I started teaching in 2008. I've primarily taught in title I schools. 3 states, urban and rural. I hit a wall and had enough this year.
I'm expecting my 4th child in August. My oldest will also be a senior. My kids told me this year, their entire school career revolved around my students. We often stayed late (I did cut back this past school year) and they had to play on the playground or hang out in my classroom until I finished lesson planning or grading. I often volunteered for sports, clubs, PTO and other weekly commitments that required all of us to stay until 6/7 PM.
On top of that, some parents have (in the past 5 years) become insufferable. I'm tired of getting yelled at and accused of things by parents who are regularly tardy, irresponsible, in trouble in the community ( i.e. arrested/court) and don't even bother to call their students absences in (30-80 unexcused absences). It's some how my fault their kid is behind, despite not attending school regularly, not turning in homework, not completing their classwork or attending required/encouraged school events (like free tutoring, literacy night or after school programs) that would support them. I also had enough of getting cussed out and hit by students without consequence (I teach elementary) because it's more important for them to be in class (disrupting everyone and displaying agression) than it is for them to be at home.
I've had some great parents over the years. I've even had old students come to me and tell me what a great teacher I was. I still have students I run into that are older and give me hugs. This year I had several in my class and their parents love that I go the extra mile. I went to college for this and wanted to "be the change." Last month at an event there were 2 past parents that told staff how amazing I was with their kids and they missed me working with their kids. But I think with everything else my heart is broken.
My family and I decided that I will be a SAHM (for the 1st time ever, I've worked since I was a teenager) and homeschool through kindergarten. We're also debating if I should homeschool my 3rd grader, since I'm licensed preschool to 3rd and have an MA. We're leaving the older 2 in school so they can do sports and get the full experience. I'll also finally be able to make their school events, PTC (because El, Mid & HS do theirs all the same day in my district and I worked before), class parties and awards.
My kids are happy. I'm a little sad. It's bittersweet. I used to love my job. I liked dressing up, decorating and doing themes- I was that elementary teacher. But my own children need me and I'm not subject to verbal or physical attacks at home.
One mom this year told me she didn't care I was pregnant (because I had OB appointments and had subs) and accused me of not doing enough for her child, then reported me to admin (they did back me up and found out she was lying via conflicting messages and information on her part) but she didn't have to insult and yell at me in front of students. I'm always open to talking with parents after school and am super nice. Admin told me not to take it personal, because she's had issues with other staff but it was so crushing to hear what she was saying, I'd never talk to anyone like that. The last 3 years, I've come home crying several times.
Is this anyone else's last year? How do you feel? It's so hard to walk away, on one hand, but such a relief, on the other. How did you cope with leaving?

Leviathan, the Eikon of Water concept art
Leviathan, the lost Eikon of Water, has finally been found! After months of waiting, the Rising Tide downloadable content (DLC) has been released and with it, I am once again rambling about the mythological, religious, and cultural inspirations behind the Eikons of Final Fantasy XVI. If you would like to check out any of my previous posts on the subject of Eikons, you can find them here:

1.) Phoenix

2.) Ifrit

3.) Shiva

4.) Ramuh

5.) Garuda

6.) Titan

7.) Bahamut

8.) Odin

As I’ve said in the past, if you feel that I may have said something wrong, or if you would like to add to what information I have provided; by all means please do so. I absolutely welcome the discussion.
The sea serpent Leviathan, like most of the Eikons, has been a staple of the Final Fantasy series since its introduction as one of the original summons#Summon_Magic) from 1990’s Final Fantasy III. While modern usage of the terms “leviathan” and “behemoth” are often used to denote something large and imposing, these words actually originate as the names of two creatures from the Tanakh (or Hebrew Bible). According to the verses 40:15-41:34 in the Book of Job, Leviathan and Behemoth are two gigantic and nigh indestructible animals born around the same time as the creation of the first two humans Adam and Eve, with Behemoth residing over the wilderness east of the Garden of Eden called Duidain and Leviathan bound to the watery Abyss) as stated in verses 60:7-10 in the apocryphal Book of Enoch. While the term abyss may bring to mind the idea of a bottomless hole or even an underworld such as the Greek Hades, Hebrew Sheol, or Christian Hell; the Septuagint, the earliest Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, often uses the term abyss to instead refer to deep bodies of water. In fact, Abyss is the translated noun for the Hebrew Tehom, or the “deep” primordial waters from which the god Yahweh formed the world after the creation of light as stated by the verses 1:2-10 in the Book of Genesis; which is but one example of the cosmic ocean motif, whereby existence is conceptualized as originating from a watery void. I find it very interesting then that the Abyss is referenced several times in the Rising Tide DLC, such as in the name of Leviathan’s Eikonic ability Abyssal Tear; the Motes of Water adage “Know that even should you walk Abyss, our hands will guide you home” from the Minwu Arm Ring description; or the description of the Radiant Tidestrike weapon that says “Surge did the tide, the water rising as if it were some mighty whale stranding itself upon the shore. Behold, the Devourer of Worlds. The beast within whose foul belly our hopes are carried unto the Abyss. - Eikonomachy - Book of Currents 15:40-41”.
From the aforementioned verses of the diegetic Book of Currents, as well as one of the Active Time Lore Entries for Leviathan that states “Old writings clearly speak of Dominants past summoning great whale-like creatures capable of swallowing entire cities…”; we can possibly see a reference to Leviathan) swallowing the protagonist Firion and his allies on their way to the Mysidian Tower in Final Fantasy II. However, I would suggest that these quotes go further than mere references to past games and are actually an allusion to the parable of Jonah surviving in the belly of a whale from the eponymous Book of Jonah. For those unfamiliar with the story, the Hebrew prophet Jonah was tasked by God to preach on His behalf to the citizenry of Nineveh in the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Jonah instead refuses the call, and attempts to sail across the sea to Tarshish. On the journey, Jonah and the sailors he is accompanied by are caught in a huge storm, and believing that Jonah’s dismissal of God is the cause, the sailors thus throw him overboard. God then sends a whale to swallow Jonah, with the intention of preventing the Israelite from drowning. Miraculously surviving in the whale’s stomach for 3 days, Jonah vows to do God’s bidding and is thus safely returned to shore, whereby he travels to Nineveh and beseeches the citizens to renounce their wicked ways, lest they be visited by calamity. This story is meant to illustrate that Yahweh is a merciful god who allows for second chances, giving not only Jonah, but also the Ninevites the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and redirect their course of actions.
With this parable in mind, I would like to mention that in 1949, literary professor Joseph Campbell published “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”; a work of comparative mythology in which he proposed his idea of the Monomyth (later called the Hero’s Journey). Campbell’s theory of the Monomyth posits that while most narratives involving a heroic protagonist may have differing contents, these stories also typically follow a similar pattern; that being a three-act structure comprised of 17 subset stages. One such stage in Campbell’s model is the Belly of the Whale (sometimes also referred to as the Abyss), one of the literally or figuratively lowest points in the story for the protagonist in which the hero must engage in introspection and commence a process of self-transformation if they are to be equipped to finish their journey. This stage acts as a symbolic death and rebirth for the protagonist, with some Christians even interpreting Jonah’s story as actually being an allegory for Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection.
A prime example of this stage can be seen in Carlo Collodi’s 1883 novel “The Adventures of Pinocchio”, whereby the eponymous puppet Pinocchio and his creator Geppetto are swallowed by the Terrible Dogfish; with the typically irresponsible and selfish Pinocchio instead performing a self-sacrificial act in order to save his “father”, which he is thus rewarded for by being brought back to life as a human by the Fairy with Turquoise Hair. Viewing the Pinnochio narrative as an example of a more modern mythical epic, Thomas J. Morrissey and Richard Wunderlich state in “Death and Rebirth in Pinocchio”; “Gods can die and be reborn, or rise from the dead. Such mythological events probably imitate the annual cycle of vegetative birth, death, and renascence, and they often serve as paradigms for the frequent symbolic deaths and rebirths encountered in literature. Two such symbolic renderings are most prominent: re-emergence from a journey to hell and rebirth through metamorphosis. Journeys to the underworld [Katabasis] are a common feature of Eurasian literary epics: Gilgamesh, Odysseus, Aeneas, and Dante all benefit from the knowledge and power they put on after such descents. Rebirth through metamorphosis, on the other hand, is a motif generally consigned to fantasy or speculative literature… These two figurative manifestations of the death-rebirth trope are rarely combined; however, Carlo Collodi’s great fantasy-epic, The Adventures of Pinocchio, is a work in which a hero experiences symbolic death and rebirth through both infernal descent and metamorphosis”. We as the player also experience this Belly of the Whale stage in Final Fantasy XVI, when our heroes Clive Rosfield and Jill Warwick confront the Dominant of Darkness Barnabas Tharmr on the seafloor of the sundered Naldia Narrow, appropriately labeled as the Abyss, whereby Clive is soundly defeated by Barnabas for a second time. Fleeing their assailant, Clive and Jill consummate their love for one another on the shore of Ash, with Clive acquiring a portion of the Eikon Shiva’s powers from Jill so that he may finally triumph over Barnabas in a battle of physical prowess and ideals; proving to the false prophet and his God that compassion and the desire for freedom will always overcome any adversity.
With all this talk of whales, I should mention that from the descriptions as given in the Book of Job, Behemoth sounds to resemble that of a large ox or hippopotamus, while Leviathan is suggested as being similar to that of the tanninim) or “great whales” mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible. In fact, Islamic folklore has its own variant of this terrestrial and aquatic duo, that being the large bull Kujata and the even larger whale Bahamut; as outlined by the medieval cosmographer Zakariya al-Qazwini in his seminal work “The Wonders of Creation”. Even though I am going to hazard a guess that the name of the Kuza Beast), a variant of the Behemoth enemy in several Final Fantasy games, is named after Kujata; it is quite obvious on the other hand that the draconic Eikon Bahamut borrows its name from the Islamic whale of the same name as well as the dragon god Bahamut) from the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. While the Book of Job describes Leviathan as being a whale or even a crocodile as suggested by a footnote in the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, verse 27:1 in the Book of Isaiah instead equates Leviathan to a sea serpent or dragon, with the Book of Job description also making it a point to mention Leviathan’s fearsome fiery breath. Given its status as a tutelary god for the Japanese-inspired nation of Wutai in Final Fantasy VII, it could be argued that Leviathan in the Final Fantasy series also shares similarities with Eastern dragons, such as the Chinese Lóng or Japanese Ryū; beneficent, serpentine deities of water and rain.
It is presumed that the figure and name of Leviathan actually originates from the older Canaanite sea monster Lôtān, whose name in the Ugaritic language meant “coiled” and was given the epithets “the fugitive serpent” or “the wriggling serpent”. In the first two tablets of the fragmentary Ugaritic Baal Cycle text, the storm god Baal (Lord) Hadad engages in a feud with the deification of the sea Yammu) to succeed their father El) as the ruler of the gods. At some point in this first chapter of the Baal Cycle, Hadad strikes down the seven-headed serpent Lôtān, who given the missing pieces of the text, could either be a servant of or another name for Yammu, with it also being believed that the monster was a zoomorphic representation of the Lebanese Litani River. Why I bring this up is to illustrate that Hadad’s defeat of Lôtān is but one example of the Chaoskampf mytheme, a pattern found in numerous Indo-European mythologies whereby a younger storm god or culture hero representing order and human civilization slays an ancient serpent or dragon associated with water that represents primordial chaos); perhaps a sentiment held by early agricultural riverine civilizations wishing to triumph over the constant and often devastating threat of floods.
One of the oldest examples of this mytheme is that of the Mesopotamian god Marduk’s dismemberment of Tiamat. According to the Babylonian Enūma Eliš, in the beginning there existed only Tiamat, the female personification of salt water; and Abzu, the male personification of fresh water. From the union of the two primeval waters sprang forth the first generation of gods called the Anunnaki. One such god, Enki (or Ea) would capture and kill Abzu after he plotted to kill his children due to the commotion they were causing. Enraged by Enki’s actions, Tiamat gave birth to eleven monstrous children to wage war against the gods along with her new consort Kingu, who possessed the Tablet of Destinies); the mark of divine rule. Marduk, the son of Enki, challenged Tiamat and her monsters, eventually slaying his opponents with lightning and storm winds. Defeated, Tiamat’s body was sliced in twain, with the two halves becoming the sky and earth. From an earlier promise made with the Anunnaki and the Igigi (lesser gods) as well as the acquisition of the Tablet of Destinies from the beaten Kingu, Marduk was made king of the gods; later mixing the blood of Kingu with clay to also become the creator of mankind.
Through the lens of the Chaoskampf mytheme, we can start to see connections between Tiamat’s dismemberment, the defeat of the multi-headed Lôtān, and Leviathan form. The non-canonical Book of Enoch actually specifies that the land-dwelling Behemoth is male, while the aquatic Leviathan is female; possibly creating an inadvertent association between Leviathan and the sea goddess and mother of monsters Tiamat. This may also be why Leviathan’s Chronolith Trial is named the Hand of Tethys. While still following the moons of Saturn naming convention, it is very fitting that the trial is also named after the Greek Tethys); wife of the world-encompassing river Oceanus and mother to the male river gods and female water nymphs called the Potamoi and Oceanids, respectively. Furthering the connections to Tiamat and Lôtān, several accounts in the Hebrew Bible describe Yawheh triumphing over the forces of the sea, such as in Isaiah 51:9-10 “Awake, awake, arm of the Lord, clothe yourself with strength! Awake, as in days gone by, as in generations of old. Was it not you who cut Rahab) to pieces, who pierced that monster through? Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed may cross over?” and Job 26:12-13 “By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces. By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent”. It is believed that Rahab, while occasionally used as a flowery term for Egypt or arrogance, was also a sea serpent either comparable to or synonymous with Leviathan. While Leviathan’s death at the hands of Yahweh in Isaiah 27:1 is viewed as a metaphor for the enemies of Israel who will submit to the Hebrew God, the Chaoskampf and the connection with the Canaanite Lôtān is further shown in verse 74:14 from the Book of Psalms, which says “Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness”; which is where the name of the trophy for beating Leviathan on Final Fantasy mode, Thou Brakest the Head, comes from.
Along with the account of Leviathan’s death in Psalms 74:12, several other Jewish sources, such as the Second Book of Esdras 6:47-52, the Apocalypse of Baruch 29:4, and the Bava Batra tractate in the Talmud state that Yahweh will slay Leviathan and Behemoth so that their flesh shall be given as food and shelter to the righteous during the End of Days and the Messianic Age. This may explain why the Behemoth King in FFXVI has several attacks referencing Christian eschatology from the Book of Revelation, such as the Four Horsemen; personifications of War, Conquest, Famine, and Death that herald the Last Judgment; and the Apocalypse, another term for a revelation which has since become synonymous with a cataclysmic end-time event, like the battle at Armageddon for instance. Leviathan and Behemoth’s statuses as eventual sacrifices is very similar to the role that Leviathan and its Dominant unfortunately play in Final Fantasy XVI.
Both DLCs, the Echoes of the Fallen and the Rising Tide, deal with themes of rectifying the sins of the past; whereby the Fallen and the Motes of Water engaged in questionable behavior in an attempt to create their own Mothercrystals to disastrous effect. The Motes of Water, a central focus of the Rising Tide, are a tribe originating from the southern coast of the continent of Ash and hosts to the Dominants of the Eikon Leviathan. After the loss of their Mothercrystal Drake’s Horn, the tribe migrated across the twin continent of Storm; where they were mercilessly persecuted by several groups, particularly the Greagorian faithful of the burgeoning Holy Empire of Sanbreque, causing the tribe and their Eikon to become “lost” to history. Due to their nomadic nature as well as Sanbreque’s similarities with the Roman and Holy Roman Empires, one could say that the Motes of Water mirror the Jewish Diaspora (exile) and transformation of the faith after the Roman Empire’s siege on Jerusalem) and the destruction of the Second Temple during the First Jewish-Roman War; or perhaps one could say the tribe is treated in a similar fashion to the oft demonized itinerant Romani people of eastern Europe. Either way, the Motes of Water are meant to represent the “Other”; ostracized outsiders to the customs of Storm who hid themselves away from the rest of the world to avoid further religious persecution.
After finding sanctuary in the northern territory of Mysidia, the Motes of Water tried to create for themselves a new Mothercrystal to replace the Northern Territories’ own shattered Mothercrystal called Drake’s Eye. The story of the Motes of Water is one of loss and a constant fight to carve out a place in the world to call their own, so it is no surprise then that they wished to regain something taken away from them so many years ago. However, the tribe would engage in a terrible act, enraging their Eikon Leviathan that laid dormant within the infant Dominant Waljas, and freeze both the baby and the Eikon in time to essentially act as an aether battery. Unsuccessful in turning Waljas into the heart of a Mothercrystal, all the tribe achieved was robbing the poor baby of its life and autonomy, imprisoning the Dominant and the tidal wave it summoned in that moment where the tribe’s greatest sin occurred for 80 years.
This frozen tsunami, dubbed the Surge, is not only a monument to the tribe’s greatest shame, but is also a constant looming threat over the tribe’s village of Haven; a reminder to never again engage in such a transgression, lest they be met with watery doom. This mirrors not only Jonah preaching to the Ninevites to change their ways, but also God’s warnings against individuals sacrificing children to Moloch in the Book of Leviticus 20:2-5. In fact, as ProfNoctis suggests in his video “Final Fantasy XVI Lecture Stream: The Mythos of Leviathan Part 2”; Leviathan and the Surge are symbols of human and divine regret, with Ultima, the creator of mankind and the Mothercrystals, referring to Leviathan as its “most profaned fragment”; due to the Eikon being rested from its creator’s control and the act of creating a man-made Mothercrystal being a repeat of the Fallen’s blasphemous attempts at attaining godhood during the War of the Magi and the Sins of Dzemekys, flagrant displays of mankind’s development of free will which is anathema to Ultima’s collective identity.
As a symbol of divine regret, the Surge could be seen as a parallel to the Flood from the Book of Genesis. Deluge or flood myths are motifs that can often be found amongst cultures residing near the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and Persian Gulf such as Egypt, Greece, and Israel; with these stories usually recounting a tale in which a deity or deities summon a world-wide flood as a form of divine retribution. One of the earliest examples is the Mesopotamian Epic of Atra-Hasis, in which mankind was created by the gods to act as servants and laborers. However, due to overpopulation, the storm god Enlil seeks to reduce their numbers by bringing forth a great flood. Enki, seen as a benefactor of mankind, warns the human Atra-Hasis about the flood, telling him to build a boat to protect himself, his family, and his livestock from the deluge. After seven days, the waters recede and Enki and Enlil agree on other means of maintaining the human population. This story is also thought to have been later adapted in Tablet XI of the Epic of Gilgamesh, where the survivor of the flood is renamed Utnapishtim; though both the Atra-Hasis and Gilgamesh flood accounts seem to originate from an even older source called the Eridu Genesis. Similarly, the Greeks also had a deluge myth, as outlined in the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses, where Deucalion, the human son of the divine Prometheus, is warned by his father to build a chest for himself and his wife Pyrrha to escape a gigantic flood that the storm god Zeus plans to bring forth as a response to the insufficient offering given to him by Lycaon), the king of Arcadia); with the pair washing up on Mount Parnassus nine days after the storm.
There are several theories, such as the Black Sea Deluge Hypothesis, that propose that the ancient Middle East did indeed experience a large flood at some point in the very distant past. Given that flood myths are thus believed to have originated from Mesopotamia, it should come as no surprise that the Hebrew flood narrative bears similarities to the previously discussed deluge myths as well. According to chapters 6-9 in the Book of Genesis, God grows increasingly distraught over the wicked nature of the humans descended from Adam and Eve and their inadvertent creation of sin, and so decides to reset creation to a state of watery chaos. God warns one of the few moral men, the Antediluvian patriarch named Noah, about His plan to flood the world and instructs him to build an ark to house himself, his family, and two of each animal to be the first creatures to inhabit the new world. After the firmament breaks forth and floods the world for 40 days, Noah’s Ark washes up on Mount Ararat. Noah then builds an altar, with God forming a covenant with Noah whereby He declares to never again summon a flood to devastate the world. As Genesis 9:9-17 states, this promise between Noah and God is commemorated by the rainbow, a symbol of peace; which as ProfNoctis points out, also appears once Clive saves Waljas.
Through a certain perspective, the Flood could be seen as a sort of baptism, a spiritual cleansing of the world through physical water. Baptism is considered one of the 7 sacraments of the Christian Catholic denomination; a rite of initiation whereby the individual joining the faith is either submerged in or sprinkled with water three times, representing the purification of sin and the grace given by the Holy Trinity. This is not unlike the Rite of Immersion that the infant Waljas is granted at the conclusion of the Rising Tide DLC; a ceremony for all babies born into the Motes of Water in which the initiate is sprinkled with mountainous rain water from Maiden’s March, river water from Riversmeet, and sea water from Tailwind Bay. The water used in this rite is used as a metaphor for life’s journey, likened by the tribe to that of a river, with this revealing that the Motes of Water hold a very cyclical view of life in a similar fashion to the Buddhist beliefs in reincarnation or the Lifestream from Final Fantasy VII. As the descriptions for the 3 kinds of water used in the ceremony state; “The rain that falls upon the mountains of Mysidia emerges in the springs of Maiden’s March. Thus the water collected from said springs represents birth-the fountainhead from which the river of life begins”, “In the Riversmeet valley, several tributaries merge into a single stream, where clear currents and roiling eddies swim side by side. Its water represents life-a course complete with myriad meanderings, yet one that runs inexorably from source to sea”, and “The Mysidian river empties into the ocean amid the shallows of Tailwind Bay, and thus its water represents death-the stillness that lies beyond the end of the river of life, and from whence the raindrops are born anew”. In fact, the symbol for the village of Haven is meant to be the combination of Leviathan’s scales and the river called the Ceaseless Rill, “...the circle of life that has neither beginning nor end”, not unlike the serpentine symbol of the Ouroboros. I would thus argue that not only does Leviathan represent regret and retribution, but also the chaotic journey of life.
If it’s not already apparent, I find Leviathan to be very interesting. I want to thank you all for sticking around and reading the whole thing, as I know this was a lot. If you would like to check out some more information about Leviathan, I would recommend checking out the videos “Leviathan of Final Fantasy VS the Leviathan of the Bible - FF16 The Rising Tide” by Country Kratos and “A Brief History of Final Fantasy Summons Final Fantasy Lore” by Alleyway Jack.
With the conclusion of both DLCs, Clive and by extension the player, is granted one additional Eikonic power. As such, I am actually going to do one more essay, which I will post next week. I hope you look forward to it and thank you again for reading this. Have a fantastic day!
​

There's been plenty of analysis of the new trailer, but one thing I haven't seen discussed is the inspiration behind the new monsters and the 'theme' of Wilds itself.
Here's my theory: Chatacabra is inspired by the ancient Egyptian god, Sobek. Chatacabra is clearly crocodillian in overall appearance, but its posture is more akin to a primate's. If Capcom set out to design a monster inspired by Sobek, a crocodile-human hybrid, I think this is exactly what it would look like.
I remember seeing a theory way back when the teaser was revealed that Wilds will be themed around Africa. I think that Chatacabra's reveal really feeds into this theory, as ancient Egypt is perhaps the most famous and iconic (at least to us westerners and perhaps to the Japanese) culture from Africa.
What do you guys think?

Trying this again! This month, in addition to the full retirement update that will be posted later, we'll be doing a list of every set available that month! Expect a bricklink post later this month

FULL LIST ON GOOGLE SHEETS, WITH LEGO.COM LINKS <--

RELEASING JUNE 1ST WORLDWIDE

Theme	Subtheme	Set #	Set Name	Retirement
BrickHeadz	Disney	40749	Joy, Sadness & Anxiety	Dec 31, 2024
BrickHeadz	Lord of the Rings	40751	Legolas & Gimli	Dec 31, 2024
City	Jungle	60424	Jungle Explorer ATV Red Panda Mission	Dec 31, 2024
City	Jungle	60425	Jungle Explorer Water Plane	Dec 31, 2024
Friends	-	42636	Heartlake City Preschool (4+)	Dec 31, 2024
BrickHeadz	Disney	40752	Carl, Russell, & Kevin	Dec 31, 2025
BrickHeadz	Disney	40753	Mirabel Madrigal	Dec 31, 2025
City	-	60407	Red Double-Decker Sightseeing Bus	Dec 31, 2025
City	-	60420	Yellow Construction Excavator	Dec 31, 2025
City	Jungle	60426	Jungle Explorer Off-Road Truck	Dec 31, 2025
Disney	-	43240	Maleficent's Dragon Form	Dec 31, 2025
Disney	-	43243	Simba The Lion King Cub	Dec 31, 2025
Disney	-	43245	The Magical Madrigal House	Dec 31, 2025
Disney	-	43247	Young Simba The Lion King (18+)	Dec 31, 2025
Disney	-	43252	Moana's Flowerpot	Dec 31, 2025
Disney	-	43276	Snow White's Jewelry Box	Dec 31, 2025
Friends	-	42618	Heartlake City Café	Dec 31, 2025
Friends	-	42622	Adventure Camp Archery Range	Dec 31, 2025
Friends	-	42623	Beach Water Scooter	Dec 31, 2025
Friends	-	42624	Adventure Camp Cozy Cabins	Dec 31, 2025
Friends	-	42625	Beach Smoothie Stand	Dec 31, 2025
Friends	-	42626	Adventure Camp Water Sports	Dec 31, 2025
Friends	-	42631	Adventure Camp Tree House	Dec 31, 2025
Friends	-	42635	Dog-Grooming Car (4+)	Dec 31, 2025
Friends	-	42638	Castle Bed And Breakfast	Dec 31, 2025
Harry Potter	-	76434	Aragog In The Forbidden Forest	Dec 31, 2025
Minecraft	-	21259	The Pirate Ship Voyage	Dec 31, 2025
Minecraft	-	21260	The Cherry Blossom Garden	Dec 31, 2025
Minecraft	-	21261	The Wolf Stronghold	Dec 31, 2025
Minecraft	-	21262	The Windmill Farm	Dec 31, 2025
Minecraft	-	21263	The Badlands Mineshaft	Dec 31, 2025
Minecraft	-	21264	The Ender Dragon And End Ship	Dec 31, 2025
Ninjago	-	30675	Tournament Training Ground Polybag	Dec 31, 2025
Ninjago	-	71814	Tournament Temple City	Dec 31, 2025
Speed Champions	-	76923	Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision Gran Turismo	Dec 31, 2025
Speed Champions	-	76924	Mercedes-AMG G63 & Mercedes-AMG SL 63	Dec 31, 2025
Speed Champions	-	76925	Aston Martin Safety Car & AMR23	Dec 31, 2025
Star Wars	-	75373	Ambush On Mandalore Battle Pack	Dec 31, 2025
Star Wars	-	75386	Paz Vizsla And Moff Gideon Battle	Dec 31, 2025
Star Wars	Character Mech	75390	Luke Skywalker X-Wing Mech	Dec 31, 2025
Star Wars	Microfighter	75391	Captain Rex Y-Wing Microfighter	Dec 31, 2025
Gabby's Dollhouse	-	10795	Crafting With Baby Box (4+)	Jul 31, 2026
Gabby's Dollhouse	-	10796	Gabby's Kitty Care Ear (4+)	Jul 31, 2026
Gabby's Dollhouse	-	10797	Gabby's Party Room (4+)	Jul 31, 2026
Gabby's Dollhouse	-	10797	Gabby's Party Room (4+)	Jul 31, 2026
Duplo	-	10439	Cars And Trucks Brick Box	Dec 31, 2026
Harry Potter	-	76427	Buckbeak	Dec 31, 2026
Harry Potter	-	76431	Hogwarts Castle: Potions Class	Dec 31, 2026
Harry Potter	-	76433	Mandrake	Dec 31, 2026
Harry Potter	-	76435	Hogwarts Castle: The Great Hall	Dec 31, 2026
Harry Potter	-	76439	Ollivanders & Madam Malkin's Robes	Dec 31, 2026
Harry Potter	-	76440	Triwizard Tournament: The Arrival	Dec 31, 2026
Ideas	-	21349	Tuxedo Cat	Dec 31, 2026
Architecture	-	21061	Notre-Dame de Paris	Dec 31, 2027
Icons	Lord of the Rings	10333	The Lord Of The Rings: Barad-dûr	Dec 31, 2027
Icons	-	10334	Retro Radio	Dec 31, 2027
Miscellaneous	-	40719	Traditional Chess Set	Dec 31, 2027

FULL LIST ON GOOGLE SHEETS, WITH LEGO.COM LINKS <--

Releasing in July in North America

Theme	Subtheme	Set #	Set Name	Retirement
Disney	-	43235	Ariel's Music Stage (4+)	Dec 31, 2025
Disney	-	43244	Elsa's Ice Palace	Dec 31, 2025
Disney	-	43254	Ariel's Crystal Cavern (4+)	Dec 31, 2025

FULL LIST ON GOOGLE SHEETS, WITH LEGO.COM LINKS <--

Releasing in August in North America

Theme	Subtheme	Set #	Set Name	Retirement
Batman	-	76272	The Batcave with Batman, Batgirl and The Joker (4+)	Dec 31, 2024
Duplo	Disney	10420	Ariel And Flounder's Café Stand	Dec 31, 2024
Batman	-	76270	Batman Mech Armour	Dec 31, 2025
Batman	-	76273	Batman Construction Figure And The Bat-Pod Bike	Dec 31, 2025
Batman	-	76274	Batman With The Batmobile VS. Harley Quinn And Mr. Freeze	Dec 31, 2025
City	-	60407	Red Double-Decker Sightseeing Bus	Dec 31, 2025
City	-	60408	Car Transporter Truck with Sports Cars	Dec 31, 2025
City	-	60409	Yellow Mobile Construction Crane	Dec 31, 2025
City	-	60421	Robot World Roller-Coaster Park	Dec 31, 2025
City	-	60422	Seaside Harbor With Cargo Ship	Dec 31, 2025
City	-	60435	Tow Truck (4+)	Dec 31, 2025
City	Jungle	60437	Jungle Explorer Helicopter at Base Camp	Dec 31, 2025
City	-	60440	Yellow Delivery Truck	Dec 31, 2025
Creator	3-in-1	31153	Modern House	Dec 31, 2025
Disney	-	43251	Antonio's Animal Sanctuary	Dec 31, 2025
Jurassic	World	76965	Dinosaur Missions: Stegosaurus Discovery	Dec 31, 2025
Monkie Kid	-	80056	Nine-Headed Beast	Dec 31, 2025
Ninjago	-	71816	Zane's Ice Motorcycle	Dec 31, 2025
Ninjago	-	71818	Tournament Battle Arena	Dec 31, 2025
Ninjago	-	71820	Ninja Team Combo Vehicle	Dec 31, 2025
Ninjago	-	71821	Cole's Titan Dragon Mech	Dec 31, 2025
Ninjago	-	71822	Source Dragon of Motion	Dec 31, 2025
Creator	3-in-1	31151	T. Rex	Dec 31, 2026
Disney	-	40720	Mini Disney Sleeping Beauty Castle	Dec 31, 2026
Duplo	Marvel	10424	Spin's Motorcycle Adventure	Dec 31, 2026
Duplo	Peppa Pig	10431	Peppa Pig Garden & Tree House	Dec 31, 2026
Duplo	Peppa Pig	10432	Peppa Pig Boat Trip	Dec 31, 2026
Duplo	Peppa Pig	10433	Peppa Pig Birthday House	Dec 31, 2026
Duplo	Peppa Pig	10434	Peppa Pig Supermarket	Dec 31, 2026
Duplo	Disney	10435	Ariel's Magical Underwater Palace	Dec 31, 2026
Jurassic	World	76962	Baby Bumpy: Ankylosaurus	Dec 31, 2026
Jurassic	World	76966	Dinosaur Missions: Allosaurus Transport Truck	Dec 31, 2026
Monkie Kid	-	80055	Monkie Kid's Team Power Truck	Dec 31, 2026
Monkie Kid	-	80057	Nezha's Ring of Fire Mech	Dec 31, 2026
Monkie Kid	-	80058	Celestial Pagoda	Dec 31, 2026
Friends	-	42630	Heartlake City Water Park	Dec 31, 2027

FULL LIST ON GOOGLE SHEETS, WITH LEGO.COM LINKS <--

Let me apologize in advance: I'm going to be a bit of a hater here. Also, spoilers ahead.
In general, I hate open ended stories (be it books, movies, whatever). It comes across to me as lazy, as if the author didn't know how to end, so they got vague about it. This is a personal preference, sure, but it's one I feel very strongly about. To clarify, I do not need the story to be wrapped up in a nice, neat little bow, where everyone has a happy ending. A story can "finish" before it "ends".
What the hell do I mean by this?
Take, for example, Stephen King's The Long Walk. Major spoilers: Even though Garraty wins, he doesn't accept it, and starts running. We don't get a whole lot of world building to find out how the Long Walk became a thing, we don't follow Garraty after this, and thus we have no idea what happens, but the story is done. Extending it or explaining it wouldn't enhance the story; if anything, writing more would probably bring the horror elements down. The story was finished even though it didn't "end".
Back to Tremblay.
My first exposure to him was of course Cabin at the End of the World. This was before the movie, and it should have been RIGHT up my alley. World ending story that also contains references to religion? Hell yeah! Except, Holy hell, I could not read this thing for the life of me. The book starts off from the y y/o daughter, Wen's POV; she talks about her life, what it's like being adopted, taking language classes. She's in the yard organizing grasshoppers by size and giving them names and writing down what she thinks their genders are and OH MY GOD WHEN IS THIS STORY ACTUALLY STARTING??? At that point, I decided to try to skip ahead. Tremblay was verbose in other parts, so I tried to skip ahead. I ended up mostly going through the dialogue, reading more if it seemed relevant, and was left disappointed. I think the story really would have been enhanced by exploring the backgrounds of the four visitors, but, from what I did read, that didn't happen.
I checked the Wikipedia page to see if it was worth going back and trying again, but the ending If it was the end of the world was left kinda ambiguous. I could see an argument where The planes crashing is too much of a coincidence, so yes it is, plus the movie changed it to flat out saying it's the end of the world, but it just came across as so lazy to me. If anything, I think making the ending unambiguous would make the story better. It doesn't need to go on for much longer, but explaining what the "answer" is, in either case of the world ending or not, would reframe the rest of the story and make it better.
But maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance. I read someone say on here that there is a lot of subtlety in Tremblay's writing, and maybe that would have explained it more if I didn't skip to just the dialogue, so I decided to give him another chance by reading Growing Things and Other Stories, a collection of short stories. Warning: No more spoiler tags after this.
The collection starts withe the titular story Growing things, where there are deadly vines growing in the world. The dad leaves his daughters to go out to look for supplies. He explicitly says that if there is a knock at the door, don't answer it, because it means it's the end of the world. And at the end of the story, there's a knock at the door! The girls go upstairs to avoid the knocking and the vines that have invaded the house, and that's it. I guess this one has an ending: the world ends, and the daughters are waiting to die. Details of their death are left to the reader's imagination, as is any details of the vines, as is a lot of background of the characters. I know nothing, and not in a good way. Let's try the next one.
Swim wants to Know if It's as Bad as Swim Thinks. We start off with the unnamed protagonist working her job at a grocery store, where people are crowding the store trying to buy their items. The protagonist's coworker is talking about something coming out of the water. Protagonist says it's just a movie trailer. Protagonist goes on message boards about consuming meth, so we know she's an unreliable narrator. Not a problem, as this is not quite the same as an open-ended story. She kidnaps her daughter, who she does not have custody of, and takes her to a place from her childhood to be safe with her daughter. But she's following patterns from when she last took her daughter while she was under the influence. She has a gun, and it seems like the police have found her. So she might kill her daughter, and I guess actually there's no monster. Ironically, this story has a lot more world building than the previous one, but it's still left open ended in a way that doesn't contribute to any fear or thrill of the story.
Next up: Something About Birds. To write this review, I re-borrowed this book online from the library to refresh my memory. It wasn't until stumbling upon the ending that I even remembered I read this story, because it elicited absolutely no strong emotion in me, not even distaste. I don't remember it, skimming through doesn't remind me of what happened, so I can't properly comment on it. Same deal with the next story, Snapshot. Looking through the table of contents and skimming through the next several stories (minus Teacher, more on that later), it looks like I skipped reading a lot of them, until I got to "It's Against the Law to Feed the Ducks." Intriguing name, I like animals, so I read this one.
This story is from the POV of the young son, Danny. They go to the beach, which is weirdly empty. When back at the cottage, the parents watch some TV, presumably the news, and are horrified; they get Danny out of the room so they can keep watching. Next day, they go to the grocery store, where it's empty, but people have overflowing grocery carts. Remember from earlier, this is a bad sign. Electronics are also down, as dad has to pay with a check. Another day, another trip to the grocery store; this time, the cashier lets them take the groceries without bothering to count it (another sign!), and Dad fills up the car with gas and gets extra gas cannisters. More TV watching, except in the empty restaurant, where the parents ask to have the TV turned off because of the kids. The story ends with the reason why the title is what it is: it's against the law to feed the ducks, which they obey at the beginning, but not the end, because the world is ending. We never learn what is happening, which makes sense if the POV is from a child, but that doesn't add to the horror. There's no horror from the kid's POV, just confusion. The reader is supposed to understand that Bad Shit^TM is going down, but without any details, I quite frankly don't know why I should care. This is essentially a story about buying groceries and watching TV, bookended by ducks.
Of the stories I've described thus far, we get the whole end-of-the-world theme repeated, without anymore details, without any real ending, and without me caring. The one exception is Teacher, which I liked so much, I read it thrice: the first time, a second time when I remembered it existed, and then I read it again fully to write this review, rather than skimming it.
The story starts with an introduction to Mr. Sorent, the cool teacher^TM. He has long hair and plays guilets the highschool seniors talk about more controversial topics like drugs and abortion, and has some days has Special^TM lessons, which has the same rule as Fight Club: you do not talk about Fight Club Special lessons. In the first one, he shows a video of a daycare/preschool, where a teacher is spinning around with a child and accidentally lets go. Mr. Sorent stops the video, and then moves it frame by frame until a wall comes into view. That is the end of the first special lesson.
Time passes, more special lessons. More disturbing videos, a guest who reflects on how awful it is to have a disease and be used as inspiration porn, all of which end with the video moving a few frames. The protagonist, Kate, tells a story about when she was a kid, and she was forced to watch some boys mutilate a dead frog, and how it affected her baseball game. As the Special^TM lessons bring down the students' academic lives, their personal lives and kate's family life deteriorate as well. The story ends with Kate trying to prevent the video from finishing using the same coping mechanism she used after watching the frog get mutilated: She volunteers for a demonstration, and moves forward without opening her eyes, hoping that if she doesn't, the film will never finish, and the accident with the child will never occur.
So what makes Teacher stand out from the others?
Tremblay actually talks about what's happening; we're shown the progression of the class, the reason why it's happening. There's no mystery of what's on the TV, or why the students are acting the way they are. The why is clear: they're being taught disturbing life lessons from a teacher they used to trust and admire. Sure, we don't actually know if they ever finish watching the video, or what happens after, but it doesn't matter, because the story isn't about that. It's about the students, and we see their arc, as they go from normal teenagers to depressed and cynical teenagers.
In the other works I've mentioned so far, we mostly get that the world is ending (or the addict mother thinks it is), but we don't know how. Considering that the end of the world is what's moving the stories along, IT'S KIND OF A BIG DEAL. Even in Cabin, where the horror is that the family is trapped in a deadly situation, knowing whether or not there's any truth to the visitor's reason for coming to the cabin would enhance the story. Compare to King's The Mist: book ends ambiguously, movie ends tragically, and even King says the movie ending was better. But with Tremblay, time that could be used for learning more about the visitors and if it's the end of the world is instead used on organizing grasshoppers.
Thank you for coming to my Ted talk. Next time I'm here, I'll try not to write in a faux manic state while mildly sleep deprived at 5 am.

Hi, Does anyone know where I can buy graduation themed sugar cookies for a preschool class?

Hello. I'm currently looking for a particular webtoon that start at ancient era (it is first initially set in ancient Egypt or maybe Mesopotamia) and continues to modern era (and maybe beyond). It's pretty old—maybe finished 5-8 years ago—and was in Naver Webtoon. I have a very vague recollection of it; I forgot its main theme, art style, and story progression, but I think the protagonist lived through all those time. The genre was probably fantasy and/or action.
I'm sorry, but that's mostly all I remember about it. I already tried browsing through the Naver Webtoon's genre and the recommendation tabs of the Webtoons from that time with similar genres and/or themes. What's worse is that I don't have remember its title, even a bit. I'd appreciate any help I can get. Thanks.

I have Ankha, Lucky, Roswell, Gayle, hoping to add some others like a lion maybe? Not too familiar with what is available in this game I got it in April.
Thank you in advance<33

Improper Classifications
Sat Apr 08, 2023 12:39 PM
This is certainly one of the events of all time.

Welcome to the show, ladies and gentlepeople of HobbyDrama. Please, turn off your cellphones (except if you’re using one to read this very post), grab some popcorn, and get comfortable. Today I shall weave you a tale of Discord DMs and late-night forum posts, a tale of backstabbing and backpedaling, a tale of how a nearly decade-long treaty between the two biggest regions in NationStates fell apart, and what any of that even means.
This is the tale of The North Pacific Extortion Scandal.

Preliminary: What is NationStates?

(Note: I’m going to be using a lot of acronyms here in this post, so each word with a corresponding acronym will have that acronym listed in parentheses right next to it. Don’t question it, it’s just a NationStates thing.)
After reading the title, a good portion of y’all probably thought “Wait, NationStates? That website’s still alive?” Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your perspective, it is. In fact, it’s arguably thriving - NationStates celebrated its two-decade anniversary two years ago and, as of the time I am writing this write-up, is home to 291,701 nations residing in 28,154 regions. It’s quite impressive how long it’s managed to last, really.
Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar, NationStates (often called NS for short) is a political simulation web browser game created in 2002 by author Max Barry. It was initially created to promote his at-the-time newly-released book, Jennifer Government. The game offers the opportunity for users to create, and subsequently govern, their own nation. These nations can also join a region, which usually functions as a cross between a social club/group chat and a nation in its own right, with its own formal government. There are a variety of different regions that a new nation can join, with a variety of themes, from fantasy to Ancient Egypt to leftism to the United Kingdom. NationStates is also home to the World Assembly (WA), a mock United Nations divided into the General Assembly (GA) and Security Council (SC), which are roughly analogous to the real-life UNGA (except our GA can actually do shit) and UNSC, respectively. The GA generally governs things like human rights, trade, world peace, etc, while the UNSC governs geopolitical relations between nations and regions. All you need to know about the WA for this post is that two types of proposals one can pass in the SC are commendations (essentially saying that some nation or region is good) and condemnations (essentially saying that some nation or region is bad), each giving the nation or region in question a shiny new commended or condemned badge. However, both are generally considered as rewards by their recipients - especially since, beyond the aforementioned shiny badge, commendations and condemnations don’t actually do anything.
One can subdivide the NationStates community into many different sub-communities focused on different things. For instance, there is NS roleplay (or “NSRP”), in which users roleplay as their countries and interact with each other on the international stage (this itself is subdivided into roleplay taking place on the NS forums and roleplay held in a single region). The sub-community that is relevant for this particular event is what is known as “NS gameplay”, or NSGP for short, a fascinating little dumpster fire of a sub-community best watched from a distance. In order to grasp what NSGP actually is, first you need to know the following:

• All members of the World Assembly can “endorse” other members of the World Assembly that are within their own region.
• Each region has a position known as the World Assembly Delegate, occupied by the nation which has the most endorsements in that region. When the WA delegate goes to vote for or against WA resolutions, its vote has more weight than the vote of ordinary nations - while all other nations get one and only one vote, the number of votes a WA delegate gets is equivalent to the number of nations endorsing them.
• The region’s government may incorporate the WA delegate in a variety of ways. In many regions, the WA delegate is the executive leader of that region, while in others the WA delegate has no power beyond its increased WA vote weight.
• In many regions, the WA delegate has actual executive power in the region as per game mechanics, including the power to ban nations and change the region’s appearance.

Now, a very long time ago, in the ancient times known only as the Year of our Lord 2003, a couple of NS players realized something. Specifically, they realized that if they all joined the WA, rushed en masse into one region at the same time, and endorsed each other, they could topple the region’s WA delegate and seize the region for themselves, essentially conducting a coup. These lovely folks became known as invaders or, more commonly, raiders, and they made invading regions into something of a hobby. However, not all were happy with the newfound frequency of invasions. Some of these unhappy people went on to form their own groups to defend regions from raids by rushing into regions that were being raided and endorsing the native Delegate. These folks became known as “defenders,” and depending on who you’re talking to they’re either the heroic saviors of innocent regions or buzzkills who hate fun.
Expectedly, raiders and defenders became consistent rivals, nemeses even, as each faction sought to remain one step ahead of the other. This would evolve into military gameplay, often also referred to as raiding/defending (D), and over time, the never-ending conflict between raiders and defenders would gain significant importance in other facets of NationStates such as the World Assembly (where defenders are routinely commended and raiders condemned) and inter-regional politics. R / D is the axis upon which all of NSGP revolves around, with entire regions being dedicated to raiding and defending. Most regions involved in NSGP have regional militaries, and almost all of them care about R / D in some way. Some regions are independent, meaning they engage in both raiding and defending - whatever serves the interests of their region. NSGP is a very unique sociological beast, with its own international relations and even its own political ideologies. NSGP is also a very old beast, resting upon a very long and rich history. I could go on about how fascinating it is that this one browser game that was meant to be an ad for a book has developed its own pretend sociology, history and philosophy, but I think I’ll refrain - for now, at least.
Okay, I think we’re ready to dive into the subject of this post. Strap in, folks, and prepare to behold the absolute clusterfuck known as the North Pacific extortion scandal.

The Revelation

On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 8:39 PM UTC, a post was made on the NationStates gameplay forums that would change the world (of this very niche section of the Internet) forever.
This post was made on the official forum thread of Lone Wolves United (LWU), a major raiding organization. Before, LWU had somewhat amicable relations with the titular The North Pacific (TNP), at the time the largest active region in the game and the most powerful region in the World Assembly. TNP has a very long and storied history, spanning from almost since the first few days of NS’s existence. It’s perhaps the oldest democratic region on NationStates, where governmental officials are elected by the residents. It was famously invaded by the New Pacific Order in 2004, and in its early days experienced many notable coups - these could all be their own HobbyDrama posts (honestly, you could fill this subreddit to the brim with the amount of drama NS has spawned). TNP was also unique in that, while it usually aligned itself with defenders, it was officially independent - meaning it was also the largest independent region in the game. In fact, TNP was one of the leaders in codifying independence, being the authors of the historic document “The Independent Manifesto”, which is where the very definition of an independent region comes from. Furthermore, at the time of this scandal, TNP’s delegate had a little over 1000 endorsements, meaning that their vote was often one of the deciding votes in whether or not a resolution passes or fails. (Even now, the current official delegate has around 770 endorsements, which is a decrease from their previous power but is still a lot). To put it bluntly, TNP is a pretty big fucking deal.
Now, LWU’s post didn’t exactly bear good news. In the post, LWU announced that they were cutting relations with TNP following a string of… rather unfortunate incidents. The first was one where TNP’s WA delegate, Hulldom, had approached LWU regarding an SC resolution that they wanted to get passed - a condemnation of Chef Big Dog, a “prolific raider and historic member” of LWU. Condemnations are generally regarded by raiders as badges of honor, or rewards for their extensive invading experience - so they understandably wanted this resolution to pass. Hulldom sent a screenshot of his Discord DMs where HumanSanity, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for The South Pacific (TSP), a staunch defender region and ally of TNP, threatened with an ultimatum that he and a host of other allied defender regions - The League (TL), the Order of the Grey Wardens (TGW), and 10000 Islands (XKI) - would vote against all commendations and condemnations of TNP members if TNP did not vote against Condemn Chef Big Dog (and any other resolution perceived to benefit LWU) - which was especially concerning to TNP considering that a commendation of MadJack, a prominent TNP resident, was at-vote at the time. Hulldom was aware that defenders were trying to strong-arm him into voting the way they wanted - this wasn’t the first time defenders had pressured them to vote against this condemnation, and the last time Hulldom had offered the compromise of abstaining from the vote. However, this time, Hulldom caved into the defenders’ demands - a win for the defenders to be sure but a blow to relations between TNP and LWU.
The second incident concerned a condemnation of Dream Killers, one of the oldest and most historic members of LWU, of which Hulldom was a co-author. When asked about whether he could be counted on to vote for the condemnation, Hulldom responded with affirmation - after all, he was the co-author of the resolution. It would make absolutely no goddamn sense for defenders to pressure him to vote against the proposal he helped write. And it would make even less sense for him to waver from his staunch support of his own proposal.
Take a lucky guess as to what happened.
Now, this wasn’t the first time there had been controversy surrounding condemnations of raiders. Condemnations of raiders have historically been treated purely as roleplay. However, at the time of this scandal, there had been a concerted push to repeal condemnations of raiders, which many raiders felt was a gameplay-motivated push by defenders to, essentially, erase raiders from NS history. But this string of incidents regarding Hulldom and the condemnations of Chef Big Dog and Dream Killers was the final straw for LWU. After repeated broken promises caused by what was perceived to be effectively bullying from defenders, LWU could no longer trust TNP. They broke off relations with TNP - which, I should remind you, is an independent region, meaning they theoretically shouldn’t take shit from either raiders or defenders but rather carve their own path. The fact that TNP, the largest region in the game, seemed to be acting as a lapdog for defenders shattered LWU’s conception of them as an proudly independent region.

The Fallout

Those sentiments weren’t limited to LWU. Very quickly after this forum post, the sentiment of shock and disappointment with TNP’s capitulation to defenders was widespread among raiders, independents and even some defenders. Responses in the thread varied from sneering about TNP’s independence to expressions of disappointment with TNP acting un-independently and defenders’ stances in the SC to just pure confusion. Memes were made, and of course, raiders from other regions grabbed their popcorn and watched with amusement. Defenders were especially criticized as being hypocritical due to respect for regional sovereignty being a stated core aspect of defender ideology - yet now defenders were trying to infringe upon TNP’s regional sovereignty. News of the TNP’s seeming submission to somewhat less powerful regions elicited anger among TNP citizens, with Francois Isidore, a former delegate of TNP, harshly panning the government as “weak” and calling Hulldom bowing down to defender pressure a “staggering failure” in a post on TNP’s Regional Message Board (RMB). Others were less harsh, but still critical. One prominent defender condemned the defender regions who had pressured TNP into voting against the raider condemnations as being captured by the “neo-moralist sect of defenderdom,” which became a rather popular term among those disgruntled with the “defender establishment” and its de facto inter-regional policy. Another at-the-time up-and-coming defender criticized TNP as having become a “lapdog” of the clique of defender regions that had pressured them. Later on, one critic argued that the pressuring of TNP into alignment with defenderdom’s SC agenda was a violation of the democratic norms practiced by the accused defender regions themselves, especially TSP - that it should be the residents of TSP who, explicitly or implicitly, decide the TSP’s voting record, not some NSGP agenda. Overall, most people expressed disappointment at the situation, concerned about TNP, a powerful independent region, seemingly submitting to smaller defender regions without good reason.
Then, a sign of things to come. Shortly after LWU’s post, Wymondham, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the North Pacific, resigned. While Wymondham did not directly reference the events that had taken place between LWU and TNP, he said that his warnings were “consistently ignored” and stated that he “will not serve in an administration which allows the region to be blackmailed into allowing other regions to dictate our policy in the World Assembly and Foreign Affairs.” It was pretty clear among everyone who had been active on the NSGP forums what he was referring to.
The next day, at 4:30 PM UTC, Hulldom resigned from his position as WA Delegate of TNP, posting a lengthy statement on the TNP forums. In this statement, he gave his side of the story, framing the situation as a tremendously difficult calculus to balance the interests of two of TNP’s major allies, LWU and defenderdom. Hulldom also gave his advice on how TNP should move forward with regards to inter-regional relations, namely arguing that ties with raider regions should be cut and ties with defender regions, despite recent events, should be preserved. This advice fuelled further criticism from some, who saw it as more evidence of TNP’s long-held independence deteriorating. Quickly thereafter, Gorundu and Siwale were sworn in as Acting Delegate and Acting Vice Delegate, respectively.
Now, if you’re a leader in defenderdom, you’d probably have to be very careful as to how you want to respond to all this criticism. Defenders have historically had good PR among NSGP-oriented people who weren’t raiders or raider-leaning, but this turmoil threatens that goodwill. You would probably want to take a step back, considering your words carefully, and apologizing to Hulldom and TNP and affirming you would never undertake such coercion again. You would probably want to internally assess what led to defenders exerting such pressure on TNP and dial it back, while working to mend relations with TNP and the broader NSGP community. And, for god’s sake, you should not double down on your actions, attempt to throw Hulldom and TNP under the bus, or do something utterly stupid like that. You should not, under any circumstances, even think about doing something like tha-

The Doubling Down

On April 8, 2023, at 7:07 PM UTC, TSP Prime Minister Sporaltryus (more commonly known as ProfessorHenn) posted a “Response to Allegations from Lone Wolves United” on the NSGP forums. The joint statement, signed by leaders of the South Pacific, the League, 10000 Islands, and the Order of the Grey Wardens - all defender regions accused of pressuring Hulldom into voting against the condemnations of Chef Big Dog and Dream Killers - outlined the long-standing relationship between TNP and defenderdom, while criticizing TNP and Hulldom’s administration especially for “haphazard” and “unreliable communication.” The statement framed LWU as a “direct threat to the sovereignty of all our regions” and called Hulldom’s initial decision to abstain from voting on Chef Big Dog as “hugely damaging to [their] collective interests.” It also stated that the governments of these defender regions had informed TNP that “if [TNP] weren’t able to cooperate on this key agenda item, [they’d] be unable to cooperate on other parts of their SC agenda” - essentially, that if TNP did not vote for or against resolutions according to the requests of defenders, then defenders would not align their agenda with TNP’s - that is, they would not vote for commendations or condemnations of any TNP members. The statement concluded by blaming the incident on “escalatory miscommunications” from Hulldom and Wymondham.
So, um, this isn’t exactly an apology. It’s an admission of guilt, without remorse, and a series of deflections.
This statement went down about as well as you’d expect. While I’ll detail the response to this statement in a bit, you could honestly just scroll down to experience the backlash this response produced. The thread this statement was posted on spawned 12 pages of discussion, mostly criticism. Every aspect of the statement was picked apart and critiqued by the peanut gallery. Potshots were taken, memes were made, and meanwhile the mods were stuffing their mouths with popcorn. All in all, defenderdom’s response to LWU’s allegations were met with raving reviews:

• “A ‘comedy of errors’”
• “Awful cop-out”
• “Absolutely disgusting”
• “Definitely one of the statements of all time”
• “Disappointed in my own region”

That’s not to say that there weren’t people trying to defend (pun not intended) the defenders’ response in the thread. Qvait, a former Prime Minister of TSP, came out swinging by loudly proclaiming that “the defenders did nothing wrong,” and arguments between her and critics made up a significant portion of the thread. She wasn’t the only defender defender (heh heh), though - Grea Kriopia, at the time the First Warden of TGW, called criticism of the statement “substanceless clamor” (though this doubling-down was later retracted, more on that later).
Must I remind you, all this chaos and drama stemming from a few shiny badges.
Adding fuel to the fire, a pseudonymous nation posted some screenshots of the DMs between HumanSanity, TSP’s Foreign Affairs Minister, and Hulldom. These screenshots shed more light on the affair, detailing the exact nature of the pressure placed on Hulldom and adding specificity where there was vagueness. Critics of the defenders’ actions seized on these as further proof of defenders’ wrongdoing, without their sugarcoating. Arguments, agenda posts and memes abounded, and those not as directly invested in the affair looked upon the trainwreck with awe.
So, okay, doubling down didn’t do the wonders that defenders thought it would do. Now, if you were a defender, it might be time to reconsider one’s strategy here. Especially given how badly defenderdom’s response backfired, it might now be time to retract that statement and issue genuine apologies to the aggrieved, namely TNP and Hulldom.

The Apologies

It is perhaps surprising, given defenders staunchly standing by their actions, or unsurprising, given the backlash that caused, that HumanSanity resigned from his position as TSP’s Minister of Foreign Affairs on April 10, 2023 at 12:32 PM UTC. While, like Wymondham’s resignation, HumanSanity’s resignation did not directly reference the ongoing scandal, it did reference a vague “recent events” - the most impactful of which was almost certainly the extortion scandal.
Shortly after HumanSanity’s resignation, at 3:00 PM UTC, government officials from the League and the Order of the Grey Wardens posted a brief joint statement on the NSGP forums. Calling the earlier Response to Allegations from LWU a “poor decision, poor statement,” TL and TGW officials retracted their signatures from the response and formally apologized for their actions, expressing hopes that a “productive conversation may ensue.” Grea Kriopia also retracted her initial doubling-down in the April 8 response thread. Many officials and residents of TNP accepted the apology, with Hulldom himself praising the statement as a “positive first step.” Some others expressed skepticism as to the sincerity of the statement, while others argued that the statement would not have any meaningful effects, and TNP would go back to being a lapdog - just less obviously. Overall, though, the apology was received positively or neutrally, and many saw it as a first step towards reconciliation.
The next day at 2:10 PM UTC, 10000 Islands followed up with their own retraction and apology, made in a similar vein to TL’s and TGW’s apology. XKI offered their “humblest apologies” to TNP and expressed hopes that this apology would be followed up with “words of goodwill” and “commitment to good relations with the North Pacific.” Many TNPers, including Hulldom, accepted their apology, though not without a little bit of snark. Of note was a follow-up comment made by Lenylvit, then the WA Delegate of XKI, who admitted that they “did not read the statement that was drafted before giving [their] permission to have [their] name added to it.” This caused more snark to be hurled in the thread and opened up even more questions as to the drafting of the initial response. If Lenylvit hadn’t read the response before signing on to it, well then, who else didn’t fully read it or agree with it? And who actually wrote it in the first place? Similarly to TL’s and TGW’s apology, some questioned the sincerity of the apology, especially if one can just sign off on a statement without actually reading it.
Now, with three of the initial signatory regions having retracted their signatures and formally apologized to TNP, only one remained. The one who, arguably, played the most significant role out of all the other defender regions in pressuring the North Pacific: the South Pacific.
And, don’t you worry good reader, an apology from them did come! …Eventually. Two weeks after the scandal initially broke.
On April 22, 2023, at 11:05 AM UTC, ProfessorHenn posted a retraction and apology statement signed by them and Esfalsa (aka Pronoun), TSP’s new Minister of Foreign Affairs after HumanSanity’s resignation. In the statement, TSP expressed their “deepest regrets for [their] role in this series of events,” retracting their assent to both the original ultimatum presented to TNP and the subsequent defender response posted the day after the scandal broke. The statement stated their regret for “the threats issued to Hulldom and the North Pacific on the behalf of and at the behest of the South Pacific and its allies involved in this matter,” calling their actions “strongarm tactics” which were “needlessly unproductive, disrespectful, and antagonistic.” After this lengthy apology, TSP promised introspection and internal re-assessment so as to not repeat such actions in the future. Out of all the apology statements released by the defender regions, this is the most specific and detailed apology released, and the one which cast their actions in the most negative light. No TNP leaders posted their responses to the apology in the thread, though they later iterated they accepted it in a later statement (that’ll be covered in a bit). Some snark was hurled regarding how late the apology came, and the statement was picked apart and critiqued by LWU leader A Bloodred Moon (aka JoWhatup). However, compared to previous apologies, there wasn’t a major response for TSP’s apology.
So, we’ve now heard from all involved defender regions, both in terms of doubling-down and apologizing. TL, TGW, XKI, TSP, we know how they’ll be moving forward and correcting course. But there’s one region we haven’t heard from - the region central to this whole scandal, that is in the title of this very post: TNP themselves. While Gorundu, the new Acting Delegate, made an internal statement on April 9 to inspire confidence in TNP going forward, we have not heard any external statements, detailing how TNP would deal with the involved defender regions moving forward. People were hoping for a strong statement, one which reaffirmed TNP’s independence on the inter-regional stage and displayed leadership amidst the crisis.
And those people would get their wish.

The Re-emergence

On April 22, 2023 at 1:15 PM UTC, Gorundu posted a statement titled “Response to Recent Defender Transgressions” on behalf of TNP. The statement started off with “The North Pacific is a proud Independent region,” a confident affirmation of independence. While all defender regions’ apologies were accepted and hopes were expressed to re-establish ties with these regions, the initial attempts at coercion were scathingly criticized, as Gorundu and TNP firmly stated that “the tactic employed by [the defender regions] will never be accepted by our region, and will never be successful.” Stating that “TNP has been disrespected and humiliated,” a series of sanctions were levied against various defender regions in response to what the statement calls the “outrageous behavior” they took on when initially delivering the ultimatum, including the following, to quote directly from the statement:

The North Pacific Army will not partake in any bilateral military cooperation/training operations with the South Pacific Special Forces, The Order of the Grey Wardens, the League Defence Forces, or the Ten-thousand Islands Treaty Organization;
The talks in pursuit of a non-aggression pact with The League will be suspended;
No additional diplomatic agreements will be considered with the regions of The South Pacific, The Order of the Grey Wardens, The League, and 10000 Islands, nor additional embassies constructed where they do not currently exist;
All planned cultural events with the regions of The South Pacific, The Order of the Grey Wardens, The League, and 10000 Islands will be canceled, and no future cultural events or collaborations will be considered.

This statement was met with raving reviews - no, genuinely this time. A wide spectrum of players, from raiders to defenders to former TNP delegates to leaders of other non-military regions praised the statement, considering it a strong showing of independence. The defender regions involved in the scandal accepted the sanctions with grace, and it seemed that the turmoil that had afflicted TNP and the wider NS Gameplay sphere was finally coming to an end.
So this is the seeming end to the TNP extortion scandal - resolved by apologies from the involved defender regions and a confident affirmation of independence from TNP themselves. It seems that, while ties may have been broken between TNP and the involved defender regions, and indeed TNP and LWU, that these ties may one day be restored - and that the only lasting casualties would be the resignations of Hulldom, Wymondham, and HumanSanity.
“But wait,” you cry out, “I was promised that a (nearly) decade-long treaty would be ripped apart in this whole affair! You said that in the first paragraph of this post! Yet such a treaty was never even mentioned!”
Indeed. Yet, careful readers may have noticed that I indicated this was the seeming end of the scandal. Why is that? Well…

The Re-emergence (of the Drama)

On May 9, 2023, at 3:19 PM UTC, HumanSanity was re-nominated for the position of Minister of Regional Affairs in TSP, a newly revived position dealing with the region’s internal affairs and culture. You might remember that HumanSanity played a key role in the scandal, being TSP’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and the person who presented the ultimatum to Hulldom in the first place. This was generally supported by members of TSP’s government at the time, but was also quickly noticed by TNPers, who weren’t super happy about seeing one of the main players in the scandal re-appointed to TSP’s government a mere month after the whole affair. Both MadJack and Hulldom voiced their displeasure in TSP’s main forum thread on the NSGP forums, with the former casting doubt on whether TSP’s apology was actually sincere, and the latter stating that HumanSanity “shouldn't be within a mile of any Cabinet.” This quickly stirred up controversy, and it seems that TNP-TSP relations would once again be put to the test.
Well, shit. Here we go again.
Many players, including some notable TNP members, would arrive into the thread to give their opinions and spread some snark. TSP’s decision to re-nominate HumanSanity was firmly criticized, and as usual, jokes were made. Some residents of TSP, most notably Sandaoguo (a former Prime Minister of TSP) and Qvait, came to TSP’s defense in the thread, with the latter accusing TNPers of poking their noses into what was argued to be “no one’s business,” and the former engaging in long arguments with TNPers regarding the legitimacy of HumanSanity’s re-nomination, the sincerity of TSP’s apology, the usefulness of the TNP-TSP alliance, and more.
Now, this is where the treaty comes into picture. The Aurora Alliance is the primary treaty of friendship between TNP and TSP. Ratified all the way back in ye olde medieval times of January 2015, the treaty establishes mutual defense, intelligence sharing, and cultural exchanges between TNP and TSP and codifies their already at-the-time longstanding friendship. The Aurora Alliance was a cornerstone of TNP-TSP relations, an integral part that codified their friendship. And, at the time of this whole affair, the treaty had lasted for a strong eight years, which in Internet terms is a pretty long time.
And Sandaoguo, one of the loudest voices from TSP after the re-emergence of this controversy, was openly calling for it to be “thrown in the trash.” Furthermore, some noted that, curiously, TSP officials didn’t pop up in the thread to correct them or distance themselves from them.
Now, a good portion of the thread was essentially re-litigating earlier historical events and arguing over interpretations of said events, specifically the 2016 Hileville coup in TSP and TNP’s role in that (which, itself, could be a HobbyDrama post. I told you that NS spawns a lot of drama!). However, broader questions were brought up concerning relations between TNP and TSP - about whether TNP and TSP were both willing to engage in a collaborative, constructive partnership with each other, about whether TNP could trust TSP. The very merits of the TNP-TSP alliance were being questioned, and some of the loudest voices from TSP were openly calling for an end to that alliance.
All of this was not great news for TSP’s government, who very much wanted to keep the treaty and alliance in effect. Thus, a few days later, on May 17, 2023 at 8:28 PM UTC, TSP posted a statement, citing the recent strain that the TNP-TSP alliance had come under, announced that they would withdraw the nomination of HumanSanity and distancing themselves from “provocative” voices “expressing desire for the dissolution of the treaty which binds our two regions in partnership.” The statement apologized for the initial re-nomination of HumanSanity and endeavored to “engage with the best intentions with our friends and allies,” but “in a more consultative manner, learning from our mistakes.” Amerion, who was appointed as TSP’s Minister of Foreign Affairs after Esfalsa stepped down, reiterated that “this is the first move/step in the process of making amends and we are in open dialogue with our partners to the north.”
Yet the damage was already done. As the old saying goes - “fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you.” This was the second apology TSP has had to issue in such a short amount of time, and at this point TNP’s trust in TSP had been shaken. Outside of TNP, some non-TNPers questioned whether TSP’s second apology would actually lead to anything, whether TSP would actually change their approach to foreign affairs and their partnership with TNP.
And it was all of this that set the stage for the last days of the Aurora Alliance.

MORE IN COMMENTS (Because character limit)

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End
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Platform(s): PC I think it was a flash game idk if it was on Friv or some platform like so
Genre: Platformer
Estimated year of release: 2010? Not really sure
Graphics/art style: it was like Egypt themed, the music was also like that, I remember in some levels there were like air flows and you could glide a little but they usually made the level more difficult
Notable characters: you are an owl and when you finish any level you go into like an egyptian coffin I think
Notable gameplay mechanics: you could glide a little but couldn´t jump very high I think
Other details: I can't say if the owl was purple or it's just a Mandela effect I can't wait to see if someone remembers this game too ;-;

PUBG MOBILE
PUB(G MOBILE) Trivia Night May
CONTEST AND SWEEPSTAKES OFFICIAL RULES[YYP1]

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Each Contest winner will receive the Contest prize as indicated in the additional terms found on the Promotion Page. [YYP6]

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With all the discussion surrounding Godzilla's supposed change in character in the newer iterations of the Monsterverse films, something came to mind. We don't hear too many instances of Godzilla's actual theme song anymore. Is it just me or whenever he appears on screen, the theme that plays is the GVK "villainous" rendition of his main chorus as opposed to the grandiose and orchestral version we hear consistently throughout KOTM? Furthermore, all of his chanting also tends to be missing, instead repeating the "stinger" of his attack mode theme.
Am I the only one slightly bothered by this? His theme song since the 1900s has always emphasized dual-nature of Godzilla. He is a monster yes, but he is still King of the Monsters. He was a force of nature who himself represented balance between destruction and creation - as per his origin of being mutated by nuclear weaponry. This is further emphasized with the Bear Mccreary version of the theme via the chanting, as its akin to the royal procession of a king coming forth to defend his kingdom. In the last two films, it feels as if that theme is fading.
GVK gets a pass because it was the first to use this motif, with Kong being the core figure. However, as of GxK its becoming a trend that whenever the Big G is on screen, he's seen as a blatant monster. Even during his evolution its still playing his "villain" stinger.
Moving on from this point, we seldom hear his full 2014 roar as often either. It's always his "in pain" screech and never the full reverberating roar we hear with his first full appearance in 2014. Even his triumphant sky roar as seen in Egypt in GxK is echoed out by his pained screech as opposed to the classic Godzilla reverb. It feels like such a change in his identity, as that roar was one of his defining feature. Sure, we still hear the initial portion of it all the time, but the full roar is used so few and far between. His full roar is one of the things that defines him as his own Goji. A Godzilla's roar feels just as a part of their characters as the Atomic Breath and his dorsal plates.
Perhaps I'm reading too much into this, or maybe its the nostalgia talking. It just feels as if Monsterverse Godzilla has become distinctly, different as of recent. Not an evolution of his character from 2014 and KOTM, but rather an entirely different Godzilla. Not design wise, but thematically.

https://chipstero7.wordpress.com/2024/05/28/the-idea-that-baphomet-is-osiris-reborn-or-rather-a-merging-of-osiris-and-isis-into-a-unified-entity/
Quote from the article about this:
In his 1887 book ‘The Gnostics and Their Remains’, Charles King connects Baphomet to Osiris, saying: “Interesting above the rest for the part it played in medieval superstition is the Osiris, or old man, with radiated head, a terminal figure always shown in front face with arms crossed on the breast; the true Baphomet of the Templars”. Meanwhile, Éliphas Lévi equated Baphomet with the “Goat of Mendes” which was believed to be “Banebdjedet” and Greek philosopher Plutarch had wrote that Osiris was the “Goat of Mendes”. In ancient Egypt the word “Ba” (the first syllable of Baphomet) refers to the Soul of Osiris. Meanwhile (also in Egypt) the ending syllable of Baphomet (as “mwt”) refers to Isis as the “Great Mother”. Meanwhile, Baphomet’s middle syllable is “pho” which could be short for “Phoenix”. The word Phoenix was adopted into Latin as “Phoenix”. Roman authors like Ovid and Pliny the Elder used it in their writings. In his 1913 book ‘The Religion of Ancient Egypt’, Archibald Henry Sayce says: “The Phoenix was allied to the hawk of Horus, and probably was originally identical with that primitive symbol of the soul”. Hence, Baphomet’s full name may be a combination of Isis, Osiris, and Horus. The Trinity. Ahmed Osman says: “The Trinity of Osiris, Isis and Horus, became a focal point for the emerging Christian Gnostic sects — those Christians who sought to gain spiritual knowledge through mysteries”. We know that the aformentioned Egyptian Trinity was a focal point for the Templars who worshipped Baphomet. In his book ‘The Shining Ones’, Philip Gardiner says: “The Trinity of Isis, Osiris and Horus is linked with the Knights Templar and the figure of John the Baptist”. In ancient Egyptian mythology — the goddess Isis revived Osiris by using her magical powers and knowledge. When Osiris was murdered and dismembered by his brother Seth, Isis collected and reassembled his body parts. She then used her powerful incantations and the help of other deities to breathe life back into Osiris, allowing him to be resurrected. The idea that Osiris and Isis merge to form a single entity (Horus) is a common idea. For example, famous poet Robert Musil wrote ‘Isis and Osiris’ which presents a hermaphroditic theme within a robust mythological context. This theme captivated Musil and is evident throughout his diaries and prose, most notably in his seminal work ‘Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften’. In ‘Isis and Osiris’ the theme manifests as the union of two individuals into one being.

I am probably the least creative person ever; I run a daycare called Explore More Daycare. I have 4 different rooms; infant, toddler, preschool and before/after school care. Give me your best room names that stay with the nature theme, please.

CMM.World & CMMTheology.org
The Great Harvest is here. Christ's Mandate for Missions and CMMTheology build strong, organic relationships globally as we worship, grow and equip together. Like Joshua and Caleb and the Apostle Paul, we see with faith what He sees in each person (to help each reach fullness), group (many streams and backgrounds in unity) and nations (sheep vs. goat nations). Our passion is to love, connect, equip and send with the simplicity, fullness, and power of the Gospel.
The Uncompromising Blissful Extravagance of His Presence! Inbox
By CMM.World CMMTheology.org - November 10, 2022
Dear Mighty One,
I see the Lord's eye upon us we discover by revelation the 'new thing' He is doing in our lives and of those of us who, beyond the present darkness, gaze into His eyes. The 'tuning fork' of Yahweh is orchestrating the sons and daughters of our living God in growing holy remnant unity to withstand as we stand with Him fearlessly in the boldness of the faith of God in this hour. Egypt is behind us, and the covenantal promises and prophetic words we have received (1 Tim. 1:18) empower us by His Holy Spirit to advance in warfare, humbly growing in the spirit of wisdom and revelation.

Yesterday as I encouraged some friends, I said, 'stay in the blissful extravagance of His presence.' Today I saw in Psalm 34 His eyes are upon us in vs. 8 & 9 and v:15 about the 'uncompromisingly righteous.' We are to be holy as He is holy. That leaves no room for any more compromise or seeking to please man or the traditions of men, being free of the fear of man, the religious spirit, and any demonic activity. We are seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. Lord, help us understand by revelation to walk in all the authority we have been given by Jesus Christ.
Psalm 34:8-9 'O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him. O fear the Lord, you His saints [revere and worship Him]! For there is no want to those who truly revere and worship Him with godly fear.'
v. 15 'The eyes of the Lord are toward the [uncompromisingly] righteous and His ears are open to their cry.'
Chuck Pierce shared this amazing word from Penny Jackson that is right on for this season: https://christsmandate.blogspot.com/2022/11/chuck-pierce-shares-powerful-word-from.html
May YOUR November be full of Thanksgiving and Praise for you and yours as YOU enjoy The Uncompromising Blissful Extravagance of His Presence!
Thank you for praying for CMM and all your fellow CMM Global Family worldwide. Pray for all the missionaries, schools, and students in CMM College of Theology in the US, Ecuador, Canada, Cuba, Myanmar, Nigeria, and Thailand.
Pray for the new wells and the living water and safe water recently drilled or soon to be drilled in Tanzania, India, Malawi, and Pakistan.
Pray for our upcoming Christmas gift campaigns to bless children and youth in many nations. Many of them are precious, beautiful children (orphans). As the Lord leads, pray about giving any amount to bless dear CMM children this Christmas. https://cmmworld.kindful.com/
Pray for each other, dear friends. We all know we each need prayers going up to Heaven for all those on the front lines. We each are on the front lines!
Please pray for me as I speak tomorrow online to a crusade with 8,000 expected to attend in Pakistan. In December, I will speak at conferences in Liberia and Kenya with fellow CMM Ordained ministers Robert Bimba (Liberia), Tom Omukhobero, and Daniel and Christine Oyoko (Kenya).
We are working on plans and trips for 2023. If you would like to have some of our awesome CMM family speakers for a conference in your area or would like to join or lead a missions trip, we would love to hook you up with dear friends in many nations.
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Louis Blom of Judea Harvest as Associate Director of Missions at CMM. This strategic alliance multiplies the efforts and impact in building the Kingdom of our God, for His glory. https://youtu.be/HXfP8tCySRc

Many blessings and shalom from us all here at the home office and around the world.
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Strategic Connecting Toward Freshness and Fullness in God
CMM is strategically positioned with proven, trusted, indigenous friends in many nations activating, equipping, connecting and releasing the saints to reach their people and nation with the love of Father God.
CMM is cross-denominational. We are seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus and the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross assures us of victory, through trials, as we are trained to rule and reign with the Father's heart and love of justice and mercy and walk humbly before Him.
CMM is a 501c3 founded in 1978. We also handle donor relations for approximately 500 missionaries globally, ordained ministers, as we enjoy the Lord in fellowship, offering Christian accredited degrees globally, church planting, healing, counseling, orphanages, and prayer centers, creative arts, prophetic, humanitarian aid and disaster relief, medical, stopping human trafficking, leadership training and creative incubators for entrepreneurs, disaster relief, and connecting destinies.
Call 704-225-3927 or email office@cmm.world to learn more or to have one of our many CMM amointed, itinerant ministers speak at your church or group, in person or online.

Founded by royal charter in 1660, the Royal Society is the world’s oldest continuous scientific academy. It was preceded by what was known as The Invisible College, which is mentioned in German Rosicrucian papers from the 17th century. A blueprint for the Royal Society was laid out in Sir Francis Bacon’s fictional House of Solomon. In 1710, it set up shop at Crane Court on Fleet Street in the City of London. It has since relocated to Carlton House Terrace in Westminster.
Its branches include the Royal Society of Chemistry, Royal Society of Medicine, Royal Society of Arts, Royal Society of Biology, Royal Academy, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Royal Aeronautical Society, Royal Anthropological Institute, Royal Astronomical Society, Royal Economic Society, Royal Historical Society, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Royal Entomological Society, Royal Geographical Society, Royal Society of Literature, Royal Horticultural Society, Royal Meteorological Society, Royal Statistical Society, Royal African Society, and Royal Asiatic Society.
This is only a partial list and there are many others spread throughout the Commonwealth. As you can see, the seven sacred sciences are all covered here. Probably the most powerful of these is the Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA), also known as Chatham House. Founded in 1920, its stated mission is to provide commentary on world events and offer solutions to global challenges.
In fact, it is the driving force when it comes to the foreign policy of the UK and its Commonwealth underlings. Its US affiliate is the Council on Foreign Relations, which serves the same role in shaping US foreign policy. Other national affiliates do the same – including the Australian Institute of International Affairs, Canadian International Council, German Council on Foreign Relations, Netherlands Institute of International Relations, Pakistan Institute of International Affairs, and the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
The current obsession at Chatham House is support for arming Ukraine in the war against Russia. Prior to that, it was instrumental in shaping Covid-19 lockdown policies and vaccination mandates around the world. It works closely with the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the world’s oldest defence and security think tank, founded in 1831 by Duke of Wellington Sir Arthur Wellesley, who descended from the old Venetian banker Welser clan. The current president of RUSI is Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, who openly backed Adolf Hitler.
While RIIA and RUSI shape and defend the imperialist policies of Britain and its allies, the Royal Geographic Society (RGS) is there to bolster those policies through its Malthusian views on human nature. Founded just one year before RUSI in 1830, RGSs mission was to keep tabs on the colonies and to absorb the Palestine Association, African Association, and Raleigh Club into its ranks. King William IV was the original patron, while the current royal patron is Princess Anne. In 1859, Queen Victoria granted it a royal charter.
RGS funded the expeditions of Charles Darwin, David Livingstone, Sir Edmund Hillary, and many other colonial explorers. Its mouthpiece magazines include Geographical and National Geographic. Within these pages, the reader often finds nature portrayed as a brutish place where competition and fighting are a constant theme.
RSG popularized the notion of survival of the fittest, skewing the central findings of Darwin’s travels, which were – if a species was to survive, there must be extensive cooperation within that species, rather than competition. This junk science is often employed to defend Crown capitalism, which is ostensibly more “fit” than the countries they pilfer cheap labour and resources from.
I grew up on a farm. I hunted, fished, and trapped. Later, I did extensive back-country hiking in grizzly bear habitat in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. I’ve travelled to fifty countries and encountered wild animals in many of them, including a self-guided safari in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. For most of my life I have lived in remote areas teeming with wildlife.
My scientific observation through it all is how little competition and fighting there is in both wild and domesticated animals. What I have seen is extensive cooperation, within species as well as across species. But this truism does nothing to defend the Crown’s bad behaviour, so the many scientists who have come to the same conclusion will receive no funding from the Royal Geographic Society.
It would have been easy in 18th-century London, having come through the Black Death and now in the middle of the Industrial Revolution, to view life as difficult and “brutish”. Persians and Arabs traveling to the UK were appalled at the squalor they found. But this was not the original human condition, rather a result of living under a greedy and acquisitive monarchy, which always required an underclass to maintain its lavish lifestyle.
Agriculture had disrupted the natural relationships that mankind held dear for hundreds of thousands of years. Now the Industrial Revolution in Britain would take humans even further from these bonds, as farmers were lured into the cities with the promise of better paying factory jobs.
ROYAL BLOODLINE WETIKO & THE GREAT REMEMBERING
In his seventh book, Dean Henderson tracks the royal Anunnaki bloodline from Sumeria through Babylon, Egypt, and Rome to their current power base in the City of London and deconstructs their methodology to keep humans enslaved and isolated during this relatively brief period of human history. Drawing upon ancient Lakota culture to remind us who we are, Henderson sees a great remembering unfolding which makes this royal bloodline very nervous.