Inverted bob stacked in the back

Hi! I just adopted my new darling a couple weeks ago (her name is Patches (after Patchy the Pirate from SpongeBob cause she's only got one eye), and today is the first time I went about clipping her nails. I grew up with cats but they were all declawed (NOT BY MY FAMILY, They were all adopted that way and the youngest is over fifteen years old and was adopted at about six months which was back when declawing was unfortunately more common. I DO NOT support the declawing of cats) which means that this is the one part of being a cat mom that I am completely in-experienced in. I clipped her back paws just fine but when I got to her front, I noticed that her one claw on her front left paw was significantly larger. Is this a normal thing or is this a book-a-vet-appointment-STAT thing? Is this still safe to clip? I don't want to hurt her but I also don't want it getting too long and hurting her that way by it curling and causing her pain. Any advice is appreciated- I am just trying to do my best for her. Photos are attached of her lovely self as well as her large claw. Thank you in advance

Welcome to my reality. I wrote a long post about this yesterday and my phone died before it posted, so I’m sorry if any important details are lacking, because my motivation is 😅. I appreciate the group and its ideals.
I bought this house a few years ago knowing the backyard was a challenge, but each summer it explodes like this to remind me. Small residential lot. About two-thirds of the backyard is shade to dappled sun but the rest gets full sun. Ground cover is a mess of pine needles, weeds and — some of which is Virginia creeper which I understand is native and beneficial, but mostly bad stuff. Mowing seems to make it grow back worse. Bamboo, switchcane, greenbriar and others are also having their way along the fence lines and elsewhere. Complicating things is a utility line running across the yard and a utility pole, plus a retaining wall falling apart and no longer doing its job. The house is on a hill and the backyard slopes down, six properties abut ours so I’m wary of using heavy equipment to move a lot of dirt that might wash out into neighboring yards and create a liability issue. The centerpiece is this mass of pokeweed et al. and old stumps.
I have started a native bed in the front yard by digging up some lawn and planting the good stuff. The backyard just overwhelms me every time I think about it.
On the plus side, I have numerous willow oaks and a black cherry (I think) and dogwoods in the back. It’s nice but also seems like a lot of trees for the amount of space. Any wood I’ve pruned I stacked in piles and left for critters. I ripped out a bunch of English ivy near the back of the house along one fence and planted wood ferns and a pallet of green and gold (Chrysogonum virginiana) in the sandy soil (last photo). I’ve made small steps in cutting back nandina and privet and selectively applying herbicide. I thought bit by bit was the only way for my budget and sanity.
I guess I just want to vent but also seek the wisdom of the group. Should I just spray all of this dead (kids and dogs are a consideration)? When is the best time to do that and how do I go about restoring with new plants? Ideally I would get a mini excavator back there to dig it up, grade, build retaining walls and plant from scratch. But cost and site restrictions are an issue. I just want it to be a shady, relatively low maintenance place for the family and dogs to enjoy.
I’m in SC, zone 8b. 🙏

Transcript:
PIEDMONT, Mo. -- His voice gets heavy and even starts to crack when he talks about the abuse claims that have engulfed an unlicensed boarding school in his southeast Missouri county.
“I didn’t know,” Wayne County Sheriff Dean Finch says, referring to former students’ yearslong allegations of physical and mental abuse at the school. “I didn’t.”
When in 2014 Finch scooped up a runaway from Lighthouse Christian Academy, the skin on his feet starting to peel away from frostbite, the teen didn’t divulge any abuse. Neither did a boy who ran away from the Wayne County boarding school three years later, the sheriff said. Same thing with the boy who ran away two years ago.
“Kids didn’t say a word,” said Finch, who has been the sheriff since 2013. “I tried to get it out of them, why they were running away. But they never said anything.”
Boys would tell him, the sheriff said, that they were forced to do jumping jacks, intense exercises and stand at the wall for hours as punishment. Or they just didn’t like the school run by ABM Ministries because staff members were mean. But nothing they shared with him, he said, led him to believe a Missouri law had been broken.
Until earlier this year.
After five boys ran away from the secluded boarding school near Piedmont over a three-week period in January, one boy told him something “I could sink my teeth into,” Finch said. And once the sheriff spoke to a former student from more than 15 years ago, “all the dominos started to fall,” he said.
Since March, he’s traveled to 10 states, interviewed about 25 former students and spoken to many others on the phone. In the coming days, he plans to speak with dozens more. Now in their 20s and 30s, many of these men and women are telling the sheriff what they’ve told The Star. They said staff members put them in headlocks and at times hit them, that food and water were withheld and they were made to exercise for hours and work in extreme temperatures.
Others described what they call “emotional torture” at the school owned by Larry and Carmen Musgrave.
“I’m going to investigate this thoroughly,” Finch told The Star in a series of interviews over the past two months. “Every victim will be interviewed. Every victim will have their say, they will be able to tell their story.
“Until the end, I am here. And if there’s charges there, those charges will be filed.”
In early March, Larry and Carmen Musgrave were charged with kidnapping and another staffer faces one count of physical abuse of a student. The sheriff said he expects additional charges.
The couple pleaded not guilty and their attorney did not respond to multiple calls for comment.
Larry Musgrave denied that students were mistreated or abused at the school, Finch said.
“Whenever we interviewed him, he laughed about it,” Finch said. “And he said, ‘That is not going on. That never happened.’”
Soon after the Musgraves were arrested, Lighthouse closed. The husband and wife were released on their own recognizance and required to wear GPS monitoring devices.
“We’re very happy and proud that (the sheriff) is standing up and saying this is wrong,” said Rebecca Randles, a Kansas City attorney who has handled many boarding school abuse cases. “We’ve never had that response from any law enforcement before.”
Indeed, when it comes to boarding schools, many say Missouri hasn’t seen a sheriff like Finch. And they hope his actions will spur real, lasting change in a state that had become a haven for unlicensed boarding schools during the past few decades.
Robert Knodell, director of the Missouri Department of Social Services, said his agency embraces the partnership with Wayne County authorities.
“It’s not always been the case everywhere we’ve had these cases,” Knodell said. “Sometimes local law enforcement is cooperative, and sometimes they’re not. … The ability to address ongoing issues is much greater when there’s full cooperation across the spectrum.”
The Star began investigating Missouri’s unlicensed boarding schools and abuse allegations at Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Agape Boarding School — located in southwest Missouri’s Cedar County and now closed —in late summer of 2020. Former students at those schools said they had told local authorities for years about the abuse, but nothing ever happened.
Those who attended Lighthouse Christian Academy, most of whom were there before Finch became sheriff, said they hoped to draw attention to the school years ago by posting testimonials on social media. They urged families online to not send their kids there, but the pleas never gained much traction.
Until Finch started investigating.
“We’ve never had anyone pull so hard for us,” said Michael McCarthy, who attended Lighthouse Christian Academy from August 2010 to August 2012. “It feels surreal because we had tried. It’s almost like why now? … It’s almost hard to believe.”
Child advocates have also been surprised by the actions in Wayne County.
“It’s a complete 180 from what we experienced when the schools in Cedar County were revealed,” said Jessica Seitz, executive director of the Missouri Network Against Child Abuse, formerly known as Missouri KidsFirst. “The response of seeking out justice and believing kids is exactly what we would hope for.
“Law enforcement is one of the parties responsible for protecting kids from abuse.”
Concerns of conflict had surrounded the investigation at Agape Boarding School in Cedar County because the son-in-law of the late founder, James Clemensen, was a deputy with the sheriff’s department. That deputy, a former Agape student, had also worked at the school for years and on multiple occasions was sent there to respond to a call, The Star found.
When asked what motivates him in Wayne County, Finch, 62, pauses and speaks slowly.
“Because they’re victims,” the sheriff says, his voice breaking before he apologizes for getting emotional. “Because they were mistreated and because it happened in my county.
“I feel like my department let these kids down, although it wasn’t me. … They deserve better than what they got in the past. They deserve to have their story heard. And it’s just like any victim — they deserve their day in court.
“These kids, dammit, they deserve justice.”
‘Liable to freeze to death’
Finch’s cellphone rang late one frigid night in early February 2014. A call had just come in from ABM Ministries, a dispatcher told him.
A teen boy at the boarding school had run away and been gone 3 ½ hours.
The grandfather of five at the time, who had been sheriff for about a year, called in deputies and alerted the fire department. Search dogs were brought in. The frigid temperatures outside filled him and others with a rising sense of urgency.
“I got a kid out here, that’s run off, out in the middle of the woods and it’s subzero weather,” Finch said of what was going through his mind that night. “He didn’t have a coat. He didn’t have anything. We got to find this boy because he’s liable to freeze to death.”
The sheriff also alerted Union Pacific Railroad, telling officials they had a missing child and “to be on the lookout.” Finch worried the boy could be on the tracks between Piedmont and Williamsville and wanted to make sure the train wasn’t “going to come flying through.”
As the railroad crew moved slowly through the area and looked for the boy, so did Finch and all those he called to help with the search.
“I had search teams in the woods all over,” the sheriff said. “We were all over. Running the roads, running through the woods, looking in the woods.”
A couple of hours into the search, Union Pacific let the sheriff know that a crew had found the boy and was transporting him to a nearby crossing. Finch was waiting with an ambulance.
The sheriff lifted the teen, who was wearing pajamas and a fleece jacket, off the train. He didn’t have any socks on and had lost his flip flops they wore at the school. He had used his jacket to wave down the train, the sheriff said.
“His feet were, in all reality, black,” Finch said. “And the skin had peeled off of them from frostbite.”
When the sheriff first encountered the young teen, he asked why he ran away. He just shook his head, the sheriff said.
“I’m assuming he was just so cold and disoriented that he didn’t talk,” Finch said.
He would try again later at the landing zone with a helicopter waiting, and as first responders tended to the teen’s injuries.
“I was trying to get him to say, ‘Why did you run away?’” Finch said. “‘Just don’t like it. Just don’t like it.’ That’s all he would say. ‘Just don’t like it.’”
The teen was airlifted to St. Louis Children’s Hospital where he was treated for severe frostbite, and according to a news article at the time, his family was told he would face a slow recovery. That article, in the Wayne County Journal Banner on Feb. 13, 2014, quoted the mother as saying she believed her son was mistreated at the school.
“She told the newspaper that her son said the physical and mental abuse was unbearable and that he felt running away was his only alternative,” the article stated.
The teen didn’t speak to the sheriff again. But his mother told a reporter that he had given a full report to the Missouri Department of Social Services.
The sheriff’s office also reported the incident to DSS, Finch said.
In the years since, other students at ABM Ministries have run. In 2017, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department was called out again. Then again two years ago.
That’s when Finch started to look deeper and have unanswered questions.
“Something is going on here,” he said he thought about two years ago. “Something isn’t right. These kids, there is no reason for these kids to be running away. … But I had nothing to go on. I literally had nothing to go on.”
Until, he said, late January of this year.
Former students tell their stories
After Julianna Davis, of Alabama, heard about the boys who had run away from ABM Ministries earlier this year, she called the Missouri Highway Patrol.
For years, she and other former students had tried to let the public know about what they say they experienced at the school. Now, she thought, maybe someone in authority would listen.
At the southeast Missouri school, Davis said that she had been told not to trust law enforcement, that authorities wouldn’t believe her and other students because they were just troubled kids.
“We’ve tried this for 15 years plus,” she said. “I already kind of had the impression that nobody was gonna listen to us.”
But the patrol sergeant she spoke to did. And then he referred her to Finch.
Something Davis told the sheriff matched what a current student had told him. Because he doesn’t want to jeopardize the case, Finch won’t say what that is. But it did cause the dominos to fall and prompt the investigation that continues today.
“I knew that something had happened there,” he said. “I knew something illegal had happened to a child who was defenseless, who had been sent to this home for rehabilitation, so to speak, or whatever you want to call it. She was sent there by the parents to be helped.”
Davis also told Finch that Carmen Musgrave locked her in a room on her 18th birthday and she was kept at the school for months after. It was Davis’ experience that led to the kidnapping charges against the Musgraves.
“I’ve just been continuously impressed at how hard he’s trying to help,” Davis said of Finch. “But at the same time, surprised in the sense that like, we’ve tried this before, you know, and it just never got anywhere.”
After talking with Davis, the sheriff knew that more former students would reach out. He told dispatchers to expect a few. That grew to 10 or 15. Then 25 to 30.
“I got my 81st call this morning,” Finch said in early May. By the end of that month, he received another six or seven calls.
In-person interviews have lasted anywhere from minutes to hours, he said. A few of the former students attended the school in recent years, but the majority he’s talked with have been gone from ABM for 15 or so years.
“Now I know, looking back at the runaways that we had in the past, and doing this investigation, I now know why they didn’t say anything,” Finch said. “Because they were scared.
“It was instilled in them and drilled in their heads that unfortunately, I didn’t care about them, that they (boarding school leaders) have law enforcement in their back pocket. Well, that pocket has a big hole, and I slipped out of that pocket.”
The sheriff drove to Oklahoma in March to speak with Aralysa Baker, who went to ABM in 2005 when she was 13 and stayed for two years.
For seven hours, over two days, Baker told the sheriff what she was unable to tell an investigator who went to the school during her last year. Her great-grandparents had called Wayne County and asked authorities to do a welfare check. She told the officer she was OK because she feared what would happen if she said more.
Baker told Finch how her life had been impacted because of the school. The nightmares. The flashbacks. And the anxiety over food.
For all of her adult life, she’s feared that there wouldn’t be enough to eat. First, just for herself. And now that she’s a wife and mom, for her family.
While at ABM, she said the owners and staff used food as a punishment. When in trouble, she and other former students said staff would withhold food and sometimes they would go to bed hungry. Several students said they would have to sneak food or water at times.
Baker told the sheriff and The Star that she now hoards food. There are chips and cookies stashed behind her pots and pans. Stacks of canned goods, boxes of pasta, and macaroni and cheese in the garage. The trunk of an old Honda that doesn’t run is full of snacks.
“I always want something stashed away, squirreled away,” she said. “I need to be able to get to it quickly.”
Baker and Davis want people, especially lawmakers, to realize that Missouri must do more to keep abuse, both physical and mental, out of boarding schools in their state.
“I hope they take it seriously and change the laws to make it harder for people to abuse children and not have any consequences whatsoever,” Davis said. “And then, of course, I hope that there’s some sort of justice or closure for all of us. I have been hurt for so long. But I’ll be happy as long as it doesn’t happen again.”
‘They’re just being bull-headed’
Hours before Finch served the arrest warrants on the Musgraves, someone issued him a warning about the past.
Don’t forget about Heartland Christian Academy, he was told, a reference to a decades-old case that to this day haunts those who have tried to place regulations on religious-based boarding schools in Missouri.
Operated by the late millionaire Charles Sharpe, a prominent Republican who made his fortune after founding Kansas City-based Ozark National Life Insurance Co., the Christian school for troubled youth drew national attention in 2001. A call to the state hotline reported students were being forced to stand in ankle-to chest-deep cow manure as a punishment.
Several months later, after receiving two more allegations of abuse, authorities raided the northeast Missouri school and removed 115 children, prompting a series of lawsuits and challenges that took years to wind through the courts.
In the end, felony child abuse charges against five employees were either dropped or the staffers were acquitted. Sharpe and his school also were cleared of any wrongdoing and the state settled with Heartland, agreeing to pay extensive attorney fees and court costs.
Ever since, the Heartland case has cast a shadow over attempts to address concerns inside boarding schools — especially proposals that would require them to be licensed. A law passed in 1982 allows religious-based schools to claim an exemption from Missouri’s licensing requirement.
Randles, the Kansas City attorney who has represented the families of abused children, said the arguments against licensing don’t hold water.
“They’re just being bull-headed over this particular issue,” she said. “We’re not asking them to change their religious affiliation or to change the manner in which they teach their religion. As a matter of fact, I’m a graduate of Southwest Baptist University, and Southwest Baptist University is accredited, it’s licensed, it goes through all of the processes that are required.
“And it doesn’t change the way that Southwest Baptist University delivers its teaching. It’s still a faith-based Christian education university. It can be done.”
In response to abuse allegations at Cedar County schools, lawmakers passed legislation in 2021 to implement some oversight over religious boarding schools but shied away from requiring them to be licensed.
Boarding schools that are abusing children, Randles said, are not Christian institutions.
“That has nothing to do with Christianity,” she said. “And so there’s no reason that the state can’t act on these individuals who are acting well outside the law. Because they’re claiming and cloaking themselves under religious authority. There’s no religious authority that says you can beat children and make them eat their own vomit. There is nothing in the Bible that says anything of the sort.”
Carmen and Larry Musgrave moved their boarding school from the Tennessee and Kentucky area to Patterson in southeast Missouri in 2004, corporation records show. One former student said that the Musgraves loaded students into a blue 15-passenger van and drove them to the Show-Me State.
The Patterson site had previously been home to another controversial boarding school — Mountain Park Baptist Boarding Academy.
That school’s owners, Bob and Betty Wills, were running the Bethesda Home for Girls in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, when a former student sued Bethesda in federal court in 1982. Child welfare officials conducted an investigation, and the Willses closed the school in 1987 after a judge ordered authorities to remove students.
They headed to southeast Missouri and opened Mountain Park Baptist Boarding Academy. The school gained notoriety in 1996 when two students murdered another student because they feared he would reveal their plot to take over the school and escape.
In 2003, the school was sued in federal court by five former students and two sets of parents. They accused school officials of abusing and falsely imprisoning students. The school closed in 2004, and the Musgraves then opened Lighthouse Christian Academy on that property. Lighthouse later moved to its current location near Piedmont, and former students say they were forced to do much of the construction work.
Ginger Koller Joyner, the Wayne County prosecutor who formerly served as the Guardian Ad Litem for the 42nd Judicial Circuit, said seeing what’s happened at Lighthouse has convinced her that a licensing law is necessary to keep children safe in these schools.
“I think both my background in the juvenile system and this experience has strengthened my opinion that there really needs to be a legislative push to regulate these types of places to ensure that there’s uniformity and consistency of care across our state,” Joyner said. “I don’t think we want this anywhere in our state.”
The key, she said, will be for legislators to get involved.
“We can have every sheriff on board, we can have every prosecutor on board, but the bottom line is until we change the legislation about how these facilities are licensed, we’re not going to see the depth of change that’s needed to protect the vulnerable people,” she said.
DSS’ Knodell said he anticipates that Missouri lawmakers will “continue to consider whether they want to go down that road and take that approach.”
“Many other states have,” he said. “I think it’s time to take a close look at it. Absolutely.”
‘Trying to get them justice’
Before the runaways and subsequent investigation, Finch said he didn’t know much about other boarding schools in Missouri. He didn’t follow what happened across the state with Circle of Hope and Agape.
In his decade as sheriff, Finch’s department has called the state’s child abuse and neglect hotline multiple times, he said. And in January, after the runaways, several residents who live near ABM also reported the school. At least two of them said they were told they didn’t provide enough information to warrant an investigation.
After The Star reported that, Knodell said in March that DSS was looking into whether hotline calls about the school were properly handled over the years.
When asked the status of that internal inquiry and what, if anything, came of it, DSS said it was ongoing.
Finch hopes to eventually go to Jefferson City and talk with legislators and share his opinion that “every one of these schools should be licensed.” But first, he said he needs to remain focused on the case in his county.
The sheriff often meets with Joyner, the county prosecutor, to make sure the two are on the same page. He keeps her updated after new interviews with former students.
Joyner praised Finch for his dedication in making sure former students have the opportunity to report what they say happened to them. And she shares that motivation.
“Our law enforcement is committed, I am committed,” said Joyner, who first filled in as the county prosecutor in 2021 and took office in early 2023. “I realized that some of these students aren’t necessarily residents of our county, but they were in our county and we’re dedicated to protecting them and trying to get them justice.”
Many of the students who have come forward alleging physical and emotional abuse attended the school years ago, and their cases may no longer be inside Missouri’s statute of limitations.
“The prosecution piece is going to be, in some cases, difficult,” Joyner said. “That doesn’t mean that we’re not going to try, but you know, I have to abide by the ethics in terms of what I can prosecute. And if I can prosecute it, and believe that I can prove it, then I absolutely will.”
Early last month, Finch was preparing for another week of travel, driving to several states in his Ford F-150 to interview more former students of ABM.
“I’m headed for Colorado Springs, Vail, Colorado,” he told The Star. “And then I’m going to shoot up into Montana, Wyoming (and) come back across into Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and there’s one other one that I’m gonna hit.”
All while he’s in the middle of running for reelection.
On that trip early last month, Finch stopped in a Chicago suburb and interviewed Inesa Kolberg, who attended ABM from late 2005 to June 2007.
“He gave one of the best hugs,” she said. “His hug was so tight, and it was just full of compassion. I didn’t cry during the interview, but (at the end) it brought me to tears because it felt so comforting.
“He has a heart of gold. He is doing God’s work. He is a true example of what a Christian is.”
Finch said what fuels him on the long days and long weeks is knowing that for so long students at ABM were told they couldn’t trust law enforcement, that he and his department were on the school’s side.
“I’m going to tell you something — that’s not me,” the sheriff said. “I don’t give a damn who you are or what your last name is. If you break the law, you break the law and I’m going to come after you.
“Now, in the end, it’s up to the jury and the system. But I am going to do my job. And I am going to bring these people to justice for these kids.”
Laura Bauer, Judy L. Thomas, The Kansas City Star on Jun 9, 2024

Hey everyone, yesterday I visited Six Flags Great Adventure for the second time this year. I traveled with a big group, about 15+, and would certainly not suggest that for anyone. Additionally, the day was riddled with maintenance and ride issues, with almost every major roller coaster going down at least once throughout the day.
To begin, I arrived at the park right for opening and decided to go towards Superman. However, it was closed and I didn’t have the time to wait so I went over to SkyScreamer to get a quick ride. Great views of the park but definitely not worth the lines it can get at times. After this, I met with the remaining members of my group. But some forgot to renew their season passes and so it took over 45 minutes for the ordeal to be finished.
We wanted to go to Batman next and so we did but it was closed as well. We got on Dark Knight since it had no line and it’s a fine ride. Some good theming but nothing crazy. Next, we went to Wonder Woman. I love this ride for its forces and it’s thrills and it’s a great addition for the park. We went to Justice League after and while waiting in line they said it was down due to technical difficulties. We left and went over to go on Nitro and Jersey Devil. Nitro had a short line but a longer wait for front row so I rode it in the third row. I love this hyper and it’s extremely underrated.
We then went to Jersey Devil which had a very long line. However, we knew it wouldn’t get better and decided to bite the bullet. We waited over an hour for it due to only being able to run one train. I sat in seat 10 and it was definitely the best ride I’ve ever had on it. The first drop was great and I feel like it has much better pacing than past seasons. This ride has moved up several spots of my personal rankings. We then took a quick ride on Skull Mountain before grabbing some lunch.
After lunch, we decided to go hit Runaway Mine Train for our first rides of the season. Nothing too crazy about this ride and it does hurt for a taller person like me but still fun. We then wanted to go ride Medusa but after seeing how long the line was due to it only running one train we did not get on line. Next, we wanted to ride either Kingda Ka or El Toro but they were both down. I understand that they can be unreliable due to them being Intamins but it’s very frustrating when it’s common through the whole park. We then went to go ride Twister which I love this little flat ride. Unfortunately the restraint come down on me very hard and hurt my legs and other areas very badly. However, I saw Kingda Ka running while riding Twister and had my group go towards that section of the park.
We got in line for Kingda Ka and waited for a few mins before reaching the cut off before the station. However, we stopped moving and the ride operators said that it was closed for technical issues. We got out of line extremely frustrated and disappointed which is expected. We then got on Batman which I love this invert and rode front row. Great forces and honestly caused me to lose the feeling in my legs at times. We then decided to hit Justice League again. At Justice League we waited in line before the ride going due to…TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. After about 15 mins the ride went back up and I scored my highest score ever of 127k.
It was now about 6:30 and everyone in my group was getting quite tired. We had a snack that took a bit longer than expected before heading towards Medusa. We were walking towards Medusa and saw it going with people on it. However, as we got to the entrance the ride operator placed the sign in front saying it was closed for technical issues. We then decided to hit Kingda Ka since it was finally back up. On our way past El Toro had a sign posted saying it was closed for the day which was very upsetting for me.
We got in line for Kingda Ka but since I had my friend who never went on it before, I made us wait for the front row. The problem was that as we waited longer for the front it went down. The train got stuck exiting the station and they had to evacuate both trains. We decided we would stick out the wait and after about 20 mins they tested it once and we got on. I had probably the smoothest ride I’ve ever had on Ka and absolutely loved the view over the top hat. It’s such a great ride and the nerves on the launch track is unmatched. By the time we got off, we had enough time for one last ride. Most members of my group tapered off so me and my friends wanted to get a night ride on nitro. We waited for the back row and ended up getting on the last train of the night. AND THIS WAS THE BEST RIDE IVE EVER HAD ON NITRO. THE FORCES. THE INABILITY TO SEE. THE PURE THRILL. I love this ride but it only made me love it more and riding it with my friends is a memory I’ll never forget. We all could not stop smiling getting off the ride and it was absolutely phenomenal.
We left the park and I would consider it an ok day. We thankfully had a much better end to our day but it was unfortunate at times. The large group certainly did not help and the maintenance/operation issues were a backbreaker. Thankfully I frequently visit this park and it did not affect me. However, I hope for a better visit my next time.
Final Totals
SkyScreamer 1x Dark Knight 1x Wonder Woman 1x Nitro 2x Jersey Devil 1x Skull Mountain 1x Runaway Mine Train 1x Twister 1x Batman the Ride 1x Justice League 1x Kingda Ka 1x

The Church of Irith is a good case study to examine for churches because of the mystery of who/what is "Irith" and also it is located in Liurnia, which has seemed to me the zone that in a lot of ways can serve as a tutorial for noticing the more subtle forms of environmental storytelling.
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Part 1: Basic Layout
The Church of Irith is located at the north side of Stormveil Castle, on approximately a north-south orientation, where the entry door is at the north end. It is the nearest Church to the Chapel of Anticipation, geographically. There is a Sacred Tear Chalice found at this church. Thops is met here and he is seated below the left hand of the Marika Statue. At the conclusion of Thops' questline there spawns in this church a scarab with the "Thops's Barrier" Ash of War.
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From standing at the foot of the Marika statue and looking out the door, a yellow-leafed tree can be seen perfectly centred on the door. Actually, it is two trees stacked in the same alignment, which is what makes the foliage of this tree look fuller than a typical tree of this size. Continuing past the tree and into the distant horizon, the entry to this church is also aligned with the "Guest Hall" of Volcano Manor on Mt. Gelmir.
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Part 2: Linguistics
There is a statue of Marika in this Church, so rather than "who is Irith?" a better question is "what aspect of Marika is Irith?" Like a similar principle to real churches, where sometimes you get a Church of Christ the King and sometimes a Church of the Redeemer.
"Irith" as a complete word string may be a conjugation of the Welsh word "iro" meaning "to anoint" or "to oil" in the singular future third person as in "one who will be anointed". Or perhaps "one who will be oiled" in preparation for being set on fire.
In Hebrew, Irith is a variant of "Irit" meaning asphodel (the flower). In Greek myth, Asphodel Meadows is the place for the souls of people who led mediocre lives. Amusingly, this is the church where Thops is met, and he laments his bluntstone mediocrity.
The first 3 letters of "Irith" match those of "Irina", and indeed Hyetta's first location after the death of Irina is visible from this church. The word string "iri" has many meanings, but the one I find most appropriate to highlight is the Yoruba word ìrí meaning "the act of seeing, sighting, or discovering", as previously I have noted that the "Ori-" in "Oridys" is of Yoruba origin. The "-th" in this case is just a modifier that makes nouns of verbs of action. So to simplify this could be called the "Church of Sight and Discovery", which again has relevance to Thops - he is the only person from which the Starlight sorcery can be learned and this is used to provide sight in dark places.
Splitting into "I" and "Rith" there is some meaning to be found. Since the 3 definitions I find for rith are English, Irish, and Welsh in originit seems reasonable that "i"/"me" applies to the first syllable. The English meaning is "a small stream", the Irish meaning is "to run", and the Welsh is a mutation of "rhith" meaning "form, guise, disguise, or illusion". So in this context Irith represents a small stream that runs and adopts an illusory disguise while doing so. With the context of this Church being just outside the throne room of Stormveil Castle, this calls to mind the story related by Kenneth Haight where Godrick fled the Capital disguised as a woman. And the illusion functionality of the "Marika's Veil" item that he also took from the Capital during this flight.
Examining the Japanese in Romanized phonetics - イリス, "Irisu" - shows that half of the previously mentioned meanings for Irith are obfuscated by the translation. Instead the etymology document by The_RedScholar notes that it is implied to be the "Church of Iris", which could refer to the flower, the goddess of the rainbow, or again a part of the eye. Personally, I have some opinions about how the progressive colours of the rainbow are the basis for the magic system used in the Lands Between through the intermediary of chakras. In short - a spectrum where red spells are most grounded in concepts familiar to physical reality like "blood" or physical meat, orange/scarlett spells are like "biochemistry", yellow spells are learned "reflexes" or "unconscious biases" reinforced by memories stored in amber, green is the one that the game itself is all fucked up about (see: poison swamps) - probably emotions or empathy related, up to blue spells being manifestations of intangible concepts like "communication" and "thought", and purple being even more abstract concepts like "dream" and "cosmos".
One more point should be noted regarding the linguistics of Irith, which is the similarity between "Irith" and the "Irithyll" of Dark Souls. Irithyll has been proposed to mean "the time of the moon" from "Ir" + "ithil" as sourced from Tolkein's elvish languages. However in this case the word "ithil" meaning "moon" is truncated, and also the Church of Irith is one of the few places in Liurnia where the moon is NOT ever visible, because it is behind Stormveil from this vantage point.
Since Thops is physically present in the Church, his name should be considered as well. The Vietnamese word "thóp" means "fontanelle", which is the weak point on a baby's head. Phonetically, the word "thóp" is pronounced similar to the Japanese romantic version of the name トープス, Tōpusu. Therefore, his name likely means "weak points". This aligns nicely with his character arc in which his greatest achievement is creating the "Thops's Barrier" spell - the purpose of a barrier is to cover weak points.
Part 3: Additional Environmental Context
Observations of the landscape can be made by climbing the walls. There are 4 total climbing paths at approximately the 4 corners, which can be reached by platforming with Torrent's double jump. Recommended vantage points are provided at the tops of the walls as marked by smooth rectangular platforms sitting at the top of the crumbling walls. This use for the platforms is most clearly demonstrated at Church of Elleh. From the site of grace inside that church, the statue on top of the Fringefolk Hero's grave is directly aligned with the Weeping Peninsula Minor Erdtree. Upon climbing the wall to get a better look at this phenomena, it was noted that a square platform also sits on this alignment. And though I would love to show this alignment with the site of grace on the map, I can't because as it turns out the marked location of this particular site of grace is a lie and it's actually offset by a few metres. I can show the matching alignment by rotating the compass as below:
https://preview.redd.it/11nl4ostkm5d1.jpg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f3f448f83c973b67346fa60ce07c80859b697c1f
Similar framed observations of distant landmarks can be made from each corner of the Church of Elleh, and at every other church (except maybe the ones in Caelid), but given the choice between the two locations I prefer to examine Irith first.
Location 1: From the Northwest corner two things can be seen simultaneously: Hyetta is centred directly on the Erdtree and the Liurnia Divine tower is exactly hidden behind a rock spear (one of several scattered across Liurnia with no apparent rhyme or reason - except that in cases like this they obscure objects in the distance). Within the Church itself from this perch the Marika statue is visible framed within a gap in the stonework such that her hands are hidden by stone, and with an optical illusion barrier of stone columns between her and Thops. It can also be clearly seen from here that the Chapel of Anticipation is disconnected from the mainland.
https://preview.redd.it/1gdr3haykm5d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f7adb355f854ae2f8d0f2e230fa3fcc29ad174d
https://preview.redd.it/yvwmslyykm5d1.jpg?width=1131&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1aab66cd3f887f39e3cb14f6e757acbe4a7b02d1
https://preview.redd.it/lokhhcu1lm5d1.jpg?width=1944&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f954b941e7240aecb3086ec5bb775b399a06391
To the west Raya Lucaria is clearly visible with the Academy Gate Town at its base, the arched gate to Laskyar Ruins is visible, the Cathedral of Manus Celes is framed in front of a Minor Erdtree, the 3 pergolas on the lower part of the plateau are visible, and the chasm that leads forwards into the lowlands is well defined between two rocky outcrops that end in dead end graves.
https://preview.redd.it/nf3djuj5lm5d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61ea327bd55f32c7273bd361fc4a5a0fb1a1e37a
Location 2: From the Northeast corner, the relative location of the rock spur shifts to cover the Carian Study Hall and Hyetta is standing generally below the Altus Plateau Divine Tower where Rykard's Rune is activated. Raya Lucaria is still visible if turned to face there directly, but is obstructed in peripheral vision. The trunk of the Erdtree is generally obscured by yellow-leaved trees.
https://preview.redd.it/i1vlsb38lm5d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=651a68b07585270691dfca8ba09253bebdfdab99
Also from this vantage point the Liurnia southwest plateau is completely hidden from view by the church spire and the gap between the Chapel of Anticipation and the mainland is obscured so it can't be seen that it is not intact, and the Marika statue both over there and inside the church are hidden from view.
https://preview.redd.it/jhgqjrdalm5d1.jpg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=63dd0fd60acb8d51a83738182cb90e5d57c9f226
From both of these corners, far to the north Ranni's Rise can be seen clearly, and Renna's Rise is directly over Bellum Gate and Seluvis's Rise blends into the stone plateau. The Liurnia North Minor Erdtree is approximately in line with the Dectus Lift, with a spur of rock partially covering the trunk. As previously mentioned, the Mt. Gelmir Guest Hall is also visible.
https://preview.redd.it/5vejfqnclm5d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ff3345877cf1561e82d40015bdf6b4a62d2e7f9
Location 3: From the Southeast corner, the Marika Statue is seen from the back, and also generally the full interior of the church is visible. The disconnection of the Chapel of Anticipation is again clearly visible. Much of the landscape is otherwise obscured by yellow-leaved trees, except for a small window through to the Cathedral of Manus Celes. Whether or not Thops can be seen from this corner depends on positioning - from the position with the window to the Cathedral he is invisible behind the statue, and can only barely be seen by inching to the corner of the platform.
https://preview.redd.it/dcxpdz3flm5d1.jpg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3c6e03b369ab70488c8fa19502c62bcb2debf013
Location 4: From the Southwest corner, only the hands of the Marika statue are barely visible and Thops can be seen by looking straight down. The Chapel of Anticipation is visible, but also the Church of Dragon Communion is visible around the edge of Stormveil. Much of the surrounding landscape is again blocked by yellow-leaved trees, except that both the Liurnia and Altus West Divine Towers are visible and so is Hyetta. Although with a small note that at night time the Altus West tower disappears almost entirely into the darkness.
https://preview.redd.it/7tjkffqjlm5d1.jpg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a02f11f3c1b444c60a9c74eb7bd2992928ccca7
There is another thing missing from all of these views, which is that the moon cannot be seen at all from anywhere within the church because it is hidden by the castle. This is also one of the churches with no site of grace in it, although I have noted that even at Churches with a site of grace present there will be certain angles at which it is hidden behind a pillar. I had already picked up the Sacred Tear Chalice and attacked the scarab with the Thops's Barrier ash of war, so I have no data on what angles these are visible from.
Next Steps
The observations from the Church of Irith provide multiple jumping off points to follow the trail of environmental observation.
Jumping back to the nearest site of grace - in front of Lightseeker Hyetta - a few observations can be made. From the Site of Grace, the Marika statue at the Chapel of Anticipation can be seen hovering over the Church of Irith - strengthening the connection between these two locations. Also from the Site of Grace vantage Hyetta is aligned with Raya Lucaria. And Boc is here although he was previously not visible from the Church due to standing behind a bush. He is staring at the Erdtree.
https://preview.redd.it/ofjnvzwolm5d1.jpg?width=2349&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5cb9b277e5e6e58f0f7d9d45a120e167c127ca3d
Hyetta as the next breadcrumb in this little trail and it is found that when approaching square to the front of her she is standing in a way that she is directly under the distant Chelona Rise. From Hyetta's vantage point (and also even to a lesser extent from the site of grace) the dark half of the moon can be seen in the sky, although likely with her weak eyes she would likely not be able to see it since the illuminated crescent is still behind Stormveil. Also from her location, the Marika statue at the Chapel of Anticipation is hidden behind the Church, but the statue of the man wrapped in gold vines is still visible.
https://preview.redd.it/benob3tslm5d1.jpg?width=1827&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61dae55826287c8c355835204d90d8ac33feb1de
Another thing to follow up on was the connection to the Precipice of Anticipation. The Church of Irith is clearly visible from the location where the portal drops the player, and so is the Cathedral of Manus Celes. However, there is an odd discrepancy - the position of the Church of Irith is wrong and the corners do not match as if the entire church foundation was rotated to the west around the fixed point of the spire. But regardless what is very clear from this angle is that the spire of the church has been placed to align directly with the Liurnia Divine Tower.
https://preview.redd.it/z5m0y8nwlm5d1.jpg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=96dbb4f88d64c1c6308d0a795ff40429681a829e
And those are all of the methods that I can currently think of to extract information about the churches, for which there is little to no written lore placing the context of their existence. I would recommend the other churches in Liurnia as other good places for an introduction to thinking about the context that these structures are placed in, or the Church of Elleh. There is a degree of difficulty scaling depending on map region for sorting through what details to focus on.

So I open the shortcut for the mod and it crashes immediately unless I minimize the screen. I can hear the opening music playing in the background. If I bring that window back up, it immediately crashes. I managed to get a screenshot of the command prompt window that opens when I try to boot the game that I've attached here:
https://preview.redd.it/5tt79z4nhm5d1.png?width=1203&format=png&auto=webp&s=14f7726682d25c16aea2bcacc93d6a4f8d299698
The RPT file also shows this error:
"openjkdf2-64.exe caused a Stack Overflow at location 00007FF98B041927 in module igdgmm64.dll."
Does anybody have a clue how to fix this? I've installed the mod correctly since it automatically has a steam file path populated in the installation window. I've tried verifying the game files on steam but nothing seems to be wrong there

I got a double of the wig I ordered in the mail lol (score!), so I styled it similar to my real hair. Except that it’s black and a bob instead of teal and a shag, bangs are the same tho.
Feels very badass, and my friend said it reminded him of Bayonetta haha. The back of the wig is questionable tho, don’t worry about it 😭