Rocking chair with dildo

Storage clean out giveaway

2024.05.02 20:25 -LavenderFries- Storage clean out giveaway

All the paintings and statues are genuine. **Recipes and DIYs are marked as DIYs.
Comment below, in this format please: the items you need in alphabetical order; your in-game name; Island name. Example: Apple hat, baby panda, glass jar; IGN; DaisyNooks.
Be ready to come pick up the items as soon as I DM you the dodo code as I will be dropping the items you need in the order you commented :)
Will let in 2-3 people max at a time. Thanks!
The list below:
submitted by -LavenderFries- to AnimalCrossingNewHor [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 20:02 CatMcKay I named my banjo Brett

I named my banjo Brett
My kids asked me why, and if I named it for Brett of TSV. I said no, I picked the name because a banjo has frets. Brett with Frets, ye ken. Then one of them said "But human Brett also frets"
Anyway here's Banjo Brett, I found him in a used bookstore behind a rocking chair. I bedazzled his special tuner so he'd feel bonita. Banjo Brett does his best every day, just like Human Brett.
submitted by CatMcKay to lingling40hrs [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 18:55 The16BitGamer [P1V1] Favourite Quotes and Review

A while ago in another forum for Ascendance of a Bookworm, I mentioned that I wanted to do a re-read of the entire series. One of the community Mods asked if I could go through and pick out some quotes so they can have it on their page. I thought it was a fun idea (especially for the earlier books), and while it took me a while I finally finished.... re-reading P1V1, look I'm a slow reader.
But man is P1V1 a hard read. If you were to give me this book to me and told me I'd fall in so love with the series I'd buy an e-reader to read it, I'd call you crazy. Take it from me, while I love this series, if you want to get into it watch the anime, or read the Manga. Myne is unbearable at times, (as per her character is designed to be), and I quickly grew tired the one sided obsession of "Books" after 1-2 chapters. The book picks up steam again once she's stopped obsessing with books, like with the shampoo and food, but in P1V1 these are far and few between. But from the perspective of the story this is understandable why and in Volumes 2 and 3 it gets so much better.
If you want my two cents on when to read this book. Do it after you've read the Manga or watched the anime, to fill in the little bits of extra world building. Especially for the side stories.
Overall a rough start to what is still my favourite books series.
[EDIT: fixed formatting]
---- Quotes ----
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4 - Um, was that alcohol?! Who in the world would give an innocent little girl strong alcohol like that! [your mum hunney]
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
You see... Making one big flower would be a problem if I got bored halfway though, right? Once again, I kept my thoughts to myself. [She really needs a Lutz]
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Wooow, This would suck really bad if I weren’t fooling myself into thinking I’m cosplaying Cinderella [yeah... cosplaying]
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
No Notable quotes I found in this chapter. Just Darth Myne using the force on herself in confusion.
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Echapter 1
Echapter 2
Echapter 3
submitted by The16BitGamer to HonzukiNoGekokujou [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 18:43 Zeddblidd In a Lonely Place (1950)

2024-160 / Zedd MAP: 88.56 / MLZ MAP: 91.92 / Score Gap: 3.36
Criterion Collection / Wikipedia / IMDb / Official Trailer / Our Collection
Before I’d even opened my eyes, I knew it was raining. No sob-story, but the fact is I’ve already got arthritis, and my spine and hips ache when it rains. I feel like I’ve got the cane and the pain, all I need are a front porch and rocking chair - the full “Get Off My Lawn” kit and caboodle… you know, doing up my retirement right. I’m afraid anything of youth had been chased from my bones despite my youthful age of 53 (right, youth 53 my foot). Come to think of it, that hurts too.
From Criterion: When a gifted but washed-up screenwriter with a hair-trigger temper—Humphrey Bogart, in a revelatory, vulnerable performance—becomes the prime suspect in a brutal Tinseltown murder, the only person who can supply an alibi for him is a seductive neighbor (Gloria Grahame) with her own troubled past. The emotionally charged In a Lonely Place, freely adapted from a Dorothy B. Hughes thriller, is a brilliant, turbulent mix of suspenseful noir and devastating melodrama, fueled by powerhouse performances. An uncompromising tale of two people desperate to love yet struggling with their demons and each other, this is one of the greatest films of the 1950s, and a benchmark in the career of the classic Hollywood auteur Nicholas Ray.
There’s always a rule in this house: pick your movie to fit the mood. There’s nothing in the world as therapeutic as walking the movie racks in the media room without a specific motion picture in mind, just a sense of where my emotional compass sits: melancholy.
Spasms of pain, mixed with rain - we need moody black and white. Mrs. Lady Zedd crushed under a pile of work and meetings, something on the morbid side - film-noir. Sudden flood warning and the knowledge we’ve just crossed the normal yearly rain total (on the low side but it’s only May), it’s spooky, worrisome - better call in the big guns: best get Bogart. Then I cross paths with the spine #810 - In a Lonely Place, bingo.
As this high-contrast oldie-but-goodie flickers to life, I know instantly I’ve made the right choice. Bogart is producing moody-menace straight on, threading a loud-mouth driver to a knuckle-sandwich. Next he’s on to an obnoxious studio head’s son who never learned to keep his opinions to himself. Bogart’s character Dixon Steele, possessing an explosive temper is explosive, well - his actions are only slightly regrettable. Now that dead girl the police have questions about… that’s regrettable, entirely.
The movie may be centered on Humphrey Bogart but he’s well supported by a well-tuned suspenseful story and a great cast: Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy, Art Smith, Jeff Donnell (easily the most lovey Jeff there’s ever been), and a nice handful of “Them”, those characters actors I always keep an eye out for - Cosmo Sardo, Harold Miller, and Mike Lally.
MLZ out of her meeting, she takes her (rightful) place next to me - that helps. She shines her love light on me, checks to make sure I’m doing ok, comments on the correctness of the film rolling on screen. I’m fortunate to have her, she knows I know it but she never presses that advantage. If I’m going to make it through another day like this, making sure we movie on will be key.
Side note: Dixon Steele… really? Ha - Dix to his friends I’m sure. Gloria Grahame, defiant and hostile, looks the police chief square in the eye and pronounces, “I love Dix…” without batting an eye. Beautiful. Reminds me of my father’s Rockabilly buddy Donnie Brooks who had a minor hit under the name Dick Bush - Hollywood Party. Perfect - my melancholy is just melting away.
submitted by Zeddblidd to 500moviesorbust [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 17:31 Putrid_Culture8234 Help! How to deal with toxic in laws.

Okay this is my first post on here and it’s gonna be a long one so please bear with me. I’m honestly at a loss at what to do. It’s been five years of this…
my husband and I have been together for nearly 10 years. Married for almost five of them. We have two little girls. 4 and 2. We had our oldest when we were 18 and 19. Neither of us had finished college yet it was both of our first semester when we found out I was pregnant. My husband went to work for his dad to help provide for me and our baby. Due to how high risk my pregnancy was I had to go on bed rest. Meaning I couldn’t work. My husband wasn’t paid enough for us to afford an apartment so his parents “graciously” let us stay with them..
To give a little background: I immediately became a live in maid. Doing all my MIL’s chores as well as a live in nanny for their two year old. (Yes she was adopted. His mother was empty nesting when he turned 18 so she got another kid)... Anyways.. I expected to be doing some chores to earn my keep but i literally did everything. His mom didn’t work. She would make the checks for her husband’s business but that would only take an hour. She also had a little a homestead at the time. Goats, geese, chickens, and a horse. Which for some reason I was expected to deal with all of that when she got too bored of them. Which meant i was stuck mucking out stalls and coops 9 months pregnant in 100 degree heat. I never really got time to spend with my husband because anytime he would be off his dad would send him out to do errands or have him go do some sort of chores. We pretty much only saw each other at bedtime. When it came time for my delivery I had to be induced due to having lots of swelling, blood pressure issues, and my baby measuring too big. His parents decided it would be “helpful” to come up to the hospital with their 2 year old while I was laboring. Expecting me to entertain their child while also trying to give birth. Their daughter was getting into everything pulling cords getting out stuff from drawers and making a huge mess and me being in labor tired and in pain I did raise my voice at her to tell her to stop. His parents didn’t like that. They pulled my husband to the side and yelled at him for me getting on to their daughter. Telling him I had no right to do that and that if I did it again there would be issues. They left and I had my baby. But I did tear very badly. A 3rd degree tear Fast forward two weeks: I was extremely sleep deprived due to having to stay up at night with my daughter to keep her from crying because if she cried it would wake my sister in law and in turn my mother in law. Which would lead to her being very snippy at me the next morning. So to prevent that I would just sit up in a rocking chair all night until I heard my husbands 6 am alarm go off. Then I would crawl in bed and sleep for an hour before my mother in law would start screaming up at me to come down stairs to watch her daughter and do her chores. Might I add I wasn’t suppose to be using stairs due to how bad my tear was. I was in a lot of pain and didn’t have any pain meds because I couldn’t drive myself to pick them up and my husband never got off in time to get them. I was also still expected to do all the chores and would get snapped at if all of them weren’t completed before each of my daughter’s feedings. I was breastfeeding my daughter (which my mil hated) but since they were uncomfortable with it I would have to go upstairs to my room to feed her anytime she got hungry which was every hour. Which my mother in law couldn’t stand and would frequently try to convince me to bottle feed her so she could take my daughter while I did all of her chores. But I refused to bottle feed I wanted to breastfeed. I ended up confiding in my sister about what was going on and she told me I could come stay with her because it clearly wasn’t a safe environment and I wasn’t healing properly due to all the manual labor I was doing and ripped my stitches open further. When my husband went to tell his mom that we were leaving she went absolutely nuts. Got in my face screaming at me about how selfish and how much of a bitch I was. She even tried taking my baby from me telling me I wasn’t taking her away from her. My father in law walked in while she was in the middle of her fit and calmed her down. While she was distracted I went back upstairs with my daughter. My husband and his dad talked and he agreed it was a good idea that we should get our own place but again we couldn’t afford that so his dad said he would buy us a trailer to put on his property. We obviously paid rent to eventually own it. (We also still currently pay rent on time and consistently!!) When my daughter was 3 months old we moved into it. At first it all was great. We finally had our own space. But that quickly turned. (Also let me add she never apologized for blowing up on me and trying to take my baby. They told us it never happen but it’s the whole reason we got this house)
They still didn’t really give us any space. Always expecting us to watch their daughter at the drop of a hat. Always expecting us to drop everything whenever they wanted to see us. Still snapping at me if I were to get onto their child for being too rough with my baby or for being destructive. But always expecting me to watch her all the time. Later finding out their daughter has ODD and some other mental disorders from what she endured before they adopted her. We tried making boundaries and telling them we couldn’t watch their daughter all the time because she would attempt to hurt our daughter or try to destroy things in our house. Which of course they didn’t believe. I was too scared to get on to her for things too due to their reactions in the past and because she learned she could lie and would tell me if I didn’t let her do what she wanted she would tell my in laws I was being mean. Overall just very not good. We’ve tried telling them we need them to tell us or ask us if it’s okay before coming over but they got extremely offended and said it was their property they should be allowed over whenever. Always showing up unexpected and uninvited and getting mad when we would tell them we already had plans and had to leave. Would get mad when I wouldn’t just let them come and take off with my daughter saying they deserve time alone with her. Which of course I said no she’s breast fed she needs to be with me. Which worked until she could eat real food. They still attempted to come over to take her but I wouldn’t let that happen. They also got so upset when I wouldn’t let them have her but I just wasn’t comfortable with that. If we upset them they would throw the trailer in our face saying they did this nice thing we should be grateful for it and just let them do whatever they want.but it’s not like they did it for free we pay our them to live here. 4 years later we now have two daughters of our own. My sister in law is still a troubled kid. Still get yelled at if I try to correct her bad behaviors. She is extremely spoiled and never gets in trouble for anything. She is just a very bad influence on my two girls. My MIL opened her own business and is distracted by that some so she doesn’t come over as much as she use to and her daughter is school age and in sports. After having my 2nd daughter they did give us some space. But still don’t really respect any boundaries we’ve tried to put in place. They act like they will for a few weeks and then go right back to not respecting our parenting and showing up when they want. Which we then again have to tell them to ask first because we do have our own lives but they don’t believe it. They blow up in our face continue to throw the house in our face and then try to bash our parenting because it’s different from how they do it. Which idk why we’re clearly doing a good job. My girls are extremely well behaved. Very kind hearted and smart.. . We have on and off tried to make boundaries that they keep pretending to go along with and then completely disregarding. We had several heart to hearts about why we need privacy and space but they pretty much tell us we don’t deserve it and they don’t like it. They always gaslight us and tell us our feelings are wrong. They even treat my husband like crap at work when we really upset them. Basically make him do grunt work and work longer hours as punishment when we upset them. We should see them everyday because we’re blood and all that other bullshit. They expect us to give every weekend to them and most afternoons. If we try to say we’re sick or can’t they get extremely mad throw the house in our face and won’t believe us until they actually see test results saying we’re sick or tell us we have to cancel plans. They’ve even gone as far as following us to a locations just to make sure we weren’t lying. Then the “you can’t keep my grands from me” gets thrown out even after a day of not seeing them. They see the girls more than anyone else does. My mom never gets to see them because we constantly have to cancel or they get mad. Or if she comes here to see them his parents will come over and take over the visit due to jealousy. If we’re going somewhere and his mom is home and wants attention she will follow us and basically force us to see her.
My husband recently found a new job and will be leaving for training in two weeks. With this new job he has had to do lots of training days and meetings that I could attend and my sister has recently had surgery so I have been going over to help her with her boys and with her recovery so we’ve been able to have some space. Which has been amazing. He will be gone for 3 months. His parents were not happy about it at all and tried everything under the sun to talk him out of it but we want to get out on our own and not ride his dads shadow. This new job will also put us moving to a different state. Which his mom is not happy about at all and keeps crying and trying to make us feel bad about taking her grand babies from her and her trying to make my daughters feel bad about being excited for it. My daughters and I will be here for three more months alone which means I will be dealing with in laws on my own. I guess I’m just asking for advice because I have no idea what to do. Like I said we recently tried to have a heart to heart about needing space and privacy but again ignored. Newest thing that has brought me a lot of anxiety is his mom bought a plan for a family gps app and is trying to make us download it so she can basically track us where ever we go. Tried to play it off as “oh it’s just roadside assistance” and for safety for me and my girls since we will be “without a man to protect us” but when I looked at the app it was advertised as a family tracking app. I ended up telling her we did not want to download it because we liked (what little) independence we had and privacy. Clearly she didn’t like that answer and kept pushing so I just didn’t respond to her about it anymore. I’m just at my wits end. I don’t know what to do. I will have to stay 3 months or longer depending on when my husband finishes his training..
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2024.05.02 17:06 Gullible-Taste-3141 Dreaming of snakes

I had a dream last night that I’ve dreamt of many times. I’m always driving down a dirt road. It’s raining a little. And suddenly these snakes appear. Some are venomous, some are not. There’s little black snakes, swaying cobras, and massive copperheads.
I’m not afraid of them. I get out of my car and I hold them. I move them across the road so that I can continue driving. I let them climb on me and smell me. None of them ever strike at or bite me.
Eventually I get back in my car and I drive on. I reach my house and there’s a beautiful blue viper wrapped around my banister. It draws itself up to its full height and it sways. Back and forth, back and forth. We both do that for a while until I put my arm out. The snake slithers up my arm and I walk to an old rocking chair on my porch. The viper wraps itself around my arm and rests with its head on my hand. And we just sit there.
And that’s where I always wake up.
I have no idea what that dream means. But I’m always calm when I have it. I’m never afraid, never cautious. It’s like I know the snakes and the snakes know me. I never wake up startled or frightened. It’s a good dream.
As a matter of fact, I liked the ending so much that I got it tattooed on myself. Just a little viper curled up on my arm with its head on my hand.
submitted by Gullible-Taste-3141 to Dreams [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 15:06 AllHawkeyesGoToHell The 25 Best Rivalry Trophies You've Never Heard Of: Part 3, 15-11

Continuing this series on non-FBS rivalry trophies, you can see yesterday’s post here.
I found the group of trophies I thought fit the bill as among the best, I judged them all in a holistic and subjective manner based on the following criteria:
Additional criteria: non-FBS games, and needed to have a trophy.
Today we have a smattering of bizarre D3 and D2 trophies from the Northeast and Midwest.

15) Bronze Turkey

[D3] Knox vs Monmouth (IL) The Knox College Prairie Fire and Monmouth Fighting Scots have played since 1889 and they raised the stakes with this bronze bird statue in 1928. This rivalry in downstate Illinois is the 4th oldest in Division III with 134 meetings. It started because a Knox player, stuck on the sidelines, worked a second job as a reporter and charmed local newspapers into purchasing a bronze turkey for what was once a Thanksgiving Day tradition in the region. According to the school, the turkey “has been stolen more than a dozen times, damaged at least three times, and buried under the Monmouth College indoor track. At one point, it disappeared for several years, and a replacement trophy was acquired.”

14) Mac-Jack Rocking Chair

[D3] Middlebury vs Hamilton Middlebury (VT) and Hamilton (NY) battle for a giant rocking chair, mounted to a wooden board with a plaque engraved with the results of the games. This isn’t a particularly competitive rivalry, with Middlebury winning 28 years in a row, but a rocking chair as a trophy is both large and absurdly unwieldy, and the chair is old, so it gets significant points for that. Check out u/BeatNavyAgain’s after action report from the game a few years ago.

13) Key to the City

[D2] Augustana (SD) vs Sioux Falls This trophy is fought over between Augustana and the University of Sioux Falls (of Kalen DeBoer fame) who are barely three blocks apart. These two teams fight viciously for this four-foot-long key that came right out of the Kingdom Hearts franchise. The rivalry isn’t particularly old, starting in earnest only in 2012, and Augie leads 21-8.

12) Dutchman Shoes

[D3] RPI vs Union (NY) While most of us know RPI from college hockey, their Division III rivalry against Union College is the most played football rivalry in the state of New York, dating back to 1886. The Dutchman Shoes trophy, a pair of wooden clogs on a pedestal with the games’ results engraved at the bottom, was introduced in 1950. Due to it often being the season finale for both schools, the Dutchman's Shoes has been a de facto championship game for the Liberty League title and the automatic berth to the Division III playoffs. Honorable mention with RPI: The Transit Trophy vs WPI

11) The Scoop

[D3] Bridgewater State vs Massachusetts Maritime Instate rivals Mass Maritime Buccaneers and Bridgewater State Bears have met annually since 1974 for “The Cranberry Bowl”, and since 1988 the winner has claimed The Scoop, a threshing device used to scoop cranberries out of flooded fields that has now been turned into a football trophy. Bridgewater State leads the series 32-10-1.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for 6-10 tomorrow!
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2024.05.02 14:13 KjaeresteKos (F4A) Unwelcome Imaginary Friend

Her tiny yet chubby right hand held the pencil with a stern and concentrated firmness, nearly gouging the paper beneath. Baby teeth clamped down on the side of her tongue, focused on the precise effort of emulating the dark mane of curls she saw oh so clearly in her minds eye. Her mouth swelled with the taste of iron, her room infiltrated with the stench of rotten eggs. And yet the child continued her ferocious efforts to bring her imaginings to life; blue eyes set below a heavy grow flicked up, as though she were studying a living breathing form.
"I'm tryiiiing," she protested in a high pitched whine to the otherwise empty room, growing more frustrated by the moment. It was an exasperating struggle to concentrate with the heavy metal blaring from the wall she shared with her teen sister.
Teeth gritted together, she finished her work with a concentrated flick of the wrist. As if she were finally able to breathe after a long period of holding her breath, Emmeline took in a greedy gulp of air before admiring her work. It was impressive for an elementary school child. More than mere stick figures, her effort yielded a piece depicting a child holding hands and locking fingers with a gaunt, pale woman. Long, ebony strands of hair shrouded the strangers face, the woman's posture hunched as if her back had been broken at some point. The woman looked over the child, like a well trained hound ready to pounce.
Proud of her piece, Emmeline ripped the pages from the sketch pad and darted down the hall giddy with excitement and dimples on full display. Her body collided with a larger form - her sister, who regarded her with a harsh glare and a flip of black dyed hair before retreating into the gloominess of her bedroom. The tiny creature scoffed, aware that such misery could not ever appreciate true artistry. Alice with anticipation, she stormed down the steps, half tripping a handful of times and almost wiping out as her unicorn socks met the tiled floor of the kitchen.
"Papa!! Papa!" She squealed, eager for his admiration. Emma danced in place long enough for the graying man to turn his head away from the pot boiling on the stove.
"I drew a picture!" She exclaimed, holding out the pockmarked portrait to him.
Emmeline felt tears prickle in her eyes as her father frowned, deeply enough that hefty creases formed on his brow. That impending fear of doom lodged itself in her guts, feeling as though she had done something oh so horribly wrong. She was just about to ask him if he liked it when he sighed heavily. His mouth opened, quick to scold or chastise yet with measurable effort, her father forced a weary smile. Despite the sweat breaking out on his brow, he gulped audibly, lips quivering.
"I.... I love it."
Emmeline knew effortlessly when he was lying. Her own lips quivered and her eyes burned like they did when she swam in the neighbor's over-chlorined pool. As if she were seeking support, she turned her gaze to the rocking chair in the living room. It swayed with gentle rhythm, the shrouded woman willing herself into motion with the balls of her feet. Skeletal fingers and nails tipped and tapped at the wooden armrest, ever impatient. A dry and rotting tongue clicked from the depths of her dark mouth like a grandfather clock.
Emma's tears remained in her eyes, confident that she had at least had a friend who understood
Hello all! I have been looking for a good horror plot for a while and was inspired by reading through Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak. As the prompt suggests, this is your classic "little kid has literally the worst imaginary friend ever" scenario.
What I have to offer: * 18 years of role play experience * Dynamic characters with flaws that fail or succeed as the story progresses * Plenty of inspiration through art and songs! * Patience and understanding - I am chill and respectful. I am a retired therapist so I respect boundaries and only ask for basic communication if life circumstances come up. * OOC chatter! I am a pretty darn funny person if I do say so myself and I thoroughly enjoy sharing memes and just chatting with my partners * Flight of ideas - potentially one of the things I love most about role play! The "oh but what if-!" Moments of banter that help a story grow and give it life.
What I request: * 21+ - I'm a dinosaur, I get it. I have no business or interest playing with minors * Have some experience and be willing to send a writing sample ((writing sample is not a hard requirement)) * Have ideas to contribute to the story; I don't enjoy role plays where all of the ideas are my own. PLEASE be throw me a good twist that shocks me * Third person past tense only. First person gives me the ick * Ideally willing to play one main character and a few NPCs as necessary * Most importantly: be passionate, kind, and as excited as I am!
If you've made it this far, thank you sincerely! My chats are always open and I promise I don't bite!
submitted by KjaeresteKos to roleplaying [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 13:59 woodentwists Get an Amazing Rocking Chairs Online at Affordable Price in India

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submitted by woodentwists to u/woodentwists [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 11:36 WaffleQueenBekka Help finding "Grandma Muddy"

I need some insight.
My dad has always told me that when he was about 4/5 years old (1977-1978 ish), he remembers sitting on the floor while "Grandma Muddy" sat in a rocking chair telling the story of how she came over [to Oregon] in a covered wagon. His grandmother's were both deceased at that time. None of their mothers were alive either. I've looked into his mom's (Nanna) step-father's mother and she was deceased at that point too. I can't figure out who this "Grandma Muddy" is!
He doesn't remember any details besides the fact that she was in her late 80s-mid 90s. The dates throw everything off. My dad was born in 1973. He will be 51 this month.
Here's a pic of the current grandmothers of his in question. These connections have been confirmed with DNA.
ETA: there were no additional spouses.
submitted by WaffleQueenBekka to Genealogy [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 10:57 Generically_Yours "Jim, the teeth, they dont grow back?!"

From Death is our flag. Great series, btw.
But really, relating to awkward Wolverine like abilities, that hinder than help, I have experience AND questions?!
I've had my tonsils..rather where they used to be from removal at age 4... hve to be biopsied when I was 18 after a CFS leak rocked my system and revved the CRPS engine the first real time. Lucky me, the weird lesion I had wasn't cancer, but yeah, my tonsils were...trying to regenerate. I wasn't diagnosed with crps at this point but a doctor mentioned it and my asshole parents noped me out of therapy. I went through the no contact process over the next 10 years because they were abusive and stalked me through Facebook and messed with my jobs, i needed shoulder sugery at 24 because it got physical, it was a whole thing. anyway I became a workaholic.
So, I have crps kick in after lead poisoning from a job at 28 plus avulsion fracture causing inital but really like...the 3rd injury, and at 34 after homelessness and being told off so many times, "its so unlikely i could have this disease i must be drug seeking," I FINALLY get officially dianosed stage 2 from compartment syndrome. I had to try emdr to even be allowed to pursue the DRG stimulator procedure because my doctor (Thank God she changed my life) was worried I could full on reject the battery out of my skin. My neuros did an mri and I have grey matter loss so parts of my brain are smoothed like someone took a torch to cheese on my parietal and occipital.
Then I formed baseball sized cysts on my ovaries, probably because of the reprocessing post DRG. 3 fluid sacks that werent going anywhere and made me pukey, and not long after fibroids, leading to partial hysterectomy. The cyst surgery hurt WAY more than the hysterectomy. My body had a higher oxygen demand for some reason during the cyst surgery, maybe from the c02 gas, and I woke up rolling out of the xray room because I formed breathing issues from the anesthetic. They just ruled out a lung issue. But my system was way more stressed. I dodged being in a wheel chair and polycythemia and cystic fibrosis symptoms dropped so I didnt need a referral anymore. Yaaay!
But im not perfect.
So, unsurprising, an old, old injury of mine from when I was in headstart as a kid starts bugging me. I got bullied by these 3 girls who pushed a piano bench over and onto my toe and I lost the nail from bruising. So, I start at 35 to get ingrown just getting the toe wet or walking on it at all. The swelling just made the nailbed smaller than the nail, so they did the procedure where they snip the sides to the nail matrix and acid bath it to prevent its growth. It's like a 2 per cent chance it grows back.
Well we'll well. We did cognative behavioral therapy just trying to get to a new round of emdr, and...whole thing grew back in stronger than ever and without medihoney I'd be so screwed. It hurt so bad I've been soaking it and cleaning it to just be able to lay down and rest. I just don't sleep lately, american werewolf in London transformation scene pain vibes from my sympathetic nerve just zinging. Today we just took the whole nail off. I'm sus itll try to grow back.
can someone more knowledgeable explain this regenerative process to me? I understand we regenerate more than most because our damage cycle is so rapid and extreme, but further elaboration would be awesome. Like it's cool to be different but come on lol
submitted by Generically_Yours to CRPS [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 09:29 kalezkalez Recently Night Weaned Toddler, Now Takes Forever to Fall Asleep

We are on day 4 of night weaning my son (19m) as I am pregnant and my supply dropped significantly and I’m having terrible nursing aversions, especially at night. He’s been a trooper through the process with minimal tears. Before weaning, we stacked different soothing methods and now I feed him for about 5 minutes, then unlatch him and rock him until he falls asleep.
He used to take about 15 minutes to go down, now it’s 45 minutes or longer. I just spent an hour trying to rock him back to sleep after his first night wake (after feeding him a couple of minutes) and I didn’t even make it out of the rocking chair before he woke up. 🫠 and for what?!
I totally don’t mind supporting him to sleep, but with his already frequent night wakes, 45-60 minutes of rocking and bum pats every couple of hours isn’t sustainable.
For those of you who have gone through this, does it get better or is this my life now? Any advice or words of wisdom very much welcome.
submitted by kalezkalez to AttachmentParenting [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 08:38 KNGDora [TOMT] Movie about man in wheelchair/can’t walk, ending with killing a woman?

There was a movie I watched as a kid back in the early 2000’s where from very faint and maybe incorrect memories, I remember a man, youngerish? Who is in a wheel chair and seems to be in love with a woman. I think he came back home after a war or something. The scene that I remember the most is when he spies on her I think in bed with a man, and later on he somehow crawls after her and gets her to the floor, where he I think slits her throat and kisses her while rocking back and forth? Very very faint memories but the movie seemed very dark and heavy so definitely not any of the inspirational wheelchair man movies.
submitted by KNGDora to tipofmytongue [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 06:49 eZGjBw1Z (US) Aldi Finds Sneak Peek and Weekly Ad for 5/8/24 (German Week)

(US) Aldi Finds Sneak Peek and Weekly Ad for 5/8/24 (German Week)
The Sneak Peek and Aldi Finds ads for 5/8/24 - 5/14/24 are available.
View the sneak peek ad on Aldi's website by scrolling down to where it says BROWSE OTHER ADS and choosing the latest date range. Sneak Peek ads are mostly the same across the US but may differ slightly. The Full Upcoming Aldi Finds Ad is available here.
A post about the German Week items was made earlier: German Week Spring 2024: May 8-May 14
Advertised prices shown in the Sneak Peek or Weekly ads included here may differ from prices at your store. Prices in the Aldi Finds Ad online should be consistent across the US.
Page 1
Page 2
Bold denotes items that are not in the Aldi Finds Sneak Peek ad images.
Previous Aldi Finds ad: (US) Aldi Finds Sneak Peek and Weekly Ad for 5/1/24
Archived Aldi Ad
submitted by eZGjBw1Z to aldi [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 05:29 Kinshawcam Was I Fired for my Disabilities?

Hello!
You can call me Cameron. I'm 28 years old I never used Reddit, so hopefully, I'm posting this in the right area...
I believe I was wrongfully terminated because my disabilities were causing me to be late to work... I am diagnosed with 3 major mental disabilities, which CAN make it very difficult for me to find and get to work... I can and will share these disabilities and how they make my daily life difficult, if you need me to. I am on a waiting list for government assistance. Due to these disabilities, I'm often late to work. I'm not talking about 1 hour to 2 hours late, just maybe 10 to 20 minutes late at most. A BIT OF BACK STORY: Gensco Inc. is a HVAC, wholesale, warehouse and distribution, corporation with multiple branches from Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and I believe California too. I personally like the company as a whole... I like my fellow co-workers. In fact, my best friend was the one who helped me a job there. The manager at the time was fully aware of my disabilities upon hiring and was being accommodating and giving me slack on when I showed up late. I was part of the team that pulled orders for big companies like Greenwood, Bel- Red, Sea-Town, and more, to stage on palettes for delivery. Typical Warehouse shipping practices. That's not all we did. There's aisle maintenance, helping other departments like Receiving and Will Call, and educating ourselves with product knowledge and online courses. I would typically go above and beyond by looking for safety hazards, taking pictures of them, reporting them, and then often fixing them with supervision. Sounds like a lot of responsibilities for someone with disabilities right?... It was... but I was promised that I'd get put in the tech. department from the branch manager. so I wanted to make a name for myself. My first 2 months go by, and I didn't know that the current branch manager was promoted to the Idaho regional manager position and was going to Boise. There was an interview process to take over his position, and apparently, only 3 people applied. They were Alex, Candace, and Stacy. (this will be important later) Alex was the lead for all of the warehouse for about a year and was working there for 3 years. Stacy's Dad has been part of Gensco for at least 20 years and is a very reputative OSR. Stacy herself is the supervisor of the branch, and she has been with Gensco, for I don't know how long. Candace was there for less than a year and was the lead of pm receiving. (graveyard) ...Candace ended up becoming the branch manager... Of course, there were a lot of upset people, and a few people actually quit and never came back. It wasn't until then that I heard that she had a nickname called "The Warden. "... Well, unlike a lot of the others, I was supportive and respectful. I know what it's like running a business for the first time ever. I even gave advice and pep talks to her. ( I used to have my own before I sucked at running a business.. It was a computer repair and fabrication company we used to freelance and test hardware. nothing big. I just didn't know what I was doing. But I've been learning and dreaming that one day I can start again... ) One day in late February I ended up getting covid and missed just about 2 weeks of work. (No, i was not paid for it. so funds were tight that month) I was told by Candace that I needed to get a Doctors note if i wanted to return to work. I didn't have insurance for about 3 years since i was working for a paving company that ended up shutting down. ever got state insurance cause I'm lazy. but I finally have insurance thanks to Gensco. so, I went in and spoke with a Walk-In Dr. and while I was there, I mentioned having back pain. they then suggested filing an L&I claim so that way my insurance would cover any back treatment. I was on the fence. then the Dr. started to push it and said that i really should file an L&I claim. Otherwise, there's nothing they can do for me.... so... I filed an L&I claim towards Gensco. claiming that my work has been making my back injury flair up and getting worse.. I've previously injured my back while working in paving, AND I most likely have a "genitive disc."" deuteriation disease" along my L4 and 5. However, that company is now shut down due to Covid. So the claim gets bumped to Gensco... THIS IS WHEN THINGS START TO GET BAD: When I returned to work, I gave Branch Manager (Candace) the Dr. note and spent that entire week scared that i was going to lose my job at any moment. Then, finally, Friday came, and I was called into Candace's office, where she asked me why I filed an L&I claim and why I didn't i report it to her when it happened. I explained to her that the doctor urged me to file one so I could get treatment for my back. Her face went red, and she told me that I had to sign a document as to why I filed an L&I claim so she could send it to HR. I filled in and signed the paper and walked out of the office. Later that same day, I was told that I'm being switched to part-time hours and light duty. No, I was not paid for full time. My pay too was reduced. I was placed in a small room that had 2 computers for training or courses. I was told that I was supposed to take 10 minute brakes every hour, and all I had to do was confirm shipment orders. which just means scan the order, double check to see if everything is correct. see if it's been paid and delivered, then digitally and physically stamp your number on the order and turn it in. Since I'm tech savvy and by this point, I knew how the software ran inside and out. I'd end up getting thousands of orders and still have like 2 to 3 hours to spare. Which would use to take their online courses on Branch Managment, Junior OSR Training, OSR Training, every single Safety Course, Diamond Software, P21 Software, On Fleet Software, Columbian and Mitsubishi products, American Standard and Train products. I even ended up doing some data analytics of the On Fleet Program for the Everett Branch. I helped improve the accuracy and efficiency of our truck Drivers delivery process. One day, my supervisor (Stacy) sees me taking my breaks and yells at me to get back to work because I've taken too many breaks. I tried to explain to her the situation, but she was not having it and gave the hand. and once more told me to go back to work. Maybe a day or two later. I've already finished the ship confirm. and was doing the OSR courses when my Candace walked by. She sees that I'm doing courses, and like a pissed off mom said "ohhh no no no, you can go in the warehouse with a rolling chair and audit the shipping pallets." I'm sure Osha would have had a hay day there... so many safety violations since she became manager. I have photos of how bad it was since I had to fix a lot of it. But from that point on, both Stacy and Candce started to treat me like a child. They even nit picked me to the point where i was in trouble at least once or twice a week for some dumb and little. for example, one day, according to Alex, I was rolling too fast on the rolling chair in the warehouse. and almost fell... A peace of pallet stopped the wheel, making the chair and almost topple over, but i was able to catch myself... but I somehow got in trouble, and the branch manager chewed me out for it.... never mind the fact that she is making a disabled injured employee use a rolling office chair as wheel chair in the shipping warehouse for HVAC equipment and products. this is how it went when she called me into her office... ( This was during the 1st or 2nd month of the L&I claim. Candace "So how are you" Me "Uhm Alright, yourself?" Candace "Not so good. So Alex told me that you were being all Speed Racer in the warehouse last night and almost hurt yourself again... Why would you do that? We already accommodate and do a lot for you. " Me "..." (I'm thinking "THE FUCK YOU MEAN DO ALOT FOR ME!?!" Candace "You know this looks really bad for you while you are claiming L&I. " Me "Sorry... Won't happen again" Candace "Good. You can leave." From that point, while i was on Light duty I refused to go and help my old team.. the shipping department. Since i knew Alex (the Warehouse Lead) was just trying to get me in trouble... Other than being treated like a child by the supervisor and branch manager. everything was going good until about May of 2023 where L&I turned down my claim. I should have had gotten an L&I lawyer but I didn't know how to reach out to one... Just a reminder at this point I have been showing up late on a rare occasion. but no more that 20 minutes late. THE day after I got my L&I claim rejected, I was called into the office for my 6 month Review with Candace. She counted the time while i was on light duty to help her decide the scores. Apparently I got bad score all around besides the self education section. But I don't do enough and I could be doing so much more. but fails explain how. She pretty much tells me that I fail to meet expectations but she fails to tell me how and I even have copies of those records. Being late to work was also on one of the sections too.. in the end she gave me a 67 cent raise.... By this point you're probably thinking.. "why haven't you left yet?" well... 1. I was living pay check to pay check. 2. I was behind on Bills 3. and It's hard for me to find a job that will actually hire someone with my disabilities. Especially where I want to go... 4. I needed the money... Fast forward to late June. My partner's family drama comes to light and needless to say... shit goes down.. Due to a serious situation we ended up fostering her little brother for the remainder of June and July. We were still behind on bills so i continued to work, my partner was unfortunately fired a month or 2 prior because she felt uncomfortable and refused to listen to another supervisor from a different department... During this I've been brought to Candaces office twice for showing up late. I informed her of my disabilities again and she dismissed me 2 weeks go by and I'm struggling with my mental health while being the rock for the 3 of us... My Partner is overly stressed and doesn't drive. There's a lot we had to do for her brother that unfortunately required the both of us. SO I had to request Family Leave... Candace allows me to fill out the paper work and turn it into HR. she told me that I can go home and figure things out. 2 weeks go by and I get a call from Candace asking me to come in sometime soon. I went there the next day and was told that I was denied for family leave. but she gave me a normal Leave contract and told me that I wasn't going to be paid for my absence... by that point it was too late. i was broke, my partner was broke and neither of us were able to work. we still had her brother for another 2 weeks... i was lucky that my family stepped int and started helping us out immensely... Her brother was adopted by his Aunt we safely transported there at the end of July. AUGUST 2023 I returned to work and also set up a meeting with an psychiatrist to start getting treatment for my disabilities. I was able to see one by the end of August where i was retested for everything. Throughout the month I was late. A LOT ... I was maybe on time for like 5 to 6 days in total... my Mental health was just getting worse and worse... I was called in once more to have another write up for my attendance and was handed a new employee handbook with the attendance policy highlighted.. I have the old one and there is no attendance policy when I was hired. SEPT 2023 I just started 1 of my 3 different medications. and show some minor improvements with sleep and other things, However i was still getting extreme anxiety attacks, depression spells, burnout, and had zero motivation to do anything. thus I was still late to work a lot.. but I decided that id start being open to my coworkers and tell them how ive been feeling about management. I ended up getting a lot of shared opinions and we all started to see a pattern involving candace. Oct. 2023 I got a Dr. note from my Psychiatrist asking for a 2 hour leniency to arrive to work while i adjust to my new medication. this was also when i was give my 2nd medication out of 3 and this helped.. quit a bit. my depression spell dont come as often and the are not as intense. I'm able to sleep at night, I actually want to laugh and smile. but.. the anxieties are still there... and they were tad bit worse.. I didn't see Candace AT ALL during that month after I gave her the Dr. note, Nov 2023 I start my 3 medication and start to see immediate improvements. I don't really get depression spells that all that often. i can still feel sad and happy. I'm able to focus, be creative and back into my hobbies. AND my work life has also improved. I'm arriving on time, I'm being more efficient at picking orders, I'm training new hires, and establishing generalized SOP for everyone in the warehouse. i was able to connect with more coworkers and got learn a lot. for example; At the Gensco Everett Branch #18 - The Branch Manager pays the female employees that has less experience more than ALL of the male employees - The female employees get fast tracked and promoted to whatever position they want while the men are stuck where they are. - She completely lost her cool and blew up at 2 other male employees and verbally threatened them. only one of them was brave enough to call HR - Everyone that called HR on Candace was coincidently fired a month later - She supposedly lied about her qualifications and resume to get the Branch Mananger Position (that one is probably just a rumor) - If she doesn't like you, she will find way to get you to quit by making work unbearable or she will fire you. (this one I've witnessed happen to 2 other employees before myself) Dec 2023 The Dr. Note that my psychiatrist made has now expired and my body adapted to the medication, so we had to increase the dosage when i pick up my next prescriptions. I showed up late 2 days in a row and wasn't spoken to about it until the following week. where i was given my final warning before they would have to terminate me. I was able to show up on time for the rest of that week except for 1 day ( Thursday ) ... i spent that entire day scare that was going to lose my job.. Then Friday came. i showed up on time. stayed late to close up for Christmas next week and we all ate at the Christmas dinner that she had set up for all of us... The day after Christmas.. the 26th, I came in to work with a bad feeling in my gut.. like something about the atmosphere felt different.. I enter through the doors and I wasn't greeted like I normally was (in my head I knew it was going to happen today) I walked past the Branch managers office and my stomach immediately tightened like I just got punched in the stomach. I go to my locker and when i open it, I see my Annual Review Report. apparently I did worse than last time... I gear up and clock in and start to walk to my position.. I look in Candace's office to see if she was there. She wasn't. As i was in the mid of the exhale of relief i heard her voice coming from the supervisors office... I started to feel nauseous... and the started to lightly spin. I took a breath in and pressed on. as i walk by them i smile and wave to them as though it was another day. no response. not even a glance. i keep walking to my post when the new lead tells me that Candace wants to see me in her office. I then turn around and start heading back to her office. She was no longer in Stacys office, so i assumed that she must have radioed him. I walk into her office to be greeted not only by her but also the Regional manger for all of the WA branches. She gestures me to sit, and he shuts the door behind me.. I instantly felt trapped, my breathing was short and tight, and my brain was racing a million miles per second. My thoughts; "I FUCKING KNEW IT!" "Why is he here?" "what's that folder for" " did he just lock the door?" "This is it... I'm going to be fired" "why did he close the door?" then silence... my mind went blank and i froze as they opened up the folder that had every single day that was late written down but with no time that i came in. they informed me that showing up late at all is considered missing half the day. they continue to tell me that i am being terminated and the reason is because I was getting to work late. when they know exactly why i have been late. it was due to my disabilities... What should i do?. is it too late to do anything now?.. I still can't find a job that will hire me, I don't have source of income, and I'm on a waiting list for government assistance...
submitted by Kinshawcam to WhatShouldIDo [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 04:41 MajorParadox Superman #96 - Zod, Baby

Superman #96 - Zod, Baby

<< < > Coming June 1st
Author: MajorParadox
Book: Superman
Arc: Heritage
Set: 96

Line of Fire

Metropolis General Hospital
“Kal-El!” Zod yelled from the parking lot, scanning the hospital building until their eyes met.
“Don’t,” said Clark just before Zod launched toward him, smashing through the window to Lois’ hospital room.
Clark grabbed Zod’s arms to veer his trajectory from hitting anyone on his way through, but it caused them both to fly through the wall into the next room.
Lois and her nurse, Linda were okay. Clark didn’t leave them out of his field of vision as he tried to get the area clear.
“We don’t have to do this,” said Clark, muffled as Zod wrapped his arms around his neck. Clark swung his head back into Zod’s nose, but it didn’t loosen his grip.
Alarms started blaring. Someone must have hit the fire alarm.
“Somebody’s going to get hurt,” Clark pleaded.
“You’re right,” Zod agreed, tightening his grip.
The Man of Steel flew backward, sending the pair crashing into the wall behind them. With Zod’s grip loosened, Clark took his arm and flipped him over to the ground, pinning him down.
But he didn’t stay down long. Zod flew up toward the ceiling crashing through to the next floor. He tossed Clark away and fired off a beam of heat vision that kept Clark from recovering. Clark lifted his arms to direct the blasts away from his chest and returned with a heat vision blast of his own, finally throwing the Phantom Zone escapee off balance.
The opening didn’t last long. Clark tried to get closer, desperate to get a hold of Zod and move the fight away from the hospital. But Zod didn’t let it happen. Instead, he let a punch fly, sending Clark through several more walls.
Clark pulled himself up, keeping an eye on Lois’ room. They were wheeling her bed out to the hall quickly slowed by all the other patients being evacuated. He moved his attention back to Zod who was looking back toward Lois too.
“No,” said Clark to himself, realizing his attacker was more attentive than he thought.
“You were in the room with that one earlier,” said Zod from the other room. “She must mean something to you.”
Zod crashed back down through walls and ceiling to the hallway and zoomed in front of Lois’ bed.
“Can I help you?” asked Lois dryly, after the initial shock left her.
Linda tried to wheel the bed back the way they came, but Zod grabbed hold of it, keeping it in place.
“You are with child,” he said.
“Nothing gets by you,” said Lois, her arms on her stomach. “Must be those supersenses, huh?”
“I can see why he likes you,” Zod smiled. “You are fearless.” His eyes started heating up and Lois’ heart jumped a beat.
“Stay away from her!” yelled Clark as he grabbed Zod and flew him down the hall.
Zod managed to break free before Clark could get him outside.
Finally having a moment free, Clark tapped his belt. “Superman to–”
But Zod quickly destroyed the belt communication with a narrow burst of heat vision.
“No calling for help,” he said, motioning back in Lois’ direction. “That wouldn’t be your child the human is carrying, would it?” he asked. “Perhaps I should send them both to the Phantom Zone so you could understand how it feels.”
“I do understand,” said Clark, listening to his wife enter the elevator. “I never would have sent your son back there if he could survive out here. And I’ve never stopped looking for a cure or somewhere for your people to live free from that hellscape.”
“My people?” Zod repeated, gritting his teeth. “They are our people. They may not be Kryptonian, but we’re all of the same origin.“
“Maybe I misspoke,” said Clark. “But the point stands.”
Zod stepped closer. “You could have released them here on this planet.”
“We tried,” Clark answered. “But it’s not my decision to make.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Kal-El,” said Zod, firing off heat vision again. “Like your father on Krypton, you let them decide when it was within your powers to decide for yourself.”
Fortress of Solitude, North Pole
Kelex’s visor booted up in a vivid blue. His startup diagnostics began as he tried to recall what happened before he was deactivated.
Memories flooded back of Jax-Ur escaping the Phantom Zone through Jor-El’s hologram. The escapee took control of the fortress and deactivated him and the other robots.
Kelex finished his diagnostics and ran a scan of the fortress operations. Jax-Ur still appeared to be active, but his access was severely limited. The failsafe from Watchtower must have been activated, which also explained how he could power back up. Kal-El and Kara had ensured Kelex worked as another failsafe during any intrusions.
Jax-Ur was still a threat so Kelex made sure not to draw attention. Instead, he monitored the intruder, who was trying to narrow down the source of the lockout. That not ideal. If Jax-Ur successfully traced it to Watchtower, anyone up there could be in danger and Kelex could lose control again.
Metropolis General Hospital Elevator
“Don’t worry, Lois,” said Linda, catching her breath. “We’ll make it out of here.”
The building kept shaking as the two Kryptonians were locked in battle. Lois knew Clark’s first instinct would be to move him away, so the fact they were still there didn’t bode well.
Lois’ eyes moved to the elevator readout, indicating they had three more flights down to the lobby. But then red energy cut through and sliced up the top half of the carriage.
“Hold on!” yelled Linda as the elevator shook in place. Luckily the emergency locks kept them from falling.
Lois pulled herself off the bed with an exhale of desperation.
“Lois–” Linda warned.
“We can’t stay here,” said Lois, trying to pull the door apart.
Linda grabbed Lois’ IV pole and stuck it in the elevator’s crevice, using leverage to pry the doors open.
Lois gave a thumbs up and reached for the floor, which didn’t quite line up with the elevator. They would have to climb. “Give me a boost, will you?”
As Linda kneeled, Lois felt a surge of pain that made her legs go numb.
“You’re having another contraction,” Linda said, helping her patient down.
Lois tried to make a sarcastic remark about the situation, but all she could do was hold onto Linda’s hand and yell.
Elsewhere Inside
Clark heard Lois yelling as he blocked a punch by Zod, but the general kicked out a knee and slammed his elbow over the Man of Steel’s head. He was lifted and tossed through a glass window.
Before Zod could move in for another hit, Clark shot back up and blasted freeze breath, which Zod quickly avoided, but the move left him open to a flying punch to the chest. Clark dropped down with an elbow to Zod’s face and grabbed him by the arms, swinging him around until the general went flying through a nearby window.
Finally, he got the fight outside. He needeed to keep the momentum going, Clark couldn’t leave Lois yet. He turned toward the elevator but found Lois and her nurse had managed their escape on their own.
“Resourceful as always,” Clark said under his breath, moving as quickly as he could outside.
“Stand down!” yelled Maggie Sawyer from the street.
The SCU had arrived, and several vans were parked out front. Several office had rifles aimed upward at Zod while a few mech battlesuits exited the other vans.
Clark had read about their new tech but hadn’t seen it in action yet. Hopefully, they could withstand the likes of Zod.
Zod couldn’t help but let a smile cross his faith, even for a moment. That wasn’t a good sign.
The general dove down and the SCU opened fire, but he quickly dodged their shots. Clark dropped down after him.
Hopefully the added firepower would help him get Zod away.

Not According to Plan

Fortress of Solitude, North Pole
—
Kelex approached Jax-Ur slowly, falling to the ground intermittently. He didn’t want the intruder to realize he was functional again. But time was running out. The sooner Jax found the source of the fortress failsafe, the sooner General Zod could free more reinforcements from the Phantom Zone.
“Watchtower,” Jax said to himself aloud, reading through some files. “That robot mentioned it before… Whatever it is caused the disruption.”
Scratch that, perhaps time was already up.
Kelex raised himself again and floated quickly toward Jax’s hologram.
Jax saw the incoming robot and didn’t waste a moment.
“General,” Jax called into Zod’s communication system. “I found the source of the interference. It–“
Kelex reached him and waved his robotic hand through the holographic light. A surge of electricity sparked as Jax finished his statement: ”Is coming from a satellite around the planet.“
Jax’s hologram fizzled with static and morphed back into a depiction of Kal-El’s birth father Jor-El.
“Good job, Kelex,” said Jor-El. “I’m finally free from Jax-Ur’s influence. The threat is over.”
“Maybe one threat is over,” said Kelex.”But if Jax’s full message reached General Zod, Watchtower may be in danger.”
Metropolis
Minutes Earlier
Zod blew a gust of wind toward the SCU officers as he flew down toward them. A few of them went flying, while others managed to hold their ground by taking cover.
The mech suits approached, firing more powerful blasts than the traditional SCU rifles. Zod tried to avoid those too, but one of them hit him in the arm, interrupting his path.
Clark caught up, making contac with Zod, but the general spun around and hit him with heat vision, followed by a punch to the stomach.
Zod adjusted his course and moved back down toward the mech suits, delivering powerful blows to each before any of them could react.
Clark hoped Zod wasn’t going for blood, or at least the armor protected them enough to prevent permanent damage. Either way, he had to stop his onslaught against them and move him toward that abandoned office building where he fought Metallo and the S.T.A.R. Labs escapees. They had kryptonite there and it could come in handy.
“Leave them alone,” Clark ordered as he flew back to Zod to kick him away.
“You should be working with me, Kal-El!” Zod yelled. “But all you do is fight against the best interests of our people! Maybe you didn’t mispeak before. My people.”
“It’s true,” Clark started. “I used to have a hard time connecting with my heritage. But the closer I got to my cousin. And the more I learned in the Fortress from my birth parents–æ
“You can’t connect to holograms,” Zod interjected.
“You’re right,” Clark agreed. “Even though I do see them as real people, it’s not quite the same as meeting them before they died. But I do have memories of a whole other life where I grew up on Earth with my mother, Lara.” (See Superman #91). I’m still trying to make sense of that, but the connection was definitely there.
“It’s still not the same,” said Zod, jumping over, with a fist to Clark’s face. He kicked Clark away, landing beside one of the SCU vans.
Dan Turpin dropped down to help him up, aiming his rifle at the general.
“Try to draw him away from the building,” Clark told him. “I have a plan.”
“Hold on, Big Blue,” said Dan, reaching into his pocket. “Does your plan involve these, which we picked up from your last battle today?” He pulled out three small cylindrical containers and handed them over.
Clark couldn’t see through them, which indicated lead, perfect for transporting the kryptonite without it affecting him. “Thanks, Dan,” said Clark, taking them and stuffing them inside his belt.
He turned back toward Zod to find him hovering in place. A device was extended over his eyes and Clark could hear a voice speaking to him through it.
“I found the source of the interference,” said Jax-Ur on the other end.
“Oh no,” said Clark, speeding toward him as fast as he could.
Clark tried to fry the communication device with his heat vision, but Zod ducked and kicked Clark away.
The rest of the message played before Jax’s voice broke apart and Zod looked up into the sky. He quickly zeroed in on Watchtower’s location and disappeared from the area in a burst of speed.
Clark flew off after him.
Outside Hospital
Linda had managed to get Lois into a new bed, down to the lobby, and was rolling her into the ambulance bay. It was a crowded mess as the evacuation funneled patients into ambulances to get away from the disaster area.
“We have a woman in labor,” Linda called, trying to cut through.
“Over here,” a paramedic called, rushing over to help. “How far along?” he asked, wheeling the bed into the emergency vehicle.
“Hopefully not far enough to deliver the baby right here,” said Lois, before another contraction started.
“She’s almost fully dilated,” Linda explained.
“Better in an ambulance than in the middle of a superhero fight,” the paramedic in the driver’s seat said, as he rolled away, sirens blaring.
There were cracks in the road that didn’t look quite normal, but the driver didn’t think anything of them. A beam of red energy cut across the road, which revealed the source. The road was being cut into by stray heat vision.
The ground began shaking under the ambulance, rocking them back and forth as they drove.
“What’s happening?!” cried Lois.
The driver watched as the asphalt cracked ahead of them, trying to veer out of the way. “Hold on!” he yelled.
“Arghhhhhhhh!” cried Lois. “I’m trying! But you’re not making it any easier!”
One of the cracks widened and the road broke apart. The ambulance dropped down into a mini-sinkhole.

Arrival

Watchtower
Oliver Queen sat at a terminal, spinning an arrow in his hand. Dinah had told him there wasn’t much to Watchtower duty, but she didn’t say how boring it could be. Next time he’d try harder to convince her to join him up there. Together all alone together in space? The romance writes itself.
A beeping from the computer broke Ollie out of his daze.
“Don’t worry about it,’” he said, mimicking Dinah. “‘You won’t have to do anything.’”
Ollie tapped a button that was lighting up and a message appeared on the screen with a video feed outside the satellite. It showed a figure approaching while the message read, “Object detected, trajectory approaching.”
Someone was coming up the long way. Ollie figured he would skip the transporter too if he could fly. He looked closer but couldn’t quite make out who it was yet.
No green meant it wasn’t a Lantern or Martian Manhunter. No red or blue meant it wasn’t Superman. As the figure got closer, it was clearer he was a man wearing black.
“Batman?” Ollie asked aloud. He was sure the Dark Knight had to use transporters like the rest of the mere ‘mortals.’ But with Batman, you never really knew what to expect.
As the man reached the window, Ollie stood up and they met eyes.
Definitely not Batman. It was a man with black hair and a beard. And there was a silver Z-shape on his chest. The man pulled his arm back and Ollie’s heart jumped a beat.
The Z-man punched a hole through the glass and alarms started blaring as the oxygen rushed out. Ollie held onto the chair as the man entered and some emergency protocol was activated, blocking the windows with steel walls, and returning the room to a breathable state.
Ollie didn’t waste a minute and shot off an arrow that bounced right off the man’s shoulder.
“I am General Zod,” he said. “How do I disable the interference to the Fortress?”
“I’m going to assume that’s a bad idea,” said Ollie.
General Zod moved in close and grabbed the archer by the throat.
“Sorry, bud,” Ollie struggled, his voice hoarse. “It’s my first day. I wouldn’t know where to start.”
Zod dropped Ollie to the ground and studied the computer tech around them. “No matter,” he said, his eyes turning red. “I’ll take care of it myself.”
The computer started beeping again. That was a good sign. Someone else was probably approaching.
“That sounds like a way to go,” said Ollie, taking his time with each word. “But have you considered there could be a fail-safe if Watchtower gets destroyed?”
He had no idea if it was true, but it sounded logical enough.
Zod’s eyes returned to normal, but his face was still just as menacing. “If you’re toying with me–“ he started.
“Stand down, Zod,” said Clark from the entryway.
“Boy, are you a sight for sore eyes,” said Ollie, followed by a deep exhale.
Zod sped over to Clark, trying to grab a hold of him, but the Man of Steel sidestepped, letting a punch fly against the general. Clark reached toward his belt and tossed one of the metal containers toward Ollie.
“This should level the playing field,” Clark said, before getting a punch of his own across the face.
Ollie didn’t waste any time and opened his gift to find the green glow of kryptonite. “Oh boy,” he said, pulling an arrow from his quiver. He quickly affixed the kryptonite to the point, nocked the makeshift arrow, and let it fly, piercing Zod in the back.
The general barely flinched and continued his attack on Clark, who could feel the sting of the kryptonite too. It wouldn’t compare to how Zod felt, whether he showed it or not.
Clark dodged another hit from Zod and kicked him back against the chair. His response time was noticeably slowing, but Clark was feeling sluggish too as he fought through the pain.
“Down!” Ollie yelled as he fired off another arrow, which exploded as it made contact with Zod’s left shoulder.
The detonation sent Zod and Clark flying back in opposite directions.
“You okay, big guy?” asked Ollie, reaching his side.
“I will be when we get Zod contained,” said Clark, reaching for another container from his belt. He opened it up and pulled out the blue kryptonite.
“Whoa,” said Ollie, mesmerized by the glow. “What’s that do?”
“This will level the playing field even more,” Clark explained, jumping forward to Zod before he could rise to his feet. He let a punch fly and followed it up with a kick to the general’s stomach, but it caught in Zod’s arms.
“You’re full of surprises today, son of Jor-El,” he said as he flipped Clark over. “But I’m better than you in every way, powers or not.”
Ollie smiled and leaped into the fight, throwing punches of his own, which Zod blocked, but his retaliatory hits weren’t super-powered anymore. Superman wasn’t kidding about leveling the field.
“Stay down, General,” said Ollie as he finally connected a punch.
But Zod took the impact and returned with a slap across the face which sent Ollie to the ground. He proceeded toward Clark and kicked him down too. The blue k fell out of his hand and rolled to the other side of the room.
Ollie jumped back toward Zod, but he grabbed and tossed him away with such ease it indicated the blue kryptonite’s power-draining effects had worn off from that distance.
Clark was still too close, so he rushed over and bottled it up before Zod could fire a blast of heat vision toward him. A moment sooner and Clark’s skin would have been scorched.
Zod moved his heat vision toward Ollie, but Clark zoomed over, crashing Zod through the emergency covering of the windows. The impact pushed the green kryptonite arrow deeper into Zod’s back, causing him to lose his balance in the vacuum of space.
Clark used the distraction to repair the hole in Watchtower before Ollie could be sucked out. He turned back to Zod and grabbed hold, pulling him back toward the planet.
Ollie stood up, taking a deep breath, and said, “At least it didn’t stay boring up here.”
Near Metropolis General Hospital
“Lois, are you okay?” Linda asked, checking her vitals.
Lois coughed as the dust from the crash cleared. It was dark, except for some light gleaming from the back window. She was able to make out the two paramedics unconscious.
Before she could answer, she cried out in pain.
“This is it, Lois,” said Linda. “You’re going to have to start pushing.”
“Of course I am,” said Lois tensing up all her muscles.
Elsewhere in Metropolis
Moments Later
As they fell toward the planet, Clark grabbed hold of Zod and yanked the kryptonite arrow out of his back. Zod finally showed a painful reaction, but it was deafened by the vacuum of space. Clark tossed the kryptonite away and pushed on the speed toward Earth.
The closer they got, the more Zod resisted against Clark’s hold. That was a good sign. It meant what Clark had planned wouldn’t kill him. He held strong, aiming for an empty area near Metropolis General Hospital. His first instinct was to bring them back down as far away from civilization as possible, but he wanted to be as close to Lois as possible when it was over.
Between being in space and being exposed to kryptonite, Clark had lost sight and sound of his wife. Last he heard, she was being evacuated. He’d focus on finding her again as soon he was done with Zod.
Flames surrounded the two as they picked up speed on reentry. Clark held tight, making sure Zod would take the impact of their crash landing.
“You have promise,” said Zod, his voice less labored than Clark expected it’d be. “But you will never get the upper hand on me again.”
Zod shifted his weight and spun Clark around just before they collided with the ground below, the Man of Steel taking the brunt of the impact.
The two formed a crater as a loud bang echoed all around and clouds of dirt and debris went flying in all directions.
Zod stood over Clark, reaching down to his belt to grasp the one container Clark hadn’t tried t use yet.
“You’ve piqued my curiosity,” said Zod, examining it. “You went for blue and green kryptonite, but never once touched whatever’s in this one.”
“Don’t,” said Clark, straining all his muscles to get up.
But Zod opened it up, revealing a luminous red glow. The scowl on his face dropped as he felt a wave of relaxation flow through his entire body.
Clark had a different reaction. His mind went to one place. “Lois,” he said, scanning the city for any sign of her. His powers were still weakened, but he had to find her.
“I don’t understand,” said Zod. “What does this one do?”
Clark fought through the pain and finally made it to his feet. He hovered to get a better vantage point, but Zod grabbed his feet.
“No,” said Clark without even looking down. He took the last remaining container from his belt and popped it open, immediately dropping with it to the ground.
“You were right before,” said Zod, placing a hand on Clark’s shoulder. “We don’t have to fight. We can–”
Clark flipped around and stabbed the blue k into Zod’s shoulder, following it up with a kick to the stomach.
“I don’t have time for this,” said Clark, climbing out of the crater and running as fast as he could. Once he was far enough, he picked up into the air, finally zeroing in on Lois’ whereabouts. He disappeared in a burst of speed.
Zod got up and put a hand on the crystal stuck into his right arm.
“Don’t move!” a voice ordered from the top of the crater.
Several SCU members surrounded him with their rifles trained.
“It’s over,” said Dan. “You’re under arrest.”
Sinkhole
Clark dropped down to the sinkhole and ripped open the back doors to the ambulance, light flooding inside. “Lois!” he called. “I’ll get you back to the hospital!”
“It’s too late,” said Linda. “We’re pushing.”
Lois breathed heavily as Clark moved to her side. He watched Linda eye the paramedics.
“They’ll be okay,” said Clark after scanning them.
“Push!” Linda ordered.
Soon
Clark handed the newborn baby girl to Lois. Their daughter was wrapped in his cape.
“Congratulations, Lois,” said Linda, lying against the side of the truck with her hands over her head.
The paramedics had since woken up and were outside coordinating with emergency responders at the top of the sinkhole.
“Sorry your husband couldn’t be here,” Linda added.
Lois and Clark shared a smile.
“Does she have a name yet?” Linda asked.
“We–” Clark started before he caught himself. “We’d love to know,” he course-corrected.
“Clark and I went through a few options when we found out we were having a girl,” said Lois. “At one point we were even thinking we should name her after someone from my side of the family since we named our son after Clark’s father. But a name shouldn’t be a competition, it should be what’s right.”
Lois met Clark’s eyes and he nodded and Lois lifted the baby.
“Everyone, meet Lara Ella Kent.”
<< < > Coming June 1st
submitted by MajorParadox to DCFU [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 04:26 moon__lady My IV sedation experience featuring my 3 wisdom teeth they let me keep!

I was anxious going in but everyone’s stories here made me feel a little better so figured I’d share mine! Featuring my teeth the let me keep and my post hour extraction face lol. I had to under the gum up top and one on my lower that was partially erupted.
I checked in for my appointment at 8 in the morning. Put a own payment down for around $900 (even with health insurance 🥹 yay for having a body). One of the staff called me back, so I hugged my sister goodbye and and went back. She weighed me, asked me some questions about the last time I had ate, menstrual cycle, etc. She then asked if I wanted to keep my teeth afterward! Which I was so excited about because I was going to bug them about it anyways lol. I used to ask the tooth fairy if I could keep my teeth so was gonna feel sad if I couldn’t.
The staff took my temp, attached a blood pressure cuff, put some monitoring sticker things in my chest and ribs, finger monitor, and then a little oxygen thing in my nose (felt like Bella from Twilight in the movie lol). She asked if I wanted a blanket and I said yes. There was some music playing on the radio (Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, some upbeat 70s harmonica soft rock which put me at ease ☺️). She was very kind and tapped my arm when she left to reassure me which I appreciated.
I sat for maybe 4-5 minutes waiting for the oral surgeon and his team which was probably the most hard part, because the anticipation was killing me even though I knew I’d be fine. My surgeon came in followed by 3-4 women and they went right to work! He greeted me and I made some jokes, he saw my heart rate was high but reassured me I’d be calm soon. No questions or any small talk really after that, he prepped my arm for the iv and saw my tattoo on my forearm and said “Is that a homunculus?” ( a sperm cell with a small baby in it - an old timey medical drawing of what they used fo think lived inside sperm) As I have a semi niche medical themed tattoo. He was the first person ever to recognize what it was!
There was a small pinch (not bad at all, didn’t even hurt or feel it in me) of the IV. He made some more small talk about homunculus and how there is another kind of homunculus that shows receptors of the brain, and showed the supporting staff the baby in the tattoo; then he said “it’s going to come on a little strong here In a sec”. That didn’t scare me, I just tried to pay a lot of attention to my feelings. I felt almost like I had drank a gin drink really quick, not dizzy but just the room got very warm, the lights felt warmer, and then after that feeling I don’t remember sleeping. The next thing I remember, it was like I had blinked. It wasn’t even waking up per se it was like I had blacked out and then was just in another room. Wasn’t confused, I think I was in a chair in another room. The nurse I think helped me to a wheelchair and wheeled me into the parking lot, which I kind of forget. I started to form real memories once I got in my sisters car and started talking to them.
All in all, I would say the waiting was the most frustrating part and the anticipation was the worst! I have anxious thinking and OCD tendencies so I tend to hyper fixate. One of the ways I cope is by becoming really informed ahead of time of what will happen. I’ve read to much about the science, watched extraction videos, and studied up. So if you are like me, and also afraid of what it may be like to be sedated, know that on day one the worst part will just be the unknown. But to be honest it was kind of cool. If you treat it as like an (expensive but with it) psychedelic experience it’s kind of fun. And you’re so safe in the presence of medical professionals!
💕
submitted by moon__lady to wisdomteeth [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 02:28 Neither-Try-2950 Where to start a new life at 41?

I (41M) finally settled a divorce in the UK, there were no children from the marriage, there's no further dealings at all relating to money, in dollars I earn about 20k per month all online and have no will whatsoever to stick around here. I have been ill about 3 times in my entire life with colds that last a day, I'm in good shape given I swim alot and eat well, so even though I'm an old man now I still feel like there's some life left in me and it's not as if the lack of medical care around the world is a barrier. I'm not about to collapse into a rocking chair to snooze every time I move a few yards.
SEA seems cringe as hell for the stereotype of a bitter 40yo divorcee but the nature and climate look incredible, South America I have no idea if Id ever be welcome anywhere being a white guy who doesn't know a word of Spanish/Portuguese but there looks to be some amazing places to possibly settle.
Have any of you in the past made your mind up to expatriate, without really knowing where you want to go? If all my ideas end up bad at the very least Ill just find somewhere I can structure myself well for tax and take it from there.
submitted by Neither-Try-2950 to expats [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 02:17 cgstories The Devil's Bow and Strings (Ch. 7)

First Chapter Previous Chapter
The weighty thud of a suitcase hitting the floor snapped Mrs. Vilonte from her thoughts. She reached for a shot glass and filled it with scotch, her eyes drifting towards the staircase where her husband stood, ready to depart, his coat and hat in hand, suitcase beside him.
“Such a fine example of a gentleman,” she quipped, before knocking back the shot, the fiery liquid stoking her bitterness while at the same time loosening up the tension in her muscles.
“Shattering our marriage and leaving your family behind. Bravo, truly the epitome of manliness, Philip!”
“I need to go away for a little while for my own sake.”
“Sure, just a little while,” she retorted with a tone dripping in disdain.
“I'll be on my own staying at a hotel downtown. I need to be alone to think about things.”
“Alone? Oh, please. I could smell that cunt’s juice lingering on your breath from here.”
“I already told you that I'm not sleeping around!”
Mrs. Vilonte scoffed incredulously, knowing that wasn't true. While running through the surreal forest in search of escape, she stumbled upon a field of mirrors. There, reflected back at her, she saw him and that... bitch (she couldn't bring herself to say her name).
“You disgust me,” she spat.
“I disgust you? Look around you! Our family is now broken! There's nothing much to salvage. I don't know why I've stayed this long with you.”
Her husband spread his arms, indicating to their sparsely furnished home, a stark contrast to its former opulence, once boasting luxurious chairs, sofas, tables, and an assortment of porcelain and gold souvenirs gathered from various corners of the world. After Mrs. Vilonte's recent release from the hospital, they resorted to selling off belongings to alleviate their mounting debts.
Gabrielle remained missing, and the once fervent public support for their search had dwindled. Instead, attention now fixated on their son George, who had been arrested for a heinous crime, a revelation that shook Mrs. Vilonte to her core, questioning if his profession as a pediatrician concealed darker truths.
As if their troubles weren't enough, the Vilontes faced another blow as their son-in-law Eric de Leon announced that once Gabrielle was found, he would sever ties following a leaked video of his wife's affair. At first, Mrs. Vilonte dismissed the rumors, convinced of their falsehood until the relentless gossip and media scrutiny left her with no choice but to see it for herself.
Despite her belief that they were mistaken, the disturbing reality sneered at her in the video. It wasn't just her daughter losing herself in the throes of passion that upset her, but the sickening revelation was that the man was none other than the young-looking Salerno. He stood there, drenched in sweat, gasping for air, a triumphant grin plastered across his face as he stared directly into the camera.
The sight was seared into her mind, a repulsive image she longed to erase and obliterate from her memory.
She poured another generous measure of scotch, the amber liquid glinting in the dim light. Downing it in one motion, she clenched her eyes shut, feeling the sting of hot tears welling behind her eyelids.
The once vibrant family photographs that were hung on the walls now seemed to mock the present reality. They were moments of happiness and togetherness that felt distant and unattainable.
Their meals together had become silent affairs, punctuated only by the clinking of cutlery and the heavy sighs of resignation. Love had been replaced by apathy, joy by melancholy. They had become strangers to each other.
“This isn't the life I envisioned for our family,” she murmured, her voice tinged with regret. “Do you ever wonder what got us to this level of wealth? How we have managed to come this far?”
“Because of our children, of course. And Gabrielle had been the one to give us so much.”
With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she erupted into laughter, her hand finding its place over her heart as if to contain the cynicism and bitterness bursting within. Her head swayed from side to side in disagreement.
“Oh, Philip, you don't know anything.”
Exasperated, Mr. Vilonte released a heavy sigh, his gaze narrowing with frustration as he focused on her. “That's because you never tell me anything. You always keep me in the dark.”
“You wouldn't like the truth. If you knew, trust me, you'd despise yourself.”
“I just want the truth.”
Perhaps fueled by the scotch coursing through her veins, she felt a surge of excitement, finally ready to shove the raw truth in her husband's face. “Everything you've ever enjoyed—the house, our children's successes, the money—they’re all because of me!”
“You? Just you alone?” he dismissed with a snort.
“I may have had a little help from beyond.”
“Beyond? What does that even mean?”
“I made a deal with some…with something…” her voice trailed off, the words hard to admit. “When Gabby lost her role as First Chair violinist at the beginning of her senior year, I felt I had no choice but to intervene. I did what needed to be done.”
Mr. Vilonte's voice carried a weight of seriousness as he asked, “What did you do?”
“I offered sacrifices. Victoria was the first, and Gabby was the second.”
Mrs. Vilonte stood up, her legs unsteady from the scotch's effects.
With careful steps, she walked over to a table and picked up Gabby's violin which had been believed to have been destroyed at the concert hall, yet it mysteriously reappeared by her bedside one morning.
She shoved the instrument into her husband's hands. “This violin is Victoria.”
“You mean that you stole this from the Sullivan girl?” He blinked at her, taken aback.
“No, I didn’t steal it. What I'm saying is, this violin is made out of her.”
Mr. Vilonte drew in a sharp breath through clenched teeth. “Isabella, really now! You're talking nonsense.”
He returned the violin to her, wiping his hands with a handkerchief as if ridding them of something unclean. Mrs. Vilonte then pulled out the bow from the case and showed him its auburn hairs.
“Do you remember that she had hair like this?” she asked. “Dark red hair. This is her hair. And the wood of the violin and bow… not real wood but bones. Her bones!”
Mr. Vilonte scowled. “Stop it! Stop talking!”
But she pressed on, her voice escalating in fervor. “You need to understand. I wasn't just in a coma at the hospital; I was transported elsewhere, to another realm entirely. It was a shadowy forest, seemingly lifeless except for the tree surrounding me. They were alive. They stood bare, devoid of leaves or undergrowth. Then this monstrous creature appeared and felled one of the trees. The tree let out a cry. It screamed. I believe those trees were souls. The creature crafted string instruments from them, but Gabby's violin is unique. Hers was made not just from Victoria's soul, but from her very flesh and bones.”
Mr. Vilonte stood in stunned silence, only to be snapped out of it by a car horn blaring from their driveway. He cleared his throat, donned his hat and coat, and grabbed his suitcase.
“That's my ride,” he said.
“Didn't you hear anything I just said?”
“I... I'm at a loss for words, Isabella.”
“Don't go, Philip! Please, stay.”
“And why should I?”
“Because... because…” Her voice trailed off, unable to find a compelling reason.
“I need to leave,” he sighed, pausing at the door. Turning to his wife, he added, "Please, Isabella, seek help. I beg of you.”
Mrs. Vilonte moved to the window, drawing back the curtains just enough to see her traitorous former assistant in the driver's seat. Anger welled up inside her, fueling a sudden craving for another sip of scotch.
XXXXX
“You’re quiet. Is there something wrong?” Sara asked, quickly glancing over at him. Mr. Vilonte sighed as he gazed out the window. “It's just... I'm amazed at how fast my life has turned upside down within a matter of weeks.”
“Did you tell her about us? Are you having regrets?”
“No regrets about us,” he reassured her, “and somehow, she already knew about us. I'm not sure how, but she did.” He reached over, placing a comforting hand on her thigh and gently stroking it.
“Good! I was starting to think you were going to ask me to turn this car around and drive you back to that devil woman!”
“Oh, definitely not! You know much I would rather be with you. I can't wait until we get to the hotel.”
Sara smiled and pushed the gas pedal, but as she crossed the train tracks, the car suddenly stopped. Despite pressing the gas again, the car remained immobile, the car remained stuck in place.
XXXXX
Her hands glided over the violin's smooth surface, fingers delicately plucking the strings. The sound swelled, filling the quiet house. She reached once more for her scotch, taking another sip.
She tried to make sense of the chaos that had become her life. It was as if a storm had swept away everything she held dear, leaving behind only wreckage and ruin.
XXXXX
The engine hummed, and the wheels screeched against the railroad tracks, but the car wouldn't budge. Sara switched off the engine, then restarted it, pressing the gas again.
“Why isn't it moving?” Mr. Vilonte questioned.
Sara slammed her palm against the steering wheel, exclaiming, “I have no idea!”
As the warning bell sounded and the barriers lowered, he yelled at her to hit the gas—the train was nearing. With the car still stuck, Mr. Vilonte suggested they ditch it and run to safety.
However, when he pressed the ejection button, his seat belt tightened around him, holding Sara back as well. Panic surged through them. They frantically pulled at their seatbelts and pressed the ejection button with growing desperation.
Mr. Vilonte glanced out the window, his eyes widening in alarm as the freight train drew nearer, its horn blaring loudly.
XXXXX
The shot glass tumbled from her fingers, hitting the wooden floor with a clang and rolling away, leaving a trace of spilled scotch. Gripping the violin tightly with both hands, her hold grew stronger, fueled by a rage that heated her blood.
She opened her mouth, unleashing a guttural scream that echoed through the room. Clutching the violin by its delicate neck, she hoisted it high and forcefully slammed it onto the table with all her might. The instrument shattered upon impact, with strings snapping and splinters scattering in all directions.
Tears welled in her eyes. She raised the broken instrument and flung it against the wall. Moving to the scattered pieces, she lifted her foot and stomped down on the pieces, envisioning each stomp as a blow to her husband's face.
“Fucking bastard! You and your trash whore!”
When she was lost in the field of mirrors, each mirror presented a window into a potential future. She had watched their entangled figures in bed, and overcome by the sight, she took a rock and shattered the glass. But the pieces reassembled on their own, replaying the scene before her again.
In one mirror, a different scene played before. George appeared smart in his suit, yet his hands were bound behind him as he was led into court. The judge pronounced him guilty, struggling to keep his composure as he read aloud the details of the horrific crime. His voice was thick with revulsion.
Then in another, she witnessed her granddaughter growing up without a father, while her mother was lost in profound depression. Friends and neighbors turned their backs on the family, and as school bullying and financial problems escalated, they were forced to move from house to apartment, ultimately finding themselves living out of their car.
Victoria's cackling laughter surrounded her. “See what will become of your family.” Mrs. Vilonte covered her ears, pleading. “Stop it! Stop laughing! I don't want to hear it!”
“Oh, but look, not all of your future is bleak. Sometimes, there's a glimmer of sunshine after the rain.”
“Lies!”
“Look in that mirror. Open your eyes. See for yourself.”
She turned to see a mirror revealing Gabrielle in bed, restless and tossing. Her eyes clenched shut, sweat glistening on her brow as she cried out for her mother. Beside her was a small red creature, with thin arms and legs, bearing the face and tusks of a swine.
The sight was deeply unsettling. The mere sight of the creature filled her with an overwhelming sense of disgust, as she gazed upon an abomination that defied nature itself.
XXXXX
The crash happened in an instant. As the train barreled forward, the car was crushed beneath its force metal twisting and bending, windows exploding into shards. The deafening noise of metal grinding and glass shattering overwhelmed him.
A powerful force hurled him into the air. Then, as fast as it had all happened, his vision darkened to black. When he finally came to, he was upside down, held in place by the seat belt. He glanced towards Sara, but she appeared as a red blur; his vision still clearing.
Tentatively reaching out, he felt her warm, soft skin, which was damp. Bringing his hand closer, he saw his fingers were covered in blood mingled with fragments of flesh.
The air thickened around him as the devastating realization washed over him like a tidal wave, leaving him numb. His fingers clenched into fists, nails digging into his palms as he struggled to hold back his grief.
In that moment, Mr. Vilonte felt his soul enveloped by a darkness so deep that it seemed impossible to find his way back to the surface. But, suddenly, the stink of gasoline blended with burning metal and rubber reached him, pulling him back to reality.
He knew he had to escape the car immediately. His fingers fumbled for the ejection button, but hesitated when the ground started to shake and he spotted the hooves of what appeared to be a large goat approaching.
XXXXX
Her breath came in ragged, uneven gasps, each one a struggle as she grappled with the overwhelming emotions that threatened to eat her up. She steadied herself against the wall before bending down to gather the broken violin pieces. She tossed them one by one into the fireplace, dousing them with lighter fluid and setting them ablaze.
As the fire consumed the wood, it crackled and hissed, releasing tiny embers that spiraled upwards like fiery spirits seeking escape. The varnish on the violin began to bubble and blister, turning from a glossy sheen to a charred, matte texture.
Victoria's bones began to smolder, its fibers unraveling and curling as they were consumed by the heat. The scent that filled the room was a mix of burning bones and melting varnish, a pungent aroma that stung the nostrils and lingered in the air.
She sank into the sofa chair, taking a swig directly from the scotch bottle. A blend of relief and closure washed over her as she watched the flames reduce the violin to ashes.
submitted by cgstories to Odd_directions [link] [comments]

2024.05.02 01:29 WeirdViper WRESTLEMANIA

The show opens with a video package hyping up all the matches taking place tonight as we then get right into the action
BLOODLINE RULES
Guerillas of Destiny vs The Usos
Results: These 2 teams start off hot and fast as they are brawling all over the place, at one point Jey jumps from the top rope splashing Tanga through the announce table. But in the ring Tama takes out Jimmy and picks up the win
Winners: GoD
Intercontinental Championship
Swerve Strickland(c) vs Gunther vs Ilja Dragunov
Results: All 3 men wanting their Wrestlemania moment, leaving it all in the ring, Dragunov nails the Torpedo Moscow on Gunther, as Dragunov goes for the pin, Swerve nails the Killshot and covers Dragunov to retain his title
Winner: Swerve Strickland
After the match Gunther stays in the ring briefly looking at the huge crowd as they applaud him, as rumours of his future have been spread recently.
Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair & Scarlett vs Skye Blue, Karmen Petrovic & Julia Hart
Results: The young up and coming team spend all match taking short cuts, trying to use cheap tricks to gain/keep the momentum. Charlotte goes to the top to hit a moonsault when Skye Blue pushes the ref in the way and Charlotte takes out the ref leading to all 6 women brawling, suddenly all 3 of Blue, Petrovic & Hart spray mist in the eyes of the 3 vets, and take them all down, Skye Blue nails the Code Blue on Charlotte and picks up the victory
Winners: Skye Blue, Karmen Petrovic, & Julia Hart
WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP LADDER MATCH
Ricky Starks & Alexander Hammerstone(c) vs FTR vs Sheamus & Drew Mcintyre vs Ricochet & Trick Williams
Results: These teams are having an all out car wreck from the opening bell, everyone taking hard bumps and delivering hard shots, in the closing moments, Sheamus, Drew, Starks and Dax are on ladders together. Drew nails the Glasgow Kiss headbutt on Dax sending him down, Sheamus picks up Starks and delivers white noise off the ladder leaving Drew alone to grab the tag team titles.
Winners: NEW Tag Team Champions, Drew Mcintyre & Sheamus
Karrion Kross vs MJF
Results: These 2 are in a match that has gone under the radar by many but both see that as a challenge to steal the show, MJF trying everything he can to take advantage of the stronger Kross. Out of nowhere Kross gets MJF in a front facelock, Kross points to the sky and delivers a vicious DDT planting MJF on his face and covers him for the win
Winner: Karrion Kross
As Kross is leaving he stops up on the stage and faces the crowd when out from the back walks WWE Hall of Famer Jake Roberts, who walks up to Kross and the two men shake hands and then leave together
Bloodline Rules
The Rock vs Solo Sikoa
Results: This match goes all over the arena, up the ramp, in the crowd, around the ring, at one point Rock has a weight belt and is just whipping Solo all over, eventually Solo gains control and delivers a Samoan Spike dropping Rock. Solo does not go for the pin as he sits Rock up and delivers another Spike, he does this repeatedly delivering SIX Samoan Spikes to Rock's throat before finally pinning him for the win
Winner: Solo Sikoa
Women's Championship 4 way Cage Match
Rhea Ripley(c) vs Tiffany Stratton vs Toni Storm vs Liv Morgan
Results: All 4 of these women use the cage to their benefit and feel the viciousness of it, after fighting for awhile, the trio of Rhea, Toni & Liv are all down in the ring, Tiffany slowly climbs to the top of the cage as if to escape, but she then stands up and does the Prettiest Moonsault Ever off the top of the cage landing on all 3 women. Tiffany crawls into a pin on Rhea for the win
Winner: NEW Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton
Finn Balor vs AJ Styles vs Cody Rhodes
Results: These 3 men come into this match in a weird place as there have been questionable actions between them yet all 3 went to ask for this match together, seeming to have something to prove. This match goes on awhile as they put on an amazing show, multiple chants of "This is Awesome". In the closing moments, AJ is down, Cody goes for CrossRhodes on Balor, but Balor reverses it and hits 1916 on Cody for the win
Winner: Finn Balor
After the match Cody gets up slowly, he and Finn stare eachother down before Finn offers up the 'Too Sweet' sign, Cody looks around before he slowly raises his hand to match the 'Too Sweet' as the fans cheer AJ Styles reappears staring at both men, as AJ has been the one taking shortcuts recently. Cody & Finn keep the 'Too Sweet' up as AJ looks at the 2 men and then at their hands as the crowd chants 'Yes, Yes' slowly AJ raises his hand and all 3 men give eachother the 'Too Sweet' and then leave the ring together
Bloodline Rules
Roman Reigns vs Jacob Fatu
Results: This match feels different instantly as Roman does not come out with his usual slow, boss level entrance, he walks straight to the ring going right after Jacob and its a brawl. These two delivering big shots all over, Roman spearing Jacob into the announcers area, Jacob splashes Roman through the announce desk, eventually Jacob goes to that leg he slammed in the car door weeks ago and Roman struggles to fight it, Jacob then sits Roman down in the corner, a chair over his head and runs into him hard. Roman seems out of it but Jacob is not done, as Jacob puts a table in the ring, putting Roman on it and delivers his trademark moonsault putting Roman through the table before finally pinning Roman for the win
Winner: Jacob Fatu
Women's Tag Team Championship 4 Way Elimination Match
Cora Jade & Roxanne Perez(c) vs Dakota Kai & Zelina Vega vs Kayden Carter & Katana Chance vs Asuka & Giulia
Results: Being an elimination match, the champs Cora & Roxanne are in no hurry to get in the ring spending little time in there letting the other teams fight. ELIMINATION #1 Perez hits Pop Rox on Asuka and pins her to eliminate Asuka & Giulia, before Asuka is even out of the ring Giulia has walked off leaving her. Elimination #2 Cora Jade hits Jaded on Dakota Kai to eliminate Kai & Vega.
Down to Cora Jade & Roxanne Perez vs Katana Chance & Kayden Carter, Chance & Carter the more experienced as a team come close to the win, but as Katana goes to the top rope to finish off Roxanne, Cora Jade yells at Kayden to draw her into the ring to distract the referee and Cora uses her now trademark pipe to nail Katana off the top rope. Roxanne gets up and delivers Pop Rox for the win.
Winner: Cora Jade & Roxanne Perez
MAIN EVENT
WWE Championship
Carmelo Hayes(c) vs CM Punk
Results: This match has an old school feel early on as both men take it slow, feeling each other out, Punks veteran tactics work for awhile and he hits a GTS and nearly picks up the win but Hayes barely kicks out. In the end Carmelo hits the Nothing But Net scissors kick and picks up the huge Wrestlemania Main Event victory to retain his title
Winner: Carmelo Hayes
As Mania is going off the air Carmelo is celebrating in the ring as Punk sits on the floor outside holding his right arm
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2024.05.02 00:29 wompuschompus Heck of a honeymoon

Heck of a honeymoon
My third time in Costa Rica and my wife's first time visiting last week - gets better everytime.
Spent the first few days in Playa Langosta then our final two days at the Hotel Hacienda Guachapelin right outside Rincon De La Vieja National Park. It was hot at the tail end of dry season but it felt amazing up in the rainforest.
Plenty of glorious sunsets on the beach each night and fished under the full moon around 4:30am one morning off the beach. Saw some roosterfish crashing out of reach but landed some snook and big jacks. When we first arrived it was very windy but the winds shifted and we were graced with a peaceful ocean the rest of the week.
3/4 day fishing charter yielded absolutely nothing all morning but our captain busted his butt to find the fish. We located a massive pod of spinner dolphins 15 miles offshore and the captain carefully anticipated their direction change to position us in front of them. Few minutes later and we had 7 yellowfin tuna in the boat, biggest around 35 lbs. Had a marlin and two sailfish come into the spread at the end of the day but no dice. But you can't keep then anyways...
Fresh tuna is still currency some places so we were able to barter for all kinds of stuff. I highly recommend the Dragonfly Grill to cook your catch and if you bring a big loin of tuna to Reinas Chocolate, the owner will trade you their fantastic chocolates (chocolate tea is amazing btw) pound for pound! Just make sure you blot your fish with paper towels and put it in a new bag to keep it fresh as possible. Ice is a little difficult to find so I recommend putting your fish in tightly sealed bags on top of ice and putting cooler in fridge or keep inside.
Another awesome spot for cocktails and food is Bistro Langosta. The bartender, Gabo, took excellent care of us and introduced me to all sorts of delicious drinks. I also ate an absurd amount of star fruit and they prepared a killer Tuna Tower with our fish. If you've never tried star fruit, see if you can get a local to show you a nearly ripe one or you might fall out chair when you sink your teeth in one.
I highly recommend doing an estuary tour with Tamarindo Estuary Boat Safari. Our guide Ivan was very knowledgeable and made every effort to help us locate crocodiles, interesting birds, mangrove raccoons, and all sorts of critters. MAKE SURE TO ASK HIM TO CALL TO THE HOWLER MONKEYS - you won't be disappointed.
If you're looking for a cool breakfast experience one day, check out Sueno Del Mar. It's a really cool B&B on the beach that serves a pre-set three course vegetarian meal. Usually they start with coffee and some unique juice, a delicious plate of fruit, an egg dish of sorts (we got Huevos Rancheros) and then a sweet treat at the end. The owner is awesome and makes his own hot sauces. But make sure you go very early in the morning and find the Casa Luna path to the beach first - there is a huge troop of Howler Monkeys that get riled up in the morning. See last photo for a surprise. He be hanging ______
Finally, we did the adventure combo tour at Hotel Guachapelin. In hindsight, horseback riding may have been a questionable decision... we were packed on a trail with like 40 people and my horse was ornery. I kept saying "muy been, mi amigo" and prayed he wouldn't launch me off the side of a cliff. But the tubing is frickin sick - cold clean water and lots of wildlife around. Ziplining was not for the faint of heart - I'm talking through river gorges 150 feet down. But the fact that it was $105/pp and they discounted the room to $120 for the night is appealing.
The Hotel room was pretty nice and the food was decent. The drinks and service were very good. Everything is charged to your room number. Oropendola Waterfall is an easy hike and swimming below it was refreshing. Hot springs aren't my cup of tea when it's 90 degrees out but there were a bunch of Basilisks skittering around the river and sniping dragonflies. Very cool to observe the "Jesus lizard" walk on water.
The convenient part was we were only 40min from Liberia airport and it was an easy ride the next day. They provide a pretty good breakfast buffet and you still have access to the amenities until 12 noon. Only need to get to airport about 2 hours before flight in my opinion.
Forgive me if this was too much info as it's my first time posting on Reddit but I wanted to share everything that made our honeymoon awesome in hopes of helping someone else have a great trip. I'm happy to answer questions or feel free to banish me back to the shadows from whence I came.
Pura Vida!!
Quick Tips:
-Get a bunch of SMALL bills in colones before departing. Small USD amounts helpful too. -10% service charge covers gratuity but we added another 10% for great service. -Capital One Venture Card = no foreign transaction fees and reduced rental car costs -Bug spray is essential. So is Solar Recovery spray. Grab some reef friendly sunscreen too. -A good sun shirt with a hoodie is your best friend -Ask your rental car company for a cooler - they likely will provide one for free which is clutch. -VAMOS rental car was a great experience. They shuttle you from LIR airport and a good price. -Snorkeling/sunset booze cruise is a must. Drink your fill of cheap rum and enjoy a great sunset. -Portable first aid kits are very handy for bug bites, rock scrapes, tuna melting your thumb, etc.
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2024.05.01 23:34 antiqueletterbox The dissin' of Kristoph Gavin - 1/2

spoilers for basically every Ace Attorney game
Just gonna jump right into it.
Kristoph Gavin is one of my least favorite culprits. The way he was handled contributes heavily to my problems with his game as a whole, and he alone brings the entire story down to a degree no other lone entity can match.
I don't think my (very muddy) thoughts on Kris alone can cover exactly why I think he deserves to go out now, so along with the Piss King Himself, I'll also be bringing up just about all the other big culprits, too. In doing so, I hope to explain not only why I find Kristoph to be a lacking villain, but why all the remaining options (and the ones that aren't) succeed where he fails, backed by specific examples. Evidence is everything in court.
I. Kristoph Gavin - The Coolest Defense in the West
I know this guy's type... and they're dangerous. Everything's about the competition. All else is secondary.
Who is Kristoph Gavin?
To summarize Kristoph, as far as I understand him, anyway: he's a defense attorney, and a skilled one, at that. He rocks the title of "Coolest Defense in the West" through his steadfast self-assurance. He's wildly famous, wildly successful, and just generally well-off in all aspects of life. He's also a killer with a competitive streak that runs so deep he'll ruin - even take - countless lives over the most trifling of losses. Just read the above quote about him - that's who he is.
While this competitive side of his and the most openly-discussed trait of his in-game, I don't think it's exactly the heart of the character. If he were just a victory-driven attorney, he'd be another Von Karma, and that's not what Kristoph is at all. At least, not entirely.
As I see it, the root cause of... just about every bit of misery sourced from Kristoph Gavin, is a massive, unfaltering "me" complex. Kristoph's a special soul. An unparalleled soul, even. To him, the world begins and ends at his feet. This is no more apparent than when said world is reduced to little more than a tiny (if well-furnished) box. Per Kristoph during his Mason System interrogation:
I hardly need remind you that I am not a free man. I care little about the outside world. Save advances in chair technology.
I like using this line to represent what I see as the core of Kristoph's character, for one because it's really funny. But mostly because it captures exactly what I'm talking about in one pithy statement. Everything in the world exists in relation to Kristoph. If it doesn't matter to him, it doesn't matter, period. He loves to compete! ("Is this farce necessary, Your Honor? ...Fine, I'll play along.") At least until it isn't fun anymore. ("Don't expect me to play along with your little game, Wright.")
It says a lot that Apollo knows his first client as a friend of his boss, but not that said client is the legendary former defense attorney Phoenix Wright, because that's mere trivia to Kristoph (at least as far as he'll admit, but I'll get to that in a moment). Likewise, it's important that Klavier is established to be wildly successful in his own right, a prodigy prosecutor and a worldwide rockstar, so that when Kristoph unfailingly refers to him as merely "my brother", it tells you everything you need to know about the guy.
Mostly everything, anyway. There's still the matter of murder. How does a man whose self-confidence is otherwise so unshakeable, end up like this come the story's end? I don't think the answer necessarily lies with Kristoph himself.
Remember the quote at the start of this section, the one about Kristoph Gavin? If you haven’t played through 4-4 in a minute, you might not have caught it. But I lied. It was a trick. A naughty magician's trick. That line, as applicable as it is to Kristoph, is about none other than the man whose blood Kristoph wears: the one and only Shadi Smith AKA Shadi Enigmar AKA bastard AKA Zachary "Zak" Gramarye.
Zak, much like Kristoph, strives to tear down an innocent man for the sake of competition. Zak, like Kristoph, is an irrational, borderline insane individual to the outside observer. Zak, like Kristoph, doesn't quite care for the spirit of competition as much as he may posture about it, evidenced by the pair's many underhanded plays. In short, Zak Gramarye and Kristoph Gavin are cut from the same cloth, and that's something the latter can't stand.
Though they may be kindred spirits, they're far from the same person, and that's where Kristoph's ego comes into play. The idea that Kristoph could lose the biggest opportunity in his career over something as trivial as a card game bewilders him, even though, from an outsider's perspective, that's exactly what it looks like when Kristoph brains Zak seven years later: just an act of absurd pettiness. In both cases, however, the motive runs deeper. Zak's mandatory defense attorney poker match is his way of gauging his opponent's trustworthiness (an effective method, to boot), while Kristoph's killing of Zak isn't just an act of petty revenge, or even a simple cover-up, but an outright necessity for the man to silence that nagging voice in the back of his head, repeating: you're nothing special.
In a sense, Kristoph's downfall was brought upon by none other than Kristoph himself - three times over, at that. Look at how each player's method of screwing with their respective target identical, with all three framing their opponent via forged evidence. Yeah I said three, I haven't forgotten about the third member of this three-way poker match.
Phoenix Wright exists as an anomaly in Kristoph's world. A purported legend, yet by all accounts, a complete everyman. This is the guy who stole my gig? Unacceptable. It's not enough that Kristoph disgraces him and strips him of his badge, no; he'll only be satisfied bringing Wright to his knees personally. That's why he goes about Zak's murder the way that he does, so he has the chance to personally show Wright what he does best. Not just best, better. But... you know the story. He's caught, and he goes to prison with a smile on his face, because despite everything, he's still Kristoph Gavin. Still the best. No one can top him.
Until someone does. Until someone employs the very same long-spanning scheming against him, beating him at his own game in the same way he intended to. And the absolute kicker? That someone is the very same upstart who had the gall to show up THE Kristoph Gavin. By that point, no amount of ego can shield Kristoph from the truth any longer: not only is he nothing special, but he's second place to Phoenix Wright. And having to confront that knowledge head-on and live with it for the rest of his life, is a worse kind of self-inflicted mental punishment than any sort of confinement.
Kristoph Gavin is kinda cool. This is a very rudimentary reading, but even so, I feel it at least grazes the impressive amount of depth he possesses. As a sheer character study, Kristoph's great, and if I were only looking at him through that lens I'd not have much - if anything - negative to say about him.
II. Kristoph Gavin - The Man
I feel like I've peered into her heart a little, you know? And it's so cold, and dark... and incredibly lonely.
With so much intrigue surrounding him, what could possibly make Kristoph a bad culprit?
I guess it’s mostly a matter of perception. Some people are more lenient on certain things, and harsher on others.
For me, the biggest factor in my dislike of Kristoph is his confrontation. He gets all of thirty minutes to his big, climactic courtroom takedown, a grand total of one testimony, a cool three pieces of evidence, before he's finally defeated by everyone expositing on how sexy Phoenix Wright is. Great stuff guys.
Is this an unpopular opinion? Kristoph’s lack of a good confrontation was the most frequent talking point surrounding him as far back as I remember, yet I rarely see it brought up these days. Is it just because the point’s been beaten to death? Or am I actually crazy for thinking hey, maybe the final boss should take a little more player input to take down than Frank Sahwit?
Over the course of the investigation leading into 4-4’s big showdown, you learn (at least an approximation of) who killed the victim(s), how he did it, and why he did it. The only real point of contention that leaves the game is with regard to its big overarching themes, which I also feel it fails to deliver on, but I’ll get to that. For now, I want to focus on why Kristoph is the absolute worst thing a game can be, or rather, can’t be.
He isn’t fun.
I like Ace Attorney because the way it presents a mystery is fucking cool. The direct line to the culprit behind the mystery makes for a good gameplay formula. I love the back-and-forth of its arguments. I love when a cleverly hidden trap is sprung that puts the protagonist worse off than they started, and I especially love overcoming those insurmountable odds with my Big Brain Moves.
Kristoph has none of that. If a mystery isn’t doing the bare minimum to keep involved, whether through letting me guess and theorize on where the story will go or giving me a hand in deciding the course of things, chances are it’s not going to sit well with me at all. Since the takedown of Kristoph Gavin doesn’t so much as humor either of these, I’m left with a sour impression of both Kristoph and his entire game.
And it would be one thing if AJ was deliberately going for something cool and different, but despite all its posturing about turning the page to a new story, 4-4 still succumbs to the AA formula. You still go through the motions of proving him wrong, you still get his big dramatic breakdown at the end of the trial, it’s just seriously unearned, completely missing the point of why culprits are even given breakdowns in the first place.
Kristoph is the most toothless culprit by a wide margin, backed by the most toothless prosecutor by an equally wide margin. No amount of funny quips and flowery language can take that away from him. And it’s especially glaring, because the series can and has integrated the actual argumentative process - very core of its gameplay - into its narrative, rather than sacrificing one for the other.
• Manfred von Karma is catharsis personified. Every solitary act he takes is done for the express purpose of making you fear and, more importantly, loathe him. I think the moment Manfred personally gives you a penalty might be one of the most effective tone-setters in the series, not to mention a great, novel (for the time) twist on an otherwise basic gameplay mechanic. All this of course builds up to the extreme rush of satisfaction reaped from taking this absolute prosecutorial titan down by your own hands. I maintain that the best animation in Ace Attorney is this one - not because it looks particularly cool or anything, but for what it signifies in the marathon of a case that is 1-4. Seeing Von Karma, otherwise more of a monster than a man, reduced to the same sweating, desperate killer you’ve dealt with like nothing throughout the rest of the game? This is peak Ace Attorney and I will NOT hear any arguments to the contrary.
• Calisto Yew is uhh pretty neat. i think her and Kristoph would be makeup besties, like if you agree
• A good chessmaster can't rely on their own skill alone - not when there's someone just as skilled, maybe moreso, sitting opposite. Ace Attorney's quintessential chessmaster, Simon Keyes, embodies this better than anyone. He's a highly active player, both in terms of his banter with Edgeworth and his murder plots. Especially his murder plots. So many moving pieces in each of his schemes, yet he ends the game with everything he wanted. How? Not because he’s some genius god of law that can’t be touched, but because he plans. The life he’s lived, he doesn’t trust anyone or anything, not even fate, and acts accordingly, setting up his pieces so that no matter what move his opponent makes, he wins. Simon Keyes wouldn’t even have to appear on-screen and I’d say he’s one of the most intricate characters in the series through the implications behind his actions alone.
In short, there’s no good reason for Kristoph to be the way he is. Not when so many of his peers meet this criteria, arguably the most important for an Ace Attorney killer to meet, with such grace. Every other culprit, final or not, at least has the decency to put up a fight (some of them too well). Kristoph’s takedown, by the most baseline of comparisons, is just. Nothing.
III. Kristoph Gavin - The Mystery
Let me propose a toast. To uncovering the truth... by fair means or foul.
Then what does his takedown actually entail?
Because he does have one, scant as it is. And since it’s so scant, it’s actually pretty easy to talk about.
First, the evidence. After you get Kristoph on the stand, you present a total of three pieces of evidence when prompted. This, on its own, would be a very unimpressive showing for a villain as hyped-up as Kristoph. It’s worse in the context of 4-4 as a whole, where you already know the meaning behind every piece of evidence. There’s no mystery left to solve, the story’s over. Why are we dragging this poor guy onto the stand to bully him.
That’s one half of the player’s contributions to Kristoph’s defeat. The other half is his Perceive segment.
I don’t like Perceive, in general. It’s possibly the most unfun mechanic I've ever seen in a puzzle game, and conveniently, 4-4 captures both ends of the Perceive Bad spectrum. Kristoph is squarely on the easy end of that spectrum - again, not a good look for the guy built up as The Literal Devil - having a very basic, very obvious tic.
One of my biggest issues with Perceive is that it never feels like it goes anywhere? Compare the debut games for the Magatama and Mood Matrix. With the former, it’s used consistently as an infallible tool, with special attention drawn to Phoenix using it to test his clients. So when he asks Matt about de Killer, and you hear the telltale sound of chains rattling and locks clanging into place, it’s all your mounting nightmares realized. With the latter, it’s basically the entire basis for the Phantom as a concept, a visualization of how much of an antithesis he is to the story’s core message. Perceive is just. Look at this dude’s fucked up hand. The closest it gets to any kind of special, standout use is in perceiving Brushel’s armpits so…. that’s cool???
More than anything, what upsets me about Kristoph’s takedown beyond the sheer disappointment of it, is that it’s the same thing we’ve seen throughout the rest of the story. The game spends two entire cases building up the idea that some criminals can’t be caught through normal means, but normal means are all you’re allowed to employ against Kristoph!!! while Phoenix does all the cool shit offscreen!!! and it’s so unnecessary!!! There are plenty of cues they could’ve taken from other killers who don’t have this massive issue.
• Shelly de Killer is the unsung star of 2-4's latter trial. It makes me ANGRY!!!! when people say he has no character because he absolutely does. The player’s overarching goal over the course of his cross-examination, beyond the immediate “oh god oh fuck don’t get maya murked”, is to get into the headspace of these two fucked up weirdos, Shelly in particular. Between 2-4’s co-killers, he’s the one who mostly often occupies the witness stand, and he’s the one the trial’s final test hinges upon. You can’t outplay the two of them without really paying attention to how they both operate, and pitting de Killer’s monstrous values against Matt’s monstrous ideals is a genius capper to what isn’t a murder mystery at all, but an extensive character study of the episode’s entire cast.
• Perhaps an even better spin on the above exists in Ashley Graydon. A lifetime of scraping and scrounging have shaped an absolute weasel of an opponent, one who'll seize any and every opportunity he can get. The final cross-examination theme more than earns the name "Reasoning Battle", what with Graydon fighting like the caged rat he is. He's no stranger to creating his own fortune, and his bargain with Gregson ends up flipping one of the series' staple archetypes on its head, turning the reliable, run-of-the-mill facts-dispenser into an impenetrable wall in his own right. The game throws just about everything it can at you in this one trial, including one of the few puzzles where the answer can't be found in the court record. It's a steep uphill climb to put Graydon on the ropes, but when you do finally break him, it's nothing short of triumphant. Varied as opinions on Ashley get, it's impossible to deny he's one of the most unique killers to date. I really hope he lasts at least a bit longer.
• There’s nothing I can say about Damon Gant that hasn’t been said already. His rise to power was born of maybe the most heinous schemes the series has conceived, compounded by one of the most heinous traps the series has designed. A very effective trap, too, judging by how many “am i softlocked in 1-5???” threads this place gets. Great character, great opponent.
There have been plenty of examples of killers who switch up the standard gameplay formula to create a fun, unique experience. Why couldn’t Kristoph be one of them? Why did they have to make it so the solution to the Kristoph Problem is something boringly orated to the audience instead of something you get to put into effect yourself?
It's generally a bad thing when a story completely alienates the reader, rather than sucking them in, immersing and involving them in the experience. For a video game, the most interactive medium ever, to reduce the player to a mere bystander is just, an insane decision to make. I don’t get it.
IV. Kristoph Gavin - The Mentor
You may have hated me to the very end... but I... I've always looked up to you. Thank you for everything up until now. ......And goodbye.
You know who else is a bystander?
The guy whose name is in the title.
I'm 100% sincere in my opinion that the best game to explore Apollo's relationship with Kristoph is Dual Destinies, in which the latter doesn't even appear. It certainly isn’t the game he’s the main overarching villain of, in which Apollo’s allowed to be little more than Phoenix’s proxy. He gets one case at most to actually flex his identity as The New Guy who is definitely different from Phoenix, and it’s one of the two Kristoph isn’t even in.
I genuinely believe one of the reasons Apollo’s story throughout his trilogy is so infamously tumultuous is because his nonexistent relationship with Kristoph robs him of any recurring idea he could’ve kept himself tethered to. Instead, he drifts aimlessly from the grounded, distinct, yet tragically underused fresh face he was in his debut to the shonen protagonist he becomes by 6-5. It’s bizarre.
To illustrate what I mean, look how the first game compares in its treatment of Kristoph’s joint roles as mentor and main bad guy:
• Where Phoenix stands compared to his mentor is one of the most consistent through-lines across the entire trilogy, eventually becoming the main focus of its closing chapter.
• Von Karma’s hold on Edgeworth defines not only his arc in the first game, but the next as well, alongside influencing his behavior in each of his subsequent appearances.
These are two cases where a character’s relation to another guides not just their individual arc, but the direction an entire story can take. Kristoph is just Some Guy to Apollo. Nothing more than his employer. And sure. Maybe this tracks with the idea that Apollo is more grounded than the idealist hero Phoenix was. Maybe this makes their relationship feel “real.” It’s also boring as all hell from a storytelling perspective.
The disconnect between Kristoph and Apollo doesn’t just affect the story in a general bad way, it actively trashes some of the things that make Kristoph specifically cool. He boasts one of the most compelling profiles of a serial killer in Ace Attorney, maybe gaming as a whole, if I’m being generous. The idea that “monsters could be anywhere, even where you least expect them” is deeply prevalent with a man like Kristoph’s, who’s so buried in treachery and facade that he’s living a lie even to himself. But the story doesn’t explore that at all.
From Apollo’s perspective, as it’s presented to the reader, he doesn’t have any immediate reason to assume Kristoph is the monster he is, but he doesn’t have any reason not to, either. Like I said. He’s just a guy to Apollo, and the fact that the mask is ripped off so early reflects one of the biggest ball-drops I’ve ever seen. There’s no surprise, here. Kristoph’s introduction paints him as a man who’d commit murder for no discernable reason. Sure, the lack of an immediate motive does lend itself to a degree of ambiguity, except his opponent is Phoenix Wright. I began the story with the impression that Kristoph is an evil psychopath, and I ended the story with that same impression.
It’s extra bizarre, because I do actually think Apollo is used well in 4-1. He has a cool mini-arc of someone he deeply respects and looks up to put under scrutiny, going from emotionally rebuking the claims levied against him, to showing open resentment by the case’s end. And this feeling, the descent from denial to disillusionment, goes hand-in-hand with the player’s own, which is neat. It’s just that this is done with Phoenix Wright, and Apollo’s thoughts on facing his own mentor are just. No thoughts. Like I said. It’s bizarre.
Kristoph also has a relationship with AJ’s other underdeveloped main character, Klavier. Or so I’m told. I’m not sure what that relationship is because it barely factors into either guy but it exists. Probably. I intended to write a lot more about these two but I just can’t will myself to care about Klavier I’m so sorry gamers.
And yes, there is Kristoph’s relationship with Phoenix, which I have no issue with on its own. I’d say it’s sufficiently fleshed out on both sides. The problem is Phoenix, despite the whole narrative revolving around him, only exists in fleeting moments. He’s mostly detached from the entire middle of the game, spends Kristoph’s big breakdown in the sidelines, and when he does get to do things it’s at the expense of the actual protagonist's agency.
Imagine if 1-4 ended like that. Imagine if Manfred von Karma was beaten not through Phoenix seeing his ideals through to the bitter end, not through Edgeworth confronting his traumatic past, but through Mia Fey, the mostly hands-off mentor figure, just telling him “you are in jail now.” And that’s it.
I don’t have a smooth transition into the next part so. megundal jumpscare
• Magnus McGilded is at the heart of several character conflicts throughout TGAAC, both directly and indirectly. Obviously, he’s crucial to Ryunosuke’s arc of finding his own resolve. He’s emblematic of the type of abuse the downtrodden Gina faces, the kind that makes her such an untrustworthy individual. He corrupts Graydon, both in the sense that McGilded coaxes him into a downward spiral of crime, one that ends in his conviction, but also in that the ideal of Magnus McGilded is something Graydon aspires towards: an untouchable magnate in a gilded fortress. Even beyond that, his reach stretches into his story’s sequel, long after (and before!) his demise. While McGilded himself is no justice-seeking vigilante, he is the kind of criminal who spawns more of his ilk, as we see constantly throughout Resolve, in the form of Brett, Asman, even the big man of justice Stronghart. He’s a living justification for the Reaper, something people like Stronghart can throw about to back their violent rhetoric. Between all the corruption in TGAAC, and all the trials its cast faces, is McGilded, whether it’s the man himself or his ever-burning spirit.
• The transition between 2-4 and 3-1 is one of the best cross-game lead-ins, in part due to Dahlia Hawthorne. Or rather, her coy manipulation of Phoenix Wright. After seeing his characteristic faith battered and tested over the course of JfA’s finale, bringing it back as an obstacle was a really cool move. This bullheaded take on Phoenix in turn leads into T&T’s other bad guy, Godot. Between the two of them, they turn everything Phoenix has come to represent over the trilogy on its head, making for the perfect pair of antagonists to close out the original trilogy.
• Sebastian Debeste has, debatably, the strongest arc in the series, and it wouldn't be possible without Blaise Debeste. Just a nasty fella who makes Sebastian’s inevitable rise from his father’s ashes all the more satisfying. More importantly, Blaise is the man who shaped Simon Keyes into the cold and calculated killer he is. I admittedly don’t have much to say about Blaise but he’s a cool enough guy and Simon and Sebastian are I2’s best characters so yeah. Good character who makes others great.
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