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Red Rabbits- Shadoune, Serpias, AnsiChan, Coldified
This team seems EXTREMELY good in pvp and it may be a bit op compared to some other teams but I think some other teams have some huge pop-off potential
Orange Ocelots-SandwichLord, Jack Manifold, Bekyamon, Eloise
The long awaited arrival of SANDWHICHLORD!! I feel like he will get a full British team so i try to put him with people that necessarily too op while at the same time trying to go for a fun team
Yellow Yaks-Fabo, LetsHugoTV, Wichtiger, Nooreax
I know basically nothing about this team except that they are all German but I feel this team is more here for fun but i still cant wait to see what the have in store
Lime Llamas-Pete, Tubbo, Aimsey, FitMC
LETS GO THE RETURN OF AIMSEY AND THE RISE OF FITMC!! I think this team will to amazing in team games and especially with Pete as their residential S-Tier I think this team is for sure top 4
Green Geckos-Aypierre, Skyyart, MathoX, TheGuill84
Once again I don't know a ton about this tea, I know they are all French and I have a feeling this team will pop off like CRAZY
Cyan Coyotes-Couriway, Fulham, False, Ollie
COURIWAY AND FULHAM IN MCC...AND ON THE SAME TEAM! It could never happen right...? Now ill be honest i debated swapping Couri and Pete but I knew that the reddit would be after me lol and plus i think with false and Ollie this is one of the more stacked teams
Aqua Axolotls-Shane, CPK, Shubble, LexieMariex
I think this team is just an all around vibe team and at the same time I could see these guys getting top 4 easy. It was really hard to put Lexie on a team but I just felt like she would really just like get a long and vibe more here
Blue Bats-Fruitberries, Owen, Scott, Guqqie
I know, I know "OWENS NOT ON ORANGE AAAAAAAAAAAA" but I'm pretty sure these guys will get a jersey again like the did for rivals 1 and i would really feel bad if he got the same jersey for such a big event and i just think this team is just a really good "team game" team if that makes sense
Purple Pandas-Jojo, Jvckk, Michaela, Snifferish
I know that Jojo REALLY pushed for Jack to get in so its kinda a given that they will be on the same team and I feel like Michaela and Sniff just really round out this team
Pink Parrot-Alex, 5up, JeremyFraiser, Kaelen
Now I'm gonna be honest we know that only 39/40 players got announced and I have a feeling it will be someone like Kaelen and i feel like he fits perfect here but.. If this team were to ever happen they would DECIMATE the event and getting EASY first but if this is true I'm so down to see it

NOTICE: This was taken from a group chat with the participants. u/AnActualCriminal , u/avamir , u/HalfDrowShaman , u/DragonWisper56 . That's why it is weirdly formated; I tried my best.
The party enters the spirit world, that land of infinite mist where concepts have form. Last time the group had discovered the location of the Exalted beacon and now they can see the spirits domain on the horizon(?). The domain of the of the spirit is a shining citadel made of crystal and marble. There are lines of silver and gold throughout the whole compound. Light radiates like miniature sun. In place of a sun or moon floats a giant metallic eye... watching. As the party arrive they notice something, there are no shadows in this realm
Crispin: *Crispin is jostled awake by Ichor and spills out onto the ground covered in tar.*
"Eugh. What? Oh yeah. Exalted Beacon. Shit tracks."
Riva: Riva seems... ill at ease, guarded.
Crispin: *Crispin looks at the giant metal eye for a bit too long.* He get's sunspots
Riva: "Don't look into the giant lights, imp." Riva lets out a loooonng sigh.
Agnur: Agnur weaves illusion around them it would be bad if they were spotted
Drow: *the drow casts soul shadow and light eater to give herself some magic sunglasses*
Riva: Riva just squints. "Do we attempt to kill everyone, or do you think there's a possibility of converting them back from... this?" She gestures vaguely.
Agnur: They took our friend, they made their choice
Riva: "I tend to agree with you. But at the same time... killing the zealous because of the new religion they picked up isn't the greatest look."10:33 AMRiva makes some... warding circle shades? and places them on her face.
Crispin: "Let's fucking defile this place. Stupid giant sexy eyes blinding me."
Riva: Riva grimaces at the whole "sexy eyes" thing. Ugh. "Works for me. Let's do this."
Agnur: regardless of sexing eyes how are we going to get in?
As the party walks up up to a tall wall around the citadel.
Drow: I can just walk up this
Crispin: "I can fly. Lookit."
*He does, in spite of his wings looking like one of those oil spill ducks from a Dawn ad.*
Drow: *the drow walks up the walls casually* *she makes it to the top and then shoots some ephemeral ropes out of her armor, tethering them to the wall*
Riva: Riva takes a rope and begins climbing up... in a manner like Adam West Batman, admittedly. But she isn't going to ask for a memory from Crispin so she can teleport up.
Agnur: Agnur climbs up
Ichor: *Ichor slorps up a rope with peculiar viscosity as Crispin lands at the top.*
The group looks over the wall
As they do they notice how...still it is. Nothing is out of place, there is no dirt or dust, no noise or bustle. Only silence except for a few sentries. Moving through the streets are some weird creature. It is like a shadow except shadows don't exist here. The aren't light however, just not shadows. Silver "shadows" will do for now; they stalk the streets. On top of towers however sit zealot priests in pale robes, watching
Drow: "sentries. Some kind of... Silver shadow monster..." "you wanna go in hot or cold guys?"
Crispin: "I can make a distraction. Gotta call in a debt though." *Crispin rattles a bag of teeth.*
Riva: "They don't seem to be tethered to the priest but they seem kinda similar to the undead type shadow. There is something soul adjacent about them. Probably touching you does some sort of damage to your spirit." "I wonder whether killing the priests would rid us of the... spirits."
Crispin: "Guys I think we're being too thinky here. These are order guys right? All this strategy plays right into their hands." *He rattles the bag again.* "C'moooooon."
Agnur: I mean it would give us some cover...
Drow: "why don't I just sneak ahead and try to grab one of those guys first" "just make sure I have backup"
Riva: "That works for me."
Drow: *the drow begins sneaking along the wall as best she can towards the nearest priest tower*
Ichor: *Ichor clings to the outside of the top of the wall, trailing behind Drow.*
Drow is able to sneak up the tower un-noticed. The guards are spaced out because they have a giant eye in the sky( literally). She gets behind the guy and hear muttered prayer. *the drow does a series of actions in rapid succession. First she creates a bubble of mute, then she taps the man on the back making him go blind and deaf, and finally she grips him by the neck and begins choking him out*
Drow: [do we want this guy alive or dead?]
[]= telepathic cummunication
Agnur: [he can't talk if he's dead. lets get information first]
Drow: [ok let me disable him...] *the drow touches two hands to the man's head and begins dripping horrors into his mind until he passes out from fear* [ok. What do you guys want to ask him?]
Agnur: [what the fuck is he and what does he do. we need to know how dangerous he is]
Crispin: [Where's our boy? And do these shitheads know we're coming for him?]
Drow: [ok! I'll try the normal way first, if he doesn't comply I'll kill him and ask his soul] *the drow creates an illusory similacrum of herself and places it inside the man's mind, she asks his inner consciousness the following questions and listens for his answers* "hey guy, who are you?"
"You will pay infidel!!! The great and glorious Exalted Beacon will end you! Their (he goes into like a thousand titles and compliment I am not writing) will force you to kneel before them. All shall kneel before them so sayth their loyal preist and servant Atticus!!!
Drow: what does this exalted Beacon look like
Exalted Beacon is beautiful a statuesque, thirty feet tall, being made of the most stunning marble, crystal and precious metal. Their voice is a chorus, their eyes are brilliant rubies. They have a mosaic halo of gold with eyes on it. They also float above the ground because they are to good to tred upon it. The rest is repetitive praise
Drow: *within the zealot's mind he sees the drow prance about, threatening him. Then he sees the exalted beacon launch a bolt of light through the sky, exploding the simulacrum of the drow**the exalted beacon stands tall in the distance and booms at him*"I have come to save my loyal servant" "tell me thy purpose servant, so I shall have it known"
(this is an illusion)
"Thank you my master! I am but a mere secondary sentry, but one of the ones that joined you willingly unlike those plebian villagers. ( he just continues blubbering thanks)
Drow: "good! And have you been enjoying the powers you have been granted? Describe your abilities to me, compare yourself to your cohort" "you have done well. If you are worhty I shall grant you more powers"
Thank you lord. You have granted me the ability to smite those in your name with radiant light. I could fight toe to toe with the lowest of mages. I am slightly above average amongst my cohort but I serve well enough guarding the domain. I am also tasked with commanding the Vestiges of Shadow you have given me. Like hounds of war they hunt down the non-believers and drain them of energy before I can bring them to you.
Drow: "I see. How goes your training with the vestiges of shadow? Tell me every relevant detail about them"
Riva: Riva waits expectantly for him to spill the beans.
Of course master. They are made from the shadows of your prisoners at the throne. Screaming you praises for all eternity. This torment shatters there soul to create these vestiges in place of their shadows. From then on they act as loyal servants and drain the disgusting essence of show from a persons being. Without you intervention a person could not survive long without it. That shadow needs to be replaced with your energy to remain among the living.
Drow: *the drow relays this information telepathically*
Riva: [ "I wonder if their shadows, and parts of their soul, can be returned to them." "Another idea. Can you mimic a vestige, Drow? We are terrible nonbelievers, and you could bring us to this being. Once we have a way of dispelling its power, of course."]
Drow: [yes, I should be able to mimic one][he also mentioned the eternal torment of the civilians was how they separated their souls to make the shadows][if we disrupt that maybe we can have them despawn without killing the guy]
Riva: ["He said he drained the non-believers of energy before bringing them to this being... so if we can get in, perhaps we can disrupt this ritualized torture, and perhaps that would rid us of the vestiges? And perhaps drain this being of power."]
Drow: [yes my thoughts exactly. Now, for the last question]"servant Atticus. Tell me where kyrgrin is now."
Your most hated prisoner? At he very center of the citadel where you can keep an eye on him.
Riva: After relaying the information telepathically, Riva might ask Drow to ask whether Krygin was being used as a power source. Perhaps word it as some sort of test for Atticus. "Remind me, my servant... What treatment is Krygin receiving?" (Or something along those lines)
No your holiness. The prisoner's magic is incompatible with ours. You bound him everyway you could so he couldn't conspire against you. You worried that killing him wouldn't be permanent enough for your plans. Wizards have escaped death before and that welp is harder to kill than a cockroach. He is to be bound until the universe ceases to exist.
Riva: Riva makes a quiet, "Hm." And considers.
Crispin: "Checks out. He's not a powerhouse but last we saw him a fucking bomb was turning him into a puddle. Krygin's hard to kill."
Agnur: It was a fucking black whole....I love that little guy
Riva: "If this being is using his power to bind Krygin personally, I wonder if disrupting his power will free Krygin. Now to figure out how to disrupt this being's power."
Agnur: I mean if we mess up the palace it could help, or at least distract it
Crispin: "They're spirits, yeah. Purity. Order. The grosser and more chaotic we are the better."
Agnur: should we call in crispin's debt
Riva: "Ah! Yes, that would... ha. That would definitely do it. Ha ha." She had neglected the symbolism of things. And if anyone could make a mess, it'd be Crispin.
Riva + drow: With the questions done, and Atticus disposed of, Team Kryginator decides to move closer to the goal. Using Drows abilities at illusion, she feigns being a Vestige bringing the group (who pretend to be tired so to look like their energy is drained), and move closer into the area where people are being kept. [now crispin!]
Crispin: *Crispin rips open the pouch the way he opens most things. Tearing it open upside down like a dysfunctional kindergarten with a bag of dorritos, completely ignoring the draw-string.* "Been playing a lot of poker in my down-time..." *Teeth clatter onto the ground. Dozens. Each one with a name in low Sylvan etched onto it. They transform into tiny pallid creatures with gangly limbs, dragonfly-like wings, and rows upon rows of needle-like teeth.*
"I've been winning." *The tooth fairies scatter, each one set on either harassing a guard or knocking over something expensive.*
The giant eye focuses on the distraction and the party feel the energy of the domain shift aggressively. The tooth fairies will likely be driven off but it will certainly distract everyone. Guards from across the citadel converge in this area. The group moves at a light jog; *Crispin strolls languidly until Ichor picks him up and moves at a better clip*
*the drow vestige leads the pack hoping that the other guardians will let her through* The party charges through the gates. The guardians are too distracted to pay close attention to the vestige and entourage
Agnur: Agnur cuts himself and draws runes of corruption on the wall ever once in a while. The runes cause the walls to pucker like wounds as the natural energies of this place try to fight off the intrusion.
Ichor: Ichor leaves a trail of tar
The party sees the prisoners as they reach the "throne room". It is like a giant colosseum like structure. The Exalted Beacon floats in the center eyes closed; it hasn't noticed you. Around the room are hundreds of people in various states of torture such as having silver bars impaling someone. The blood runs like rubies in here. It should be discussing but something makes it beautiful. All of them ar screaming praise and begging for release. The influence of this place is makes what should be discordant noise into a choir. Silver shadows prowl but currently accept you as prisoners.
Patrolling a silver shadows with priest overseeing them.
Drow: Drow sneaks behind a priest while invisible. *the drow tries to grab him and swiftly stab him in the heart. She plans on taking his form and turning him invisible simultaneously* A invisible body drops down quitly. *for now, the drow simply takes her post and waits for the right time to issue some more interesting commands*
Riva, Ichor and Crispin hide. Crispin is in the form of a rat
Agnur: Agnur activates his Teumessian pendant and starts sneaking around. when agnur reaches one he tries to club them to death as quietly as possible. His pendant warps fate so no one is looking; he bashes a mans brains in and tries to hide the body. He dies before he can scream
Crispin: *Crispin transforms, shrieking at the top if his lungs like a baby on fire, lugung at one if the priests. The shriek is pitched and sustained specifically to counteract the choire-like atmosphere of the room.* The blood sprays across the room.
Drow: Drow gives the shadows contradictory orders to confuse them
Riva: Riva concentrates, and draws a circle. Unlike the vast majority of ones she done, however, this is strangely... green? This is very much not her affinity, but she knows the basic forms. And from this circle, she calls on the Alseid clans of the Earthen planes. Unlike a fire elemental, she doesn't bind it to her will directly, but rather asks and *pressures*.*If successful, some of these looking dudes/dudettes/etc. bound from the circle. Riva would direct them to release the hostages, Unbinding them from Thews of Earth (silver), and heal them." The Alseids have a green glow which pushes against the natural energies of the citadel.
Asleids( nice earth elemental adjacent dudes)
The Exalted Beacon starts to wake from it's trance. As this is happening Agnur notices a false wall of crystal which he deduces Krygin is behind.
Agnur: Teleports over to the wall but finds no way of opening it.
Drow: *the drow continues concentrating on the shadows, trying to get them to help break more chains* *she drops her illusory shadow and instead creates a bubble of sensory deprivation around the exalted beacon* *trying to stall it's awakening*
The "shadows" help confused but do so. Some blink out of existence as they free the human they were made from.
Ichor: *Ichor spews themselves as much as possible. Spattering the room.*
Agnur: I summon bram and he starts hitting the wall with the force a earthquake. I impower him. The crystal starts to break but it accelerates the Beacons notice
Ichor: *Ichor readies to surge at the beacon like a geyser the instant it becomes aware. They're likely not strong enough but they can hold attention.*
Drow: "Someone get a big portal ready! We gotta get kyrgin and these civs out" *she mentions the civs to appease the others but does not care at all about them*
Agnur: Agnur takes bottled rage and pours it into bram to increase his attack power
A red glows around Bram and his blows triple in power. Soon the wall will break. The Beacon wakes and tears through the illusion and the halo flares! "Who intrudes on my domain"
Riva: Riva tries to portal the civilians out of the crumbling tower, back to somewhere outside where she's been before. It's a little strange in this realm, but she shuffles them out as quickly as she can. And has one of the Alseid's go out with them to try and heal the wounded and keep them moving. Riva gets ready to crank out a bigger gate for Krygin...
The civilians try to escape as quick as they can. Every peson saved seems to dim the Beacon's glow
Ichor: *Ichor surges forward and Crispin lights the tar with a firebolt. A geyser of flaming tar would slam into the Beacon like a locomotive.*
The Beacon slams against the other side of the room but grabs at Ichor. It's touch burns( though because Ichor likes fire it is more of an acidic burn) "Do you Challange a god!!"
Drow: *with all the civs freed, the drow releases her other illusions and pulls out her spell grenade launcher. She launches a ball of incendiary darkness at the pillar*
Agnur: I enhance the runes I places around the castle to weaken it
The darkness slams into the wall and it shatters and the walls shake as the walls start to corrupt
Ichor: "BalaNCE MUsT bE rEStOReD!!!" No one but Krygin really speaks primal tar, but that's what they say
Crispin: *Meanwhile Crispin is saying every swear word he knows at the top of his lungs. Every obscenity. Every vile act one can do to a hole. Fulness and impurity of another kind.*
As the smoke clears Krygin is revealed. Krygin "sits" boneless with silver chains around his wrist. He sits in a circle of salt surrounded by a circle of pure water.
Agnur: Agnur uses a piece of Sorrowsore to pollute the water
The Beacon begins shooting flashes of divine energy at Ichor while a translucent "reflection" of it appears before the rest of the group and punches the ground before disappearing
Drow: *the drow goes invisible and prepares to bolt. She leaves behind 3 illusory duplicates to continue fighting*
Ichor: *Ichor can't take much more. They try to hurl the Beacon into a wall and retreat. Too much Tar has been used up.*
The Beacon is slammed into the wall leaving a crater. The beacon begins to charge up a divine blast.
Riva: *Riva kind of... kicks some corpses over at him(Krygin)? Can he eat that? Us that to reconstitute himself? while she redirects the Alseids to poop on things, kick over the salt, and piss into the pure water.* *Kicks corpses at Krygin. She'll try and open a portal once he's able to... uh... move? Slither?*
As soon as Krygin can slither he slides forward a a burger on grease and swallows the corpses whole like a a snake. Bones shift under skin. He isn't 100% but he can walk now
Crispin: "I missed this repulsive fucker."
Drow: *the drow runs next to the portal and launches an ephemeral rope at kyrgin, grabbing and pulling him like a child down a slip and slide to the portal* *her other clones try to distract the beacon while she does"
Krygin: "Wait what?! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
Several reflections of the beacon strike at illussions. Shattering the area around them
Ichor: *Ichor doesn't have time to grab a corpse. Headed for a portal. Crispin grabs some deer poop, ignites it, and throws it before fleeing.*
drow: *the drow grasps the weird slime creature they just saved and falls backwards through the portal like a trust fall*
Agnur: Agnur summons up all his rage greif and desperation from the past while and pours it into a curse. calling favors from fae, demon, spirit and monster he brings rot and decay to the pure. bram carries him out
Riva: *Riva keeps the portal open until everyone is out, then tries to snap it shut.
At the last second the beacon grabs the portal; not magically just pulling reality open but then Agnur's curse hits them like a truck. So hard in fact that a small piece of crystal fractures. The Beacons cries in pain and the portal closes.
Drow: Hey job well done guys. Where are we riva? *the drow immediately takes out some tea and begins sipping*.
They were in an Ithicar hospital.
Ichor: "LAWyeR. ArE yOU All rIGhT?!"
Krygin: Krygin shakily stands. "I'm ... free. I'm free. I'M FREE!!!!" He tries to jump for joy but hurts himself. He gives Ichor a goopy hug
Riva: Riva thanks the Alseid's in greek, and they make appropriate polite noises in their ungulate sorts of ways, and disappear.
Drow: Hey krygin, nice to meet you. I'm your savior, the Drow.
Krygin: The just looks at drow with the placid expression of a frog. "Sure, I'm used to dealing in favors"
Drow: *score, the drow thinks* Also Riva. You owe me too! The rest of you... We should get drinks later
Crispin: "Waaaaay ahead of ya." Pulls out a bottle of medical alcohol and drinks
Drow: *the drow taps his alcohol bottle with her tea vial*
Riva: "Sigh. I'll add it to the tab."
Krygin: "I... must... throw a feast!" "You are all invited!"
Riva: "Glad to see you back, Krygin."
Krygin: "I'm glad as well Riva
Crispin: "You just ate a corpse!"
Drow: Don't act like you've never eaten a corpse crispin. I know I have
Crispin: "Not a whole one! I'm small!"
Riva: "There is much to catch up on." Riva doesn't mention the Pact being mostly empty, and Krygin probably being the only one left to fill a position, EON, Belial's disappearance and reappearance, the assault on Lemarcia, etc. etc.
Krygin: (he needs to catch up on so much. He doesn't even know about sorrowsore!) "Yeah, I was gone for a long time"
Agnur: "we're just glad your back." He says as he rest a kind hand on Krygin's shoulder
El Fin
/uw Here's a big shout out to the players of this post! They were great. I can't belive Krygin's been gone for two months!!!! I was going crazy!!
Also not kidding about the feast. In a few hours of posting this.

Big thanks to this sub! I would have never known about ys and this is easily the best quality tea I’ve had in my young journey. So far I’ve tried the first flush green and the wild tree purple. The green is excellent and reminds me of genmaicha a tiny bit because there are some light roasty notes. The purple is very interesting, almost no flavor at first but on the back end its very fruity and beautiful vibrant; barely turns the water any color at all. Anyone had any of these? And what are yalls faves from ys?

It’s been said not to judge a book by it’s cover, but in the case of the La Nox it smokes just as beautifully as it looks. The sweet and tart tones from the green apple and vanilla came together fantastically, and the bright cedar flavors that LFD does so well really put this blend up there as one of my all time favorites. The smoky almost BBQ sauce note in the second third is incredibly unique as well. The La Nox is a very special cigar, and while I don’t think it’ll be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s certainly mine. If you haven’t tried it yet, I’d highly recommend it. Even if you don’t love the cigar, your wife will love the box.
Full review: https://triplecap.co/2024/05/14/la-flor-dominicana-la-nox-a-review/

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Before I came to the faith, I didn’t like going to the cemetery. What’s more, the cemetery always reminded me of my mortality, and it made me sad. Since I didn’t see life as eternal, it seemed sad to live on earth.
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What should I live for? In order to die? It’s all pointless. Willy-nilly you arrive at the idea of evolution here. Man appeared on earth as a result of positive mutations and eventually we began to have consciousness, conscience and reason. Sometimes you clutch your head, saying, “Why did I become a human being? Who needed all these mutations if I will just be buried in the ground or turn into a pathetic handful of ashes?” With such ideas, the old saying seemed justified: “Take everything from life before the worms eat you.”
The awareness of the fact that you are a mold from an eternal Image justifies your existence and gives it meaning. And the thought of your inevitable meeting with the Creator makes you take your life seriously. The purpose is revealed to you: He loves you, and you are a child of His love.
And you think: “How good!” It was only after I came to the faith that the cemetery ceased to be an eerie place for me and turned into a “repository of completed narratives.”
Our cemetery beyond the village in the heart of the forest is divided into the smaller, old one, which appeared in the seventeenth century, and the new and larger one. Do you know how our village cemetery differs from urban ones—apart from its size? I served the funeral for almost everyone who is buried in the new cemetery. I made the “last entry” in the destiny of almost every person buried here. I pray for them and remember many of them. Besides, even before my ordination I had lived and worked with these people for many years. And I know that their life in eternity depends on my prayer in some way. Our bond with them was not severed by their demise. Spiritual care does not stop even beyond the grave.
The Church year, with its memorial Ancestors’ Saturdays and especially the Paschal services, does not allow us to forget those who have already departed this life. And visiting people’s graves on Radonitsa always is always a special, joyful event for me. I go to the cemetery as if to visit my friends—those whom I came to love during their earthly lives and with whom I prayed and restored the church—my brothers and sisters.
One day I had a dream just before going to serve on Ancestors’ Saturday. It was as if I had died, my soul had flown away, and I could even see my own body from outside it. And I was so upset and sorry that I could not say goodbye to anyone, hug my children and kiss my wife. And my soul began to cry from anguish.
Suddenly a thought flashed through my mind: “Today is Ancestors’ Saturday! How many people will come to church now, but there will be no service! Where will another priest come from?” And my soul, accustomed to responsibility, immediately returned to my body. I woke up and was relieved that it had all just been a dream. But then I remembered forever how my soul had wept after leaving the body. From that day on I began to feel compassion for the deceased while performing the funeral over them.
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I am greeted first by Alexei at the entrance to the new cemetery. I learned a lot from that man and in many ways, would like to be like him. He knew how to live and had a great desire to live. But for all his buoyancy, illness taught Alexei to be patient and to humble himself. He was dying for several years, but every time after the unction he got better and continued to come to church every Sunday and receive Communion. And he passed away on the feast of the Ascension of the Lord.
The last thing Alexei said to me—and I managed to give him Communion—was:
“Thank you, Father. Thanks for everything!”
Christ is Risen, Alexei!
The well-groomed grave of the child Sashenka [a diminutive form of the name Alexander.—Trans.] is very close. He received Communion almost at every Sunday Liturgy. He drowned in Feodosia the day before he was supposed to start going to the first grade. His father Nikolai, a simple worker, could not save the child. After that, through hard labor he earned a sufficient sum of money for us to pay for the work of icon-painters. Three large icons of the Deesis in the St. Nicholas Chapel of our church are his sacrifice in memory of his son.
One day, after his death, the boy came to his father in a dream and said:
“Papa, I’ve been to many places, but I like St. Alexander Svirsky’s monastery the most.”
Christ is Risen, dear child! Pray for us there.
Irina. Irochka, I still can’t come to terms with the fact that you’ve been here for six years already. You shouldn’t have died, especially at such a young age. You are our beauty! I will never forget it—after I had given you Divine Unction and Communion, you took my hand in yours, already translucent from illness, and, kissing it, said:
“Now I’m not afraid of anything. Thank you.”
I hope you were not offended that I almost forced your husband away from your grave. You know, I started to fear for him. The dead cling to the dead, and the living cling to the living, as it were. Christ is Risen, our joy!
* * *
Sophia, I’ll tell you honestly: no one bakes pancakes the way you baked them. Do you think I’m joking? No, in all seriousness. The schoolchildren who cleaned the church with us and then ate your pancakes with tea have already grown up. Now some of them have their own children, but every time they come, they recall how much they enjoyed your delicious pancakes!
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What hard times we had! Now we have both a refectory and a parish house (with two floors), but back then we didn’t have anything. I still wonder how you always managed to cope with everything. Christ is Risen, our wise woman!
Praskovyushka [a diminutive form of the name Parasceva.—Trans.]! My angel who selflessly helped me in the altar. Today is Radonitsa and the eighth anniversary of your birth into eternity. You read by syllables, but you taught me so much! My friend, I am grateful to God that He brought me together with you.
Pray for me, mother, so that someday I too can reach the measure of your simplicity and learn to hope and trust in God the way you did. Of course, you know that your youngest daughter gave up drinking and came to the church, that she prays and often takes Communion. Today she is almost never out of the church, as was the case with you. So, both your daughters are in the church.
Your prayer does its job, and even after your death it does not lose its power. You cried your eyes out for your daughter. The time came, and she told me herself, “That’s it, Father, there there’s no turning back.” What a wise woman you are! Praskovyushka, Christ is Risen!
And here rests my old acquaintance, Vasily Ivanovich. In his old age a strange thing happened to him: he fell in love like a teenager. He started writing love poetry, but he was ashamed to reveal it to anyone. But he trusted me. He would come to the entrance of my house, sit down on a bench and wait for me to see him and come out. Then he would take out his notebook, and his “sonnets” would start flowing. How many times I invited you to the church, my friend! You kept promising, but... never came. Christ is Risen, Vasily!
Then the tombstones of rich people begin. There are three tombstones here, behind an imposing metal fence. That’s right, it’s a family of three people. Petrovich, an entrepreneur, a good man who drank. He didn’t give sufficient attention to his son who was hooked on drugs. No matter how much they tried to cure him it was all in vain. After the young man’s death, Petrovich’s wife took to drinking too, as if she had decided to die. They lived beside the church. Their house had once been built on church land. It was a big, beautiful “mansion” in which you could live for many years.
One day Petrovich came to our church while I was racking my brains over the problem of where to find money for a new roof. I desperately needed to have our winter church reroofed. A piece broke off from the destroyed bell-tower and pierced the roof in several places. And we had just plastered the walls inside, putting so much effort into it.
There was no one in the church except Petrovich and me. I went up to him and greeted him. I saw that he was having a very hard time. And who would be feeling otherwise after losing his only son? I addressed him:
“Petrovich, do a good deed in memory of Kostya [a diminutive form of the name Konstantin.—Trans.]. Do you see how the roof was broken by bricks from the bell-tower? Help us redo it as long as there is no rain so far. You’re a wealthy man, help me. I will also ask the parishioners—and we will do it all together. I’m afraid we’ll ruin the plaster inside after the rain starts.”
Petrovich was silent for a little while. His face was so kind, he really was a nice chap. Then he said:
“You know, father, I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to live now, after my only son’s death. And I’ve decided that now I will live only for myself. So, please don’t take it amiss, but look for other sponsors.”
And indeed, Petrovich started to live for himself: he bought a new car, had a holiday abroad, and began to dress well. And then Petrovich disappeared—we couldn’t find him for a whole week. One afternoon as I was walking to the church, a boy of about ten caught up with me:
“Father, go and see what it is! I keep looking and I can’t figure it out.”
I went with him, and he brought me to the back of Petrovich’s house, where there was a huge puddle. I looked where the boy was pointing and saw something like a swollen sugar bag floating in the puddle. But it didn’t seem to be a bag—it resembled a man. We called the police, and Petrovich’s daughter-in-law pulled him out of the puddle.
She said she saw a bullet hole in his forehead. But no one investigated it then.
I performed the funeral for him in the courtyard of our church. And three months later his wife passed away. Their “big mansion” stands empty.
Christ is risen, Petrovich! Don’t think that I bear a grudge against you. After you refused, another man came and offered his help—he took the church reroofing on himself. This is how things work with God—if not you, then someone else. You already know that. Poor Petrovich, nobody remembers you, but I don’t forget you.
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How many years have I served at the grave of a young mother’s child on Radonitsa. She crossed a pedestrian crossing in Moscow when the traffic light was green. But a jeep suddenly appeared, knocking the child down. There must have been a tiny news report about you that day. As I understand it, the jeep driver was acquitted. But it doesn’t matter now whether he was acquitted or not. A momentary incident, but the mother’s mental distress has not abated for four years, she is sick at heart, and she still wears black.
How accustomed we are to these news reports: Someone has perished here, someone else has been killed in an explosion there, a plane crashed somewhere, etc. But all this means someone’s pain, tears, broken hearts, and orphaned children.
Mother, Christ is risen, don’t cry and start praying for your girl. Help her, while you have some strength.
There is a large marble slab with a portrait of a young man. Yuri worked at one of his father’s gas stations. About ten years ago, some drug addicts murdered him at work at night. I remember his mother weeping in church. We have a custom: If people make a contribution to the church in memory of their reposed loved one, order an icon, buy a candle stand or something like that, then we add the name of the person in question into our list for permanent commemoration.
I offered the same to Yuri’s close ones. On hearing this, his mother stopped crying. She came up to me and said quietly:
“Father, only don’t tell my husband. I’m afraid he won’t understand you.”
It was only then that it dawned on me: If he left his son alone to work at the gas station at night without security, he really wouldn’t understand me. His family does not set foot in church anymore.
Yuri, your closest ones betrayed you. But forgive them; You know, we don’t choose our parents. But I’m still wondering: How will they look into your eyes when you meet them in eternity?
Nobody comes to your grave on Radonitsa, but I remember you, your placidness, and sometimes pray for you. But forget them all. Christ is Risen, Yuri—you and I will rejoice together.
At the exit I met one of our believers from Moscow, who had buried her mother right around Pascha a year before.
“Earlier I couldn’t go to the cemetery—I felt uneasy here. But now I can sit here next to my mother’s grave, talk to her, and I feel so good—I don’t want to go away,” she said.
And we, Galochka, don’t “go away”. It only seems to us that the departed are somewhere far away from us, but in reality they are close, in our hearts, in our memory and our prayers. After all, and of course, you know it yourself, love (if we have it) does not disappear, even after death.
Archpriest Alexander Dyachenko

Paid: $99 Proof: 127.8. Distillery: Jim Beam.
Nose: phew. Charred oak. Familiar peanut. Caramel and vanilla. Tiny bits of green apple.
Palate: proof doesn’t hide with this one! Nice oily mouth feel. Immediate peppery and charred goodness mixed with the fan favorite peanut funk. Hard to believe this is Booker’s.
Finish: the pepper fades and in comes what tastes like toffee with vanilla. Some smokiness with those sweeter notes. Really long Kentucky tongue hug to the end.
All the sudden, I wanted a snickers bar. The peanuts then the sweet notes in the end reminded me of one. This was a hard one to dive deep cause I had veal parmigiana for dinner that’s making my agida (heartburn) go nuts. Probably should’ve avoided this high of a proof after a meal like that. Anyways, back to the Booker’s. This batch really reminds me of a younger and way punchier Baker’s 13. I have a Kentucky Tea batch that I’m hanging onto cause that’s wonderful stuff, but this takes it up a notch. This is an absolutely stellar offering of Booker’s but I cannot score it higher than Baker’s 13, which I graded 8.5. Usually proofs like this I love but something about that Bakers age statement and proof point has me drooling. However, The Storyteller Batch tells a compelling story.
8/10 t8ke scale.

The first ferment here is good-ish quality loose leaf green teas (gunpowder, sencha, yunnan & maybe one more, I forget), and raw honey..SCOBY raised exclusively on green tea and honey.
Second ferment underway now with a little green tea, and açai, hibiscus and mixed berries. I snack on the Jun pellicles, this one is slightly vinegary (two weeks in f1) but very citrusy. The bottles are going to build co2 for a few days before crashing them in the fridge. I set aside 1/2pint of SCOBY & refueled it with some more raw honey and green tea.
Very pleased with it since it’s 200miles from home, and a the first brew of a satellite (family) fermentation station. Could easily have gone wrong & in fact it was very slightly over fermented. (..tell no one.)