2024.05.14 07:24 Ok_Banana_9883 Will I be bored? (The answer is likely yes, and sorry, this is on the longer side)
2024.05.13 22:14 PeteBaimey Don’t forget that it’s in early release guys!!!
submitted by PeteBaimey to ManorLordsCircleJerk [link] [comments] |
2024.05.12 13:26 JustJenniez136 gallery dump of a poon
submitted by JustJenniez136 to 4tran4 [link] [comments] |
2024.05.12 05:08 CommonJob3852 Hear me out?
2024.05.12 01:02 SolySnivy Help Me Prepare My 'BL DRAMA CHALLENGE 2024' Card
BIG THANKS to u/AriaNeige for creating and sharing this bingo card, and to u/Wilburrkins for bringing it to my attention cause I feel this is gonna turn an already great hobby into a super fun game. Here's the original (empty) card in case you wanna join us in this adventure! submitted by SolySnivy to boyslove [link] [comments] This is basically pre-planning the content I'm gonna be consuming for the following months in accordance to some silly categories that may push me out of my comfort zone. What I mainly need your input for is the squares with an exclamation sign, you see...whether it be cause I have no experience with those topics or cause the premises are based on details that you need to have watched the series beforehand to know, I have no idea where to start with most of them so you know what to do, Reddit, shower me with your best recommendations of: - Period pieces/Historical fiction/Time-travel dramas - BLs with Canon Printers as an sponsor (GMMTV is likely the answer, I just don't know which show exactly to go for) - Vietnamese BLs - Series with a heavenly OST that you WILL end up adding to your everyday music playlist - Dramas that for X or Y reason are classified as +18, as long as they don't get into softcore p\rn territory* - BLs which star one or more actors who are idols IRL - Series where the MC has one or more sisters - A Thai BL that starts off every episode with their classic "Raikantopeni warning" that's there to tell you what audience this show is suitable for - BLs where one of the MCs has long hair (long-haired men are my personal weakness so I'm really looking forward to this one!!) - so...this category is actually named "From a country with less than 10 BLs in total" but since queer content, especially in historically homophobic cultures, tends to be ignored and relegated to being shared only in certain spaces, it's hard to actually measure how many series of this kind each country REALLY has. So, to make it simpler, I'm just asking to hear about dramas from countries outside of the main BL sphere that I've come to know, which would be made up by Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines, China and Vietnam - Any drama with a significant/memorable hospital scene works, but bonus points to the recs of series that are actually set on a hospital or have MCs that study/work in the medical field - BLs that were starred by actors who (at least at the time) had few to none titles under their belt If you're feeling even more generous (or are just really really bored), I could also use a hand with the categories marked with five dots. These I haven't decided on either, but in this case because there are TOO MANY shows to pick from that fit the premise. So I don't need the help that much as I could simply go to MDL and choose one randomly, but if you have recommedantions of these kind that you think are MUST WATCHES I will appreciated hearing your opinion. What I need in this case are: - Classics! The best BLs from those early years of the genre, preferably those that haven't aged like milk due to problematic tropes - Again, any series where one of the MCs plays an instrument would technically work, but I'd rather one where music is actually intertwined with the plot and/or present in every episode - Those shows that leave you crying with laughter, with jokes or slapstick that manage to land no matter how many times you rewatch it - Apart from WBL, I'm yet to see a drama with a second season that isn't (at best) not as good as the first or (at worst) a complete derailment of everything that came before it, so I'm hoping you can make me regain faith on sequels - I have a good assortment of Pinoys ready to watch, but which ones are your faves? ('Gameboys' is out the table, yes) https://preview.redd.it/njtdnw2g8vzc1.jpg?width=1587&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=49ef6239d6a0c674b8c1491569219014f64871b9 |
2024.05.11 15:32 Jaded_Library_8540 Physically removing kids from an 18+ area
2024.05.11 13:43 JoeSantoasty GRAD BINGO: Help Needed!
2024.05.11 12:07 OptForHappy First time watcher: Here are my predictions mid way through season 1
2024.05.11 02:46 bluemercury77 Good Old Holminster (AST woes)
I'm adding onto the AST shenanigans I feel like has been going on lately lmao. I wish I could use multiple flairs because this is like...salt + drama + curebot (a bad one) + ACT pain + trolling + possible couple. It's like bingo! submitted by bluemercury77 to TalesFromDF [link] [comments] I've been doing the ShB story on my alt since there's not much else to do before the expansion drop and I'm bored, plus I love ShB. I'm doing the story as RPR but the dungeons as SMN, since RPR is outlevelling the story by a good margin and I want to dump some of the xp on SMN so I can play either. In addition to that, I have been doing the roulettes on SMN to help it along. So today I queued levelling roulette, and surprisingly got Holminster, which is cool, because it's near level for my SMN. We enter, it's me, a PLD, an AST, and a NIN as the other dps (which will be semi relevant later.) Tank goes full ham, just what I like to see, and pulls to the first wall. And promptly dies. Along with everyone else. We do it again, it's very spicy, but we manage. At this point I'm not super wary because Holminster is notorious for beating the crap out of less confident and experienced players, and shit happens, no one complained and we moved on just fine. But then the second pull was almost as deadly, I see the tank getting super low on hp more than once, so it's about here where I start paying attention. We do the first boss and that's when I notice that I haven't received a single card from the AST since the start, and so I start looking at the others, no card buffs at all, except one single time where the AST pulled a spire, and used it on themselves. So after the boss died, I asked the following: https://preview.redd.it/le81detj2pzc1.png?width=590&format=png&auto=webp&s=e04e66f2ca22fd132ece8b8dd2b3b68d18fd05ea After asking for cards, their obvious threat resulted in them dumping every card on me in rapid succession. So I clearly pissed them off by calling them out, and they were trying to make some kind of point. My comment on the melee cards came after the tank (and then me) died to the second trash pull before the second boss, because once again there was issues with the trash and something wasn't being done right. My comment was mainly just being petty, because I was well aware they were spamming cards on me out of anger and not being ignorant, but by this point I truly suspected they were the cause of our wipe and near death experiences, since I'd also noticed they were straight spamming aspected helios during trash, even when only the tank was missing hp. They also complained about me releasing, because not only did I not want to deal with weakness, but them implying they were raising was false, I had sat there for a good while, dead, while they just stood there doing nothing. They could have just pulled the boss and let me port myself (which afaik is a thing in 4 man dungeons too? I never need to so I'm not 100% sure <.<), but they chose to wait. Starting with that boss, I also noticed they were giving most of, if not all, of the melee cards to the tank and not the NIN (poor thing I'm so sorry, I tried) even though the NIN was competent. My comment on knowing how AST works was while I was running back from respawning, because at this point they were just a confirmed lazy jerk and not a new or struggling player and I was done being nice. While I specifically asked about the cards, I also suspected there was more going on, but the absence of cards was the easiest to notice and start with to see how they'd react. I had to look at what they were casting a bit longer to see what else they were doing, which is when I noticed the aspected helios spam during trash. The rest of the dungeon went without issue, but likely because the trash after the second boss is basically forced single pulls. I could possibly have tried to kick, but the tank was from the same server and I wasn't sure if they or the NIN would support a kick, and there was constantly loot anyway. And despite the attitude, we were making decent progress and no further wipes happened, along with the fact that they didn't do anything like refuse to heal, so they were still contributing. Someone comm'd me at the end, at first I thought it was the NIN but I then found out the PLD might not have been paired with the AST so it could have been either. After the run I decided to look at the logs to see what exactly was happening in those trash pulls, and if it was just an issue with the AST or the PLD too. And I'll...just put this here: https://preview.redd.it/025uq6orcozc1.png?width=1183&format=png&auto=webp&s=fcd18543e662113eccab45e75bcb339b128be2a7 This is for the entire run. ONE star. No Astrodyne til after I called out the card issue. Aspected Helios spammage (to the point they weren't waiting for the regen to expire.) ONE gravity. Bonus points if you can spot the skill(s) that's completely missing, that was likely a major player in why we wiped and then struggled with trash (And it's not Lightspeed, even tho I just noticed that's missing too.) The tank was not perfect, but they were clearly trying, and that's all I expect. A fun fact: the LB on the final boss did more total damage than this AST did the entire run. This is why it's important to encourage new, lower level players to learn and use their entire kit, because otherwise you end up with people like this in higher level content that should know what they're doing, but don't, refuse to learn, and get angry when they're called out. This AST was not a new player, they were lvl 80+ on 3 jobs (including AST) and were at bare minimum in ShB patch msq. I'd say potentially job skipped (which also isn't an excuse) but their gear implied otherwise. |
2024.05.09 20:20 Mother-Working8348 Nanananana banana hey hey good bye
Take this much energy in NOT ki11ing this lady. Tough love is how I roll. Kinda like Lisa needs to do with cigarettes. Any grab a piece of card bored or folded up paper SOMETHING to clean those nails out. I heard you say" I would if I had something to clean them with" lawd. I lived the life of crack like the one you're living now. Impatient rehab is definitely definitely applies to crack heads. When your on one and chasing THATS what rehab prevents. It prevents relapse. As soon as you Kpins are gone your eyes going to be bugged out. Ppl didn't pay ur light bill to be nice they paid it so you could stay online showing out. A LOT of ppl love to watch the train wreck and willing to pay for good entertainment. YOU are there entertainment. Ppl probably had bets on if they were taking it son Or not. Ppl probably have bets on what would happen at court. Ppl place bets on when u gone change that shir. There's a whole has bingo card Girl 😆 reddit is the LAST of your worries submitted by Mother-Working8348 to lisarichardsnark [link] [comments] |
2024.05.09 17:25 dindyfrin Cafe Casino Review 2024: Fast Payouts, Hot Slots & More
Cafe Casino is an online gambling platform focused on providing slot and table game offerings, including a live dealer casino. While lacking a sportsbook or poker room, it presents an extensive game library catering to casino enthusiasts. A key highlight is the rapid cryptocurrency withdrawal process, with players able to receive their winnings within 15 minutes. This review examines Cafe Casino's game variety, banking methods, bonuses, and overall user experience. submitted by dindyfrin to GambleWorld [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/xbctj69f5fzc1.jpg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=307be93b8db66741dc590df66f87725b7db463c9 About Cafe CasinoIt is an online gambling platform that was founded in 2016. It is licensed by Curaçao and powered by reputable software providers such as Rival Gaming and RealTime Gaming (RTG) and offers a rich array of games including slots, table games, video poker and a dedicated live dealer section.
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2024.05.09 14:53 BaybeeRaybeez Need input - what's the risk
2024.05.08 15:37 Stoutyeoman Horizon: Zero Dawn is a Masterclass in satisfying gameplay
2024.05.08 15:01 ibid-11962 In-Universe Lore [Post Murtagh Christopher Paolini Q&A Wrap Up #3]
I always assumed when Arya tried to send Saphira’s egg to Brom she missed him geographically but was that a REALLY early clue that Eragon’s his son? So he was “close” to Brom because they’re related? Yup. You got it. [T]Murtagh and Brom
Why Don't People Just Teleport Around? I know Oromis said that the teleporting spell is a taxing one, but Arya sent Saphira's egg halfway across the continent on her own. It seems like it would be easier to travel long distances in a few "hops" with breaks in between. Especially once Eragon gets the Eldunarí. Good question. Maybe you'll get some answers. :D [R]
Since Murtagh and Brom met briefly, I was wondering, had we had more time with Brom, would he have considered Murtagh for simply who he is or whose son he is? I think he would have needed to have gotten to know Murtagh. So I think he would have been immediately suspicious of him, especially given the circumstances under which they met. And of course meeting him would have been a very emotional experience for Brom, given his history with Morzan. So it would have been difficult. And of course, once Murtagh realized who Brom was and that he was responsible for killing Morzan, then that would have made it that much more difficult. Eragon will have been so clueless in that moment. Oh yeah, but that's kind of the definition of Eragon in the first couple of books, he has no idea what's going on. He's like, "who, me, what, what?" [19]Shades
If I recall correctly, there are only 3 or four shades that were recorded to be killed in history. What happens to all other Shades that were created? Actually, what I said in (Eragon, I think) is that there were only a few people who had killed a Shade and lived. But yes, they're super dangerous and difficult to deal with. [R]Tornac
What happened to Tornac, Murtagh's horse? Is he still alive? How is he doing? No comment. [19]Nasuada
I actually had a whole backstory planned with Nasuada's mother for The Inheritance Cycle and just the way the scenes worked out in the series, there was never an opportunity for that that to naturally come out in her conversations with anyone that we saw. [11]Vegetarianism
I wonder if the elves in the Forsworn continued their vegetarianism? Sure they were evil, but I know lots of vegans/vegetarians who are still jerks to people but not animals. They may have been evil, but they weren't barbarians! (From their point of view.) [T]Healing Magic
Will we ever learn how Murtagh healed Thorn so quickly in Eldest? Eldunarí [T]Spirits
If spirits are self-sustaining, why are they drawn to sources of power, and why do they "drink from the emanations that give them life" despite the fact they are self-sustaining? A clarification: they're self-sustaining in the sense that they're stable patterns that can persist over time. However, like all living things, they still need sustenance, which they get in the form of energy (usually electromagnetic) that they absorb/consume from the environment. [R]Elvish Children and Ageing
In Brisingr, Rhunön says while forging the sword Brisingr that children have something special. They are born, with "gifts of grace and gifts of power that no grown elf can hope to match" and their "blossom withers" over time. How do you feel about that quote, now that you are a father and that you have children? Oh, I stand by it. I think you could say the same is true for human children to a degree. They're born with a share of innocence and beauty even that we all lose as we age. We gain things in return. We gain wisdom. We gain knowledge. We gain strength. Hopefully we gain patience and kindness also. But there is something special about childhood. A timelessness which I suppose goes back to innocence. And of course with the elves, since they're tied into magic in ways that we aren't, there are other factors in play as well. They have powers or abilities that somehow outstretched that of any adult elf? Well, my thought was the inhibitions are lower. The barriers between them and the flow of magic is different. And so they are more naturally inclined toward wild magic. That is magic unbounded by the ancient language. And not that it always happens, but just in general, I think with the Elven children, you never quite know what might happen. And then as they get older, as they hit their equivalent of adolescence, it all becomes much more constrained and adult. When are you considered an adult for the elves, like 50 years old? I don't want to commit to an actual number at the moment. I'd have to look at it. I know I've always thought about a very rough guide would be like 20 to 30 is kind of their teenage years, roughly. And then you're not considered a young adult until well after that. And I try to think when Arya took up her role as ambassador and left, Du Weldenvarden. And it might've been when she was like 20 or 30, something like that. She would've been, really kind of too young to do that, but it'd be like a, 18-, 19-year-old going off to join the foreign legion or something, but people do that. [19]Angela
In Inheritance, is what Angela is writing down a Doctor Who reference? Maybe. Is it raxacoricofallapatorius? Now that would be copyright infringement. Right, it is the legally distinct version of that. Yes, I am a Doctor Who fan. I have to ask, have you read To Sleep in a Sea of Stars? I actually haven't yet. That is next on the list. Well, the reason I asked is there is a certain short curly-haired woman with a cat who appears in To Sleep in a Sea of Stars that might answer a few of your questions or raise a couple more. [11]Eragon vs Barst
Murtagh was an amazing ride. I just missed Angela. She does appear in the book. Just under a different name . . . [Uluthrek] [T]
Has Angela the Herbalist ever gotten drunk? Most likely. [T]
Would Eragon have been able to defeat Barst? Yes. [R]Reading Magic
Jeod says "The spell you sent me, however, did not work when I read it from the scroll." I don't recall him ever being mentioned as a spellcaster. He'd have to be though, for him to be able to cast this spell right? Nope. Non-magicians can cast spells if the spells are, in essence, pre-loaded with energy. So if a scroll/gem/object is imbued with the necessary energy to enact the spell, then all you need to do is trigger the release of the energy by performing the necessary action (in this case, reading the words of the spell off the scroll). [R]Eldunarí Training
Arya and Murtagh aren't getting ANY actual “rider” training. Eragon is the only rider alive who was taught rider-only knowledge. And neither Fírnen or Thorn has a dragon to teach them dragon-only knowledge. Don’t forget some of the Eldunarí stayed behind in Ellesméra with Arya and Fírnen. Was in deluxe edition of Inheritance and then added to later printings of main edition. [R]Az Sweldn rak Anhûin Riders
What will happen if a dragon was to hatch in the Dûrgrimst Az Sweldn rak Anhûin? I'm not sure that the dwarves would allow any of those clan members to come before the dragon eggs. If that did happen and one dragon hatched for them, I think it'd be very difficult politically, and it's entirely possible that the dragon for whom it hatched would be exiled from their clan. I thought that maybe it will make them change, but no, it's unlikely after all since they showed so much antagonization. I mean, come on, how often do people change their beliefs? Not often. [19]Forbidden Spells
You aren't exactly the kind of guy that I would openly give like a bad review to. Good, you should do it anonymously. That's what the internet was made for. I wouldn't give you a bad review, like under my real name, because I can't think of any other author whose magic system is specifically able to give someone testicular torsion. Could we get a firm pronunciation of that spell? It would be bowler, that's actually how you would say it. Böllr, that's ball of course, thrysta. Böllr thrysta. And it's considered the worst spell in the World of Eragon. You're really discouraged from using it. And those who use it are usually exiled and/or killed on the spot. Wow. So it's sort of akin to like an unforgivable curse. It is an unforgivable curse. That's right. Well thank you so much. I'll have to remember that spell for the next time someone suggests a really bad idea. Like leaving a bad review on my books? No, I was thinking like if someone said, hey, do you guys want to go watch Eragon? [31]
I think something you always run into if you're trying to depict dragons as real world animals is how do you actually get them to breathe fire if there's a biological process? My solution is just magic which was easy. With a lot of CGI dragons the wings are always too small. You need massive wingspan to get a body that size off the ground. Real world physics, if you're gonna have them fly, they need to have very big wings. I have the privilege of living in a part of the country where quite a few dinosaurs have been dug up. In fact, not too far from my house, they dug up a, I think it was a brontosaurus. And the big museum near me in Bozeman, Montana, the Museum of the Rockies has one of the best dinosaur exhibits in the world. And the paleontologist Jack Horner actually worked in conjunction with that museum for many years. And I got to have a sort of behind the scenes tour with him one time and he showed me these bones from the wings of a pterosaur. Huge, huge animal. And the wings were so fragile and he was talking about the ratio of the wings to the body size and the weight that could actually lift and everything. And you either need some massive genetic engineering or some magic to make dragons actually possible. [30]Dragon-adjacent Species
Just finished Murtagh and holy flaming dragon balls was that an amazing, wild ride from start to finish! You're very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it! (For the record, dragon, ah, gonads are internal. Just to be clear.) [T]
Where do the dragons poop? Wherever they want. [R]
What discoveries about dragons do you continue to uncover and how do you continue to draw inspiration for describing the dragons in very different ways? If I were writing a story that wasn't in the World of Eragon, something completely new, then I think I'd draw a little bit more from some stuff I've read in mythology and just other fantasy books over the years. Specifically in this series though, what I'm discovering, if anything, is just further exploration of what I've already established. So taking it to the logical extremes of, okay, if the dragons exhibit these traits, what about this? What about that? How would that actually influence things? And also in my world, I have a couple of dragon-adjacent species. Because it seemed to me that if the dragons existed, as with most creatures, there'd be something similar as well, similar, that had evolved along similar lines, but wasn't actually a dragon. So I have a couple of those. And those are fun to play with as well. [34]Dragon Diets
How would you make a giant dragon ecologically feasible? But I don't know if there's a way to even do that. I always thought that the only way it would work would be if dragons were kind of like whales, which are predators. So you can have so many very large predators and it really depends on having enough biomass underneath them to support that. And I kind of look at various reptiles and snakes where especially as they get larger, they gorge and then they go into hibernation. They rest, they digest for sometimes months and months at times. And that could be semi-realistic and it fits with some of the mythology. But if you get into really large dragons, which is always fun to write about, even the physics of supporting their own weight aside, let's say it's magic or they've got adamantium bones or whatever and muscles, but then what are they actually eating? They'd have to go pick up blue whales and down a blue whale every once in a while. It's really the only conceivable thing. Or you'd be wiping out entire herds of everything. I think the complicating factor is that so many dragons in our books and other books are really intelligent. So you have the double whammy of a very large predator who might also have human level, if not more, intelligence. And then you really got to start wondering about the impact on the ecology. It's like, well, OK, maybe the dragon just takes a large valley and sees a couple herds there. And so it carries a couple boulders over and blocks off each end of the valley. And now its own private ranch. And you're going to live and grow there and get eaten occasionally, and the dragon's happy. See, now I'm picturing Yellow Scale Ranch, like a city of Yellowstone. And the dragon has a cowboy hat and maybe a walking stick. What do you think's under the caldera? Why do you think it erupts every so many tens of thousands of years? [30]Dragons Eating Others
One thing that's never talked about enough with dragons and how they hunt and eat is just how bad it would smell if they went after a flock of sheep. Do you know how bad birds would smell? The stench would drive off every creature, every predator, every human in probably like a 20 mile radius. [30]
One of my favorite scenes was right after Muckmaw, when Murtagh wouldn't let him eat him. The funny thing is, when they're flying over some mountains, Thorn is talking about eating Urgals, and Murtagh makes him promise that he's not going to eat an Urgal, or a Human, or an Elf, and he conveniently leaves out the Dwarves. Which readers have immediately picked up on. And someone said, well, you know, the Dwarves do kind of have it out for Murtagh because he killed their king. So maybe Murtagh left that out on purpose. That he's just giving a little bit of a loophole for Thorn. That if Thorn needs to eat a dwarf, Murtagh's not going to be too concerned. To be fair, I do think that Saphira would really have no qualms about eating someone she didn't like either. No, but I think that she'd have justification, right? Well, yeah, I mean, Thorn's justification is he doesn't like you or he's hungry. Those are good justifications. [32]Alcoholic Dragons
We all know that Saphira is a great mead aficionado. Is it something that's only her fancy or do some other dragons also like that? Some other dragons definitely enjoy drinking, so it's not just Saphira. There was probably some wild parties in Vroengard then. Oh yeah, and it's actually a common thing in the wild and lots of animals will try to get fermented berries and essentially get themselves drunk. So I think dragons probably enjoy a good drink now and then. It seems to be the smarter the animal, the more they like alcohol. [19]Dragons and Riders Dying
In Eragon, correct me if I'm wrong, if the Rider dies, the dragon dies, right? So that's actually something they invented for the film version. They will often die, just because the bond is so strong. But there's nothing like that compels the death. It's more like they're suicidal, they feel horrible, and they they end it. [33]Dragon Colors
Why is Saphira blue? Because I'm color blind. I am red-green color blind. I see both red and green, but I see less of them than someone with normal color vision. And so if you've read the books, the way that I described dragon vision is how I see the world. Blue is the most vibrant color I tend to see. And thus, Saphira is blue. However, I've been told that the blue that I think Saphira is, is actually purple for someone with normal color vision. So I see purple as the most amazing blue. So she is a purple dragon, but I say she's blue. [35]Dragon Gods
Back when I just finished Inheritance, I had some daydreams/fanfiction about the first new dragon that would hatch after Eragon left Alagaësia. Just wondering if you have guesses on the new dragon's color? Puce. [R]
Men, Dwarves, and Elves each have their own gods and religion. What about Dragons? Do they have their own gods and religion? Dragons ARE gods. At least, that’s what *they* think. [T]Dragons are Cats
Could dragons make good pets? I clearly prefer dogs and cats! Dogs love us for life. Cats are the perfect companions for writers. In fact, my dragons behave like cats! Like them, they have high self-esteem. They are very proud. [4]Saphira's Hotness
I know we all hate the movie because it’s awful, but I’m rewatching now and damn is newborn Saphira adorable as all hell. She needed to be fiercer looking, like a baby hawk. But yes, very cute. [R]Shruikan
Saphira's supposed to look beautiful, right? She's FABULOUS. [R]
I was just wondering what you thought about Saphira's Rule 34 page. I don't want to think about it. [31]
Which character do you think is the most tragic, with the most disappointments and loss? Shruikan [R]
How do you pronounce Murtagh, your new book? Because Italians have their pronunciations, English has its own pronunciations. We pronounciation the "gh" here in Italy. First of all, in The World of Eragon there are many different dialects and languages. So the way you say his name is how is name would be said in certain parts of the world. I say Murtagh (mur-tag) but I'm an American so my vowels are very flat, and in The Word of Eragon it probably would be said much more like Murtagh (murr-tug) or something like that. Like in Italian Ci. The first time I was in Italy, for Eldest, or for my second book. My parents came to visit while I was in Italy, and I was calling their room and I called to the front desk of the hotel and I asked for their room and I gave them the last name and I said "Paolini" (pow-li-ni) and they go "No. No. No." I said "Paolini (pow-li-ni)". "No. No. No. No one by that name." And finally I went "Paolini (pay-oh-liii-niiiiiiiii)". And they go "Ohhhhhhhh". [Note that when the translator tries saying this answer back in Italian all the Paolinis sound the same.] We also have a lot of different accents in the Italian language. That may have also helped out. No, I know. My family is originally from Bologna, and I watched a lot of Italian films and shows. The difference between what you hear in Inspector Commissario Montalbano versus some of the other films is very different. [7]Murtagh's Map
I reserve the right to butcher my character's names however I darn well please. And I have gotten into extended discussions with my fans about whether it is Murtuag, Murtag, or Murtah because Murtah is actually a real Irish name. And because I'm an uncouth American and I have flat vowels, I say Murtag, but it probably should be Murtuag and of course historically it's Murtah. [33]
Why isn’t the map in English? Because it’s Murtagh’s actual map. The translation key is in the back of the book. [T]Runes
Did you draw this and then fold and crease the page, and this is a photograph of that, or are the creases drawn? Neither. I drew it and then placed a picture of creased paper under the drawing, on a separate layer. The map by itself, without the paper image, looks rather bare, as I designed it to work with the underlying texture. [T]
The reason it's only half of Alagaësia, is because if you translate this bit, and there is a translation key in the back of the book, it says this is an imperial map. So this is a map from the Empire that Murtagh was given before the end of Inheritance. [17]
I've gotten a few people who've been annoyed that in the map at the beginning of Murtagh, all the locations are labeled in runes, which I do provide a Rosetta Stone for at the back of the book. Of course, you have to go look in the back of the book and know that it's there in order to figure that out. So some people have been like, "How am I supposed to know where Murtagh is? Come on." But the idea was that it is a in-universe artifact. It's actually the map that Murtagh himself is carrying around, which is why it's all wrinkled and stained and actually is what he's carrying around. [34]
The map at the beginning and the other illustrations are very dark. Is this deliberate or just an error? Printing error. It shouldn’t be that dark. [T]
There was also an instance where it says that the dwarves and humans use different runes, but in Eragon, it is mentioned that they use the same runes. Same runes arranged differently. [T]Mr Stabby vs Tinkledeath
While reading Murtagh, I came across a line where he is unable to read the dwarvern runes, however in Eldest, Gannel tells Eragon that humans adopted the dwarvern runes as their own. There's a discussion about the differences between the human and dwarven runes included at the back of Murtagh. [R]
If there will be a duel between Mr. Stabby, which technically cannot be broken, and Tinkledeath that can cut through almost everything, how will the duel ensue? I would guess that Mr. Stabby could hold off Tinkledeath, at least for a time. But trying to block a sword with a fork is very, very difficult, so I wouldn't want to try. [19]Svartlings
You have magic, dragons, ugly bird men and their ugly Wal-Mart bird dragons, bears the size of houses, elves that dress up as furries, and rocks that grow from farm soil! What a fantastical universe Don't forget the giant boars, the horned goat/sheep people, the ten-mile-high mountains, the giant whirlpool, and the spirit-possessed magicians. Oh yeah, and what are Svartlings? [R]Poetry
In this book there are indeed many plot twists, epic new enemies, but you know what I wasn't expecting? Murtagh becoming a poet. Was it because you've become keen on poetry as well? It's because if you've ever spent a fair bit of time without the Internet and without television and without radio and without books, you get really bored quite honestly. Especially if you have the sort of mind that like you need to do something with your mind and I think Murtagh is that sort of a person. Like he has too many unpleasant things to think about in his life and so he needs to distract himself. And after the end of Inheritance he knows he's changed and I think he's trying to think of himself in a new light as a new person. So for me it was like fifty percent him trying to entertain himself, fifty percent him trying to avoid thinking about things he didn't want to think about. And then of course outside of the actual universe of the story it's me the author enjoying doing poetry. But I wouldn't put it in if I didn't think it made sense for the character. [17]Glaedr’s scale
The werecat Carabel tells Murtagh that he must use a dragon scale to lure Muckmaw. She insists that “only the scale of a dragon will suffice for Muckmaw.” But why Glaedr’s scale? Couldn’t they have removed one of Thorn’s to use as bait? I was surprised that neither Murtagh or Thorn thought of it — even if just to dismiss it as a bad idea. You're right: I should have addressed this in the book, if even only to have Murtagh have the knee-reaction of "I'm not pulling a scale off Thorn!" to which Carabel would have said, "I'm not asking you to." etc. [R]Doorways
Why not any other scale, why only Glaedr's scale? Why didn't Murtagh ask the same question? Murtagh would NEVER volunteer to pull a scale off Thorn. Especially not if there was a possible alternative. [T]
Who was the elf that was protecting Glaedr's scale? Murtagh literally has to stab himself to free himself from the mental grip of someone, and he's not the least bit curious as to who it is? I think it's one of the two elves standing outside the stone house in Gilead. The ones that Murtagh purposefully avoided. This. [R]
"He blinked and took a closer look at the back wall. Was there something on the ... Yes. A faint line of white chalk. He traced it with his eyes and found that the line drew an arch from floor to head height. An arch or a doorway. The idea of a doorway. A yearning for freedom." Sounds like the kind of door Angela drew in FWW... Sure does. [T]Scurvy
How did Murtagh not get scurvy when he was living off the land? My boy didn't have a single fruit. Organ meats and pine-needle tea. [T]Scrying
I think [Murtagh and Thorn] are very very ignorant of magic. Like when they were talking about going south and were like "welp there's no faster way to contact anyone other than courier". I was practically screaming "YES THERE IS IT'S CALLED SCRYING YOU IDIOTS" Nasuada would be warded against random scrying, and Murtagh knows this. Pretty sure he thinks about this exact point when considering how to get info to Nasuada near the end of the Gil'ead sequence. [R]ADHD
I was describing this book [Murtagh] to my partner while I was reading it. And he goes "these two characters sound like they have ADHD". And I was like, "I see it." I don't know. They focus pretty well on the things they do. [32]Azlagûr
Is the "unnamed shadow" in Eragon's Guide to Alagaësia the DraumaAzlagûr? It is not referring to Azlagûr. [R]Galbatorix Motivations
Could Azlagûr be a Chinese Dragon? The old Chinese explanation for solar eclipses WAS a dragon eating the sun. Scary [R]
You tie Galbatorix to Bachel in this book in a way. Was there was that like nerve-wracking, because there's that element of like 'oh am I going to take something away from the previous story by tying it in here'? Yeah and it's possible some people are going to view it as too much of a retcon, but to that I would say two things. One, a lot of this has been planned for a very long time by me. Two I wouldn't believe 100% everything Bachel says. I have my own theories for what Galbatorix thought and felt and was actually up to. I don't think actually that the Dreamers had as much control. In fact the whole reason I'm sure he was looking for the name of names, the name of the ancient language, was to wipe the Dreamers out in many ways. I wouldn't trust everything Bachel says. [11]Shaking the valley
Galbatorix downfall was his unawareness of non-worded magic, but in Murtagh he and the forsworn meet Bachel who only uses unworded magic. Remember: Bachel lies. And even if she didn't, and Galbatorix was aware of wordless magic, he never would have thought to protect himself against a spell meant to help him, not hurt him. [T]
The whole "Galby lost part of his army in the spine" thing was a result (in part) of his attempt to deal with the Dreamers, and we have Bachel boasting that even Galbatorix couldn't stop them. And yet, we've been told that Eragon and the Eldunarí could have dealt with the Dreamers without too much difficulty. Galbatorix was significantly more powerful than they were, even without the Name of Names. So, if we take-as-given that Galbatorix wanted the Dreamers gone, why are they still there? He knew where they were, he knew he had the means to obliterate them, and (by his own estimation) the Varden was no real threat to him. 1. Bachel lies. 2. The Urgals wiped out Galbatorix's army. No contradiction there. Were they controlled/influenced by the Dreamers? Good question. 3. The Dreamers themselves aren't the real threat. 4. Galbatorix knew more than Murtagh/readers know. [R]
The thing that bothered me about the Ra'zac saying he's getting close to finding the Name is that I can't figure out any way they would have any indication of whether he's "close." There are many different names for the language, some more descriptive than others, but only one true name. It would be like saying, “I know Latin!” vs. “I know this exact dialect from this exact time period, and it is called X.” There are layers of specificity. [R]
Do you have a favorite scene or character or moment that you want to share? I really liked when Bachel shook the valley. Did she shake the valley though or is there a giant dragon under the Earth that moved in its slumber? Because I have theories. Well that's a good question. [11]Thorn Flashbacks
The scenes where Thorn was being put in an arena when he was young, is it a vision or is it a real recollection of Murtagh? That was a real recollection. [19]End Him Rightly
Was there a reference in murtagh to the pommel throwing technique? A certain character [Tornac] asked "Did you end him rightly?" And that made me remember the German fencing manual? Or was this just coincidence? There are no coincidences. @Skallagrim Ok, but like are we supposed to interpret this as a valid technique in-universe which Murtagh did? Or perhaps as a joke that the above mentioned character decided was appropriate to reference at that particular moment? It's both. It's a valid historical technique and also a joke within the HEMA community. Though not meant to be a joke between characters. [T]Torture
I just finished Murtagh and one thing that sticks to my mind is how pointless / tame the torture scenes were. The torture was worse than you think. I just didn’t want to write it out in detail. [R]Ithring
My personal theory is that Bachel forced Murtagh to inflict the pain on his own body through the breath or invading his mind. I could see Bachel forcing Thorn to maul Murtagh, Or Murtagh to torment Thorn under the breath. It was even worse than either of those two options, sorry to say. [R]
I just noticed; the Fractalverse logo & the center of [the Ithring] symbol, are similar. Shhh. [T]Murtagh's Spell
Does the explosion from “compress air and gather light” come from Murtagh [focusing] a bunch of light into a spot, which would heat up the air and cause it to rapidly expand? Bingo. And if there was watemoisture at the target location (which there was), you'll get a steam explosion. [R]Murtagh Healing
One of the spells Murtagh cast in the book, I think the translation was "Compress the air and gather light." And then a big explosion happened. Was that lightning or was that a form of plasma that had become unstable? Superheated watemoisture expanding. Basically, a steam explosion. [T]
You really put Murtagh through a lot. And it made me both smile and ache for him. I did put him through it. And one of the reasons is because although it was not his choice, he did some pretty unpleasant things and coming to terms with that was never going to be easy. And I think he will have an easier time of it moving forward now. He'll never have the life that Eragon has, but I think he has a chance at a more normal life now. As normal as he'll ever have a life. I wouldn't be surprised if he wakes up in a cold sweat, having some bad dreams for a couple of years, but I think he's on the path to healing. [19]Nasuada controlling magic users
Given the new paradigm of Nasuada being a queen, how will she manage to have at the same time potent enough magicians and keeping control of magic in her realm as decades will go on in the future, especially since she's not a magician herself? That is the problem she's grappling with and it's a difficult one. I think the solution she's settled on at the moment is insufficient, with drugging people who don't want to join Du Vrangr Gata or don't want to swear this or that. So my thought is that now that Murtagh is spending time with her and Murtagh has had this experience of being controlled by Bachel's breath, he has a unique perspective on all of this, and perhaps that will help guide Nasuada's thoughts and approaches moving forward. But it's a problem. I've seen people criticize Nasuada's choices with how to deal with the magicians. And I'll happily agree it's not ideal, but it's also not ideal to have random people wandering around who can kill you with a word or who can slip into your mind and control you and you have no defense against that. It's a major major problem and no one would put up with it in the real world. If you knew that was a possibility and you suspected someone of being a magician, that's the sort of thing where witch hunts and magician hunts start actually making a lot of sense. Maybe not on an individual moral level, but from a societal standpoint, it starts making a lot of sense why you might kill those people.* [19]Murtagh and Nasuada
What are Murtagh & Nasuada up to at this moment in time? Standing outside the small, barred room hidden behind her council chamber. [T]
Sometimes I overthink things and end up confusing readers. Example: in Fractal Noise, I have my civilian characters use twelve-hour time. But they refer to the times using 24-hour terminology. So they'd say "Oh-nine-hundred" for 9am OR 9pm and rely on context for the listener to understand. Problem is, I never really explained what I was doing to readers. Lol. Ah well. Live and learn. [T]
Re-read To Sleep after reading Fractal Noise and somewhere in To Sleep it says the Great Beacon pulses ever 5.2 seconds but in Fractal Noise it says it's around 10 seconds. Is this a misprint? Yes. Was corrected in reprints. [T]
I have so many unanswered questions about Talos & the hole! Can we pleease get some lore on it. Lore upcoming in the next #Fractalverse books. So. Much. Lore. There's an entire dimension to the story that isn't yet apparent. [T]
If you think about it, the #Fractalverse has seven dimensions: three-subluminal, one luminal, and three superluminal. . . . I'm sure it's just coincidence. Why 3 subluminal and 3 superluminal? I thought the Tri-Space model was 3 realms? Yes, three realms, but superluminal and sub-luminal space are each 3D, while the luminal realm is just a membrane separating them. (Technically the membrane has an infinitesimal thickness to it, but that's splitting TEQs. For all practical purposes, it's 1D.) [T]
I understood that some seeds had been planted in Murtagh, which made me wonder. Those seeds were even already in Brisingr. [23]
How far does the history of Alagaësia go, with all the associated myths and legends? You are now looking at the figurative tip of the iceberg. There is much more. There are fans who can now finally connect some of the clues I left in Eragon and my science fiction books. They suddenly get an inspiration and say: “Christopher doesn't play chess, he plays 4D chess.” But I have given away a lot of hints in my books, which I now have to do something with. In the coming books, both in Eragon and in my science fiction books, we will get more of the history, including things that I laid the foundation for years ago. So are both series connected? No comment. [23]
In the fan community there have been some very smart people who have been concocting some elaborate theories of what is actually going on in the World of Eragon and the Fractalverse. And they’re not right on everything but they’ve gotten pretty close in some very interesting ways. And all I'll say is that yes, I am doing a quite a lot of deep things and it isn't really apparent yet, and that's just my own fault, because I haven't written the next couple of books that will confirm what it is I'm actually doing on a deep level. So I'm looking forward to that. [32]
Have you seen any theories out there that have been correct? Yeah, a couple. There's a couple of really super smart fans in my fan base who've finally caught on to some of the very deep things I've been doing in the background of both my fantasy books and also my sci fi ones. And they've been like picking apart the world and going, wait a minute. Did Christopher mean this? Did he mean this? And nine times out of ten, the answer is yes. It's really hard to outsmart the crowd. There's so many smart people out there. And I love seeing that engagement. [33]
I have a bunch more theories on Giants but I'll save it for another post. You better write that post about the Giants. [R]
There are a lot of specific references to the moon in relation to the Ra'zac. Sheesh. All this talk of moons makes me wonder why/how Angela ended up being called Uluthrek. [R]
Fractal Noise has nearly no lore pertaining these theories. Ahem. All this talk about spirits and not a single mention of the 'angels' from FN? [R]
There gotta be something interesting at the top of Beors. Nobody has been to the top yet, not even the Riders. Pretty much little to zero breathing air at that point. Seems like the perfect place to have magical or immortal beings kinda just hanging out away from anything. Heh [R]
Right now no matter what way you swing it, we have issues in terms of time. Angela's presence makes things infinitely more complicated. Correct. I'm also guessing we're dealing with the very real issue of "Paolini is making up new shit as he goes", and is finding ways to retroactively make things fit together. Incorrect. (Or at least, mostly incorrect. :D) There's a major piece to the puzzle that I haven't shared yet. The next two Fractalverse books will clarify. [R]
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2024.05.06 22:23 Legal-Perspective441 AITAH For writing on my ex's car after he cheated on me and dumped me for the girl he cheated with?
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2024.05.02 16:31 YaranaRouja [Incident (C:A)]: 0905 (Hotel Visit)
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2024.04.30 00:42 NoBrakes58 Some Bingo Reviews
2024.04.29 21:24 ConsciousRun6137 German Biologist Stefan Lanka Bet €100,000 the Measles Virus Doesn’t Exist. He Won.
Excerpt..In November 2011, German biologist Stefan Lanka publicly issued a bold challenge. He offered the hefty sum of 100,000 Euros to anyone who could prove the existence of the measles virus. submitted by ConsciousRun6137 to u/ConsciousRun6137 [link] [comments] Lanka was inspired to issue the challenge after witnessing an intense and sustained propaganda campaign that year by both the World Health Organization and the German government, urging people to get vaccinated against measles. Article here…Measles vaccine lie. https://preview.redd.it/qwg1gzffygxc1.png?width=768&format=png&auto=webp&s=05cea4727dd0621865942c9e06efba47d6ddf124 Billions of doses of measles vaccines have been administered since their introduction in the early 1960s. Authorities constantly admonish the importance of measles vaccination, and whenever a measles ‘outbreak’ occurs it is invariably blamed upon unvaccinated folk.The existence of a measles virus, therefore, is presented as a given. Which means Lanka should have been flooded with offers to take up his challenge.After all, who could resist the opportunity to legally score a quick and easy €100,000? Turns out proving the existence of a measles virus isn’t so easy. There was only one response to Stefan’s challenge. Not from one of the world’s countless virologists or microbiologists, or vocal health authorities, but from a bright-eyed medical student called David Bardens. On January 16, 2012, Bardens emailed Lanka and asked if the challenge was still current. Lanka replied in the affirmative. On January 31, 2012, a cocksure Bardens replied with the following message: “With the detailed compilation of literature attached I have given you both the proof of the existence of the measles virus and the required images and information on the diameter of the measles virus. Please transfer the amount of € 100,000 to the following account […] I would like to thank you for the opportunity to acquire such a relatively big amount of money with such a relatively little effort. With best regards, David Bardens” The literature tendered by Bardens as ‘proof’ of the existence of the measles virus consisted of the following titles, which will herein be referred to as “The Bardens Six”: Enders JF, Peebles TC. Propagation in tissue cultures of cytopathogenic agents from patients with measles. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 1954 Jun; 86 (2): 277–286. Bech V, Magnus PV. Studies on measles virus in monkey kidney tissue cultures. Acta Pathologica et Microbiologica Scandinavica, 1959; 42 (1): 75–85. Nakai M, Imagawa DT. Electron microscopy of measles virus replication. Journal of Virology, 1969 Feb; 3 (2): 187–197. Lund GA, et al. The molecular length of measles virus RNA and the structural organization of measles nucleocapsids. Journal of General Virology, 1984 Sep; 65 (Pt 9): 1535–1542. Horikami SM, Moyer SA. Structure, Transcription, and Replication of Measles Virus. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, 1995; 191: 35–50. Daikoku E, et al. Analysis of Morphology and Infectivity of Measles Virus Particles. Bulletin of the Osaka Medical College, 2007; 53 (2): 107–114. Sorry, But I Asked for “Proof”Lanka replied to Bardens – correctly – that the studies did not meet the requirements. They did not prove the existence of the measles virus.Bardens, not understanding the difference between a dubious claim and valid scientific proof, promptly sued Lanka for non-payment. When the case was heard, the court’s medico-legal ‘expert’ was Andreas Podbielsky, from the University of Rostock. Podbielsky just happened to be … a virologist. This was like calling an astrologist to give ‘expert’ testimony on the validity of horoscopes. Little surprise that, on March 12, 2015, the court ruled in Bardens’ favour. Lanka was ordered to pay Bardens the €100,000. Incredibly, the court made this decision despite Podbielsky admitting that none of The Bardens Six reported the results of any control procedures. The 2015 ruling is the part of the story the mainstream media want you to hear, and fell all over themselves to report.“A vaccine denier bet $100,000 the measles virus ‘doesn’t exist.’. He lost,“ trumpeted the Los Angeles Times. The LA Times article relied heavily on ad hominem attack to portray Lanka as a screwball. According to uber-snide LA Times writer Michael Hiltzik, Lanka had “a long history of pseudoscientific outbursts,” was prone to “denial” and “pure publicity stunts,” and was allegedly the latest of “cranks blowing up their own case in court.”Having tripped over itself to ridicule Lanka, the glorified trash rag that is the LA Times was too embarrassed and no doubt too compromised to ever report on what subsequently transpired. Ditto for the hordes of other outlets that gleefully reported the original decision, but suddenly suffered a monumental case of writer’s block when it came to reporting what happened next. Lanka, you see, promptly appealed the decision. The case was then heard by the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) Stuttgart on February 16, 2016. After reviewing The Bardens Six, the court agreed they failed to meet the contest requirements as set by Lanka. The criteria stipulated a single publication that both proved the existence of the measles virus and measured its diameter. This was hardly an unreasonable request. If I go into the Australian outback, allegedly discover a never-before-seen animal, and write up a detailed report on the Koalaroo, it would be expected I provide a bit more morphological detail than just “adult members of this new species are big. Real big. I’m talking h-u-g-e. I mean, you should see the pecs on these things!” The original decision was reversed and Lanka got to keep his €100,000. In December 2016, Bardens tried to get this ruling revised, but the court saw no reason to do so. Outside of Germany, the mainstream media response to the appeal result was deafening silence. The response of ‘fact-checkers’ (aka globalist-funded liars) and virus believers was to dismiss the appeal ruling as a result of fortuitous technicality.Interestingly, none of these fact-fudgers or virus stalwarts ever discuss The Bardens Six – the actual studies submitted by the then-student as ‘proof’ the measles virus really exists.There’s a reason for that. The Bardens Six Didn’t Prove Diddly SquatAfter his initial 2015 victory, Bardens told an interviewer, “You could hand the virus to Lanka on a silver platter if it were a bit bigger – he would probably still deny its existence.”He added, most ironically, “Unfortunately I had to learn in recent years in my discussions with anti-vaxxers that their opinions are often so stuck that you have no chance to reach them with any facts.” This is the smug derision with which mainstream ideologues regard those who quite reasonably ask for proof of something’s existence. So let’s take a look, in chronological order, at the slop a mainstream stalwart holds as ‘proof’ the measles virus exists. This will reveal just who the intractable dogmatists really are. Enders & Peebles 1954.If you’ve done any research into the history of measles, you’ve no doubt come across the name John Enders. In 1954, he and colleague Thomas Peebles claimed to have cultivated “cytopathic agents” from patients with ‘measles.’Those of you wise to virology’s “cytopathic effect” charade will already know where this paper is going: La-la land. The duo begin their paper by writing: “Numerous attempts have been made in the past to propagate the agent of measles in lower animals, in chick embryos and in tissue cultures. The results of different investigators were often at variance or directly contradictory. It has been made reasonably clear, however, that monkeys, especially M. mulatta, are moderately susceptible to experimental inoculation.” (Bold emphasis added).Ah yes, yet another ‘virus’ we are incessantly told is hyper-virulent, potentially deadly, and necessitating urgent population-wide vaccination, but suddenly suffers stage fright when examined under experimental conditions. So Enders and Peebles set out to cultivate this socially awkward virus, and to demonstrate its virulence via the “cytopathic effect” wank, which is nothing more than voodoo science done First World-style. Here’s how this absurd charade works: You take some samples (in this case, throat swabs, blood and feces) from people who reportedly suffer the disease in question. You begin your experiment with the assumption that these samples contain a ‘virus.’ You spin the samples around and around at high speed in a centrifuge to separate the fluid and sediment. You then take some of the mix and place it in a test tube or petri dish containing a ‘cell culture’ consisting of, among other things, antibiotics and bovine fetal serum.Note that nothing has been isolated here. Quite the opposite has occurred: You’ve taken a gob of phlegm, which contains a whole bunch of other yeccch aside from a mythical virus, and you’ve added more items to it, including bovine fetal serum which contains RNA and possibly DNA.Because you are work in a profession built upon lies, you call this mixture a “viral isolate.”You then take this anti-isolate, and mix it with a bunch of cells. Not just any cells; to pull off this fraud, you need a special cell line that will give you the results you want. The cell line of choice is African green monkey kidney cells. After mixing the heavily adulterated sample you call an “isolate” with the cell line, you let the mixture sit. You periodically place the mixture under an electron microscope, and when you notice the added cells are starting to deform and die off, you yell “bingo!” You triumphantly write up a paper claiming you have ‘isolated’ said ‘virus.’ In reality, you haven’t isolated diddly squat, but you assume the “cytopathic effect” (cells dying) is proof that there’s a nasty cell-wrecking virus in there. One of the most fundamental rules of science is control your variables, which is why valid scientific experiments are always performed with control subjects or samples.There is nothing valid about the virus isolation gig, however. It is a sham, so you scrupulously avoid performing the exact same procedures on samples from healthy humans not suffering from said ‘virus.’That would undermine the whole charade, and put a quick end to all those lucrative grants and Nobel Prize nominations. It would also bring an end to the virus farce, an extremely lucrative source of fear porn for megalomaniacs and drug companies alike. The above pretty much describes what Enders and Peebles did, but a few other observations are worth noting. The authors reveal they tried to get this cell culture/cytopathic effect ruse going with the following cell lines: Human embryonic lung, human embryonic intestine, human embryonic skin and muscle, human foreskin, human uterus, human kidney, embryonic chick tissue, rhesus monkey kidney and rhesus monkey testis. In other words, to create the cytopathic effect that supposedly demonstrates isolation of a ‘virus,’ they tried a vast array of cell lines – everything from penis trimmings to monkeys’ balls. Yet they settled on just two: Human kidney and monkey kidney cells.Why kidney cells and not, say, skin cells, the latter being a far more intuitive choice for examining a disease that involves outbreaks on the skin?Because the antibiotics used in all these cytopathic effect experiments are kidney toxic. In their experiments, Enders and Peebles used both penicillin and streptomycin.Little wonder that African green monkey kidney cells have become the cell line of choice for cytopathic effect experiments: They can be relied upon to deform and die in the presence of kidney toxic antibiotics, hence giving researchers the results they are after.But that wasn’t all. While the Enders and Peebles experiment hardly constitutes “isolation” of a ‘virus,’ let’s assume there really was a ‘measles virus’ lurking in their cell cultures. If this were the case, it would be reasonable to assume that when this anti-isolate was administered to living entities, instead of glass receptacles, it would trigger the disease of measles. Well, it turns out Enders and Peebles did have a crack at this. They tried ‘infecting’ two litters of suckling white mice with their so-called isolate. What happened? Stugatz. Despite being directly injected with the porqueria concocted by Enders and Peeble, “The animals remained well during an observation period of 21 days.” I have to wonder if Bardens even read the six papers he submitted as proof, or whether he just read the misleading abstracts, like most interns and physicians who bother reading journals do. If Bardens had read this paper closely, he should’ve realized Enders and Peebles didn’t isolate anything. They even inadvertently admit it:“Although we have thus already obtained considerable indirect evidence supporting the etiologic role of this group of agents in measles,” the duo wrote, “2 experiments essential in the establishment of the relationship remain to be carried out. These will consist in the production of measles in the monkey and in man with the tissue culture materials after a number of passages in vitro sufficient to eliminate any virus introduced in the original inoculum. The recovery of the virus from the experimental disease in these hosts should then be accomplished.” “The findings just summarized support the presumption that this group of agents is composed of representatives of the viral species responsible for the measles.” (Bold emphasis added)The bottom line is that Enders and Peebles 1954, the first paper confidently put forward by Bardens in his attempt to prove Lanka wrong, was a hopelessly confounded endeavor that didn’t isolate Jack Schiesen. We are supposed to just “presume” the virus was lurking there somewhere in the hopelessly adulterated cell culture mixtures. Although not mentioned in the paper, and despite not having isolated anything, this is the experiment that would later be cited by others as having discovered the “Edmonston strain” of measles virus. Bech & von Magnus 1959This paper reports “the isolation of five strains of measles virus in cultures of trypsinized monkey kidney cells.”We could write this paper off based on that alone, but the authors also claim they identified the strains by serologic tests and even transmitted the disease to monkeys. As with Enders and Peebles they used bovine amniotic fluid in their culture, and they added penicillin and streptomycin to the mix. Once again, they produced the ‘cytopathic effect’ in cytopathy-prone monkey and baboon kidney cells. Which again means they didn’t isolate diddly squat. Furthermore, what they generously called an ‘isolate’ could only be obtained from the samples of seven of the 13 patients, despite all specimens being collected within 40 hours of rash onset. The researchers then claimed to have detected measles antigens in the blood of four patients. However, no control procedures were performed with measles-free patients, so we don’t know whether these antigens were truly unique to the condition we know as measles, or something you could find among any random sampling of people. Even if they were unique to measles patients, there is no proof they represented a ‘virus’ because no virus was ever isolated. Two monkeys were then ‘inoculated’ intranasally and orally with the so-called ‘isolate’ of one of the patients, a 6-year-old girl whose mixture evinced measles ‘antigen.’ Eleven days later, one of the monkeys developed a “universal rash” allegedly spreading from head to toe. I say “allegedly,” because while the researchers were happy to pepper their paper with multiple microscopy images of the in vitro cytopathic effect, there was not a single picture of the measled monkey. In humans, measles is accompanied by high fever, cough, runny nose, red watery eyes and a rash that lasts 5-6 days before fading. However, the affected monkey showed normal temperature throughout, and its skin rash lasted only 24 hours. No other symptoms were reported. The other monkey showed no symptoms at all. So the affected monkey reportedly suffered a brief skin breakout, but its sequelae were not consistent with what we call measles. But let’s assume for a moment that this monkey’s brief skin flare-up was caused by the administration of throat fluid from an unwell six-year-old human. The question then becomes: Was it the throat fluid – containing countless elements – from a sick human that made the monkey sick, or a measles ‘virus’ that the researchers never isolated but simply assumed to be present because they subscribed to the cytopathic effect ruse? We’ll never know because no virus was ever isolated. Another pertinent question is what would have happened to that same monkey if it was administered the throat fluid of a healthy six year old girl? We’ll never know because, as is par for the course in this absurd isolation charade, no control procedures were performed at any juncture. So we have a study that again never isolated anything, in which only 7 of 13 patients had samples which could be made to do the cytopathic wank, and only 4 that could show ‘antigens.’ It reported on two monkeys, one of whom suffered a brief skin breakout and no other symptoms commensurate with measles; the other experienced no ill effects at all. As with Enders and Peebles 1954, this paper provides lots of assumptions and presumptions but no proof of a virus. Nakai & Imagawa 1969This paper describes “electron microscopic observations of the various stages of measles virus replication and the morphological changes induced in HeLa cells.”While not as ubiquitous as monkey kidney cells, HeLa is another cell line popular among those perpetuating the cytopathic effect charade. This cell line is named after African-American woman Henrietta Lacks, who unfortunately passed away from cervical cancer in 1951 at only 31 years of age. During the brief period between her diagnosis and passing, Henrietta underwent radium treatments for her cancer at John Hopkins Hospital. A sample of her cancer cells retrieved during a biopsy were sent to the lab of one Dr George Gey. According to the John Hopkins website, Gey had been collecting cells from all patients who came to Johns Hopkins with cervical cancer, but each sample quickly died in his lab. Henrietta’s cells however, were unlike any of the others he had ever seen: Where other cells would die, her cells doubled every 20 to 24 hours. While clearly unrepresentative of typical human cells, the durability of the HeLa line made it a favorite with researchers.* This was the cell line Nakai and Imagawa used to propagate the Edmonston strain of measles ‘virus’ for the experiments described in this 1969 paper. Let’s stop, for a moment, to digest what we’ve just read. The Edmonston strain was not an isolate – it was the outcome of a cell cultured sample from one of the child cases in the Enders and Peebles 1954 paper. This ‘strain,’ obtained not via isolation but by the anti-isolation cell culture/cytopathic effect ruse, was then subjected by Nakai and Imagawa to another bout of the cell culture ruse, this time using the highly atypical HeLa cell line. The researchers note they bathed the final cell suspension in a mixture containing 1% osmium tetroxide, a highly poisonous substance. The researchers further reveal that the preparations were stained with a solution of uranyl acetate in ethyl alcohol for 60 minutes and stained further with lead hydroxide for 15 minutes. So they produced a preparation in which cells were exposed to an array of toxic substances: Osmium tetroxide, ethyl alcohol, lead and uranyl acetate (which contains the isotope 238U of uranium). Importantly, the researchers also write: “Control preparations of uninoculated HeLa cells were examined in a similar manner.” They give no further details about these ‘uninoculated’ preparations. Based on what I’ve seen from other studies involving the ‘isolation’ sham, I’m guessing ‘uninoculated’ means a preparation not only void of a sample from a sick patient, but also void of a sample from a healthy patient. In which case it’s not really a control. The authors then took lots of electron microscopy images of the preparations. We are presented with photos of what could easily pass for cellular vesicles, which we are told are measles virions. There are also multiple photos of long thin strands which we are told are “the helical nucleocapsid released from measles virion.” They claimed the ‘virions’ were pleomorphic (able to change shape and form) with sizes ranging from 180 to 600 nm. That’s all well and good, but there’s a problem. A big problem. Remember how the researchers claimed they created control preparations with “uninoculated” HeLa cells? That’s a critical detail, yet they inexplicably make no further mention about these alleged control preparations. You can’t expose an atypical cell line to a bunch of poisonous substances, then claim the vesicles that subsequently show up in electron microscopy images are ‘measles virions’ without confirming the same thing didn’t happen to a control preparation.Yet that’s exactly what Nakai and Imagawa did.Once again, if you consider ‘proof’ to be conclusive evidence of something, as opposed to shady leaps of faith, then Nakai and Imagawa did not prove the existence of a measles virus. Lund et al 1984In the experiment reported in this paper, Lund et al do the Cytopathic Boogaloo with Vero (African green monkey kidney) cells.In other words, they don’t isolate anything, and don’t prove the existence of a measles virus. They conduct no control procedures, so they cannot confirm that the vesicle-like structures and strands captured by electron microscopy would not have similarly been visible in control samples. Not to be deterred, they measure the size of the vesicle-like structures and strands. “Purified virions,” they claim, “examined by negative staining in the electron microscope exhibited a pleomorphic range of particle sizes varying in diameter between 300 nm and 1000 nm.” Their paper thus added to the already long list of publications claiming disparate sizes for the alleged measles ‘virus’ (Waterson et al 1961; Waterson 1965; Norrby & Magnusson 1965; Nakai et al 1969; Waters et al 1972; Hall & Martin 1973; Waters & Bussell 1974). Once again, this paper doesn’t even begin to prove the existence of a measles virus. Horikami & Moyer 1995I’m not sure why Bardens included this paper, because it’s not an experimental report like the aforementioned. It’s simply a review paper that takes the existence of the measles virus as a given, and discusses its alleged structure, transcription and replication.It does mention “Negatively stained preparations of virus particles appear roughly spherical but pleomorphic by electron microscopy, with the diameters of the particles ranging from 300 um to 1000 um.” In support of this statement, it references the Lund et al 1984 paper we just discussed above. Lund et al did not even begin to prove the measles virus exists, and neither does this review. Daikoku et al 2007Five down, one more to go. Will this 2007 paper by Daikoku and colleagues save the day for the anti-Lanka crowd?Unfortunately for them, no. Everything you need to know about this study is contained in the following passage: “[Measles viurus], the Edmonston strain, was inoculated into African green monkey kidney cells, Vero cell line, and cultured in a minimum essential medium containing 1% fetal bovine serum.” Zzzz … zzz … zzzz … Huh? … what? … Sorry folks. After a while, this cytopathic effect charade gets so predictable and boring it becomes downright narcoleptic. After doing the cytopathic effect wank, “particles with a nucleocapsid-like structure inside or a projection-like structure on the surface were determined to be MeV-like particles.” These ‘measles virus-like particles’ ranged between 50 nm and 1000 nm in diameter. That’s great, but because these particles were obtained via the uncontrolled cell culture/cytopathic effect caper, there is no proof they were measles virions. Another Massive Fail for the Voodoo Virus CrowdThat, ladies and gentlemen, is The Bardens Six:
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