dean winchester is simply trying to maintain his composure. his role as a firefighter keeps him engaged, his friends provide laughter, and inquiries are minimal. that is, until he steps into a quaint bookstore and encounters castiel, a man shrouded in secrets and as peculiar as his shop.
alternatively, it's a narrative about embracing the desire for more and attempting not to retreat when the opportunity arises.
dervla, an archaeologist, historian, and a woman with a fractured heart, seeks to forge her own destiny. she embarks on a journey to the northern realms to commence her position at the university of oxenfurt.
that is her intention, at least. because while she makes plans, the gods have other ideas.
and i've incorporated iorveth into the initial chapter for balance. they assert the stadium is secure, enclosed, filled with silence and stale coffee. abby is accustomed to the routine—observing rotations, vacant stares, and cigarettes that taste of regret.
however, the arrival of a new girl, wounded but resilient, triggers a shift.
she speaks only when necessary. she refuses to reveal her name. and abby is captivated. if mel had been informed years ago that she would be handling public relations for a government-sponsored team of reformed assassins and chaotic vigilantes, she would have dismissed it as absurd.
she faces a challenging task.
astrid is the daughter of frigga, conceived before frigga met odin. forced by her parents, she was compelled to relinquish her newborn daughter. astrid was entrusted to another family on asgard. she spends her days in the library. her parents have both passed away.
she immerses herself in romance novels, concealing a potent power.
it's not until a trickster enters her store late one evening that she recognizes a deeper purpose in her life. when she successfully resists the trickster's influence, she is thrust into a world where she feels out of place.
her heart yearns for the trickster who touched her profoundly.
falling in love with loki was both a blessing and a curse. felix had a singular objective: to unite perfect matches and ignite true love. he cherished his role as a cupid, requiring only a sprinkle of magic dust and a few arrows to spark romance.
jiro has finally reunited with the komyoji family.
during a brief visit to their european residence, he stumbles upon his father and creator in a rather "tantalizing" and "stirring" situation. the awkward scene immediately awakens feelings that both have suppressed but can no longer ignore.
after bidding farewell to the last living person he knew, sigrid had been alone for a considerable time.
in a desperate attempt to alleviate his loneliness, he chose to adopt human form. he boarded a small boat and allowed the waves to guide him, eventually leading him to the shores of a distant island—berk.
at first, sigrid intended to stay only briefly. you could sense the love and companionship, and everything within the family transformed.
this had never occurred prior to the uprising, certainly not in broad daylight. these subtle changes are pervasive.
in morocco, there was a kiss-in. there exists significant tension between the public and the private spheres, but individuals are beginning to challenge long-held taboos.
this differs greatly from how we perceive changes in the arab region. it is, in fact, quite detrimental. in the west, change is often approached more confrontationally, which is not the case in the arab world.
change occurs incrementally. according to the latest unaids report, published this september, there are only two regions globally where hiv infection rates are increasing.
one is the arab world. examining the graphs reveals a sharp upward trend. hiv and aids are so stigmatized in the arab world that individuals receive treatment too late.
due to the pressure to conceive, she becomes pregnant quickly. the child is unwell, and during hospitalization, it is discovered that both mother and baby are hiv-infected.
the husband is also infected. for the woman, this is a complete shock. she has only had relations with her husband. she is suspected of engaging in extramarital affairs.
the level of tolerance for women is remarkably low. the same applies to drug users, a growing concern in the arab world, especially in egypt and libya.
for women, it is socially unacceptable. consequently, men are sent to rehabilitation centers, while women are not.
hiv and drug abuse are intertwined. despite the harmful effects of inadequate education, the taboo surrounding contraceptives, and the illegal status of abortion, the situation requires funding, focus, and political will, all of which are scarce.
hiv serves as a measure of broader societal issues, a reflection of a society.
morocco and oman have taken significant steps, while tunisia and algeria have demonstrated a strong track record. as a journalist, i uncovered a significant discrepancy between official statistics and the reality experienced by individuals. while officials assured me that hiv was not a problem in the arab world, i encountered entire families who were infected.
this prompted me to write the book—the realization that sex is the dividing line between appearance and reality in arab societies.
there is a collective reluctance to acknowledge any behavior that deviates from the marital ideal. significant variation exists within each country.
and we lack robust empirical research. my book includes some data, but it is largely anecdotal. there is no ranking of arab countries based on their sexual issues (laughs).
we do not know the extent of sexual anxiety or confusion. however, we have insights into sexual violence. approximately one-third of women have experienced domestic violence within the past year.
we do have some information on attitudes, though.
when comparing the ability to mobilize social groups, we can conclude that morocco, tunisia, and algeria are relatively more open societies. jordan is quite open on issues such as honor killings, which are a genuine concern there.
however, the majority of men expressed a desire to marry a virgin.
so, there you have it. kuwait is considering legislation that would permit gender testing. in the book, i discuss the punishment for cross-dressers. the question is: what is happening? why this focus on transgender individuals, especially during a period of political upheaval in the arab world?
it is said that moroccan women are somewhat lax in their sexual morals.
as a leading moroccan magazine stated, "to be moroccan is not a nationality, but a conviction." that pretty much sums it up. moroccan women are more politically liberated, so they must be sexually liberated as well. that idea is, of course, incorrect.
many individuals currently advocating for political liberalization are completely appalled by the concept of sexual freedom.
tunisian women have a reputation similar to that of moroccan women. aliaa elmahdy is one example.
frankly, i do not believe this is the way to achieve change.
another example is the moroccan kiss-in. on facebook, thousands of individuals expressed their intention to attend and participate. but what actually happened? only 12 people showed up.
this slacktivism is typical. there is no equality of expectations, and what occurs in private does not align with what is expected in the public sphere.
basically, it involves prostitution, human trafficking, and sex tourism disguised as marriage. prior to the revolution, he arranged at least a thousand marriages annually.
some were to wealthy saudi men who desired a teenage girl, or, more specifically, a virgin, whom they would keep for approximately 10 days to two weeks.
he knew the parents who sold their daughters for this type of arrangement. she had dropped out of school at research indicates that the majority of these holiday matches involve girls younger than violence, unprotected sex, and sexually transmitted diseases are common elements in their stories.
this is a highly sensitive issue.
we should not solely rely on the past for solutions. muslim culture has historically had some healthy attitudes toward sex. we acknowledge that some things are halal (permissible) and others are haram (forbidden), but in between, there are numerous shades of gray.
at times, people have adopted a pragmatic approach to sex.
why does this occur? is it truly necessary? are there alternatives? i, for one, believe so. consider abortion, for instance. it is illegal in most arab countries, but not in algeria. the arab world is not without hope.
that change will not be a revolution. it will take decades.
many people in the west believe this is impossible, but they forget that their own sexual revolution was not a helicopter that simply ascended from taboo land to the realm of sexual freedom. in the west, the sexual revolution was like a massive hercules transport plane that required a long runway for takeoff.
that runway represents centuries of political, economic, and social transformations.
that definitely needs to change. they should raise their sons without privileges, teach them to treat their sisters equally, and hold them accountable for their actions. if that were to happen, the rest would follow.