quiet suburban cul-de-sac into long, weeping streaks of amber. Hollis sat behind the steering wheel, his hands resting lightly on the worn leather, the engine idling with a low, vibrating hum that settled deep in his exhausted bones. The digital clock on the dashboard read 7:14 AM. He had been driving since eleven the previous night, caught in a purgatory of airport run

Thank you all for reading.

You will see what he is doing. BUT if you, yourself want to stop this, you can: Dismantling the Troubled Teen Industry The movement against unregulated wilderness camps and abusive residential facilities is largely driven by the very people who survived them. Unsilenced: A prominent survivor-led nonprofit dedicated to stopping institutional child abuse within the Troubled Teen Industry. They focus on public education, legislative advocacy to close loopholes, and providing a safe community network for survivors. Breaking Code Silence: What began as a viral movement for survivors to share their testimonies has grown into a powerful advocacy network. They work directly to expose the abuses of residential treatment centers and therapeutic boarding schools, lobbying lawmakers for strict governmental oversight and the protection of youth rights. Eradicating Conversion Practices Organizations fighting the specific medical and psychological abuses Cameron represents are working globally to criminalize these practices. Born Perfect: A campaign founded by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) specifically focused on ending conversion therapy entirely. They work to pass state and federal laws banning the practice while empowering survivors to testify and share their stories. The Trevor Project: While primarily a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people, they are a massive force in the legislative fight against conversion therapy, recognizing it as a severe, direct threat to youth mental health. Stonewall and Galop (UK): Given the setting of Fort Blackwater, it is worth noting that these UK-based organizations are at the forefront of modern activism, relentlessly pushing the British government for a comprehensive, loophole-free legal ban on all forms of conversion practices.

because what is being described was not considered abuse by the legal framework of the day. It was considered medicine, perfectly legal, and encouraged as standard doctrine. So to answer your question YES from the guards, all the way up to the QUEEN HERSELF they were all complicit in this crime against humanity. Much of this was covered in the comments section yesterday.

It's all measured, and done up and down the country at the time, hell it is STILL being done in places and Conversion therapy schools in places. All in the name of medicine.

I admit to needing a break after this. I am wrote much of it last year and took a long break from it. Held it back and wondered if I should release it, it's been brutal

Too true, Pike stands to lose Thomas directly, something he simply won't allow. Elias knows the broader stakes, and that only he could occupy Cameron long enough. We're nearly there. This chapter was about endurance, the next is about fighting back.