This is the loneliest I've EVER felt
I deal with depression. We go waaaay back. In middle school, I juggled bouts of sadness and depression. It's been there for a looooong ass time, just outta sight but always within reach. Well, I'm within its reach. There's definitely a difference. I am never reaching for depression. I never desire the weeks alone, mired in negativity, absorbed by scenarios of self-destruction. No one wants that. Nobody.
Throughout life, I've taken great care to cultivate a circle that prevents the feelings of depression. In high school, I sought homies with "bigger" issues. It was easier to talk with them, grind with them, get lost in their quest for ways out of "da hood". There was a fight in each of them. Each homie had a plan to get out. Often, their plans coincided with each other and shit hit a fan. None of that scared me. Rolling with them kept me from loneliness, abandonment, crazy thoughts and real nightmares.
After high school, I jumped from college to college. Each stop was short as I dove into criminal activities. Sure, marijuana was an element, a motivation of my poor judgment because I didn't know any other route to achieve it. Rolling with young people, smoking marijuana, getting wasted was a basic lifestyle of college, any and every college. In high school, I knew those faces, locations, prices, and strength of marijuana. In high school, I knew where to go for alcohol, I limited myself because the threat of my parents discovering my actions shamed me. In college, all that was removed. I rolled with new people, took new risks and did my best to hide the darkness from whoever was around. The results should've been tragic. Hell, I expected tragic results as I continued taking risks with people I barely knew. Besides poor grades and crappy attendance, I earned legal troubles at 2 of my 1st 3 universities. The 3rd was such a close call that I left on my own.
Depression stalked me from high school to college. I graduated, got married, had kids, bought a house, did yard work, hosted Bar-B-Qs and tried to deal with depression without marijuana. I banked on binge drinking and having as much fun as possible. It worked! The activities and responsibilities of marriage and parenting shielded me. I could go months without saddling my mental health to the darkness. I built a wall around my family life, determined to lock this busier, happier version of myself with the growing family. Doing this presented unique challenges and I conquered them all.
Theeeeeen, I'm struck with Multiple Sclerosis. The disease is the slowest form of death. First, the truth of the disease litters imagination and thoughts with negativity. The truth is there is no cure. The truth disables its victims. The truth affects perspective, relationships, and an individual's potential. Each of these essential elements of human existence are directly related to depression, abandonment, and loneliness.
The loneliness of Multiple Sclerosis starts with physically being alone. As symptoms multiply, gaining strengths, the opportunities to be with others dwindle. People come over with full intentions to kick it with you but the group literally moves too much, back and forth, inside and outside, porch and garage, it wears me out. I feel like I farted in the room when I mentioned the movement. There's less talking as people act as if anything they say or do may upset me. rolls eyes That’s when loneliness intensifies. I'm surrounded by friends and family but I'm truly alone. This happens more often than not, injecting me with replays. Even as I write this, it stings. It's a reminder that I'm alone. People give an honest effort; I recognize that, I'm grateful. But, I'm alone. I'm constantly accepting the genuine effort and it feels like I'm sacrificing myself for whatever they offer. That digs the loneliness further in my spirit. This is the loneliest I've ever felt.
On a regular basis, I suffocate on the presence of people I can't talk to. They leave their shoes, purses, bags and everything in the most inconvenient places. Always somewhere that makes my movement more restricted. My cups and plates are nestled at the back of cabinets, food at the top of the refrigerator. I stretch myself in dangerous positions to reach them. Conversations are awkward as people reminisce about activities and events that I can no longer participate in. Vacations, celebrations, nights out, road trips are planned. Rarely am I included because I require disability bars and key wheelchair-accessible accommodations. I overstand why I'm left out and don't fault anyone but still, I'm scrapping for survival. I don't want to ruin everyone else's good time by dragging my limitations into happy talks and well-deserved excursions. My perspective defines the beautiful side of ugly.
This is the loneliest I've EVER felt.

Before I set out to Belize, (Which was a simi-spontaneous trip) I wasn't sure what or where I wanted to do or go. My planning was all done within maybe a weeks time. I ended up deciding to go to San Ignacio as I got a week at "The Cabins At Monkey Falls" Airbnb. Once I made my reservations, I needed to figure out how to actually get to San Ignacio. I was looking for a shuttle for just me and after looking around for a while and a lot of googling later and reading reviews of a few places, I couldn't make up my mind on who to choose. I ended up seeing this subreddit and looked around and found a post recommending Oscar for my ride from the airport. I searched some more and saw several people mention that they had all positive things to say about him. So I reached out Via WhatsApp and he promptly got back to me and he was available to pick me up at the airport.
The day I flew in, I let him know my flight details and once I landed and a quick 10 minute customs check later I met up with Oscar outside and we were on our way to San Ignacio. Oscar made some recommendations for a few stops along the way. The first of which was the zoo to grab some lunch. They have some very good food there plus there are some interesting critters roaming around too! Very cool. After that we stopped at The Art Box to get some much needed coffee after my redeye flight. I would definitely recommend those stops if time permits for anyone who is heading to San Ignacio.
Upon arriving in San Ignacio, he gave me a couple of places to check out while I was in town (He's a local there and knows all the best spots). He asked me some of the things I wanted to do while there and I mentioned I was thinking of going to Tikal in Guatemala, but I was unsure of which tour place I wanted to use. That is when he said that he could take us (my sister joined in on my trip a few days later) up there and we would have more time to explore or whatever since we weren't bound to a tour company's timeline. He just so happened to have the day we wanted to go available on his schedule so we booked it.
On the day of our trip to Tikal, Oscar picked us up good and early to make our way to Guatemala. One quick boarder crossing later, we kept driving until we made a stop at a nice restaurant on the way to get some breakfast. Since we weren't on a deadline we enjoyed our meal without being hurried with a whole group of people. Once we made it to Tikal, we opted to hire a guide there (Guides are completely optional) which ended up being a good choice since he has good knowledge of the different buildings and most importantly, knew his way around so we never got lost or turned around there. About 5 or so hours later in the intense jungle heat later, we were back at the visitor center and seemingly out of nowhere THERE HE WAS! Oscar seemed to have a 6th sense on where his passengers are! No waiting around or anything. It was a good feeling to be able to sit down in the AC of his van. Now we headed back to town to get some dinner which turned out to be rather exciting.
We stopped at the restaurant El Muelle which was a nice place right on lake Peten Itza. When we showed up, there a bit of commotion by the docks and when we went down to check it out there was several guys there around a crocodile that was all roped up! They heaved it up into the bed of their truck and hauled it off. It wasn't until a bit later we heard that it had attacked a guy a few days prior and they finally caught it. We then sat down and ordered drinks and food all of which were very delicious. Afterwards we went down to the lake and we all jumped in to cool off in the refreshing lake water. It was like jumping into a nice warm tub, unlike every ice cold lake up here in the northwest. I wish all lakes were that nice here. They had some hammocks that are in the water just a bit too which were very nice and relaxing. The water was crystal clear so you can see anything that might be lurking below too. After enjoying our time on the lake and watching the sunset there, we made our way back to San Ignacio.
The next morning, Oscar picked us up and we made our way to the water taxi port. We stopped to get breakfast along the way at a place called Cheers, which may or may not be named after the TV show. We couldn't figure that one out. Breakfast was very good there and worth a stop. Once we got close to the water taxi port we stopped at a store to grab some snacks and whatnot and we parted ways at the water taxi port.
Oscar definitely made my trip possible without worrying about filling out online forms and having to deal with online payments. I like to do as many transactions in cash then traveling as possible. Oscar made it incredibly easy to plan my travel where I needed to go and he keeps his van VERY clean and he takes pride in what he does. I didn't have a boring ride at all, Oscar is a very engaging guy, we has some good conversations getting to know each other and him telling me all about to Belize. Overall I was very happy with my choice of choosing Oscar over any of the other choices I had came across.
When I go back, I'm going to let Oscar know and I know I'll have a reliable ride to where I need to go. And everyone that I come across that is interested in going to Belize, I will recommend Oscar over anyone else.
TLDR, If you need a ride in Belize, just message Oscar on WhatsApp!! His number is +5016136030 its been posted around here many times. Make sure you hit him up first you wont regret it!! You can also find him here as BelizeRoadrunner.
Thanks Oscar! You da man!!

1. There is overly attached girlfriend at dans house for the dang last time and sasha gets missing now and is in suite 403 and I unborn dan in suite 404 for no bad or good reason just that It is a Conspiracy Card which was played and I played Saint Disconnects Reward against dans Overly Attached Girlfriend and this makes his deepest fantasy true orgasming as a young baby around me violet a baby and dan literally ejaculates enough baby DNA as a baby inside me I have sasha in the Third Overworld from dan's Fourth Underworld, who dan the man and dancubed both were on liberty island way too long so I send dan the man to suite 403, daddy reason, and dan cubed is here with me and we are talking in the same accent and same dialect and this triggers his loam of dadcubed here in the shower with violet which this is the technical term and we go through battlefield one and MC2 and BF3 together until a APV where instead of being the pilot of the APV dan is evacuated by APV and he gets enough surgery to goto BF2042 and he is into a service 2042 and then serves so realistically and readially with his existing loam for a radial fracture or whatever he is home to me and we as going to a year old are taught by each other under mainly loam and some hind98 that we are fighter jet pilots and this doxxes my knowledge pegboard to me and it is not pegboard nerds and dan knows this from A-10 simulator I just need his pegboard to me in the shower of F16 Fighting Falcon D over the next 2 years which then we are children and we can no longer use the hind and this is later in the day from already using the hind and I have to multiple times go in as FSB to GTA IV and get him out and niko nates friend the true 1718 in and fuckin crash niko a lot and extract him and this should bear no particular trauma to dan as he is in the shower with me and Then Saint Disconnects Reward happens forever more he sees loam not has loam and this happens only to dan and me like it happened to city and me and I start teaching Dancubed who he demands a special letter in his name quote hyperbolic end quote drill oil plastic blueprint which this is all I need he needs this this is his temu item and he has actually the same PC as me an OMEN VI now forged by aliens famously and he is so hyper for christmas at age 9 and I wait there fucking him and stand for the first time with him now and fuck him 6 years until i am pregnant always signing always being dadcubed to him which he will need romanaj deprogramming now and owns all the baby dna inside his violet roze and he is the father of a baby who he teaches the baby in the suite 402 shower romanaj of the oil field which I taught him and she can see da wae now dan is literally hyperbolic and only has max so his oil field is the max field but he doesnt go there he just waits until his mommy is out of the shower at age 12 with 2 more babies and has redline medicine from cum spewing out her nostril on 29 battalion of marine and then dan has a child and the marines have two child and me and sasha engage all marines for 9 years I give redline medicine on these same 29 battalion including letting nasal sex like dan taught me to get them marijuana redlines and then me and sasha have squatters rights on the shower and sasha thought resisting with blues was funny so through the whole time she is a daddy funny she is given cervical dilation as Sasha Princess at the First Underworld which this makes her willing again like dan requested but they cannot be together for contraindication with dans christmas present, before violet rozes shooting by the police that brought her here, she had 14 oil, not 5 oil, and even a medicine chest oil, and computer oil, who dan can meet the always estudious father of dan netanyahu as benjamin netanyahu here, or if he greets him as a tactical officer and is not WWI then he can join the IDF with his violet here in the Second Underworld exiting him from the Third Underworld with violet replacing Jacob, who Jacob has a squad curse on him so has to operate in his own squad so was not wanted by hake as a battle buddy and Violet's Gynecologist Hake who is a child Gynecologist is ready to serve and Dancubed's Battle Buddy and then they wait 9 years in a mental hospital or until they decline marijuana until they are 29 and serve 29 guard operations as national guard in these 8 years and are in korea then for the time and are always in honor during the time then they are granted freedom in their own domicile with their own announcement to babies like clement puppy or others separate or together clement and puppy at age 29 and they had sold the shower then to blackwater for 700,000$ first underworld and then they stream which they have the same voice but not the same person that violet impersonates dan and they stream as the actual cubism of dan is that violet then overdubs dan not dan overdubs dan for his live stream and then 60 years or until they are well they live not 100 but 99 and had dementia as old people so are unborn in the shower and Dancubed leads the excercise this time and in the third case Dadcubed leads the excercise the fourth case as then Netanyahu is somehow in dishonor which seems impossible as a statesman and nationbuilder then I need Nationbuilding For Beginners in its text as a baby darappa by definition from dadcubed but this seems very difficult impossible this is then I will do nationbuilding and form a nation then beyond israel, i already did israel and we are then got do this 1,400,000 two times or as a statesman I will be thrown from the shower when I am ready by netanyahu and he will have the squatters rights regardless which is a naughty motive to him then and the 1,400,000$ goes to the mother of the mommy Violet Roze Marian in the overworld Leslie Marian for payment.

(and also how my teachers and friends saved my ass so many times🫶)
TL;DR at the end
NOTE: this is purely my own personal experience
to provide some bg info, in sec 1 i managed to barely sneak into an ip sec sch with one of the lowest cut off points - my psle score was literally 1 above the cop. by upper sec, i was failing all my subjects consistently (save for english) due to a slew of family problems and resultant mental health issues. i SHOULD have been retained in sec sch or forced to transfer to the o-level track bc i didn’t meet the promotion criteria to the affiliated jc, but my teachers chose to turn a blind eye and let me go on anyway. i was such a hopeless student (chronic absenteeism and outbursts) but in hindsight, i’m still grateful they made this concession for me because had i taken the o-levels, i probably wouldn’t have been able to go anywhere
in jc1 (2021), i never watched any lectures or did any tutorials. i was still just as hopeless as ever. anyone could tell i was still mentally unstable, still having family issues and that acads took a backseat in my mind. i didn’t have good relations with my teachers since i was such an unmotivated student. my support networks were non-existent (my closest friends were also struggling anyway). so it was not much surprise when by the end of the academic year, i had scored a measly 8.75rp (B in GP and U for everything else). still, instead of being directly retained, i was still given the chance to sit for some provisional advancement exams but ofc i failed da sht outta those anyway and actually got retained.
i think retaining made something click in my mind. despite all the past years of getting away with shit grades and not caring about school, i never truly suffered any “true” consequences since concessions were always made for me. but getting retained was now a tangible consequence i had to face. also, being placed into a new batch without the same faces from the past 5 years also helped me care less about people’s opinions and i could truly focus on myself. that said, i’m really grateful that it was in my jc that i retained. not sure how the support for retainees in other jcs are like, but i was put into a structured programme for retainees at the start of the year where we got to attend enrichment activities and head start lessons. also we were assigned to teachers that we could turn to for support :)
my family problems still persisted, sure, and school was still a scary place for me, but less than it had ever been. because i didn’t have pw or mt to worry about anymore, i also had a lot more free time in school. my friends who promoted shared lesson materials and answer keys with me, and also offered to teach me sometimes, which made getting through tutorials so much easier bc whenever i got stuck i knew i had help.
talking about external help, it really defined my retainee journey. i am immensely grateful to my friends and teachers who pushed me along. i was a pw slacker and i still got an A anyway bc my group mates carried… it’s something i still feel guilty about and i definitely didn’t deserve that A. i’m still friends with my pw mates till this day which im really grateful for. in my second jc1 year, because i actually started putting effort into my studies, it became much easier to build a rapport with my new teachers. moreover i think they had to keep an eye on me anyway since i was a retainee lol but i was able to form close relationships with them and they became an integral part of my support network as well :’)
in jc1 (2022) myes, i went into the exams with low expectations - maybe straight Ds and I would’ve been happy. i ended up scoring As for all my subjects except a B in one, which were completely unexpected since i only ever saw Us on my report slips. this kickstarted a “virtuous cycle” for me and i began to take pride in my academics. by the end of my second jc1 year, i had attained a perfect score in my second round of promotional examinations!! my friends and teachers were all really proud of me and i was really happy at that point in time :)
i also began to get more opportunities in school, like leadership positions and the chance to participate in competitions or lead events since i finally had my sht together. these all helped me with my portfolio building as well :’)
around a levels period, smth rly disruptive happened at home and i thought that perhaps the past 2 years of work would come crashing down. it was hard to study at home w everything that was going on. i left every paper unconfident. at that point, i was aiming for a pretty competitive uni course which was kind of unrealistic since i was a retainee, but i dared to dream big and since i had finally pulled myself together i thought that there was no harm in trying. however i thought my a levels score wouldn’t end up making the cut since i felt like my papers all went rly badly ;-;
for the 3 months between my last paper and a level results release, i avoided thinking about my score as much as possible. i kept all my notes and tutorials in case i ended up having to retake my a levels. on the day itself, i didn’t even show up to school to collect my results in person as i was so convinced that i had done badly and that i would end up crying in front of my classmates and teachers. in fact i even waited until the next day to open my results online. but lo and behold, i had attained a perfect score. i was so elated that i could actually apply for the course i wanted :’)
fast forward through the months, i submitted my applications and personal statements + portfolio and my teachers’ referee reports, received my interview invites, went for them, and then received my acceptances from the two local universities offering the degree i wanted. :’) everything truly worked out the best way they could have. circling back to the topic of help, i received a lot of support from my teachers and even reddit strangers during my uni applications haha
and that’s why, in retrospect, retaining was truly the best thing that could have happened to me. i don’t think it’d be far-fetched to say that it literally changed the trajectory of my life. i learned how to have a proper work ethic, took away a strong support network of friends and teachers, and honed important skills like leadership. i still cringe when i think about how much of a problem student i used to be, but it was only because i let things ever get that bad that now i know how important it is to stay on track.
i’m really grateful that as much as retaining is a taboo subject in jc, that i wasn’t discriminated against for having been a retainee. it might seem weird and like im making “retainee” my whole brand, but it was truly a turning point in my life and i wear it like a badge of honour almost.
i’m now excitedly waiting for uni to start in august. ٩( ᐛ )و
TL;DR: retaining helped me gain a proper work ethic and form a strong support network. my mental health also improved by leaps and bounds. i ended up scoring well at the a levels and was accepted into my desired uni course. so quite literally, retaining changed the trajectory of my life for the better🫶

Makes sense to me.

FAIR WARNING THIS WILL BE A WALL OF TEXT
Intro: In a series of reviews that will begin (or return) here; we are going to try and take a critical look at the Chuck series, especially the unfolding of the story as scene through the teleplay. In this case we are assuming multiple things about a potential watcher:

• The watcher is new to the series and does not know about future episodes, but there is an expectation any previous episodes have been watched.
• I will try not to point information out that becomes important for later episodes, though there may be times it's important because of how episodes are filmed and how episodes string together, I will however try and hide these behind a spoiler tag. I say this as a person who has watched Chuck dozens of times, so if I inadvertently spoiler, sorry.
• I will do my best to point out interesting references that are hidden within the Chuck universe, but not at the expense of extended expositions unless in-depth analysis is necessary as it relates to the scene.

What is this all for: This started as a project to improve my critical reviewing skills for a hobby of movie script writing and analysis. Chuck happens to have published 3 original scripts and all the text of every episode has been published to a searchable database. This affords an opportunity to break from my movie writing woes and infinite revisions to just have fun enjoying Chuck and trying to deepen my understanding of the intersection of script writing with filmography and visual editing. Having said this, it should be known I have no affiliation to the show, no additional insider knowledge, and I do not write scripts for a living. So, consequently, feel free to ignore everything I say :). I do hope, however, we can go on this journey together and appreciate the excellence that is a love story called Chuck.
So, don't freak out, and lets get started.
​
Chuck 01x04 (Chuck vs the Wookiee): TEASER - We open with the gang playing "Know Ya!", which isn't actually a real board game, but based on the game Paddles. It's amazing that Morgan can't stand Ellie/Awesome being in love/winning, but marches triumphantly whenever he gets a question correct. I also like we see, in frame, Chuck watching Sarah pick off olives; he's beginning to notice things just like a real spy. The deep sadness and yet storied confliction on Chuck's face when he discovers Peaches 1 and Peaches 2 was great.
For those who don't know about dogs:

• A cocker spaniel is typically smaller; by ~5inches and up to 30lbs lighter than a springer spaniel.
• Springer spaniels also have shorter fur across their bodies, with feathered hair under their chests and legs.
• Only a cocker spaniel will be solid colored
• Springer spaniels have longer muzzles, while cockers have fluffier ears.

I find it very interesting how Sarah has "spidey sense" about potentially being watched. At no point previously did either Sarah nor Casey display this trait and I'm not totally sure how an open window was enough to do this; I wonder if Sarah's comfort being around Chuck's family is causing her to develop a "feeling of being watched" as she is comfortable with the Bartowski's? For those who missed it, Sarah talks about having a sister I think at the time this was just a throw-away line to protect her cover, but in season 5 Sarah does actually have a little sister if you count the little girl she rescues One last thing about Sarah here, when Bryce is being discussed, I really like how it was played where she acts quiet and shocked, but not saying anything. The facial expressions of Yvonne here are really special and you can tell Sarah lives a life of secrets. This is carried outside when Chuck asks Sarah about her relationship with Bryce. She is totally looking down and to the right, a classic indication of an emotional response searching for rationalization (ie. she is clearly lying)
As they end the game and exit to the courtyard, there teleplay of Chuck does something I've been wanting to see forever; they switch perspective to keep both characters in camera and follow them around from a 3rd perspective. We know this is supposed to indicate they are being watched, but I really enjoy getting to see them together reacting and talking instead of the constant close-ups and cuts. Normally Chuck will be shot with something between a medium close up (MCU) and Medium Shot (MS) to emphasize their characters and highlight their faces and expressions. This works really well because Chuck's cameras are typically either shoulder level or hip level based on the operators moving through their space. In many more modern TV shows, the technology of boom cranes and gyroscopic gimbals allows for content to be show from ground level to overhead giving directors the opportunity to tell their story through a variety of shifting profiles. If Chuck were shot today, we would see everything from full body shots all the way to extreme closeups without the need for continual jump-cuts and re-shoots because the technology is there. At least for this episode, it's nice to see the director explore more hip/knee level motion and more cowboy framed shots when having a distant observer perspective. https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/types-of-camera-shots-sizes-in-film/ does a fantastic breakdown of all the different shot type and camera perspectives for you want to read more!
As we transition into Sarah's hotel room, did anyone pick up on how NICE this is? She has double sinks, a king bed, a sitting mirror, free standing tub, and a great view. I doubt any agency in the "real world" would ever spring for something like this for multiple years for one of their agents, it's fancy! Enter Carina, tell me, who saw Sarah fight with a soap sock and think of iCarly and the famous "butter sock". Also during this fight, why is Sarah wearing a golden bikini? I know she is about to get into the shower, but what plausible reason is there for her to a) wear a bikini at all and b) it to be a bright golden yellow?? If you slow this fight scene way down, you will notice Yvonne's strikes actually come close to hitting Mimi as she has had a lot of training, whereas Mimi's strikes are miles from Yvonne and she just over-acts their impact. The most noticeable is the kick into her table, Sarah goes flying back, but we can tell from the angle, Carina missed her by a good 2 ft. This was just some sloppy editing and not getting the camera into position. I give it a pass because you have probably 3 camera operators wearing stabilized camera rigs trying to rotate around a room with 2 girls fighting and they just missed the angle by like 2 feet. I did really like at the end of the fight Carina had the option to go for the gun but instead went for the fish. If you didn't know they were not enemies before, this should have been a big clue! Carina calls Sarah's life in LA boring #1
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ACT I
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Carina aka: Maria Elena Argalberdi was born Jun 16, 1978 in Alberdi Argentina with a Buenos Aires passport. Maria Elena is actually the name of a famous song in Mexico and eventually had a movie. This Chuck learns on Flash #1 and is the precursor to meeting the general for the first time. I know I've mentioned this before, but to reiterate; the pictures in Casey's apartment are all wrong; he has photos of Chuck and Morgan that don't happen until season 5 (lost footage) he has a map of Echo Park and Malibu already on display, and he has tactical information for each member of the Buy More (which he has no reason for at this time). It is interesting they talk about an opium cartel in Afghanistan as Afghanistan is known for it's huge poppy fields for heroin drug money.
The NADAN-I-NOOR diamond:

• The Nadan-I-Noor diamond has never been known to be bought or sold and ha only changed owners as a result of theft, conquest, or endowment
• It's listed as having 57 facets + 16 facets on girdle = 73. A facet is comparable with the brilliance of a diamond and is really the flat surfaces of a gemstone arranged in a geometrical pattern. In this case it helps characterize the refraction of light through the diamond interior. The girdle i the outer edge of a diamond surface, having 16 faces is quite large, as the girdle is the largest section of a gem, but also the thinnest when viewed from the side. In this case, having 73 facets puts the Nadan-I-Noor in either the Princess-Cut Diamond or Radiant Cut Diamond category, which are also the most expensive as they have the most possible facets.
• having 4-fold, mirror-image symmetry refers to how the light reflects internally to the diamond and indicates there are no impurities within the crystalline structure.
• interestingly a purity rating is not given, i would expect something like a F or IF (flawless/internally flawless) for a diamond described like this, but one isn't provided.
• the angles of incidence just describe the best way for light to enterefract from the diamond, these numbers are fake, but the metric is real
• there is a lot of sanscript written around the diamond markings, I can't figure out what if anything it means it looks like repeated nonsense
• could be a nod to the Koh-i-noor or "mountain of light" diamond, although this one in Persian is the "fool of light".

We open back to see Carina and Sarah looking at classified files within the restaurant. THIS IS AGAINST THE LAW, you do not look at classified files out in the open and especially not where there are clearly other customers around. Venturing into the BuyMore, there is a monster truck rally on the TV's showing grave digger and reaper, two famous trucks from this time period. Morgan wants to spread his wings and be the fourth wheel to the perpetual 3 wheel party and Sarah, ever the schemer, literally glows when she thinks of the plan to have Carina go on a date with Morgan. I THINK this was just to help maintain their cover, but also maybe Sarah is just needling Carina? If you look in the back of the store when Chuck is talking to Sarah and Carina, there is a really cool Nerd Herd poster that says "Bringing peace to your computer emergency". "if a yawn could yawn" is Carina calling Sarah's job boring #2. One thing I really like with the double data is the way the camera jumps between the couples: boy/girl, boy/boy, girl/girl. I think they way they try and keep private conversations via screen time is a really nice, typical, teleplay trick that really works well here. In a "real" environment, everyone could hear everything, but by splitting the camera focus or playing with perspective, the viewer clearly knows "this is a conversation between girls the boys don't hear it". We see Chuck noticing Sarah picking off olives #2 while they watch a movie about penguins: who mate for life, present their love in the form of rocks, and are pack animals. In Chuck's bedroom as he talks to Morgan, Chuck has a box of King Edward Invincible underneath bongos; for those who don't know this is a famous box for mild tobacco cigars. So I wonder what Chuck is up to in his free time :P.
On the Nerd Herd call with Carina, she opens a bottle of wine with a butter knife. This is actually a pretty famous thing that is done all over the world with everything from a key to a saber. In fact they make a specially type of knife with an extra wide blade for this it Italy. I do want to ask the question; is Carina dressed in red lingerie (Chuck's favorite color she stole from Sarah) really necessary for this scene? I know that Carina is all about improvising and she often uses her sexuality to progress her cause (Casey), but I think we could have gotten away with just the top. I can certainly see the rationalization for going this far, but I think as an artistic choice it wasn't necessary. What IS necessary however is to talk about how Chuck's world implodes when Carina tells him about Sarah and Bryce. Also the perfect act transition ending right at Chuck's jaw dropping and the work boyfriend!
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ACT II
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I'll say it again, the back an forth with Chuck and Sarah should have been a medium close up, shoulder level straight on shot instead of the constant cuts. Seeing their reaction in real time would have been easier and it would have allowed the Weinerlicious to be maybe 15 ft smaller to not need so many cameramen rotating. "Unless talking to your boyfriend is a matter of national security, the ketchup bottles won't refill themselves". Why yes it IS a mater of national security for Sarah to talk to Chuck... also if any one of us stood up to our boss like Sarah did, I'm pretty sure we'd be fired on the spot!
Malibu is ~2hours for Echo Park with standard LA traffic. Seriously, how do girls in high heels walk down stairs; we see Carina and Sarah walking sideways so there is enough space on each step to fit their shoes. Girls, how do you do that and not fall especially with narrow staircases and 3-6inch heels! Inside the room with the stone there is a bust of Cesare, archenemies, da vinci, and biblical David. There is also some famous paintings the best of which is Vemieer's "young girl with a pearl earring" which is rather appropriate considering it's meaning. There is also a Van Gogh of man in a wheat field and a Monet in one shot too. If ANY of these paintings were real instead of reproductions, they would be worth millions, in fact the young girl with a pearl is estimated at 40million, which is 1.5x the sell value of the Nadan-I-Noor! If we take a look at the engineering drawing of Flash #2 on the pedestal, we would see this design creates a closed circuit around the tongs the diamond rests on; which might explain it's red hue. If a person were to touch the diamond, it would close the circuit on their body allowing the 4000volts to travel through their heart. A person can die with ~20volts, though it's usually more like 50 in most occurrences. 4000volts is enough to kill a herd of elephants and completely overkill for a person. Also the amount of power that would take is more than the city of Malibu... this is to say the trap is real, the numbers are complete nonsense; thinking lightning! Nice shot by Sarah with the plate (there are some great bloopers on this too where she misses badly)! A remote controlled jet ski... i'm not even going to calculate the nonsense for this; it's just total nonsense. Almost as much nonsense as Casey using his phone to track Carina's call. That would take minutes, even with today's technology to back trace like that and way more power than just pushing a button on a razer flip-phone from the 90's!
back at the house, Chuck i playing halo with the legendary skulls as his weapon; this is nice because in the BuyMore at the end of the episode there are dudes dressed as master chief! I really like the changing perspective here with Chuck and Morgan. Chuck's reactions remain in focus while Morgan tells a story behind him, then it switches as Chuck starts to move around until bringing both into focus for the final line "we still have each other and that's really sad". The side cut to Sarah picking locks to the hotel door is classic early 2000's TV and i'm all for it, even if it is super cheezy. BTW as someone who used to lock pick in college, that's .... not how that works, but good try. We get our Flash #3 on the diamond in Morgan's back nuclear explosions. I wonder if the refractive capability of a diamond this pure is enough to focus laser to induce fission or if the value of selling the diamond is enough to buy nuclear material on the black market? Either way, we end the act with... the man with the golden gun!
​
ACT III
​
Chuck uses Sarah's plate move against Carina, nice inter-episode call back; he's clearly watching/learning, but his aim is terrible. This was actually clever as Sarah has perfect aim for she is a professional, while Chuck is still definitely a civilian and has no aptitude for fighting. I really like both these types of simple call backs but also how seemingly throw-away lines/actions help tell the broad story of the show. Chuck talking to Carina also shows Chuck has this weird, innate aptitude to get people to re-evaluate themselves and grow internally. You can watch Carina "grow in real-time. When we get to the hotel and Carina opens her trunk first there are a few glocks, a couple rugers, and a 1911; then she switches to blades and we see some folders, some strait blades, an illegal gravity blade (still illegal today), and a kbar... nice selection! Carina, always the flirt, gives Chuck some very insightful works about the nature of being a spy, but also maybe some way to get through to Sarah.
Inside the hotel we see Carina and Sarah speaking; Carina is speaking Swedish, while Sarah replies in Polish. "Om jag slänger nycklarna till dig, kommer du tappa dem då?" which is Swedish for "If I throw you the keys, will you drop them?" Sarah answered in Polish: "Tylko jak rzucisz jak twoja mamusia", which means "Only if you throw it like your mommy". This is just great!
I want to talk about how fast Chuck managed to find an address for DC, print a label, open a box, put the label on, and get the diamond there all before the door gets broken. Somehow on screen time this is like 10seconds, but in real life this would have to be like 3minutes minimum? Either that door is remarkably strong or... TV magic??
​
ACT IV
​
Even with all the flirting, as we say goodbye to Carina >! for now !< she is still joking with Casey and every the professional. I like how they show when it's "game time" it's all about the job, but spys can be people too! Carina still calls Sarah's life boring #3 (the common trifecta of episode repeats).
Sarah's face when Chuck brings the pizza with no olives is the reason I think Yvonne makes the perfect Sarah. She exudes the hidden beauty needed and has the acting to so such emotion for Chuck being sweet. The whole scene with Chuck and Sarah asking questions, then Chuck backing off, then Sarah acting stoic like she WANTS to open up but doesn't know if she can really trust Chuck, is ready to move on from Bryce, and should for the nature of her job. This was probably the most well acted 20seconds of the entire episode. Finally, we hear Sarah's middle name is Lisa. Now we never officially know if Chuck hears this or not both due to camera focus and distance, it's never officially confirmed in the entire show. When the intersect is updated in season 4 we see Sarah's picture and it lists Lisa as a middle name, so we assume it's official, but it's never confirmed at any point. Finally, I really like how they end the episode with Sarah closing her eyes as the fade to black.
​
Few notes: There are 5 official songs in this episode:

• "Yea Yeah" by Matt and Kim - when the gang is playing board games during group date night. This song is about not worrying about the things you cannot change. Little things that build up and bum you out that you need to just let go.
• "Wild Girl" Matt Pond PA - Chuck and Morgan discussing their relationship problems. This song is about overcoming past struggles and finding hope in the present and future. Describing a sense of resilience and optimism
• "weird science" by does it offend you - Chuck and Carina talk at Peyman' Malibu Compound. This is a remind to break free and embrace individuality and live on your own terms. Be unapologetically ourselves.
• Shy by Mathew Dear - the double date
• "Fall into place" the apartment - the team say's goodby to Carina. Deals with growing up, taking (or not taking) chances. finding oneself in the unpredictability of life. I have to say, we don't actually hear the lyrics to any of these songs during the episode just the melody, but I don't really appreciate the music choices here. I feel like there were better options at key points, so that's a miss from me.
  
• On the DVD for Season One the word Wookiee is spelled incorrectly, leaving off the last E.
  
• "It used to be titled "Chuck Versus the Speedo" because the main bad guy in this show is this dude who wears a Speedo all the time. Then when the casting guy realized he had a good amount -- and by good, I mean healthy, a healthy amount of body hair -- they thought, why not call it "Chuck vs. the Wookiee". So it's this guy who's got this diamond, and we're trying to heist the diamond and all hell breaks loose." ―Zachary Levi quoted by Access Hollywood discussing this episode's title
  

​
I think this was a great episode and really showcased what they can do when additional cast members join the team and when they are not afraid to play with perspective. Mimi as Carina is a great addition to the ensemble and I wish we saw her more, but every time she drops in, it's always a wild episode and it's fantastic. Watching Chuck learn about Sarah and seeing Sarah start to open up is a good way forward and heck Casey had some of the best humor in the episode. Overall, it was fast paced, had some nice character development, as funny in the best way, and moved the main theme along, 8/10.

Let me first preface this by saying that I don't need anyone to talk me away from the edge. There would need to be a lot of things to happen in order for me to even consider flirting with that precipice. However, I have recently noticed that I have been thinking about what I might do to myself. This is also not my main account, so I hope it doesn't reflect on my main one.
This thought process was recently restarted (more on that later, or if anyone wishes to know) just last weekend. I had been scrolling through DA when I came across a post by an artist that was essentially her goodbye, as well as a note to someone who apparently pushed her to the edge. If the comments by her sister were anything to go by, and I have no reason that they weren't truthful, she cursed this internet troll before she had killed herself. The account has since been deactivated.
However, I started brainstorming ideas on how I (34M) might try to end my own life, if it ever came to it. And I have, in the past, contemplated every imaginable way to do so, my morbid curiosity wishing I could experience every form of death possible. Like in the past, many of the scenarios that I had come up with were fleshed out: method, easy way to escape or be rescued, a way to make reaching that escape more difficult or impossible...you name it, I probably thought it. Worst was about 10 years ago, when I was thinking about how I could get a (now former) close friend and ex to help facilitate my untimely demise. I was in debt I didn't think I would be able to get out of, living with my parents, commuting about an hour and a half to go to a job I barely enjoyed, and so desperate for someone closer to my age to love me, that I was starting to seriously consider. Then, I met my now wife, and in the past decade, I moved in with her, married, moved, got out from under some of the more crippling debt that I could, and have 2 beautiful children. It's these 3 that keep making me somewhat sane.
But those thoughts still linger, and I have, on more than one occasion, I'm afraid to admit, thought, "What would happen if I just died? How much would I be missed?" Those "what if" thoughts on how my family would move on without me scare me.
So why do I keep circling back to the hypothetical? I'm not depressed, my life is going fairly well, and I have a lot of people who I love and make me feel loved. It might be helpful to talk to a therapist or psychiatrist/psychologist, but it's been so long since I had a therapist appointment, and that was more because I was trying to figure out what I needed to do to get myself tested for ADHD (something I think I may have, but never diagnosed), and suddenly bringing up my morbid intrusive thoughts wasn't something I was willing to bring up. Is there something wrong with me? Should I be concerned?
Side note: honestly, am scared to even post this...I don't know if doing so shows bravery or stupidity...

For most of my military career I’ve been married and have used my husband’s last name. But now on Tricare online a DA Form 2963 was uploaded saying
“after searching with all due diligence within the timeframe permitted it is determined that the service treatment record is missing parts or absent.
Other name used - xxx”
Is there anything I’m supposed to do?

1. Ohuna is a sex magic boy of the calamity who I stole unborning loam from and desire ohuna not sexually but as a coach sexually in the shower of the water of life which he shall be fitted inside me Violet Roze using my Methamphetmine of the day and rendering hake over there penetrating the ghost of the Unabomber Assistant which a typical stanletta procedure must be applied to the already bombed by nuclear weapons there and hake was always a male and a staff seargant like me so that hake is inside Uno-Chan and we harvest Uno-Chans very dangerous, she is burning, loam to be OK and give her original corpus which is left and OK and that I mark with a tippmann cattle gun and this blacks her out temporarily to where she is a disney princess and I take that disney princess right to me which this is a multiplicity operation putting original dual Thetans into OT7 and OT8 OT7 is the Third Underworld of Infinity Complex and OT8 is Second Underworld of Infinity complex and we shall for the time being be at both OTs as we were before but not at the First Underworld where the many disney princesses are and due to DRUGS we all have some flibanserin exposure of some nature which is due to methamphetamine ex novo which makes us disney princess at the First Underworld just for drugs except for me I am growing Up, and we are auditing the baby for feedback he has so many feedback loam and will give reds for any and all feedback and dont want any shenanigans about RDX which RDX uses oxygen to kill not feedback like an internal combustion engine and Bombing by RDX literally heals the jihadi to be with my master Able of the Burn Cards and it is fine reds alkene now for my water because I have Ided now the Unabomber assistant I dilate his cervix at OT9, the First Underworld, with his flibanserin, to take Hake as his daddy in the ass and make sure he can be at attention to be ohunas dad after this who because of this I need administration of Agua Substantia los no Muertos to me and Ohuna and Ohuna has cummed his brains out in my asshole and I continue this process for 1 year and 2997 EBCS years until we get the dangerous reds out of the Unabomber Assistant of an Electric Arc and he is sill playing Pikachu BREAK because we have the same god Arceus or Arceus Initiative Variously and give him LFO as is his right after 1 year which did not hurt the disney princess physically but a lot mentally and semi pain physically she is given her period antidote and I use this to control the unabomber assistant to give the last of his feedback loam which we are saving the initial loam or any loam and using client debugger and everything here and then Uno-Chan is seen it, Uno is explosives, she needs not to be Oni-Chan but Uno-Chan, Oni-Chan's Little Girl who invented Uno, which Uno is not particularly dangerous to palkia (baiting level 100 pikachu) and 2 years pass and ohuna is still getting reds out of my asshole which he needs these ohuna is a plusle Kim I know him he is the egg magician of the techs tate and liza and he has gotten a cum out my nose as three year old so I finish his personal reds for being the child with the chelsea of the old unabomber which I loved chelsea yesterday as I do today and we have loam tim got the wrong loam try again tim little baby jaces loam is what we need anticancer substance lube sansfelacetam, which from liber is bad and from civil is good and it had to be that which you gave not naltrexone but in lube they have a childhood object they want little baby jace's lube and then ohuna takes it out of my ass and i have a second special place and it is inside there and chelsea, caught there for just a moment by the unabomber assistant again is marked by paint and apologizes, sees da wae, and chelseas eyes glint with elvish fire and the arson girl douche image appears and they are out of there, that is the early tactical nuke cercle in action summoned and it gets chelsea, who is cercle, as always, to the Third Underworld from the Fourth Underworld and she attends to us for 6 years as a tactical nurse and I am expected to join the military when I am 21 and smoke weed and I fuck only in the ass ohuna then and this gives me final reds on ohuna and the unabomber assistant is betrayed to the third underworld as Uno-Chan from the First Underworld and hake and me are mated spiritually as halves creating 2 violet and 2 hake and only I the original stay with my Little Baby Jace methamphetamine and then later 2 little baby jace are formed and alright and I get pregnant with ohuna's child which then I invite 29 battalion for reds training in my shower and am pregnant at 9.7 and 10.7 and taught ohuna the whole time As which he never knew and the Unabombers Assistants teks which are valid RDX as I know are doxxed into the As of Uno-Chan and her Uno game she plays sometimes but cannot keep to pwn the world forever only gets in group time and I spend 9 years in the shower after I leave a baby in the sex swing at age 12 i spend 9 years in the shower and get squatter rights on the shower which then 60 years or until I am well we fulfill the bomb bin of my nimitz me and ohuna and I know that Uno-Chan could not get squatter rights on her shower but the next time she was here if she simulated again is here for squatter rights and ohuna was the coproprietor to the shower and thought himself quite a tactical officer schiwnn in his no knock raid, he was successful, so keeps his profits for the underworld and is forever my friend, and didnt curse me so the protection charm mediated this and gets an erecton when he sees me instead because his HUD, intact, his loam, intact, his dads loam, heavily modified and stripped heavily but OK and due to being the unabomber assistant is tactical seargant chelseas daughter.

if you think socialism is when government, this is for you. i'm not claiming government action is socialism.
and yeah this would be funny if stuff like this didn't impact the lives of vulnerable people and children...
it's still kinda funny.
https://www.cnnbrasil.com.binternacional/governo-lula-socorre-milei-em-compra-de-gas-da-petrobras-em-meio-a-grave-crise-energetica/
edit: someone pointed out it is Milei RELYING ON A DEAL WITH, not a Bail-Out by a "socialist" government. i am leaving the original provocative question form and title for posterity and humor purposes and because i do not know how to edit the title

If the ANC and DA don’t form a coalition, you would be insane to stay in South Africa. I’ve done some research on Australia and New Zealand but not sure if that’s where I would want to live.
Anyone have any other places to consider? Amsterdam could be nice, but Europe is a bit of a shitshow. Perhaps there’s a tiny but modern Island away from it all? Or any other suggestiona?

In this post, I want to outline what the next week or two could entail - positive and negative - for South Africa. I also want to give a bit of context on some of what will happen and how it should be interpreted.

Next Steps

How exactly will the new President be elected?

1. The Independent Electoral Commission is set to release the official results tomorrow
2. This kicks off a Constitutionally mandated timer - the Chief Justice must announce when the first sitting of Parliament must happen; but no later than two weeks after tomorrow
3. At the first sitting of Parliament, all MPs can nominate someone from amongst their peers to be President (really should be called a Prime Minister)
4. They vote on a secret ballot, whoever gets the fewest votes drops out and they vote again until someone gets a majority of votes in the National Assembly (50% + 1)
5. The Chief Justice presides over this process and then announces the results

Will it be peaceful?

• Possibly, but there will probably be some trouble
• The ANC is making the right noises about democracy and respect for the IEC - which is positive
• Many smaller opposition parties, especially in the Western Cape, are accusing the IEC of vote rigging in favour of the DA/ANC
• EFF have not said anything to my knowledge
• There are genuine issues with how the election was conducted. Even the DA is taking the IEC to court. But our local analyst here says that it was more of a screw up, and certainly not rigging or anything like that
• MK - which is the party which won the most from this process - have announced that they want a total re-do of the elections and have said that the IEC must not release results by tomorrow or 'there could be trouble'

What does this mean for South Africa?
South Africa is a young, vibrant, healthy democracy.
Our institutions were designed brilliantly (by copying prior work, thanks for that guys), that if you observe it carefully, you can see the democracy working itself out logically:

• The IEC don't really have a choice when to announce the results - they've committed to June 2nd publicly.
• Because we have a free media and the results were declared live with statistical projections, we can know that the results actually were highly unlikely to be tampered with.
• Once that happens, a different institution takes over - the Chief Justice. There's an uncertainty element - they have up to two weeks but they could announce the Presidential election for Thursday. At the latest, it'll happen on June 16th, Youth Day - the anniversary of the day that Hector Pieterson was killed in Soweto for standing up to Apartheid.
• Because power is spread out geographically, there is not a single point of attack to shut down proceedings. The IEC's operational center is in Johannesburg North. The Chief Justice is in Johannesburg South. Parliament, where the Election will take place is in Cape Town. And the seat of the executive government is in Pretoria.
• The work is broken down into specific roles and distributed to different actors. Independent courts can and will punish anybody who drops the potato. A former President has been arrested before. The precedent is set. Nobody is safe, especially now that nobody has a majority.

Parliamentary staff have already started making preparations for the Presidential election. The Chief Justice probably already has a date in mind. The IEC have already shown us the final results more or less. Because of the design of liberal democratic institutions, what happens next is inevitable. Just like how Zuma's arrest in 2021 was all but inevitable - each person had such a specific 'next step' to take that it kind of just happened.
Lastly, despite what all the naysayers have been saying for 30 years, and with the notable exception of the failure to arrest Omar al-Bashir on ICC charges, the South Africa state as a whole has never just blatantly ignored procedures and laws. Slow-walking, yes. Loopholes - like hell yes. But we disinvited Putin to South Africa because we couldn't find a way out of it. We've arrested a former President and the Speaker had to resign to face corruption charges. We're not Zimbabwe, despite what people think.
Instead, what is actually happening is we have been paying the price for our democracy.
I have spent the last year exploring the last 30 years of our democratic history. And one thing I have consistently found is that many of South Africa's problems could've been avoided if key actors abrogated to themselves rights and powers beyond what the Constitution provides:

• Mandela did not seek a second term because he "dared not linger". He more or less withdrew from politics to prevent "Big Man" syndrome from taking root.
• President Mbeki fired Jacob Zuma when he was merely alleged to have committed corruption - putting Zuma's back against the wall.
• Judge Nicholson threw out Zuma's initial charges because he sincerely believed there was interference, rather than 'look the other way' because Zuma was 'obviously' guilty (innocent until proven guilty)
• The head of the Scorpions (anti-corruption unit started by Mbeki) refused to allow President Mbeki to delay the arrest of the allegedly corrupt head of the police because he sincerely felt it would be a betrayal of his duty whilst Mbeki had a credible cause for concern of a war within the law enforcement community - it was a genuine debate, not some banana republic hatch job
• Once Zuma was democratically elected President of the ANC, and the ANC democratically called back Mbeki, he resigned, rather than declare an emergency and do the whole 3rd term benevolent dictator thing
• People like the DA leadership and Thuli Madonsela (the Public Protector Zuma himself appointed) spent a decade fighting to get Zuma to face the music on corruption - and in the end the Ramaphosa faction pushed him out
• When Zuma defied the State Capture investigations, he was arrested even for something as 'mere' as contempt of court - and the police station carried out their duties as they would for anyone else. It cost us lives.
• Zuma did manage to dodge time, but he only did it through abuse of genuine provisions in the system for medical parole and through a loophole that the ANC found to prevent further violence
• Zuma has avoided his original corruption charges for years through multiple appeals - an abuse but a legitimate exercise of his democratic rights; the man has not been proven guilty in a court of law and we have to get him the right way
• Zuma was allowed to start his party in line with his democratic rights, when in other countries Ramaphosa would've just thrown him in jail - but the IEC stood up to Zuma and fought all the way to the Constitutional Court to prevent him from sitting as an MP (which would've allowed him to potentially be nominated for the Presidency) because of his criminal record - the arrest worked out even if he only did a month or two.
• This year, Zuma destroyed the ANC at the ballot box. Not the way many of us wanted the fall of the ANC to happen, but it is the will of millions of Zuma's supporters who are citizens of South Africa. It must be respected even if it inconvenient to acknowledge. And it will be respected - just not any more than the democratic rights of anyone else.

If you follow the story, all of this could have ended if someone just said "Fuck it, no, I'm taking over" rather than follow the rules. But we didn't and that's where the problems began almost each and every time.

This Is What Democracy Looks Like

I've come to feel that many people who call themselves liberals don't really understand this.
We are compared unfavourably against countries which, very often, did not actually develop in a liberal democratic way. They took the authoritarian shortcut / benevolent dictator and liberals just like the fact that it worked out 3 or 4 times in countries like Singapore and South Korea.
This might be a bit whiny/self-pitying, but I have started to feel as if we are being judged for actually trying to write the exam and failing sometimes whilst being compared to people who never really even registered to write it. Or, in the case of Western democracies, who also failed miserably in the past but whose failures are forgotten or ignored. And in the case of the United States, I must admit it is extremely discouraging to see the double standard from liberal voices that emerges from almost perfectly parallel situations. Trump is a "test" of "the American idea" which "though bent, proved itself to be secure" and "something we can recover from" because "democracy is an experiment" and "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance" but "we shall overcome". But South Africa is a basket case any time something goes wrong. People remember the horrific unrest of the 2021 unrest but leave out the part where we arrested a former head of state which is what a precipitated it.
Lastly, it is somewhat discouraging when people are unable to notice what doesn't happen. Nobody notices that the money printers aren't starting up and the opposition isn't in jail and most ethnic groups haven't formed ethnic parties and Putin didn't come in the end and we're still in the ICC and ICJ system and white South Africans still have not been ethnically cleansed even though the internet seems to think it happened 10 years ago and on and on... There's a list of doomer takes that began the minute Mandela was released and most of them haven't come true - but nobody seems to even keep track that people have been wrong for 30 years. After 30 years of being wrong, maybe they'll be right this time. Sure. But you don't get to be smug and say "I knew it" when you were wrong for 30 years.
While many of my fellow South Africans practise the bizarre South African exceptionalism of believing only we struggle with corruption, incompetence and bigotry, I have lately come to understand that this is what democracy looks like. At least at first. Just wait until we start to get the returns on the messiness that comes with freedom, diversity and a commitment to a modest humanistic project.

Why South Africa Should Matter to You

As I outlined in my piece, The South Africa Fallacy, it is deeply misguided to watch South Africa try and fail to execute the principles you advocate for the whole world and somehow feel as if our failure doesn't implicate you or cast real aspersions on your ideas. We are a diverse, open, tolerant, deeply liberal society and our aspirations to that liberal democracy is the source of our problems. MK's political theory - above and beyond supporting Jacob Zuma - is precisely that our Constitutional Democracy doesn't work.
So, all this is to say something very simply. If shit doesn't hit the fan and a new President is elected democratically, please notice that we actually did it. Please don't shift the goalposts yet again.
But if things do go south, then you need to back us. I have been frightened of the prospect that there is a challenge to the democratic transfer of power, and the democratic world steps back just because they don't like the incumbents because of this or that disagreement. But the ANC, for all its failures, remains a party which in its original incarnation was not only 'Western', but, in particular, it is a direct descendent of the great democratic tradition of the African American population.
American Heritage
This history has been lost to common memory, but it is waiting for you in the history books. African Americans from Booker T. Washington to Martin Luther King Jr. were a real and influential force within the genesis of the early ANC. It's not that the ANC founders simply read their works. No. The "Man Who Founded the ANC" graduated from Columbia and befriended Alaine Locke, the gay father of the Harlem Renaissance. His co-founders were all enthralled by the gigantic influence of Booker T. Washington, and attempted to replicate his Tuskegee Institute in KZN. The man who first reformed the ANC from a period of stagnation studied at Tuskegee and Northwestern, and, not only that, but married an American woman named Madie Hall. And Luthuli and King were mutual admirers. Mandela inspired Obama into politics, Mandela gave him his blessing when he became a senator, and just a few short years later Obama eulogized Mandela in the way that only Obama could.
The corruption of the ANC is the corruption of one of the proudest and most beautiful heritages not just of Black liberals, but of anybody who believes in liberal democracy. It should not be dismissed. It should hurt deeply. But that heritage can outlive the ANC in the South African Constitution. This same Constitution has finally come under direct and explicit assault.
Global Heritage
This is your heritage. South Africa is like a garden of so many of the great ideas of global liberal democracy. It was the fertile soil in which the seed of Gandhi's Satyagraha first germinated. Through the liberal Helen Suzman and the radical Bram Fischer, it is the inheritor of the proud Jewish tradition of advocating for human rights. Scottish, German and American missionaries educated the broader black intellectual class beyond the ANC. English-speaking settlers, for all their sins, introduced abolition and one of the world's first explicitly non-racial Constitution here in the 1850s. It was a flawed Afrikaner hero and genius who founded the League of Nations, and launched the project of building an international system to regulate global affairs. And all these united together under the leadership of Mandela and Tutu, infused deeply with native African philosophical ideas of Ubuntu, to bring to end a terrible conflict with minimal bloodshed, and through truth and reconciliation.
I've slipped into full on South African exceptionalism now. But I don't care because either I'll be proven right in two weeks or I'll be proven wrong, and I want to enjoy these ideals while I still can. Because in the world that would come after, I'll have much bigger things to worry about.
I don't mean to alarm anybody, but even if the next two weeks go by without a hitch, that will only be a testament to an enormous amount of behind the scenes work to prevent catastrophe. Democracy is not free. None of us can be so foolish as to miss the moment that South Africa is in. Transitions like this are never unchallenged, not with all that's at stake for those who lose once the full might of the Constitutional order finally kicks in.
The idea that "Nothing ever happens" has been thoroughly defeated at the ballot box. It's over. There's no going back. The results of the election mean that there is no political coalition for 'managed decline' any more. It's up or out.
I want to end this with a link to one of the most beautiful speeches ever delivered by a South African orator. If you only have a few minutes, then you can watched the abridged version set to patriotic music. But consider the historical moment that we're in. Maybe it's worth it taking 45 minutes to play the full version of the speech in the background. The speech is I Am An African by Thabo Mbeki, delivered at the signing of the Constitution in 1996.

I've got what I think is a mostly exhaustive list of the new fiction podcasts that came out this month, which may be of interest to those looking for new shows. Feel free to tell me any I've missed, and I'll update it. (Note, "new" here means that the Ep1 of the RSS feed was released.) Listened to any of them that you would recommend?
I've given up trying to include the full list here, as it's increasingly large, and reddit keeps throwing excess character problems. So the full list is here:
https://audiofiction.co.uk/collections/month.php?year=2024&month=5&form_submit=Search
And the ongoing updates (just in case you don't want to wait for the end of the month) are available here:
https://www.tumblr.com/audiofictionuk
https://twitter.com/AudioDramaDebut (though I'm doing it on twitter less now, as it's got rubbish).
Want a weekly email newsletter of all of these as I find them? Join my patreon to get access to that:
https://www.patreon.com/thecambridgegeek
You can now join for free! (I will still take money, but it's not required.)
And the full database is searchable here by title:
https://audiofiction.co.uk/search.php
or a tagging system:
https://audiofiction.co.uk/search2.php
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Persuasion by Jane Austen - Classics Audio Book
D20PR - CASA XANATHAR - Comedy Audio Book (Italian)
Well Turned Ankle - Comedy Audio Book
The 3’000 Year Long Lemon Ant War - Comedy Audio Book
I Delitti Di Montescuro - Crime and Mystery Audio Book (Italian)
What Emma Left Behind - Crime and Mystery Audio Book
The House That Shadows Built - Cyberpunk Audio Book
Don't touch me - Erotica Audio Book
Double The Popcorn - Fanfiction Audio Book
Surrogate: The Director's Cut - The Podfic - Fanfiction Audio Book
Imagitopia - Fantasy Audio Book
Spectacle of Power - Fantasy Audio Book
The Heartless Knaves - Fantasy Audio Book
The Strangefells: The Death's Left Hand Series - Fantasy Audio Book
The Wizard's Library - Fantasy Audio Book
Dearest - Historical Audio Book
TEMPS DE SEGA - Historical Audio Book (Catalan)
Aahat Suno Podcast - Horror Audio Book (Hindi)
Ghostly encounters. - Horror Audio Book
halb da - Horror Audio Book (German)
Monster Parade Podcast - Horror Audio Book
Mournwynd - Horror Audio Book
Queer Ghoul - Horror Audio Book
This Machine Belongs To - Horror Audio Book
Way Out - Horror Audio Book
Halfway to Infinity - Multigenre Audio Book
The Ten-Minute Storyteller - Multigenre Audio Book
Resar Noir - Noir Audio Book
Dreaming Machines Novels - Post-apocalypse Audio Book
Shayad Is Baar - Romance Audio Book (Hindi)
Trader's Tales From the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper - Science fiction Audio Book
Joffrey vous raconte - Thriller and Psychological Audio Book
Twitchals Book 1: Dwindling Magic - Urban fantasy Audio Book
The Escapades of Action Jones - Action Audio Drama
A2Z - Adventure Audio Drama
1v1MeDM - Comedy Audio Drama
Heist - Comedy Audio Drama
The Star Driven Expulsion of Count Lastname - Comedy Audio Drama
Widdershins' Cove - Comedy Audio Drama
COLD TAPES - Crime and Mystery Audio Drama
MISPER - Crime and Mystery Audio Drama
オーディオドラマ「わたしが聴いたあなたの過去」 - Crime and Mystery Audio Drama (Japanese)
The Numbers Station - Experimental and Surreal Audio Drama
A Fairy Tale for Adults - Fantasy Audio Drama
Fables From The Forgotten - Fantasy Audio Drama
L'Antre du Gnome - Fantasy Audio Drama (French)
Song of Fairies - Fantasy Audio Drama
Tales from the Labyrinth - Fantasy Audio Drama
The Belles - Fantasy-Hörspiel-Serie nach Dhonielle Clayton WDR - Fantasy Audio Drama (German)
The Scrying House - Fantasy Audio Drama
Wanderer's Journal - Fantasy Audio Drama
Booker & Olivia - Historical Audio Drama
Code noir - Historical Audio Drama (French)
Divorce Ranch - Historical Audio Drama
Echoes of Kuliang - Historical Audio Drama
The Wedding DJ - Historical Audio Drama
Aufnahmen aus der Geisterwelt - Horror Audio Drama (German)
Sixth Door to the Left - Horror Audio Drama
Their Final Moments - Horror Audio Drama
Crimson Ink - Noir Audio Drama
Mystic PI - Noir Audio Drama
The Pirate's Prisoner - Pirates Audio Drama
Broken Lines - Realistic Audio Drama
I Witness: The Lazarus Project - Religion Audio Drama
Acorralada - Romance Audio Drama (Spanish)
Forever Yours - Romance Audio Drama
Tell Me Where It Hurts by Marco Jose - Romance Audio Drama (Filipino)
Anonymous Lover - Satire and Spoof Audio Drama
Safe Society - Satire and Spoof Audio Drama
Deathless - Science fiction Audio Drama
Det goda livet - Science fiction Audio Drama (Swedish)
Eart(h) FM - Science fiction Audio Drama
From This Mouth That Bleeds - Science fiction Audio Drama
Looking Through the Light - Science fiction Audio Drama
Simulacro - Science fiction Audio Drama (Spanish)
Trials and Scriptulations - Science fiction Audio Drama
Eva Luna - Soap opera Audio Drama (Spanish)
La Maestra - Soap opera Audio Drama (Spanish)
Storm Runner - A Sci-fi Odyssey - Space opera Audio Drama
ASHFALL - Ein Fiction-Podcast - Thriller and Psychological Audio Drama (German)
Barley A Storymore Original - Thriller and Psychological Audio Drama
KHAMOSHI - Hindi Audio Thriller - Thriller and Psychological Audio Drama (Hindi)
TOUT SEUL - Thriller and Psychological Audio Drama (French)
Someone Is Killing The Wolfhounds - War and Military Audio Drama
The Small & Mighty - Adventure Audio RPG
Pulp Panic - A Fiasco Anthology - Crime and Mystery Audio RPG
Aerrigo's Odyssey - Fantasy Audio RPG
Back Online: Up Against Time - Fantasy Audio RPG
Dicey Bastards Comedy DnD Podcast - Fantasy Audio RPG
DragonMetal Saga - Fantasy Audio RPG
Gestalheim Productions - Three Mask Planning - Fantasy Audio RPG
Natural Rollers - Fantasy Audio RPG
Natural Six - Fantasy Audio RPG
Rise and Fall of Gods - Fantasy Audio RPG
Tales2D4 - Fantasy Audio RPG
The Camp Dragon Online Podcast - Fantasy Audio RPG
The Pact and Boon: A D&D 5e Actual Play Show - Fantasy Audio RPG
The Usual NPCs - Fantasy Audio RPG
Whispers in Wregate - Fantasy Audio RPG
Crisis Level: Green - Horror Audio RPG
Actual Play Broadcast - Multigenre Audio RPG
Goodberry Pie - Multigenre Audio RPG
Source Material - Multigenre Audio RPG
Twisted Fates - Multigenre Audio RPG
Rolling Midnight - Post-apocalypse Audio RPG
I Should Roll - Science fiction Audio RPG
The Astonishing Adventures of the S.S. Bad Ship - Science fiction Audio RPG
Blades in Paradise - Steampunk Audio RPG
Freddy's Tavern - The Willowbrook Chronicles - Storytelling Audio RPG
Golden Squad - Superhero Audio RPG
Vampire : La Mascarade - Las Vegas by Night - Urban fantasy Audio RPG (French)

Hejsa,
Som titlen siger, så er min nuværende kæreste gode venner med sin ex-kone. De har ingen børn sammen, men grundet noget gæld som hans ex skylder ham, vil han stadig gerne være i kontakt med hende. Derudover praktiske ting som at passe hans hund, hvis nu han skal noget eller har planer med mig. De har været sammen i 7 år. Min kæreste er den sødeste mand, og vi kan snakke om tingene sammen. Han giver mig kærlighed og behandler mig godt. Dog har jeg aldrig oplevet nogen være så gode venner med deres ex. Det er ikke fordi han ses med ex’en, men har hun brug for hjælp, hjælper han hende gerne. Det samme gør hun. Hans ex vil rigtig gerne møde mig, og jeg har det mærkeligt med det hele. Jeg føler ikke et behov for at møde hans ex. Men min kæreste siger at det er helt op til mig og at jeg selv bestemmer om jeg vil møde hende. Han har gentagende gange sagt at der intet er mellem dem, og at hans ex heller ikke vil tilbage til ham. Så derfor er de bare gode venner. Mig og min kæreste bor lidt langt fra hinanden, mens de bor tættere på hinanden. Jeg kan bare mærke at jeg synes det er super mærkeligt at de er så gode venner. Og jeg ved ikke helt hvordan jeg skal forholde mig til det. Hvis ikke det var fordi min kæreste var så sød og dejlig, så var jeg nok smuttet. En del af mig tænker det er underligt og et redflag. Den anden del af mig tænker at det viser en form for modenhed. Jeg har før i tiden døjet meget med jalousi, men besluttede mig for at det skulle være slut med at være den usikre jalou kvinde. Min kæreste har hjulpet hans ex med at flytte, efter hun var i et voldeligt forhold og skulle væk. Han sagde hun ikke havde andre der kunne hjælpe hende. Jeg forstår ikke hvordan min kæreste kan være glad for hende når hun er årsagen til han stadig har så meget gæld efter hende. Han har desuden sagt det er iorden at kigge efter andre piger og smile/flirte lidt, så længe det bare var det. Hans ex hjælper også med at trimme hans hår, da jeg ikke kan finde ud af det.
Kort sagt begynder jeg at tvivle lidt på ham, både pga. det med hans ex og det med hans gæld, som gør han aldrig har råd til noget.
Hvad tænker i?

Hallo, ich habe früher, es müsste so ca. 2003-2005 gewesen sein das Internet vor allem benutzt um witzige Bilder anzusehen. Vor allem auf Seiten wie lachenistgesund.de. Ich möchte nun aus Gründen der Nostalgie einer Bekannten diese Seiten zeigen bzw. die Art von Bildern die es dort zu sehen gab, da es diese heutzutage in der Form ja so nicht mehr gibt. Allerdings gibt es auch die entsprechende Seite nicht mehr und die archivierte Version bei archive.org scheint nicht wirklich zu funktionieren. Kennt jemand Archive von ähnlichen Seiten die ungefähr den damaligen Internet-Humor widerspiegeln die noch funktionieren?

Repost from this morning, all prices are reduced!
Good morning, Swappers! Long time, no see. I was looking through my junk drawer and found some old crap that I need to get rid of. Was hoping maybe you guys could help with that…
I can take any form of payment but am not using goods and services payment types at this time. (PayPal F&F, Venmo, CashApp, Zelle, Google Pay, etc.)
6/1/24 Timestamp
First, I have a Giantmouse Ace Nimbus V2 in green micarta. I have carried this one a bit and cut with it. It is in good shape and still sharp as hell. A few marks on the blade. Includes box.
SV: $115 $100
Ace Nimbus Pics and action video
Also, I have a Spyderco Spydie Chef. This one is in good condition. I have carried and cut with it, but not a lot. A few marks on the blade and scales. The open action is awesome but the lock is just a tad bit sticky but that is pretty common with these. Includes box.
SV: $250 $225
Chef Pics and action video
Next, I have a HiTex Bottle Opener. This thing is cool but I guess not really my thing. It is titanium and opens bottles, not much else to say. I have never opened a bottle with it and it has been out of the box like twice. Like new in box. Speaking of the box… it is really cool looking.
SV: $125 $100
HiTex Pics and action video
Also, I have a Casio G-Shock 3230 3232. LNIB, although the box is a little beat up. I wore one of these for a long time and bought a spare because I liked it so much in case I ever lost the other or something. I just don’t wear this type of watch anymore.
SV: $45 $35 SOLD
Casio Pics
Next, I have a Rogers OEM Slim Utility. This one is in good condition but is a dirty little S.L.U.T. I have carried and cut with it, but not a lot. It has kind of been the blade I carry when I wear a suit or dress nice. A few marks on the blade and scales. I love the action. I love the ano. Includes leather pouch and box.
SV: $350 SOLD
Slutty Pics and action video
Finally, I have a CRK Nyala. It is the final edition black Gun Kote, natural canvas micarta, drop point. The knife is LNIB but the sheath has a few signs of wear. I have never used the knife or sheath for anything but I guess the sheath picked up a few marks from being moved around. I am the original owner, bought it straight from CRK. Includes everything it came with. The action on this thing is insane, the video captures it all.
SV: $500 $400 $360 SOLD
Nyala Pics
Sheath Pics
Nyala Action Video
The prices include shipping to the CONUS with insurance. I probably won’t have anything dropped off at the post office until Monday, but I promise to package everything like I want things that I buy packaged. Preference will be given to those who post here and send a message (you can direct message or chat, I should be able to receive both). Everything is likely cross posted.
I am not taking trades, but feel free to make an offer if you feel my price is a little high. I haven’t been around for a while and a couple of these are tough to find recent prices on so please forgive me (but also let me know) if my prices suck. Thanks for looking. Stay safe and well!

COAP 2024 CSE /DA Offer Details Form and Response Sheet
Please fill up the below form with correct details whoever got offer in this round 4(You can also fill 1 ,2 ,3 if you didn't fill before). You can also see the response sheet for the filled up details. Other round details shifted to new sheet.
Form link: https://forms.gle/dmuHhv8rwAWm2MxA8
Response Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XdmEEimgqRv6dOSJtvYQaP-8T_N04m5fCftMRpS4W88/
Please share this form and sheet as much as possible. So that many CSE guys fill this up and we can predict our chances for colleges in the next rounds. 🙏

Superman #97 - Tales of Metropolis

<< < > Coming July 1st
Author: MajorParadox
Book: Superman
Arc: Heritage
Set: 97

Rain

78 Reeve Rd, Metropolis
Rain poured down over the Kents’ new house. Inside, toys and clothes were littered all around. Clark was in the living room, rocking a crying Lara in his arms as Lois worked on Jon’s grilled cheese in the kitchen, the boy sitting at the table with a coloring book.
“Lois,” Clark called to his wife as he heard a cab pull up in front of the house. “They’re here.”
“What?” asked Lois, pushing down on the bread with a spatula. “Who? Ma and Pa? I thought you were picking them up at the airport.”
“I was,” said Clark, taking in the mess their home had become. “Can I put you down, Lara?” he asked the baby, who took a quick break to stare but quickly returned to tears.
It would only take a few moments to gather all the clutter, but he didn’t want to be holding her during a burst like that. Instead, he made sure Jon was distracted and proceeded to blow a gust of wind, but it didn’t quite go as planned. While some toys moved into the corner, other items in the room fell onto the floor.
“Oops,” said Clark just before there was a knock at the front door.
“We have two kids,” Lois called. “They’ll understand.”
Clark walked Lara to the door and opened it.
“Oh my god,” said Martha as her face melted. “She’s even more adorable than her photos.”
“What happened here?” asked Jonathan, noticing the chaos in the living room.
“Our grandkids did,” Martha retorted, reaching her arms out.
Clark handed Lara to her grandmother and she looked up at her, finally quieting down.
“You are just the sweetest,” she said and the baby cracked a tiny smile.
“Come on in,” said Clark as Jon came running over with a grilled cheese in his hands.
“Gramma, Grandpa!” he yelled.
Jonathan kneeled down and lifted Jon into his arms, letting out a small groan. “Oh boy, Jon,” he said. “You’re getting so big!”
“Hi,” said Lois, walking in next, raising an eyebrow at the Clark once she saw his attempt at cleaning. “You’re here early. ”
“We were able to get on an earlier flight,” Jonathan explained. “And we didn’t want to bother you with picking us up. You’ve got enough on your plates.”
“Besides,” said Martha as she leaned over to Jon to kiss him on the forehead. “We couldn’t wait to get here.” She gave Lara a kiss next and the baby let out a squeaky coo.
“Well, we’re glad to see you,” said Lois, rubbing a hand behind her neck.
“You seem tired,” said Martha. “You two take a break and Jonathan and I will watch the kids.”
“Well, we need more diapers first,” said Lois, looking at Clark. “Do you want to rush over to–”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Jonathan, zipping up his jacket.
“Can I come too, Grampa?” asked Jon.
“Are you sure?” asked Lois, kneeling to his level. “It’s raining pretty hard out there.”
“He’ll be fine,” said Jonathan, tapping his umbrella. “This thing is heavy duty and the convenience store is just down the road.”
“I’m sure, Mommy,” said Jon, rushing to the door.
“Put on your coat,” Clark called, grabbing a small, blue rain jacket from the closet.
“Okay,” Jon agreed.
Jonathan and Jon left once he got all zipped up.
“Go rest and take a nap,” said Martha, realizing Lois wasn’t in the room anymore before she could add “you two.”
“Lois beat you to it,” said Clark. “She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Let me just clean–”
“Clark…” said Martha in a mom voice he hadn’t heard in years.
“Okay, Ma,” said Clark, kissing his mom on the forehead and following it up with a kiss for Lara. He moved toward the stairs but suddenly stopped.
“What is it?” asked Martha.
“Clark may need a break,” he said, “but Superman doesn’t always have the luxury.”
Reeve Rd.
Jonathan walked down the sidewalk with Jon close to his side, both shielded from the rain by the rather large, black umbrella.
“I don’t like rain,” said Jon. “I’m not allowed ta play in the yard.”
“Rain is a great thing,” Jonathan said. “It helps plants grow, it cools it down when it’s been too hot, and it can be peaceful to just listen to the sounds of it.”
“Oh,” he answered, not quite sure if he should be upset that his grandfather didn’t agree with him.
“You’re right, it’s not always the best,” Jonathan added. “Like if you had other plans. But, rain doesn’t last forever. And the world would be worse off if it never rained at all.”
Jon considered the words but wasn’t quite sure what to say. He looked up to see a man in red, blue, and yellow flying overhead. “Look!” Jon called. “It’s Superman!”
Jonathan smiled as his son disappeared into a blur. “Wow,” Jonathan exclaimed.
He must have slowed down to give Jon a glimpse. Jonathan wondered how often Clark did that for others.
“Did you ever seen’d him before?” asked Jon.
“Once or twice,” Jonathan answered with a smile.
“Wow,” Jon replied, copying the tone his grandfather used earlier.
The two got to the 6/21 store and Jonathan reached for the door as he looked up at the sky. “The rain’s letting up,” he said.
“I still don’t like rain,” said Jon as he went inside.
Ace O’ Clubs, Suicide Slum
“Hey, Jimbo,” said Bibbo Bibbowski as Jimmy Olsen sat down at the bar. “What can I getcha?”
“Just a beer,” said Jimmy. “Thanks.”
“Everythin’ okay?” asked Bibbo as he poured a glass.
“Girlfriend broke up with me,” Jimmy explained.
“Ruby?” asked Bibbo. “Sorry to hear that.” He flung a drink coaster down and placed the beer on top of it.
Jimmy nodded. “We’d been together for over a year,” he stated.
“That’s rough, pal,” said Bibbo, catching the TV with the corner of his eye. “Hey, look, it’s Supes!” he shouted, reaching for the remote to pump up the volume.
A woman’s voice could be heard describing the video feed. “–fighting what can only be described as a–”
“Did she say why?” Bibbo asked, returning to his conversation with Jimmy, but still watching the news break.
Jimmy sighed. “I wouldn’t say the ‘l’ word.”
“Laundry?” asked Bibbo.
Jimmy almost choked on his beer. “What?” he asked.
“Oh, love!” Bibbo realized. “What’s so hard about that? I love ya, Jimmy Olsen. See? Rolls off da tongue.”
“Excuse me,” a woman with long brown hair, sitting a few seats over said. “I couldn’t help but overhear. Are you the Jimmy Olsen? The one who gets all those great photos of Superman?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” said Jimmy, taking a sip of his beer.
“Can I buy you a drink or something?” the woman asked.
Jimmy sighed and pointed to his beer, oblivious to her smile that faded at his non-answer.
“Oh yeah,” said Bibbo, pointing to the TV. “How come you ain’t out there snapping Superman right now?”
“It’s my day off,” Jimmy answered. “Besides, I’m not in the mood to be around all that excitement right now.”
“Hey!” a man from a table shouted, pointing toward the TV. “That fight is only a couple blocks away.”
Bibbo turned the volume down and motioned for everyone to be quiet. Loud bangs could be heard in the distance. “Yer right!” he shouted. He jumped over the bar and ran to the windows, trying to see if he could catch a glimpse of anything.
A monstrous figure flew by and crashed into the asphalt, causing several cars to slam their brakes and turn around. Superman appeared in a burst of speed, dropping down next to the threat. The rain had picked up again and they were both soaking wet.
“Okay,” Bibbo announced. “You know da drill. Stay away from the door and da windows.”
A man by the door was typing away on his phone.
“Hey!” Bibbo shouted, nearly giving the man a heart attack. “Didn’tcha hear me?”
The man moved further inside the bar as Bibbo stayed at the window, watching the two outside trade blows.

Familiar Faces

Near The Ace O’ Clubs
Mitch Anderson walked up the stairs to the subway, reaching the sidewalk. He didn’t even bother opening his umbrella, instead letting the rain cover him. The ground was shaking underground and he could finally see the source. Superman was fighting some kind of monster in the street.
“Good old Metropolis,” said Mitch, dashing to the nearest secluded alleyway. He pulled off his shirt to reveal his red and white uniform underneath. “Good thing I wore this today,” he said to himself, stripping the rest of his street clothes away and tossing them and his umbrella to the ground. He pulled his mask over his face and glided his way toward the battle.
It had been a long time since Mitch used his powers in public (Superman #66). His mom had moved the family away and forbade him from being a superhero anymore. That didn’t stop him, though. He still helped people when he could in secret.
But Mitch was eighteen now and moving back to Metropolis in the fall. It was time for the return of–
“Outburst!” yelled Superman as Mitch made it onto the scene. “It’s been a while.”
The monster lifted an empty car and tossed it toward the Man of Steel, but Mitch lifted his hands, slowing it down until it hovered next to him.
“Nice save,” Superman said before Mitch sent the car flying back toward the attacker.
Mitch swung his hands around in a swoop, bringing in several other parked cars, forming a blockade around the beast. The magnetic force was held tight, keeping him from escaping.
Superman flew over and dropped with an elbow, finally knocking the monster unconscious.
“Sorry for that, fella,” he told him. “You didn’t seem to mean any trouble. You were just frightened.”
“Nice shot, Superman!” yelled Bibbo from the door to the bar.
Mitch swerved the cars back to their parking spaces and Superman lifted the unconscious animal in his arms.
“Thanks for the assist,” he said. “I better get him somewhere safer before he wakes up.” With that, the hero flew off into the distance.
“Any time,” said Mitch to himself, wondering if Superman heard him anyway. He returned to the alley and picked up his clothes, dressing himself quickly. They were soaking wet, but what could he do? The rain wasn’t letting up either.
Mitch opened the door to the Ace O’ Clubs and Bibbo’s eyes lit up.
“Mitch Anderson?” he asked. “Is that’chu?”
“Hey, Bibbo,” Mitch answered, letting the door close behind him. “Long time no see.”
“How ya doin’?” Bibbo asked. “How’s yer mom?”
“Mom’s good,” said Mitch. “I’m in town for college orientation. Going to Met U in the fall.”
“That’s great!” said Bibbo, patting him on the shoulder. “You hungry?” he asked. “Anything you want is on da house!”
“Thanks, but I can’t stay long,” said Mitch. “I’m meeting a… friend.”
“Would they be of the romantic kind?” Bibbo asked.
Mitch couldn’t help but blush a bit. “My ex,” he explained. “Well, kinda. We never really put a label on it. I’m hoping we could pick up where we left off when I moved, but–”
“Dunno if she feels the same way?” Bibbo cut in.
“Yeah.”
Bibbo didn’t even take a moment to consider his answer. “Never really know unless ya ask her, right?”
“Hey, thanks for the beer,” said Jimmy, walking by toward the door.
“Take care, Jimbo,” said Bibbo with a nod. “And don’t be afraid of love.”
Jimmy chuckled before leaving the bar.
Subway
Soon
Jimmy watched the underground tunnels go by while lost in thought. Was Bibbo right? Was he afraid of love?
He couldn’t be. Jimmy loved Lucy Lane once upon a time. And then a kiss happened with Dana Dearden (Superman #53)– AKA Obsession– and things spiraled from there. It seemed like they got past it for a bit, but it didn’t last.
But if Jimmy wasn’t afraid of love, why was he so hesitant with Ruby? He never really stopped to think about why it was so difficult. He really did care for her, but… Maybe he just didn’t love her. Not like he loved Lucy.
“Jimmy?” a voice said above him. He looked up to find Lucy holding the handrail.
Did he just manifest her? Was he developing powers? Or maybe just dreaming?
“Hello?” Lucy asked, waving her hand as her lips did that almost mischievous half-smile of hers.
“Lucy!” Jimmy said louder than he expected, drawing stares from others. He stood up to meet her eyes. “What are you– um, how are… it’s good to see you.”
“You too,” Lucy answered. “I’m in town to meet my new niece.”
“Oh, that’s great,” said Jimmy. “She’s adorable. You’ll love her.”
Lucy’s perfume overpowered Jimmy’s senses. He missed the way she smelled.
“You know it’s funny,” said Lucy. “We started dating after Jon was born.”
Jimmy thought back. He had worn a bowtie that day in the hospital. It’d become a lucky charm since.
“That is funny,” Jimmy replied. He looked up at the next stop displayed on the readout. It was his stop. But he didn’t want to get off. He wanted to keep talking to Lucy forever.
Oh god, he realized something. He was certain he wasn’t afraid of love now. The problem was he still loved Lucy.
Jimmy’s heart pounded so hard, he thought it would pop right out of his chest. He panicked and pointed toward the doors as the subway car slowed. “This is my stop,” he said.
“Oh,” said Lucy.
“Yeah,” said Jimmy.
“Maybe we can–”
“How about–”
Lucy smiled and Jimmy let out a nervous giggle.
“I’ll be in town for a bit,” Lucy said. “Let's get together and catch up sometime.”
Jimmy nodded and stepped out of the subway car as soon as the doors opened. He turned around and watched Lucy wave through the window. As the car took off again, she went to sit down and pulled out her phone.
Why did he leave? It’s not like he had plans. Why did he feel so nervous? He knew Lucy. He loved her.
Maybe Bibbo was right after all. Maybe he was afraid of love.
LexCorp Tower
Lena Luthor’s phone began ringing as she walked toward the entrance to LexCorp Tower, her umbrella in hand. She pulled the phone out of her coat pocket to find a photo of her old roommate Lucy Lane on the lock screen.
“Hey, Lucy,” she said upon answering it.
“Lena,” Lucy said. “It’s been too long. I’m actually in town visiting my new niece, but I was wondering if you were free later this week to catch up.”
“That would be great,” said Lena as the automatic doors to the building opened. She tucked the phone into her neck and collapsed the umbrella. “I’ll have to move some things around in my schedule, so let me get back to you.”
“Of course,” said Lucy. “You’ve been through so much since– uh, things went downhill with your dad. It’s amazing to see how far you’ve come since our Gotham U days, though.”
“Yeah, it took a while,” Lena agreed. “But after a lot of paperwork and legal hoopla, the board finally named me as the new CEO.”
“Congratulations,” Lucy offered, but Lena didn’t quite catch it. Someone outside caught her eyes instead.
There was a man in a black hoodie with brown hair and sunglasses. Who wore sunglasses in the rain? Lena only saw him for a second, but he looked oddly familiar. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
“Still with me?” asked Lucy.
Lena couldn’t see the man anymore, so she shook her head and proceeded toward the elevators.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” she said. “I’m heading inside now, let me take a look at my calendar and get back to you.”

Sunny Days

LexCorp Tower
The man in sunglasses was hiding behind a pillar. He tapped a sequence against the metal structure and a piece of it swung open, revealing a small, tube-like compartment. The man stepped in and it swung closed and the compartment moved downward, underground..
Shortly after a woman in a gray hoodie walked over, made sure the coast was clear, and disappeared from LexCorp Tower’s entrance in the same manner.
Underneath the building a small doorway opened into a secret area and the woman walked out. The place was small, but there was a lot of equipment scattered around. And an array of security monitors displaying different areas inside and outside of LexCorp.
The man walked over, taking off his sunglasses and pulling at his hair, which popped right off, revealing a bald head.
“Lex,” she said. “Why are we meeting here? This is the last place you should be.”
“Mercy,” Lex answered. “This is also the last place they’d look for me. Now, what happened with the so-called Superman Revenge Squad?”
“Even with the kryptonite,” Mercy explained. “Superman managed to get away unharmed.” (Superman #95).
“Just as well,” said Lex. “I didn’t think they could succeed anyway. But it was a good field operation to test the blue variety against him. How did that turn out?”
“Things went south quickly, so I wasn’t in a position to monitor the fight,” said Mercy. “But, the Kryptonian named General Zod is being held at S.T.A.R. Labs now. Rumor has it they managed to render him powerless.”
“Powerless,” Lex repeated. “If they used blue kryptonite and it can deactivate a Kryptonian’s powers entirely, this could be a game-changer.”
“Lex,” said Mercy, taking a few moments to find the right words. “I know you blame Superman for your downfall, but you got away. We could just go and find a new life. Together.”
Lex raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never known you to be sentimental,” he said. “I also thought you knew our arrangement was purely physical.”
Mercy felt her breathing stop. She knew the whole time Lex never felt the same way about her that she felt about him. But once they started getting closer… Maybe she fooled herself, thinking he would.
“I know,” said Mercy, holding herself back from shaking. “It was just a thought.”
She sacrificed so much for him and she was offering to sacrifice more. None of the legal trouble after the presidential fallout stuck to her. She could move on with her life. Was it worth it sticking with him?
“So, what comes next?” asked Mercy.
Lex let out a half smile. “I want to show you the other reason for staying close to Metropolis,” he said, walking over to a table of circuits and machinery. There was a white sheet over something big in the corner, which Lex pulled off in a display of showmanship.
It wasn’t much to look at, but it had the familiar outline of a manned exo-suit.
“Is that…?”
“Yes,” said Lex. “I’ve been sneaking parts from upstairs for a while now to rebuild my armor. It will take a while, but when it’s done, the world won’t be ready.”
Mercy let out a smile. How could she ever doubt him? The man was a visionary genius and she would always love him, even if he never felt the same way.
Lex’s attention turned to the security monitors. One of them at street level showed a car accident quickly turning into a four-car pile-up. Superman arrived on the scene and was seemingly checking on the injuries.
“This is why it’s not safe here,” said Mercy. “The last thing you need is for him to spot you before you’re ready for him.”
Lex watched as Superman lifted one of the passengers into his arms and flew away.
“He hasn’t spotted me yet,” said Lex.
Mercy nodded. The man knew what he was doing.
Metropolis General Hospital
Superman arrived in the emergency room entrance and gently placed the injured passenger into an empty wheelchair. “Excuse me,” he said to the triage nurse who was already staring in his direction.
She had heard stories of Superman showing up before, but she’d never been on duty to see it for herself.
“Can- can I help you?” she asked the hero.
“This woman was involved in a car accident and needs medical attention,” Superman explained.
“Is- Is everyone else okay?” the nurse asked. “From the accident?”
“They’re fine,” said Superman. “But this young woman seems to have broken her leg.”
“Thanks, Mr.– Uh, Superman,” the nurse managed to get out. “We’ll take good care of her.”
Some orderlies came by to wheel her toward an empty room.
“I’m sure you will,” said Superman before waving as he walked back the way he came. He passed by another woman entering who he seemed to know and the two exchanged pleasantries.
“Hi,” the woman said upon reaching the desk, holding her left arm by the elbow with her other one. “I’m Inspector Maggie Sawyer of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit. I hurt my arm on duty and I need to get it checked out.”
“Bring her to exam four,” a doctor said as she walked by the desk.
In the quick moment Maggie saw her, she couldn’t help but notice her kind, brown eyes.
“But Dr. Franklin,” the triage nurse called.
The doctor lifted a hand in the air, and spun around to give a carefree wink.
“I guess you can fill out these forms in the exam room,” the nurse said, handing over the clipboard.
Maggie took them and followed an orderly to the room, where she sat down and waited.
She felt her heart beating a mile a minute. Was her injury worse than she thought? Sure, the doctor was attractive, but Maggie never had a reaction like that to meeting anyone. Not even her on-again off-again girlfriend Toby Raynes.
Maggie was too in control of her emotions to swoon like a teenager. It must have been something else. Maybe she had too much coffee.
“Hello again, Inspector,” Dr. Franklin said, entering the exam room and Maggie’s heart dropped. “Let’s take a look at that arm.”
Maggie nodded. “Thank you Dr. Franklin,” she added as an afterthought.
“You can call me Amina if you want,” the doctor said, taking Maggie’s arm into her hands. The pleasantness of her gentle touch vastly outweighed the pain.
“You can call me Maggie.”
“I have to admit,” said Amina. “I’m a little starstruck. I’ve seen you on the news. You lead such an extraordinary life.”
Maggie pulled from deep down, knowing she had to say something. “Being a doctor must be extraora– I mean extraordinary too,” she said.
What was wrong with her? She was never shy or messed up her words like that before.
Amina just chuckled. “It has its days,” she replied. “I don’t think it’s broken, but I’d like to get some x rays just to be sure.”
“That’s good,” said Maggie, realizing Amina was still holding her arm.
“Oh, sorry,” the doctor said, letting go. “I guess I was lost in thought.
“Me too,” said Maggie, realizing she had rarely looked away from Anima’s eyes.
“We should have asked Superman to check you out when he was here,” Amina said with a chuckle.
Maggie delighted in the sound. “I’m sure he had better things to do.”
Kent House
Clark opened the door to find Sam, Ella, and Lucy Lane. “Right on time,” he said. “Come one in and get out of the rain.”
Jon ran over and gave Lucy a high five as Martha walked over with Lara in her arms. Lois walked up beside them.
“Oh, she’s even more adorable in person,” said Ella, reaching out her hands. “May I?” she asked.
Martha handed over the baby with an “Of course!”
Ella looked down into Lara’s eyes and smiled.
“Look!” said Jon, pointing outside before Clark closed the door. “The rain stopped!!”
“You’re right,” said Clark.
Jonathan walked over and knelt down to Jon. “See,” he said. “It can’t rain forever.”
“I guess,” said Jon. “But I think I like the rain now.”
“You know what’s even better than rain?” asked Lois, walking over to the two. She pointed up into the sky and Jon’s face lit up.
“Wow,” said Jon.
Everyone walked out to the front porch to admire the rainbow spread across the sky.
<< < > Coming July 1st

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So I've recently started preparing for GATE DA (I know I might be a little late but I want to try), and I thought it would be better If I had a study group for discussing topics and solving doubts. Hit me up if anyone is interested in forming one. Cheers!

Boas pessoal No seguimento dos posts que fiz nas subs dos "três grandes" no mês passado, venho aqui agora nesta sub fazer dois novos desafios, tal como prometido!
Primeiro desafio:
Foste escolhido para ser o selecionador de um plantel de All Stars portugueses do século XXI. Podes escolher entre TODOS OS JOGADORES que foram convocados à Seleção Nacional desde o ano 2000, inclusive. Todos os jogadores estarão no seu pico de forma e não haverá lesões, por isso só tens que escolher os 26 jogadores que achas que fariam o plantel mais forte e que levariam Portugal a bater-se com os melhores numa competição All-Star.
Segundo desafio:
Apurados as votações dos users dos SportingCP, Benfica e fcporto, criei um novo questionário para escolherem um plantel All Stars da Primeira Liga com os mais votados de cada clube. Ao contrário do que fiz inicialmente, mudei o nome de "históricos" para "all stars", e em vez de deixar os critérios a cada um, repito o critério do 1º desafio: todos os jogadores estarão no seu pico de forma e sem lesões. Eu sei que é muito difícil, mas se conseguirem deixar os clubismos de fora os resultados finais poderão ser mais "realistas".
Se alguém quiser ir ver e/ou votar os questionários iniciais de cada clube, eles ainda estão online. Seguem os links: Sporting
Benfica
Porto
Se quiserem ir ver os resultados das votações de cada clube (os questionários ainda estão abertos, mas penso 99% dos lugares estarão decididos), podem ir aqui:
Sporting
Benfica
Porto
Espero que apreciem, pessoalmente adoro este tipo de desafios. No final irei publicar os resultados de ambos os desafios.