fact or fiction
Is it a fact or is it merely fiction? Fact or Fiction explores relationship myths and truths to get your head out of the clouds and back into romantic reality.
The Octopus: A Parable
There once was an octopus that lived in a beautiful reef on the edge of the sea. He had eight perfect tentacles he could use to swim, and catch his food, and hold onto the rocks when the tide was strong so he wouldn’t be swept out into the dark, dangerous, deep waters.
By Ophelia Keane Braeden4 days ago in Humans
The Tomb Called Justice
The courthouse looms at the town’s center like a tomb that refuses to stay closed, a monument of cold marble and older secrets. Its columns do not merely support a roof; they form the ribcage of an idea—that human suffering can be bled out, measured, and bottled in the name of peace. Above the bench, the scales hang like the iron skeleton of a trapped bird, eternally suspended in a room that smells of dust and the metallic tang of old fear.
By Ginny Brown4 days ago in Humans
The Immune System’s "Civil War": When the body forgets its own identity and begins to dismantle the nervous system.
The smell of scorched copper and old, damp wool hit me first, rising from the patient's bedside like a foul incense. It was 3:14 AM. The woman in the cot didn't move her legs. She couldn't. She looked at them with a visceral detachment, as if they were two heavy logs left behind by a stranger. Her own T-cells, the very soldiers meant to protect her from the rot of the world, were currently stripping the insulation from her nerves. It was a microscopic demolition. It was a silent, internal arson. I watched her hand tremble as she reached for a glass of water—a jagged, stuttering motion that spoke of a command signal lost in a fraying wire.
By The Chaos Cabinet4 days ago in Humans
Falling Between Every System
Modern social systems are often described as safety nets. Employment law protects workers. Healthcare programs provide treatment. Disability benefits replace lost income. Unemployment insurance bridges job loss. Each system is presented as a safeguard designed to catch people when life disrupts their ability to function normally. Yet for many people living with disability, chronic illness, or injury, the lived experience is the opposite. Rather than forming a net, these systems stack vertically, each with its own eligibility rules, thresholds, and assumptions. Instead of catching the fall, they create gaps. People do not slip through because they failed to try. They fall because the systems were never designed to align.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast5 days ago in Humans
When the Train Didn’t Stop
The express train was not supposed to stop at Mehran Junction. It never did. People in the compartment had already arranged their bags for Karachi. Some were half-asleep. Others were scrolling through their phones, waiting for the familiar rush of the city to begin. When the train slowed down unexpectedly, a few passengers looked up, confused. Then it stopped. No announcement. No explanation. Just the sound of the engine breathing heavily in the evening heat. Ayaan closed his laptop with irritation. He had been reviewing notes from his interview in Lahore — a multinational company, a glass building, a salary package that would finally make things “stable.” At least that’s what he kept telling himself. He checked the time. “Yaar, why here?” someone muttered behind him. Ayaan glanced out of the window. The faded board read: Mehran Junction. For a second, it meant nothing. Then everything.
By Shahid Zaman5 days ago in Humans
The Friction of Order
They promise that if you follow the rules, the outcome will follow too. Study, work, pay, vote, obey. In return: stability. Healthcare when you are sick. Education when you are young. Justice when you are wronged. Safety when you are afraid.
By Dagmar Goeschick5 days ago in Humans
