Image stacked bob

puppers only

2016.02.09 00:00 MrIste puppers only

post your puppers here
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2010.03.22 04:37 coopnl Breaking Bad

A subreddit for fans and critics of the hit television series Breaking Bad on AMC. Here you will find discussions and speculations about the show, pictures from the show, AMA's with the cast, and anything else Breaking Bad related.
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2009.07.07 15:00 noroom I Took a Picture: Give and get feedback on photography

A subreddit about photography techniques and styles. Post your work here to ask for critique, or browse the submissions and learn how photography techniques are achieved.
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2024.05.19 02:30 Asfisav2049 Ight who shoved what up SMG4's ass today

Ight who shoved what up SMG4's ass today
Remember the time in Mario Does Pranks where Bob shoved the charger for his iPad up SMG4's ass after he saw an outlet on it? (1st image)
Well in today's episode we see SMG4 making a similar if not the same expression in the Mario The Exploro Theme song (2nd image)
Makes me wanna ask a random and stupid question: who shoved what up SMG4's ass for him to make this expression again?
submitted by Asfisav2049 to SMG4 [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 02:20 Tarek_C Can't identify anything around Deneb

Hello! This is my first time using my dobsonian telescope and stacking, it's a cool process. First pic is a stacked and edited view of the area around the star Deneb (the brightest star I'm the middle) through my dobsonian telescope around Tomball, TX. The magnification was 48x. If i remember correctly, I've rotated the image 180° because the directions in my camera throught the telescope appears reversed. The second image is a single 0.5 second exposure, also rotated 180° to account for the telescope's upside down image.
I've used Stellarium and other software to try to name a single thing around Deneb, but no stars match at all. I've used the 'plate solving' (nova astronomy) website and got no results. I'm sadly starting to think that the stars in my image are artifacts instead or something. I've included a 3rd pic where I rotated the view again, if it helps.
If possible, can I have a tiny bit of help seeing if the stars are true and can be identified? Or maybe if I accidentally gpt the rotation of the photo incorrect? Hope it helps at all, thanks so much!
submitted by Tarek_C to askastronomy [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 02:07 Prismaryx Recent grad looking for software engineering work. Never had any issues getting interviews for internships, etc. but it's been complete crickets for months now since I graduated.

https://preview.redd.it/1w7eerk7y91d1.png?width=650&format=png&auto=webp&s=60a3da9137ef811f9e5419ecc7aa9bc6128c36b5
https://preview.redd.it/4xerzqk7y91d1.png?width=652&format=png&auto=webp&s=cef1f206e75604bc9f0928afee32335a5cfda540
It was shorter, but I've gone through several iterations of it and nothing seems to get me even a single positive response. I'm kind of at my wit's end with the incessant rejection emails without so much as an interview, so any advice is greatly appreciated.
I've also been working to build up my portfolio, including contributing to open-source projects. I haven't been doing that long enough to add it yet, but maybe that'll make a difference.
Thanks in advance!
submitted by Prismaryx to resumes [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 00:22 frigid_monk The Greedy Bastards(Greedies)

A very interesting side project/supergroup that shows how diverse Phil's musical taste was, embracing punk music. This link up with half of the the Sex Pistols, sets Lizzy apart from most other hard rock bands of this era, even if was just for fun. It would have been quite the event to see them play given the lineups(which would vary) and having two drummers on stage.
There's a selection of images here, all of the gig photos are from a handful shows in London and Dublin in 1978. The gigs bookended the USA and Australia/New Zealand tours that had Nauseef on drums and Robbo leaving and Moore rejoining. They would of course release the Merry Jingle Christmas record in late '79.
Members:
Phil Lynott (bass, vocals), Steve Jones (guitar), Gary Moore (guitar), Paul Cook (drums), Brian Downey (drums), Chris Spedding (guitar), Scott Gorham (guitar), Jimmy Bain (bass), Bob Geldof (vocals), Johnnie Fingers (keyboards)
submitted by frigid_monk to thinlizzy [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 23:56 OtherStrongSlave Hearthstone Battlegrounds Addiction

Disclaimer: I know this might not be something everybody likes to hear, but I write this thread specifically for the people who are struggling with this game taking over their life..
Since I was a young child I have been addicted to games. They are an escape from some painful realities which are better to immediately face, beautiful worlds where you can lose yourself into with the prize of your valuable time and a reason for a release of lots of dopamine with pressing just a few buttons which leaves your dopamine resource drained.. They are fun but come with a big prize.
Some time passed and I finally quit games, some more time passed and I got back in to them and I met this game: Hearthstone Battlegrounds....... I never found a game more addicting than this!
The images, sounds, colours, lights, effects, gambling, strategy, competition, fastness, f2p etc. all make it a very very addicting game. There were posts before this made like this one (https://www.reddit.com/BobsTavern/comments/10rmjx2/the_addictive_nature_of_hearthstone_battlegrounds/) so I won't go in to much detail..
It definitely had a bad effect on my life. Most of my free time went to this game, even my occupied time went to it. I had started a business with someone but I started lacking in my responsibilities towards it, my wife and child saw me less, study got less attention and the like..
Thank God first and foremost finally after a long battle, with the help of a friend I got rid of this game and videogames in general by making some strong agreements with severe consequences with my friend. And here I am, 2 months clean.
Is my life better? Yes and no. Yes for the obvious reasons.. And no because the addicted body tries to get his dopamine hits from other sources like youtube shorts and the like. But hey, at least one down and just a few more to go!
I just wanted to remind you, the one who has a similar problem, you can definitely quit this game, other games and everything which is keeping you down. The beginning is very bitter, but just don't give up and keep trying!
Goodbye!
submitted by OtherStrongSlave to BobsTavern [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 22:50 TopResponsibility492 [Student] Looking for a Summer 2025 internship - Canada based Software Engineering student

[Student] Looking for a Summer 2025 internship - Canada based Software Engineering student
I am a Canada based software engineering student. Currently doing my 3rd internship and have two previous work experiences (one of which is the same as my current internship since it was a return offer). I also have many projects, but only selected two otherwise my resume would be too long. I am struggling to know if my resume has too much info or not enough, and if some of it is unimportant. Also wondering if I should cut some bullet points on some work experiences and projects to include more projects (I kind of feel like it's a waste to not include them, but also feel like that would imply removing interesting things from other experiences). For example, I have a deep learning project I made which isn't listed, as well as a few hackathons (one of which won 3rd place).
I just reworked my resume with whatever tips I could find online, but I am afraid I will still not get any interviews. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
I would ideally like to be able to do a US internship, would it be possible as a student in Canada? I am willing to relocate if the company offers a relocation stipend. I have tried my luck during my 3 years in university, but always got rejected, even for jobs in other Canadian provinces. I would get instantly rejected.
I am planning on applying in jobs located in Ontario (Toronto), British Columbia (Vancouver), Quebec (Montreal), and whatever US cities I can find to be honest.
My main struggle during all my job hunting journey was always securing interviews, although I would apply to 100+ jobs every year.
https://preview.redd.it/9t4vo2siz81d1.png?width=5100&format=png&auto=webp&s=0d1ee18d2d0af0124362260250a24c3cfb841b4d
submitted by TopResponsibility492 to EngineeringResumes [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 22:33 JulianSkies Blackriver Cases - Season 10 “Days of Fury” - Episode 2 “Visiting Omen”

[ [FIRST] [NEXT>]

Season 10 “Days of Fury” - Episode 2 “Visiting Omen”

He had hoped for a boring day. Boring days are good at work, and Santos was already expecting to not have many of them for a while.
The first couple of days were boring, as usual- Blackriver is a small town, and the worst that had happened was Nila and Kessa making a few wellness checks after worried calls from neighbors. A couple of people in denial, a few ashamed at their own violent outbursts and a stern warning to Tamm about painting others’ properties without asking first.
This morning, however, began with an all-hands meeting. There were no meeting rooms in the office, so they made do in the general workspace room, they all stood there at the center while Keya looked them over.
“We have received a report from a neighboring city about a convoy of protestors making its way to Blackriver” she describes without tone. At this point nobody bothers interrupting.
“This convoy is comprised of approximately four hundred and seventy eight individuals of multiple species, primarily human and venlil but with operationally relevant representations of the entire spectrum of size and mobility types” her paws are behind her back, her ears focused directly ahead, her eyes centered to keep the entire team on the core of her focus “They have crossed multiple cities already, generally engaging in verbal sparring with any figure of authority, parading signs and banners denouncing all manners of authorities as well as occasionally engaging in physical altercations with officers.”
“They are also known to engage in vandalism. Though primarily aimed at exterminator and police precincts as well as public offices, they have already caused considerable collateral to others they have identified as ‘collaborators’” there’s a single heartbeat of waiting for breath before she continues “They have, however, not shown to be an incredibly organized group or one with a clear goal and objective. The convoy appears to contain only extremely emotionally charged people with no clear overarching goal.”
“We are incapable of dealing with the situation should they turn aggressive, as such we will be simply maintaining watch and relocating the populace should they become a problem.” Then, she picks up her holopad and passes it to Lunek beside her “They can only follow one path with the entire convoy, the central street, therefore I have divided it into four sectors. One of each will be assigned to a sector.”
First her ears turn to the first target “Lunek, sector one at the entrance. As the most approachable member of the precinct your task is to give an initial image of harmlessness. Do not engage first, do not take initiative against them. Ensure the members of the herd in the area are warned of their approach. If they become aggressive, retreat and focus on the escape of the herd.”
She tilts her head a little bit, turning her ears the other way “Marik, sector two. Mostly the commercial area, your task is ostensive protection to lower the chances of them initiating aggression. Whereas protection of the herd is first priority your second priority is ensuring Tenve’s Hardware Store as well as Sunbreeze Meals and Watchful Café remain capable of providing anyone whose residences become damaged.” suddenly, she turns her head entirely to face Marik “Ostensive protection means dissuasion, ensure that they know they are not under threat and as long as those specific areas are not engaged, do not provoke”
Next in her line of fire is Santos “As our human officer you will be in sector three, nearby the precinct. They are liable to become most agitated in this area and your presence may serve to calm them. You are not to engage, if deemed necessary the precinct’s materials are considered expendable, do not attempt to stop them”
“Sector four, the exit of town, will be with me to ensure that they have fully left Blackriver and will not attempt to turn back” then she tilts her ears again “Aren, you will gear up with a CCG and remain out of view range, your task will be quick emergency response should the need arise.” she then points her tail at the last three officers “Vess, your task will be to inform the herd and ensure a clear path for the convoy while Nila and Kessa will gather all of our medical supplies and set a staging area out of the convoy’s range. Organize ambulance assistance from Striped Hill and Everrain”
Then, she turns her ears around to focus each one in turn “As any attempt at aggression will end only in negative consequences, and in order to reduce the apparent levels of threat you will be unarmed. The estimated time of arrival is a third of a claw, ready yourselves and be at your post in time. Dismissed.”
“Not sure if I like or I don’t that we had the cold bastard right now” Aren says, as soon as Keya had left the room “Maybe we should move in closer when the convoy gets to sector four?”
“Probably a good idea to be nearby” Santos adds with a sigh “They might take umbrage with her demeanor, hopefully they won’t be set off too hard.”
And with silent signs of agreement all of the officers of Blackriver depart for preparations. The first ones to leave the precinct are the ones in charge of support, the two girls set off early to find someone willing to permit usage of their lawn as a possible impromptu field hospital and a little while later Aren leaves with a heavy CCG.
Slowly, the clock ticks to the appointed claw… And soon enough, Lunek can see in the distance the incoming omen of people. At first a distant line in the horizon, slowly the dark mark on the road coalesces into distinct shapes, the shapes of hundreds of vehicles slowly rolling down the road.
When the first few get close to the initial buildings of the main street, the entire convoy slows down. Their process of preparation is seemingly laborious, each vehicle houses multiple people at a time, smaller cars full to the brim, flatbeds with more people on their cargo space than can safely be contained, even buses conscripted for the effort. They carry with them signs, flags, a multitude of symbols as they dismount their vehicles and start spreading out to fill the street.
They seem to naturally form two distinct yet highly mixed groups, at its most distinctive is the pack of humans who keep a good distance from each other. But they are not alone in this group as takkan, mazic, yotul, zurulian and even drilvar form this central group. But flowing around them, not avoiding their presence but never infringing in their space is the grey mass of venlil, packed tight together, and mixed in there adding color to the monochromatic flux are krakotl, tilfish, sulean, iftali, sivkit and even a seemingly very confused duerten.
And at the very core of the moving group are their vehicles, which gently start rolling forward again as the group starts moving. Lunek simply waits, silently, by the side of the road, his ears attentively swiveling from one side to the other, expression having given way to function. Before the first of the convoy even arrives close he turns to the side, making a pointing sign with his tail. A woman who had been watching from her yard flicks her right ear and runs back inside.
He continues to wait, scanning around at all times for the presence of… Anything. The street is empty of locals when the first visitors start to alight. The convoy is loud, their symbols carry a loudness of colors and their vehicles make as much noise as they can to draw attention, but those who walk seem content in allowing their tools to speak for them, for now. Lunek tries to make sense of the banners and signs, but the messages are disparate as the group- Some speak of injustices against their people, some speak of anger at invaders, some speak of betrayal.
“Fuck off, fireman!” comes the harsh bark of a human, causing Lunek to flinch. But flinch is all he does, he simply starts walking alongside the moving convoy.
The exterminator’s attention is drawn to the details of the few people he can distinguish amongst the mass. Something tickles at his pattern-recognition but he cannot quite ascertain what for a while, until a lightly limping mazic makes her way to the edge of the mass “Want to finish the job?!” she trumpets, her form towering over his.
“I’m just observing, ma’am.” Though the tremor of his voice is noticeable, he remains stoic. But her proximity makes him notice something about her body, marks in her wrists, neck and feet. Though mazic have powerful wrists and knuckles upon which they support the front half of their weight, her left wrist seems completely incapable of it, giving her a limp particular to a three-point walk. “To make sure there’s no impediment on your path” he notices the leathery skin around her left wrist is deeply blackened.
“Oh, ‘no impediment’ is that it? So everyone that lives here is an impediment?!” her voice booms.
“Ma’am” still, he does not yield nor does he break his pace following the convoy “We have not done anything other than inform our people of your presence…” for a half second all he hears is the sound of his own heart “We can’t do anything else.”
Those words, then, sealed his fate. The first shout to echo in his direction was a yotul howling “Yeah you’re useless!” and soon the avalanche came in multiple voices and languages “Can’t do shit!” “You’re just here to hurt people!” “Useless crap!” “Idiot!” and many more.
With every step and twitch the very average exterminator puts all of his focus on just being there. He lets himself cower a little bit, against the barrage it is difficult not to, but he continues to accompany. A few curious coats step out from their houses to watch, but the front of the convoy seems far too focused on the sole exterminator in view to bother anyone else.
A few steps ahead, an older venlil with a cane has moved the closest to the convoy as any watcher has up to now. Seeing her proximity to the increasingly rowdy crowd causes Lunek to speed up, quickly approaching her “Leva-”
But his words are stalled when she puts a paw on his shoulder, she gently puts her head against his for just a second “You’re doing good pup, keep at it” she mutters to him before breaking contact and turning around to walk back inside. He can spy her grandchildren looking on through the door. Lunek looks back at the still-shouting moving convoy, takes a deep breath, and continues to accompany them forward. A small pawful of them, however, seem to have fallen silent.
Once having reached the limit of his assigned zone, however, Lunek stops. He watches the convoy move forward, past the houses, now noisier than before. The initial hollering at him had turned into disjointed screams at some indistinct foe- Though the herd had been noticed of a foe, it was yet unaware of who, or what, said foe was. So for now it howled at the ineptitude of… Someone. And as the last of the convoy passes beyond the imaginary line of his duty, Lunek lets out a deep sigh and allows himself to sit down on the ground.
He stays there for a moment, without thought, simply letting the tension, confusion and fear permeate his body until a gentle paw touches his arm. He doesn’t need to look to identify it, he lets his lover use her strength to prop him up, raising him to his feet “Keina you shouldn’t-”
“Neighbor’s looking over Tiss” his wife wraps her arms and tail around him “I’m not leaving you alone.” she stays like that for a second, before breaking off “Do you need to go after them?”
“No”
Marik stalks through the sidewalk, moving with energy. His speed outpaces the movement of the convoy, his paws twitch to grasp at something that isn’t there and a deep and intense motion makes his short fur stand on end. He had let the convoy’s head move in front of him, simply standing still as he assessed as many as he could in the mass, and now he had begun to move towards the front again.
As he stalked forward he focused his sight on every member of the convoy that seemed of interest. A human whose clothes seemed suspiciously loose, a venlil whose movements were far too stiff, a gojid who kept his claws behind his back. He stared at each like they were his quarry, analyzing every piece of movement they made for threats, and yet aside from the challenge in the human’s gaze he saw no danger arise.
Tenve had closed his shop, so as the convoy moved forward Marik simply continued to follow along, scanning the crowd for threats. But the next point of interest arrives, and he rushes ahead placing himself in front of the only restaurant of the town. Sunbreeze Meals wasn’t a very common sort of restaurant, Blackriver did not have enough visitors for a normal restaurant to be profitable and was small enough most people had their meals at home, it most often served takeout for those farmers who’d spend so long in the field they would return home without the energy to feed themselves.
Sparing a look inside at the only five tables, Marik couldn’t keep a small thought away from his mind. How most who got their meals from Sunbreeze these days did so because they enjoyed the cooking rather than their need of work, ever since the sunspeck population has been brought under control and the maintenance of the fields had become much smaller. He feels the presence long before he can recognize what led him to feel it and turns to stare at a group of six that approach the entrance: Two humans, a tilfish, two gojids and a takkan had broken off from the convoy and approached the restaurant.
He traces his color band over each in turn, and they all bristle at his stare. One of the humans hesitates before continuing to walk inside, and Marik simply remains by the door with his arms crossed, left ear twisted as far back as he could to listen to the inside.
“What have you got here?”
“W-we mostly ha-have ready ma-made meals to go or- or- Or you can look over the menu”
“There’s no need to stutter, y’know”
“So-sorry-”
“Really, after everything y’all are still with this predator crap?”
The chimes on the door echo for the second time in sequence as Marik makes his way inside. The tilfish had started to lean over the counter while the other five had arrayed themselves behind her. They all turn their attention to him as he enters, including the venlil manning the counter. Marik keeps his gaze directly on the tilfish for a few uncomfortable seconds, before looking at the man behind the counter and making a simple sign with his tail, a short vertical bob with the tip and a slow horizontal swipe. It’s meaning simple: >Safe<.
After a few seconds someone else appears from the kitchen. The tall venlil carries a large stack of plastic boxes in his arms, all of them seemingly designed to attach to themselves so as to be carried with ease. He puts them down with a resounding crash on the counter, and opens up his voice with ice “Farmer’s Pots, good meal when you’re working and can’t go home.” With each word the owner of the restaurant and main cook comes closer and closer to the tilfish, until the last “Ten credits each.”
Nobody moves for a couple of seconds, and then one of the humans steps closer and brings a holopad over to the credit reader. There’s a noise indicating payment, and then the owner raises his head and tilts it to focus his favored eye and both of his ears at the man who paid “Now,” he shifts register in his voice and the language he speaks in “fuck off” he finishes.
With no small amount of surprise the group of six retrieve the stack of packaged meals, carefully walking out and back into the convoy. Marik stays behind for a moment “Didn’t know you spoke human”
“Pup’s enamored with their languages. Of course, first greek words he learns is swearing.”
Outside, Marik stalks further ahead to the next point of interest. He moves faster than the convoy, and has time to move in front of it. For a few meters the street is still clear as he arrives to find a group of people standing in front of the Watchful. Standing there were all of its employees, and even all of its regulars, twenty people total standing there as if they were having the most normal day. If not for their raised ears tracking every noise coming from down the street and their swaying tails swinging about like angry beasts.
One of them simply points his tail at the other side of the street as Marik comes closer, and the hunter doesn’t need a second command to understand the meaning. They have this, he has a less practical but just as important duty. He crosses the street quickly before the convoy starts coming closer, and heads towards the park.
As the regulars of the Watchful had feared, it took little time until a large group had broken off from the convoy. With the town on alert about the convoy they had found themselves bereft of prey and now this group had set out to find some, anyone who might be willing, or not, to listen to their grievances. And what is clearly a place designed for people to congregate looked most appetizing.
Marik shadowed the group as they moved through the park, but they were accompanied by nothing but silence. It wasn’t until they ran into the centerpiece of the park that he took initiative, stepping ahead of the group and simply… Standing there a distance away from the tree of many scions, between it and the group.
“What’s so important over there, fireman?” it was a venlil who asked, but his usage of an english word was not lost on Marik.
“A place you will respect” the exterminator has his arms crossed, the one good portion of his gaze set on the man who asked “This is a grave.”
Though the group that now prowled was large, those who heard were taken aback. One such, however, approaches closer. He was a venlil whose fur shifted between a soft, brownish color and a dirty white “A tradition of the tenets right? One of those family trees?” The man would have been distinctive in any other group due to his missing patches of fur around neck, wrists, even portions around his head. But such signs of long term damage were common in the convoy.
Interest. They had shown true interest, or at least one of them had. “No, but similar… The forgotten tree is a grave for the forgotten.” He felt like these people, at least the ones before him, could probably understand the meaning of this place “It is of no tradition. Someone, a long time ago, wanted to honor someone who was gone but whose name was not meant to be remembered. Someone who had disappeared in the system… So they borrowed on another’s tradition, and added a scion to this tree, with something in their memory. Others have done so similarly, until it became… A grave for the forgotten”
“Didn’t think you’d be worried about this kind of place” it’s a human that speaks up this time
“Our duty is to protect this town, what you think-” but Marik’s words are interrupted by that same venlil who had asked before. His demeanor suddenly shifts, his ears perk up and his entire body shifts forward for a moment. He hesitates, for a second everyone’s focus is on him, and then he runs towards the tree.
Marik follows behind, stopping just by the man’s side as he finds himself at the base of the tree. The man makes a direct line to somewhere, something he had found from the distance, as if it had called him. He finds a thick and heavy branch that had been bent down by the weight of its scions and memories, near its base and speaking of a memory left behind long ago is a braid of fur made of three colors, a dirty white, a soft brown and a dark grey, bound by the braids are two beads.
The man raises up a paw, but does not touch it. As if cradling it, he recites the words engraved in one of the beads “I will cross every star to return home” others have come closer to listen to the man’s hoarse voice “There will always be a home for you” he reads of the second one. The names on the beads have been scratched out. The man falls on his knees “S-she kept her promise and… I couldn’t keep mine…”
Marik steps back as he watches two others come closer to comfort the man. He looks as a few others approach with more caution, looking up at the tree with a bit more reverence than they had before. Then, he turns around and starts heading back towards the main street.
Gazing out as the convoy gains a new flux, some leave it as it passes to move towards the park while others leave the park to rejoin the convoy, Marik simply stays there at the side of the street looking as stern as he could. Though the noise of the convoy remains great, here in this portion it seems to die down a little. A thought crosses his mind as he turns an ear as far back as he can, a thought he can’t help but voice “I wonder how many are looking at their own graves…”
As the convoy progresses, Santos simply stands by the front of the precinct, hands in his pockets. He watches the convoy arrive, heart beating fast, constrained hands the only reason he hasn't started shaking quite yet. He starts tapping his right foot as he watches the first few people cross by without noticing what this place is yet, everyone knows where the precinct is, so aside from the words printed on the sign by the entrance there is no other marker of what this building’s purpose might be.
Of course, it is impossible for nobody to notice. The entire convoy seems to stop as soon as a zurulian riding on the shoulders of a human points a claw at the building and says something. A large group breaks away at the command, all of them holding disparate signs and messages. They turn on the building with enough roars that whatever they are attempting to transmit is lost on him.
Santos is thankful his hearing isn’t nearly as good as his coworkers’, as the cacophony is already overwhelming him. He changes stances slightly, taking his hands out of his pockets and crossing his arms. This prompts a small group to turn their looks at him, the focus easily identifiable with the humans in their midst, focus which made the hair in the back of Santos’ neck stand on end. Living in this place had refined his sense of danger, but he didn’t need that to realize what could happen.
It was a group of five that approached, four humans and a venlil. “Didn’t think they’d be letting humans live out here in the boonies” said one of his kin.
Santos just shrugs “Got hired to work here. Honestly, rural folk get a needlessly bad reputation, most of the time they just don’t care as long as you’re not bothering them”
“Really? In my-”
Santos interrupts the man “Cut it out” there are many ways in which humans make themselves obvious, many of which are their eyes. Santos did understand the fear of them and why it was primal, it was not the fear of the eyes but the fear of attention, it was knowing you were under the scrutiny and judgment of another that set off that emotion. It was rarely the eyes that showed this attention for most species, but for humans it was, and the man’s clear gaze on his badge made the entire situation clear to him “Stop beating around the bush and say it already.”
Someone else is who speaks. The tall woman starts not with words, however, but by spitting on Santos’ uniform “You fucking traitor” her voice is both fierce and cold at the same time. A very emotional coldness.
“There we go” he sighs “Just… Move on. We’re not getting anything out of this conversation”
“Why?” It was the venlil in the group that started this time “These people hate you, they hate you for what you are! Why do you work for them?!”
Santos rubs his eyes and sighs “Because someone has to. Change only happens when you make it happen, simple as that”
“Change?!” another one of the humans howls “Do you think those people can change?! You know the truth, those fuckers have never done anything good!”
“You know, if you had read your history books…” Santos stares at the one who had just had their outburst “You’d remember that we once thought the very same about the police” there’s the sound of glass breaking, but he doesn’t reaction “And a lot of us still do”
The human staring him down shifts their gaze slightly at the broken window of the precinct, then back at Santos “A broken window is easy to fix” he shrugs “As I was saying. Same shit.” he crosses his arms again “There’s a role those people play, a role that needs to be played because it’s important. Different name, different problems, still the same shit. Gotta fix this, I’m doing my part” he then stares at the venlil in the group “You do yours. Simple as that.”
“Role?!” the venlil of the group steps closer “What role could they possibly have?! They only exist to hurt people!”
Santos steps back, and raises his eyes a little bit. Of course, the classics had shown themselves in this instance. With as many humans as there are in the crowd there were now quite a few objects in the air, most clearly aimed at the precinct behind him. Though given the failed arc of some of them it was clearly not just the humans indulging in such a tried and true method.
“I used to be a wildlife preserve ranger” Santos then focuses his gaze on the aggravated venlil “This is a frontier town, if you walk in the brushes with shorts you’ll walk out with your ankles numb. The athai out there are rather harmless, but they keep the sunspecks under control.” He takes another step back “Since coming here I’ve been pest control, had to catch an exotic animal set loose, investigated a murder, helped stop a child from taking her own life, stopped large scale fights, helped a dozen people avoid being arrested for self defense and helped break a fucking siege
Santos cracks his knuckles “There’s roles. Jobs that need done and there is one fucking organization doing it all. That is a problem.” Then, he sighs and takes a few more steps to the side, offering indifference from this point on “There’s nothing I can say that would make you calm down.” he says one final time “Just make sure not to injure yourselves in the process, alright?” His words seemed to be enough to make the small group cease trying to interact, as the convoy had begun moving again. Though the one human who had called him a traitor gets one final parting shot at the precinct “Where the hell did you get an egg in this planet…” Santos says with a raised eyebrow as the projectile impacts the front door.
Keya stands by a large sign, the same one that welcomes you into Blackriver on one side and sees you out at the other, the official limit of the town. Her arms behind her back, her attention directly towards the front of the convoy as they march. Something gains the whole of her attention, the car in the front. Someone draws her focus, a human with a megaphone on top of the car. The man shouts words of encouragement at the people behind him with the megaphone before turning to his holopad, then he bends over downwards to discuss something with the driver.
She simply remains there, waiting for the convoy to pass. But instead of moving on out of the city, here the convoy stops completely. Keya observes as the further end of the convoy starts to slowly compact upon itself, and her ears pick up something “Alright everyone, start getting ready, next town over is more than a claw away, make sure you’ve left nothing behind” the words were not meant for her, nor for anyone too far. They come from the same man she had seen standing on top of the car, but he had now climbed down and was talking with a group of multiple species.
It is clear they have some degree of leadership, though the convoy does not stop cleanly nor does it begin to organize with alacrity they do respond to the group’s organization. So Keya keeps her focus on them as they point, wave and talk between themselves, others and devices. But at least one of them has noticed her attention, a gangly and light-skinned human with fire-red hair, the man that was atop the car. He starts walking in her direction, before turning around for one final set of commands as he walks backwards “And make sure the guys at the back got all the crap! We’re here to be heard, not to trash the city!” he says before turning back again to head towards her. A venlil with pure white fur erupts from inside the car he was riding, quickly dashing to his side as they notice where he was going.
In a few moments both have come up to her, the human looking down at her with the venlil bristles at his side “Saw anything interesting, fireman?”
“What are you doing here?”
“What? Isn’t it obvious?!” it was the venlil that roared a response “You saw all of it! You know what they’ve done to us! What they’ve done to everyone! And you still work for those brahking monsters! It’s like you’re thankful they made you a cripple!”
The human puts a hand on the venlil’s shoulder, calming her demeanor just a little bit “We’re here because honestly, we’re all too tired of being fucking ignored is what. So what the fuck are you gonna do?!”
“I have put the wrong emphasis” Keya says with her lack of tone. She can see the human shiver just a little bit “My task is to ensure the safety of this town. Your convoy is a danger. We have eight field-capable officers, we cannot ensure the safety of the residents against a group like yours. People will take actions for reasons, you have broadcast your reasons clearly. You have chosen this place for a reason which I cannot ascertain.”
She makes sure her ears are trained towards both the human and the venlil, an action which causes the venlil to cower behind her partner “We do not house government agencies. This is a farming town of little note. The local precinct is a simple precinct, we have no regulatory or command authority. The town population is approximately double that of the number of your convoy. We have no individuals of appreciable social or political reach. There is nothing in Blackriver of interest to people attempting to change government policy, nor have there been actions taken here that I can identify as being cause for retaliatory actions within the context of your message.”
“I must ensure this does not happen again and the only way of doing so is minimizing our attractivity as targets. A logical assumption of your choice of quarry would be a town with the presence of politicians, a large city with constant news coverage, cities housing important government agencies or those containing the Regional Firebases”
“So I ask again. What are you doing here?”
The two remain silent for a few seconds, before the human turns around with a mouth noise “Whatever, I don’t need to explain myself to someone that won’t listen. Come on!” he starts to stalk back towards the car, but stops once he notices his venlil companion wasn’t moving.
The snow-white venlil has their focus on Keya, who offers a simple low forward swipe of her tail, a sign to proceed. Still, the venlil seems frozen in place until the human comes back and grabs hold of their paw with a gentle touch. At which point both finally return to the convoy.
Keya remains at the side of the road, watching as the convoy readies itself again to leave. People get back inside cars, they hop on the back of trucks and load themselves into buses. She continues to watch as the convoy takes its time riding out, making their way out of the town.
Once it is finally gone, multiple footsteps sound behind her. When she turns around she meets her officers, having returned from their assigned positions “They have left. I expect your reports of what happened in each sector by the end of your shifts” she states plainly, before looking at Santos “They did not appear to have a specific reason for targeting Blackriver.” The question remains unspoken.
The human officer just shrugs “Sometimes, you don’t know what you’re doing. We’re just a little town, I doubt they even know what exactly they’re angry about.” He looks at the tail end of the convoy as it leaves “Town was probably just a place they felt safe going to.”
“D-do you think we might get more like that” Lunek says, at the back of the group.
“Who knows…” Santos sighs “But if human history applies anywhere here… This is just a sign of worse things to come”
[ [FIRST] [NEXT>]
And thus the omen passes by. Feelings, emotions of all sorts, without a plan or a reason other than just their own rage and distress.
Did any of these even know what they were doing? And how much worse can it be when they do?
submitted by JulianSkies to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 22:30 malcolio DRAFT - NTW in Alphabetical Order. Chapter 1: Alsace-Lorraine

DRAFT - NTW in Alphabetical Order. Chapter 1: Alsace-Lorraine

Europe in Early January, 1805. How the continent looks at the start of a Napoleon: Total War game.
Seven years ago I started posting a writeup of playing a game of Empire: Total War with the challenge of conquering every region in alphabetical order. This was inspired by someone trying to play Crusader Kings in alphabetical order back in 2006. After 75 chapters, with about 2,600 images and just a silly amount of text, I completed the game and swore off touching another Total War game for some time!
I’m now back, to try and achieve the same goal of conquering every region in alphabetical order but in Napoleon: Total War. I’ve never finished a game of N:TW before, so it will fun to see what this more focused and refined(?) version of E:TW will be like to play. As with my last playthrough, I’m using DarthMod and playing on Normal/Normal difficulty. I have no idea if those settings will make this challenge too easy or impossible, let’s find out!
Napoleon Bonaparte’s stats and the 11 regions I have to sell off before I can start this challenge.
There is a vast quantity of books studying the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, but what none of them will tell you is that he had a passion for the alphabet just like King Louis XIV. So obviously he was forced to sell off every region of the French Empire so that he could conquer the entirety of Europe in alphabetical order.
Unfortunately if I lose France I automatically lose the entire game, so I’ll need to unofficially keep hold of that, but otherwise I first need to trade away Alsace-Lorraine, Aquitaine, Bretagne, Corsica, Hannover, Normandie, Pays d'Oc, Picardie-Champagne, Piedmont-Liguria, Provence, and the Southern Netherlands. At the moment the French Empire’s prosperity is spectacular, its prestige sublime, but that’s going to take a bit of a hit…
The French military units in those region capitals will soon need to vacate, most are just militia and basic cavalry, but Strasbourg has a decent sized force led by Napoleon’s brother-in-law Joachim Murat.
The French Imperial Army, scattered across Alsace-Lorraine, Northern Italy, and Hannover
The rest of the Imperial Army is along the empire’s eastern border. Napoleon himself commands the largest army to the west of Strasbourg, close to two smaller forces led by Marshals Michel Ney and Louis-Nicolas Davout. Over in Northern Italy a detachment led by Marshal Jean-André Masséna guards the border with Austria, and in isolated Hannover a similar-sized group guards the city with Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte as its commander.
The two French fleets, one off Portugal and the other near Genoa, and the flagship Scipion.
The French Navy has just two fleets. The Atlantic Squadron is currently stationed near Portugal, Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve commands the immense 122-gun Scipion, two 3rd rates, two 4th rates, and frigate. The Mediterranean Squadron is near French-controlled Genoa, led by Vice-Admiral Victor Durand it consists of just two frigates and a corvette.
Soon the French Empire won’t have any ports that need defending or to repair ships at, and my income is about to nosedive, so I think it’s time to do something reckless…
An outnumbered French fleet is defeated by Britain’s finest, but not without scoring a massive blow against the Royal Navy.
Admiral Villeneuve is told to take his fleet north and engage whatever enemy vessels he can find, to sink as many ships as possible even if it risks wiping out his own. It doesn’t take long: in the Bay of Biscay the Atlantic Squadron bumps into none other than Vice-Admiral Nelson and a huge British fleet. The two commanders had previously fought at the Battle of the Nile as Rear-Admirals, and in reality weren’t due to meet for another 10 months at the Battle of Trafalgar. The British fleet greatly dwarfs the French, with Nelson commanding his own 122-gun Heavy 1st rate, a 1st rate, two 2nd rates, and three 3rd rates!
I auto-resolve the battle, resulting in an expected defeat. Villeneuve survives on board a battered Scipion, with only a 4th rate for company, but somehow his squadron managed to sink every British vessel except for Nelson’s Rose! The Royal Navy has suffered a pyrrhic victory, my navy upkeep costs have gone down by more than 1,000 gold, and what remains of the Atlantic Squadron flees south to join up with the Mediterranean Squadron next turn.
Parts of the French Empire are sold off, ready for them to be retaken in alphabetical order with the rest of Europe.
With those naval manoeuvres finished I start haggling with other nations to remove eleven French regions that are stopping me from starting my alphabetical challenge. I sell each region to a different ruler, to get as much cash from the sale and to stop any one nation becoming too powerful. I try to give territory that is towards the end of the alphabet to my allies, and those towards the start to my enemies, to prevent having to backstab my friends until I’m already forced to destroy them anyway.
While cash is important I also barter for as many technologies as I can: one technology can take 7 turns to research, gaining them now will pay dividends in growing my economy and strengthening my armed forces.
The main achievement of these region swaps, apart from losing all my income and making me only one region away from defeat, is completely changing the United Kingdom’s foreign policy: by letting George III have both a personal and political union with Hannover I convince the British Empire to abandon all of its allies, and instead join the side of its centuries-old nemesis. That recent battle in Biscay didn’t seem to matter! Along with becoming friends with Prussia I now feel less worried that Paris might be immediately marched on, though it’s hard to tell how long these new alliances will last.
The first unedited screenshot of the game. France is exempt from taxes, to help pretend it doesn’t exist, which doesn’t help the Empire’s negative income.
After all those region swaps I now only control France, as mentioned before I can’t remove this territory without automatically losing the game. So to try not to benefit from being forced to keep France I’ve set myself the rule that I cannot build anything there, cannot research there, cannot recruit any troops from Paris, and the region is exempt from taxes. I keep a company of Grenadiers à Cheval and two artillery batteries to defend the capital, together they cost 546 gold a turn in upkeep so Paris is losing me money!
Right, the game is now set up to start my challenge of conquering Europe in alphabetical order (sort of, ignore France). Which region do I need to capture first?
Alsace-Lorraine. Only just traded to the Austrian Empire, it is surrounded by French armies including one teleported from Hannover.
This is Alsace-Lorraine. Two images ago it became Austrian, in exchange for 5,530 gold and two technologies that would have taken me 14 turns to research. Unfortunately for Austria the region is surrounded by the bulk of the French Imperial Army, so the question isn’t how will I immediately conquer Alsace-Lorraine but can I do so without losing a single soldier?
The full might of the Imperial Army is amassed against Strasbourg, defended by a small number of Austrian infantrymen and some armed civilians.
Marshals Ney, Murat, and Bernadotte link up to immediately attack Strasbourg together. The full stack of units is supported by further armies commanded by Napoleon and Marshal Davot. Protecting the city is just five companies of Austrian line infantry, supported by hastily-armed citizens.
Alsace-Lorraine is captured, denting the expected deficit and allowing resources to be spent on improving the French military and economy.
It would be insanity to resist such an attack so the small Austrian infantry detachment wisely surrenders without a fight. Unfortunately, yet again, there is no battle to see here!
I choose to peacefully occupy Strasbourg and immediately start the construction of basic roads, a cannon factory, a musket manufactory, and an iron mine, plus a cantonment to replace the local tax office. Until that’s all built I can’t actually recruit any more soldiers, cavalry, or artillery (as I’m ignoring France existing). So avoiding a battle is boring but the troops I have are priceless!
The people of Alsace-Lorraine are unhappy under French rule, despite being Austrian for less time than it takes to read this sentence. Luckily I need to keep a large garrison here anyway to protect against my enemies to the east, and I also lower taxes a little to keep the region’s population and wealth growing, so the newly conquered population should be content for now.
OK, so far this challenge seems ridiculously easy, I captured my first region immediately without a single casualty. What’s next?
Aquitaine. Until very recently French, traded away to the Russian Empire.
This is Aquitaine. Like Alsace-Lorraine it was part of the French Empire but quickly traded away, this time to Russia, and like Strasbourg an enemy force has magically popped into existence to guard the region’s capital.
Unlike last time though there are no doom stacks waiting, ready to steamroll the city. What I do have is a random collection of units which originally guarded Bordeaux, Rennes, and Toulouse. A force of two companies of Chasseurs à Cheval (light cavalry) and two cohorts of the local National Guard is led by Captain Alexandre de Rosée, who waits for a company of Chevau-légers Lanciers (lancer cavalry) and another cohort of militia to reinforce him from Bretagne. Combined, this ragtag group of misfits should be enough to win against six battalions of Russian infantry squatting in Bordeaux. So attacking the city will need to wait until next turn, but before we move to Late January 1805 I have a few chores to do…
The French Empire is leaps and bounds ahead of every other nation in research, but this has ground to a halt until a college can be acquired.
One task is to think about researching new technologies. Most nations begin with all technologies locked, some are lucky to have already researched one or two when the game starts. France is luckiest of all with three technologies already researched: Army Corps Organisation, Conscription, and Division of Labour). Thanks to those earlier region trades the French now also understand Classical Economics), Fire and Advance), Improved Coppering), National Debt), and Public Schooling.
Those technologies provide various small economic and military bonuses which will take any other nation at least 50 turns to research, so I’m at a significant advantage on turn 1. However with my self-imposed rule of ignoring the existence of France I cannot use Orléans to start researching any new technologies, instead I send my two gentlemen east towards the first region which will provide a college I can use. It will take more than 10 turns for François-René de Chateaubriand and Jean Rapp to reach their destination, in the meantime my enemies will have unlocked a new technology each, and I have to hope the college they’re travelling to will be controlled by the French Empire by the time they arrive! Charles-Louis Schulmeister, French spy extraordinaire, joins them on the journey.
The French Council of State sees the appointment of a Keeper of the Seals, and new trade deals dent an expected deficit.
One other job to do before ending the first turn is to review who is running things. My starting ministers all have decent stats except for 3 star Keeper of the Seals Claude Ambroise Régnier. I replace him with a string of candidates until one, Oliver Molyneux, arrives with the Stallholder trait which give him a total of 4 management stars. That one extra star means the cost of repressing unrest in my regions is 3% cheaper, and that repression now has a +1 bonus. Small benefits like that could make or break my game in the long run!
Selling off all my regions severed all my trade routes. I re-establish all of them except the one with Spain, as I no longer have a sea or land connection with the Iberia Peninsula. Instead I create a trade agreement with the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel, worth 300 less gold than the Spanish agreement. Overall my trade income has dropped by 1,100 gold since I started this game, but at least I’m now only going to lose 2,880 in gold per turn!


That's the draft of this first chapter for now, this will be taken down when I start posting chapters on the Total War subreddit.
submitted by malcolio to u/malcolio [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 22:22 DrugsAreJustBadMmkay Can you get away from this?

1/2 NL
Main villain had about $350 behind, hero covers with about ~$1,200. Hero has been very action all night, getting plenty of bluffs through but also getting caught on a few. Definitely have a LAG image at this point.
Folds to hero on the button, $12 raise with Ac2c. Small blind calls, big blind raises to $35, hero and small blind call.
Flop comes out Ad2s7h
Checks to hero who bets $40. Small blind folds, big blind calls.
Turn is 10h. Board is Ad2s7h10h
Big blind checks, hero bets $100. Looking to get value from AK / AQ / AJ / non-believing KK / QQ / JJ. Villain in the BB has only ever 3bet premiums in my experience playing with him.
BB shoves for his remaining stack ($275), so it’s $175 more to win about $560. Hero calls and villain shows top set with aces.
This is actually the second time this has happened to me, and I’m curious as to whether I’m just punting at this point. I always think they’re overplaying top pair good kicker and that they just CANT have aces when I have one and there’s one on the board. Is this just a call and move on spot? Sigh fold? Snap fold? Pot control on earlier streets?
submitted by DrugsAreJustBadMmkay to poker [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 22:12 TopResponsibility492 Software Engineering student looking for a Summer 2025 internship

submitted by TopResponsibility492 to resumes [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 22:07 matti07tech Pleiades, California and Double cluster

Pleiades, California and Double cluster
This is an improved version of an image I already posted a few months ago, in the new version I did some tweaks with the brightness and reduced RGB noise.
This is 300 15s untracked exposures , shot on Xiaomi 11T Pro in Bortle 6 - Stacked in Sequator and processed in Siril, Lightroom and Snapseed. I've used Snapseed's selective brightness tool to adjust individual portions of the sky that had inconsistent brightness or contrast (probably due to field rotation) and to bring up NGC 1499's and Pleiades brightness and contrast
submitted by matti07tech to astrophotography [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 21:20 NegativeHadron Attempt at NGC 7000(untracked), feel free to leave a feedback

Attempt at NGC 7000(untracked), feel free to leave a feedback
Untracked NGC 7000, i recentered my camera every around 70 shots.
Hi, i am and begginer located in Czech Republic. Welcome to my first try in AP with a proper camera and lens. The shooting and the processing was really fun. I live in a bortle 6 part of a city, but have access to a field facing away from a city. Luckily, in this time of the year, one of the brightest nebulae in the sky can be seen.
NGC 7000 or North America nebula is an emission nebula, located 2 590 ly away from earth. if i had and modified astrophotography camera or Ha filter, patches of red ionized hydrogen gas would be seen in the mainly in centre of the image, the NGC 7000 itself. NGC 7000 is acompanied by another emission nebula, IC 5070 or Pelican nebula, located right beside NGC 7000 to the right, but it is barely visible.
i wish i could pull more data, but my memory and space in my computer is limited to max 40 minutes of data( which i will definetly try to do) and because of my older computer, this took 8 hours to stack. But i plan to get star tracker as soon as i can so it wont be a problem.
Another setback was the placement of the nebula. Although opposite of the city, it lingered above a highway, with complicated the editing a little and sure buried some data.
i enjoyed the proccessing, the background extraction was i think the biggest carry during the proccessing session. plus, i find Sadr region much harder to process because of how little the of dark clouds are.
One think that frustrated me was SO MANY STARS. I feel i could bring the dust much more if it werent for the amunt of stars i got.
I am excited to reshoot this under darker skies(have occasionall access to bortle 3-4 zones) and maybe get some Ha even without filter. And to capture many more dso, I have plans for summer like Lagoon nebula and Small Sagittarius cloud, and Orion and Andromeda for winter. For darker skies, i plan to try more faint dso's like Cygnus loop, hearth and soul nebula or Flaming star nebula, just out of curiosity and challenge.
I am open to any feedback from you guys, and, if you would like, i can sent original image(because it is too big for imgur and i dont know how to do it otherwise :) )
SPECS:
Equipment:
Camera: Canon EOS 60D
Lens: Canon EF 85mm f/1.8
basic tripod
Settings:
ISO: 1600
Shutter speed: 1,6s
aperture: f/2
Total integration: around 21 mintes
Calibration frames:
Darks- 30
Bias- 60
Flats- still cant figure them out
Sky:
Bortle 6
Moon- little to none
tempature of air: around 16 degress celcius
Processed in Siril
submitted by NegativeHadron to astrophotography [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 21:19 masterofpiss Analysis of Mario The Exploro

Analysis of Mario The Exploro
Surprise! Despite being on theory break I decided to do an analysis of this week's smg4 episode due to the contents it contained, as well as mr.puzzles's return. You see, I believe that it wouldn't be fitting if I didn't analyze an smg4 episode with the adware at the center of it. So with that out of the way, let's begin.
Image 1: MARIO, STOP! Have you learned nothing from what happened in the adware saga? DESTROY THAT THING BEFORE IT CAUSES ANOTHER STORYLINE TO HAPPEN! Ok, all jokes aside, I find it awfully suspicious that mario would just so happen to suddenly grab the mr.puzzles tv and bring it to smg4 after everything that happened in the puzzlevision movie, and I wouldn't even be remotely surprised if the mario that we see in this episode is a literal fake. Hell, if that's the case then it'd at least explain Mario's lack of screen time in the puzzlevision movie, which would be pretty smart on smg4's part.
Image 2: Here we go again.... ALRIGHT MR.PUZZLES, WHAT NIGHTMARE FUEL DO YOU HAVE FOR US TODAY?
Image 3: Ok look, I know that the original Dora tv show was basically a computer game masquerading as a tv show, but after everything we've gone through in the adware saga, it still feels... wrong to see a computer monitor again, but I'm probably stretching it here if I'm being honest.
Image 4: Alright, let's see what we've got this time, mario is unsurprisingly an animal again, and smg4 is going to see his paren- Wait a second, smg4 doesn't have any parents, after all, he did come from a usb that crashed into the mushroom kingdom, meaning that he shouldn't have any to begin with, but I guess we'll just have to see what happens in this episode.
Image 5: and once again, we have another fourth wall question gag. Good one smg4!
Image 6: so Luigi is the map huh? I'm definitely not surprised here. I also like the nice touch of static appearing on Luigi's phone, because it's a great nod to mr.puzzles's use of static throughout the adware saga.
Image 7: Well, I definitely wasn't expecting that.
Image 8: So Bob is swiper in this parody? Neat! I also like the addition of him being called Bob the robber as it basically ties to his mafia connections and gags that we saw in the adware saga.
Image 9: Am I the only one who finds it odd that we're seeing smg4 getting beaten up now instead of mario? Hell, mario wasn't even tormented in this episode, which is a far cry from what we saw in the first 3 puzzlevision shows. Perhaps smg4 is hinting towards the reviewers playing a role in the near future.
Image 10: 0_0 OH GOD! IT'S HIM! Mr.puzzles is TRULY back. I wonder what he has up his sleeves this time... Also, it appears that there's another clue towards this mario being fake copy here. You see, mario shifts the camera shortly after Mr.puzzles goes to help him, with the camera displaying minor interference before it shows Mr.puzzles. This is strange considering that Mr.puzzles is usually the one who does this sort of thing, so this mario being fake could genuinely be the case here.
Image 11: I'm glad to know that mr.puzzles and mario still argue in the shows, I guess some things will never change. Also, that filter does unsettle me a bit, because it feels odd to see it being used in this manner when smg4 suddenly got revived.
Image 12: let me guess, nobody's there... I KNEW IT! (Note: I should mention that it's interesting that smg4's parents don't exist in this show, mainly because it heavily implies that mr.puzzles has at least some knowledge of the events that transpired during the cosmology lore. Why else would smg4's parents in the show not show up at all?)
Image 13: WHOA! Is mr.puzzles trying to slowly trap the crew in his head out of revenge for what happened during the adware saga? whispering OK, scratch that, he actually isn't doing this here.
Image 14: First off, not being a monkey should be the LEAST of your concerns mario. Secondly, I like the animation and sound design being used here to show mr.puzzles coming back. It's a soundtrack of pure tension and mild horror as mr.puzzles slowly goes back into his true form while smg4 and mario watch on in horror. It's just plain perfect. Great work smg4!
Images 15 and 16: I'm not going to lie here, this scene is definitely intriguing to me. You see, mr.puzzles is acting off in this scene, almost as if he's trying to put on a mask so he can manipulate the smg4 cast into doing what he wants, and we get foreshadowing towards this actually being the case when he punches himself and changes what he was originally saying. We also see him hold 5 stars within his hands, which is odd considering that all of his stars were almost completely obliterated at the end of the puzzlevision movie, which could potentially hint at him making a deal with another entity. Then there's the fact that mr.puzzles now apparently wants to make the smg4 show his own, and while I'm unsure as to how he'll be able to accomplish this without going after his 5 stars, it does truly feel like he's now a puppet for an entity that's more dangerous than he is, or that he might actually be trying to make the smg4 show his own in order to stop a higher entity that he's aware of, and something tells me that the entity(s) in question are the group that I've been referring to as "the reviewers". After all, smg4 did get higher ratings than mr.puzzles in the puzzlevision movie, so what if the ratings he received in that film made the reviewers take an interest in the smg4 show? It could provide answers as to why we saw static and glitching in last week's episode despite the adware literally chosing to not re-appear until this weeks episode, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens next.
Image 17: Now despite mr.puzzles being back, something tells me that he's likely going to be a lesser threat in the near future, after all, we did get a minor introduction to the reviewers in the puzzlevision movie, and it seems like he's desperate to get the attention of the smg4 cast, which is definitely odd for him. So with all of that in mind I guess I should tell you guys something. You see, when I get off of my break in the first week of June, I'm going to be shifting the focus of my theories away from mr.puzzles and focusing on the reviewers. This is mainly because it truly feels like the reviewers are going to be very important in the near future, and considering how little we truly know about them, it leaves them open to a lot of speculation, so I hope you'll check out what theories I have about them in the near future. And with that out of the way, thank you for reading!
submitted by masterofpiss to SMG4 [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 21:09 Idin_Saei How to remove "ring effect" from astrophotos taken with my phone?

≈150 stacked images, taken on my S22+. What bothers me is the camera ring present, engrained in the photo. How do I prevent this from happening in the future?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y5-Rh8IaT5SkQ4K1YTzPC3DZkONILjDB/view?usp=drivesdk
submitted by Idin_Saei to AskAstrophotography [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 21:04 windkirby Animal Crossing Pocket Camp v5.6.0b Update

Animal Crossing Pocket Camp v5.6.0b Update
https://preview.redd.it/rt5g4izve81d1.png?width=150&format=png&auto=webp&s=e92e4177a6720fb59c74fff55aa90e86e208a9db
Howdy, messy roommates. If you felt a bit tickled-pink-to-death by April’s roseate flurry of events, this year’s May just may have the cure with a foray into the airborne, outdoorsy, and adventurous. Thanks as always to Miranda, Bassieeee, and Ray for help datamining. We’ve got our airships, our kites, and our handheld birds, so let’s get our flight gear in check and take off our Zipper constumes (please I’m begging you guys)!
Twitter preview image for May 2024 in Pocket Camp

  • Version Codes
    • v5.6.0 was 61b5c, v5.6.0b is 45822.
    • This is a client-side update that should not require downloading a new version of the app.
  • May Seasonal Event – Village-Green Lazy Day
    • It’s with great embarrassment that Pete regretfully admits why there was no Valentine’s Day this year… Some troublemaking slingshotter hit clean through his mailbag, scattering all this year’s love letters in the snow! With Wilbur and Orville taking over, Pete is taking a little spring break sabbatical from all the stress… These breezy days are perfect for daydreaming about his longtime love, Phyllis. “Do you know what she said to me the other day? ‘What are you looking at?! Wipe that dopey look off your mug!’ Oh, my heart… Her billed lips are so beautiful when they speak such harsh words!” But while Pete relaxes, there’s still work to be done! This May, we’ll be participating in Harvey’s Colorful Picnic gardening event, the Kite Flying Fishing Tourney, and the Hide-and-Seek Scavenger Hunt to collect 30 wildflower bouquets from each for a total of 90 wildflower bouquets available from events this month. The more bouquets you gather, the more outdoorsy prizes you’ll receive through the planner including handheld foxtail and wildflowers, grassy napping spots, and the grand prize, the wildflower rest spot! We’ll need to forage deep in the woods to gather all the love letters scattered months ago… and hopefully even Pete’s treasured missives to his beloved would-be missus! (Not that she would ever agree…) May’s amazing, not-so-lazy days begin with Harvey’s Colorful Picnic a little early on April 30th GMT!
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  • May Terrain – Village Green
    • May’s new terrain set ushers a civic springtime atmosphere into your campsite with a verdant park square replete with striking fountains, blue flowerbeds, weirdly cubic trees, and a rustic clocktower standing watch. What’s more, this terrain’s middle ground will be given to all players—a little awkward without the foreground to complete the water path, but you can get a little creative and hide the rift with other water features or large-scale decorations. The background includes a homey albeit bustling, old-fashioned town and a blimp roving the airways while the sky adds fresh greenish, teal, and gold hues to your vista you might not often see. Your visitors might not exactly be green with envy considering everyone’s getting this terrain, but they can still park their rears to enjoy your campsite’s outdoor amenities when this terrain set of middle ground, foreground, background, and sky becomes available April 30th GMT.
Tip screen for the village green terrain; auto-designer images using the village green terrain and items from May's main three events; event preview image for Harvey's Colorful Picnic gardening event
  • May Gardening Event – Harvey’s Colorful Picnic
    • Harvey’s not sure why his beloved Harriet never responded to his thoughtful love letter a couple months ago… But he’s totally not gonna let it get him down! With the breezy, clear weather, it’s the perfect time for this free-spirited nomadic dog to have a picnic with his favorite pals… and put his aspiring photography skills to good use to document the event with a panoply of pics to post on social media. Harriet is bound to see it and know for sure that he’s not pining for her day and night! But for the picnic to work, we’ll need to plant daisy seeds to attract sandwichbees… The prospect of eating these creatures is a bit disturbing to stomach, but just think of them as lively kebabs! More importantly, sticking enough of bite-sized buzzers will earn fixings for a festive picnic including flag garlands, take-out drinks and sandwiches, and shaded picnic blankets! Completing this event in full will also yield 30 wildflower bouquets as part of May’s Village-Green Lazy Day campaign, so be sure to replant and exchange bugs with friends often! With outdoor hors-d’oeuvres and sportive knickknacks, it’s the almost-perfect respite between RV outings… Now if he could only get them to call him “Harv” like she used to… Stuff down your doggone feelings with a refreshmental health break when the groovy gardening begins April 30th GMT.
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  • Rudy’s Airship Cookie
    • Maybe it’s a resemblance to a certain reindeer, but Rudy’s always taken as much pride in delivering goodies as he does in his favorite pastime of taking to the skies with inflatable aircraft… He’s not especially careful aboard these dirigibles or hot-air balloons… but if he finds himself freefalling from these feline-friendly floats (and it’s happened many times before), he always manages to land on his feet. So when he spied a love letter addressed to Harriet lost in the brush on one of his airborne outings, Rudy saw it as his civic duty to trustily tend to its safe delivery… And to make sure his noble act of inspiration inspires as many as it should, he’s taken the opportunity to hire a bountiful brigade of blimps and balloons to celebrate the letter’s airborne journey, no expenses spared! For no other particular reason, it’s a raucous, helium-fueled festival starring an airship helmed by Boomer (who has no time for such foolishness but takes his piloting task with utter seriousness), and animals have come from miles around to watch the airshow as Rudy suddenly realizes how hard it is to make out Harriet’s address from the frankly indecipherable scribbles on the envelope. And what is “Harv”? Is that even a word? With refreshments from the balloon-fest food cart, viewers watch the proceedings through their handheld opera glasses as Rudy makes his grand pronouncements over the intercom of his 5-star balloon-fest airship. “Thanks everybody for all your support in completing our big mission. We were gonna hand-deliver this letter originally, but we figure there’s a pretty good chance this ‘Harriet’ is in the crowd somewhere, so we’ve made the decision to helpfully read it out loud for her own convenience, and also to, uh, save fuel and the environment. Ahem: ‘TO MY DEAR SWEET HATTIE. YOUR PRECIOUS PINK FUR IS MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN THE FRESHEST MORNING PEONY. BUT THIS AIN’T NO PUPPY LOVE. YOU’VE TRIMMED THE UNTAMED HAIR OF MY HEART INTO A PERFECTLY COIFFED COAT THAT KEEPS IT WARM, AND NO OTHER GAL WILL ’DO! SORRY, I NEED TO WRAP THIS UP—THIS ANNOYING BIRD ON MY HEAD KEEPS TUGGING AT MY HEADBAND. FUREVER YOURS, HARV. PS: THIS LETTER IS FOR HARRIET’S EYES ONLY.’ Wow, well, that definitely wasn’t worth this big party... Uh, let’s go find some more lost mail to rescue, Boomer—mush, mush! Launch into the catmosphere to jubilantly help out animals in need with a spy-high view of all their business when this read-nosy cookie launches May 1st GMT!
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  • Airy Picnic Outfit Collection
    • You can carry your merry little derrière a little airier with this crisp attire featuring the colors of blooming spring flowers, comfortable blue skies and ponds, and even your favorite manilla folder. And even if you live in a pollution-ravaged landfill, you can still see the striking, verdant greenery of spring through the keen lenses of the green picnic sunglasses! Make sure life’s a picnic with this cookout-ready clothing collection served hot off the grill May 5th GMT.
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  • Blue-Sky Wall & Floor Collection
    • This expansive wall and floor collection might come in handy if you want to transform your cabin or RV into a well-kept city park or attempt an interior design that takes place entirely midair! We’ve had a couple sky and cloud wallpapers before but none before that featured a swarm of balloons like in that disturbing number from the Brave Little Toaster Mars movie. The vintage-style illustrations of the plentiful-picnic wall will also harken back to simpler days of rustled-up breakfasts on rustic vacations at the family cabin or on the open road. Look for these vagrant and free-floating designs when they release May 10th GMT.
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  • Grasshopper Goals
    • You have much work to do, young grasshopper. But it’ll probably be pretty easy. This misleadingly named rerun of an April 2022 goals event will see the return of Animal Crossing mainstay and Pocket Camp common insect long locust to Sunburst Isle, where you can find it hopping about the tropical grass—make sure not to step on one! They only sell for 10 Bells, so you might find them to be more of a nuisance than an asset after you finish catching enough for your standard Leaf Tickets and Rudy's airship cookie. But they’re sure to hop along when this goals event concludes after May 11th – 14th GMT.
  • May Fishing Tourney - Kite Flying
    • For May’s fishing tourney, we’ll be gliding over to Saltwater Shores to catch an ironically grim assortment of monochrome fish from tourneys past. String enough of these sable sea fish together to unfurl prizes you can let sail into the wild blue yonder like colorful stacked kites and a birdy parachute toy—perfect for May’s spring breezes. Handheld pinwheel toys and even colorful wind socks make appearances as well, likely as loving references to the Gamecube days where wind socks could be spotted in May and players could carry pinwheels around as rare handheld decor. Completing this event in full will yield 30 wildflower bouquets as part of May’s monthlong Village-Green Lazy Day campaign, so be sure to set up your rod, reel and string every 3-hour rotation you can. You might get a few bites… or a few kites to catch a gale of a tale! Turn your attention upward and decorate your campsite skies with this colorful assortment of draft-ready aircraft… And while we don’t have any stormy or windy terrain still (tragedy of tragedies), you can still pair this with items from last June’s Drizzly Daydream Scavenger Hunt with its windblown grass and trees to complete the picture of a windswept, fun day. And if there’s any animals bothering you, tell ’em to go fly a kite when this winding race to the skies kicks off May 12th GMT, ending May 18th GMT.
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  • Special Visitor Furniture – Pete's Petite Post Office
    • With collected letters fluttering back in, it’s not too late for Pete to roll up his sleeves and start sorting the retrieved mail in his simple post-and-beam treehouse… as long as Twiggy’s pet birds quit harassing him. With this special visitor furniture, you can install Pete’s rustic postbox in your cabin or at your campsite and listen to him regale you with lofty thoughts on the lost arts of mail and romance… You can even do some matchmaking by combining it with Pelly’s postal counter to see if Pete will be too busy mooning over Phyllis to notice the admiration of her sister down below… Clear up a mess of messages with mailman whose treetop cubby is as well-billed as its drama when this pillary, pelicanny post goes on sale May 15th GMT!
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  • Twiggy's Chirpy Cookie
    • With the muddy trail of Curly gone cold, Detective Beardo has had to return to field the mountain of requests on his desk for his P.I. services, but one lonesome plea stood out from a Java sparrow by thname of Peck… “You’ve gotta help me, crunch. I finally achieved my dream of a solitary bird sanctuary all of my own. Then the next thing I know, I’m getting kicked out by Lyle with a whole series of lawsuits, and this birdbrain named Twiggy moves in! I don’t like the way she’s looking at me, Beardo! She keeps calling me her super-cute pet and won’t let me leave—she says it’s too dangerous for a bird like me. Is anybody home in that hollow noggin of hers, crunch? These wings of steel can beat up anybody! Holy moly, and the racket around here! She moved in with eighteen flocks of the loudest birds alive. I’m lucky if I get two winks of sleep! Peck’s Peaceful Paradise is a thing of the past—now it’s Twiggy’s Tweedledeelightful Chirpatorium, and she says she’s opening a new branch of Flora’s bird and breakfast retreat! When I tell her how hard I’ve worked these muscles to get here, she says that’s ‘just the way things are’ and the ‘fortune cookie powers that be’ have this stuff all hammered out! I’m not afraid to say it, Detective—I really need your help! I’m starting to think there’s something a little sexist here about who gets to have what fortune cookies, but I don’t wanna ruffle any feathers.” With a sparrow in harrowing straits, and never one to turn away from fowl play, Beardo and his trusty sidekick Merengue book the first flight out to Twiggy’s brand-new bird haven… only to find that Peck is nowhere to be seen! They check every nook in the bird-haven birdhouse, try to interview bird-lovers lounging on the redundantly named bird-haven birdy sofa… but with all the colorful bird-calling and caterwauling going on around them, they can scarcely hear any potential leads! They meet with Twiggy at the 5-star bird-haven tree, but it leads to more chicanery than answers… “ISN’T THIS PLACE THE TOTAL BEST? IT WAS SUCH A SNOOZEFEST BEFORE I GOT HERE, AND NOW IT’S, LIKE, A CHIRPY CHOIR CACOPHONY DELIVERED STRAIGHT IN MY EARDRUMS! WHAT’S THAT? WHERE? PECK? UH—I GUESS ON THE CHEEK, BUT ARE YOU SERIOUS? I JUST MET YOU! TALK ABOUT CHEAPERS CREEPERS! OH, YOU MEAN THAT HIGHTAILED HOTTIE WHO WAS HERE A COUPLE MONTHS AGO? I HAVE, LIKE, NO CLUE WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM, BUT I CALLED DIBS, SO IF YOU SEE HIM, HANDS OFF!” There’s no trace of Peck to be seen, but just then, that’s when Beardo and Merengue spot it—a handheld java sparrow perching on Twiggy’s forewing! This seems a dark coincidence… Did Peck make a brave avian escape, or did this burly boy-chick meet a perilous fate as a pet?! Beardo and Merengue keep watch on every bird and bird-watcher in this pet-filled paradise, but mum’s the bird among the patrons and no one’s making a peep… Just a cuckoo commotion that they can’t help consider would drown out a Java sparrow’s cry for help… Try to reach the bottom of a cheep trick of bye-bye birdie when this birdcagey cookie makes some noise May 17th GMT!​
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Tip screens for Twiggy's chirpy cookie, the Bright Bird Outfit Collection, and the Birdy Wall & Floor Collection
  • Bright Bird Outfit Collection
    • May’s second clothing collection works as a companion to Twiggy’s fortune cookie. It’s bright, it’s birdiful, and it’s very LOUD with bird-emblem tunics and long cardigans in, ahem, very strong colors that will certainly make a statement flapping in your viewer’s face. We reached out to Robin for her thoughts on this collection’s bird bags… “So undignified. I can’t imagine people would be too pleased if I started wearing plastic people bouncing around my derriere, carrying my loose change, hm?” Being a crazy cat lady is so 8 months ago… Become a crazy bird lady (or a crazy bird lord!) when this collection flits in on May 18th GMT.​
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  • Birdy Wall & Floor Collection
    • This set of ravin’-avian designs will set the heart aflutter of anyone who has birds on the brain… (for anyone else… they’re not bad). You can capture the visages of birds forever in the bird-photo wall or cavalierly set them free with the bird-window wall. If you enjoyed last June’s lily pond wall but feel like it was just a little too beautiful, the park-pond wall here will do you nicely. Get a little cocky with these bold patterns for your cabin or camper when this flock of refurbishments alights May 18th GMT.
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  • Threadfin Trevally Goals
    • This oddly timed rerun of a November 2021 goals event will see the return of the threadfin trevally to Saltwater Shores in the form of tiny-size shadows (size 1 of 6). They sell for 400 Bells each at base price and are uncommon-tier when gifted to animal campers, so not a bad catch, but if your interest in this wispy fellow is dangling by a thread, or a fin, you can still nab some Leaf Tickets and an Rudy’s airship cookie for your trouble during this limited-time event from May 19th through 22nd GMT.
  • May Scavenger Hunt – Hide-and-Seek
    • For May’s scavenger hunt, we’ll be searching the very best hiding places around the various recreation spots to spy hide-and-seek gyroidites. And watch out for their extra foliage as camouflage… even their bushes might be hiding behind bushes! Ferret out enough of these stealthy sneaks to earn prizes for a recess-ridden recreational park, crammed with nooks where animals can hide for classic games of hide and seek… some of them more effective than others. (I’m looking at you, Al.) Judging by the Happy Homeroom classes, the most likely Leaf Ticket items are the hide-and-seek slide and jungle gym, and then either the hide-and-seek lightpost, pipes, or drinking fountain—just some speculation, though. Completing this event in full will yield the final 30 wildflower bouquets to complete May’s monthlong Village-Green Lazy Day campaign, so be sure to keep the hunt on even past sundown (and check out the quarry and your campsite animals too!) to finish off the month in sneaky style! This outdoor décor makes for a calmingly mellow ode to nostalgic days from childhood (and from Animal Crossing: City Folk and New Leaf!) that will make finding your campers for your daily chats more ~~frustrating~~ I mean fun than ever! Hunt for gyroidite and animals when this oxenfree-for-all begins May 20th GMT (ending the 30th GMT)!
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  • Curlos and Pals
    • While there isn’t technically much datamined here, this update did add an animal batch under the name of “Curlos and Pals” to the date of May 25th GMT. It seems this will be after the next update as map assets haven’t actually been added yet for this batch, but we do know that “Gwen and Pals’ Island” will be joining Curlos’s island, likely as part of this batch. With only 8 animals left— Benjamin, Biff, Curlos, Gwen, Sydney, Velma, Freckles and Mott—it seems likely this means they will be finished releasing all the animals at the end of this month, but as of now, this is unconfirmed.
  • Happy Homeroom
    • This update included the typical 3 classes each for Harvey’s Colorful Picnic gardening event, Rudy’s airship cookie, the Kite Flying Fishing Tourney, Twiggy’s chirpy cookie, and the Hide-and-Seek Scavenger Hunt, as well as 8 classes each for new normal Courses 53 and 54.
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And that’s all of May’s merriments! Our fellow dataminer Koopavocelot has also spotted a noteworthy notice that may be coming this month but no info yet on its contents… Hopefully it’s not some sort of end-of-times apocalyptic alert with the last of the villagers likely coming out this month. Er… right? As for June, we’ll probably get the Twitter preview in only a week’s time. June is often themed around seasonal rain or weddings as they’re what the month is known for in Japan, and given that we just had a windy-themed event this month, I’d expect more of the latter matrimania for next month’s events. But who knows? We might get some of both in a dewy bridal shower! (Or maybe something completely different.) I’ll aim to have that datamine posted for you fine folks when the update drops ASAP. Until then, thanks for reading, and remember, even if a bird is super-hunkalicious, that doesn’t make it okay to keep him as a pet!
—Woodsy
submitted by windkirby to ACPocketCamp [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 19:37 Own_Situation_1304 NGC7000

NGC7000
Cheap 50 mm aperture guidescope for AP? Hell yeah! This time in dual narrowband and Foraxx palette
Imaging scope: SW Evoguide 50ED (doublet FPL-53)
Field Flattener: Starizina EvoFF v2
Svbony SV220 7nm dual narrowband filter
Imaging camera: ASI 585 MC (uncooled)
Guiding scope: SV165
Guiding camera: ASI 120mm Mini
SW AZ GTI in EQ mode
AsiAir Mini
274x60s (4h 34min total integration)
Center of Prague, CZ (Bortle 7/8)
Calibrated with flats/biases
Stacked in Siril with 2x drizzle, further processed in PI and PS
submitted by Own_Situation_1304 to telescopes [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 19:25 Omegarus211 Ragnarok: Second Coming - Chapter 6

Ragnarok: Second Coming - Chapter 6
Chapter 6 – {Awakening}
“What a sudden turn of events! Camulus has undergone a startling transformation, and has now suddenly gained the advantage! Can Henry come back from this? Or will Camulus crush him like the unstoppable force he has now seem to have become.”
“What are we gonna’ do nowwwwww?” Goll whined, tears streaming down her face as she shelled up on the floor.
Arthur looked at her sympathetically, as if he were a dad looking at his crying daughter. Kneeling down, he placed a hand on her shoulder and rubbed gently, trying to rouse her from her worry. “There, there, the fight is not over yet.” Arthur assured her softly.
Snapping up into a sitting position, she grabbed a hold of whatever cloth she could get her hands on and began to shake Arthur as hard as she could. With tear now of anger rather than sadness, she began to shout at him. “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, “The fights not over yet”? HE'S JUST TAKEN ON A STRONGER FORM, AND HENRY CAN BARELY KEEP UP WITH HIM AT HIS BASE LEVEL! HOW THE HELL DO YOU SUGGEST THEY GET OUT OF THIS ONE?!”
He tried to get out a response as he shook back and forth wildly, “Just-keep-wa-tching-the-ma-tch.”

As Goll had a meltdown up in the stands, Henry was struggling to stand on the field. His left arm had been rendered little more than a clump of bruised flesh and powdered bone, the mangled limb twisted at a truly sickening angle. The rest of his exposed form was bruised, bloodied and battered, micro cuts crisscrossed his frame alongside deeper gashes and rents in his flesh from the many blows he had endured over the course of the fight. And now he stood, staring up at his opponent, stronger than ever, like a stone wall, waiting for Henry to shatter himself on his now indomitable stature.
And yet, the light still burned in Henry’s mind. Like an everlasting flame, the spark of warmth, of passion and determination still burned in Henry’s soul. He would see this fight through, no matter the odds stacked against him, or the forces that sought to block his path, he would endure. It did not matter to him that one of his arms had been mangled. The god could have a leg, if they wanted, perhaps even both. As long as he could raise his sword, he could still fight. And if he could fight, he could win.
All it would take, is one good shot.
“I would advise you to surrender now. Perhaps they’ll let you keep your life.” Camulus suggested, a deep grimace on his face.
Planting his sword in the cracks of the stone, Henry propped himself up on the blade, his muscle screaming for release, yet he could not stop. He strained to smile, his eyes bleary as he looked at his adversary. “I’m sorry,” he declared, pride creeping into his voice, “but a King bows to no one, not mortal, and since the gods show themselves cruel and fickle, not even them. As a leader, I would be a disgrace if I chose any path other than battle.”
Camulus processed his opponent’s words for a second, then a toothy grin stretched on his face, one of pride and excitement, but more worryingly, one of sheer bloodlust, “Then we’re of the same mind.”
Camulus’ image blurred as he seemed to vanish into thin air. Confusion didn’t even have time to set in, as the god’s fist smashed into the plate of armour protecting Henry torso just below the sternum. The shock wave of the blow boomed throughout the stadium. Henry heaved as the hit knocked him away, but before he could go very far, a nanosecond after the punch, the sole of Camulus’ foot slammed into Henry’s face brutalizing his nose and adding more momentum in addition to the punch, sending him clear across the ring, crashing into the walls and the arena.
Henry hacked up a glob of blood as his head spun for the 1-2 combo of devastation. Camulus sauntered toward Henry as if he were taking a stroll through the fields. The image vanished, before appearing directly above Henry in an instant. A wicked grin near split Camulus’ face as he began to hammer down on Henry’s form. All Henry could do was shell up in hopes to stave off the onslaught. The blows came in a million a second, embedding him deeper into the stone as the armour continued to crumple under the pressure.

“It seems Camulus has this battle won.” Andrasta commented, her tone pointedly neutral.
“Yes, but at what cost?” Cnabetius answered, his voice wavering as he was on the verge of tears.
“The little one is right,” Caturix answered, “that form may give him great physical might, but it comes at the cost of a deteriorating mental state.”
Lugh spoke up. “And you would know about this?” he prodded, trying to get more information out of the Battle King.
Caturix’s jaw clenched as he watched the fight intently, his mind and body on edge from the brutal display

Swinging his arm wide, he dug his arm into the arena and dragged it through the stone, palming the side of his opponent’s head and sending them flying through the air, before quickly crashing into the ground with a sickening thud.
Seeing his fallen foe splayed across the ground, Camulus crouched down and tensed, as if he were an apex predator waiting for the right moment to strike his prey. Henry, meanwhile, was struggling to breathe after the bombardment of blows. He heaved as he struggled to rise to his feet, the misshapen armour now digging into his body at odd angles. His knees were shaking as the struggled to rise to his feet.
In an instant, his adversary was again upon him, battering with every kind of blow at every angle one could think of. Punches, kick, elbows, knees, chops, Camulus even made use of the spikes and blades on his knuckledusters, raking and slashing them across any exposed flesh he could see. Henry struggled to withstand the hail of blows, each hits threatening to knock him over. He couldn’t dodge the assault, he could barely block or even see the hits. The sheer speed and ferocity of the onslaught made it nigh impossible to even find an opportunity to counter, let alone pull it off successfully.
Camulus began to laugh uproariously, seemingly enjoying the punishment he was inflicting upon his prey, almost relishing in the game of life and death. Each blow forced Henry back, his will struggling to keep him from being knocked clean off his feet.
A punch smashed into Henry’s stomach, making Henry wretch as he struggled to keep his stomach contents from being violently forced from his body. An instant later, an upper cut hammered into his jaw with the might of a catapult, launching his body high into the air. Henry’s head wrung like a gong as not even a moment later, Camulus was directly above him. Henry tried to raise his sword to strike at his foe, but he found it kicked away as Camulus began to spin, gaining momentum as he prepared to strike his opponent down. As his fists came down, for just a moment, the metals shone like diamonds in the sunlight.
[Colchester Crash]
This time, there was no defence, no counter to the blow. It connected squarely into Henry’s chest, as the blow slammed down both combatants like a meteor. The ground was blasted to pieces as small rock were smashed to dust in the wind, and largerocks sent flying in every direction. The building seemed to be cracking apart, sending both god and man alike into a panic as they rushed to either escape or stop the damage from becoming worse. The sound boomed throughout the entire Realm as the dust settled into a thick cloud that covered the arena.
Several moments passed as the cloud slowly died away to reveal the carnage. What ever hadn’t been destroyed before the impact as certainly pulverised now. The floor was a mess, rock jutting up from the earth at random intervals, as if they were whales breaching the surface of the sea. Cracks like spider webs sectioned the ground, transforming the terrain into a grid of madness.
It was from that chaos one of the combatants forced themselves into the light. The rocks moved and shifted, giving way to reveal Camulus almost completely unharmed.
Physically, at least.
Mentally it was clear that something was not right. His eyes were red deeply bloodshot and demented, his grin splitting his face as his teeth slowly grinded together. If his sanity hadn’t fled him before, it was certainly gone now.

“Uh, guys”, Cnabetius stammered, “I don’t like that look he has.”
“It’s quite worrisome.” Andrasta replied, a slight warble in her voice from fear.
“Most worrisome.” Lugh added.
Meanwhile, Caturix began to shake, the pace of his breath increasing steadily as he took in the sight, his worst nightmare come back to haunt him. ‘Dammit, I knew this would happen, I knew that if that form was released it would be the end for all of us.’

He remembered that day as if he were living it. The day when the true God of War was decided.
The great battles of unification had taken millennia, dozens, if not hundred of God’s staking their claim as the one true God of War. It was an intense and bloody affair, but at the end, it had come down to two men, two unbroken warriors; The Battle King, Caturix and the Untameable Flame, Camulus. It had been a battle that had been brewing for centuries, and in Caturix’s mind, it did not disappoint.
For days, the two warred, battering each other bloody with everything they had in their arsenal.
[Magh Ithe]
https://preview.redd.it/0r71zysrx71d1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=70dfb70dbc3ab6c98510e84bdf98f1576ee27fde
[Cicollui Clothesline]
https://preview.redd.it/pijyzwkiz71d1.png?width=4096&format=png&auto=webp&s=2ac76f796bdb6a771ae5610b9d04cad53d6a266a
[Helvetii]
https://preview.redd.it/20lqcvwjz71d1.png?width=4096&format=png&auto=webp&s=b61ff27d99b8dbfc33cbe1a5f4d86ab91cb94478
Caturix hit Camulus with every attack in his arsenal, yet the kid refused to fall, refused to yield. Instead, the young God only used each blow as motivation to hit back harder
[Colchester Crash]
https://preview.redd.it/ctfzhvxzx71d1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=69fe9294178bdd12e42c8ebec7681c8076beeaf8
[Gae Pretannia]
https://preview.redd.it/09zykjugz71d1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=d294b99e7cf9aebfa054d983c93c8f7c279b7e25
[Sacred Fire]
https://preview.redd.it/rudzl0z8z71d1.png?width=4096&format=png&auto=webp&s=6660480e1a6b17f44936e9c2ad18be239d1e433b
Blow after blow, each stronger than the last. But just as Camulus refused to fall, neither did Caturix. Even [Across the Channel], professed by many to be the knockout blow against him was not actually enough to drop him, not on it’s own. In fact, as the battle drew to it’s close, it seemed as if Caturix was finally beginning to get the better of his rival.
He hit another [Magh Ithe] flush into Camulus’s chest. How many he had hit at that point was lost to Caturix, he lost count after 36. But this time, after so much punishment, Camulus finally looked as if he was about to drop.
‘Just one more.’ Caturix thought tiredly, yet hopefully to himself. ‘Just one more hit, and he might finally go down’.
Caturix moved in, charging up a final blow, ready to finally put an end to this.
“Eat this! [Europa: Overlord]”
He launched the move with full might. The mere force of the group rending it asunder.
Only to find a fist connecting squarely with his jaw.
Now, Caturix had endured the feeling of a punch countless of his millennia of combat. He had endured countless punches in this fight alone. So it it is all the more notable that this punches, out of the uncountable masses, was the one he recognised about all others. He remembered it for one simple reason. Never before, and never since , had any one blow struck him as hard as that one punch.
At that moment, Caturix knew one painful, and consuming truth. He was going to lose.
The Camulus struck with [Across the Channel].
Whilst the first one had been impactful, this second flurry carried with it far greater speed and power, too great for even the battle king to withstand. It was as if Camulus had gathered a second wind, twice as strong as before. The final blow smashed into Caturix’s temple, sending his brain spinning through several dimensions as the battle king, after so long, finally fell.
Camulus was the victor. Yet he did not stop.
Instead, Camulus leapt upon his foe with ferocity, like a rabid animal tearing at a carcass. He began to pummel the battle king mercilessly, wanting his pound of flesh from his opponent. It was here, up close, that Caturix could see the change his opponent underwent, the strange blue markings that were spread across his body like war paint, and his deeply bloodshot eyes. The beating was relentless, as the new monster sought to punish Caturix for daring to challenge it.
He knew he had to do something to seal this monster that had been unleashed from with Camulus’ soul, lest he rampage throughout the Realm.
[Sheathing of the Blade]
Caturix stabbed into Camulus at specific spots with the spikes on his gauntlets, finding the vital points where energy was drawn from, and sealing them. He would not know whether it worked in the moment, as he passed out a second later. It would only be when he awoke days later, did he find out his success.
It would be the first and last time he would fight Camulus for the top. Not because he saw himself as lesser, but because he did not want to risk unleashing that terror again

And now, that terror was staring him in the face once again.
He could see that same all-consuming desire for blood and destruction. He tensed preparing to fight the one thing that put fear into his heart.
He was bought out of his thought by a loud WHAM that shook the stadium as Thor rose to his feet. The God of Thunder stared down at his one challenger, ready for that long awaited rematch.
“Ah, w-well...” Heimdall stuttered, still feeling from the chaos that had just occurred, “It would appear that the winner of Round 1 is...”
Camulus’ Attention was now laser focused on Thor, tensing as he prepared to leap towards a new opponent.
“The Celtic God of War...”
Ready, set-
“Camu-”
A breath could be heard from the rubble.
It was a quiet, rasping breath, yet it could be heard with clarity across the entire stadium. Everyone froze as they realised where that breath came from. The rocks shifted as out from the rubble emerged the battered, but still living form of Henry V.
“Damn, that was too close for comfort!” Lancelot huffed, still trying to get his wits about him, “You almost got pasted there, and that means we both would have died, you damn fool. Not like that matters much now...”
Camulus’ head turned to regard the bloodied king, salivating with demented glee, ready for the continued brutality.
“Since we’re gonna be dead in a few seconds regardless.”
As Henry lay there, broken and bloodied, he could hear voices from the audience.

“HENRY!” his father yelled, “Don’t you give up now, boy! You are the best of all of us! Show that god what's what?”
“Let that god know the might of the English!” Henry VII shouted.
“Show them what a real warrior can do!” Richard Lionheart roared.
“C’Mon dad, you can do this” Henry VI cheered.
Hotspur stepped forward, gathering his breath before screaming to the Heavens, “MONMOUTH! What do want to do?! What is your one true desire?!”

“To win, my way.”
Pushing off his good arm, he strained to sit up, collecting his breath as he did so. “Never surrender, never retreat.”
“Oh sure,” Lancelot responded, the sarcasm layered on very thick, “and how exactly are we supposed to do that.”
Henry slowly stood, carefully balancing his weight between the sword and his weary legs. “There is one thing we can do... just one.”
https://preview.redd.it/30opimuez71d1.png?width=4096&format=png&auto=webp&s=8725c7ced4d0cd872401fed592c0d97a92102b10
Closing his eyes, he focused deeply, bringing out every thought every emotion he had ever had, then let all of them flow from his mind. He let complete and total calm take hold in that moment. There was no emotion, there was no doubt or second guessing, there was only truth. Absolute, irrevocable truth. The deepest instinct, the greatest of them all.
“[Royal instinct]”
Less than a second later, Camulus had leapt to within striking distance, ready to end his foe. But whereas Henry was completely overwhelmed before, now his clarity was absolute. He knew exact what would happen, how each and every muscle within Camulus’ body would move before they even did so. Henry knew what Camulus’ second move would be before he even began his first.
Camulus shot out with a wild punch, which the more focused Henry deflected with ease. If he had use of his other arm, he may have even followed up with a punch of his own. Instead, he simply let Camulus’ momentum work against him.
The god overshot, and was sent crashing into the ground a few times before slamming into the wall.
As the crowd looked on in shock at what had just happened, they turned to look at the man who had done it. He had change, it was clear to see for all through the change on his eyes, once filled with brown tones, now a crystalline, pale silver. The sword had morphed to reflect this new state, reflecting the mind of a king. Whatever this was, it had shifted the tide of battle yet again.
https://preview.redd.it/i40thhpcz71d1.png?width=4096&format=png&auto=webp&s=8e2d91981867bbda4480edf1c3da008a9146e66a
“Damn! What is this?!” Lancelot cried, “I feel my head is full of everything and nothing at the same time!”
“[Royal Instinct]! A fine tuning of the instincts within all of us. By using this we, can reject all unnecessary thoughts and information, both new and old, as well as higher awareness and clarity of vital information. On the absolute truth of the situation will be known to us, truth we’ll know before the lie can even be made.”
Camulus soon broke his way free from the rock and charged. He leapt forward again, this time with an elbow, again deflected. Again, Camulus skid across the rocks for several metres, but this time, he was able to right himself and charge in again. But again, the resulting attack was deflected.
This repeated several more times, each attack and recovery was faster than the last. But Henry parried them all with perfect clarity, as he bided his time for the perfect moment.
After another parry, Camulus righted himself and prepared the blast into Henry at full speed, all thought of technique gone from the raving gods mind. Henry readied his blade for his own strike.
The mere tap of Camulus’ foot sent shock waves through the ground as he rocketed forward and max speed. But Henry was undeterred. Swiftly parrying the blow, he brought his arm in and then swung out. The pommel connected directly with Camulus’ temple, sending the force of the impact through his head, almost seeming to paralyse the god, as he crashed and skidded across the ground limply.
For the first time since the transformation occurred, Henry had seized the advantage.

‘Where the hell am I?’ was Camulus’ first weary thought after being shocked back to sanity.
‘Ohhh fuck, my head hurts worse than that time me and Cna went drinking at the place the humans called Mamucium.’
Taking a moment to clear the thunderstorm in his head, he scanned over the decimated arena, his dizziness turning to confusion. ‘OK seriously, what the hell happened here?’
Pushing himself from the rubble, he survey the situation, trying to understand what was going on. Then suddenly, his skull felt as if it was about to burst, and his eyes swan with illusions and distortions of reality, hearing voices whispering behind his ears. Camulus clutched at his head, forcing the thoughts down. After a minute of excruciating pain, he finally returned to reality.
'Dammit, what's going on with me? Focus! You have a fight to win!'
“Damn, we might have knocked him out cold. I’m loath to say it, but I think you were right, we may have a chance after all.” Lancelot commented, almost in awe of the current situation.
Henry chuckled, “Wouldn’t have figured you to be one to admit when you were wrong.”
Lancelot froze for a moment, before scoffing at Henry’s comment, “Just because you were right doesn’t mean I was wrong, jackass!”
For a moment, Henry laughed at Lancelot’s Haughtiness, before that cheer was replaced by boiling pain, as he dropped to a knee. Lancelot was confused for a moment, before he felt a warm liquid pour from his eyes. As he dabbed at his eyes, he saw the crimson colouration that quickly gave away what that liquid was.
Blood.
“What the hell is this? What’s going on?!”
Henry stammered as he spoke, still trying to get his wits about him. “A-ah yes, t-here is a cost t-to using the form.”
https://preview.redd.it/bzcy3g8vz71d1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=a7682905a9a922d062639ce0d01afe3c1fff92e6
“And what would that be?!”
“Working the mind at such an acute level can result in overload if stressed too hard, or used too long. I’ve been used to using against humans...”
“...and you just now used it against a god.” Lancelot finish.
“Y-yes”
“Jesus Christ,” Lancelot mumbled, “WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!” he them screamed.
“I’ve made peace with the fact that even if I win, I likely won’t live much longer anyway. So right now, in this moment, I don’t care how much damage I do to myself, or how much time I have left is eaten away. As long as I have enough to win this fight, long enough to bring humanity, and the people I care for, one step closer to salvation, it matters not.”
Both Camulus and Henry stood, readying their guard, their bodies battered and bruised, yet their spirits unbroken, they both knew one thing. Win or lose, this fight was nearing its end.
submitted by Omegarus211 to ShuumatsuNoValkyrie [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 19:05 Independent_Market13 Swipe to delete functionality in a section list using RNGH Issue

Hey all,
I have a sectionlist with notifications and would like to have each row in a section be capable of swiping to delete. I have implemented the swipe to delete functionality but the issue I am facing now is that everytime I scroll down the sectionlist and a pan gesture is active on one of the rows, I cannot scrolling becomes disabled. Can anyone with experience guide me on this ? Happy to learn :)
import React,{useState,useEffect, useRef} from "react"; import { View , Text, StyleSheet, Modal, Button, TouchableOpacity,SectionList} from "react-native"; import {useSelector} from "react-redux"; import { NotificationLikeStack } from "../../components/Stacks/NotificationStacks/NotificationLikeStack"; import { NotificationCommentStack } from "../../components/Stacks/NotificationStacks/NotificationCommentStack"; import { fetchDocs, doDocsExist,deleteDocsFromDB,addDocsToDB, addDocToDB, addDocsWithDifferenDataToDB, fetchData } from "../../firebase/firestoreDB"; import { bottomPopUpMessage } from "../../constants"; import HorizontalScrollButton from "../../components/HorizontalScrollButton/HorizontalScrollButton"; import { Divider } from "@ui-kitten/components"; import { NotificationFollowersStack } from "../../components/Stacks/NotificationStacks/NotificationFollowersStack"; import { isToday } from "../../constants"; import { set } from "firebase/database"; import { handleSendPushNotification } from "../../constants"; import uuid from "react-native-uuid"; import * as Linking from 'expo-linking'; import { FlatList, ScrollView, } from "react-native-gesture-handler"; const NotifcationScreen = ({navigation, route}) => { const [notifications, setNotifications] = useState([]) const [filteredNotifications, setFilteredNotifications] = useState([notifications]) const buttons = ['All', 'Likes', 'Comments', 'Followers'] const [selectedButton, setSelectedButton] = useState(null) const userinfo = useSelector((state) => state.auth.userInfo) const [email, setEmail] = useState(userinfo?.email) const [filterButtonPressed, setFilterButtonPressed] = useState(false) const [usersBeingFollowed, setUsersBeingFollowed] = useState([]) const [hasPressedFollowButton, setHasPressedFollowButton] = useState(false) const LinkingUrl = Linking.useURL(); const sectionListRef = useRef(null) const [isScrollEnabled, setIsScrollEnabled] = useState(true) // const section = notifications ? [ // { // title: 'Likes', // data: notifications.filter((notification) => notification.type === 'like') // }, // { // title: 'Comments', // data: notifications.filter((notification) => notification.type === 'comment') // }, // { // title: 'Followers', // data: notifications.filter((notification) => notification.type === 'follow') // } // ] : [] const section = notifications ? [ { title: 'Today', data: !filterButtonPressed ? notifications.filter( (notification) => isToday(notification.createdAt) ) : filteredNotifications.filter( (notification) => isToday(notification.createdAt)), }, { title: 'Older', data: !filterButtonPressed ? notifications.filter( (notification) => !isToday(notification.createdAt) ) : filteredNotifications.filter( (notification) => !isToday(notification.createdAt)), } ] : []; const fetchNotifications = async () => { const path = `users/${email}/notifications` const response = await fetchDocs(path) if (response.success){ setNotifications(response.fetchedDocs.reverse()) } else{ bottomPopUpMessage(response) } } const renderItem = ({ item }) => { if (item.type === 'like'){ return (  { navigation.navigate("HomeScreen", item.params) }}/> ) } else if (item.type === 'comment'){ return ( item.params.type === "polls" ?  navigation.navigate("HomeScreen",item.params) }/> :  { navigation.navigate("HomeScreen", item.params) }}/> ) } else if (item.type === 'follow'){ const isFollowing = usersBeingFollowed.includes(item.followID) return (  { onPressFollow(item, isFollowing) } } onPressed={async () => { const params = await redirectedProfileHandler(item.followID) navigation.navigate("Profile", params) }} /> ) } } useEffect(() => { fetchNotifications() }, []) //console.log(notifications) return (       item + index} renderItem={({item}) => renderItem({item})} renderSectionHeader={({section: {title, data}}) => { if ( data.length === 0) { return null; // Don't render the header if there are no likes } return {title}; }} scrollEnabled={isScrollEnabled} ref={sectionListRef} style={{}} />   ) } const styles = StyleSheet.create({ container: { flex: 1, backgroundColor: 'white', //marginHorizontal: 0 //marginHorizontal: 16, }, header: { fontSize: 20, fontWeight: 'bold', //backgroundColor: '#fff', margin:20, }, }) export default NotifcationScreen; import React from 'react'; import { View, Text, StyleSheet, TouchableOpacity} from 'react-native'; import { Image } from 'expo-image'; import { ImageDict } from '../../../constants'; import { CustomButtons } from '../../buttons/Buttons'; import { handleTimePosted } from '../../../constants'; import { Ionicons } from '@expo/vector-icons'; import { Gesture, GestureDetector } from 'react-native-gesture-handler'; import Animated,{ runOnJS, useAnimatedStyle, withSpring, useSharedValue} from 'react-native-reanimated'; export const NotificationFollowersStack = ({imageExtraStyle, notification, isFollowing, onPressFollowButton, onPressed }) => { const profilePic = notification.profilePic ? notification.profilePic : ImageDict.user const translateX = useSharedValue(0); const animatedStyles = useAnimatedStyle(() => ({ transform: [{ translateX: withSpring(translateX.value) }], })); const gesture = Gesture.Pan(). onBegin(() => { console.log(translateX.value); }). onChange((event) => { if (event.translationX < 0){ translateX.value = -50; } if (event.translationX > 0){ translateX.value = 0; } //translateX.value = event.translationX; }). onFinalize(() => { console.log(translateX.value); //translateX.value = withSpring(10); }) const onPressOptionsClose = () => { set } return (       {notification.userhandle} {notification.title}  {handleTimePosted(notification.createdAt)}   {!isFollowing ?  :  }           ) } const styles = StyleSheet.create({ container: { flexDirection: 'row', //alignItems:'center', justifyContent:'space-between', backgroundColor: 'white', width: '100%', padding: 20, zIndex: 1, //margin: 20, }, textStackContainer: { justifyContent: 'center', //backgroundColor: 'yellow', flex: 1, paddingLeft: 10, paddingRight: 10, //padding: 10 //alignItems: 'center', }, profileImageStyles: { height:50, width:50, borderRadius:25, }, deleteStyles:{ position: 'absolute', right: 0, left: 0, top: 0, bottom: 0, justifyContent: 'center', alignItems: 'flex-start', //bottom: 10, zIndex: 0, justifyContent:'center', backgroundColor:'red', paddingRight: 0, }, imageStyles: { height:50, width:50, borderRadius:5, }, userhandle: { fontWeight: 'bold', }, timeStyle: { color:'grey', marginTop: 5, //marginLeft:10 }, followButtonStyle: { backgroundColor: '#FF6657', width: 80, height: 40, borderRadius: 10, }, }) 
submitted by Independent_Market13 to reactnative [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 18:59 djavulensfitta Short story written by Joost (Brüders auf Berlin)

Hi, I know some of you have been interested in Joost’s written stuff, so this is one of them. It’s a short story that Joost wrote for Boekenweek voor Jongeren (Book Week for Young People) in 2019. There’s more info about it here (in Dutch) https://www.vice.com/nl/article/qvgzpv/joost-klein-schreef-een-kort-verhaal-over-een-wilde-nacht-in-berlijn and there was also this promo video for it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx7wxnpxps0. It's been translated from Dutch - maybe not the most perfect translation but it's readable. Original in Dutch here. Enjoy

"How come he suddenly has cash?" I looked at Gurb, but he avoided my gaze. Louis never had money and yet he was buying another round. Meanwhile, a Moby song was playing and nothing made sense. "If he has money for drinks, he can surely pay me back, right?"
Just a few hours ago, I was alone in Berlin. Now, ten hours later, I'm standing in some obscure techno club with my best friends. Loud rock music with drunken shouting. "Hey, Miss Murder, can I make beauty stay if I take my life?" I woke up that day with a mild hangover from the lonely yet people-filled night before. Perfect conditions for a 20-year-old dropout.
The Hard Rock Café was the most beautifully ugly place in Berlin. Gurb had driven for seven hours straight in his mother's car, but we didn't notice. An iconic black Mini Cooper. Your body leads your mind, the beat never stops, and you can conquer the world. Louis threw in another crazy dance move. We were happy.
"Do you want another drink, brother?" Gurb asked me, half shouting. An evening filled with rhetorical questions. He saw me dancing and already knew the answer.
Gurb always had money. Louis, on the other hand, never did. Louis was also the youngest of us three. He had just turned 18. I wouldn't call him a cunning fox. More like a jack-of-all-trades. Like the time he made a lot of money on a Wadden Island with a group of boys. They sold large blocks of hash.
"Crazy dude!" I shouted at him. He yelled something back.
"Do you remember back then?" Louis said.
"Back then? Back then? Yeah man, of course!" I had no idea what he meant. "Do you mean the party?"
"Do you mean the party, he says! This guy. When I look at you like this, it makes me happy. The exact same kid is here letting loose just like back in high school!"
We knew each other from secondary school. He joined when I was in the second grade. He was very intelligent. Too young, too much knowledge of the world. His mother is from Brazil. We often went to his mother's place to play on the Playstation Louis and I had bought together.
I lived everywhere at that time. In the crisis shelter where I stayed for a while, for example, I wasn't allowed to have a Playstation. So we set it up in an accessible place, near school. It was always fun with Louis. Going together to the Apple Store. Taking all kinds of photos with all the webcams, posting them on Hyves, and then leaving. Louis always knew how to cheer me up.
"Aaaaaaaaaa!" There was Gurb with five drinks in his hands. Gurb was wearing a blue checkered shirt. Two buttons undone. Hair slicked back. "You look good, brother!"
"You look fresh too! We all look fresh!" Gurb said enthusiastically. Louis was wearing a completely white outfit. We quickly bought this before going out. He also bleached his hair.
"You look like the Brazilian cousin of James Dean in these clothes," I said. Louis laughed. "Let me take a picture."
Suddenly, the DJ switched to some kind of techno. "Ah, here Berlin briefly takes off its mask." I was fine with it all. Louis was talking to a lady.
Voluptuous breasts, I thought to myself. He gave her one of his two drinks.
"He's with a girl and he's thinking with his dick," I said to Gurb. "Let him be, tonight Berlin is ours!"
The bass kept pounding. "I simply don't have the patience for the club," I said to Gurb. He looked surprised. Like a sweet dog, tilting his head. "I'm just waiting for tomorrow. Can't do my thing here. Don't have patience for the already known. I want adventure and I want it now!"
Gurb started laughing. "Patience is a virtue." Yes. Patience is all well and good, but I think it's a waste of my time. Gurb grabbed my shoulder.
"I think it's time for another beer."
Louis and I were walking through Leeuwarden a year ago when suddenly a red Ford Ka stopped in front of us. It was Gurb, casually driving around the city. He invited us into his car. We hopped in. Since that afternoon, the three of us were together. A few months later, Louis got a tattoo on his ribs in honor of our friendship. It was the name of our group chat. Braddar Force Indigo.
There were also days when Gurb would take me for a drive around Friesland. He reminded me how beautiful Friesland is. The world doesn't spin there. The newspapers I threw away in the Stiens forest in 2011 could still be lying in the same spot, so to speak.
Just before midnight, I found myself in line for the restroom. My eyes fell on a pair of striking shoes. Cigarette smoke invaded my nose for the fourth time. "Müssen Sie eine Zigarette haben?" a female voice spoke to me. I felt like Tom Hanks in the final scene of Angels & Demons, where the new pope first steps onto the balcony. The curtains opened. There I was, witnessing an important moment in history. I was just told how I was sent by God, but my ears didn't want to hear any of it. At least that's how I felt. My mouth was empty. I had no words left. That's when I knew for sure. Berlin might really be as crazy as literally everyone says.
Dark blond, silky hair. Was this real beauty then? She wouldn't look 40, but I think she was. A true woman. Beautiful in all her elegance. I always joked about being interested in older women, but tonight one stood in front of me. "I don't smoke," I said to her.
Someone tapped me. "Please, just go to the toilet!" He was right. I hadn't peed in a while either. My urine was cloudy. "Glomerulonephritis," I said to myself on the toilet. This is an unusual condition. It's an inflammation in the kidneys, I thought I remembered. They should never have given me access to Google.
The evening progressed, and Louis kept buying rounds. "But seriously now. How does Louis suddenly have all that money for drinks?" I asked Gurb. He was outside smoking with a group of Swiss girls. I had strategically positioned myself so that I could always leave the crime scene if necessary.
"You shouldn't ask me," said Gurb. He was laughing with the temporary girlfriend group of Louis. Gurb has a beard. A lot of chicks like that. I get it too.
As much as I enjoyed Louis and Gurb being here for me, something didn't sit right with me. It couldn't just be about the money. "What's up with him?" I heard one of the Swiss girls say to Gurb.
Those kinds of questions really tire me out. "Not much, with you?" I replied.
They all started laughing. "That's not what she meant, brother," said Gurb.
"I couldn't care less whether she meant it or not. Send that brace-face back to Switzerland. Don't drive me crazy, alright!"
Actually, I hadn't drunk that much that evening. "Two vodka Sprites, please!" It's rare for me to get just one drink. "I always get two drinks, then you have to wait shorter for the third one!" Maybe the alcohol was affecting me more than I wanted to admit. Oh well, it was still the three of us against the world.
"Nice shoes, are those Prada?" I asked a random girl at the bar.
"No, these are fake. Why would I buy real ones for 600 dollars if I could just buy these for 20?"
"..."
I'm not very good at that. Talking. To women.
Louis and Gurb were in the smoking area now. It was less blue than the dance floor itself. My clothes already stank, so a visit to the smoking area couldn't hurt. "These people are so underground!" Gurb shouted. Louis was filming him with his phone. "These people..." There was a brief pause. As if Gurb forgot the only line he had. "...so underground!" All three of us burst into laughter. The alcohol flowed through our veins as if it came from the purest mountains. People seemed doubled and the room was full. We had been in the same club in Berlin for several hours.
"Leonardo! What are you hiding from the big boss?" I sometimes called Louis ‘DiCaprio.’ "You a rich guy, now?" I said, with an accent as if I were from the Bronx.
Louis started laughing. "Eh, you know nothing. Bullshit talk."
I had to laugh too. What was I even worried about? Friends are friends, with or without money. That shouldn't matter. Louis probably just worked for that money. Maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought. Maybe he just had enough to buy rounds. But what if my gut feeling was right? That feeling was never wrong. Except for that one time at the Holland Casino in Groningen. Even the best of us have slip-ups. I was just getting worked up again. When it comes down to it, Louis is one of the sweetest guys I know. I had to let it go. After all, it's still Louis.
"I think I'm going to have sex soon, man," Louis said.
"With who?" I asked immediately.
"That one girl."
"Which one?"
"The one with the boobs."
"Oh, her. Just be careful."
"What kind of reaction is that?" Louis asked indignantly.
I'd only had four drinks, but I was acting like a mess. Louis was right. I didn't understand myself. Where was my head at? I'm here in Berlin, supposed to be having the time of my life, but here I am feeling lonely and sad again. Joost once again couldn't control his emotions.
"Sorry," I suddenly said to Louis. "Sorry for my behavior. Been acting dumb towards you all night. It's unnecessary." Sometimes I have that. Mood swings. "Know that crime is never the solution. We've talked about this so many times. Yes, it's tempting and sometimes easy money. I sometimes find it amusing too, but it's always hypothetical. Ask me for help. I can help you, even with illegal things. I'll always have your back." The dancing was kind of over.
The words I had just placed on Louis's plate came from my heart. My Frisian, irregular boys' heart.
Crying in the club. I had never seen myself like that. Crying, yes. In the club, no. I never understood the taboo around crying. Or emotions in general. I saw myself in the mirror. They weren't tears of joy. They weren't tears of sadness either. It was me letting everything go. All the emotions I had ever felt. The emotions I felt between my brother and sister and myself because they wanted to take on a parental role over me, but I was in puberty, so I pushed them away. The emotions I felt when my old neighbors were supposed to take care of my dog, but didn't tell me that he was bitten by one of their dogs. They didn't have money for the surgery, they later told me. They were ashamed of their lack of money. My dog died from this injury. Even the emotions that were all jumping at once during the retake for my swimming diploma A, I let go of.
No emotions. Just for a moment, not feeling anything. Is that too much to ask for?
"You still don’t smoke?"
It had to be the voice of the woman with the cigarettes. I looked over my shoulder through the mirror. It was her. The one with dark blond, silky hair.
"Not to be rude, but this is the men’s room," I said. She took a step closer and kissed me on my lips. It tasted like more. We started kissing. It had been a while since I had had female contact at this level. It probably didn't look good and it didn't feel good either. She started kissing my neck. Slowly, I noticed the pressure in the erectile tissues of my penis starting to increase. "I really don't have time for this!" I thought to myself. The woman with the cigarettes started to slowly sink down until she was on her knees. I didn't want this. Not now, not like this. She unraveled my penis from my Polo Ralph Lauren underwear. Her tongue was blue. It was probably from cheap shots of alcohol.
Was this real beauty then? Was this the beginning or the end of her story? And had I become the boy my parents hoped I would be? I thought about the fact that this was once someone's little daughter. Somewhere in the world, an old man might be wondering what his daughter is doing. Am I really putting pleasure above my own morals and values?
With my semi-erect circumcised penis still exposed, I lifted her up. After giving her a kiss on her forehead, I pulled up my pants and left the toilets.
It was the usual last hour in any club ever. I met Louis and Gurb at the bar. "Should we have another drink?" I asked Gurb. "I feel like having a cocktail. Something sweet. Lots of sugar. What about you?"
Gurb looked at the menu. "A cognac would go down well right now."
"A cognac? You're only nineteen!" Gurb and Louis laughed. "Two Tequila Sunrises please!" I called to the bartender. "Also, two beers! Thanks!" I also got a beer for Louis. At first, I didn't want to, but I didn't want to spoil the mood either. Besides, I didn't want to show too much that it bothered me so much.
We danced away the last minutes. The club closed, and we decided to walk with the group of Swiss girls. Apparently, they were staying nearby.
As I lagged behind the group, one of them tried to start a conversation with me. "Are you okay?" she asked kindly.
"I'm fine. Just had too much beer. Makes me sleepy." Not true at all, but I've heard people say that.
"You’re tired? The fun has only just began!" And as she said this, she pulled something out of her inner pocket. Her clenched fist, shielded by a half jacket. Who is this girl, anyway? I thought to myself. She opened her hand flat, and right in the center of her palm lay two small pills with a smiley face on them. At least, they looked like it.
"Oh, I don’t do drugs. Sorry."
"Me neither!" And she swallowed a pill. "Now it’s your turn... Or are you scared?"
Scared? Who did this crazy Swiss witch (with really beautiful eyes) think she was. With her "are you scared". I'll show her who's scared.
"Scared? I’m not scared." I picked up the remaining pill and swallowed it.
Everything went in slow motion. Was this who I had become? Was this the same boy from high school? And just before I could swallow, I spat out the pill. She was shocked. I picked up the pill again, dried it with my jacket, and put it back in her fist. "Maybe later!" I shouted, running back to the group, over my shoulder.
I have nothing to say to 9 out of 10 peers I come across. Of course, I can be social. I can also have fun with random people in random situations, but that night, it just tired me out. I also didn't understand what we were doing there. Those girls found me strange anyway. Suddenly, I was the fifth wheel.
"We know this place where they go until 7 in the morning!" The girl leader of the group spoke. I wanted to go home. "If you guys want, you can go. Don't worry about me," I said to Gurb and Louis. The boys had a brief discussion. We agreed to stay for just a little while longer for some drinks. I consented. I was thirsty. "I'll have a Fanta, Louis."
Gurb had reached the last cigarette in his pack. Louis and a girl from the group were nowhere to be found. It didn't even bother me. This guy just walks around with some cash in his pocket and all hell breaks loose. After a night full of stimuli, I understood Louis. Of course, I understood Louis. He's a young god. Handsome, smart guy. But that didn't make me any less angry. It was purely about trust for me. Something inside me said I should stop subconsciously expecting things from people too. It prevents disappointment.
"Hotel please!" I jokingly suggested to Gurb. "Should you call Louis or should I?" I added. Gurb immediately grabbed his Android smartphone and called Louis. He put the call on speaker.
"Are you ready?" Gurb asked.
"Yeah. Sort of."
"What do you mean?"
"We didn't have sex."
"That's fine, right? Tomorrow's a new day!"
"I think I'm in love, man," Louis said.
"...," Gurb said, chuckling as he let out a sigh.
Once we arrived at the girls' hostel, it was already getting light. Louis was thankfully back. There were stains on his pants, around his knees. My focus was solely on arranging a taxi. Although the boys were still flirting, I was really done now. "How are we going to pay for this taxi?" I said a bit too loudly.
There was a silence. "Don't worry. I still have cash," Gurb said.
"Yeah, I knew you would," I replied.
My words clearly hit Louis. "What do you mean by that?" he said.
It was as if time stood still for a few seconds. "Exactly what I said. Better listen." Louis pulled out a small wad of green bills from his pocket. At least 400 euros. "I don't even want to see that money," I reacted. I walked away.
I'll just order a taxi myself.
"Why are you walking away now?" Gurb said.
"Twelve hours ago, I was alone too, and I had a lot more fun then."
"Do you really want to know how I got this money?" Louis said.
Yes, I did want to know. My whole evening revolved around that damn money.
He took a second of pause before he began speaking. "The answer lies in the Mini."
What on earth could be in Gurb's mother's car? Louis was trying to get into my head. "Taxi!"
Once in the taxi, the division was clear. Gurb was upfront, chatting animatedly with the driver. All adventures ever were recounted. Louis and I in the back. One of my best friends since I was thirteen. Funny how things turn out. It was quiet between us. I was in my head, rehearsing how I would bring up the money again. It didn't add up, and he knew it himself. "I don't care, you know," I said, hoping he'd break.
"What don't you care about?"
"About that money."
"What money? You're really a crazy woozy man." Louis burst out laughing again.
On the other hand, it was silent. Gurb had started talking about the driver's family. The driver didn't appreciate it. Gurb meant well. The driver smelled of alcohol. Or was it me? His nails were polished. Maybe his wife was a specialist. I bite my nails myself. Like now.
"In the Mini, oh yeah."
"Shut up. Illegal man."
"You'll never know."
"Stop playing. Just say it!"
Louis grabbed my head, pulled himself towards me, and brought his mouth to my right ear. "Why so serious?" he whispered. He didn't want to tell me.
"But always with this damn money, huh?" I almost shouted at Louis. I broke every silence within a radius of 10 kilometers.
"I'm trying my best, bro. It is what it is. I can't make it any different," he replied. It was clearly bothering him deeply. He ran his hands through his hair. "Sometimes people have to do things. And you know that better than anyone. Sometimes they have to do things they don't really want to or aren't supposed to do."
I knew this spiel all too well. Through all the drunken haziness, I suddenly saw a small glimmer of light. A tiny spark of sincerity. Louis was serious this time.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to involve you in this. I'm sorry," sweat dripped from his forehead.
"You're serious, huh? Damn, man. What mess have you gotten yourself into now? Worse than Terschelling?" Worse than Terschelling would mean stolen goods. Maybe even violence.
"It's not what you think."
"The Adlon Hotel, right?" the driver chimed in. Always saved by the bell, that Louis.
Suddenly I hit my head against the seat in front of me. Of course, I wasn't wearing my seatbelt. The last thing I saw was Gurb waking up in panic from his drunken stupor. One by one, I started losing my senses. It started with the feeling in my fingers. For a brief moment, everything wasn't quite black, and I could only see a vague pattern of colors repeating inside my eyelids. You could compare it to the brief moment after the commercial break before the movie starts in the cinema. The movie was about to begin.
I knew I wasn't dying. At least not yet. Not like this. Not after an overall mediocre night out in Berlin. I found comfort in the image I forced myself to see. It was all in my head. There I was, unconscious.
I saw myself in a third-person point of view. It wasn't like I was actually leaving my body. More like there was a webcam hanging in one of the upper corners of the taxi.
As a child, I used to dream a lot about death. Nights spent awake.
At some point, I developed a kind of compulsive behavior. I kept swaying my torso from left to right with my hands under my head. It became almost like a workout before bedtime. Every night.
I called it dream shuffling. Just like I had learned to shuffle puzzle pieces or playing cards. Making things a little exciting for yourself. But what I almost never told anyone was that I was scared. I was afraid of burglars, who were very agile and muscular.
Especially afraid that they would murder me. I really wanted to know what death was like. It scared me.
These fear visions originated during an all-inclusive vacation in Turkey. I was 6 years old and already in bed. There was a big old TV in our hotel room, so I could secretly watch TV from bed. Every evening, my parents sat on the balcony. Here they discussed their day while enjoying a glass of alcohol. There was a Japanese animated series on TV. In the few seconds that I watched, I saw a scary creature climbing a sort of apartment complex via the balconies. The creature had hundreds of teeth and blond hair. It quickly entered to decapitate the people, then drained them and, as a final insult, robbed them. Dozens of carcasses of dead people were scattered around the apartment complex. The complex on TV resembled the resort where we were in reality, and the TV world merged with my surroundings. I became part of it. I saw people watching. No matter how loudly I screamed for help, they didn't react. The sun became very bright, and the people turned into nothing more than shadows. As the intensity of the sun increased, something became clear to me. These were not people. They had a sort of orange skin. Where I had previously thought it was their nose and mouth, it turned out that these shadowy figures did not have such physical features. They simply had three holes in their heads. The police tried to do something, but in vain. Since then, we always kept the light on in the hallway outside my bedroom. By rocking back and forth, from left to right, I could glance fleetingly at the beam of light under the door. That bit of light, escaping from the hallway into my room, gave me an advantage. It allowed me to stay one step ahead of the burglars. Pretty smart, right?
"From Jamaica to the world!
It’s just love. Why must the children play in the street?"
It was Bob Sinclar with "Love Generation" speaking to us through the taxi's speakers. We were stationary. I was conscious again, but I didn't feel alive at all. "How long was I out?" I asked Louis.
I could tell by his expression that he was relieved. Relieved that I was back. "One minute," he almost apologized. Louis gave me a pat on the shoulder. Gurb, on the other hand, was sleeping. He slept like a baby cub.
I put my right index finger on my forehead. It felt wet, but it wasn't blood. Blood feels different. Meanwhile, I kept hearing whistling.
"Be the love generation! Oh yeah!" It was still that same song by Bob Sinclar.
The earlier scent of alcohol had now been replaced by the smell of incense. It smelled like the same incense I had in my room. Sold to me as Tibetan 39 incense. I had bought it at a coffee shop in Rotterdam. I pulled up my notes on my phone. "Who lights incense in a CAR????" I let Louis read from my screen. He took the phone from my hands and started typing as well.
"Look at Gurb >>>" Gurb was so deeply asleep that his head drooped. His seatbelt held his torso in place, but his head ended up on the driver's shoulder. The man didn't mind. He didn't move. I made eye contact with the driver through the rearview mirror, and soon I found him. He winked at me.
We arrived at the hotel. Gurb awakened from his alcoholic hibernation. "Who's going to pay for the taxi?" I asked. Clearly rhetorical. I already knew I would take this one for the team, as usual. I refused to use Louis's money. It was uncomfortably quiet. "By card please," I said.
"I'll always protect you, Louis. You really need to know that. I care about you like my own little brother. I'll always try to help you. But you have to be honest with me. Can you do that?" Louis didn't hesitate.
"Yes. Yes, I can. I'll show you. It's really in the Mini." Meanwhile, the taxi driver's card machine indicated that I had insufficient funds. That couldn't be right. Maybe I had withdrawn too much that evening.
"I have cash in the hotel room," Gurb said to me. Gurb informed the driver in broken English that he would go get his cash. The driver agreed. Money is money, whether it comes now or later. As long as it feels good in your hands.
Louis and I got out of the taxi. "You're not going to light a cigarette now, are you?" Louis wanted to smoke. "Especially for stress. That's really for people who can't handle pain. You need to feel pain. Pain needs to brand you for the rest of your life so you finally learn not to do such stupid things." It fell silent again. My blood boiled. All pots were on the stove. I felt like Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen. "Show me then. Do it."
Louis remained silent and walked around the corner of the hotel. Towards the parking lot. I followed him. "You're not going to find much," said Louis.
"Why not? Are you a magician?"
"No. Just. Not much."
"So there's suddenly magically nothing in Gurb's car?"
"Stop. Get out. Get out of my head!" Louis shouted. Louis had had enough. He was done with the parade. Normally we dealt with hypothetical stories. Only this time it wasn't a joke. I was sure now. Louis had dropped his mask. The revolution had begun. The government had fallen and the dikes had broken. The people were in charge. "You shouldn't freak out like this. Always wanting more. Sweet boy, think about yourself."
After Gurb gave the money to the driver, he came to us. He had a smile on his face, lit a cigarette, and exclaimed, "Brothers!" Once with us, he hugged me. He started laughing. "Maybe I haven't been entirely honest either." Sometimes Gurb seemed like a 38-year-old man. In a positive way. He exuded confidence in a way I didn't often see. Affectionate, with a hint of authority.
We stood in the middle of a large parking lot. "Look. We've reached a point where I might not even care anymore. You guys are teasing me." It did matter to me. Maybe more than ever. I was supposed to be two steps ahead of them, but I couldn't figure it out. "I give up."
The delightful silence returned. Louis and Gurb looked at each other. "You guys win. Apparently, I'm not to be trusted as a friend."
From Louis's expression, I could tell he disagreed with this. "Not true. Come to the car."
We arrived at the car. Louis unlocked it and searched for the trunk button. Gurb had started his third cigarette. "It's a corpse, isn't it? Say it now. I can still help you. I can still help us. I can book a ticket for you. We can get you out of here," I said to Louis.
"Just wait. Nutcase."
"Why won't you accept my help?"
Louis started laughing nervously. Or at least it seemed that way. Perhaps a sly laugh too. Had Louis killed someone? "It's not a corpse. That can't be. You wouldn't be stupid enough to use their ID. You're smarter than that. So it must be something stolen. Haven't you found that button yet?"
Suddenly, we heard a click. Louis had found the button. Somewhere, I didn't want to know. Shouldn't I just trust Louis? Wasn't that the whole point of friendship?
Finally, the moment had arrived. I placed my right hand in the slot of the rear hatch. Something in me doubted. Still. I still doubted. Louis looked dead serious. "You wanted to know, didn't you? Then you also have to be man enough to accept it." Louis was clearly not joking. Or was he acting again? "Pussy," Louis said. I looked away. "You're afraid of what's inside, huh? You're afraid of the real Louis." He began to laugh manically. "Open that thing, man. Nutcase!"
I started laughing too. Why did I make such a big deal out of it? Sweat broke out from every pore in my body. It was even a bit damp in the no man's land between my scrotum and my anus. A tropical climate. It had been quite an adventure the whole evening. I took my hand off the rear hatch and first gave Louis a hug. Not some half-hearted birthday wish. No, a real hug.
"It's okay, buddy," Louis said to me. I had no idea what he meant by that. It fit the moment though.
It was really time now. I opened the rear hatch.
"Where is it?"
"In front of you," said Louis.
"In some secret compartment?"
There was nothing in the trunk. Absolutely nothing. An empty trunk. For an empty evening, in an empty Berlin, with an empty group of guys. I didn't get it.
"You won, man," I whispered. "You finally fucking done did it."
I couldn't believe my eyes. Empty? There was still nothing in the car. Louis just stood there. Emotionally, I was a wreck. I had felt every emotion this evening. Seen every color and smelled every scent. I was done. My body was ready. No longer needed. My mission was complete.
"But why did you do this?" I asked Louis, laughing.
He scratched his chin. It felt like the end of a bad movie.
"I sold our Playstation. Wanted to tell you only after I had sorted everything out again. I terminated my lease. Had some debts, and I also wanted to have some money for once. Once not empty-handed in the club. Once not dependent on my best friends. This is not who I am... I know how much that Playstation meant to you. It was ours together. I should have just told you."
"… and how does Gurb actually make his money?"
submitted by djavulensfitta to Joostklein [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 18:19 SimbaTheSavage8 Helena Sword (An Incomplete Potential NS 1)

Last night my university appeared on the news.
As I watched the broadcast, listening to my old television set sputter and cough like a used car engine, I swore the temperature plummeted several degrees. The newscaster was still droning on in the background but it could’ve just been static. Meaningless.
It is always the same with this news broadcast. Burned and charred stone and concrete lying around in a pentagon in a way that could make any abstract artist proud. I try, whenever it comes up, to ignore everything scrolling on the screen. Or at the very least, skim through the programme. The less details I remember, the better.
But every time, my eyes are drawn to one tiny thing on the screen. It stands out screaming, a splash of red in an ocean of black. I can’t forget it no matter how hard I try, and it slips into my nightmares and I wake up screaming.
A rune of a blood-stained sword, inked in red and carved neatly in the stone.
“This is our pride and joy,” he nodded, gesturing to a rune of a blood-stained sword. His sunflower name badge read James and he was cute. Tousled hair, playful freckles–the works.
I swear girls swooned when they saw him.
The year was 2004 and I wished fighting over James was the least of our problems. Even now, during orientation week, a great hush fell over our little tour group. Everyone shifted their feet nervously and tied their fingers into knots.
James laughed.
“The stories about Helena Sword? That’s just it. Stories.”
“All the stuff you heard about her before you came here, they’re simply not true. Just something stupid to scare the freshies, that’s all.”
He trailed off in the middle of his speech, staring off into the distance.
“It’s been a thousand years after all…”
He laughed again, but it was as empty as the wind blowing down the halls. He cracked a smile, but his face was pale like the rest of us.
“Anyway,” he said, “the library is just down this hallway too. When our founder, Sir Gallus, founded this place, he sought out books from all over the world…”
As the rest of the tour moved on, I couldn’t help but stay behind. I was no archeologist, but there was something about this rune that would not let me go. I stroked the rune, fascinated by how my fingers crossed tall ridges and tiny valleys. It was very simply carved, almost like a child’s drawing of a sword brought to life, but as I turned to catch up with everyone else, I realised I wasn’t alone.
She was pretty, a girl around my height and build, with striking red curls and a rather long neck, almost like a giraffe. A tattoo poked out behind long blue sleeves, dressed in red ink. The girl turned to me and grinned sheepishly.
“Are you lost?”
I frowned. “Sorry?”
“The tour group moved on without you,” she stated, pointing ahead. Indeed I could hear James’ voice in the distance, rambling on about the portraits in the halls. I looked back at her and she nodded grimly.
“My name is Ginny,” she said, extending her hand. I shook it. It was as cold as ice. In fact, when I looked at her, it was like gazing at an ice sculpture, with frosty eyes and dainty lips.
“It’s my first day here too. Except well…my parents brought me here yesterday. So I know this school inside out. Do you want me to show you around? You don’t need that tour group. Especially since they well…abandoned you.”
My head was suddenly foggy. “Yes, please,” I mumbled.
In spite of her offer, Ginny didn’t say much as we walked through the campus. Didn’t point out anything interesting landmarks or anything like that; didn’t talk much about herself either. Instead we wandered through the grounds, enjoying each other’s company. It was the beginning of autumn, and golden leaves were falling down and the trees looked like they were on fire. Overhead we could hear migrating birds singing. It was lovely.
Eventually we reached my dorm.
And hers.
Ginny was my roommate. I found it strange, since I didn’t recall having a roommate or asking for one; and even if I did, wouldn’t I be informed of it months ago? Someone that I would share my life with for the next three years? But then she looked at me and smiled and all my questions flew out of my head. I mumbled a yes to her offer of assistance and we spent the rest of the afternoon making our dorm look like home.
Then we went down for dinner and were joined in the mess hall by two other girls, Ivy and Cleo, who told us their room would be next door to us. We sat down with our mashed potatoes and roast chicken and they immediately drummed up conversation, talking about their lives before they came to university, what they hoped to achieve during their time here, and everything in between.
“So what are you guys studying?” Ivy asked.
“Psychology,” I said. Helping people has always been a lifelong dream.
“Computer Science,” Ivy and Cleo said at the same time.
We all looked at Ginny. She stared back, completely taken aback by the question.
“Um,” she said, “Computer Science too, I suppose. That’s getting popular, right?”
“Yup,” Ivy mumbled, her head bowed over her mashed potatoes like a broken flower. “Everyone is fighting to get their slice of the Internet these days…”
We continued our meal in silence, the conversation suddenly over. We walked up together, too, and it felt strangely uncomfortable. A dark cloth had fallen over our little group, leaving behind an itch we could never scratch.
Finally we reached our dorms and we looked at each other.
“Well, good night then,” Ivy said. Cleo was already inside and I could hear her brushing her teeth.
“See you at breakfast.”
“Good night,” I said. Ivy nodded and closed the door.
Ginny was already in her bunk, her nose in a book. There was already a stack next to her, as tall as a mountain, and by the glare in her eyes, passionate and intense as fire, it looked like she was going to be reading all night.
“Don't classes start next week?” I asked with a frown.
“Yeah,” Ginny said distractedly. Her eyes were glued to the pages and she was flipping through them so fast her hands were a blur. “Just wanted to get started so I’ll be well-prepared, that’s all.”
She peered down at me, her icy blue eyes fixated on my muddy brown ones. “Go to bed. We have a big day tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I guess,” I mumbled, and soon I slipped away from the real world for a world of restless dreams.
For some reason, I woke up in the middle of the night.
I got my torch from under the bed and checked the time on my alarm clock. 4am.
Great.
I lay down on my pillow with my eyes open. I strained my ears, listening out for the sounds of nature. Back home there were birds that sang no matter what time it was, porcupines and rats scavenging around our trash, and crickets that performed symphonies that lulled me into slumber.
But out here there was nothing.
Great.
I couldn’t even hear my roomie. I didn’t really peg Ginny as the type who snored, but her bunk felt…empty. I peered upwards and couldn’t make out her shapeless form huddled beneath her blankets. Books were strewn all over her bunk, their pages wide open like the wings of lost paper birds.
I yawned and squeezed my eyes shut. It was too early to do anything and as Ginny said, we had a lot of things to do tomorrow.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehh!!
It sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Or rather, that of a clawed hand scraping down someone’s flesh, their hooked nails peeling off their skin in strips.
I groaned and smashed my pillow against my ears, but even my fluffy shield did nothing to muffle the loud screeches that rattled from my ears down my spine and to my toes.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehh!!
I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I wobbled out of bed, clutching the bed frame as the world spun in front of my eyes. I breathed deep as another eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhh screamed in my eardrums, making my hair stand on end.
Then I heard someone scream.
Was that Ginny? An image tore through my mind of my roommate in the corner, slowly strangled by rusty iron chains that curled around her body like venomous snakes. I know I shouldn’t open the door–it is a critical mistake made by so many horror movie heroines–but the thought of Ginny, alone, made my heart shiver.
So I yanked open the door.
There was Ginny, frozen like a popsicle stick. The shadows gathered and morphed into a hooded figure that blanketed her bodice.
Something—someone—slithered towards her, dragging behind a long blade. Eeeeeeeeeeeh
Ginny opened her mouth. Was she screaming?
But no, the silhouette brushed up against her skin and whooshed right past her, disappearing into the dorms. Ginny looked over, saw me screaming, then ran over and knocked me back in the room, locking the door shut.
“Are you okay?” she asked urgently.
I nodded a yes. Everything I felt at that moment couldn’t be put into words. It was dammed somewhere in the back of my throat, fighting to get out.
But I just couldn’t.
“What did you see?”
Nothing. Just nothing. My mind was blank. Everything was a hazy mess zooming around through my neural pathways. I sat down and rubbed my head. The room was spinning out of focus.
I needed to sleep.
“Yeah, sleep tight,” Ginny said kindly, pushing my blanket up to my neck. I curled up like a cooked prawn and breathed in deep. It smelled like home.
“Good night, Ginny,” I mumbled.
“Good night.”
We woke up to a sea of noisy chatter. It sounded like a thousand parrots squawking at the same time.
Eyes closed, mine still hazy, I stretched—and immediately bumped my head against the wooden frame.
Ow.
People were talking—no, shouting. It rang in my ears like a bloodcurdling scream. I groaned and attempted to muffle it with my pillow above my ears. Why do people have to be so goddamn loud?
Finally I gave up and sat up straight, forcing my crusty eyes open. Ginny was already gone, and her nightgown was draped across the top bunk like a country flag. The door was creaking in the wind. It slammed against the wall and came back strong.
Ow
Ginny came back. Without a word she took me by the arm and dragged me out of the room. There was a crowd mulling outside Ivy and Cleo’s dorm and as we passed I could hear snippets of their conversation:
“Dead…”
Ginny marched past them and took me down the stairs and to the mess hall, her eyes staring straight ahead like the world had vanished around her. Then she sat me down on one of the benches, took a sip of water and stared at me, her face white and shaking.
“WHAT?”
Even in the foggy haze of sleep, the bizarreness of the morning and the crowds outside the dorms were getting to me. All I had was questions, and I hated having so many questions.
For the first time since I met her, Ginny’s eyes didn’t meet mine. “So uh, you know the guy leading you around yesterday? When we first met?”
The description scratched my memory, and then I remembered. Tall and lanky, with tousled brown hair, freckles and a charming smile. He had a sunflower lanyard pinned on a checkered shirt–and that badge contained a name.
“James?”
“He…”. Ginny took a deep breath.
“He is dead. They found his body this morning.”
Ginny was still talking but I was barely listening. I only met this boy yesterday but it felt like I knew him forever. I felt like I was being pulled under, my reality torn asunder, everything that I know just…shattering around me.
Dead?
My throat was dry. Closing up. I sounded like a strangled cat.
“Yes,” Ginny confirmed dryly.
I looked at the two empty seats opposite me and that momental wave of dizziness turned into nausea.
“Bathroom,” I said.
Ginny watched me go, unblinking.
I rushed to the first unlocked toilet I found, ignoring the glares of girls already in queue. I gagged and watched my dinner and what little of my breakfast I had eaten swirl down the bowl. Then I flushed and staggered out. Everything was lit up way too bright; the chattering of students heading to their classes was way too loud; and I sat down in the corridor and closed my eyes.
I wasn’t sure how long I was out, because the next thing I knew someone was shaking me awake and helping me on my feet
“Come on,” Ivy said.
Her voice was brittle, her face pale. She was as fragile as stained glass, and she could barely walk herself. We limped together, nearly tripping over each other as we went up the stairs, until we collapsed, tangled between each other in a rope of legs.
That was when I felt something sharp brush across my cheek, drawing blood.
I looked up to see a hooded figure standing above us, wearing black gloves and a cloak made out of human skin. Her eyes were glowing crimson as she raised the sword. Rust gleamed at its sides like dew.
The sword slammed down, nearly missing Ivy’s leg.
We looked at each other, barely breathing, barely a word said between us. Then as if on command we got up and hightailed it back to our dorms. Through the shadows as we ran I could see a girl my age watching.
Her red curls shone in the dark like fire.
Ivy slammed the door behind us and shoved chairs up the edge to boot. I wasn’t sure it could hold a sword slicing through a wooden door but it would have to do.
Ivy sat on the bed and closed her eyes, whispering prayers in her native language. I didn’t feel like talking either
Author's Notes
If I remember correctly, this one is about a student who haunts the university 300ish years after her death. She is a witch, immortal and summoned by touching ruins. Her main weapon is the titular sword and instead of wielding it herself she hypnotises other students to kill for her.
The next scene is Cleo framed for killing James, the first sinister look at her powers of hypnosis.
The ending reveals that Ginny (taken from Ginerva, a romanized version of Queen Guinevre, yes me and JK Rowling had the same line of thinking) and Helena Sword is the same person and hypnotising all the other students. She dies when the narrator burns the school to the ground accidentally while trying to get away, ending the curse and resulting in the ruins at the start of the flashback.
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2024.05.18 17:56 FathersOtterskinCoat [US-IN] [H] Custom Ortho Keyboards (Brutal 60, babyV), RAMA Grid, Macro Pads, Artisans (Artkey Ursa MKX, Alpha Keycaps, Jack-O-Lantern 16-Artisan Collection) [W] PayPal

Timestamp (2)
Free CONUS shipping.
Keyboards
Item Quantity *Price (USD) Description*
CannonKeys Brutal 60 (Black) w/ Boardwalk PCB (hotswappable), custom copper plate, lubed vintage Cherry MX Blacks, and SA Leviathan keycaps (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) 1 $310 This is the thockiest keyboard I've ever played. Everything on it was custom selected for the best sound and feel. It comes with a custom-made copper plate, vintage MX Blacks from EunBu, SA Leviathan keycaps, millmax'd Boardwalk PCB, and a fully foam-dampened Brutal 60 case. This is, I think, the best entry into high-level ortho boards you can find.
eyeohdesigns babyV (Lime Green) w/ copper plate, hotswap PCB, SA Mitospeed, and Thic Thock Marshmallows (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) 1 $200 Like-new condition, barely used. Comes with lime green stacked acrylic, a gasket-mounted copper plate w/ foam, millmax sockets, and Thic Tock Marshmallow switches. Typing feels light and buttery
SA Mitospeed Numpad 1 $70 Good condition and just a cool cyberspace-themed numpad. Takes USB-C
MKUltra Macropad (Orange) 1 $30 Mostly unused. Takes USB-C
Keycaps
Item Quantity *Price (USD) Description*
RAMA Grid Set A (Orange) (2) 1u - 60x 2u - 15x $30
Switches
Item Quantity *Price (USD) Description*
Wuque Studio Transparent Blue Stabilizer Set 1 $15 Brand new. x4 2u and x1 spacebar
Artisans
PICTURE All artisans are in excellent (flawless) condition, but mostly missing original packaging materials
Item Quantity *Price (USD) Description*
Artkey Ursa MKX (Soulsnatch) 1 $110 Never used. Comes with original card and box.
Eldritch Keycaps Thabertooth (Gray/Green) 1 $30
Alpha Keycaps Keypora (Perry the Platypus) 1 $70
PICTURE
Jack-O-Lantern 16-Artisan Collection 300 Collected over many Halloweens but now finally time to let go. Only selling as a full set. Comes with pictured NON-FUNCTIONAL macropad as a holder
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2024.05.18 17:00 tvdsluijs Energieprijzen voor Zondag 19 Mei 2024

19 Mei 2024
All-In prijzen 💡
00:00 € 0,268 11:00 € 0,092
01:00 € 0,261 12:00 € 0,075
02:00 € 0,262 13:00 € 0,056
03:00 € 0,255 14:00 € 0,068
04:00 € 0,258 15:00 € 0,093
05:00 € 0,251 16:00 € 0,136
06:00 € 0,244 17:00 € 0,153
07:00 € 0,236 18:00 € 0,225
08:00 € 0,213 19:00 € 0,254
09:00 € 0,160 20:00 € 0,282
10:00 € 0,148 21:00 € 0,292
All-In prijzen 🔥
€ 1,151
https://images.eprijzen.nl/tomorrow_electra_daily_all_in_stacked_barchart.png?1716044400
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