“Led By The Wolf” In the year of the Storms in the land of Hawkvile a male white wolf was trying to find shelter for his mate and twelve wolf pups. He came upon a cave and put his mate and pups in there then he turns to see if the storm would soon pass then all of a sudden lighting struck a oak tree! It fell on the wolf crushing him the wolf turns his head to see his mate then died. The female morned for her loss but she knew she must be strong for her pups so she began to explore the cave. She notes a strange sent about the cave It was a mixture of wolf and man mixed then the hair on he back and neck stood strait up as she stumbled on the skeleton of a creature it’s body had the head and feet of a wolf but it’s chest legs and arms was a man! She backed up in hotter for she and found the bones of She found the bones of the Old Werewolf Lord Dagar! The body was dead but the spirit was still there. As the female wolf continued to explore the cave, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. She tried to push the thought aside and focused on finding a way out of the cave with her pups. Suddenly, she heard a deep growling voice behind her, "Who dares to disturb my slumber?" She turned around to see the ghostly figure of the Old Werewolf Lord Dagar standing before her. The female wolf was frightened but stood her ground, "I apologize for disturbing your rest, but I needed shelter for my pups during the storm." The ghostly figure of Dagar studied the female wolf for a moment and then spoke, "You are a brave and loyal mother to protect your young. I can see that you are in need of guidance and I am willing to offer my assistance." The female wolf was hesitant but knew that she needed all the help she could get to protect her pups. She nodded her head in agreement, "Thank you, Lord Dagar. I accept your offer of guidance." And so, the female wolf and her pups were led by the ghostly figure of Lord Dagar through the cave and out into the storm. He taught her how to hunt and protect her young, and she became a great leader of her pack. From that day forward, the female wolf and her pack were known as the Shalom pack, and they always remembered the guidance and wisdom of the Old Werewolf Lord Dagar. As the years passed, the chosen wolf continued to grow in strength and power. His pack looked up to him as their leader and protector, and he led them with wisdom and courage. The chosen wolf had a special connection with the spirit of the Old Werewolf Lord Dagar, who had split his spirit into twelve parts and entered into twelve of the wolf pups. The chosen wolf had the most potent infusion of the Werewolf's power, and he knew that he was destined for greatness. One day, the chosen wolf received a vision from the God Shalom, who revealed to him that he had been chosen to lead the wolves on a great quest. The wolves were to journey to a far-off land and recover a powerful artifact that had been stolen from the God Shalom's temple. The chosen wolf gathered his pack, and they set out on their journey. They traveled through forests and mountains, facing many dangers along the way. They fought off rival packs of wolves, battled fierce predators, and braved treacherous terrain. Finally, after many weeks of travel, the chosen wolf and his pack arrived at their destination. They sneaked into the enemy's stronghold and fought their way through to the inner sanctum, where they found the stolen artifact. The chosen wolf and his pack returned the artifact to the God Shalom's temple, and they were rewarded with great honor and respect. The chosen wolf knew that he had fulfilled his destiny, and he continued to lead his pack with courage and wisdom, always remembering the lessons he had learned from the Old Werewolf Lord Dagar. “Led By The Wolf.” Chapter 1. (The Beginning Of This) In the Year of Shadows. It was a very sorrowful time. There lives a boy fourteen years old name Jacob Cole Bodrick. Jacob was a very smart boy a inventor he created things, and he was a little dare devil he was constantly in trouble he was scolded punished even beat with a whip but that would not stop him he kept making things he was determined to make something to help the king. He invented a boat that looked like a cherieot with two robot horses it could run on lad and sea he couldn't wait to get back home to show his mom and dad. Jacob rode on his Black Mare heading home when he saw the smoke, he raced his horse toward the smoke his house was on fire and the barn and yard was a blazed with the fire his parents was no where to be found so he raced around the barn and he found his father who was dying with a sword in his chest. “Father!!! Father!!!” Jacob shouted “Save the Horses and go save your mother son!” His father said breathing heavily. He said as he died, Jacob freed the horses and fell on his fathers dead body and he cried. Later that night after barring his father he went to his lab he was going to kill the one who killed his father, he made his weapons and created a long sword from fire and ice and alyrim steel he would get his revenge so he thought. He made his way to where he saw the tracks of horses and he began to track down the killers, he passed a house where a tall dark haired man was standing watching him. “Hey have you seen a gang of men with a women ride by here?” Jacob said with anger and determination in his voice. “Yes I did son you gonna take them on your own?” The stranger said as he looked at the young boy. “Why don’t you hop down and we plan together on finding your mother.” The man said. Without another word Jacob rides off. The stranger looks down at a picture painting of a beautiful woman that was in his hands of him and a beautiful woman and his heart jumped. “Oh No... he has her eyes.” The man said with a very serious look on his face. From the distance Jacob saw smoke and he drove his horse towards it and he saw them and what was happening anger hit him as he saw his Mother and the hideous man, Jacobs teeth clinched when the killer spoke. “I am Slaygar now tell me where is the boy!?! I want the boy!” Slaygar with a growl in his voice. Jacob's mother spit in Slaygars face, Slaygars hit her to the ground with his cane long and black with a gold skull handle, Jacob went to attack Slaygar when a hand clutched his mouth and he was pulled back he fought and fought. “Ezy kid Ezy!” The stranger said as he pulled him down and covering his mouth with his hand. Jacob kept fighting then the Stranger hit him hard knocking him out. “Sorry kid but all you would have done was get yourself and your mother killed.” The man said quietly as he watch Slaygar and the boys mother. The stranger watched as Slaygar ties the women to the horse and got on his Black Horse it’s eyes was red the man never seen such a horse. “I will find you boy I will find you!!!” Slaygar shouted angrily. He said that then looked at the boys mother. “Oh he find us over the momma heh heh.” Slaygar said with a evil laugh. The men that was with him laughed then Slaygar felt two presence the young boys anger he sensed it. A wicked smile came to his face. “Your Not Ready To Face me. Come On Save Your Mom don’t let her die!” Slaygar taunted. Suddenly he made a fire ball in his hand and said. “Naw! On second thought I will just kill her now so you can see it.” Slaygar laughed as he threw the ball of fire at the mother and the the horse setting them both on fire, The screams of Jacobs mom and the horse woke Jacob out of his slumber from being knocked out. “Watch her burn!” Slaygar shouted. Jacob heard His mother screaming along with the horse and Slaygar laughing he saw his mother and the horse in one big flame of fire he heard the screams it echoed in his mind that would haunt him in his dreams. “Bloody Hell No!!!” The stranger said as he pulled Jacob with him two his horse. He fire two arrows one hit the mother in the head putting her out her misery and the other hit the horse. He turns and saw the boy watching what happened tears filled his eyes he couldn’t make a sound. The stranger grabbed him he pulled back the boy started screaming at him. “No! NO!!! MY MOTHER!!!” “Come on son she’s gone I’m sorry kid but you can’t avenge her death now come with me you can trust me boy!” The stranger said sadden because the woman who was Jacob’s mother who he just had to kill so she wouldn’t suffer was his true love. The man picked him up got on his horse and took out running for the mountains Jacob screaming at him to put him down as he did. He got him on the horse and ran as fast as he could twards a particular mountain. Slaygar and his men were hot on their heels trying to catch up he wanted that boy. “Come on yall I want that boy. Guys let’s get them kill the man I want that boy alive! Slaygar shouted angrily. The stranger kicked his horse making her run faster. “Come on girl let’s go yah yah!!!” The stranger shouted to his black mare. He saw an elf behind a tree he was raising to, he whistled and mages witch’s warlocks saucers Druids and minotaurs and centaurs Elves and Dwarfs came out to fight against Slaygar and his army. Slaygar yelled. “Retreat they have an army!!! This ain’t over I’ll have that boy!!!” Slaygar shouted. Slaygar and his men left. Jacob from shock was loosing consciousness the last thing he remember was a young Elf with black hair named Jake pulling him off the horse and carrying him to a cave. When Jacob awoke he saw a centaur there. “Ezy now you need to rest you been through a lot.” Kane a big centaur said as he stood over Jacob and handing something to drink. “O shut up Kane let the boy alone and don’t give him any of that mess to drink you kill him and he ain’t even sick.” Aurther who was the stranger that saved Jacob said with a smirk on his face. “Oh and look who’s talking joke all you want you know if it wasn’t for me and that mess as you call it you be under ground by now that is if someone took the time to Barry you and not throw you in the creek for the sharks!” Kane replied. “Yea well if I didn’t pull your big horse tail out the rocks when that mountain caved in you be a big bunch of warm food aye.” Aurther said as he began to chuckle. The Centaur walk out the room cursing. Jacob watched him walk out and his eyes was wide like he seen a ghost. Aurther came and sit by him and said. “He’s a centaur yes I know I was shocked to I thought it was just some child’s story but if it wasn’t for him I be dead there’s also minotaurs and High Elves Dark Elves Wood Elves Dwarfs and I heard there were dragons to but never seen them.” Jacob looked and seen the stranger that took him and killed his mother. “You Killed My Mother!” Jacob said with tears running down his cheeks. He pushed away from him and said “Get away from me!” “Son I’m sorry about your mother but would you rather have her burn alive because I sure couldn’t! So I stopped her pain.” Aurther said tears came down his eyes. “My Fathers Dead. My mother’s dead! she’s…” Jacob said. As Aurther put his hands on his shoulders.” “I know I’m sorry man I really am.” Aurther said as the tears ran down his cheeks as well. Jacob hugged Aurther. Aurther didn’t know what to do he took his hands off his shoulders and wrapped them around Jacob in a fatherly embrace and said. “Um Son. Um ok there now your fine everything is gonna be just fine.” Jacob said trying to comfort him. Aurther let the boy grieve his mother and father. Jacob finally fell asleep in Aurther’s arms. “Um kid kid.... umm come on kid.” Aurther said awkwardly as he was holding him keeping him from falling. Kane walked in and just a running his mouth and saw Aurther and the kid asleep in his arms. “Ooooh Aurther are you getting attached to the boy gonna take him in as your own, Ooooh you gonna let him call you daddy? “ Kane said laughing” He gasped. “Shut up Kane! Help me!” Aurther said aggravated. Kane went over and helped Aurther put him in a bed, then Kane looked at Aurther. Then antagonized him as he watched Aurther cover him with a blanket. “My my Aurther Morris is taking my job over a young blond headed boy.” Kane said shaken his head. Ooooh what would the other boys say and what about Kiara she might feel jealous. Hehe.” Kane said laughing. “Shut up you fool!” Aurther said red faced. looking around trying to make sure no one else noticed. “You keep your mouth shut about this you fool!” Aurther said with a threatening look. He looked around again then walked up to Kane and pointed his finger in his face. “If you say Anything to humiliate me…” Kane interrupted Aurther. “O give it a rest Aurther Morris everyone knows about Mary I’m Sorry you had to take her life and everyone knows how much the children mean to you and how special this one is to you. By the way Aurther here Mary told me to give this letter to you if the boy winded up in our care if something happened to her. I thought I never see that.” Aurther graved the letter. “Read it Aurther don’t burn it like the other one because it hurts too much over the choice you made read that letter!” Kane said sternly to Aurther. Aurther looked at Kane. “I’m Serious Arthur read it!” Kane said. Aurther unrolled the letter and read it. (Letter.) Mary: Dear Aurther. I’m sure you burned that last letter I wrote you so ima tell you again. Arthur I love you and I always will, I want to be with you but you chose a different path and I cannot do that. I heard you went back and took those children in and I want you to know that I’m truly grateful and I know their gonna be safe between you and Kane and Duke and Hosea. Now if your reading this letter then something happened to me and Jacky. I hate that y’all met on bad turns you would have liked him. Like I said if your reading this then I’m dead and my boy is with you like the Wizard said all those years ago we were kids but it’s true heh we made fun of him. Take care of my boy Arthur Jacky wasn’t the father but he tried to raise him like his own. Arthur please take care of my boy. I love you Arthur. PS: He’s your son Arthur. Your his father. Always yours Mary. Arthur swallowed hard tears filled his eyes. Arthur: He’s my Son? Kane looked at him they went into a cave where no one could see or hear them. “He’s my son he’s my son it can’t be!” Aurther scratched his head confused. “It’s true Aurther I can tell y’all share the same blood, you know I can tell by the smell and looks I see and smell what others cannot that’s how most my kind when we go on the full war path we don’t stop till all their kin are dead the minotaurs are the same. And Mary sent me a letter telling me about it when he was born.” “I know I know you ain’t got to give me a history lesson if y’all centaurs. I mean it’s impossible we ain’t been together or done anything in over 14 years. And I never knew Mary wrote you to. “Hey I known her way longer then you! In fact I introduced you two.” Kane said. Hosea walked up and spoke to them interrupting there conversation. “Hey y’all it’s me Hosea. Aurther that boy is Fourteen years old you know and he even looks like you when you was that age.” Hosea said as he walked up. Hosea found Aurther when he was a baby his family were killed by a unknown gang and Hosea had road up after seeing the smoke. All the houses were burnt to the ground only thing standing was a wooden shed. Hosea looked around the place and was about to get on his horse when he heard the sound of a baby crying in the wood shed. He ran in there and picked up the baby and seen a letter on the baby. It said. Letter: If you make it here and my baby is alive. His name is Aurther please take care of my Baby boy. Hosea looked at Aurther and said “Aurther that boy looks like you remember I raised you that boy has got to be your son”
Arthur shook his head and was about to speak when Duke showed up in the cave. “Aerther! Hosea! Good Kane your here look y’all meet me at the entrance we got to talk. Duke shouted. Things are about to change and it’s gonna be life and death. I got to keep y’all safe so y’all come on now!” Duke shouted at them. “What is it now Duke why hear and it better not be more of that prophecy mess.” Hosea said as he rolled his eyes “Hosea! Think man think! Centaurs Minotaurs dwarfs Elves you think because they exist that magic don’t look I have to do this now for all of you if I don’t all of y’all will die a dark dark time is coming and Gabriel Bolton will not be able to fight it. I dreamed about a Vampire again a good man drove to evil defiled the Temple Jirah And and the sacred cup filled with blood from the hands of the Wolf Statue his eyes glowed blood red and his mouth had fangs then the beast part man part wolf came their where twelve came to trap the monster the man became and Gabriel Bolton was dead!” Duke said with excitement. Hosea interrupted Duke. “Duke Holloway! That’s just a bad dream Duke there’s no such things as Vampires or Werewolves that’s just an old story to scare children there’s no such Thomas Dracula ether enough is enough.” Hosea shouted at him. “Its not a story Hosea it’s Prophesy it’s going to happen we’re here Kane please trust me put a little of your blood in this bottle.” Duke wouldn’t hear anything that would change his belief. Kane looked up and huffed “Here you go Duke” Kane said as he let him collect his blood. “Oh my God this is so ridiculous.” Hosea said as he took his hat off and with the other hand slapped his forehead. “Great! Now I need Hogan the minotaur now. Hogan!” Duke shouted Hogan came inside the cave. “Yes Master Duke.” Hogan said as he looked at Duke who had raised him when he was a young little kid Minotaur. Duke saved him from a cave that was collapsing down. “Hey big man look I need a little of your blood in this bottle.” “Sure Master Duke here you go but why do you need it?” Hogan asked. “To protect y’all.” Duke said with a serious tone in his voice. “This is Crazy Duke have you lost your mind do you want some of the children’s blood now?” Aurther said very agitated with Duke. “No Aurther I know you think I’m crazy I’m not and I got what I need and I will show you.” Duke said very serious. “It’s ok it’s ok here Duke if it help take it.” Hogan said as he gave the blood. “Duke we are starting to worry about you man.” Hosea said with much concern. They all loved Duke he saved them from a gang that were trying to burn them alive and he killed them all and he lead them to safety. So they all decided to follow Duke there were all with him 15 years now and he started to act strange the last three years when he got ahold of some scrolls found in a cave. “I’m fine Hosea I’m fine you see.” Duke tried to reassure Hosea. “Ok Duke now what are you gonna do with that.” Kane asked very interested in all that mixed blood. “I’m gonna combined it with this now” Duke said as he pulled out a bottle that had dragons blood in it then a long white feather A small bottle of Angel water that’s What Duke called it but it was water from the crystal river in the Sunny Valley it had the power to protect and heal any wounds or disease most people called it Shalom’s Grace. “Now the gift from my feathered friends.” Duke said smiling. “O what now you seeing Angels and they gave you what fairy dust? Come On Duke you know that’s a load of bull!” Aurther shouted. “Watch Aurther! Please!” Duke asked. Arthur shook his head and said. “Duke? I....” “Please Aurther! All of you I know y’all think I’m crazy but I’m not Trouble is Coming and I got to do as I can to save you all Just Like Noah and the Ark but I don’t plan on my friends dying and we sure got more then eight.” Duke said as he spoke of the Ancient scrolls. “Duke I read the Sacred scrolls to man but you going to the extreme on this man.” Aurther said as he looked at Duke. “Just Watch Aurther! You see something you would never dream of Aurther. Duke started putting all the blood together and when he had it in place he started to pray. “Jirah My God My Savior please provide us protection we are in need of it now we will be lost unless you have mercy on us please my Lord shine down on us the blood of the centaur minotaur the Angels feather the dragons blood and Angel water please except this and save us!” He began to call every name in the Camp and closed it. “John and Angela Morgan and me Duke Calloway.” Duke prayed They watched him pray and saw his tears Aurther covered his eyes and said. “O My God Why Duke.” Aurther said frustrated. Then the earth shook and from the sky what looked like White fire started coming down! Hosea put his arms on Kane and Arthur’s shoulders He almost fell. The Minotaur Hogan kept him up Hosea became a believer at that moment. “That was the fire of Salome!” Hosea said. “What are you Talking about Duke stop!” Aurther shouted. “I tried to tell y’all. Aurther this is Gods Will.” Duke said unwavering. What looked like a wall of stone was about to close the in except for a doorway That was hold on for John Morgan and his wife Angela they showed up and looked at Duke and said. “What is this and what was that bright light coming from the heavens?” John Morgan asked as he ran up.” “That was the fire of Shalom now I’m going in so you can be safe.” Duke replied. “Wow so you was right all this time!” John said shocked.0 “It’s all about faith my boys my brothers now we can be safe! Wait a minute. John who is this?” Duke said and then asked as he noticed the people with John. “This is one of those Foreigner girls her name is Zoe She was on a chain of a slave master I killed him to save her if I didn’t he would have beat her to death and this is Cole Morgan my cousin he’s 13.” John answered him. Duke put his hand over his eyes. “I couldn’t let that just Happen to them Duke I stand by my decision.” John said sternly. “No no you did what was right John you did what was right i’m proud of you son but I don’t know how to save her I called all the names already.” Duke said with concern. “Well we got to do something!” John said with a sense of urgency. “I know I know!” Duke replied. Duke passed back and forth then stopped and looked up at the Heavens again. “Dear Lord Jirah please hear my cry once again you see the situation of this young child and the little boy please replace my name with hers and add the little child so that she and he may be saved and I will fight to keep them safe!” Duke Prayed to the Lord. The door opened for the Zoe and the child went through, The door started to close. “Duke no no way no Duke you take my place!” John Shouted “John you got a family get in there!” Duke shouted back. Duke pushed John and Angela in and the door started to close once they were in they couldn’t get out Arthur John and Hosea was beating on the wall that was invisible they couldn’t get through to Duke but they could see and hear him. “Hosea, Aurther, John, Angela, Hogan, Kane, I Love y’all and always will y’all are safe and when the time is right y’all be free from here I’m sorry for this but it’s the only way y’all can live! Duke turn and walked away the wall turned to stone, Aurther walked back and forth trying to register in his mind what just happened he yelled: “What just happened what just happened!!!! Kane Hogan get it open get it...” Hosea graved him Aurther. “Calm down boy calm down he’s gone and we’re safe that what Duke wanted Aurther!” Hosea said as he tried calming Aurther. “Oh my God Oh my God what have I done!” John said with his hands on his head. “You did what Duke would have done saved someone now you calm down Aurther go check on your son and....” Hosea said as Aurther shouted. “He not my....” Hosea interrupted Aurther. “Hush Arthur go see your son Kane go with him John Hogan lets get her and and the child something to eat in fact it’s time to get supper ready come on.” Outside the wall of protection Duke and a Angel with the name Gabriel talked with each other. “So they gonna die in the mountains.” Duke asked “No they will live til the end of the protection which will probably be about a Thousand year form now there it move fast for them but they will notice they ain’t getting older wile they in there their immortal now the spell breaks they will have a choice rather to be a vampire or a werewolf however the boys Jacob and Cole are special type of Mages they can do what any other that can use a form of magic and then they will be masters of all magical creatures.” The Angel Gabriel Said to Duke “OK good so what now.” Duke asked “Come follow me I’ll lead you where you need to go next.” The Angel Gabriel said. Arther and Kane went back where they left Jacob and saw him holding his mothers letter to Arthur in his hand. Jacob looked at Arthur. “So your my real daddy! Why you didn’t raise me why you ran off?” Jacob said upset. “Son I....” Jacob interrupted Aurther. “NO!!! Stop you can’t call me that you killed my mother and you was never there for me!” Jacob shouted. “I.... Your Mother would have burned alive Jacob!” Aurther told him softly. “I was about to save her and you stopped me!” Jacob said. “You would have gotten yourself killed with your momma I didn’t know you existed until yesterday and I didn’t know you was my son until today!” Aurther explained. “Hey!!! Y’all quit fighting! Kane come over here Arthur look at this you to boy.” They came and looked. “Duke gave me his Journal and look here at the last page he wrote it ten days ago, it says. I got to get my boys and brothers and sisters safe I got to make sure they stay alive no matter what!” Dukes Journal: Arthur will soon bring his son up here and then we got to protect the children and keep them hidden from Slaygar we got to keep Slaygar away from our children. The demon will soon be born his name will terrorize the world forever they will call him Dracula the Angel Gabriel cannot stop Gabriel Bolton one his wife is dead he will give in to evil and he will go too far may Shalom have mercy on Him. Hosea! Hold this dear you need it when the wall breaks I probably be dead when you come out but this journal will lead you to my next Journal and you need that Journal to understand the changes you see. Love Duke “Ten days ago you mean he saw me bring my son home? and why keep them away from Slaygar?” Aurther said confused. “Yes Apparently Slaygar wants to kill these kids for some reason?” Kane said. “We got to keep these boys safe no matter what so until this spell where’s off there’s nothing we can do but survive we have a whole mountain so we can hunt so we got to survive, this is a magical place Aurther so we must be careful.”

Chapter 2. (Dracula)
Nine Hundred years later deep deep far in the the Shadow Forest a place called Castlevania in the black castles the kings chambers a beautiful black haired blue eyed woman named Isabell Bolton was travailing in pain as she was giving birth to her first born child, the queens maid that was there helping deliver the baby held the little child cleaned him up and wrapped him in the blanket.
“Is the Baby ok Sara?” Isabell asked very exhausted.
“Yes it’s a boy!” Sara said very excited as she gave the mother her baby.
“He’s So Handsome. Luther come quick see our boy!” Isabell said with glee.
King Luther Bolton came in and grabbed his son hugged him.
“My boy Oh my baby boy.” King Luther said very happily.
Suddenly a dark and evil witch named Festus appeared in the room with them she was pure evil.
“Oh! what do we have here aww how sweet the Dark One was finally born He will be called Dracula he will be a terror of this world he will be known all over the nation and he shall live till the end of time his power will come on his thirtieth birthday when he drinks from the cup of Shalom that’s full of blood of the wolfs tears no one will stop his destiny he is a warrior of Econdire!” The witch said with a wicked evil laugh.
King Luther drew his blade and pointed it to her as he gave the baby back to the mother.
“You will not take my child and he will not become what you said!!! You will die this night!” King Luther shouted as he charged at the witch. She disappeared as King Luther swung his blade.
“Hahahaha you can’t kill me mortal and you can’t change what is to come I’m just here to warn you if you don’t want that to happen then you must kill the baby you can change prophecy Luther Bolton! Or seek out the skull face man named Slaygar he will gladly take the child and the Prophecy will not come true! Or should I say. “Your Majesty” hahahaha! Oh Luther. Ten years from now on a day before your wife gives birth to Your fourth son you will die and Dracula will be crowned King then time will count down. Hahahahahaha!!!” Festus said laughing as she disappeared out from a window in black smoke. Luther ran to the the window she disappeared from then she went to his wife who was weeping and crying out of fear
“Honey shush it’s ok!” King Luther said as he looked with worry and concern out the window.
“We’er not calling him Dracula we’er not his name is Gabriel Luther Bolton!” Isabell said sternly. “He will be a beacon of Hope.” Isabell said smiling.
“Yes That’s Beautiful, Gabriel. I like that name. Gabriel.” King Luther said in his thoughts he was worried about the prophecy.
Years passed and Gabriel had three more brothers Drakeul, Nathen, and Samuel, Then his father got sick Gabriel was ten years old and he was trying everything he could to heal his father he was a mage a healer and he put all his herbs and couldn’t stop his father infection nor could he keep him from getting sicker. He was only able to take the pain away for a wile. But King Luther got worse and worse. The King grabbed Gabriel by the arm as he coughed and said.
“We got to get you better father I....” Gabriel said his voice shaken as he was interrupted.
“Gabriel listen it’s over there’s nothing more you can do. I feel my body shutting down before I go...” King Luther said as he winced in pain.
“No Father!” Gabriel said weeping.
“Shush! Gabriel be strong for your mother and your brothers she’s in labor now so you got to be Strong your a good man and you be a good king but I got to tell you something and you got to fight for what’s right no matter what! Your hear me son?” King Luther said as he was feeling weaker and weaker.
“Yes sir.” Gabriel said as he straightened his shoulders.
“Ten years ago when you was born a evil witch came and told us that you was the Dark One and you was to be the terror of the world til the end of time and you had a different name but I’m not at all going to speak that name and she said you was to be the warrior of Evondire.” King Luther said as he looked a his handsome boy and he smiled at him.
“Econdire? The evil prince?” Gabriel asked confused.
“Yes son and....” Luther told him all what had happened even to the point where they searched for the good witches mages sorcerers and wizards.
“They said Love is the first thing that change this fate and they said have more children as many as possible before My death and to surround you with Love and train you to be the best of yourself that love and good will overcome evil.” King Luther said as he tried hard to make sure His son knew to not loose his Live for others and those who loves him.
Gabriel looked at his father he didn’t know what to say but he swallowed and said.
Gabriel: I will live to the best of my ability to Love and be good to all.
“Good now go be with your mother and the child they need you...” King Luther didn’t finish his statement when he took his last breath and he left this world.
“Father! Father! No Father come back! Father!!!” Gabriel shouted and wept over his dead father.
King Luther died, Gabriel put his head on his fathers chest and wept the tears fell from his face on to his fathers chest. One of the Priests of Shalom walked up his name was Dagon Gibbs.
“My son he’s gone hey come here hush now.” The Priest Gibbs said with comfort.
“Bring him back Father Gibbs! Bring him Back!” Gabriel shouted still crying.
“Hush now I can’t do that I’m not God my son. I’m sorry for your loss I will prepare his ceremony but you mother gave birth to a son you need to go to her. Your coronation to be Crowned King after the ceremony of your father’s funeral. Life must go on Prince Gabriel you have a lot of priorities and obligations that Have to be done be strong Prince Gabriel.” Priest Gibbs said with a comforting voice.
Gabriel walked to the room his mother was and heard the cry of the baby he opened the doors to see his smiling mom holding her baby boy her blue eyes sparkled. She saw her firstborn and her smile faded. She then said to Gabriel.
“Gabriel come see your baby brother! I named him Logan!” Isabell said as she noticed the look on Gabriel’s face.
Gabriel held his baby brother.
“He’s so handsome and healthy, Luther would be so so happy.” Isabell said as she put her hand on Gabriel’s shoulder.
Gabriel looked at his mother and the tears fell from his eyes as well as his mothers.
“I know he be in here if he wasn’t gone but he is I know it. It was prophesied by that witch.” Isabell said as her voice shook with grief.
Gabriel put his head down.
“Oh I know baby you tried your best but his time was up sweetie. We talked long about this. I can’t grieve now you got to be ready for what’s come Gabriel.” Isabell said with sadness.
She began to weep, as she held Gabriel close to her. Gabriel gave the baby to Drakeul and hugged his mother as they wept for her for their loss. They had the beautiful ceremony for King Luther they buried him in a tomb under the castle.
Seventeen years passed the palace grew and the people where happy everything looked great Gabriel had a beautiful women they got married his it was so beautiful they had two sons identical twins Trevor and Alucard.
The year started off wonderful but then an man named John Bayn a wicked king from the deepest part north he was full of rage and sought nothing but power he attacked Transylvania and declared war against Gabriel, the king caused Gabriel to loose his source for food and he cut his supply of water king Bayn got some men inside Gabriel’s city who turned some of the people against Gabriel.
“Gabriel my brother what is your plan we have to do something we have to fight against these basters or we going to loose the city!” Drakeul said as he looked at his brother who was now king.
“Easy Drakeul getting angry at the King won’t fix this.” Samuel said as he grinned.
“He has a point Samuel we got to do something!” Nathen said to them both.
Gabriel turned around and looked at his brothers.
“Tonight we will gather the most faithful soldiers and we will attack and kill that king. I will not loose my city I will destroy my enemy!” Gabriel said with determination.
The Priest Gibbs walked up to the war table And looked at King Gabriel.
“Your Majesty. Think before you act I pray you. I dreamed of you last night, you was dark cold bitter your eyes were as red as the blood I seen you drink from the cup of Holy water from Shalom’s Temple but it was filled with blood blood that came from the Wolf’s tears you must not give in to this anger it take you far then you want to go.” Priest Gibbs Said with a Urgency and a warning.
Gabriel looked at the Priest as did everyone in the room.
“King Gabriel I beg you sir be patient don’t go wait the Lord will make away and give you Victory! Please Your Majesty stay they will come to you and the witches prophecy won’t come to pass! If you go out there, My King. The curse will happen three years early then what was told!” The Priest Gibbs said again with Urgency.
“Father Gibbs. I will not give into a witches curse I will not let a curse stop me from protecting my people I will do what has to be done and show them I am not to be played with they will know not to come against me! Like they knew not to come against my father.” King Gabriel said as he began to give out his plan.
“My King...” The Priest Gibbs said as he put his hand on King Gabriel’s shoulder.
“No Father Gibbs! They killed your son today! It stops now!” King Gabriel said as he gently put his hands on the Priest Cheek. “I will not give in to the Curse I will hold on to my Love for others and the Love y’all have for me” King Gabriel said as him and his knights went out the war room.
The Priest swallowed hard, tears fell from his eyes he didn’t know he lost his son last he spoke he sent him to the market to get bread.
“How...” He asked his voice shaky.
King Gabriel turned and looked at the Priest “They skinned him alive and put him on a spike right out the gate I’m sorry we took him down and took him to his chambers.”
Tears fell down his cheeks he walked towards Gabriel. One of the knights put their hand on the Priest shoulder to push him back, the king lift his hand stopping the knight, Gabriel walked to the Priest. The Priest put both his hands on Gabriel’s cheeks.
“Gabriel please I beg you my son is dead please heed my warning don’t make me loose another son. Listen to me don’t go out there bad things will take place that will hurt you in a way that you will curse the Lord in His temple! Please Gabriel hear me.”
Gabriel hugged the old priest as he wept over the lost of his son, not knowing that the old man was weeping over him that night was the last night of Gabriel would be a human king but Gabriel didn’t realize that the Lord himself was trying to talk through Gibbs and Gibbs was weeping because he knew Gabriel would not take heed to his warning.
Later that day just before the king and his twelve knights were going to fight for their land he kissed his wife Hope, and his two sons Trevor and Alucard.
“Here Sweet Husband.” Queen Hope Said with a sweetness in her voice.
She put a letter in his hand.
“I will be waiting their.” Hope said with love in her voice.
“Ok I’ll meet you and the kids there.” King Gabriel answered as he smiled at his beautiful wife.
Logan came running up.
“Brother!” The Prince Logan shouted.
“Logan what are you doing?” King Gabriel asked seeing Logan was decked in armor.
“Let me fight I can fight!” Logan asked determined to fight.
“No Logan you must stay here!” Gabriel demanded.
“But Brother I can fight I’m not a child I’m seventeen! I killed a Lion and stopped a thief and kept several prisoners from escaping! Please let me fight for our kingdom!” Logan asked with hope in his eyes.
“I know! What you been doing it has not been unnoticed. That’s why I need you here protect my wife and kids stay with them ok! Please Logan do this for me brother.” Gabriel said as he walked passed Logan. Logan didn’t like it but he nodded and went and stood by Hope.
They walked out the city Drakeul, Nathen, and Samuel walked side by side with their king brother Gabriel tonight was the night for Victory! The 12 Knights walked behind them as well as fifteen thousand of the faithful soldiers.
The war began the fight was harsh side by side the Bolton brother’s fault side by side and backed to back fighting the enemies as well as the twelve knights who was protecting them they fault and killed many, then faced the face King Gabriel and King Bayn began to fight each other it was a hideous battle Gabriel took a lot of wounds but before it was over King Bayn was on his knees.
“You Won but I have brothers and friends they come and avenge me! You will not stand! Your own people don’t even trust your leadership! Hahaha!” King Bayn taunted.
Gabriel swung his sword cutting Bayns head off, he picked up Bayns Crown and handed it to a red haired knight named Andrew Archer, who seemed to loose his helmet during the battle.
“Take this that will be one of my trophies.” King Gabriel said as he handed the crown to the red haired knight.
The Red head Knight Spoke.
“What about the rest any prisoners?” Andrew asked with concern.
Gabriel looked at the village that was still burning and relived walking through and seeing again what they did to those poor people. He looked at Andrew and said very coldly.
“We will show no mercy they all will die but slow I will hang them on a spike and point the towards the village they destroyed and the people they murdered so they see why they are dying so painfully!” Gabriel said with anger in his eyes. Andrew Swallowed hard and they all did as they were told and they left back to the city the screaming and pleads for mercy echoed in their ears.
Back at the castle of Transylvania a war broke out Gabriel’s soldiers was fighting for their lives against some other soldiers who was turned by the King Bayns men. Hope Trevor and Alucard was in the Temple of Shalom and the Logan was fighting to protect them Hope was a Mage she used her magic to destroy the last few guards that turned against her, she looked at Logan.
“Logan You Ben and Cole take my Sons and go!!! Go Now!!! Keep them safe!” Hope said scared for their lives.
“I can’t just Leave you!” Logan shouted.
“You must Logan protect my babies please!” Hope said with urgency.
Logan Ben and Cole took Trevor and Alucard and ran them out of the city they got on their horses and headed south. Gabriel came and saw what was going on they went and fought killing every betrayer and every last one of Bayns men. Then Gabriel remembered the note and ran to the temple and when he Got there he saw the Priest Gibbs knelt down by Hope her stomach was carved into with a knife her hands cut off her throat slit. Gabriel fell beside her.
“NO!!!! MY BABY!!!! HOPE!!!! NOOO!” King Gabriel shouted tears falling downs his cheeks as he wept. He stood up anger and raged filled him he cursed cursed the temple and the wolves he cursed everything that the temple represented and he pointed at the Priest and yelled!
“THIS IS YOUR FAULT!!!!” King Gabriel shouted in anger tears screaming down his cheeks falling to the floor.
He cursed the priest. All the 12 knights stood around him his brothers got between him and the Priest.
“Gabriel! What are you doing! It’s not his fault!” Drakeul said trying to get Gabriel under control.
“Gabriel calm down you.... Oh My God!” Samuel said as his mouth dropped open his eyes widen.
Gabriel turn to see what everyone was looking at and saw the statue of the Wolf of Shalom from its eyes were tears of blood that dropped into the Holy Water cup. Gabriel was then immediately A trance he walked to the cup.
“NO!!! STOP HIM DONT LET HIM DRINK FROM THE CUP!!!” The Priest Gibbs said with urgency.
His brothers ran to him and pulled on him he sent them flying back with a wave of his hand.
“That ain’t no magic I ever seen.” Nathen said his eyes widen and his voice shaken with fear.
Gabriel picked the cup which was full of blood and began to drink it the priest and Drakeul yelled!
Drakeul and Priest Gibbs Shouted as One. “GABRIEL!!! NOOO!!!
Gabriel drunk the cup all of the blood in the cup then the curse happened but three years early. Gabriel yelled as his body changed and his face went pale and fangs grew in his mouth and his eyes went from a beautiful blue to crimson red.
Then the Angel of the Lord appeared and said. “My name is Gabriel I am the Messenger of the Lord you have defiled this temple of the Lord and you cursed the God that created you and came against the church of the most high God you our forever cursed to walk this earth as a monster til the end of time you will bring fear and terror....”
The Angel stopped when Drakeul walked up to him, Drakeul look the Angel in the eye fear filled him he trembling knelt down grabbed the Angel by his feet he felt the Archangels Power he spoke his voice shaky.
“Please I inquire a audience with the Lord!” Drakeul asked shaking.
“You cannot see the Lord you will not survive.” The Angel Gabriel said.
“Then please tell him applaud him to have mercy no he didn’t show mercy and he did the most worse thing but please I beg you don’t let him be damned take me instead give him another chance! Please don’t let him be damned!” Drakeul pleaded with him and his brothers salvation.
Drakeul began to weep at the Angels feet, The Archangel looked at Drakeul was a little fascinated how he a soldier who Stern and cold would be weeping over his brother who did such terrible deed. Then the Lord Spoke to the Angel.
“Gabriel Bolton will still be cursed but there is away that he can redeem himself but he will have to find it but he is forever bound from the temple of the Lord until he redeems himself and only you Brothers can help him find the boy that can change him the boy must become Him and he must become the boy and the certain deeds must be done, only then shall the spirit of your Brother be redeemed however the curse of Your Brother will be on a innocent Christian who will battle to redeem the Spirit of Dracula. Your brother Gabriel’s name will change this day he will be known as Dracula the rest of this worlds time! You will share his curse soon and help him walk the right path.
The brothers looked at each other confused.
The Angel looked at the twelve knights.
“From this day till the end y’all are the wolves of Shalom there shall be many of warrior wolves through y’all and y’all will fight against Dracula and all that becomes as he is that choose evil over good and there will come a time where Vampires and Werewolves will join together to fight an even. Greater foe an evil that has been locked away. There will rise a dark mage who will set the dark lord free and become the dark lord this will be the road that may redeem Dracula. But as of now your fight is to get and keep Dracula out of the temple this day!” The Angel of the demanded.
The twelve Knights became Werewolves the first ever to walk on earth. The Angel looked at Gabriel.
“Take him Out!” The Angel commanded. Then he disappeared!
Gabriel attacked the Werewolves and the fight was extremely hideous the werewolves gave a beating but each place they clawed open healed instantly, Gabriel beat them till the turn back in human form his blood was ragging but the. The power hit them and they arose again as the werewolves and begin to drive him out of the temple.
As Gabriel taught them he saw himself in a mirror the monster he became the crimson red eyes sharp fangs pale face the sharp claw like finger nails and at that moment he saw what he done and he saw what he did to the knights and as he saw them in wolf form walking towards him wounded even but still coming he didn’t want to hurt them they were his men his people and he was hurting them and he defiled the Lords Temple. He ran out the temple his brothers followed him.
“Gabriel! Gabriel! Drakeul Shouted.
He turned around quickly he put his hand around his brothers shoulder and with that same hand lifted him off the ground like he was paper without the help of his other hand.
“My Name Is not Gabriel!!! I am Dracula!” Dracula shouted. Gabriel Bolton was no more.
He threw his brother into his other brothers Nathen and Samuel caught Drakeul and the impact knocked them three feet back they pulled themselves up off the ground and they saw his face pale as the dead his eyes which used to be beautiful blue was now bloody red, he spoke again.
“My name is Dracula every King every army will never dare to attack my country or my family I will crush them and they will know the meaning of fear!!!” Dracula shouted crazily.
Dracula said his blood boiling hot as things were transitioning in his body.
And so the prophecy was fulfilled but three years before the time. And so fear filled the land the terror of Dracula spread through each city of Transylvania and Castlevania where Dracula’s Castle was the place which was beautiful and full of light was now darkened and full of fear.
Three days later at the docks of Dragons Bridge Logan asked Ben and Cole to take his little nephews to a safe place he was going back to his brothers to help fight.
“Logan! Are you crazy man Hope asked you to get Alucard and Trevor to safety man come on with us.” Cole said with concern for Logan.
“Yea man we’re young we got to get to Safety” Ben said.
“I must go back make sure it’s safe and send for y’all. And no y’all can’t come with me y’all thirteen and fourteen” Logan said sharply.
“No I’m fifteen Logan and you need to come with us man” Ben shouted at Logan.
Cole: And I’m two days from Sixteen. And your not seventeen yet your three days from seventeen and Hope asked you to save her nephews!
“I know y’all keep them safe now please go! I will not hear anymore.” Logan said as he turned from them.
And with that Logan turns away from them in the boat and went off towards home with his friends calling for him to come back and to not be stupid, but Logan kept on walking. Ben spoke.
“Come on Cole he’s not gonna listen to us.” Ben shouted angrily.
They set out for the other side which lead to a country called Albion and to a city called Camelot where King Constantine Pendragon III ruled and Uther Pendragon was a young mighty Prince who had a Amethyst who used a spell to keep him young for a thousand years. The children would be safe there the Ben and Cole thought.
As for Logan three days passed it was his birthday he turned seventeen and he was not happy for the things he was seeing and home the enemy that attacked the city was outside the gate dead hanging from a spike he heard on of them groan he drew his sword and thrust it through the dying mans heart to end his suffering he heard more, and saw a whole line of them he went by killing them ending their suffering. Dracula stood in front of his brothers and spoke.
“No one will dare to attack me now unless they want to die which I’m more then happy to oblige, brothers with this power we’re unstoppable I can give you this gift and you can be stronger.”Dracula said to his brothers. Drakeul Samuel and Nathen couldn’t believe what they were hearing from there Brother. “Was Gabriel really gone.” They both thought. Drakeul walk up to his Brother.
“Brother! Listen to yourself this is insane! look at you! this ain’t no gift it’s a curse! The Father Shalom Cursed you made you this monster, I will not become this thing you are!” Drakeul shouted out. Dracula looked at his brother with a elite shock look the laughed mockingly
“O dear Brother you actually think I’m giving you a choice that’s rather cute.” Dracula Taunted.
In a flash he grabbed his brother he moved faster then lighting he but Drakeuls neck and began to suck his blood Drakeul went limp almost dead Dracula bit his wrist and let the blood poured down to Drakeuls lips then Drakeul died. Samuel turn to run as did Nathen out the door, Dracula flicked his hand and the door slammed shut in his face Dracula grabbed him and done the same thing to Samuel as he did Drakeul. And Nathen tried to fight Dracula but failed and suffered the same fate. Dracula took a red towel and wiped his mouth and turned around to see Logan looking straight at him fear hit him hard he watched his brother suck the blood from his other two brothers.
“Gabriel what....” Logan said scared and shaken over what he saw.
“Hush now Logan they be back and my name is no longer Gabriel it’s Dracula I am a Vampire”Dracula said with a soft a soothing voice. He was hoping to calm his baby brother.
“What Happened to you what did you do what did you become? This isn’t right Gabriel it’s not right!” Logan said still scared and shaken he never seen something like this before.
“It’s a gift Logan and I can give it to you and you never be weak again!” Dracula said trying to tempt him.
“No!!! Your a Monster this is a curse you are not my brother I don’t want your gift!” Logan shouted.
Logan turned and walked outside straight into Dracula’s arms. Fear jumped in Logan’s chest his heart started beating very fast. Dracula embraced him with a loving hug put his cheek to his brothers in a gentle hug.
“Easy baby brother I hear your heart beating way too fast trust me you be way stronger.” Dracula said as he pulled Logan back in the door and closed it then he tilted Logan’s head to the side and he bit his neck as Logan screamed.
“NOOO! BROTHER!!!! NOOO! PLEASE!!!! NOOO!” Logan screamed.
Logan died with the blood of Dracula running through his vainest and Dracula’s blood was very powerful. Dracula put his brothers in three tombs and closed them up and said. “In Three days they will be reborn more powerful then before.”
Three knights past and Dracula’s brothers came out of their tombs.
“I refuse to be evil!” Logan Shouted.
His eyes red as blood face pale white he looks like his brothers as they all looked like Dracula.
“We all refuse to be evil!” Drakeul said.
“Lets remove ourselves from this Kingdom of Dracula!” Nathen said.
“I Agree!” Samuel said.
Suddenly The Angel of the Lord appeared it was the Angel Gabriel again.
“No harm can be done to Dracula. Like you he is immortal and will forever be so as for you friends your decisions and Trevor and Alucards decisions will be the results of Dracula’s salvation or his soul forever damned. Now go you are the Guardians of Shalom save the world from your brothers wrath and hunger and save your brother.” The Angel Gabriel said. Then the Angel disappeared Logan up looked and said to his Brothers.
“Y’all go I’m going to Dracula!” Logan said as he walked to the Throne Room of Dracula.
“Little brother you can’t.” Samuel said with concern.
“Yes I have to!” Logan replied.
Logan went out to find his brother. He found his brother in the Castle sitting on his throne with a golden cup full of fresh blood.
“Logan! How’s my baby brother? You looking handsome.” Dracula asked.
“Dracula I will not follow you I will not be evil...” Logan snapped.
“Brother I’m not evil! I did what I had to do!...” Dracula interrupted and said as Logan interrupted him saying.
“Shut up Brother look at yourself look what you become look at the hideous mess you done at front gate half of them was still alive! No brother there’s nothing you can say or do to get me to follow you! You can burn in Harcarsh with the devil! But as long as I can breath you never see your children again.” Logan shouted at Dracula. Logan walked out the door and flew like lightning towards Albion and to the city Camelot he was going to do all he could to make sure those baby boys never be in reach of Dracula.
Ben and Cole made it into Albion and got off at the docks in at a small village of Noplend. No sooner then they showed up Dracula walked the land. Cole was looking at the beautiful land, Ben spoke.
“Cole this is so beautiful!” Ben said
“Yes it is!” Cole replied.
“So glad to see my little brothers friends are keeping my two boys safe.” Dracula said behind them.
They both turned around and saw their King they heard the rumors that spread about the good Great King Gabriel turned to an evil monster known as Dracula, when they saw him fear hit them their kings face was Pale white hair to his shoulders his eyes bloody red his fingernails were like claws and talons.
“My King Gabriel...” Cole said shaken as he tried to bow.
“Stop! My name is Dracula! You two kept my children alive for that I’m grateful but Logan will soon join you and I must show him something when he finds you you be dead and the message will be clear of what I can do, and when you come back as the same as he is he realize I could have kept you both dead!”
In a flash he rushed at Ben but His neck drained his blood and gave him his blood forcing him to swallow it then he broke his neck. Cole seen what happen drew his sword and attacked Dracula yelling at him for killing his best friend. Dracula drew his sword blocking Coles blade and he played with Cole speaking to him as each time the blades met.
“Cole don’t take it personal boy, it has to be this way.” Dracula said to him.
“You killed my Brother.” Cole shouted in anger trying to kill his King that looked like a monster with his red eyes and sharp fangs showing as Dracula started laughing.
“And your next it has to be this way and o yes y’all thank me later.” Dracula said as he grabbed Cole.
“Do you hear your self Dracula or who ever you are now your killing your own!” Cory shouted scared.
Dracula thrust his sword into Coles chest and pulled it out, Cole dropped his sword and feeling the life drain drone him as he felt Dracula bite his neck and drink his blood, Cole pulled away fast Dracula held his weak body closer to him Cole was getting weaker by the second, Dracula bit his wrist and forced Cole to open his mouth and the blood poured in Cole spit it out and Dracula did it again and Cole tried to resist but Dracula covered his mouth with his hand Cole kicked and and tried to get away he died with Dracula’s blood in his mouth the blood went down his throat and spreading through his veins. Dracula heard his sons crying he went and picked them up.
“Hush now it’s ok they both be back watch them and watch Logan. Logan needs to learn you can’t take my sons from me and not get away with it.” Dracula said as he kissed both his sons before he disappeared in blood red smoke.
Logan came and saw what Dracula did to his friends he fell to his knees and wept.
“NOOO!!! NOOO!!!” Logan shouted crying.
He heard Cole gasp air and he rose up quickly as did Ben they both were now vampires their eyes bloody red as Dracula’s and Logan’s was.
“What NO! I’m sorry I’m so sorry this happened to you!” Logan said as he could feel a sharp pain in his heart. The pain was intense more then usual and it stayed it didn’t ease like it used to after awhile.
Dracula laughed.
“Well now sense everyone is up and doing good let’s have a talk about my children!” Dracula said still laughing.
“Brother why did you do this?!?” Logan shouted his tears dropping to the ground like rain.
“Because I can and you learn to love it! Now as for my sons you should know better then to try to keep my children away from me. Y’all will protect my children and y’all find a good family for them and let them be raised by a mother and father and you protect them. Yes I’m not crazy look at me I know I can’t raise my children alone don’t ever try to keep them away from me?” Dracula said stern and angrily.
“Take my kids to King Arther and Queen Guinevere make sure their safe.” Dracula demanded not knowing that Arther and Guinevere didn’t exist yet.
“Um King Gabriel...” Cole said his voice shaken.
Dracula looked at him with a cold glare.
“Dracula Sorry. Um their is no King Arther Or a Queen Guinevere.” Cole corrected himself and then said plainly.
Dracula put his head down confused he started having visions that morning and he was have more he shook his head again.
“Right King Constantine III Arther Pendragon is not born yet. Take my sons to Constantine.
“Dracula are you ok? Brother” Logan said. Despite the situation Logan still Loved Dracula and he could feel the love.
“Shut up and Go!!! Get my kids there!” Dracula shouted he could feel Logan’s love and it was a warmth to his cold heart and it hurt him cause all he could think about was Hope.
When the red smoke he disappeared from them. Logan covered his face and shook his head and looked at the children sleeping and he looked at his friends and said.
“Ben, Cole, I’m sorry I’m sorry he did this to you.” Logan said tears falling from his eyes.
“It’s ok Logan I feel good and strong better then I ever had. But we need to figure out what to do to keep Trevor and Alucard safe.” Ben said hoping to make Logan feel better.
“Your right well let’s go to Camelot.” Logan replied.
“I’m so thirsty. I... I want blood!” Cole said as he held his stomach.
Logan’s thirst hit him to as well as Bens.
“Logan the babies.” Ben said with concern.
A mage appeared he was old his hair and beard was long and white his name was Amorous.
“Logan Bolton Son of Luther Bolton the Vampire that will save Emyrs and Merlin and set them on their paths to their destiny.” Amorous said very happily.
Logan, Ben, and Cole, looked at the mage their mouth was open the smelt his blood and he looked like food to them. Amorous pulled out three big water bags that were full of blood.
“Here drink and get your strength there’s much you have to learn. And let’s get the little ones to a good home.” Amorous said as he gave them the blood to drink. Their long journey began.

So, I fixed this! Posting this so other people can find it if they're experiencing a similar problem.
I had a bit of a debug of the board, found the pin on the microcontroller (U35 - STM32F103RCT6) was blown so pulling the signal down, hence the 0C reading.
I used an STM dev board just for the ST-LINK to connect to the SWD port and read the firmware out of the microcontroller. Ordered some free samples of the STM32F103RCT6 from STMicroelectronics.
https://preview.redd.it/a66i4pu1gp2d1.png?width=1833&format=png&auto=webp&s=d4f9f27be9541f7d4c61d279e09ba3240a6b6957
Once the samples arrived I removed the original chip with hot air and replaced it with a new one, being sure to cover up the plastic connectors with Kapton/foil as to not melt them!
https://preview.redd.it/ojhznzyvfp2d1.png?width=1008&format=png&auto=webp&s=9f77392ecc27ed2170090ad9ce6c793797a6720c
I then programmed the new chip with the firmware I read out earlier. Plugged it all back into the printer, turned it on and it all works!
https://preview.redd.it/qpuz6rdkgp2d1.png?width=1008&format=png&auto=webp&s=cba30e45616060c2ef4e8a516d25f51b23c2a5e2
So that saved a board from landfill and saved myself AU$400 for a new one.
As I said, hopefully this helps someone with the same problem.
Cheers,
Matt

-First- -Previous- -Next (on Patreon)-
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My second to last quarter just ended and I'm pretty swamped with final reports right now, but I'm almost through. Not to mention, the next seven weeks are going to be pretty light because of a sudden lack of classes, since I busted my butt finishing up my remaining credits. I've decided to dedicate this time to (among other things) a writing frenzy! I wanna get some serioussss backlogs up because who knows how busy I'm going to be after graduation. (Not to mention, I'm having some troubles getting my VISA renewed, but that's a personal issue).
Anyways, don't wanna bore you with irl stuff. You're here for food and gay furry romance! So as always, I hope you enjoy reading! :D
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Note: This is a Fanfic of the Nature of Predators series by u/Spacepaladin15, that is being reposted from the NatureofPredators sub. Please support the original content.
Thank you to Philodox on discord for proofreading and editing RfD.
Thank you to Pampanope on reddit for the cover art.
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Memory Transcript Subject: Sylvan, Venlil Citizen
Date: [Standardized Human Time]: December 13, 2136
​
It wasn’t too long that I was absent from the event. Sure, Kenta and I had run into a few hiccups when trying to load up the cart, but that was to be expected. Just looking at the absolute behemoth of an edible pile that he had somehow been able to put together in such a short amount of time, it was a wonder just how we were able to fit them all on there in the first place. And the promise that there was still more yet to be brought out had left me astonished. If I hadn’t already seen the ravenous vortex of Venlil that had so efficiently done away with the other dishes, I might have actually been worried about leftovers.
The food in question, long tubes made out of some kind of starchy form of strayu and packaged in an even starchier husk, were stacked in circular pyramids atop three large trays. As it turned out, this delicacy was the same “Tamale” recipe that I had heard mentioned the day before, the sheer amount being the product of Kenta’s, Julio’s, and even Jeela’s preparations. Unfortunately, I hadn’t received the full explanation of what they were just yet, but Kenta had thankfully given me at least a quick rundown.
Using the same steaming methods as the gyoza, these tamales had been folded carefully over a mix of fresh, crisp vegetables whose scent floated around each in a rich aura. They were hot out of the steamer, a cloud of gaseous water encircling the air above it in a decadent plume. If I hadn’t known better, with the combined mass of the tamales and the sheer volume of steam they collectively released, it might have made me believe the cart itself to be on fire. But of course, there was no such thing, and the cloud that spread into the sky only served to sweeten the air.
As I rolled out the cart, I looked at one last addition to the ensemble. There in a large bowl was something that Kenta hadn’t mentioned in the slightest when explaining the recipe and reasonings behind the tamales, and I had been so urgent to get these out the door that I’d forgotten to press for more details. It had been left in the refrigerator since the day before, which I had only noticed when doing inventory after the fiasco of event preparations.
‘It completely slipped my mind until now… I’m glad I didn’t forget it. Especially after what that note said.’
When I had found the bowl, a small piece of paper had been taped to it. On which, an alien text had been inscribed that required me to use my visual translator to make any sense of. It had been nothing but obvious that holding up the translator informed me that the language was indeed Terran. But what confused me was that instead of the morphemic script that I had come to slightly recognize from Kenta’s subculture, it instead appeared to be something more alphabetic.
On it, the note simply read: “Make sure to serve this with the tamales, my friend. Don’t forget!”
Additionally, below those words had appeared to be an additional message. That one, however, was partially scribbled out. When I scanned that one as well, the translator had taken a long time to process, and its output remained considerably fractured: “**od l*ck wit* y*u* n*w boyf***nd.”
Having not thought much of the note, I had just barely remembered to retrieve the bowl from the fridge and put it on the card while Kenta was off busy grabbing one last batch of tamales before rushing me out the door. I shook it out of my mind for the time being. After all, right now there were more pressing things to manage.
Wheeling the cart back outside, I was hit with the briefest shortage of breath. It had only been a momentary respite, but shifting from the quiet of the empty diner to the lively atmosphere of a crowded party would never not be a shock. By now, enough people had shown up that the event could already be considered at max capacity. People from all over filled the street, chatting and conversing in a rambunctious, lively gusto.
To see so many people take the time out of their schedules and come down to my family’s diner just because of the promise of our food… It was almost overwhelming, enough to bring a brief tear to the eye reminiscent of my reaction to that very first wave of people Ginro had brought soon after I first hired Kenta. I took a moment just to bask in it. A feeling I had all but begun to grow almost too accustomed to. A feeling of success, and of pride. And as I once again continued pushing the cart past the crowds of chatty party attendees, along with the piles of wool that it entailed, that feeling continued to pour into me. It was all almost too much to hear at once.
“Hey Sylvan! Great party!” said one voice to my left.
“Amazing food as always, Lackadaisy guy! I can’t get enough of these little strayu things in the salad!” piped another to my right.
“Ooooo! What are those things?” asked one more as I passed by them, who excitedly eyed up the stack of tamales I was delivering.
I laughed along and chatted with people on my way to one of the tables, chuckling at their jokes and accepting their praise on behalf of both myself and the mysterious ‘Kahnta.’ With each pleased guest and hungry gaze, I couldn’t help but feel myself bloom in sheer joy at the tidal wave of enthusiastic complements.
That was… until one otherwise innocent comment sounded from behind me.
“So you’re telling me this was all made by one chef?” they asked one of their friends, not intending me to hear as they talked with their mouth half stuffed with food. Looking closer, I could see that they were two Gojids chatting with one another. “Better enjoy it now, I guess. Not gonna be long before some fancy place in the Capital comes and recruits them. Honestly, if the owner of this place wants to have any hope of holding on to them, he better marry them or something.”
The partygoer’s friend laughed, “Well if he doesn’t, then I will! Can you imagine eating something like this every day?”
I couldn’t help but bloom even more overhearing this. But this was a different kind of feeling. Not the gentle warmth of normal delight, but instead the torrid heat of surging emotions. And as I began nonchalantly transferring the steaming tamales to one of the tables, these emotions steamed to the surface of my mind as well.
It was a mix of things that fueled my silent reaction. At first, the implication of asking Kenta into matehood was… well it was certainly something. I was sure the two Gojids were simply making innocent remarks, assuming that the lie about my precious chef being another, completely ordinary Venlil was correct, not realizing in the slightest just how much the implication left me flummoxed. And in normal circumstances, it would have been just that, a simple perk of the ears and a brief daydream of something so far away from me. But after yesterday, things had changed.
The previous day had been eventful, to say the least. I had eaten some amazing pastries and listened to an even more amazing alien melody. Only for it all to come crashing down when my idiotic brain forgot to turn back on the translator before pouring out my entire menagerie of pent up emotions before Kenta. My one chance to seize an opportunity at the height of a courageous high, only to tumble and fall flat during the execution. Even worse, I couldn’t muster the bravery to say the same thing even one more time.
I had completely blown it. And needless to say, I wasn’t exactly keen on remembering my mistakes from that previous day, especially during such a pivotal event. The only mediocre condolence I could take from the whole ordeal being the opportunity of waking up next to Kenta that same day. But even that was cut much too short by the mad rush to get preparation ready for the event.
‘I can still remember how warm he felt… And how peaceful he looked when his eyes were closed…’ I thought to myself in deep reminiscence.
“Hey there Sylvan!”
‘I can’t get it out of my head…! Ugh! I wish it wasn’t just a one time thing…’
“Sylvan?”
‘If we really were together romantically, then maybe I could see that every day… But that’s not–’
“Sylvan!!”
The moment my attention was pulled away from my internal thoughts, I audibly bleated out a high pitched noise of surprise, “Eeep!”
My ears jutted up and my tail straightened like a steel beam. My attention shifted over to my side, where I soon realized Fehnel now stood. She had her paws held firmly on her hips, with a head tilted to the side in a half puzzled, half amused demeanor. Then, when I realized I had been staring a little too long without saying anything, I quickly turned my attention back to the table.
“Oh hey Fehnel!” I stuttered out. “Didn’t see you there!”
“Sorry if I sneaked up on ya, hun,” Fehnel replied with a single wag of the tail. “Got somethin’ on the mind, I’m assumin’?”
The image of Kenta and I huddled together on my couch flashed through my mind once more, before I quickly shook it away. “Uhhhh… Nope! I’m just really focussing here on getting these tamales out.”
“‘Tamales,’ huh?” Fehnel chuckled. “Well between this and that ‘gee-yo-za’ stuff, I think I’m startin’ to give up on predictin’ what crazy name Kahnta’ll come up with next.”
“Yeah it’s pretty… uh–” I coughed awkwardly, clearing something nonexistent out of my throat. “It’s pretty creative.”
“You can say that again. By this point, they’re startin’ to sound almost alien!” Fehnel laughed again, and I cringed as the irony fell over deaf ears. “But hey, who am I to judge! I mean, to me all the stuff on this planet is alien, so what’s another ‘Tamale’ added to the pile, yeah?”
I had to stop my ears and head from shrinking too far towards the ground.
“Anyways, I’m assumin’ these are the actual foods I requested Kahnta to create, right?” Fehnel continued to ask.
“Uh– Y-yeah, yes they ar–” I tried to say before one of Fehnel’s paws suddenly reached out and grabbed my wrist.
“Great!” she beamed, before dragging me away into one of the many chatty piles of fluffy wool that constituted our event.
It didn’t take more than a few rushed steps before I was suddenly pulled in front of another Yotul and Venlil, who I did well to recognize immediately. It seemed as though Kadew and Vuilen had arrived, the former of which looking just about as nervous as I had expected. Vuilen, on the other paw, was anything but. Her tail was wagging furiously, almost impossibly giddy with enthusiasm as her ears shifted around a swivel, likely allowing every new smell and sound to pull her attention to and fro.
Fehnel dragged me forward and plopped me down right in front of the two, before saying, “Tell them what you just told me.”
Vuilen leaned forward, bestowing me her full attention, while Kadew remained stationary, only doing as much as to straighten a single, skeptical ear.
“W-well, uh…” I stumbled, before quickly getting my act together. “Among a number of new strayu recipes, the main entree for today’s event is called ‘Tamales.’”
“Oooo!” Vuilen beamed. “What’s that, Lackadaisy guy? It sounds awesome!”
“According to Kahnta, it’s a mix of vegetables folded in a spongy strayu wrap and steamed inside a starchy husk. And…” I tilted my ears towards Kadew, “It’s supposedly a specialty that is designed to be eaten during times of celebration with family. Regardless of whether they be by blood, or found.”
Kadew huffed a short breath, before folding her arms. But before she got the chance to speak, Vuilen’s enthused voice overtook it. The black and white wooled Venlil leaned into her smaller Yotul partner and pulled them into a strong hug.
“Hear that, Dew? It’s like this food was MADE for your Running Day!” Vuilen piped, bouncing up and down like a cub and bringing the now deeply blooming Kadew along for the ride. “Well… I guess it literally was, but you know what I mean! Either way, there’s like a million new kinds of strayu foods here! Can you believe that? I think I even saw some sylvanas over on that table there! Can you even begin to wonder what they taste like? Oh my Sol, I’m so excited!”
Kadew, whose previously unimpressed countenance now had more steam coming out of her ears than the tamales off in the distance, stuttered out her response. “Uh– Uhmm– That’s… that’s great…”
“I know right!” Vuilen squealed. “This is going to be the BEST Running Day ever! I’m so happy for you!”
I couldn’t help but giggle out in response to this, something which Fehnel had long since been doing on her own volition. Unfortunately for Kadew, this did nothing to ease the sheer amount of embarrassment already flying around her dazed face.
“Of course, all guests are free to eat their fill, especially those invited by the Claw’s Lady herself,” I said, before gesturing a paw towards Fehnel. “All of it has been covered in advance by our generous sponsor.”
Vuilen retreated from her hug just as quickly as it had started, twisting her attention back towards Fehnel and I. “Really? I still can’t believe you’re just giving away all this for free!”
She walked towards the two of us, leaving a still dazed Kadew behind her, before rushing to give Fehnel herself another brief hug. “Thank you so much again for organizing something like this, ma’am.”
Fehnel returned the embrace, having nothing but pure pride and joy radiate through her voice. “Of course, hun. I hope you and my daughter enjoy your date.”
“Oh we will!” Vuilen replied quickly, pulling back once again. Just as fast, she began making a beeline for the buffet tables, almost disappearing into the crowd of fellow Venlil fluff before her voice was heard once more. “I’ll be back in a jiffy, Dew! I just gotta try some of this stuff before it’s all gone!”
Before she was out of range, I twisted around, raised a paw up to my mouth, and stood up high to help carry my voice after her. “Don’t forget to save room for dessert!”
Turning back, I joined Fehnel once again in her chuckling. It didn’t take long for Fehnel to comment on the situation now that Vuilen was out of earshot.
She leaned over and gently nudged me in the leg with her tail. “She’s a riot, ain’t she? Does my daughter know how to pick em’, or what?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve seen them together in the diner all the time. Honestly, I’ve been wondering how long it was going to take to knit that scarf,” I commented, referencing one of the more common and romantic Venlil courtship rituals.
“Guys I can HEAR YOU!” Kadew yelped, now seemingly freed of her hug-induced daze.
“Oh hun don’t you worry yourself about us,” Fehnel replied, a slight hum to her voice. “Us adults can’t help but watch the young love bloom.”
“That guy’s barely older than I am!” Kadew shot back, raising a finger to point at me.
I raised two paws in defence, much too similar to the way Kenta does when he’s been caught teasing me. “Hey, doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate it when I see it. You’re doing great, by the way.”
The teasing, however, had been lost on her. I had meant it in good will, but my words had only served to aggravate Kadew, and she huffed out an annoyed breath. Then, she started stomping rapidly in place, her trained legs moving in a blur like overclocked turbines. From even the briefest glance, I could tell that something had been pulling away at her tail, and our comments were doing it no favours.
“Uhh… are you alright?” I asked tentatively.
“ARGH!” she groaned back. “No! No, I am very much NOT alright! Running Day’s here already, I feel like a pile of speh, my fur’s a mess, and I’m FREAKING THE BRAHK OUT!!”
‘Quite the vocabulary on this one, apparently,’ I judged silently, wondering how my mother would have reacted to hearing me talk like that.
“Honey, Vuilen’s not gonna care about any of that silly stuff,” Fehnel said jovially. “Why, I remember bein’ covered in dried mud the first time I went on a date with your father. We went down to the creek together and took turns tossing water at each other. Then, we went down to the local actin’ house and watched a show. But even after all of that, I still had a bit of dried mud crusted on my fur, but your father didn’t mind. Said it gave me ‘character,’ of all the silly things.”
“Isn’t dried mud just dirt?” I asked.
“Naw, see, dirt is sand, silt, and clay, but it only becomes mud when it has a higher content of clay.”
“So then what happens when dirt gets wet but doesn’t have a lot of clay?”
“Wet dirt.”
“Ah.”
“WHAT ARE YOU BRAHKING TALKING ABOUT!?” Kadew squealed in a panic, her stomping had not ceased in the slightest. She threw her paws up and pulled her ears down over her eyes. “Dirt and mud! That’s all that we Yotul talk about apparently! And trains! Can’t forget the brahking trains! Stars above, that’s all people ever say!”
“Trains are cool,” I said indifferently.
“I don’t care!” she huffed, before turning to Fehnel. “Mom. What if Vuilen comes back and sees you talking about dirt? She’ll just see that it’s the only thing a primitive uplift is capable of understanding! Do you really want to prove her right?”
Fehnel looked shocked, but replied nonetheless. “Has… she said something like that before?”
“Well…! No…! But…” Kadew stomped again. “She might, okay!? Especially if she sees you actively talking about it!”
“To be fair, I asked,” I replied. “Besides, Vuilen seems like a smart girl. She wouldn’t make a rash assumption about the Yotul based off some random remark. Relationships are stronger than that. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“What do you know about it!?” Kadew shot back, releasing her ears and letting them perk up to max height. “Unless I missed something, I don’t see you dating any other Venlil in that restaurant of yours! How do you know if any of this is fine!?”
Fehnel’s voice soured immediately. “Kadew! That is no way to talk to our new business partner! He was just tryin’ to help! Apologize this instant!”
Realizing something had shifted without my notice, I tried to mellow my voice in an attempt to calm the situation down. “Oh, that won’t be necessar–”
“No,” Fehnel interrupted. “I refuse to let my daughter be rude to anyone. We might not have much, but we at least have manners.” She turned her attention back to her daughter. “Kadew, if you have a problem, then I want you to tell me about it. If there’s somethin’ we can do to help, then–”
“No no, it’s not…” Kadew replied, bringing two fingers up to pinch the bridge of her snout. “It’s not that…”
“It’s not what?” Fehnel tried to guess. “It’s with Vuilen, isn’t it? You’re afraid she’ll not be able to appreciate the Runnin’ Day? Listen, I know this isn’t Leirn, but Sylvan and I are kickin’ our hardest to make it special for you regardless. Sure, it’s not the most traditional, but I’m sure Vuilen won’t mind! I understand that livin’ on a new planet is taxin’, the gravity here especially, but as foreigners it’s our job to show these nice people where we come from. We’re Yotul, and nothin’ will change that!”
“Mom…” Kadew grunted back, before taking a deep breath.
Before she could speak, Fehnel continued with a proud wag to her tail. “Do you remember what a Runnin’ Day is all about, Kadew? It’s about all the cubs that came of age that year comin’ together and sayin’ that they’ll be fine by themselves. But it’s also about family. It’s about knowin’ that no matter where you run off to, I’ll be there to support you. But you’re makin’ it real hard to do that every time you don’t tell me what the matter is! And if you don’t, how can I make this Runnin’ Day the best it can–”
“But it’s not a Running Day, is it!” Kadew yelled, instantly shutting Fehnel up.
Her mother stared forward blankly, stumbling over a few unclear words. “Wh-what do you…”
“It’s not a Running Day!” Kadew repeated. “It’s not! I mean look around you!” She lifted her arms up dramatically, motioning towards the crowds of unaware Venlil around us. “We’re the only Yotul here! We’re the only two people that even know what a Running Day is, and I’m pretty sure we’re the only people that care!”
I tried to speak, “Umm… I know what a Running Day i–” but the look of animosity Kadew immediately shot my way gave me Jeela flashbacks, and I shut up just as quick.
“Kadew… Hun, that’s not true,” Fehnel tried to defend. “I’m sure they’d be willing to open their minds if we just–”
“What? Tell them all about how great it is to come from an Uplift planet? Talk about brahking DIRT some more!? Careful there Mom, don’t want to spoil their meal!” Kadew continued her berating. “Because you and I both know that the only reason anyone even showed up to this thing is because of that guy’s food!” Another finger was shot out in my direction. “Even you know there’s nothing special about your stupid Uplift culture! There’s nothing here even remotely related to the Yotul! It’s all just Venlil decorations and Venlil food, for our solely Venlil guests! And look!!” She pointed directly at the statue Jeela had placed as the centerpiece. “They have a statue of a Venlil as the center of everything! It’s the star attraction, not us! They couldn’t give a damn about me or Running Day or our culture or… or anything!”
Fehnel appeared to be on the verge of tears.
“And now I’ve got to find some kind of excuse for all this!” Kadew added. “It’s bad enough I had to drag Vuilen into pretending to care about the Yotul. But now the entire town is a part of it too! They’re laughing at us, Mom! Just like at school! Just like everywhere else I go! They’re laughing at us and you’re proud about it!”
From the verge of tears, Fehnel’s voice had croaked into a soft weep. A glimmering stream of water had begun to crawl down the ridge of her rust-coloured face.
“I hate being born a Yotul! I hate this gross, rusty fur! I hate everyone thinking I’m primitive and that I must be in love with trains and steam engines! And I hate you trying to push your culture on me! Cause guess what? I’ve never even seen Leirn! It’s NOT my home and you need to stop pretending it is!”
Fehnel stood simply aghast, the occasional choked-up garble of sounds emerging from her throat. Meanwhile, I stood speechless as well. Obviously, I had accidentally walked in on and been exposed to something that had been going on for quite a while. But even worse, it seems as though I had done nothing but fanned the flame of this long-fueled fire. Instinctively, I began taking a few steps back to give the two their space, which went unnoticed by either party.
Fehnel swallowed, her eyes still welling tears. “I… I…” she tried to say, but no words would form. Instead, she choked on her own voice. And Kadew, who stood waiting for a response, sucked in heavy loads of air in the fleeting hope to catch her breath.
But instead of an answer, all that any of us heard was a scream.
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My second to last quarter just ended and I'm pretty swamped with final reports right now, but I'm almost through. Not to mention, the next seven weeks are going to be pretty light because of a sudden lack of classes, since I busted my butt finishing up my remaining credits. I've decided to dedicate this time to (among other things) a writing frenzy! I wanna get some serioussss backlogs up because who knows how busy I'm going to be after graduation. (Not to mention, I'm having some troubles getting my VISA renewed, but that's a personal issue).
Anyways, don't wanna bore you with irl stuff. You're here for food and gay furry romance! So as always, I hope you enjoy reading! :D
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Thank you to Philodox on discord for proofreading and editing RfD.
Thank you to Pampanope on reddit for the cover art.
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Memory Transcript Subject: Sylvan, Venlil Citizen
Date: [Standardized Human Time]: December 13, 2136
​
It wasn’t too long that I was absent from the event. Sure, Kenta and I had run into a few hiccups when trying to load up the cart, but that was to be expected. Just looking at the absolute behemoth of an edible pile that he had somehow been able to put together in such a short amount of time, it was a wonder just how we were able to fit them all on there in the first place. And the promise that there was still more yet to be brought out had left me astonished. If I hadn’t already seen the ravenous vortex of Venlil that had so efficiently done away with the other dishes, I might have actually been worried about leftovers.
The food in question, long tubes made out of some kind of starchy form of strayu and packaged in an even starchier husk, were stacked in circular pyramids atop three large trays. As it turned out, this delicacy was the same “Tamale” recipe that I had heard mentioned the day before, the sheer amount being the product of Kenta’s, Julio’s, and even Jeela’s preparations. Unfortunately, I hadn’t received the full explanation of what they were just yet, but Kenta had thankfully given me at least a quick rundown.
Using the same steaming methods as the gyoza, these tamales had been folded carefully over a mix of fresh, crisp vegetables whose scent floated around each in a rich aura. They were hot out of the steamer, a cloud of gaseous water encircling the air above it in a decadent plume. If I hadn’t known better, with the combined mass of the tamales and the sheer volume of steam they collectively released, it might have made me believe the cart itself to be on fire. But of course, there was no such thing, and the cloud that spread into the sky only served to sweeten the air.
As I rolled out the cart, I looked at one last addition to the ensemble. There in a large bowl was something that Kenta hadn’t mentioned in the slightest when explaining the recipe and reasonings behind the tamales, and I had been so urgent to get these out the door that I’d forgotten to press for more details. It had been left in the refrigerator since the day before, which I had only noticed when doing inventory after the fiasco of event preparations.
‘It completely slipped my mind until now… I’m glad I didn’t forget it. Especially after what that note said.’
When I had found the bowl, a small piece of paper had been taped to it. On which, an alien text had been inscribed that required me to use my visual translator to make any sense of. It had been nothing but obvious that holding up the translator informed me that the language was indeed Terran. But what confused me was that instead of the morphemic script that I had come to slightly recognize from Kenta’s subculture, it instead appeared to be something more alphabetic.
On it, the note simply read: “Make sure to serve this with the tamales, my friend. Don’t forget!”
Additionally, below those words had appeared to be an additional message. That one, however, was partially scribbled out. When I scanned that one as well, the translator had taken a long time to process, and its output remained considerably fractured: “**od l*ck wit* y*u* n*w boyf***nd.”
Having not thought much of the note, I had just barely remembered to retrieve the bowl from the fridge and put it on the card while Kenta was off busy grabbing one last batch of tamales before rushing me out the door. I shook it out of my mind for the time being. After all, right now there were more pressing things to manage.
Wheeling the cart back outside, I was hit with the briefest shortage of breath. It had only been a momentary respite, but shifting from the quiet of the empty diner to the lively atmosphere of a crowded party would never not be a shock. By now, enough people had shown up that the event could already be considered at max capacity. People from all over filled the street, chatting and conversing in a rambunctious, lively gusto.
To see so many people take the time out of their schedules and come down to my family’s diner just because of the promise of our food… It was almost overwhelming, enough to bring a brief tear to the eye reminiscent of my reaction to that very first wave of people Ginro had brought soon after I first hired Kenta. I took a moment just to bask in it. A feeling I had all but begun to grow almost too accustomed to. A feeling of success, and of pride. And as I once again continued pushing the cart past the crowds of chatty party attendees, along with the piles of wool that it entailed, that feeling continued to pour into me. It was all almost too much to hear at once.
“Hey Sylvan! Great party!” said one voice to my left.
“Amazing food as always, Lackadaisy guy! I can’t get enough of these little strayu things in the salad!” piped another to my right.
“Ooooo! What are those things?” asked one more as I passed by them, who excitedly eyed up the stack of tamales I was delivering.
I laughed along and chatted with people on my way to one of the tables, chuckling at their jokes and accepting their praise on behalf of both myself and the mysterious ‘Kahnta.’ With each pleased guest and hungry gaze, I couldn’t help but feel myself bloom in sheer joy at the tidal wave of enthusiastic complements.
That was… until one otherwise innocent comment sounded from behind me.
“So you’re telling me this was all made by one chef?” they asked one of their friends, not intending me to hear as they talked with their mouth half stuffed with food. Looking closer, I could see that they were two Gojids chatting with one another. “Better enjoy it now, I guess. Not gonna be long before some fancy place in the Capital comes and recruits them. Honestly, if the owner of this place wants to have any hope of holding on to them, he better marry them or something.”
The partygoer’s friend laughed, “Well if he doesn’t, then I will! Can you imagine eating something like this every day?”
I couldn’t help but bloom even more overhearing this. But this was a different kind of feeling. Not the gentle warmth of normal delight, but instead the torrid heat of surging emotions. And as I began nonchalantly transferring the steaming tamales to one of the tables, these emotions steamed to the surface of my mind as well.
It was a mix of things that fueled my silent reaction. At first, the implication of asking Kenta into matehood was… well it was certainly something. I was sure the two Gojids were simply making innocent remarks, assuming that the lie about my precious chef being another, completely ordinary Venlil was correct, not realizing in the slightest just how much the implication left me flummoxed. And in normal circumstances, it would have been just that, a simple perk of the ears and a brief daydream of something so far away from me. But after yesterday, things had changed.
The previous day had been eventful, to say the least. I had eaten some amazing pastries and listened to an even more amazing alien melody. Only for it all to come crashing down when my idiotic brain forgot to turn back on the translator before pouring out my entire menagerie of pent up emotions before Kenta. My one chance to seize an opportunity at the height of a courageous high, only to tumble and fall flat during the execution. Even worse, I couldn’t muster the bravery to say the same thing even one more time.
I had completely blown it. And needless to say, I wasn’t exactly keen on remembering my mistakes from that previous day, especially during such a pivotal event. The only mediocre condolence I could take from the whole ordeal being the opportunity of waking up next to Kenta that same day. But even that was cut much too short by the mad rush to get preparation ready for the event.
‘I can still remember how warm he felt… And how peaceful he looked when his eyes were closed…’ I thought to myself in deep reminiscence.
“Hey there Sylvan!”
‘I can’t get it out of my head…! Ugh! I wish it wasn’t just a one time thing…’
“Sylvan?”
‘If we really were together romantically, then maybe I could see that every day… But that’s not–’
“Sylvan!!”
The moment my attention was pulled away from my internal thoughts, I audibly bleated out a high pitched noise of surprise, “Eeep!”
My ears jutted up and my tail straightened like a steel beam. My attention shifted over to my side, where I soon realized Fehnel now stood. She had her paws held firmly on her hips, with a head tilted to the side in a half puzzled, half amused demeanor. Then, when I realized I had been staring a little too long without saying anything, I quickly turned my attention back to the table.
“Oh hey Fehnel!” I stuttered out. “Didn’t see you there!”
“Sorry if I sneaked up on ya, hun,” Fehnel replied with a single wag of the tail. “Got somethin’ on the mind, I’m assumin’?”
The image of Kenta and I huddled together on my couch flashed through my mind once more, before I quickly shook it away. “Uhhhh… Nope! I’m just really focussing here on getting these tamales out.”
“‘Tamales,’ huh?” Fehnel chuckled. “Well between this and that ‘gee-yo-za’ stuff, I think I’m startin’ to give up on predictin’ what crazy name Kahnta’ll come up with next.”
“Yeah it’s pretty… uh–” I coughed awkwardly, clearing something nonexistent out of my throat. “It’s pretty creative.”
“You can say that again. By this point, they’re startin’ to sound almost alien!” Fehnel laughed again, and I cringed as the irony fell over deaf ears. “But hey, who am I to judge! I mean, to me all the stuff on this planet is alien, so what’s another ‘Tamale’ added to the pile, yeah?”
I had to stop my ears and head from shrinking too far towards the ground.
“Anyways, I’m assumin’ these are the actual foods I requested Kahnta to create, right?” Fehnel continued to ask.
“Uh– Y-yeah, yes they ar–” I tried to say before one of Fehnel’s paws suddenly reached out and grabbed my wrist.
“Great!” she beamed, before dragging me away into one of the many chatty piles of fluffy wool that constituted our event.
It didn’t take more than a few rushed steps before I was suddenly pulled in front of another Yotul and Venlil, who I did well to recognize immediately. It seemed as though Kadew and Vuilen had arrived, the former of which looking just about as nervous as I had expected. Vuilen, on the other paw, was anything but. Her tail was wagging furiously, almost impossibly giddy with enthusiasm as her ears shifted around a swivel, likely allowing every new smell and sound to pull her attention to and fro.
Fehnel dragged me forward and plopped me down right in front of the two, before saying, “Tell them what you just told me.”
Vuilen leaned forward, bestowing me her full attention, while Kadew remained stationary, only doing as much as to straighten a single, skeptical ear.
“W-well, uh…” I stumbled, before quickly getting my act together. “Among a number of new strayu recipes, the main entree for today’s event is called ‘Tamales.’”
“Oooo!” Vuilen beamed. “What’s that, Lackadaisy guy? It sounds awesome!”
“According to Kahnta, it’s a mix of vegetables folded in a spongy strayu wrap and steamed inside a starchy husk. And…” I tilted my ears towards Kadew, “It’s supposedly a specialty that is designed to be eaten during times of celebration with family. Regardless of whether they be by blood, or found.”
Kadew huffed a short breath, before folding her arms. But before she got the chance to speak, Vuilen’s enthused voice overtook it. The black and white wooled Venlil leaned into her smaller Yotul partner and pulled them into a strong hug.
“Hear that, Dew? It’s like this food was MADE for your Running Day!” Vuilen piped, bouncing up and down like a cub and bringing the now deeply blooming Kadew along for the ride. “Well… I guess it literally was, but you know what I mean! Either way, there’s like a million new kinds of strayu foods here! Can you believe that? I think I even saw some sylvanas over on that table there! Can you even begin to wonder what they taste like? Oh my Sol, I’m so excited!”
Kadew, whose previously unimpressed countenance now had more steam coming out of her ears than the tamales off in the distance, stuttered out her response. “Uh– Uhmm– That’s… that’s great…”
“I know right!” Vuilen squealed. “This is going to be the BEST Running Day ever! I’m so happy for you!”
I couldn’t help but giggle out in response to this, something which Fehnel had long since been doing on her own volition. Unfortunately for Kadew, this did nothing to ease the sheer amount of embarrassment already flying around her dazed face.
“Of course, all guests are free to eat their fill, especially those invited by the Claw’s Lady herself,” I said, before gesturing a paw towards Fehnel. “All of it has been covered in advance by our generous sponsor.”
Vuilen retreated from her hug just as quickly as it had started, twisting her attention back towards Fehnel and I. “Really? I still can’t believe you’re just giving away all this for free!”
She walked towards the two of us, leaving a still dazed Kadew behind her, before rushing to give Fehnel herself another brief hug. “Thank you so much again for organizing something like this, ma’am.”
Fehnel returned the embrace, having nothing but pure pride and joy radiate through her voice. “Of course, hun. I hope you and my daughter enjoy your date.”
“Oh we will!” Vuilen replied quickly, pulling back once again. Just as fast, she began making a beeline for the buffet tables, almost disappearing into the crowd of fellow Venlil fluff before her voice was heard once more. “I’ll be back in a jiffy, Dew! I just gotta try some of this stuff before it’s all gone!”
Before she was out of range, I twisted around, raised a paw up to my mouth, and stood up high to help carry my voice after her. “Don’t forget to save room for dessert!”
Turning back, I joined Fehnel once again in her chuckling. It didn’t take long for Fehnel to comment on the situation now that Vuilen was out of earshot.
She leaned over and gently nudged me in the leg with her tail. “She’s a riot, ain’t she? Does my daughter know how to pick em’, or what?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve seen them together in the diner all the time. Honestly, I’ve been wondering how long it was going to take to knit that scarf,” I commented, referencing one of the more common and romantic Venlil courtship rituals.
“Guys I can HEAR YOU!” Kadew yelped, now seemingly freed of her hug-induced daze.
“Oh hun don’t you worry yourself about us,” Fehnel replied, a slight hum to her voice. “Us adults can’t help but watch the young love bloom.”
“That guy’s barely older than I am!” Kadew shot back, raising a finger to point at me.
I raised two paws in defence, much too similar to the way Kenta does when he’s been caught teasing me. “Hey, doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate it when I see it. You’re doing great, by the way.”
The teasing, however, had been lost on her. I had meant it in good will, but my words had only served to aggravate Kadew, and she huffed out an annoyed breath. Then, she started stomping rapidly in place, her trained legs moving in a blur like overclocked turbines. From even the briefest glance, I could tell that something had been pulling away at her tail, and our comments were doing it no favours.
“Uhh… are you alright?” I asked tentatively.
“ARGH!” she groaned back. “No! No, I am very much NOT alright! Running Day’s here already, I feel like a pile of speh, my fur’s a mess, and I’m FREAKING THE BRAHK OUT!!”
‘Quite the vocabulary on this one, apparently,’ I judged silently, wondering how my mother would have reacted to hearing me talk like that.
“Honey, Vuilen’s not gonna care about any of that silly stuff,” Fehnel said jovially. “Why, I remember bein’ covered in dried mud the first time I went on a date with your father. We went down to the creek together and took turns tossing water at each other. Then, we went down to the local actin’ house and watched a show. But even after all of that, I still had a bit of dried mud crusted on my fur, but your father didn’t mind. Said it gave me ‘character,’ of all the silly things.”
“Isn’t dried mud just dirt?” I asked.
“Naw, see, dirt is sand, silt, and clay, but it only becomes mud when it has a higher content of clay.”
“So then what happens when dirt gets wet but doesn’t have a lot of clay?”
“Wet dirt.”
“Ah.”
“WHAT ARE YOU BRAHKING TALKING ABOUT!?” Kadew squealed in a panic, her stomping had not ceased in the slightest. She threw her paws up and pulled her ears down over her eyes. “Dirt and mud! That’s all that we Yotul talk about apparently! And trains! Can’t forget the brahking trains! Stars above, that’s all people ever say!”
“Trains are cool,” I said indifferently.
“I don’t care!” she huffed, before turning to Fehnel. “Mom. What if Vuilen comes back and sees you talking about dirt? She’ll just see that it’s the only thing a primitive uplift is capable of understanding! Do you really want to prove her right?”
Fehnel looked shocked, but replied nonetheless. “Has… she said something like that before?”
“Well…! No…! But…” Kadew stomped again. “She might, okay!? Especially if she sees you actively talking about it!”
“To be fair, I asked,” I replied. “Besides, Vuilen seems like a smart girl. She wouldn’t make a rash assumption about the Yotul based off some random remark. Relationships are stronger than that. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“What do you know about it!?” Kadew shot back, releasing her ears and letting them perk up to max height. “Unless I missed something, I don’t see you dating any other Venlil in that restaurant of yours! How do you know if any of this is fine!?”
Fehnel’s voice soured immediately. “Kadew! That is no way to talk to our new business partner! He was just tryin’ to help! Apologize this instant!”
Realizing something had shifted without my notice, I tried to mellow my voice in an attempt to calm the situation down. “Oh, that won’t be necessar–”
“No,” Fehnel interrupted. “I refuse to let my daughter be rude to anyone. We might not have much, but we at least have manners.” She turned her attention back to her daughter. “Kadew, if you have a problem, then I want you to tell me about it. If there’s somethin’ we can do to help, then–”
“No no, it’s not…” Kadew replied, bringing two fingers up to pinch the bridge of her snout. “It’s not that…”
“It’s not what?” Fehnel tried to guess. “It’s with Vuilen, isn’t it? You’re afraid she’ll not be able to appreciate the Runnin’ Day? Listen, I know this isn’t Leirn, but Sylvan and I are kickin’ our hardest to make it special for you regardless. Sure, it’s not the most traditional, but I’m sure Vuilen won’t mind! I understand that livin’ on a new planet is taxin’, the gravity here especially, but as foreigners it’s our job to show these nice people where we come from. We’re Yotul, and nothin’ will change that!”
“Mom…” Kadew grunted back, before taking a deep breath.
Before she could speak, Fehnel continued with a proud wag to her tail. “Do you remember what a Runnin’ Day is all about, Kadew? It’s about all the cubs that came of age that year comin’ together and sayin’ that they’ll be fine by themselves. But it’s also about family. It’s about knowin’ that no matter where you run off to, I’ll be there to support you. But you’re makin’ it real hard to do that every time you don’t tell me what the matter is! And if you don’t, how can I make this Runnin’ Day the best it can–”
“But it’s not a Running Day, is it!” Kadew yelled, instantly shutting Fehnel up.
Her mother stared forward blankly, stumbling over a few unclear words. “Wh-what do you…”
“It’s not a Running Day!” Kadew repeated. “It’s not! I mean look around you!” She lifted her arms up dramatically, motioning towards the crowds of unaware Venlil around us. “We’re the only Yotul here! We’re the only two people that even know what a Running Day is, and I’m pretty sure we’re the only people that care!”
I tried to speak, “Umm… I know what a Running Day i–” but the look of animosity Kadew immediately shot my way gave me Jeela flashbacks, and I shut up just as quick.
“Kadew… Hun, that’s not true,” Fehnel tried to defend. “I’m sure they’d be willing to open their minds if we just–”
“What? Tell them all about how great it is to come from an Uplift planet? Talk about brahking DIRT some more!? Careful there Mom, don’t want to spoil their meal!” Kadew continued her berating. “Because you and I both know that the only reason anyone even showed up to this thing is because of that guy’s food!” Another finger was shot out in my direction. “Even you know there’s nothing special about your stupid Uplift culture! There’s nothing here even remotely related to the Yotul! It’s all just Venlil decorations and Venlil food, for our solely Venlil guests! And look!!” She pointed directly at the statue Jeela had placed as the centerpiece. “They have a statue of a Venlil as the center of everything! It’s the star attraction, not us! They couldn’t give a damn about me or Running Day or our culture or… or anything!”
Fehnel appeared to be on the verge of tears.
“And now I’ve got to find some kind of excuse for all this!” Kadew added. “It’s bad enough I had to drag Vuilen into pretending to care about the Yotul. But now the entire town is a part of it too! They’re laughing at us, Mom! Just like at school! Just like everywhere else I go! They’re laughing at us and you’re proud about it!”
From the verge of tears, Fehnel’s voice had croaked into a soft weep. A glimmering stream of water had begun to crawl down the ridge of her rust-coloured face.
“I hate being born a Yotul! I hate this gross, rusty fur! I hate everyone thinking I’m primitive and that I must be in love with trains and steam engines! And I hate you trying to push your culture on me! Cause guess what? I’ve never even seen Leirn! It’s NOT my home and you need to stop pretending it is!”
Fehnel stood simply aghast, the occasional choked-up garble of sounds emerging from her throat. Meanwhile, I stood speechless as well. Obviously, I had accidentally walked in on and been exposed to something that had been going on for quite a while. But even worse, it seems as though I had done nothing but fanned the flame of this long-fueled fire. Instinctively, I began taking a few steps back to give the two their space, which went unnoticed by either party.
Fehnel swallowed, her eyes still welling tears. “I… I…” she tried to say, but no words would form. Instead, she choked on her own voice. And Kadew, who stood waiting for a response, sucked in heavy loads of air in the fleeting hope to catch her breath.
But instead of an answer, all that any of us heard was a scream.
—————————
​
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I bought a used v1 switch that's been giving me overheating sleep errors, whenever i play TOTK or Pokemon Legends arceus I always encounter temps up to 81° and receive the overheating sleep error after 45m, I've made sure the air vents were clean, the dock is completely unobstructed and played in a cool room, the console's idle temp Is around 28°, I even went as far as to open the plastic back cover and clean the switch fan with litte to no improvement, so as a last resort I decided to try to replace the thermal paste, I was originally going to use the arctic mx 4 thermal paste, but decided if I change the thermal paste and it isn't enough, then it'll just be a waste of money and time, so instead I decided to change the fan in addition. The fan does give a rlly quiet clicking noise every second, so im not sure if that hints to anything, I've got the fan running at 100% speed since I've got a custom fan profile.
V1 used switch
I was wondering if changing the thermal paste was enough or if I should go all in
If so is this kit good for replacing, soc, pipe, and CPU itself?
ElecGear Replacement Internal Cooling Fan for Nintendo Switch - CPU Heatsink Cooler, Thermal Compound Paste, Y00 Triwing and PH00 Phillips Screwdriver, Spudger, Wipes Repair Tool Kit https://amzn.asia/d/2uZnioc

So, just got a smoker for my birthday and I tried smoking ribs for the first time. I had some St. Louis style ribs and I smoked them until their internal temp was about 199-201. I wrapped them in foil around 170ish and let them finish. The flavor was really good and the actual meat on the ribs was good but there was a lot of fat that was kinda rubbery. I tried pulling as much of the silver skin off I could but I feel like I didn’t do enough.
Is that an issue with the meat or is there a way to prep the ribs better or is more expensive meat the way to go? My ribs I had weren’t super expensive I think I paid like around 25$ for 4 racks.
Gotta say my family loved them and the meat was really good and the bones did slide out no problem. I just don’t know if the fat/remaining silverskin caused the problems or if I didn’t smoke them enough. Was about 6 hours total, but we did had have a flash rain and serious cooldown it brought the temp down on my smoker to around 140 because I don’t have a covered area and I had to fight to bring my temps back up.
I’m asking partially because my brother wants a brisket for his birthday and I don’t want to mess it up.

Hey all, I booked my return ticket via Virgin Atlantic from Amsterdam to New York. And seems like my first name (17 character) is missing the last letter (16 char limit) in the Virgin Atlantic booking.
I am currently in the process of applying for a Schengen visa and was wondering if this might cause an issue. And if I should mention this in my cover letter?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

Disclaimer: I'm bringing it here before any shutdown of AMH because lately, there's random stuff being posted there and a lack of control.

*Deals from 2020 onward might still be possible in some ways.
1927:

• Fox Film and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer were planning to merge before being called off.

1929:

• Warner Bros Pictures, Inc. called off a merger with Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation.

1956:

• Suitors including what would become Associated Artists Pictures had been bidding for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's back catalog. MGM would eventually enter the TV market themselves.

1957:

• Associated Artists Pictures almost closed a deal to buy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's shorts library (including the Tom and Jerry shorts) but shut it down due to the (unspecified) price tag.

1958:

• National Telefilm Associates announced plans to buy Associated Artists Pictures, which at this point was a subject of litigation. It would be United Artists who would buy them.

1971:

• 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer considered merging.

1982:

• Orion Pictures looked at buying Embassy Pictures and Allied Artists before settling in on Filmways.
• Warner Communications tried in July to buy back the rights to Metro-Goldwyn-MayeUnited Artists' pre-1950 WB library for the first time. The negotiations fell apart because of dozens of unresolved points, probably relating to the oldest Warner Bros. films. The second time was successful 14 years later with the Turner merger.

1984:

• Reliance Insurance attempted to take over Disney.

1985:

• Turner attempted to take over the Columbia Broadcasting System for $5.4 billion.
• Viacom was looking to buy 50% of MGM/UA from Turner.

1987:

• Carolco Pictures attempted to buy Orion Pictures and Media Home Entertainment.
• NBC considered buying the Turner Broadcasting System.

1989:

• MCA offered to buy Disney.
• Bill Cosby tried to buy a stake in NBC.
• Jim Henson attempted to sell the Muppets to Disney for $150 million.
• Before Time Warner, Paramount Communications, which just rose up from Gulf+Western planned to merge with Time Magazine before the latter went with Warner Communications.
• Viacom itself even planned to merge with Gulf+Western, 5 years before making a full-on successful buyout.
• Viacom was even in talks with MCA Inc., the owner of Universal Studios, according to the same article.
• Ted Turner somehow tried to repurchase Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, this time including the United Artists side.
  • Qintex (which would later become Seven Media) also planned to buy MGM/UA for A$1.5 billion.

1991:

• In March, Brøderbund ended merger talks with Sierra On-Line, and given that date, it most likely started plans in the previous year.
• Turner's New Line Cinema looked into buying Orion, which the interests of Republic Pictures, Savoy Pictures, the American Broadcasting Company, and Polygram would also follow.

1992:

• MCA and Hallmark were originally the buyers for Hanna-Barbera but got outbid by Turner, which merged with Time Warner.

1993:

• In September, QVC tried a hostile $9.6 billion bid for Paramount Communications before a lawsuit came in, and lost to a $9.85 billion bid from Viacom in February.

1994:

• Bell Atlantic planned to buy Tele-Communications Inc. for $33 billion. TCI would later head for AT&T 5 years later.
• Time Warner Communications tried to buy NBC from General Electric for $2 to 2.5 billion.

1995:

• News Corporation, MCA, Time Warner Communications and Cinergi placed bids for Carolco Pictures before Le Studio Canal+ took over.
• Brøderbund bid for the original The Learning Company, before SoftKey bought them and adopted their name. They would buy Brøderbund in 1998.

1996:

• Before fatefully settling its eyes upon Sierra On-Line and Davidson & Associates (Blizzard, Animation Magic, and Knowledge Adventure), Comp-U-Card International, or more unfortunately named, CUC's Walter Forbes had considered a larger company that consisted of not just Sierra and Davidson, but also Brøderbund and LucasArts.
• After having Broadway Video's family library for dinner, Golden Books planned to buy out Nelvana.
• Microsoft nearly acquired Davidson & Associates (Blizzard) on the first try, but they lost to Comp-U-Card. In December 1997, CUC merged with HFS, and the new company was renamed Cendant, which would suffer a big accounting scandal.
• British Telecom, who owned a partial stake since 1994, bid $22 billion for MCI.
• For a year, Polygram attempted to buy out Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Samuel Goldwyn.

1997:

• GTE, which eventually merged with Bell Atlantic to become Verizon 3 years later, bid $28 billion for MCI. Eventually, Worldcom kicked in.
• GoodTimes Interactive planned to buy MicroProse for $250 million before letting Hasbro Interactive take it in. Coincidentally, both GoodTimes AND Hasbro Interactive would be bought out by Infogrames (later Atari SA) in 1999 and 2001, respectively.
• Epic Pictures had offers to be bought by Artisan, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Disney before PolyGram succeeded to buy it. PolyGram would eventually sell it to Metro-Goldwyn-MayeOrion over a year later.

1998:

• Microsoft tried to acquire Davidson & Associates (Blizzard) for the second time from Cendant, but they were beaten by Havas, which was owned by Vivendi.
• Viacom's Paramount Pictures offered to buy French art house studio CiBy 2000 for 500 million francs, or roughly $80 million in USD. The founder's widow, however, refused, and the catalog was dispersed between TF1, MK2, and several companies. Thirty-two years later, Paramount would get an arthouse-type film studio: Miramax.

1999:

• MCI Worldcom tried to buy Sprint for $129 billion. After a 2001 scandal, Worldcom (name since 2000) was renamed to MCI Inc., which would get bought by Verizon in 2006. Sprint merged with T-Mobile US 14 years after MCI went to Verizon.
• Global Crossing offered to buy US West for $37 billion before Qwest outbid them. Coincidentally, the rest seems to have been a big wave of all coming together, as Global Crossing (after a bankruptcy in 2002) would get bought by Level 3 in 2011, which itself would be bought in 2016 by CenturyLink WHO MERGED with Qwest back in 2010.
• Artisan Entertainment and Canal+ were speculated to pick up PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.
• Two years before the release of the Xbox, Microsoft approached Nintendo about buying them. The deal was that they would make the hardware for Nintendo, but the latter's executives "laughed their asses off."
  • They also tried to buy Squaresoft, Electronic Arts, and Midway around this time.
• CanWest Global attempted to acquire NetStar (which consisted of TSN and Discovery Canada), but was vetoed by ESPN. CTV would eventually buy it.
• Francis Ford Coppola planned to buy United Artists from MGM.

2000:

• Activision and partial owner Nintendo bid for Rareware until Microsoft bought them out 2 years later.
• Netflix offers to be bought by Blockbuster for $50 million, but they decline.
• Warner Music Group tried to buy British music label EMI for $20 billion but canceled the merger after pressure. Info here. After EMI's bankruptcy in 2011, Warner would buy Parlophone from it for $765 million, about 40% of EMI's record label.

2001:

• Sesame Workshop was put up for sale, with speculated buyers being Viacom, AOL Time Warner, The Walt Disney Company, and Classic Media.
  • The Jim Henson Company was also up for sale to The Walt Disney Company, Viacom, HIT Entertainment, AOL Time Warner, Haim Saban, and Classic Media.
• Chris-Craft (involved in the United Paramount Network) offered to be bought by Viacom for $3.1 billion until News Corp came in.
• Before NBC came in, the bidders of Telemundo were Viacom, The Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, and AOL Time Warner.

2002:

• Viacom and USA Network were originally speculated to buy Fox Family Worldwide before it was sold by News Corp to The Walt Disney Company.

2003:

• Emtv tried to sell The Muppets to Sesame Workshop and ClassicMedia.
• Before Lionsgate took the shot, Marvel and Miramax were placing a bid to pick up Artisan.
• Viacom, Liberty Media Corp, News Corporation, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Barry Diller were also bidding to buy Universal Studios and its theme parks.

2004:

• Comcast tried to buy Disney for $66 billion.
• Take-Two Interactive Software considered buying Vivendi Universal Games for $1 billion, which was below what Vivendi Universal wanted. Vivendi Games, after its parent company stripped itself of Universal Studios to make NBC Universal, would merge with Activision Publishing four years later to create Activision Blizzard, now part of Microsoft.
• In June, an unnamed financier offered $10 million for TheFacebook, the first of many attempts over the next three years.
  • Friendster also offered to buy them, according to documents seen by SAI Global.
  • A couple of Google execs visited Facebook's office to see if there was a way to work with Zuckerberg or perhaps even buy his company.
• 2 years after Kirk Kerkorian put Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer up for sale, Time Warner emerged as a bidder for the studio. The bid wasn't unexpected, as Ted Turner was the largest shareholder. After all, his Turner Entertainment Group had risen to success through its ownership of the pre-May 1986 library, which had been acquired by the bidder when they merged with Turner eight years prior.
• Casey-Werner was looking to sell itself to a large media company but would later decide against selling. The potential suitors were General Electric/Vivendi's NBC Universal and the first incarnation of Viacom, which owned CBS.
• Channel 4 considered merging with Channel 5 for nine months before calling it off. Five would later get bought by RTL Group.

2005:

• Viacom offered to buy out TheFacebook for $75 million; the deal would have Mark Zuckerburg earn $35 million "on the spot".
  • MySpace's CEO Chris DeWolfe also visited Mark and his team to buy them.
  • NBC Universal's NBC execs stopped by "for a peek" this year.
  • In the fall, Mark Zuckerberg flew to New York to meet with Viacom CEO Tom Freston. Tom would pitch all sorts of synergies to Mark between MTV and Facebook.
• Before creating an alliance consisting of Pandemic Studios and BioWare, Elevation Partners planned to buy out Eidos Interactive before SCi (no, not Sony Computer Interactive) stepped in and bought them in May. The Pandemic and BioWare alliance would get bought by Electronic Arts 2 years later, with the former studio shutting down two years later.
• Five months before Viacom purchased Dreamworks SKG, there were rumors that NBC Universal would buy the then-independent studio for $2.5 billion. Dreamworks Pictures already used Universal's film distribution and home entertainment divisions to distribute their products.

2006:

• In January, News Corporation's Ross Levinsohn wanted to buy Facebook but was worried the deal might not keep up its growth.
  • Viacom sent the company a $1.5 billion offer--$800 million in cash up front, the rest a payout later. In this case, it's said it "almost sold."
  • In June, Yahoo! offered $1 billion, only to... lower it to $850 million after announcing horrible Q2 earnings.
    • In the fall, they suggested they would pay $1 billion or more.
  • In the middle of the year, AOL's CEO Johnathan Miller wanted to buy the company, convincing Time Inc.'s CEO to come in on the deal they took to their parent company Time Warner. A detailed plan would have AOL sell MapQuest and Tegic, while Time Inc. would sell IPC. Together, they'd offer $1 billion-plus.
• At least according to the YouTuber Hook: before Google came in, the bidders for YouTube were News Corporation, Microsoft, Yahoo!, and even Viacom, the last of which, after the Google purchase, would coldly claim YouTube infringed copyright, losing in the long end, and, after a CEO change, bought VidCon.
• In November, National Transcommunications Limited (or NTL for short) approached ITV plc with a merger bid. However, it would get blocked when British Sky Broadcasting (now Sky UK) bought roughly 18% of ITV for £940 million ($117.3 million in US dollars).
  • RTL Group, who owned Channel 5 at the time, also bid at one point; the plan would have seen RTL acquiring Sky's stake in ITV plc (with the aim of further acquisitions of shares in the future) in exchange for BSkyB taking full control of Channel 5.

2007:

• Google offered to buy Facebook.
  • Microsoft also offered to buy a small stake in the platform at a $15 billion valuation, then have the option, every six months, to buy another 5 percent. The complete takeover would've been well within five to seven years. While it never happened, they did buy 1.6% of the company for about $250 million, a deal which set their value at $15 billion.

2008:

• A reverse merger deal between DHX Media and Entertainment One was considered.
• Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo! for $47.5 billion until the latter let Google display its ads on the site.
• There were later debunked rumors of Viacom buying Take-Two Interactive, around the time of the next one:
• Electronic Arts even tried to buy Take-Two Interactive until September.
• France Télécom (present-day Orange) planned to buy Swedish telco TeliaSonera for $40 billion, but both could not come to an agreement.
• Square Enix planned to buy Tecmo, but the latter insisted on a merger of equals with Koei.

2009:

• Lionsgate announced plans on February 1 to buy Summit Entertainment, but 2 days later, the plans fell through. Lionsgate would end up purchasing Summit in 2012.
• Before Comcast came in, Time Warner and News Corporation were originally interested in buying NBC Universal from General Electric and Vivendi.
• News Corporation, Time Warner, Amir Malin's Qualia Capital, and Lionsgate Entertainment were bidding for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Holdings during its bankruptcy. Time Warner already owned the pre-May 1986 MGM library, had enough cash reserves, and co-produced the Hobbit films with the studio. News Corporation's 20th Century Fox, meanwhile, was Metro Goldwyn Mayer's home entertainment distributor at the time.

2010:

• News Corporation made a plan for the takeover of British Sky Broadcasting (already owning 39.1% until then) in June for 700 pounds per share for the remaining 60.9% shares until two turning points came: the removal of regulatory approval from Vincent Cable in December, and the more infamous 2011 News of the World phone hacking incident, which caused the bid to fall to its face.
• In a part 2, two more bidders, Reliance Entertainment (about $1.8 billion) and Relativity Media (about $1.6 billion) went onboard for MGM Holdings. But by November 3rd, MGM Holdings filed bankruptcy and emerged almost a month later when the Federal Bankruptcy Court approved the reorganization plan.

2011:

• AT&T tried to buy T-Mobile US for $39 billion.
• Hulu found itself in an unsolicited offer that was said to involve Google and Yahoo!. Ultimately, none of the bidders offered an amount satisfactory to its owners.
• World Wrestling Entertainment and the UFC were in separate talks to buy G4 until UFC went into a deal with Fox and WWE built its network.
• Before Mattel chipped in, the other bidders planning to buy HiT Entertainment from Apax Partners were The Walt Disney Company, the second incarnation of Viacom, rival Hasbro, ClassicMedia (which would be bought by Dreamworks Animation, which is now a Comcast company), Chorion, and Saban Brands.

2012:

• CBS was also rumored to buy Sony Pictures from Sony.
• People make a half-truth of an NYT article about Valve into "EA tried to buy Valve."

2013:

• Facebook's Instagram attempted to buy Snapchat for $3 billion in cash due to the latter's introduction of Stories. 3 years later, Instagram made their own Stories.
• Yahoo! considered buying either Netflix or Hulu until they fatefully decided upon Tumblr for $1.1 billion.
  • DirecTV and Time Warner also bid for Hulu.
• Time Warner was stated to be one of the buyers of THQ until its bankruptcy in the same year, followed by Nordic Games buying its trademark in 2014.
  • ZeniMax Media also made a $26.3 million bid for THQ's Relic Entertainment before Sega came in.
• Dish Network considered buying Sprint for $25.5 billion.
• RTL Group's Fremantle attempted to buy out All3Media.
• Microsoft was negotiating to purchase HTC, a fact revealed by former Nokia chairman Risto Siilasmaa during an interview with the Helsingin Sanomat, or Hesari. Microsoft would later buy Nokia's mobile phone business that year.
  • On the topic of mobile phones, Lenovo planned to buy Blackberry Limited, but the Canadian government blocked the deal due to security concerns because prominent members of governments around the world have used Blackberries themselves. They would later buy Motorola Mobility from Google in January 2014 for $2.91 billion.

2014:

• 21st Century Fox offered an $80 billion bid for Time Warner, but a potential CNN spinoff was one of the reasons why it became unattractive and fell.
• Hasbro planned to buy DreamWorks Animation to form Hasbro-Dreamworks, two years before Comcast went in.
  • SoftBank was also planning to buy Dreamworks Animation for $3.4 billion.
• Comcast tried to buy Time Warner Cable for $45.2 billion but faced a ton of madness to the point of abandonment.
• BT, ITV plc, Channel 4, Comcast (through NBCUniversal), Endemol, Time Warner, Viacom, Scripps Network Interactive, Saban Capital Group, and a joint bid of BSkyB and Discovery Communications were all bidders reportedly interested in acquiring Channel 5. Viacom won.

2015:

• There were some fears of Yahoo! buying Dailymotion from Orange, which were soon quelled by Vivendi's purchase of the site.
• Apple had considered buying TimeWarner.

2016:

• Before Viacom bought Telefe from Telefonica, Time Warner and the Cisneros Group were bidding for the network.
• 21st Century Fox tried a $32.5 billion bid for Sky until they were bought by Disney. Comcast eventually kicked in and bought Sky.
• Vivendi attempted a bid to buy out Ubisoft for $6.4 billion before ending the hostile takeover bid 2 years later. Today, Ubisoft is partially owned by Tencent.
• Disney somehow planned to merge with Time Warner before AT&T went into negotiations.
• Activision Blizzard's CEO Bobby Kotick somehow considered buying TimeWarner before AT&T took it.
• National Amusements sends a letter to both CBS Corporation and Viacom asking them to merge back. It's declined... for now.
• ITV plc placed a £1 billion ($1.3 billion USD) offer to buy eOne, which they rejected. Hasbro bought them for $4 billion in 2019.
• The Walt Disney Company planned to buy Twitter but decided not because there were a substantial amount of bots.
  • Microsoft, Salesforce, and Google were also said to bid for Twitter.
• Viacom tried to sell a stake of Paramount Pictures to Dalian Wanda, but it fell through, thankfully.
• Spotify was rumored to be looking into buying SoundCloud. It would be complementary as Spotify targets signed artists, and SoundCloud targets indies.

2017:

• 22 companies comprising but not limited to Viacom, Miramax, Ronald Wayne Burkle's Yucaipa, Lionsgate, A&E, Sony, and MGM all placed bids for The Weinstein Company.
• Viacom was going to take in Scripps Networks Interactive before Discovery Communications came through with a $12 billion outbid.
• Comcast, Sony, and Verizon were the other bidders for 21st Century Fox's assets. Comcast's bid persisted until July 2018, leaving it to The Walt Disney Company in March 2019.
• Tribune Media announced its sale to Sinclair Broadcast Group, but 15 months later, they were sued for a breach of contract. They would merge with future CW majority owner Nexstar Media Group for $4.1 billion.
• Hasbro attempted to buy Lionsgate.

2018:

• Viacom, CBS (both would re-merge in 2019), Verizon, Comcast, Amazon (later would buy MGM in 2022), Sony, and Hasbro again were speculated to buy Lionsgate, and there were rumors that a combined CBS-Viacom would buy out the studio, with Vice Chairman Michael Burns implying in an interview with CNBC that Lionsgate, CBS, and Viacom all merge.
• Google was eyeing Epic Games before starting their own cloud service called "Project Stream", later named Stadia, which lasted until 2023.

2019:

• Univision was speculated to be bought by ViacomCBS in articles like this, before Televisa (sort of) came in 2 years later, to form TelevisaUnivision.
• Before Viacom re-merged with CBS, there were rumors of the latter entity buying Starz from Lionsgate.
• Before ViacomCBS kicked in, the bidders for a 50% stake in Miramax were the second incarnation of Viacom, Lionsgate (which had the home video rights to Miramax, at least in the United States), and Spyglass Media Group, who had been the owner of The Weinstein Company's library a year ago. Spyglass was the first to exit talks, followed by Lionsgate a month later. After two months, Viacom went out of the discussion until the re-merge with CBS Corporation meant they would resume buyout talks with Miramax.
• ViacomCBS was also speculated to buy Discovery pre-announcement of the Warner Bros Discovery deal two years later.
• Continuing on with the post-merger 'nundrum, ViacomCBS was also rumored to buy Sony Pictures and even Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
• Xerox planned until 2020 to buy out Hewlett-Packard for $33.5 (later $35.0 in the second bid) billion. Hewlett-Packard indicated it would make its counteroffer for Xerox.

2020:

• Microsoft not only (and this was very publicized) tried to buy Tiktok, but almost tried to buy out Capcom, Nintendo, and even Warner Bros. Games.
• Apple and Netflix were rumored to buy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
• Take-Two Interactive was going to buy Codemasters for $994 million and assign it under 2K, before being trumped by Electronic Arts with a billion-dollar bid.
• ViacomCBS initially planned to sell Simon and Schuster to Penguin Random House but ended up in a blockage two years later.
  • Before that announcement, News Corp (HarperCollins) and Vivendi (Editis) were said to be the other bidders for S&S.

Around this time, Lionsgate made an unsolicited offer to merge Starz with ViacomCBS' Showtime.
2021:

• Comcast had some plans to buy Activision Blizzard, at least according to Puck.
• In a better-known attempt, they considered spinning off NBCUniversal and merging it with Electronic Arts, which sadly never materialized.
• Comcast was speculated to merge with ViacomCBS after the announcement of the Warner-Discovery deal, which would only get churned down to SkyShowtime for specific regions.
• Bagdasarian Productions has been reported to have put itself up for sale for about $300 million, with Paramount Global (who has home entertainment rights and Nickelodeon airs the current show) being the most likely bidder.
• Microsoft was interested in acquiring Zynga before it was sold to Take-Two Interactive Software.
• Microsoft was also seriously planning to buy out some of over a hundred developers and nine publishers, and also considered Sega, Square Enix, and IO Interactive in an April 2021 slideshow given out this year's ruling by the FTC on ActivBliz.
• Lionsgate was planning for as long as into the next year to buy STX.

2022:

• Fox Corporation and News Corp were going to merge, only to get called off.
• There were the marathonical rumors of Apple, Disney, and even Amazon buying out Electronic Arts.
• The Washington Post was looking to buy Wordle before The New York Times Company became the buyer.

2023:

• Playtika tried to buy Rovio for $813 million before Sega Sammy took the helm.
• Comcast was speculated to buy out World Wrestling Entertainment before Endeavor Group came in.
  • They were also rumored to buy the remaining 67% of Hulu from The Walt Disney Company, until it became the other way around.
• Legendary, Fremantle, and GoDigital Media Group were bidding to buy Entertainment One from Hasbro until Lionsgate won the bidding.
• In the finale of the Simon and Schuster sale, the other bidder besides Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts was News Corp's HarperCollins.
• Paramount Global planned to sell BET to people including Byron Allen, Shaquille O'Neal, and 50 Cent, until deciding that the networks were a core asset.

Hi- I need help. I’m a 29(F) with a crush on her 38(M) supervisor. Now.. I’m married and would never cheat on my husband. The fact that I have a crush on my supervisor is really distressing to me. Here is the situation.
I’ve been working here for 2 years now, all the time being supervised by who we will call “Blake” for sake of privacy. He is also the ceo of our therapy group. I’ve found myself always attracted to his personality, and often feel sad on days we don’t chat or see each other at work. At work, I’m clearly his favorite employee. He remembers things I say and consistently jokes with me over others, recently promoted me to work on admin stuff with him, and is likely attracted to me (my other coworker recently shared she believes he finds me attractive and gives me favor at work).
Knowing this, I feel really flattered.. more than that, I want to KNOW he thinks I’m attractive. I want to be wanted by him, even though nothing would ever happen.
I need help getting over this. Denying my crush hadn’t worked. I am trying to acknowledge it in myself and then pivot my thoughts, but it’s still been difficult. I feel shame for wanting attention and liking it, especially because I know it would hurt my husbands feelings.
I don’t want people to come onto here and shame me for feeling this way.. what I’m looking for is validation that this can be a common experience… and what I can do about it emotionally. Again, I want to respect my marriage, even with my internal emotions. Please help

I bought a used v1 switch that's been giving me overheating sleep errors, whenever i play TOTK or Pokemon Legends arceus I always encounter temps up to 81° and receive the overheating sleep error after 45m I've made sure the air vents were clean, the dock is completely unobstructed and played in a cool room, the console's idle temp Is around 22°, I even went as far as to open the plastic back cover and clean the switch fan with litte to no improvement, so as a last resort I decided to try to replace the thermal paste, I was originally going to use the article mx 4 thermal paste, but decided if I change the thermal paste and it isn't enough, then it'll just be a waste of money and time, so instead I decided to change the fan in addition. The fan does give a rlly quiet clicking noise every second, so im not sure if that hints to anything, I've got the fan running at 100% speed since I've got a custom fan profile.
V1 used switch
I was wondering if chabging the thermal paste was enough or if I should go all in
If so is this kit goo, for replacing soc pipe, and CPU itself?
ElecGear Replacement Internal Cooling Fan for Nintendo Switch - CPU Heatsink Cooler, Thermal Compound Paste, Y00 Triwing and PH00 Phillips Screwdriver, Spudger, Wipes Repair Tool Kit https://amzn.asia/d/2uZnioc

(This is a nonviolent text.)
Around a month ago, I felt a sudden urge to read a breezy novel, and without thinking about it, went to the library and borrowed Airframe by Michael Crichton, which is about the commercial aircraft industry. I couple hundred pages dribbled down my chin before I had to stop – the plot point about labor unions being filled with thugs and psychopathic killers was too much for me, especially when the payoff felt like it was lifted straight from so-called right-to-work laws that are a pox on the soul of humanity. I didn’t care how the book ended, assuming the shareholders and corporate climbers that populated the story felt satisfied with their bonuses. To the novel’s credit, the opening scenes were really well done – a commercial flight encounters such horrible turbulence that passengers die, get hospitalized, and the interior of the plane is entirely trashed.
Earlier this week, Singapore Airlines Flight 321 from London engaged in an emergency landing in Bangkok after encountering catastrophic turbulence over Myanmar. One passenger died of a heart attack, and more than a hundred were injured, including twenty victims in intensive care. One of the passengers described the scene: the fasten-seatbelt light came on, and moments later, without warning, the plane dropped so sharply that unbuckled passengers hit the ceiling, then fewer than ten seconds later, they hit the floor, as the airplane’s operational condition returned to normal. The witness said those who were sleeping at the time were hurt the worst – he saw twisted necks and concussions and gashes. Some of the oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling, and panels of the plane’s interior were busted. Clear-air turbulence – a preliminary explanation.
An hour and a half passed between the instance of catastrophic turbulence and touchdown in Bangkok, and I can’t imagine how horrifying the inside of that plane must have been – people with broken necks, broken backs, busted hips, missing teeth, bloody scalps, broken fingers, split lips, black eyes – this is what the passenger list looked like after those fewer-than-ten-seconds passed, when the plane fell out of the sky. Flecks of blood were probably everywhere. People were moaning, crying, pulling loose teeth out of their mouths, possibly hunched over, bracing themselves in case another case of clear-air turbulence was encountered. And of course, there was one dead body – he died of a heart attack, and his wife was with him, injured herself. Those in nearby seats would have known he was dead. Word would have filtered through the plane.
In the Crichton book, the cause of the problem is not clear-air turbulence but a faulty something or other that causes the slats on the wings to deploy, after which the pilot overcompensates and sends the airplane into a dive. Is that it? I don’t much care – I was just wondering if something like that caused the accident and not the turbulence. Or is it an incident? Accident or incident – one category or another – I know from the novel that investigations like this will seek to place the liability somewhere other than operator error, which would place it with the airline, engine failure, which would place it with General Electric, or a problem with the airframe, which was made by Boeing, one of their 777s. Instead, the source of the error will seem to evaporate, even as many of those injured passengers, some of them permanently so, will try to seek legal relief.
The horror of the incident slash accident for a moment notwithstanding, this is not the first time complaints about insufficient precognition have led to circumstances like this – I can’t really explain it, except to say the present and future seem to avidly interact, and sometimes the past seems to propel us forward, and other times the future seems to draw us to its breast. However these interactions occur, I always imagine alerting all relevant parties to catastrophic harm that might conceivably be avoided. Hello, Singapore Airlines? I’ve just experienced prophecy! In the form of a gripping read by a popular novelist with an irrational axe to grind against organized labor. The irrational axes tend to be the worst kind – we can agree on that – and when they get to felling trees, and there’s no more trees, none to be seen – there’s no telling what falls next.
Can you see how prophecy, even if one could plausibly make the case, has virtually zero social efficacy when it comes to the lives and deaths of human beings? The making and breaking of fortunes? The cinematic rendering of prophecy makes visions seem relevant from the start, both specific enough to act on and convince others of, but also with a sufficient engendering of faith that one would find any interest in sharing it. I mean, I have premonitions all the time, I bet you do too, but hardly any of our visions stand out so vividly that we would contemplate alerting corporate capitalism about them, even if we could. Oh, General Electric! A bright light filled my vision at midnight, and I thought of you. Oh, Boeing! Poor Boeing! I saw your airframes dance in the eyes of category 5 hurricanes – wider than ever thanks to anthropogenic climate change.
Did you hear about the new book produced by the Crichton estate? A work left unfinished and subsequently completed by another immensely popular author, which work will be released early next month – about a massive volcanic eruption, plus related crisis regarding a possible planetary toxification event by means of a military secret. This comes from a newspaper review that seemed equally like promotion. The mind in a mood for prophecy thinks – if I receive one Crichton-oriented message from the future, maybe it was really in service to this even stranger thing – of an unfinished novel seeing the light of day 16 years after the original author’s death. I considered looking for reports about unaccountable tremors, but really, volcanology is not an inexact science anymore – if a mountain is about to blow, everyone knows well ahead of time.
Then I realized the significance of those plot points together, along with a phrase that came to mind yesterday for no reason at all – how an explosive lightning strike blew a back window out of the sky. Crichton was not describing a volcano and global toxic waste – he was describing a nuclear strike and its fallout. Eruption, the book is called, though one imagines its success in the marketplace will be overshadowed if some glowing fireball should rise in the sky, especially if the eruption is more like the international war that would follow. As a peace activist, should I phone the government, tell it to be on the lookout for a nuclear weapons attack? A survey of the popular discourse indicates that threats to use nuclear weapons have been made recently by the U.S., Russia, N. Korea and Israel – if the investigation should start anywhere, let it start there.

The late Dr Loren Mosher resigned from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 1998 in protest over the collusion between the association and the pharmaceutical industry and the resultant misuse of psychotropic drugs.
Dr Mosher was the head of the Center for Studies of Schizophrenia at the US National Institute of Mental Health from 1969 to 1980.
"This is not a group for me. At this point in history, in my view, psychiatry has been almost completely bought out by the drug companies. The APA could not continue without the pharmaceutical company support of meetings, symposia, workshops, journal advertising, grand rounds luncheons, unrestricted educational grants etc. etc. Psychiatrists have become the minions of drug company promotions. APA, of course, maintains that its independence and autonomy are not compromised in this enmeshed situation. Anyone with the least bit of common sense attending the annual meeting would observe how the drug company exhibits and “industry sponsored symposia” draw crowds with their various enticements, while the serious scientific sessions are barely attended. Psychiatric training reflects their influence as well: the most important part of a resident’s curriculum is the art and quasi-science of dealing drugs, i.e., prescription writing...
"Is psychiatry a hoax — as practiced today? Unfortunately, the answer is mostly yes."
The resignation letter by Dr Mosher remains a most concise and accurate statement of the corruption of mental health by psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry then and now.
The full text of the letter can be found here: https://perlanterna.com/mosher

The Xavi era is over. The 44 year-old manager, considered by many as the best Spanish player in history, will likely wake up one morning, look back at the past two and a half years, and think “What the hell just happened.”
His journey has been one of constant ups and downs. His appointment as manager fresh from a short managerial stint in Qatar, taking over for Koeman; the both weird and familiar space he found himself as his work started, surrounded by the warmth of the club of his childhood and his life, and at the same time feeling constantly scrutinized by local media, fans, and some of the board.
At the top of the list are the many repercussions he suffered from the actions of president Joan Laporta. He was forced to watch while in charge the saddest of goodbyes to Lionel Messi. Rumors of the board interfering with squad call-ups. The I love you - I love you nots of the past few months of the President, from getting choked up when he said Xavi was staying, to his final decision of firing him with a match to go in La Liga, to everything before and after.
Breaking news: Laporta doesn't seem to love anyone but himself. There is a saying in Spanish; “La confianza da asco.” Said in other words, those closest to you will treat you the worst. The neutral Spanish fan who grew up watching Xavi lift a World Cup and back-to-back Euros hopes that in the near future, and regardless of Xavi’s tactical shortcomings in comparison to Barcelona titans like Luis Enrique or Pep Guardiola, he will find peace, serenity, and room to do the work and succeed. Often, one can only find that away from home.
Whichever way Barcelona arrived here, the sacking of Xavi brings forth Hansi Flick. The German is the second foreign manager out of the past seven at Barcelona, and the first one in 22 years to have never either managed or played in Spain, since Louis van Gaal in 2003. Flick, aware of the interest for months, has been learning Spanish in an effort to bridge the inevitable gap he will feel upon his unveiling.
If only that were the only problem.
Laporta’s last bullet
The appointment of Hansi Flick by Joan Laporta ties both of them at the hip; for a lot of people watching, this is El President’s last chance to turn things around, especially as other areas of the club, fanbase and financials notoriously, are on a downward spiral.
The Nou Camp Nou is still in shambles, and the dream of playing at home by the end of 2025, no matter what news sources push out, is difficult. In turn, the experience at the Estadi Olimpic has proven to be both good and bad for the club; on one end, the audience watching matches at the temporary stadium are heavily, and more than ever, international fans hoping to see one more attraction, much like the Sagrada Familia Cathedral, or the beach.
On the other end, Barcelona has gotten away with it with a lukewarm season for that same reason. Losses to Paris Saint-Germain (1-4), Real Madrid (1-2), Girona (2-4) and Villarreal (3-5) at home would have set the Camp Nou on fire.
If we focus on the financials, things get worse. The club has partially sold assets out to execute what they called “levers” that would allow them to tackle last-minute payments, wage bills, and much needed transfers. The situation would be alleviated if the team performed, though. Barcelona was counting on getting close to the Champions League final to bring some much needed revenue in. That did not happen, with the club losing to an extra-inspired Dembele against Paris Saint Germain in the Quarterfinals, 6-4 in aggregate.
Barcelona also failed to qualify to the newly formatted FIFA Club World Club. Much lower-valued clubs like Benfica, Atletico Madrid, or Red Bull Salzburg will attend; but Barcelona did not make the cut–another 50 million Euros out of reach. In turn, financial leadership has attempted to distance itself from the wreckage, with moves like Financial Vice President Eduard Romeu, who left two months ago. He is still to be replaced.
As Laporta keeps the plates spinning, he turns to what seems to be the last chance he has to turn the wind in his favor, and in the end, the one thing true Barcelona fans care about most: what happens on the pitch. With the sacking of Xavi and the imminent appointment of Hansi Flick, the President could have placed the last nail on his coffin and opened the door for a successor.
It could also prove to be the best decision Barcelona has made since Guardiola.
Hansi Flick
Hansi Flick (1965, Heidelberg) spent the bulk of his playing career at Bayern Munich in the 80s. He averaged 20 matches per season, not standing out but nevertheless being part of the team that won four Bundesligas, first under Udo Lattek then under Jupp Heynckes in what was his first stint out of four for the veteran manager at the German club.
As a Bayern player, he visited Spain twice, both times playing against Real Madrid, and losing both times, in the Champions League final rounds.
Immediately after his retirement, he became manager of lower league FC Bammental, and later and more consistently, TSG Hoffenheim. He managed the club for close to 200 matches, attempting promotion to the German third tier several times, but failing and eventually being sacked on November 19, 2005.
Roughly a thousand miles away, Xavi and company visited the Barnabeu themselves, beating Los Blancos by 0-3 with a Ronaldinho brace, including that run from midfield to dribble half the team, beat Iker Casillas, and get a standing ovation from the rival stadium.The best of times were still to come for Barcelona: 18-year-old Messi was starting to feature.
After that reset, Flick decided to cool down and learn. What followed were stints as an assistant manager at Red Bull Salzburg serving Giovanni Trapattoni in one of the mighty Italian’s last adventures in 2006. He is only one of seven men to have won the UEFA Champions League as both a player, and a manager.
Most notoriously though, he was later the right hand of Joachim Löw in the German National team. The first strokes of Flick’s abilities as a manager started to shine as part of Löw’s team: aggressiveness in the offensive, physicality, aerial prowess. Set pieces. Largely in charge of the latter for the German side during the 2014 World Cup, Flick proved his worth when elegance-personified-in-football Toni Kroos whipped a cross from a free kick, and Mats Hummels headed past Hugo Lloris to beat France (1-0). Days later, Kroos would join Real Madrid from Bayern Munich.
Flick went on to become the Sporting Director of the national team after they lifted the World Cup, but the bench kept calling him in. By 2019 he was back at work, as assistant manager of Niko Kovac and his Bayern Munich. The Croatian was hoping to build on the Bundesliga title achieved last season, but first players, then fans turned their backs on him as results and performances, individual and at the team level, simply weren’t good enough. Eintracht Frankfurt beat the German giants 5-1, and Kovac was sacked.
That night in November, Hansi Flick took over as interim manager. Six months later, he would lift the Bundesliga, German Cup and the Champions League trophies. It would be only the second treble in Bayern history.
Flick left at the end of the next season, surrounded by rumors of his relationship with board and key Bayern ex-players, but as one of the most effective managers in Bayern’s recent memory.
Later on, Germany called, and Flick did not hesitate to say yes; a real chance at being in charge of the national team.
However, that stint did not go well. It did not help that, while in charge, Flick doubted himself.
The next 23 months involved an underwhelming third place at the UEFA Nations League, and three dismal performances at the World Cup, with a loss to Japan (1-2), a tie against Germany (1-1), and a late win to Costa Rica (4-2).
Even though he had plenty of Bayern ex-players at his disposal, Flick simply could not make things work with a team he could not communicate more than a few times a year, man management being one of his fortes. He tried to compensate, as humans often do, in other areas of his own influence. He changed formation over a half dozen times, shying away from his 4-2-3-1. He became aggressive in his communications with players.
The board eventually lost confidence in him.
His style of football though, aggressive, high-block and high-tempo, Flicki-Flacka as it was dubbed back in Munich, is the kind of philosophy Flick will be asked and hope to bring to Barcelona.
The question remains: will he be able to get past language barriers, cultural dissonance, a local media that will not hesitate to attack a foreign, non Barcelona-DNA manager the instant things are not working, and succeed against a well-oiled Real Madrid, likely with Kylian Mbappe in the ranks?
Just as importantly, will Laporta get out of Flick’s way–and his own way–and let the manager do his job?
Will there be enough resources to build a team that will be able to play to the German’s style?
Some of these questions can be asked by looking at the manager’s tactical style, and the players at his disposal.
Flicki-Flacka
When Flick sticks to what he does best, he proves to be lethal, like at Bayern Munich. His 4-2-3-1 system choked the opposition in his own box, took the ball by storm, and found quick and effective ways to create chances to score.
Ask Barcelona after Flick’s Bayern demolished the Catalans in 2020 (2-8). It was the Cules biggest loss in 70 years. Barcelona manager Quique Setien was sacked hours later. Pique, Messi and Suarez were vocal in the press about the need for change. Ronald Koeman, the manager who preceded Xavi at Barcelona, took over days later.
Regardless of whether Flick will be able to implement the same system in a country where low-block teams (those that wait in their third of the pitch, defending closely together and hoping for a counter) are more common than in Germany’s open style of football, some main concepts are expected.
High pressure, all the time. Flick is known for wanting to pin the opposition against its own goal, from the 1st to the 90th minute. He keeps rivals off-balance, and refuses to give them the ability to breathe, and build, from the back.
If the opposition does wriggle out of pressure, attacking players are expected to track back and keep pressuring the ball. During his first campaign at Bayern, it was common to watch as Thomas Müller stole the ball in the middle of the pitch. The team would then turn on a dime, and a full attack would follow; often with superiority in numbers against a defense struggling to track back. Leroy Sané, Lewandowski, or Müller himself would often have a chance to score only seconds later.
Possession is important, but chance creation trumps. Flick refuses to speculate with the ball. Think of it as the attacking antithesis of Garcia Pimienta’s Las Palmas: Flick’s teams charge up the field, use the flanks, and find through passes, and just as often crosses, to keep pushing and create chances to score. In the 19/20 season, Bayern scored 100 goals in the Bundesliga; 99 goals the season after. Bayern has not matched those numbers since.
It starts at the back. Away from some of the most dominating teams in Europe these days, with a midfielder stuck between the two central defenders in order to link up the play, Flick trusts that having two ball-playing defenders will negate the need for a midfielder so far down the pitch, giving them more opportunities to both be closer to and move faster towards goal.
This happened at Bayern as well, with Alaba and Boateng comfortable with the ball, which gave Kimmich and Goretzka freedom to be more involved on the attacking build up; Goretzka would push up higher down the field and join the attack, specially as an aerial threat, and Kimmich would stay slightly back and bring creative ways to restart the attack, send in a cross or a through pass, or take a shot.
Crosses are sexy. Expect a lot of crossing at Barcelona, especially if Flick develops the squad he will be hoping to build. The German prioritizes the flanks over the midfield in his style of play; incisive, fast players are non-negotiable, as well as a striker and an attacking midfielder who are both comfortable in the air, and able to play with their back to the goal to create chances for the wingers.
Behind them all, the right and left fullbacks take turns charging up the field, with one of them likely staying back and into a three-player defense (a style that Manchester City has mastered), and the other one pushing further up. When the game requires an unlock via a deep cross or a run into space, the other fullback will be asked to push up as well.
Conceding goals is acceptable. Such a style of play, pushing so high up the field without reservations, leaves plenty of space at the back between the defense and the goalkeeper. As it was the case with Bayern (the 2-3 loss to Paris Saint Germain in 2021 being a good example of this), ultra-pressure comes at a cost, and teams with the ability to counter quickly and with skill will find plenty of opportunities to score.
Players may change position. Hansi Flick’s decisions around who to play and where regardless of their experience to date have impacted a lot of high-profile players now considered the best at what they do. Canadian superstar Alphonso Davies was slowly growing as a winger before Flick exploded him into one of the best left backs in the world. David Alaba turned into a world class center back after being pulled out of that left back position; and world-class talent Kimmich, known for being a positional chameleon with a brain to match, is shining as a defensive midfielder, He was an established right back when Flick took over.
The German will look at players and be, in theory, unafraid to make decisions that land them in different positions. This could prove a problem with some of the traditional fanbase, who could turn to these situations when things don’t work out..
Setting expectations, man management, and physicality. Aside from the tactical aspect of his management in his career so far, Hansi Flick demands a communication style that is open and daily, forging relationships with players that will render the performance he needs out of them on the pitch. This could prove difficult in Spain for the first time in charge of a team that broadly does not speak his native language. It’s the reason other coaches like Simeone struggle to leave Spain, or why Unai Emery is often seen tripping over his words as his passion for what he is saying catches up to his domain of the English language. Making insightful, elaborated points in a non-native tongue is hard. This is likely the reason why news outlets are reporting that Flick and Barcelona are already looking to land Spanish-and-German speaking players who could act as the extension of the manager in the locker, like Thiago Alcantara.
Regardless of the potential language troubles, Flick will overall deploy a style of play that will be clear, specific, and especially after the national team failure, immovable. In Muller’s words while at Bayern: “He tells us what to do with consistency and without alternatives. We know what the player next to us is doing”.
This will likely be a breath of fresh air compared to the exiting manager; even though Xavi stuck to the 4-3-3 style Barcelona die-hard fans demand, the way in which the tactic was deployed was often lacking in shape, purpose or consistency, and often turning into a ball for Raphinha or Lamine Yamal to save the day.
Lastly but equally importantly, Hansi Flick demands that his players are in top physical shape, and if possible, increase their muscle size in order to increase their aggressiveness, pressuring abilities, and aerial superiority. During the COVID outbreak, several Bayern players notoriously put on muscle in the forced break, with some of them looking close to unrecognizable. Coutinho notoriously put on four kilograms (9lbs) of muscle.
If players like Pedri, Yamal, or Cubarsi join the fitness plan, Barcelona could benefit from it in the long term–especially when looking at the injury list year after year.
Aligning Flick's system with Barcelona's current squad
When imagining what Flick’s Barcelona could look like, some players stand out. First is the old guard, the players the German manager has coached in the past. They will prove invaluable both in the integration of the manager, and in the implementation of his system.
That list includes Robert Lewandowski, who is likely to play a Bayern’s Lewa/Muller hybrid role next season, scoring but also assisting plenty, as well as benefiting from set pieces and crosses. Ter Stegen was part of Flick’s German team as well, and with Neuer at Barcelona, the goalkeeper will continue to enjoy the spotlight as a ball-player goalkeeper.
Same is the case with Gündoğan, who Flick managed in the national team.The midfielder, about to turn 34, has the qualities needed, especially if we look at the need to perform, now. Gündoğancertainly has a year or two left in his career; this season, he led Barcelona in progressive carries of the ball and recoveries as well, and is the current free-kick specialist.
There are also those who have not played under Flick yet, but align with his style of play, at least on paper. That includes, above all, Lamine Yamal. His style of play is perfect for the job Flick will want him to perform, and if Flick’s fitness plans follow, we could be in the midst of a supernova of a player.
Other players, like Gavi, theoretically fit right into Flick’s system. The 19 year-old’s ability to be physical sometimes to a fault, his technique, and his attacking abilities will prove a great addition to the starting midfielders on paper, de Jong and Gundogan. If he comes back after his injury on a good note, we could see the best version of Gavi yet.
In defense, one player stands out: Jules Kounde. The Parisian has the passing ability and physicality Flick loves, and could prove a great anchor at the back, as well as an aerial threat. It may be that the defender could have the chance he has been waiting for to finally get the recognition he deserves from his fans.
Ronald Araujo is flawless in the air, on defense and attack, but constant transfer rumors originating from Barcelona hint at the club wanting a big influx of revenue to square the finances up. Flick could see in Cubarsi Barcelona’s Kimmich, being placed in different roles across the pitch and perhaps eventually being placed in midfield. The 17-year-old is certainly displaying mental abilities foreign to someone who is still unable to vote in an election in Spain.
Ferran Torres and Raphinha will need to change a lot of things about the way they play in order to gain the trust of the manager; specially defensively. On the sidelines is Vitor Roque, who especially in this system, would seem to be lost at sea, although the 19 year old still has so much room to grow.
Regardless of current players, there will be a need for new players over the summer. Laporta will likely not be able to find the funds for it unless players exit first. The return of Eric Garcia, on loan from Girona, could prove a good addition at the back, especially after the ball-playing defender’s amazing season at the neighboring club, including five goals scored in La Liga.
If Villarreal’s Alex Baena or Girona’s Aleix Garcia join the team, they would both fit right into this system; the first one behind Lewandowski, and the second one, playing with de Jong or Gundogan. Some aspects of their game, like Aleix’s switch to pushing forward over helping back, or Baena’s seemingly innate ability to earn uncalled for yellow cards when frustrated, will have to be worked on.
In the horizon, and as an almost unobtainable wish, stand players like Kimmich, himself, Davies, or young talent Jamal Musiala. The Bayern Munich player, who made his professional debut at age 17 under Hansi Flick, would be the kind of transfer the German manager would have made if he had just joined Manchester City or Real Madrid.
Not in Barcelona. In Xavi's own words, “The present situation has nothing to do with 25 years ago. The manager would come and say “I want this player, this one, and this one.” It doesn’t work like that anymore.”
Whatever the situation, Flick has landed in Barcelona, and the challenge is one that will make or break him, and Laporta, by extension. If he can find a way to get past politics, language, media, emotional turmoil, financial instability, a cold stadium, and all other things Barcelona, he will be seen as a genius, and Laporta, as a mastermind.
It will all come down to whether this club can stop chasing whatever version of “Barcelona DNA'' is out there in 2024, and whether they can let Flick bring some of his own DNA to an organization that historically prides itself on hanging on to the past.

The late Dr Loren Mosher resigned from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 1998 in protest over the collusion between the association and the pharmaceutical industry and the resultant misuse of psychotropic drugs.
Dr Mosher was the head of the Center for Studies of Schizophrenia at the US National Institute of Mental Health from 1969 to 1980.
"This is not a group for me. At this point in history, in my view, psychiatry has been almost completely bought out by the drug companies. The APA could not continue without the pharmaceutical company support of meetings, symposia, workshops, journal advertising, grand rounds luncheons, unrestricted educational grants etc. etc. Psychiatrists have become the minions of drug company promotions. APA, of course, maintains that its independence and autonomy are not compromised in this enmeshed situation. Anyone with the least bit of common sense attending the annual meeting would observe how the drug company exhibits and “industry sponsored symposia” draw crowds with their various enticements, while the serious scientific sessions are barely attended. Psychiatric training reflects their influence as well: the most important part of a resident’s curriculum is the art and quasi-science of dealing drugs, i.e., prescription writing...
"Is psychiatry a hoax — as practiced today? Unfortunately, the answer is mostly yes."
The resignation letter by Dr Mosher remains a most concise and accurate statement of the corruption of mental health by psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry then and now.
The full text of the letter can be found here: https://perlanterna.com/mosher

The late Dr Loren Mosher resigned from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 1998 in protest over the collusion between the association and the pharmaceutical industry and the resultant misuse of psychotropic drugs.
Dr Mosher was the head of the Center for Studies of Schizophrenia at the US National Institute of Mental Health from 1969 to 1980.
"This is not a group for me. At this point in history, in my view, psychiatry has been almost completely bought out by the drug companies. The APA could not continue without the pharmaceutical company support of meetings, symposia, workshops, journal advertising, grand rounds luncheons, unrestricted educational grants etc. etc. Psychiatrists have become the minions of drug company promotions. APA, of course, maintains that its independence and autonomy are not compromised in this enmeshed situation. Anyone with the least bit of common sense attending the annual meeting would observe how the drug company exhibits and “industry sponsored symposia” draw crowds with their various enticements, while the serious scientific sessions are barely attended. Psychiatric training reflects their influence as well: the most important part of a resident’s curriculum is the art and quasi-science of dealing drugs, i.e., prescription writing...
"Is psychiatry a hoax — as practiced today? Unfortunately, the answer is mostly yes."
The resignation letter by Dr Mosher remains a most concise and accurate statement of the corruption of mental health by psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry then and now.
The full text of the letter can be found here: https://perlanterna.com/mosher

The late Dr Loren Mosher resigned from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 1998 in protest over the collusion between the association and the pharmaceutical industry and the resultant misuse of psychotropic drugs.
Dr Mosher was the head of the Center for Studies of Schizophrenia at the US National Institute of Mental Health from 1969 to 1980.
"This is not a group for me. At this point in history, in my view, psychiatry has been almost completely bought out by the drug companies. The APA could not continue without the pharmaceutical company support of meetings, symposia, workshops, journal advertising, grand rounds luncheons, unrestricted educational grants etc. etc. Psychiatrists have become the minions of drug company promotions. APA, of course, maintains that its independence and autonomy are not compromised in this enmeshed situation. Anyone with the least bit of common sense attending the annual meeting would observe how the drug company exhibits and “industry sponsored symposia” draw crowds with their various enticements, while the serious scientific sessions are barely attended. Psychiatric training reflects their influence as well: the most important part of a resident’s curriculum is the art and quasi-science of dealing drugs, i.e., prescription writing...
"Is psychiatry a hoax — as practiced today? Unfortunately, the answer is mostly yes."
The resignation letter by Dr Mosher remains a most concise and accurate statement of the corruption of mental health by psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry then and now.
The full text of the letter can be found here: https://perlanterna.com/mosher