#keeping secrets

based on chapter 19 of Keeping secrets by @slitheryowl

Also irenes hair was soooo fun to draw!

Behind the Scenes of The 60th Anniversary Specials - Part Seven

Excerpt from Emily Cook's interview with David and Catherine for Doctor Who Magazine #593:

“As I said earlier,” says Catherine, “I’m not on social media so I have no idea what the reaction was [to the announcement of David & Catherine returning to Doctor who]. As long as they remember us, that’s where my bar is.” “It’s just nice not to have to lie to friends anymore,” says David. “It’s nice to be a bit more open about what one’s doing, without giving too many details away.” “It was a big secret,” stresses Catherine. “It was very under the radar.” Was there anyone they entrusted the secret to? “There are a couple of people in my life who sort of figured it out and I didn’t disabuse them,” says David. “Then there were a couple of people I told just before the announcement. Like my kids.” What was their reaction? “The really sweet reaction was Ty, who’s 20 and of course was a kid when I was on Doctor Who the first time round. He was absolutely delighted. I don’t think I’ve pleased Ty that much probably ever. So that was very pleasing. Because he’s the generation that experienced it as a kid and is now old enough to enjoy the revisitation of that.” “I told my daughter quite early on,” says Catherine. “Is she good at keeping big secrets, though?” asks David. “Very very very. And then I realised as I said it… I thought, ‘Oh, I’m not sure I should have given that information to a teenager. To be like, ‘Don’t tell anyone for a year.’ But she didn’t.” “You don’t want to burden someone with a secret like that, in a way,” considers David. “Because it is a bit toxic when it’s so closely guarded. There were a couple of people who’d obviously got wind of it somehow, who asked me straight out and I just lied to their face. And then last Sunday, whenever the announcement was, I had to do lots of messaging around going, ‘I did lie to your face, I hope you’ll understand, I’m sure you know how it works.’ So there was a bit of that.”

 They always go like: “You’ve been keeping secrets from me! You should have told me! We always tell eachother everything, you had no right to keep this from me! I trusted you but now it’s like I don’t know you anymore!” And they’re always so aggressive about it. 

And I’m always just sitting there like: Bitch? You have no right to demand something like that from them? They have every right to secrets. Everyone has. They have absolutely no obligation to tell you stuff. If they want to keep something secret, they can. Its their fucking basic human right. 

First of all, the recipe cards are intended mostly for practitioners who already have a basis for their magical practices. Folks who have paradigms in place and ways of doing their magics. They're friendly enough for newer practitioners, with room to interpret, add, remove, and grow. They're spells in and of themselves, yes, but they're also prompts.

Even in commissions, where I provide extra context, tips, and instructions, I leave it to the practitioner to form the full ritual. I make mention of where I suggest including certain words or actions, and I note when to focus or rest, but... it's up to the reader to interpret that. My way isn't going to be your way, and so instructions written too specifically won't apply anymore. I don't want you to practice my magic, I want to inspire you to practice your magic.

Secondly... I use this magic. I'm a folk practitioner. Many of these recipes are spells I cast and use. I'm not going to give out all of my secrets. I'll share some techniques and ideas of where to include magic, but if I were to provide full, step-by-step instructions, it would end up as a recreation of my own workings. And that's a no-no to me. I leave out additional ingredients, steps, incantations, and techniques on purpose. I add extra tidbits that I don't actually use but that still make sense in context.

No spellwork that you see posted here (or anywhere) is 100% accurate to life. Partly because I want my work to inspire others to create their own paths, but also to protect my own magics. It doesn't make sense to share my most closely-guarded secrets. Why on earth would I give out the keys to undoing all my hard work?

Information, I think, should be shared. Communities can't thrive if we're all siloed completely away from each other. It's good to write guides and recipes and books; it's good to share tidbits and tips and tricks; it's good to provide context and help others understand and build on each others' works. It's important, even.

Albert Delègue was ski instructor in Mérilheu, France, when he was spotted by a modeling talent agent in 1989. Delègue was intrigued and soon switching careers. He quickly became successful, working for such brands as Versace, Valentino, Calvin Klein and Giorgio Armani. His contract with Armani was rumored to be worth 5 million francs (nearly $1 million Euros).

His family reported that Albert suffered a serious ski accident in August 1994 that left him paralyzed. In March 1995 he was admitted to the hospital. His family announced he had died on April 14, 1995, as a result of complications due to his accident.

But within a week, the truth had been revealed. Media outlets reported that Delègue’s cause of death was AIDS-related encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). But family denied it, sticking to their ski accident story.

Delègue’s friend Alain Gossuin, a fellow fashion model, attempted to set the record straight in a television interview:

“His own family wanted to silence the real reason for his death. I had discussed it in a TV show, believing that my intervention would put a spotlight on the magnitude (of the AIDS) scourge.”

Delègue’s family complained to the broadcasting company and Gossuin’s comments about AIDS were edited out.

HIV and AIDS diagnosis come with a stigma, causing some sufferers and their families to hide it or deny it. Regarding the family, homophobia often plays a part.

When my partner of 13 years was diagnosed with AIDS, one of the first things he insisted on was that none of our friends could know. And when he died, he did not want me to tell his family. I told him I would honor his wishes while he was alive, but after his death, I would need to tell the truth. He died 7 months later. I won’t lie, keeping it a secret was an incredible burden.

On the day he passed away, I wrote a letter to all of our friends and to my partner’s brothers explaining what had happened and why I waited to tell them.

It was such a shame because so many of his friend expressed how much they would have wanted to spend him with him in his moment of need.