How many cups of kosher salt 1 lb

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

This is quite long and I apologize and thank anyone who reads it. The short version is as follows:
My cat weighs 16 lbs when she should weigh 12 lbs. The vet recommended that I cut out dry food and give her only about 260 calories of wet food each day. The thing that doesn’t make sense is that this is way more food than I’ve been giving her. Now that I have looked at the calorie content of her food on the food brand website, I think I’ve been giving her about 138 calories per day, yet somehow she has managed to gain a pound in the last year.
The much longer version:
In an article from The Honest Kitchen (https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/blogs/pet-wellness/how-many-calories-should-a-cat-eat) it says that a cat who weighs 12 pounds should eat between 260 and 310 calories per day and a cat who weighs 15 pounds should eat between 280 and 370 calories per day (it didn’t go up to 16 lbs). In a different article from the same website (https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/blogs/pet-wellness/how-many-calories-should-a-cat-eat) it says that the resting caloric needs of a 12 lb cat are 250 calories per day. It also says that the resting caloric needs of a 15 lb cat are 295 calories per day (again, it didn’t go up to 16 lbs).
From these articles, I would assume that if I feed my cat 260 calories per day, she will gradually lose weight until she weighs 12 lbs. I would also assume that I had been feeding my cat around 370 to 400 calories per day for her to reach and maintain a weight of 16 lbs.
I went on the Wellness brand cat food website and found the calories in the foods I feed her. The average 5.5 oz can of her food is 164 calories, or 30 calories per oz. Her dry food, also Wellness brand, is 97.9 calories per ounce.
I would assume that if I only gave her wet food, I would need to give her a total of 1.63% of a 5.5 oz can every day, or 8.97 oz, for her to lose weight.
The odd thing is that I’ve been feeding her much less than that every day.
I’ve been feeding her four times per day. I was weighing out .75 oz of wet food and .125 oz of dry food.
30 calories per oz of wet x 0.75 oz = 22.5 calories
97.9 calories per oz of dry x .125 = 12.24 calories
22.5 + 12.24 = 34.74 calories per meal x 4 meals = 138.96 calories per day
Put another way, I was giving her 3 oz of wet food and ½ oz of dry food every day, and this has caused her to maintain a weight of 16 lbs.
Either she is somehow eating way more than I’ve been giving her or the calorie content of her wet and dry food, as described by the Wellness brand website, is way off.
She is pretty inactive every day, if that counts. She is also “big boned” and should weigh 12 lbs.
The vet recommended that we only give her 260 calories of wet food her day and cut out dry food entirely. This would make sense except that it would involve giving her way more food than we have been, which doesn’t make sense. As I said above, this would be almost two 5.5 oz cans of Wellness wet food every day.
Anyway, I’m curious if anyone has any thoughts or advice.

I didnt get to play many of those games as a kid so i kinda decided to find some good ones to play now.I recently played Fable (after i finished dark souls 1 and craved a game with similar setting) and it was sooo good.I also started seeing a bunch of older monster hunter games edits on tiktok so it kinda reminded me how much i appreciate the look and the atmosphere of those older RPG games.Can you guys please recommend me some really good ones that my be my cup of tea?

Hi all! I've read some online discussion about the merits of the various handicrafts, but I'm seeing a good deal of disagreement. Since I bet a lot of that can come down to playstyle, I thought I'd describe how I play the game, and see if I can get some targeted advice and useful info to make my decisions based on that.
-Rhetoric: I really like to be able to access options that might occur in conversations--especially if they do something. If they just alter the fluff of the conversation a bit, or grant a little extra gp, but don't give me new and unique items, or open up new quests, or whatever, then I don't care as much.
-Enchanting: If the unique gear is both powerful and interesting, I'd rather use them than the ones I can make myself. I'd rather have a weapon that does something different than what I can make, even if I can trick out all my skills and make a weapon that is a little bit more effective. On the other hand, if all I have to do is get 100 enchanting to make items that make the unique ones in the game look pitiful, then the unique items aren't very appealing.
-Handicraft: See what I said about enchanting for purposes of making my own gear. Making items to sell with handicraft seems like more of a hassle than doing so with alchemy, so I'd really only want this to create or improve gear, and that means I'd need the Memories to let it work on enchanted items. I very much do want to fully furnish a house, so if I need some handicraft for that I definitely need to know how much.
-Alchemy: I don't really like using a lot of potions beyond the basics. So I like to have some nice healing potions (for occasional emergency usage because of Arcane Fever), as well as some emergency mana, and stamina potions, and some poisons for occasional use. I never use potions that increase resistance to specific damage types (unless it's close to 100%, and then I'll forget most of the time anyway), and much prefer to get things like waterbreathing from spells. That said, I'm a compulsive ingredient gatherer, and making potions for money, if relatively easy and effective, is something I don't mind doing.
-Lockpicking: I like to be self-sufficient and pick locks, but it seems like Enderal has a lot less locked chests than Skyrim, and with limited points to go around, I'm thinking maybe I can just rely on those scrolls for the occasional lock I can't pick myself?
-Sleight of Hand: I never commit crimes, unless they are part of some unusual quest where they are the good guy thing to do, so I don't need this one.
-General Notes:
---I like to explore and do side quests. I don't rush through the game.
---The Perk trees I'm going to invest in are Thaumaturge and Keeper to get Seraph, with Elementalism and Blade Dance as close seconds for 1-handed sword and magic attack off-hand style combat. I'm not sure how many Perks I could invest outside of those to help handicrafts, though the possibility of a very small investment that makes a big deal in support of my playstyle is possible.
---I'm currently level 8, and find myself not having enough cash to get the learning books I need. However, I've started buying garlic and red malphus flower to mix with salt for profitable potions, and am hoping to get a full bank account for the interest, so it seems like this may be a temporary problem.
So with that background, where would you recommend I invest my crafting points? How many points per each skill, and which ones should I do first? Should I max out X and then start on Y, or should I get X, Y, and Z up to 25, and then max Y, etc? Are there certain skills I should raise to a minimum level even if I don't put anything more into them?
Also, if there is any information relevant to this that you feel isn't the sort of thing I would have come across reading a few of the top search hits on this topic, please do share.
Thanks!

I was getting ready to sleep when I received the call. It was from a No Caller ID.
I sat there at the edge of the bed, phone to my ear. "Hello?"
I could hear someone clearing their throat from the other end of the line. And then a deep, formal voice piped up. "Good evening. Am I speaking to Alex Adeyemi?"
"You are," I answered. "Who's this?"
I was up to my neck in cold calls from strangers who wanted to sell me car insurance and was ready to tear the caller a new one when he explained, "I'm calling about the Caregiver role. For Granger Manor."
Those words chased the sleep out of my eyes. I sat up straight.
Me and my girlfriend were saving up for our wedding. But with only ten months left, we needed every penny we could get.
I needed a part-time job and I needed one fast.
But finding a good, decent job these days was like finding water in the Sahara.
So it's no surprise that I applied for this Caregiver vacancy 2 minutes after it went live on Indeed.
"We like your CV and would like to invite you for an interview," the caller continued. His voice was soft, silky smooth. So smooth it was almost unnerving. He sounded like one of those ASMR YouTubers. "Would you be free tomorrow morning? 8:30 AM, to be exact."
I didn't miss a beat. "I'll be there."
I never expected them to call me back half an hour after I applied. 11 at night, no less.
But I just assumed they were as desperate for employees as I was to earn some money on the side. It was a match made in heaven.
The interview was done over Zoom.
The next morning I sat at my dining room table, hunched over my laptop, headphones pressed into my ears as I joined the call.
The video call flickered to life and a middle-aged man appeared on my screen. He introduced himself as Damien.
No surnames. Just Damien.
He looked as professional as he sounded. Slicked-back dark hair as black as night, well-groomed beard, suit and tie.
He smiled, but if there was even a shred of warmth left in that smile, it didn’t reach his pale blue eyes. The corners of his mouth were pulled back just a little too far, revealing teeth that were unnaturally even and white, as if he spent a lifetime polishing them to perfection.
He asked all the usual questions.
What are your weaknesses?
What do you believe are the most important qualities for a caregiver to possess, and how do you demonstrate them?
Why do you think you're a good fit for this company?
I bullshitted my way through the interview.
I asked a few questions of my own too. There were barely any traces of the care home on the Internet and I was curious about that.
Damien glanced up at me. His smile never wavered, but his eyes held a flicker of something unreadable. It looked a little like surprise. "Ah, yes," he began, his voice measured and calm, "we pride ourselves on maintaining a private and exclusive environment for our residents. Many of them prefer a more… discreet approach, away from the prying eyes of the public."
It sounded like he was reading from a rehearsed script. I ignored the red flags. Looking back at it, I ignored a lot of red flags. Money sometimes makes you blind.
In the end, I got the job.
I started work the next evening.

I kissed Celine goodbye and was out the door.
The place was a 45-minute drive from our house, in the ass crack middle of nowhere. Frank Ocean sang his heart out on the car radio as I sped through the highway on a foggy night. The long road ran through the woods and I drove past miles and miles of tall birch trees that stretched up to the cloudy sky.
All around me, there was nothing but forest.
The care home was nestled at the end of a quiet street in a gated community. It was a small, old-school bungalow with neatly trimmed bushes and colourful flowerbeds on the lawn.
I parked up, stepped out, and headed to the front door.
Just as I raised my hand to knock, the door creaked open, revealing a tall man in the dimly-lit hallway. "Good evening," Damien said, with that smooth yet hollow voice. "Alex was it?"
I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. "Yes, that's right," I shook his hands. "Nice to meet you."
Something about the man gave me unease.
"Come in," he stepped aside with an almost mechanical grace. "We've been expecting you. Anything to drink? Coffee? Water?"
"No, thanks. I'm good."
The door closed behind me with a soft thud.
The tall man gestured for me to follow him down a narrow hallway, and with each step, the unease in my chest tightened its grip.
The radio was playing softly in the background. As I listened, the crackly voice became clearer: "… We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a special report. We have just received word that Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, has been attacked by Japanese forces. I repeat, Pearl Harbor has been attacked…"
Damien must have noticed my curiosity. "You're probably wondering why we play old news broadcasts like this one," he chimed in, his voice steady. "It's not just for nostalgia's sake, although that does play a part. It's about keeping a connection to the past alive, especially for our older residents."
Now that he mentioned it, the entire house looked like it was frozen in the past.
The furniture in the living room matched the vintage feel.
Plush armchairs with floral upholstery sat alongside polished wooden side tables.
A few framed black-and-white photographs adorned the walls, capturing memories from what seemed like a distant past – smiling faces at family gatherings, couples dancing at social events, a little girl building a sandcastle, a slender ballerina posing on her tiptoes.
Even the light fixtures, with their frosted glass shades, seemed to belong to another era. The soft, dim glow they poured into the room added to the cozy yet eerie atmosphere.
It looked how you'd expect an old people's home to look. There was only one thing missing. "Where are all the residents?" I thought out loud.
Damien stopped abruptly. Apart from the ticking of the grandfather clock on the wall and the crackle of wood from the fireplace, there was no sound apart from the news reporter on the radio.
He turned to me with that signature smile that was stitched onto his face, his eyes pale as snow.
"I must inform you that the nature of this role is quite unique." He cleared his throat. "Alex, you see, the resident you will be providing companionship to is not a living person."
"S-Say what?" the words caught in my throat.
"The individual in question is not alive. Well, at least not in the conventional sense. You will be tasked with watching over their ashes."
He went on, "This is an afterlife care agency. We care for those whom society had forgotten. Those who passed away with a dying wish to be remembered and loved from beyond the grave. Many of our clients are folks who died alone, with no one in their lives. No living husbands or wives, no children, no friends to mourn their losses."
As he spoke, my gaze drifted to a corner of the room where a small, ornate urn rested on a side table. It dawned on me that the "client" in question was the pile of cremated ashes in that urn.
"We're understaffed at the moment, so we've had to outsource some of our work across the country. It's a rather unconventional responsibility, I understand. So, if this isn't what you were expecting, it's perfectly – "
I was on my way to the door before he even finished his sentence. "Oh, hell nah."
"The pay would be $2,000 per night," he added, stopping me in my tracks. "We've already wired this night's pay to your account."
I pulled out my phone and saw the PayPal notification signalling that $2,000 had landed safely in my account. I don't even know they got my account details.
That's how I started looking after Ms. Ferguson's ashes.
--

Damien explained that Ms. Ferguson had died of a brain aneurysm. "Right on that chair," he pointed.
3 weeks had passed before anyone noticed.
The mailman came to deliver a letter one morning and when he saw the unopened letters flooding the mailbox and smelt the stench of rot, he alerted the police.
And there they found her body, slumped on that chair.
No one was named in her Will.
Her only request was for her savings to be invested into her "afterlife care", and for her ashes to be scattered at a beach.
And so here we were.
There were "rules" that I had to follow each night. Damien handed me a document that listed them all.

Rule #1: Ensure all doors and windows are securely locked by midnight. Do not open until the end of shift. No exceptions.
Rule #2: If you hear the sound of crying, remain perfectly still until it passes. Do not, under any circumstances, make a sound.
Rule #3: Do not sleep on the job.
Rule #4: Do not look into any mirrors after midnight.
Rule #5: Do not open the bedroom door at the end of the hallway.

"You must not under any circumstances break these rules, Alex," Damien finished. For the first time, the smile faded from his face. He was dead serious.
"Got it," I said.
My schedule was the same each night.
I polished the tables, vacuumed the carpets, dusted the bookshelves, and played Ms. Ferguson's favourite songs on the record player. She apparently loved jump blues music, so every night I played "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" back to back.
For the most part, it was a decent job. I had no supervisor so sometimes I just laid on the couch, watching Joe Rogan until sunrise. Then I'd clock out at 7 am.
Rinse, repeat.
I didn't hear the sound of crying until the 4^th night.
I was in the house all by myself.
I remained as still as a mannequin, my heart beating in my chest. Frozen, paralysed by fear as I heard the sobbing.
Sure, Damien did warn me about the crying, but I didn't expect it to actually happen.
I strained my ears to listen, but the sound was faint and muffled like it was coming from inside the walls themselves. Almost as though they didn't want anyone to hear.
But then the crying got louder and louder. And then it was followed by the sound of scratching. Nails scratching furiously from inside the walls.
That was the last straw. As soon as the crying stopped, I got up out of there.
I left the house keys under the doormat and dropped Damien a text message that I wouldn't be coming back.
My phone was ringing up a storm as I reversed out of the driveway. I put it on loudspeaker and pressed the gas pedal to the floor.
"What are you doing, Alex?" There was no more politeness in Damien's voice.
"I'm quitting. Don't worry, I'll pay back tonight's wage. But I've entertained this crazy shit long enough."
"Mr. Adeyemi, you're making a mistake."
"Listen, I'm not spending one more night in that madhouse."
"There are rules. You broke them."
"Please don't call me again."
"Mr. Adeyemi, I urge you to – " I hung up the phone.

When I finally stepped through my front door, the familiar warmth of home began to ease my nerves.
I collapsed to sleep on the sofa.
Later that morning, I stirred awake to the sound of soft footsteps. Celine was already up by 7 in the morning, her eyes full of concern as she gently shook my shoulder.
"Hey," she said, her voice a soothing balm. "You okay? You look like you barely slept."
She handed me a cup of coffee.
I rubbed my eyes and managed a tired smile. "Rough night," I admitted, the memories of the care home still fresh in my mind.
She frowned, worry etched across her face. "You don't have to keep pushing yourself so hard," she said, kissing me on my forehead. "We can figure things out together."
"I know." I reached for her hand. "I just want everything to be perfect for us."
"It already is, as long as we're together." She squeezed my hand and smiled gently. "Just had my performance review. Been pushing for that Senior Product Manager role. If I get it, it'll make things a little easier for us."
"That’s great, babe. I know you'll get it."
She probably noticed how distracted I was.
"You sure you're ok, Lex?"

From that point forward, I heard nothing more from Damien.
No text messages, no calls. Radio silence.
The job posting was no longer live on Indeed.
And I didn’t have the man's number, so calling him wasn't an option.
I wanted to clear the air, to make sure he wouldn't break into my house one night and slip cyanide in my coffee.
The silence was killing me. The uncertainty, the dread of not knowing what he was thinking.
I drove back to Ms. Ferguson's house, but there was no one there. Someone had stuck up a 'For Sale' sign on the lawn.
It was as if the whole ordeal had never happened. Four nights that were blotted out of history.
Life went back to usual for the most part.
At that point, I hadn't told Celine what had happened. Not about the special requirements of the job, the weird rules, or the muffled crying I heard from inside the walls.
I didn't want to worry her. She had enough on her plates.
Everything would go back to normal, I convinced myself.
I was wrong.
One morning, as I got up to brush my teeth, I glanced in the mirror and saw the reflection of an old lady standing behind me. I spun around and saw no one there.
But when my eyes drifted back to the mirror, there she was again. Impossibly thin and frail, draped in a tattered nightgown, leaning on a cane. Her eyes were red and teary. She had been crying.
At the office, I'd see her lithe frame in toilet mirrors. Her silent eyes were now dead, as though she had run out of tears.
There she was in the corner of my bedroom at night, her silhouette lurking in the dark, walking aimlessly, drifting at the corner of my eyes. But when I looked directly at her she'd vanish again.
Everywhere I went, I'd hear the tap, tap, tap of that cane as she followed me.
But she was invisible to everyone else.
It didn't take long for me to start losing my appetite.
I ate less. My eyes became sunken, hollow from the sleepless nights. I lost some weight and my face was gaunt.
I stopped going to the office because I was terrified.
I locked myself in my house and hid under the covers. That was the only place I was safe from her.
I had no choice but to confess everything to Celine.
She did what she could to support. She set up appointments with a therapist, stayed awake with me after my night terrors, took time off work to be around more.
But still, I drifted slowly into the deep end of madness.
We ended up canceling the wedding.
But the torture didn't stop there. Soon I began seeing Ms. Ferguson's urn in random places too.
I stepped into my bedroom one evening, and there it was, sitting on my nightstand as if it had always been there.
Each time I found it, I tried to get rid of it – moving it to the attic, locking it in the basement, even throwing it out with the trash. But no matter what I did, it always returned, undisturbed and pristine.
And if it wasn't the urn haunting me, it was the old lady with that cane of hers.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
--

"Maybe she's trying to tell you something," Celine suggested one night.
We were laying on the sofa together, as I ran my hand through her hair. Ms. Ferguson was staring at us from the corner of the room. I tried to ignore her.
"Is she here with us now?" Celine asked.
"Yeah, she's right there," I pointed to beside the dining room table.
I could see that made Celine uneasy. She shifted slightly, her body tensing. "Perhaps she just needs something to be at peace," Celine added, her eyes lingering on the corner of the room.
"Perhaps." I was suddenly reminded of Ms. Ferguson's Will. She wanted her ashes to be scattered at a beach. "I might have an idea."
That following morning, I stepped out of my front door for the first time in what felt like an eternity. I squinted at the blinding sunlight, feeling the fresh morning breeze on my face.
It was a fifty-mile drive to the closest beach. The open road stretched out ahead, winding through coastal towns and past towering cliffs laced with wildflowers swaying in the gentle breeze. Ms. Ferguson's urn was riding shotgun on the front seat.
The world outside my car seemed to slow down.
You have a lot of time to think about everything when you're out on the road.
And that whole journey, all I could think about was Ms. Ferguson.
I had so many questions.
What did she do for a living?
Did she have any children?
Was she ever married?
Why did she want her ashes to be scattered at the beach?
I never cared to ask Damien any of these questions, but all of a sudden these things seemed to hold more weight. More value.
Finally, the beach appeared in the distance, a stretch of sand bordered by rugged cliffs and soft waves.
I parked the car and stepped out onto the sand, the grains warm beneath my feet. The wide ocean stood before me, stretching into the distance forever. The sun was still climbing over the horizon.
I hired one of the small boats from the fishermen and paddled it out until I was far out in the calm waters.
I sat there for a moment with Ms. Ferguson's ashes.
It was quiet out there. Nothing but the lapping of the waves, the faint cries of the seagulls above, the breeze of the wind.
"All you wanted was to be cherished by someone," I said to no one in particular.
Then it all hit me. All of my emotions collided like a car speeding into oncoming traffic. The fear, the sleepless nights, the confusion, the numbness – all of it mingled with a deep sense of sadness. The sadness I felt for Ms. Ferguson. For all the years she felt alone, isolated, forgotten.
Tears fell from my eyes before I realised I was crying. With trembling hands, I opened the urn. "I'm sorry. It must have been so lonely, so painful," I said. "But this isn't where you belong. You can let go, you can find peace now."
I scattered her ashes into the sea and as I watched it drift away, I felt a heaviness lift off from my shoulders.
I never saw Ms. Ferguson again after that.

BoxOfficeTheory Presale Tracking
USA Showtimes As of May 17
Presales Data (Google Sheets Link)
BoxOfficeReport Previews
DOMESTIC PRESALES
Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle

• Flip (Looking at some theaters near me, Haikyu is outselling Spy x Family (May 20).)

Bad Boys: Ride or Die Average Thursday / EA+Thursday comp: $3.41M/$4.47M

• abracadabra1998 (Comp: $2.61M THU. All these comps had been on sale for longer, so those will go up, with the exception of Civil War, which went on sale at T-18 so that'll go down. Feels like a walk-up movie so it's hard to find good comps (May 19). Numbers are from last THU, as per my post this morning. This is a more walk-up movie a la Aquaman or Apes so I think it's a pretty good start (May 18). Pretty good start for it honestly (May 16).)
  
• katnisscinnaplex (Comp: $4.47M EA+THU.)
  
• keysersoze123 (This wont be fan driven. Even the last one initially trailed Dr Do little in presales but amped up big time close to release. This will be a late bloomer. I am still expecting 50m+ OW (May 23).)
  
• TheFlatLannister (Comp: $4.11M THU. Comps ($4.11M) would mean $40M+ Opening Weekend (May 24). Well, this is a pretty good start (May 17).)
  
• TwoMisfits (Aging male-skewing franchises tend to get the biggest bump from this deal. Folks are on the fence but know what they are getting. Female skewing non-sequel ones tend to get zero help. You need baseline interest to get people willing to pay anything, b/c these still are $5. The other effect of the deal is that movies releasing around the $5 hits sometimes get hurt. June TMobile $5 Atom movie. This could help it go huge, like last year's Spider-Verse (May 22).)
  
• vafrow (Comp: $3.5M THU. I still expect this to be more walk up friendly than the comps being used, and should see a gradual rise as the date gets closer (May 25). Nothing of note here. Staying steady. Will probably pick up only in the final week (May 20). Comps are not the greatest. One, surprisingly hard to find a comparable film with similar start on sales. Plus, I think ticket buying patterns have changed pretty drastically in my market over the last few months. Very little up front sales compared to late 2023. Dune was the exception (May 17).)
  
• YM! (Same thing as IO2 for Bad Boys (see May 23 IO2 comment), I expect this to not only skew more GA friendly and should bulk up ticket sales as we get closer to release. It’s almost at half of Furiosa’s T-6 which is a pretty great thing. Should easily outdo it by T-6 imho (May 23). Again, another solid start-ish. I expect Bad Boys to have the most diverse audience. Can't really predict much on previews but I am feeling confident in the 55-60m OW range for the past few weeks (May 17).)
  

The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Re-Releases (June 8-10)

• BoxOfficePro (Fathom Events has also announced that select Regal Cinemas will present the films in 4DX on June 22/23/24 for Fellowship/Towers/Return respectively (May 14).)
  
• katnisscinnaplex (Up to ~1,400 shows now with new locations picking it up and others adding a second showing. LotR1 has sold 831 seats OD, LotR2 sold 715 seats OD, and LotR3 sold 735 seats OD. For comparison, Phantom Menace didn't break 800 tickets until T-3 and we're still over a month out. JW3 comp is currently around 9m (it was at 1,670 tickets sold at this point!) (May 6).)
  

Inside Out 2 Average Thursday Comp: $7.56M

• abracadabra1998 (Comp: $3.98M THU. Good update, hopefully this keeps on rising (May 23). Not impressed at all so far here sadly (May 19). Holy numbers of shows and seats! Multiplexes are really expecting a lot here. Sales off the bat not amazing here (May 15).)
  
• AniNate (Finally a little movement here. 23 Thursday, 52 Fri-Sun (compared to 18 THU and 23 FRI-SUN on May 17) (May 22). Safe to say the fan rush has ended, and it might not be immediately on casual family and radar when they're making memorial Day plans and there are two other kids movies out or about to be out (May 19).It is encouraging that Canton is already giving me something to work with with 12 THU preview sales. Same number for Fri-Sun. I do see nine sales for first THU at Canton now and I think that's a pretty solid start (May 15).)
  
• AnthonyJPHer (Out of the 4 tracked theaters, there is at least 774 tickets sold out of 1000+ seats. Blown Garfield out of the water (~200 tickets from the theaters I tracked). At least 3 sold out (or close to sold out) showings for Inside Out 2. Looking good for Inside Out 2. Of course this might just be fan surge and all. I was looking at the THU previews in a theater near me. There is an almost completely sold out showing. Out of 195 seats, 175 were sold. Where I live there seems to be real interest. I counted about more than 400 tickets sold on THU for theaters near me, kind of shocked me (May 19).)
  
• charlie Jatinder (Comp: $12.33M THU at MTC2. Moving along nicely (May 21).)
  
• Flip (Fan event on the 16th has 43 tickets sold from 2 showtimes (compared to 8 showtimes and 73 tickets sold for previews), so that might be depressing previews a bit
  
• katnisscinnaplex (Comp: $6.37M THU. Early sales haven't been there lately except for the extreme fans. $12.27M Mario comp (May 18). At 180 shows for previews in my areas and still has a few theaters left to post. Godzilla x Kong finished with 197, Kingdom of Apes 190, and Kung Fu Panda 205 (May 14).)
  
• keysersoze123 (Chugging along at this point (May 19). Show counts show Plexes are expecting a big OW. I dont remember when we last had a animation movie start with so many shows. I wont count Mario as that was a fan driven movie. Definitely not great presales but this is not a fan driven movie. Let us see where things are in the final week (May 15). Families dont book tickets on weekday mornings. Wait until evening today to judge it. From a release perspective, easily the biggest for any animated movie in a long time. Only movie which is not comparable is Mario but that was not just a family flick (May 14).)
  
• Porthos (BAD COMPS: $8.35M THU. Decided to add Nope ($12.62M) to the comp block. Not because I think it's a particularly good one (the ATP differences alone are a major red flag), but more for pace considerations considering how similar horror and kids animation are when it comes to being backloaded. The other consideration with Nope is that it was on sale for nearly two weeks longer, so it did have a small amount of extra time to pad some seats sold. But maybe the errors (ATP vs length of pre-sale) will cancel each other out. PROBABLY NOT! But the pace at the very least should be interesting (May 25). 10.0% Matinee sales, 5.3% 3D sales and 42.2% PLF sales. (May 19). Strange pre-sale pattern. Was there some sort of promo that dropped today? Either way, just a great day (for this type of movie at this point in pre-sales) (May 17). Fairly strong day. Was concentrated at a couple of theaters (May 16). I do not have good comps, especially for D1. 5.45946x Elemental on D1 [13.10m]. Will it be as backloaded as Elemental? It's tough to sell 5.5x times the amount of tickets on the final couple of days, so perhaps not. But it does show how backloaded purely kids animation is. Sonic 2 comp is perhaps a little concerning. On the other hand, nearly a weeks more of pre-sales. Of presales, 3.5% are 3D and 40.1% are PLF (May 15). On the SAT of release weekend (NOT EA) there is a special event screening for IO2: INSIDE OUT 2: FUNKO FAMILY EVENT! (2024) Sat June 15th. Might boost OW slightly depending on how wide this event is and how much more these tickets will presumably cost (May 11).)
  
• TheFlatLannister (Comp: $8.74M THU. Definitely the biggest rollout in showings since I've started tracking Florida. Bigger than even Dune 2 and it's only T-26 (May 18). This is a super super strong day 2. Probably just Orlando overindexing, but yeah starting to lean towards something big brewing. Florida presales are somehow even crazier. Sold 2357 seats and is getting a blockbuster rollout in terms of showing allocations. Kung Fu panda comp day 2: gives me $8.50M (May 15). Well, I can't really tell if this is a breakout or not yet. Looks very good especially in the first few hours. These are probably terrible comps, but might as well try something (May 14).)
  
• TwoMisfits (I'm kinda shocked at the opening set from my Cinemarks... 2 screens (1 PLF, 1 not) and 6 showings at my PLF 14 for THU (and 11 showings on the same screens once it runs full day - 7 PLF b/c 1 is 3d on the reg screen, 4 not)... 3 screens (.75 3d, 2.25 not) and 9 showings at the non-PLF 12 for THU (and 12 showings on 2.25 screens once it runs full day)... So, 2 and 2.25 screens for the weekend presale sets... Disney must be charging a huge % for themselves b/c this is an Elemental opening set at my PLF...a little more generous for THU at my non-PLF, but then they too drop to an Elemental opening set after the adult Disney base THU rush... (May 14).)
  
• vafrow (Comp: $5.6M THU. It's starting to grow (May 25). I'm surprised this hasn't been stronger. At this stage, I don't expect we'll see much activity until final week (May 19). No new sales. Whatever glitches in the system on day 1 didn't push sales to day 2. I still think the lack of base ticket options will push families to wait. Cineplex has jacked up the cost of PLFs, plus they're throwing in an increase for opening weekend of major releases. It adds up quickly for families (May 16). With the site glitching yesterday, it might account for the slow start. But, what's interesting is the format breakdown. Nothing is being made available in anything close to a regular showtime. The one non 3D showing in Dolby is a matinee showing. Everything else is carrying a hefty premium. They'll likely release regular showtimes closer to release, but right now, it's priced to get eager fans to pay the PLFs (May 15).)
  
• YM! (Little has changed as IO2 keeps on trucking along. I do theorize at least from the 250 ticket selling Funko Event, it’s plausible families and fans went for that date instead of Thursday night previews. Not much to make of things until we get to around 2 weeks for rudimentary guessing and opening week for figuring things out. At the very least, I like that it doubled its previous sales a week ago as it shows pace and outdid Garfield’s T-6 (May 23). Did some snooping around for the Funko Event as I was curious if perhaps families getting presales for the opening Saturday vs opening Thursday as those sales are kind of weak Thursday and uhm it’s at 250 tickets. Which is like 5 times Garfield’s EA showing of 50 tickets all at PLF prices despite normal theaters. Most of which at 9:30 AM with only one theater having it at 11:00 AM (May 22). Based on keysoze123's Elemental, Wish, Little Mermaid, and Kung Fu Panda 4 preview data, $5.66M THU comp and $22.2M FRI comp. Not a fan of the average comp (Disney has underperformed at MTC2 so not within history to rely on it overperforming like KFP4 and IF) but really like the True FRI although it is very inconsistent. Not sure if IO2 would jump that high from the THU average. However, there’s a lot of variable since: 1. TLM should skew more towards young adults than families by nature which should make ATP higher. 2. IO2 should and does have a higher ATP than either Wish, KFP4 or Elemental due to total PLF control and presumably skews a bit older. 3. Wish was on Discount TUES so that should muddy up the comparisons. 4. The comparisons apart from Elemental are either days before or days behind. 5. Both Wish and KFP4 opened outside the summer season so internal multiplier will be different (especially with Wish’s five day) due to how summer and fall have entirely different natures in walkups which leaves just TLM/Elemental as viable comparisons. It does show that IO2 should at least open above 65m? (May 20). Seems IO2 is playing more like a kid's animation than a family event. Pretty solid for what it is. Majestic is healthy and about 66% of Garfield T-6. Thinking anywhere from 75m-100m OW rn (May 17). Only been an hour but yeah sales are softer than I expected. However, it is a month out and will largely skew more towards kids than say TLM/Across so wasn't expecting a blitz like them. Here at Marcus theaters are going all out for IO2 with it having the lion share of PLFs with it getting both screens when there is two PLFs with tentpole like levels of screens (May 14). Was taking a look at Marcus Cinemas to see that they have preloaded Inside Out 2 showtimes which seem to start at 3:00 pm on a THU . It seems like Marcus is going all out on it as judging from showtimes it's taking away all of Bad Boys’ PLFs in that theaters that have two+ PLFs are giving all to IO2 (May 11).)
  

Deadpool and Wolverine Average Thursday Comp: $32.20M

• AMC ("Some 200,000 movie fans have bought their AMC tickets already. This is more Day 1 ticket sales at AMC than for any other R-rated movie ever." Insiders tell The Hollywood Reporter that first-day sales are likely around $8 million to $9 million if extrapolating the 200,000 stat cited by Aron (May 22).)
  
• DEADLINE (Already heating up eight weeks before its debut, having already collected some $8M in first day ticket sales. $8M is pretty remarkable for an R-rated movie two months before release. While there are no direct comps on Deadpool & Wolverine ticket sales in post-Covid history, its current cash bests the 24-hour advance ticket sales of The Batman ($6.5M), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($6M) and John Wick: Chapter 4 ($1.4M). The Batman and GOTG3 opened to respective 3-day weekends of $134M and $118.4M (May 22).)
  
• FANDANGO (Broke Fandango’s best first-day ticket sales record for 2024. Best first-day pre-seller from the Deadpool franchise (May 21).)
  
• abracadabra1998 (Day 1/2 Comps (not serious ones): $25.82M/$28.14M THU. Pretty damn great day 2!(May 21).)
  
• AniNate (THU sales still largely biased towards primetime evening showings. There may be FOMO but not enough for people to take off work early. Good lord already 80+ THU previews sold for Deadpool at Canton (May 20).)
  
• AnthonyJPHer (Off to a hot start! At my theater in my town, there has been 8 tickets sold. That sounds low but it’s actually a lot, especially this far out and because Inside Out 2 hasn’t sold any tickets at my theater yet. Looking more broadly at 4 theaters I track other than my own, there is a mind- boggling 1,029 tickets sold! Already more than Inside Out 2 (May 20).)
  
• Charlie Jatinder (Comp: $30.03M THU. Nearly 300 sales day vs ~260 by Black Panther & ~200 of GOTG3. Another brilliant day. Given the length of sales window, comps be falling off but they have remained steady for first 4 days (May 24). Looking at keysersoze123's MTC1 data: These are incredible (May 22). $40.22M THU (MCU first day sales). Amazing day two at MiniTC2. Well ahead of BP2, GOTG3 and AM3. Not too far off from Thor 4. This is more impressive considering they all were ~25-35 days out while this is 65 days out. MTC2 has lower ATP generally due to smaller screens, less PLF, and more family friendly chain. Does much better PTA than MTC1 (May 21). MCU MTC 1 24 Hours: Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness ~ 210K (T-29), Thor 4 ~ 137K (T-24), DP&W ~ 120K+ (T-66), BP 2 ~ 110K (T-38), AM3 ~ 88K (T-30), and GoTG3 ~ 76K (T-30). At T-30 guess DP&W would have been around 160-170K type. Will mostly be above BP2 and below Thor 4. 3.6k so far. BP2 final was 4.6k. It’s done (crossed GOTG3 day one sales). Almost crossed GoTG3 day one sales at MiniTC2 (May 20).)
  
• Inceptionzq (Denver Comp: $25.69M THU. Drafthouse THU/FRI/SAT/SUN comp: $31.04M/$38.62M/$40.21M/$22.35M (May 21). Drafthouse THU/FRI/SAT/SUN comps with L&T 24 hours and MoM 11 hours: (1.03x0.968x) / (0.884x0.945x) / (0.912x1.01x) / (0.561x1.004x). Denver THU: In like for like theaters: (0.828x Thor L&T First 24 hours) and (0.628x Doctor Strange MoM first 11.5 hours) (May 20).)
  
• keysersoze123 (1st few days of PS is all about fanboys so T-x does not matter. By this FRI it will be in steady state mode. With this long a cycle that would be at very low levels. Looking at FRI sales, its IM will be closer to Thor 4 than BP2. So we can do the projections based on how the previews will go. However Its really early. Let us wait until we have T-x comps. Probably will have to wait until July to get credible comps. MTC2 early sales tend to be way weaker for all movies. The disparity for big movies is even higher. Nothing out of ordinary in day 2 pace for MTC1 (May 22). Obvious skew on previews (compared to FRI) as its 9+ weeks from release. Excellent growth even past 2:15 PM. Finished ahead of BP2 and ~20K below Thor 4 (116k for DxW and FINAL The Marvels previews at 133k). It has the longer cycle. This includes fan shows which sold 18K+ in initial check around noon PST. Fan event is just MTC1. I dont see anything for any other MTC so far or smaller chains. I think at this point we need to comp with 2022 MCU movies if OD presales are on par. Until we are within T-x cycle for this movie, we cannot comp after 1st 2-3 days. Fan shows are yuge. Adding FanShows and Previews should put it between BP2 and Thor 4 for now. Terrific OD. Over time, GotG3 should provide great comps. I can say for sure, its no where in the ballpark of DS2 which did 36m previews. Really good start. Should finish the day ahead of Ant 3 I think. Sales will taper off after fanboy rush. This does not include fan shows. No full data yet but show counts for previews (MTC1 - 7427 and MTC2 - 2914). MTC1 shows they are ready for big numbers. MTC2 is more conservative and numbers will go up close to release. If I have to guess based on really early indications, its OD between Guardians 3 and Ant 3 at MTC1. MTC2 I unfortunately cannot get data (May 20). Thor 4 is the most logical comp but that had meh WOM so IM was terrible. Previews were excellent though. Since its previews was 3 days after July 4, its final surge was stronger than even DS2. I dont think there is any difference between early and late July. All schools/colleges will still be off (May 19). Only number that matters is OD presales. after few days it will hit a trough and then it will plod along until social media reactions and reviews hit close to release. I think we can kind of predict its OW after its OD presales (May 18). RESPONSE TO PORTHOS: Captain Marvel had very strong sales on its OD despite early start. So OD is all about fans. It does not matter if you start 2 weeks before or 9 weeks. They will still book. So it would be interesting to compare OD sales not only with CM for @Porthos but also the big openers in 2022/23 period from MTC perspective. 1) DS2 - 230k ish. 2) Thor 4 - 136k ish. 3) Wakanda - 110k. 4) Ant 3 - 88K. 5) Guardians 3 - 70k ish. I wonder where Deadpool 3 will land. Anything is fine as long as it does pull in a Marvels (May 17).)
  
• Legion Again (Previews this early in summer are almost a THU opening, so Fri soemthing like +35-55% from Th is IM ~4.9-5.5. If we get some strong Fri sales when we’re close maybe I’ll drag it up to 5.6 or something but it will be really really tough to beat that. Expecting an IM close to Thor 4. Better reception (in avg case, just by regression to the mean) but bigger previews/more fanrush element, ~cancelling. T-65 Projection Matrix ($166M-$186M OW) (May 22).)
  
• Porthos (Comp: $20.93M THU. For long releases of MCU/SW Saga caliber, it usually takes about 6 to 8 days for the initial wave to stop. The Rise of Skywalker didn't really "bottom out" until D9 or so (T-51). Then at T-21, more or less, it started up its acceleration again. Can see similar patterns for MCU long runners (May 24). MCU/SW films tend to have a bit longer of a slope-down on the decent of the "u-curve" so I think I'll keep posting "Day x" comps for at least a couple more days (May 23). Pretty standard Day 2, really. Best sign, I think, is it nearly matching BP2 (that also had a long pre-sale window starting at T-38) (May 22). $22.09M THU Day 1 Comps (8.4% 3D and 58.5% PLF) (May 21). Pretty good, all things considered. BP2 and onward tell a pretty consistent picture. Do think the extra month of pre-sales is gonna mess with these comps at least a little (May 21). Since setup took 60-75 min longer, take the following with a slight grain of salt: 1:45 PM with 2,105 tickets sold. (NWH 2am: 6515), (NWH 2pm: 10685), (Batman 12:45 pm: 1693), (MoM 1:00 pm: 5030), (L&T 12:15pm: 2519), (BP2 2:15pm: 2197) and (GOTG3 12:40pm: 1317). Two theaters have not yet checked in. Seems to be broadly in line with other markets that have reported in (May 20). No comparison for a movie starting presales this early (60+ days before release). Only MCU entry which comes close is Captain Marvel (T-58) and only other Disney release is TROS (T-59). Longest pre-sale window for a major Disney release since The Last Jedi (~70 days). Longest major release since Fast X's 99 days. Probably the most on-point recent comparison will be Jurassic World 3's 43 days. Length of the pre-sale window will very likely depress D1/D2/D3 sales somewhat. It's a matter of smaller degrees when comparing something like a BP2 (starting at T-38), but that extra month is probably gonna slice some numbers off the top of the pile, especially after the first day (May 17).)
  
• TalismanRing (NYC Regal Local. 17 shows (3 3D, 3 RPX, 11 Reg 2): 102 tickets sold for first hour - almost half for the 7pm RPX showing. COMPS MON opening week: Marvels: 91 (11pm), Eternals: 266 (7pm), Black Widow: 239 (5pm), and Venom 2: 131 (6pm) (May 20).)
  
• TheFlatLannister ($150M locked imo. Don’t really see under $30M for previews and a 6x multi gets it to $180M OW. With GOTG 3 early reception I think $200M becomes a real discussion (May 22). $44.36M Dune 2 Day 2 comp. Pretty ridiculously strong day 2. Sold more tickets on T-65 than Dune 2 did in its final day of presales. $22.42M THU GOTG3 Comp. Considering this thing is 60+ days out, I'd say day 2 was amazing (May 21). Sold around 1k tickets in the last 8 hours. Keep in mind this is not T-X so once I switch to T-X 30+ days from now, comp will probably be well over $30M for GOTG. Thinking ~8k seats sold by T-30 for ~$37M comp with GOTG vol 3. DON'T TAKE THESE THU COMPS (Dune+APES+GxK) SERIOUSLY: $46.33M. Rollout is pretty insane. Has almost 200 more showings than Inside Out 2. Sold more tickets than Dune 2 did as of T-1 (Dune 2 finished with 13.6k on T-0). Also surpassed Godzilla tickets sold as of T-0. Half way finished collecting data on Deadpool for Florida and it's nearly tripled Dune 2 first 24 hours of sales and data is still flowing in. Passed GOTG3, ATSV, Dune 2 (First 24 hours) in about 3 hours. I think we can put the under $100M OW discussion to bed. To the shock of no one, this is blowing up. First 24 hours update should have average comps near $35M (May 20).)
  
• Tinalera (For a movie this far out, yea presales are doing well in Vancouver and Calgary. Its hard as very few movies open this early, but its healthy when we are getting between 5-10 percent sales for a movie not due out for 2 months (May 24).)
  
• TwoMisfits (Local Cinemark presale sets for DP3... 3 screens and 15 showings each - the PLF is giving 1 of 2 PLF screens and the non-PLF is doing some 3d showings. Not the set that a normal "big" Marvel movie gets, but it seems my 2 locals have taken a "put up or shut up" strategy for almost all blockbusters lately. This IS equal or more than most everything lately (although Bad Boys 4 is getting 3 screens and 14 showings at my PLF, so...). But, compared to 2019 Marvel, or even 2021 or EVEN 2023 Marvel...this is a low set (May 19).)
  
• vafrow (Comp: $45.2M THU. 12% over two days is pretty strong once the rush passes. We're not at the bottom of the curve yet it seems (May 24). 8% growth at this stage is very positive. I expect another drop tomorrow, but I'm probably not going to touch this until the weekend at this stage. I'm comping high, and without a proper MCU comparison (Marvels doesn't count), it's hard to gauge, but I feel this is just doing really well here (May 22). 20% growth on day 2 when it had a really strong first day is impressive. Ahead of T-1 for Dune Previews to officially be the highest selling film I've tracked since I switched to the 5 theatre radius (May 21). MTC4 has really jacked up plf prices in the last year or so, and D&W is skewed heavily towards PLFs in my track. I'm not sure how many trackers are doing price adjustments, but lack of good MCU comps in the last year could see a big price impact. Watching L&T comps in particular because being a rare adult skewing July MCU film seems to be the most ideal (May 21). Solid jump over the course of the day. Dolby sales jumped up the most, potentially as good IMAX screens got taken. Not sure what happened for the East coast this morning, but sales seemed to have rebounded. A little hit and miss in different markets, but that's what I'd assume for that region. There's some small communities. Not sure why it took so long for sales to hit when southern Ontario was hot off the mark. People may have assumed 9:00 am eastern time. Numbers pulled around 11:00 am, so two hours worth of data. Chain is pushing 3D for the ticket premium. Exception is IMAX showings, where I think they know people just want the 2D experience. 60% of sales being those four IMAX showings. 40 minutes into presales for my area. Almost triple Dune 2 on my first measurement for that, which was Day 2. Bit ahead of my first measurement for The Marvels, which was T-21, and I think about a week into sales. They're really leaning into 3D showings. I get the desire for theatres to get the extra premium, but I can't see a lot of people wanting to see this in 3D. Has been up for sale on the Canadian East coast, presumably from 9:00 local time. I did a sweep of all showtimes on MTC4, but there's been zero sales so far (May 20).)
  
• YM! (Sold ~10.6x Furiosa's T-6. One theater makes up a sizeable percentage of most mid-sized Marvel's T-2 in a span of hours. Such a strong start. Definitely feels like we got a potential 25m previews/150m+ opener. Still don't buy 200m OW but am starting to see 30m previews/175m+ OW as a strong possibility. On its first day has sold over 10x Furiosa T-6 here in SE Wisconsin. At North Shore, 70% of Shang-Chi’s and Venom 2’s T-2, 47% of Homecoming’s T-2, and 41.25% of Thor: Ragnarök’s T-2 - just using DP&W’s T-66! At half of Furiosa’s T-4 sales here in the past ten minutes in just two of the theaters PLF shows (May 20). 42 showings for previews across four SE Wisconsin theaters I track. ~20% more showings than IO2 and about the same amount of PLFs spread. Likely 3-4 screens a theater for THU previews, but has SuperScreen + 2 UltraScreen screens in Majestic Cinema. Seems to be a 3D push with North Shore having primetime showings in 3D UltraScreen (May 19).)
  

Domestic Calendar Dates (last updated May 23):
MAY

• (May 26) Presales Start [Bikeriders]
  
• (May 27) Opening Day [MON: Spider-Man Far From Home Re-Release]
  
• (May 28) Presales Start [The Forge]
  
• (May 29) Presales Start [A Quiet Place: Day One]
  
• (May 30) THU Previews [Ezra + Haikyu!! + Summer Camp + Robot Dreams]
  

JUNE

• (June 3) Opening Day [MON: Spider-Man No Way Home Re-Release]
  
• (June 5) Presales Start [Despicable Me 4]
  
• (June 6) Presales Start [Twisters]
  
• (June 6) THU Previews [Bad Boys: Ride or Die + Watchers]
  
• (June 8) 1-SAT Re-Release (1st day) [LotR: Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition]
  
• (June 9) 1-SUN Re-Release (1st day) [LotR: Two Towers Extended Edition]
  
• (June 10) 1-MON Re-Release (1st day) [LotR: Return of the King Extended Edition]
  
• (June 13) THU Previews [Inside Out 2]
  
• (June 15) 1-SAT Re-Release (2nd day) [LotR: Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition]
  
• (June 16) 1-SUN Re-Release (2nd day) [LotR: Two Towers Extended Edition]
  
• (June 17) 1-MON Re-Release (2nd day) [LotR: Return of the King Extended Edition]
  
• (June 20) THU Previews [Bikeriders + Janet Planet]
  
• (June 22) 1-SAT Re-Release (3rd day) [LotR: Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition]
  
• (June 23) 1-SUN Re-Release (3rd day) [LotR: Two Towers Extended Edition]
  
• (June 24) 1-MON Re-Release (3rd day) [LotR: Return of the King Extended Edition]
  
• (June 27) THU Previews [Blue Lock + Horizon: Chapter 1 + A Quiet Place: Day One]
  

JULY

• (July 1) Presales Start [Fly Me to the Moon + Longlegs]
  
• (July 2) Opening Day [WED: Despicable Me 4]
  
• (July 4) Opening Day [THU: Possum Trot]
  
• (July 4) THU Previews [MaXXXine]
  
• (July 11) THU Previews [Fly Me to the Moon + Untitled New Line Horror movie]
  
• (July 17) EA [Twisters]
  
• (July 18) THU Previews [Twisters]
  
• (July 25) THU Previews [Deadpool and Wolverine (including 1 PLF fan show at 3 PM) + Didi + Fabulous Four]
  
• (July 29) Presales Start [Alien: Romulus + It Ends With Us]
  

AUGUST

• (August 1) THU Previews [Harold and the Purple Crayon]
  
• (August 5) Presales Start [Borderlands]
  
• (August 8) THU Previews [Borderlands + It Ends With Us + Cuckoo + The Fire Inside + Trap]
  
• (August 12) Presales Start [Alien: Romulus]
  
• (August 15) THU Previews [Alien: Romulus + Horizon: Chapter 2 + Ryan’s World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure]
  
• (August 22) THU Previews [Blink Twice + The Crow + The Forge + Slingshot]
  
• (August 29) THU Previews [City of Dreams + Reagan + They Listen]
  

Presale Tracking Posts:
April 27
April 30
May 2
May 4
May 7
May 9
May 11
May 14
May 16
May 18
May 21
May 23
Note: I have removed most tracking data that has not been updated for 2 weeks. I think there is value in keeping data for a week or two but at a certain point they start to lose their value and should not be treated the same as more recent tracking data.

Hi Everyone,
I just made a red wine braised beef stew and upon tasting there seems to be a slight bitter taste to the broth. I'm going to let it sit overnight to marry the flavors before I thicken it up tomorrow to eat, but does anyone have any recommendations to remove that bitter taste? It's my first time making this dish, so I would appreciate any insight!
Cooked at 325F for 3.5 hours in the oven.
Ingredient List:
2.5 LB Beef Chuck Roast (Seared)
1 Bottle of Dry Red Wine
4 Cups of Beef Broth
6 Shallots
2 Stalks of Celery
Baby Bella Mushrooms
2 Dried Bay Leaves
Beef Bouillon
Dash of Worcestershire Sauce
Salt/Black Pepper (Meat Seasoning)

The year is 1192, and Minamoto no Yoritomo had finally become Seii-Taishogun. As one of the most powerful forces in Japan, he had already somewhat consolidated control over Eastern samurai (especially in the Kanto region). However, in Western Japan (the modern border between Kinai and Chubu regions is generally what separated "West" from "East") - Yoritomo's influences looked nothing in comparison to the Emperor & traditional forces. One of the most important aspect of Yoritomo's rule was the establishment of Jito/地頭, and it is the position of Jito that gradually eroded the Shoen lords' control over land. So, let's get into it.
​
Shoen lord's administration system
Shoen lords had been administering their Shoens long before the establishment of the shogunate. So how did they rule it before the arrival of the Jito?
Simply-speaking, the administration of Shoen lords could be roughly divided into 3 positions:

1. The upper-level administrators, also known as Azukari-dokoro/預所. They are appointed by the Shoen lords, and this position could be changed (so not hereditary).
2. The lower-level administrators, such as Geji/下司. Geji mostly came from powerful Myoshu who were incorporated into the Shoen administration for easier control. Geji IS usually hereditary - and they gradually militarise themselves to form something close to samurai.
3. Another type of lower-level administrators, the Kumon/公文. The Kumon work under both the Azukari-dokoro & the Geji, and usually are the ones doing the actual administrative work. They also gradually militarised themselves and formed something similar to samurai, just like Geji.

​
Jito and the erosion of the Shoen lord's administration system
Jito/地頭 refers to Shogunate-appointed administrators of Shoens. Jito WAS used under the Taira rule, but their nature & power were not the same as under Yoritomo's rule. In 1185, the Emperor agreed to the establishment of Jito in all of Japan. However, the nature of Jito could be very different. There are generally two types of Jito:

1. Jito of their own land: usually in Eastern Japan, where the newly assigned Jito already owned the land they're assigned to. This is effectively just a guarantee of their fief.
2. Jito of another lord's Shoen: mostly in Western Japan - where Jito were assigned to co-administrate Shoen, alongside the Shoen lord's own administrators.

The second type were generally in a much smaller capacity, only to the fief of ex-Taira people & traitors. However, after the Jokyu wa承久の乱 in 1221, the Kamakura system was able to widely implement the Jito system over most of Western Japan.
Generally, Jito had policing rights, taxation rights, and in the case where they themselves owned the fief - the right to sell the land.
So how did Jito benefit from being assigned to co-govern the fief of Shoen lords?
Generally speaking, Jito were usually rewarded with land or a cut of the taxes (Nengu/年貢). Of the land they were rewarded, they could get the full benefits (no Nengu + no Kuji), or just get to keep the Kuji (but have to forward the Nengu).

• Kuji/公事 refers to the various other taxes besides the annual tax (Nengu).

Jito were appointed by Kamakura, and their dismissal needs to come from Kamakura. In other words, if a Jito decided to break the rules or go against the Shoen lord, the Shoen lords would have had no choice but to appeal to Kamakura - which often favoured the Jito. Due to this, the influence of the Shoen lord began to diminish, and their lower-level administrators (the Geji & Kumon) also began trying to be appointed Jito themselves to enjoy these benefits - of which the Shoen lords would desperately try to stop.
Furthermore, sometimes Jito would outright refuse to forward any taxes and keep everything to themselves (could be due to excuses like bad weather, or simply refusing to do so). The Shoen lords often found themselves powerless to various illegal acts of Jito due to 1) the Kamakura's favouritism towards Jito, and 2) Jito's own military power. In order to not cause any troubles, the Shoen lords would agree to Jito-ke/地頭請 - where Jito get to take over the administration of Shoen by themselves, and then forward the necessary taxes. In other words, Shoen lords would give up completely practical control over their fief. To put the salt on the wound - in the end, Jito would often still refuse to forward the taxes.

• Due to the establishment of Jito-ke, administrators from the Shoen lord side would technically not have any more utility in the Shoen. Jito would forcefully kick out these people, and in turn consolidate their own control over the land.

In the case of "lawsuits", the Shoen lords would also have to pay the "appeal fee" - which along with long wait time, can often further discourage them from appealing. Out of desperation, many Shoen lords finally had to settle on Shitaji-chubun/下地中分. Under Shitaji-chubun, the two parties (Shoen lord & Jito) would split the land 50/50, and each maintain their own actual control over their fief. In other words, Jito went from "helping" Shoen lords administering their fief to now owning half of the Shoen lord's fief. As angry as the Shoen lords may be, this was usually the best solution they can settle on.
By this point, Jito had jumped from being administrators to being land-owners themselves, going toe-to-toe with Shoen lords in terms of ownership. However, the erosion of Shoen lords's fief would not stop here, as samurai would gradually go on to devour more of the Shoen fief until the system itself is non-existent.
​
Jito under the Muromachi shogunate
With the rebellion of Ashikaga Takauji, Nitta Yoshisada, and various others - then once prosperous Kamakura system, ruled by the Hojo regency, would come to an end. Along with this comes the Nanboku-cho period, where the two previously happily married couple of the Imperial court & Ashikaga clan would come to a fateful clash. The Imperial family divided into the Northern and the Southern court, and... I don't know that much about this period. u/Additional_Bluebird9 is much better at this than I am. But what I do know is what happened to the Shoen system & the Jito.
The Muromachi shogunate lacked enough fief to entice or reward many samurai, and that was a huge concern. Their solution? Hanzei/半済. Hanzei was initially devised as a temporary system, where half of the taxes of Shoens would be take over by the Shugo (governor) of the province, who could then use it as war fund or pay his own retainers. However, lending money is easy, taking it back is hard. Once samurai got the sweet taste of Hanzei, they outright refused to give it back. Hanzei gradually became a permanent system, where half of the Shoen is divided out and taken over by the Shugo. Shugo would then give it to his own followers - creating new Jito. By this point Shoen lords only have 1/4 the size of their original fief.
The erosion of Shoen of course didn't stop here. To further gain more land, Shugo would often send their own administrators into the remaining land of the Shoen and "co-govern" with them. Obviously the Shoen would need to cough up more money or land.
Shoen lords protested to the Ashikaga shogunate, who then ordered Shugo to cease doing so. However, the power of the Shugo had grown so much that they simply just ignored the order. In the end, Shoen lords had to agree to the Shugo taking over administration of their fief - also known as Shugo-ke/守護請 (echoing the previous Jito-ke) - and pray they get what little the Shugo would agree to forward to them.
By this point, the near total destruction of the Shoen system had been achieved by the samurai. The traditional aristocratic rule over land had been near completely taken over by the samurai. The age of the samurai had indeed, reached its peak.

The year is 1192, and Minamoto no Yoritomo had finally become Seii-Taishogun. As one of the most powerful forces in Japan, he had already somewhat consolidated control over Eastern samurai (especially in the Kanto region). However, in Western Japan (the modern border between Kinai and Chubu regions is generally what separated "West" from "East") - Yoritomo's influences looked nothing in comparison to the Emperor & traditional forces. One of the most important aspect of Yoritomo's rule was the establishment of Jito/地頭, and it is the position of Jito that gradually eroded the Shoen lords' control over land. So, let's get into it.
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Shoen lord's administration system
Shoen lords had been administering their Shoens long before the establishment of the shogunate. So how did they rule it before the arrival of the Jito?
Simply-speaking, the administration of Shoen lords could be roughly divided into 3 positions:

1. The upper-level administrators, also known as Azukari-dokoro/預所. They are appointed by the Shoen lords, and this position could be changed (so not hereditary).
2. The lower-level administrators, such as Geji/下司. Geji mostly came from powerful Myoshu who were incorporated into the Shoen administration for easier control. Geji IS usually hereditary - and they gradually militarise themselves to form something close to samurai.
3. Another type of lower-level administrators, the Kumon/公文. The Kumon work under both the Azukari-dokoro & the Geji, and usually are the ones doing the actual administrative work. They also gradually militarised themselves and formed something similar to samurai, just like Geji.

​
Jito and the erosion of the Shoen lord's administration system
Jito/地頭 refers to Shogunate-appointed administrators of Shoens. Jito WAS used under the Taira rule, but their nature & power were not the same as under Yoritomo's rule. In 1185, the Emperor agreed to the establishment of Jito in all of Japan. However, the nature of Jito could be very different. There are generally two types of Jito:

1. Jito of their own land: usually in Eastern Japan, where the newly assigned Jito already owned the land they're assigned to. This is effectively just a guarantee of their fief.
2. Jito of another lord's Shoen: mostly in Western Japan - where Jito were assigned to co-administrate Shoen, alongside the Shoen lord's own administrators.

The second type were generally in a much smaller capacity, only to the fief of ex-Taira people & traitors. However, after the Jokyu wa承久の乱 in 1221, the Kamakura system was able to widely implement the Jito system over most of Western Japan.
Generally, Jito had policing rights, taxation rights, and in the case where they themselves owned the fief - the right to sell the land.
So how did Jito benefit from being assigned to co-govern the fief of Shoen lords?
Generally speaking, Jito were usually rewarded with land or a cut of the taxes (Nengu/年貢). Of the land they were rewarded, they could get the full benefits (no Nengu + no Kuji), or just get to keep the Kuji (but have to forward the Nengu).

• Kuji/公事 refers to the various other taxes besides the annual tax (Nengu).

Jito were appointed by Kamakura, and their dismissal needs to come from Kamakura. In other words, if a Jito decided to break the rules or go against the Shoen lord, the Shoen lords would have had no choice but to appeal to Kamakura - which often favoured the Jito. Due to this, the influence of the Shoen lord began to diminish, and their lower-level administrators (the Geji & Kumon) also began trying to be appointed Jito themselves to enjoy these benefits - of which the Shoen lords would desperately try to stop.
Furthermore, sometimes Jito would outright refuse to forward any taxes and keep everything to themselves (could be due to excuses like bad weather, or simply refusing to do so). The Shoen lords often found themselves powerless to various illegal acts of Jito due to 1) the Kamakura's favouritism towards Jito, and 2) Jito's own military power. In order to not cause any troubles, the Shoen lords would agree to Jito-ke/地頭請 - where Jito get to take over the administration of Shoen by themselves, and then forward the necessary taxes. In other words, Shoen lords would give up completely practical control over their fief. To put the salt on the wound - in the end, Jito would often still refuse to forward the taxes.

• Due to the establishment of Jito-ke, administrators from the Shoen lord side would technically not have any more utility in the Shoen. Jito would forcefully kick out these people, and in turn consolidate their own control over the land.

In the case of "lawsuits", the Shoen lords would also have to pay the "appeal fee" - which along with long wait time, can often further discourage them from appealing. Out of desperation, many Shoen lords finally had to settle on Shitaji-chubun/下地中分. Under Shitaji-chubun, the two parties (Shoen lord & Jito) would split the land 50/50, and each maintain their own actual control over their fief. In other words, Jito went from "helping" Shoen lords administering their fief to now owning half of the Shoen lord's fief. As angry as the Shoen lords may be, this was usually the best solution they can settle on.
By this point, Jito had jumped from being administrators to being land-owners themselves, going toe-to-toe with Shoen lords in terms of ownership. However, the erosion of Shoen lords's fief would not stop here, as samurai would gradually go on to devour more of the Shoen fief until the system itself is non-existent.
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Jito under the Muromachi shogunate
With the rebellion of Ashikaga Takauji, Nitta Yoshisada, and various others - then once prosperous Kamakura system, ruled by the Hojo regency, would come to an end. Along with this comes the Nanboku-cho period, where the two previously happily married couple of the Imperial court & Ashikaga clan would come to a fateful clash. The Imperial family divided into the Northern and the Southern court, and... I don't know that much about this period. u/Additional_Bluebird9 is much better at this than I am. But what I do know is what happened to the Shoen system & the Jito.
The Muromachi shogunate lacked enough fief to entice or reward many samurai, and that was a huge concern. Their solution? Hanzei/半済. Hanzei was initially devised as a temporary system, where half of the taxes of Shoens would be take over by the Shugo (governor) of the province, who could then use it as war fund or pay his own retainers. However, lending money is easy, taking it back is hard. Once samurai got the sweet taste of Hanzei, they outright refused to give it back. Hanzei gradually became a permanent system, where half of the Shoen is divided out and taken over by the Shugo. Shugo would then give it to his own followers - creating new Jito. By this point Shoen lords only have 1/4 the size of their original fief.
The erosion of Shoen of course didn't stop here. To further gain more land, Shugo would often send their own administrators into the remaining land of the Shoen and "co-govern" with them. Obviously the Shoen would need to cough up more money or land.
Shoen lords protested to the Ashikaga shogunate, who then ordered Shugo to cease doing so. However, the power of the Shugo had grown so much that they simply just ignored the order. In the end, Shoen lords had to agree to the Shugo taking over administration of their fief - also known as Shugo-ke/守護請 (echoing the previous Jito-ke) - and pray they get what little the Shugo would agree to forward to them.
By this point, the near total destruction of the Shoen system had been achieved by the samurai. The traditional aristocratic rule over land had been near completely taken over by the samurai. The age of the samurai had indeed, reached its peak.

Story time! So a TikTok Shop Affiliate bought the SKNBODY product herself, tagged the product in her shoppable video, and went viral (15.3 million views as of 5/25).
Her problem?
She claims that SKNBODY scammed her by turning off her commissions. Simply put, this isn't true... the Affiliate doesn't know what she's talking about because she doesn't know the Seller back-end 😭
Please do NOT bash her in the comments. She doesn't know any better and it's not her fault she doesn't know Seller back-end info (hasn't read over their policies). You think WE have a lot of policies? The Sellers have MORE. So, unless you've read every single page of our Affiliate policies AND the Seller policies, you shouldn't throw stones.
What's going on, then?
Buckle in for a deep dive 🤓- to understand this, you need to understand the difference between OPEN collaboration commission rate and TARGETED collaboration commission rate.
What's OPEN collaboration commission rate?
Sellers can make their product(s) available for open collaboration, which simply means it makes their products available for Affiliates to promote in the "Product Marketplace". We, the Affiliates, see these products in the marketplace as "eligible for commission".
In the Seller back-end settings (when setting up open collaboration), Sellers choose their own open collaboration commission rates (1%-80%, yes up to 80%!!!). TikTok does NOT choose the rate but TikTok does suggest a rate of 15% to the Sellers.
The Sellers also choose whether or not to "require approval" if they wish to be selective about which Affiliates are able to promote their products. That would be really silly of them but it's an option. If they don't have "require approval" toggled on... ANY Affiliate can immediately add the Seller's product to their showcase, tag it in their shoppable content, and earn the open collaboration commission rate the Seller has set for the product. This is part of what makes TTS so great! Any Affiliate, like the one we are discussing here, can take a product that they already use and love (like SKNBODY's product) and then immediately promote it via open collaboration.
IMPORTANT: If an Affiliate adds a product to their showcase and tags it in their shoppable content with the open collaboration commission rate... GOSH WHAT A MOUTHFUL... the Affiliate will be TIED to the open collaboration commission rate, which is the SAME for any other Affiliate ALSO tied to the open collaboration commission rate. MANY MANY MANY Affiliates are tied to open rates. Affiliates can double check this- by going to the product page, tap promotion details, tap the commission percent, tap the little "i" icon under "commission rate from Seller" and it will tell you: "The Seller offers the same commission to all eligible Affiliate creators."
What's targeted collaboration commission rate?
Sellers can select Affiliates (that fit whatever criteria the Seller wants) and send those select Affiliates targeted collaboration invites. These targeted collaborations are sent via "collab invites" and these may offer a HIGHER commission rate... than what the Seller offers in their OPEN rate. If it does, from the Affiliate end, we see a "higher commission" label on the collab invite. These Affiliates can promote the Seller's products at a higher rate.
Affiliates can double check this- by going to the product page, tap promotion details, tap the commission percent, tap the little "i" icon under "commission rate from Seller" and it will tell you: "The Seller offers you an exclusive commission rate through collaboration invite. When the invite expires, you may receive the commission that the Seller offers to all eligible Affiliates."
The targeted commission rate always supersedes the open commission rate.
IMPORTANT: If an Affiliate adds a product to their showcase and tags it in their shoppable content with the targeted collaboration commission rate... the Affiliate will be TIED to the targeted collaboration commission rate and NOT tied to the open collaboration commission rate. So their rate will be DIFFERENT from Affiliates tied to the open rate.
Okay, I get the jist... what does any of this have to do with this Affiliate's situation?
She bought the product herself. There was no sample request. There was no collab invite with free sample or higher commission.
This means that she did NOT add the product to her showcase or tag the product in her video from a TARGETED collaboration. She was tied to SKNBODY's OPEN collaboration commission rate. !!!
But she's implying that SKNBODY basically deleted her commission rate?
That's not how OPEN collaboration works in the Seller back-end. If SKNBODY had removed their products from open collaboration, ALL Affiliates tied to the open collaboration commission rate would have been impacted. ALL Affiliates would have seen "not eligible for commission" displayed on the product page. Sellers cannot just individually delete Affiliates off their open collaboration. It's an OPEN plan that applies to ALL Affiliates (minus the possible "require approval" setting we discussed above). There is nowhere in the backend settings to remove ONE Affiliate from the open collaboration.
SKNBODY's open rate was still available to to all other Affiliates and the rate did not decrease from 12%. They offer 12% commission rate in their open collaboration for both of their products. While commission DOLLAR amount can fluctuate due to many factors: product price increasing, decreasing, sales, etc... the commission PERCENT (rate) has remained the same: 12%.
But wait- what about those Sellers who drastically decrease commission rates?
Yes, Sellers can DECREASE or INCREASE our open collaboration commission rate at anytime, in addition to changing the shipping prices and product listing prices.
If any of you made content tied to Homeika's open collaboration commission amount, you're painfully aware that you were all impacted by them lowering their commission rates.
I thought commission rates were guaranteed???
There is a misconception Affiliates have- that our commission rates are "guaranteed". Our rates are not guaranteed. In fact, there is a video in the TTS Seller Academy that states this: "I would suggest putting your commission higher to begin with, to attract more creators and then lowering it when you get more sales". ...yup.
Again, Sellers are the ones in charge of which percent they are choosing (1%-80%). If they decrease or increase the open rate... it will impact ALL Affiliates tied to the open collaboration commission rate. But again, there is nowhere in the open collaboration backend setting for them to single out ONE Affiliate and decrease just ONE Affiliate's rate.
HOWEVER, as of YESTERDAY!!! (5/24)... TikTok Shop policy updated to add PROTECTION for Affiliates who are tied to open collaboration commission rates! The Sellers are now forced to honor the open collaboration commission rates they set, for 30 DAYS! There are more specifics, of course. Read more about it (here) or use the search bar on TTS Academy to look up the "Commisson Rules" policy.
Well, are targeted collaboration commission rates guaranteed???
Targeted rates are not tied to the open rate, along with all the other Affiliates. So, if a Seller were to change their open rates, it would NOT impact the Affiliates tied to targeted rates. However, being tied to a targeted rate doesn't necessarily make you any safer.
In the Seller back-end for targeted collaborations, they CAN decrease or increase but also DELETE individual targeted collaboration commission rates.
So, if the Affiliate had been tied to a targeted collaboration commission rate- SKNBODY could have absolutely individually singled just her out. However, she was not tied to a targeted collaboration commission rate. She was tied to an open rate. Even if she had gone the route of targeted rate- SKNBODY still has open rates enabled, so she likely would've just reverted from the targeted rate to the open rate. Making this a nothing-sandwich theory that SKNBODY scammed her. They didn't scam her.
WHO SCAMMED HER THEN?????!!!!
This is probably not what you want to hear, but TikTok Shop features CAN glitch. We've seen it happen with many features, especially features still in beta.
But tagging products + having the open collaboration commission rate tied to our shoppable videos... these are some of the oldest features of TTS, right?
Yes. However, we don't have access to know what TTS has been tinkering around with...
One theory, and I emphasize THEORY- if they started tinkering with this new "commission rule" policy around the time this situation happened, that would be an interesting theory. The policy wasn't updated in our Academy until yesterday (5/24) and the Affiliate posted her video in question 1 week ago (5/17).
Another theory, I would want to know EXACTLY how she added the product link. TikTok has been updating this feature (how we add product links) and I wonder if the method she used glitched and I would be curious to know if it happened to other Affiliates who perhaps used the same method:

• Did she add the product to her showcase from the product page, then upload the video, then "add link", then select the product?
• Or did she upload the video, then "add link", then "add more products", then "purchased products", then select the product?
• Or did she upload the video, then "add link", then "add more products", then "product marketplace", search for the product, then select the product?

But ultimately, no one but TikTok can explain why or how certain glitches happen.
If you look at the Affiliate's video in question, the product link does show but the "creator earns commission" label is NOT there. The rest of her shoppable videos DO show both the product link and "creator earns commission" label. She hasn't had any issues with her other shoppable videos.
It appears that there was a glitch and even though the product was tagged, somehow her open collaboration commission rate was NOT tied to her video. She says- absolutely zero sales, zero commission, zero data were showing for the SKNBODY product in her TikTok Shop Creator Center during the time her video was going viral. Some data appeared 5/20.
Both the Affiliate and the Seller are threatening to sue each other 😭 Like, neither of them had control over this??
Justice for SKNBODY??
If the commission rate and data for this video was NOT being tracked and logged by TikTok Shop (glitch)... then it wasn't being tracked or logged.........?? ...there would be no way for SKNBODY to know exactly how many units this exact Affiliate's video sold. This sounds exactly like what SKNBODY was claiming in their comments.
However, if the SALES ...DID still go through and the glitch just kept the sales from being ATTRIBUTED to this Affiliate? In that case- SKNBODY could certainly look up their sales data, select the date range from 5/17 to 5/20 and see the total amount of units sold during that time. It would just be a matter of narrowing that data down slightly further.
If the SALES... did NOT go through and the glitch was a full-on glitch that PREVENTED the sales from even occurring through her video? Then, SKNBODY nor the Affiliate can really do anything about that. The data wouldn't there because sales wouldn't have occurred through her video.
How can we know for sure what happened? And what could the Affiliate and SKNBODY do to reach a fair settlement?
The proof will be in the pudding (sales data of the Seller's back end).
Some food for thought- this Affiliate was NOT the only Affiliate to go viral (15.3m) with this product during this time. So, the amount of units sold during that time can not ALL be attributed to her. Examples: ontopshipfinds had their video hit 23.4m, herecis had their video hit 41.1m, etc.
As of today (5/25), the kit shows 70.6k units sold and the spray 1.4k units sold, which are separate listings. This Affiliate had linked the KIT in her video.
I don't see why SKNBODY couldn't just look up the amount of units sold during 5/17-5/20 for the kit. They could subtract any units sold which are tied to OTHER Affiliates from that total number??
All they would have to do is go to their back-end, tap "affiliate", tap "collaboration analytics", select the date range, then subtract the "Affiliate items sold" under "Open Collaboration" and under "Targeted Collaborations"... boom. What should be leftover are (likely the units that should have been attributed to this Affiliate and) the units SKNBODY sold themselves. The Seller might even be able to subtract whatever amount of units SKNBODY sold themselves. If there's nothing leftover, then likely no sales went through her video and I'd be looking at TikTok Shop to rectify their glitch. If there are units leftover, then those are the sales that likely should have been attributed to this Affiliate and the Seller should make a payment to the Affiliate. IDK. There are all different ways the Seller could dig into the data to pinpoint what happened. TikTok back end/data can be hard to navigate and it'd take time. It's probably worth their time though.
Should I promote SKNBODY?
It's a hot product right now. However, this whole situation is RUINING their brand image. I would keep an eye on the product ratings because if customers start to TRASH the ratings, we all know that impacts us (Affiliates)- as well as the Seller.
If I were SKNBODY this situation would make me re-consider making my products "eligible for commission". AKA taking them off open collaboration and targeted collaboration. Maybeeee they just stick to target collaboration and put a kibosh on open? Or maybeeee they just pull their products from TikTok Shop completely? If they stay on TikTok, I wouldn't be surprised if they lowered their commission rate soon. That's what TikTok recommends Sellers do, once they blow up.
Anyways, it's up to you. It'll be interesting to see which direction this goes.
It makes me wonder what other glitches might be occurring that Affiliates are putting on Sellers and Sellers are putting on Affiliates... yet, they might just be TTS glitches. 🥲
If you got this far?
Thanks for deep diving with me! I'm just an Affiliate, so please take anything I've said here with a grain of salt. I've read over most of the Seller policies but I still don't understand all the nuances because imo you can't really understand it completely until you are actually Selling and using the back-end. This was interesting! Wishing the best for the Affiliate and SKNBODY.

https://www.academia.edu/120017765
Standard PIE *H2albho- ‘white’ does not explain all data. H. alpa- ‘cloud’ does not have h- < *H2- and G. alōphós ‘white’, alpho-prósōpos ‘white-faced’, alphós ‘dull-white leprosy’ show variation between what looks like *H2albho- and *alH3bho- (1). If Arm. aławni ‘dove’ & alawun-k’ / alawsun-k’ ‘the Pleiades’ are added (2), *alH2bho- might also be needed. These oddities can not be unrelated.
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It seems all these outcomes can be united by H-metathesis. If *H2albho- > *alH2bho-, as needed for alaw- in Arm., it would also solve H. alpa- not having h-. Since *H2- did not begin the word, there would be no reason for it to become h-. Knowing if *-lHb- > -lb- was regular is impossible by itself (and H moved by metathesis might not have even become syllabic anyway). G. alōphós would then need to be explained instead of expected **alaphós. However, since optional rounding by P seems to exist for other syllabic C’s in both G. and Arm. (*plH1u- ‘many’ > Skt. purú-, G. polús, Arm. yolov ‘many (people)’; *wlkWo-s ‘wolf’ > *wlokWo-s > *wlukWo-s > G. lúkos; Odusseús / Olutteus / Ōlixēs see (Whalen 2024h) for more), it seems likely that the same *H2albho- > *alH2bho- needed above also took place in G., then *alH2bho- > *alH3bho- (showing that H2 = x, H3 = xW or similar), or a similar assimilation of V (*alxǝpho- / *alǝxpho- > *alxopho- / *aloxpho-) after *x > *ǝx, etc.
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The large number of oddities in many words that can be explained by H-metathesis supports its existence. Without it, an individual explanation for every word would be needed. Kloekhorst even rejects H. alpa- ‘cloud’ from ‘white’ because of lack of h- and that, “semantically it is [difficult] as well… alpa- is predominantly associated with rain and thunder, and therefore an oriinal meaning ‘whiteness’ is unlikely’. This is a ridiculous statement. The etymological origin of a word has nothing to do with what later people say about it. The H. word is also not attested in a book of poetry about how pretty the white clouds are; if it were, would that “prove” white > cloud instead? He also does not connect H. alpant- with *Halp- ‘small’ either. Since it is used of a sick child and a kind of cheese, ‘white / pale’ would cover both. It’s also possible they’re 2 words that came to be written the same (-ant- is a common ending), but if one from *Halp-, -pp- would be expected.
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A similar metathesis might be able to explain *wlp-(e)Hk^o- vs. *aloHp-eHk^- :
​
? > *aloHp-eHk^- ‘fox’ > G. alṓpēx / alōpós, Arm. ałuēs
*wlp-(e)Hk^o- > Li. vilpišỹs ‘wildcat’, L. vulpēs ‘fox’
*wlep-ano- > H. ulippana- ‘wolf’, *welp-an(a:)- > Alb. dhelpën ‘fox’
*lewp-eHk(^)o- > Skt. lopāśá- / lopāka-, etc.
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Based on cognates, alṓpēx should come from a word starting with *wlep- or *lewp-. Practically, it makes sense that *w has become a vowel. Due to *-wp- / *-up- losing *w / *u in many G. (including *kW > p, and other IE for only old *p) words (3). These are not regular, but most variants are obviously from the same source. That all oddities exist for *w/u next to *P makes any other conclusion unlikely. Logically, *lewp- > alōp- would include some change to *w. This would require intermediate *eu > *öü (like Arm. *eu > oy), then optional *öüp > *ȫp, then regular *öü > *eu in Greek, hiding the change.
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As for a-, it’s possible that G. & Arm. optionally added V- before l- (Arm. ołork -i- ‘smooth / polished’, lerk -i- ‘smooth / hairless’; *slibro- > OE slipor ‘slippery’, G. (o)librós), since Arm. seemed to change *r- > ar- / er-. If not, since G. alṓpēx vs. Li. vilpišỹs shows that the weak cases had syllabic *-H1-. If H1 = x^, a word with strong *welpex^k^o- vs. weak *wlpx^k^o- would exist. So many C’s in a row seems ripe for metathesis. In Greek, this would become *welpex^k^o- > *lewpex^k^o- > *lōpex^k^o-, but weak *lupx^k^o-. If the change of *-xph- > *-xWph- above was real, *x^ might also assimilate next to P, but since also next to *k^ (both pal. velars), it might only partly assimilate to plain *x = H2. Thus, if any analogy took place in the paradigm, H-metathesis would once again allow *lupx^k^o- > *lupxk^o- > *xlupk^o- > *alupk^o-, causing *lōpex^k^o- > *alōpex^k^o-. Evidence of a form without analogical a- might come from cognates with *l > th (compare Cretan thápta, Polyrrhenian látta ‘fly’, probably << G. dáptēs ‘eater / bloodsucker (of gnats)’) :
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G. alṓpēx ‘fox’, dia. thámix
Pontic G. thṓpekas \ thépekas >> Arm. t’epek, MArm. t’ep’ēk \ t’obek ‘jackal’
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Of course, *a- > 0- is also possible.
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​
If *w had already become *v, a labial fricative dissimilating next to labial stop for *lew- > alṓpēx and *davfnā > dáphnē, etc., would work. However, if *eu > *öü was shared with Arm., G. might also share K > K^ next to ü (4). Since G. later merged K and K^, this would later be hidden. However, some G. words do show *k^ > *t^ / *s^ > t(h) / s (5), and a stage with *uk > *ük^ might also explain other oddities. Since I’ve also said (Whalen 2024d) that G. ḗlek- could come from *leuk-, I would combine these to make *uP and *üK^ have the same optional loss of *wü :
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*leukeH1- ‘be bright’ > L. lūcēre ‘shine’
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*leukH1tro- > *leukathro- > L. lūcubrum ‘dawn / twilight’, *leük^x^tron > *levk^etron > *lēk^etron > G. ḗlektron ‘amber / electrum’, ēléktōr ‘shining’
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If the cluster *-kHtr- was especially likely to cause H-metathesis, instead (similar to alṓpēx), *leük^x^tron > *x^leük^tron > *elḗktron > ḗlektron. As evidence of this origin, and the stage *eu > *öü, consider how it would also unite :
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*leük^x^tron > *löükhtron > *lökhthüron > G. loggoúrion / luggoúrion ‘amber’, log(k)oúrion ‘glass’
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Two words for ‘amber’ that resemble each other and have no known origin should be considered together. Instead of these variants being seen as a problem, the need to unite them narrows down which words could produce both. Adding them together and finding an origin that must explain all of them allows greater certainty about the sound changes involved (all seen in other words). These might be Macedonian forms, or from a similar dialect. This would allow *kH > kh to produce Mac. *kh > g. For this, and against regularity, there seem to be doublets of CH > Ch / CV, like :
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plékō ‘plait’, *plok-Hmo- > plókamos / plokhmós ‘braid’
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*terH1-tro- ‘gnawing / scraping / boring / cuttin’ > téretron ‘borer / gimlet’, térthron ‘*point > summit / tip’
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*smoH3g- ‘heavy / burden / difficult’ > *smogh- > Li. smagùs ‘heavy’, *smog(h)- > G. mógos / mókhthos ‘work / toil / hardship / distress’, (s)mogerós ‘suffering hardship’
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This would even apply to optional *Cs > Ch and *CsC > ChC(h) as part of Greek *s > *x > h, showing that it could merge with *H > *x or similar (Whalen 2024i) :
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*seps- > *heph- > Arm. ep’em, G. hépsō ‘boil’, *sepsto- > hephthós
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*deps- > dépsō ‘work/knead with the hands until soft’, dépsa ‘tanned skin’, dípsa ‘thirst’, *dipstero- > diphthérā ‘leather / prepared hide (for writing)’
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G. háptō ‘fasten / grasp’
*H2aps- > G. hápsos ‘joint’, TA āpsā ‘(minor) limbs’, Skt. ápsas- ‘front side’, H. happeššar- ‘limb / part of body’
*H2aps- > G. haphḗ ‘(sense of) touch / grip’, Arm. *hap’ \ ap’ ‘palm of hand / handful’ (h- in *haph-haph- > hap’ap’em ‘kidnap’)
​
*ek^s-tos > G. ektós / ekhthós ‘outside of / without / except / external / strange / vulgar’
​
*ek^s-tero- ‘outsider / stranger’ > *ekhstro- > G. ekhthrós ‘enemy’
​
G. adaxáō \ odáxō ‘feel pain/irritation / (mid) scratch oneself’, adakheî ‘it itches’
​
Skt. pyúkṣṇa- ‘covering for a bow’, G. *pyukslo-? > ptú(s)khloi ‘shoes’, ptúx \ ptukhḗ ‘layer / plate / fold’
​
*sH2usko- ‘dry’ > Skt. śúṣka-, Av. huška-; *sxauks-mo- > *xaukx-mo- > G. aukhmós ‘aridity / dryness’
​
​
The change *sk > *ks / *khs also seems to apply to :
​
*ksenwo- ‘guest’ > Att. xénos, skheno-
​
*sikW- > Av. hiku- ‘dry’, *iskW- > G. iskhás ‘dried fig’, iskhaléos ‘dried’, iskhnós ‘dry / withered’
​
G. phoxós \ phoûskos ‘sharp / pointed / with a pointed head’.
​
*ek^s-ato- ‘furthest out’ > G> éskhatos ‘farthest / last / highest / lowest / etc.’
​
​
But others show *s > *h > 0 in places where *s > s is expected, and without *hC > Ch :
​
*prsto- ‘in front / projection’ > pastás / parastás / partás ‘porch in front of a house’
​
*g^hrzd(h)- > *khristh- > krīthḗ, Alb. drithë ‘grain’, L. hordeum ‘barley’
​
​
Notes
​
(1) Long ō < *H also in *kolH3no- > Li. kálnas ‘mountain’, G. kolōnós ‘hill’. This is not regular, as in *kolH3mon- > L. columen > culmen ‘top / ridge of house’, G. kolophṓn ‘summit’ (with m > mh > bh by H, Whalen 2024c). The optional long vowels show that *H3 was optionally pronounced xWǝ / ǝxW > xWo / oxW > o / ō, etc. (Whalen 2024a, b), like *H2ma- > G. āmáō / amáō ‘reap / cut / mow down (in battle)’. This is seen in other IE (*H > i / ī in Skt.: *pelH1- ‘fill / much / many’, *pelH1nos- = *pelǝx^nos- > *parihnas- > Skt. párīṇas- ‘abundance’).
​
​
(2) Martirosyan doubts this, but his quote, “J̌ahukyan (1963a: 86; cf. 1987: 270, with some reservation) connects the word to aɫawni ‘dove’ deriving both from *aləu- ‘white, shiny’ and comparing also *albho-” is certainly the only good option (if they are related at all), and considering the appearance of -ō- vs. -0- in Greek, the oddout comes he sees as evidence against are evidence for it (and a close relationship betweeen G. and Arm., one of his claims to begin with).
​
​
(3) *-wp- (Whalen 2024e) :
​
G. thalúptō / thálpō ‘warm up / heat’, thalukrós ‘hot/glowing’, Mac. Thaûlos ‘Ares’
​
*kaput ‘head’ > Skt. kaput-, L. caput, ON höfuð
*kauput ‘head’ > Go. haubiþ, OE héafod, E. head
​
*kap- > G. kápēlos ‘local shopkeeper / tavern-keeper’
*kaup- > L. caupō(n-) ‘petty tradesman / huckster / tavern-keeper’
​
*lowbho- ‘bark’ > Alb. labë, R. lub
*lo:bho- > Li. luõbas
​
*newbh-s > Latin nūbs / nūbēs ‘cloud’
*ne:bhs >> Skt. nā́bh-, nā́bhas ‘clouds’
​
? > *davxnā / *davfnā > Greek dáphnē / daukhnā- ‘laurel’
​
*twerb- / *turb- > ON þorp ‘village’, E. -thorp
*trewb- > *treb- > OIr treb ‘dwelling’
*trewb- > *tre:b- > O. trííbum ‘building’
​
*dhrewb- > ON drjúpa, dropi, OE dryppan, dropa, E. drip, drop, G. thrúptō ‘break into pieces’
*dhreb- > Skt. drapsá- ‘drop of liquid’
​
​
(4) Examples of *uK > *uK^ in Arm. (Whalen 2024f) :
​
*leuk- > Arm. loys, Latin lūx ‘light’, gen. lūcis
*yugo-m > E. yoke, L. iugum, G. zugón, Skt. yugá-m, Arm. luc
*x^euk- > Arm. usanim ‘become accustomed to’, Skt. uc- ‘be accustomed to/take pleasure in’, okas- ‘pleasure’
*dughxter-? > Av. dugǝdar-, Arm. dustr, E. daughter
*bheug- > Skt. bhoj- ‘enjoy’, bhóga-, Arm. -boyc ‘food’, bucanem ‘feed’
​
*K(W)u > *K^u :
​
*tranku(r)- > Li. trankùs ‘jolting/rough’, ON þröngr ‘narrow’, Arm. t`anjr ‘tight’
*presgWu-? G. présbus ‘old man’, Cr. preigus, Arm. erēc` ‘elder’
*azgWolxo-? > G. ásbolos / asbólē ‘soot’, *ask^ülxo- > Arm. acuł / acux ‘soot/coal’
*melgWulo- > *mergWulo- > Alb. mje(r)gulë OR *melgWulo- > *megWulo- > Alb. mje(r)gulë (dissimilation)
​
It’s likely the stage *eu > *öü also optionally caused palatalization (or there was analogy from 0-grade with Ku > K^ü):
​
*(s)kewdh- > OE hýdan, E, hide, G. keúthō ‘covehide’, Arm. suzem ‘immerse’
​
​
(5) For optional K^ > T^ in G. (Whalen 2024g) :
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*bhak^- > G. phakós ‘lentil’, phásēlos ‘bean’, Alb. bathë ‘broadbean’
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*dheH1k(^)o- > Skt. dhāká- ‘container’, G. thḗkē ‘box/chest/grave/tomb’, thēsaurós ‘treasure/store-room/safe/casket/cavern/subterranean dungeon’
​
*(s)k^ewdh- > OE hýdan, E, hide, G. keúthō ‘cover / hide’, Arm. suzem ‘immerse / plunge’
*(s)k^ewdho- > G. teûthos ‘squid’
​
*g^en(H1)os- > L. genus, G. génos, pl. genéā, Cr. zenia, Ms. zenaides
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*woik^- >> G. oikeús ‘inmate / menial servant’, Cr. woizeus, more in (Viredaz 2003)
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*dhg^ho:m? > G. gê / gâ, Cyp. za- ‘earth’
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*meg^H2two-? > mégethos ‘size’; *mg^H2two-? ‘great’ > G. agathós, Cyp. azatho- ‘good’
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agállō ‘glorify/exalt / pay honor to a god’, ágalma, Cyp. azalma ‘glory/delight/honor / pleasing gift / statue (in honor of gods)’
​
*H2ak^ro- > ákron ‘peak’, ásaron ‘hazelwort / wild ginger / wild spikenard (a plant used for spice)’
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*H2aig^ro- = *xaig^ro- ‘flashing / swift’ > *xaiz^ro- > G. aisárōn / aisálōn ‘merlin (hawk)’
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*wik^wo- > *wiswo- > wiswos, Att. ísos ‘equal/same/even’, Skt. víśva-, Av. vīspa- ‘whole/every/all’
​
*k^ek^- / *kik^- / etc. > Li. kìškis ‘hare’, šeškas, Skt. śaśá- ‘hare/rabbit’, káśa- ‘weasel’.
*kik^id- > *ikk^id- > *ikt^id- > G. íktis / iktís ‘marten’, ktídeos ‘of marten(-skin)’
(most *k^ > k, *kk^ preserved it so as not to become *kk )
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*k^H2ap-? > G. sápithos ‘sacrifice’, Skt. śapátha-s ‘oath’, Rom. solax (?)
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skúllō ‘tear’, pl. skûla ‘spoils (of war) / booty/plundeprey’, sū́lē ‘ right of seizure/reprisal’
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with *sk^ > th (compare dual outcomes of *sk^ (and *k^r > sr \ wr ) in Arm. ):
​
*H2arisk^oH > ararískō ‘fit / join together’,
*H2arisk^mos > arithmós ‘number’
​
Also, alternation of -ikos / -isos / -ithos and -ak(h)os / -asos is possible, but most examples are uncertain or of unknown etymology (and any oddity in an ending is usually explained as from just another ending).
​
​
Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008) Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon
https://www.academia.edu/345121
​
Martirosyan, Hrach (2009) Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon
https://www.academia.edu/46614724
​
Whalen, Sean (2024a) Laryngeals, H-Metathesis, H-Aspiration vs. H-Fricatization, and H-Hardening in Indo-Iranian, Greek, and Other Indo-European
https://www.academia.edu/114276820
​
Whalen, Sean (2024b) Laryngeals and Metathesis in Greek as a Part of Widespread Indo-European Changes
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Whalen, Sean (2024c) Indo-European Alternation of *m : *bh by *H (Draft)
https://www.academia.edu/114332797
​
Whalen, Sean (2024d) Environmental Causes of Greek *Ē > Ā, *H1 / *0 > E / Ē, *H / *0 > E / A / O / 0; Cretan Tā́n, Tálōn
https://www.academia.edu/114056439
​
Whalen, Sean (2024e) Indo-European *w > 0 / *W, *wP > *_P / *P / *CP (Draft)
https://www.academia.edu/116360502
​
Whalen, Sean (2024f) Reclassification of North Picene (Draft)
https://www.academia.edu/116163380
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Whalen, Sean (2024g) Greek Dialects; Fricatives and Affricates; Nasalization and Devoicing (Draft)
https://www.academia.edu/117863418
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Whalen, Sean (2024h) Dark of Moon: Etymology of Odysseus and Lukábās (Draft)
https://www.academia.edu/119846820
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Whalen, Sean (2024i) Cretan Elements in Linear B, Part Five: Are labúrinthos and da-pu2-ri-to-jo Related? (Draft)
https://www.academia.edu/114792712
​

I'm sorry this is so long, but wanted to tell my story.
So many people ask how in the world so many people followed her and didn't see through her crap.
First of all, there wasn't nearly the information out there about her that there is now. Secondly, we felt like we were in a community of friends supporting someone we thought could be trusted.
This all started on FB and in a private group, so there wasn't as much public information out there about her. FB wasn't the same as TikTok where you have access to so many videos and could stumble upon someone exposing her. You had to join specific groups to read what others were experiencing. All we heard was her side of the story. She would say the other tumbler groups were bullying her, so the newbies (like me) stayed away from those groups. (And she eventually threatened to remove us from her group if she ever saw us in another group. That was red flag #1, so I eventually joined other groups and that is where I started to see the cracks in her stories.)
We had no reason to think she wasn't telling the truth and she pulled on our heartstrings with her grief. After some time, one by one we would see a pattern and I started joining the other groups to see what was being said. I saw enough to make me question what she was saying. (Again, not nearly as much evidence out there as there is now.) It was hard to discern what was true, but we did start seeing a pattern and at the very least saw that she thrived on being a victim. EVEN if what she was saying was partially true, she wouldn't leave it alone. She thrived on it and if things were settled down, she would stir it back up.
She had a private group with people who fully supported her and yet she lived in those other groups feeding off the drama and bringing it back to us and playing victim. I never understood why she was a part of those groups. She had thousands of members by that time and didn't need other groups. She had her bubble and most of us were never the wiser. If someone pissed her off, they just got blocked and most of us never knew why or were told they cheated her somehow. She would have us believing they betrayed her and we hurt for her. (It was plausible since there are people out there that do those things.) But, it was a pattern we saw over and over and she was the common denominator.
Then, people I knew well got screwed over and she tried to scam me out of a sublimation printer through a trade we were going to make for a cup turner. (I was obviously giving more than she was receiving since the printer was valued at much more, but I didn't want to just give her the printer and she claimed she just couldn't afford it so I agreed to trade for a turner.)
Thankfully, I waited to see if she shipped the turner before arranging to ship the printer. (And told her that. I had already made good on everything else we had agreed to before that time. Vinyl, etc...) She kept lying that she needed to raise money to make more turners and would ship mine, but then I saw her on FB live selling them so I knew she lied to me. She then claimed she shipped my turner and gave me a bogus tracking number.
Once I questioned her, she turned on me and then she turned everyone else on me. She had a "Circle of Trust" (a group of about 10-15 women that had grown close through conventions) and she turned them all on me. We didn't stay a part of the group because of Ashley, we stayed because we thought we had joined a community and made other friends. When Ashley turns against you, you lose them, also. (I realize now they weren't my friends if they turned on me. A few didn't, but most did.)
My friend was scammed by her when she told us that she had saved up money to buy her wife a car. She said she sent the money and when she showed up to pick it up, there was no car. She cried and said even though it was only a $5,000 car, she had saved up for it to surprise Kat and was devastated. She didn't outright ask for people to send her money, but you know how that works, many did. They felt bad for her. Including my friend. I didn't find out until later she had sent her money, and she did make the choice to send it, so it's on her, but the whole thing was a lie, like everything else. My friend is also a teacher, so that was something she had in common with her. She felt bad for her and knew that teachers don't make that much. My friend is so kind and generous. I suspect she sent her more, but like others, was embarrassed to admit it once she realized it was all a lie.
After I realized what was going on, I let my cousin know who had also supported her. We were then banned from her convention even though we had already paid for the tickets. She would ask us to pay via Friends & Family on Paypal to avoid the fees, but also because you can't file a chargeback on F&F. I never thought twice about it as I had attended the prior year's convention. She wouldn't let us sell the tickets to anyone else (even though she had in years past) and she wouldn't let us attend (even though I can't imagine we would've at that point, but even if we just gone to pick up the free stuff and see some other people, it would have been better than losing all of the money). Turns out, my cousin didn't pay via F&F so she did get her money back from Paypal and AC was FURIOUS. I never got my money back and learned a valuable lesson about paying via F&F on Paypal.
I tried to expose her on FB by posting what had happened to me and what I saw happen with NOLA Glitter (I saw what Ashley recorded about them and yet she was denying it all) and I received a cease and desist from an attorney near her. The letter was so poorly written I didn't believe it came from the attorney. I Googled the law firm number, confirmed it was the same on the letter, and called the office. The person answering the phone confirmed it was from their office. I thought maybe the receptionist was a follower of hers and wrote the letter without the consent of the attorneys, so I emailed the attorneys. I received a reply from one of the attorneys and she assured me it was a legit cease and desist and asked why I would question it. I stated it was so poorly written and I was shocked it would come from a law firm. I worked for a firm at the time and all of the attorneys in the office said it was laughable, but all agreed "Louisiana does things differently" and laughed it off. I did stop posting because although I knew she didn't have a case, I also knew that her supporters had given her thousands of dollars for her "legal fund" and it didn't hurt her to sue me since she wasn't paying and I would still have to pay to defend myself.
I was going through a lot at the time when I stumbled upon Ashley crafting "out of the closet". My son was struggling and I was beside myself with worry about him, staying up late at night. (He later died by suicide and she made fun of him/me. I wish I still had that video but it was so painful, I deleted it). I was vulnerable and saw someone vulnerable that made me laugh so I found solace and laughter in her late-night crafting videos. Looking back, all of the women who supported her (and new ones who support her) seem to be in a vulnerable position. Whether they are older, lonely, lost a child, divorced, suffered bullying at one time, etc... I think she draws the broken to her. The ones that are healing and growing tend to see through her stuff pretty quickly, but the ones that are still yearning for a community to be a part of, are still drawn to her and want to believe her. I consider myself a smart, educated woman who 99% of the time sees through the scammers, but I was down during that time and she got me, so I can see how so many others were fooled. I'm still shocked at myself for being fooled by her, but when we want to believe someone, we find ways to look over red flags.
All that being said, I find it harder to believe there are new followers and supporters in the last year or two with TikTok and the availability of her antics so easily obtained (and she won't know you are viewing it). Rx0rcist had a viral post about her last year that showed how vile of a human being she is. That is enough to not want anything to do with her. (She mocks a woman who lost her brother to OD and says he did it to get away from her, along with other vile comments.) The screen recording of her making the oral seggs comment about her children is widely available as well. (It's on Twitter) Those two things alone are enough for any decent human being to want to run the other way from her.
She has cried thousands of times online about people being cruel to her and yet she has been so cruel to so many. For the life of me, I don't understand how she can go on and on and on about how people are cruel to her knowing what she has said to so many who lost a loved one, making fun of them.
Every six months or so I see that things pick back up. I hadn't thought about her in awhile. I was thrilled when Rx0rcist made a post about her. I thought that would stop her, but it didn't. Things died down and she went right back to what she had been doing all along. And, here we are now, same story, but I hope that this goes further. I truly believe crimes have been committed. I believe there have been local, state, federal, and international crimes, theft by deception, tax fraud, military impersonation, harassment, you name it. If the right people would see this story, I believe she can be stopped.
Ashley, if you're seeing this now, I'm in a completely different headspace. I'm not afraid of you. I don't need your community and vow to protect others from you. I am now a mom to an angel and am appalled at how you use your baby boy's name/story. If I see you in front of a judge, bring your comfy shoes because we'll be there awhile reviewing binders of proof and videos. I hope to see you on Netflix one day. Everyone thought Baby Reindeer was crazy. Your story is way worse with so many more victims.

I have a six week old kitten (rescue situation who was probably weaned too young) who is not eating very much at all. I’ve had her for about a week and she started out at 1 lb 3.3 oz and is now 1 lb 0.9 oz. I’ve been in contact with my vet and I’ve tried EVERYTHING she could think of.
I swear I bought over a dozen different brands and flavors of kitten food and probably like 5 more cans of adult cat food just to see if I could get some calories in her. When I open a new can and offer her some food, she takes a few bites (sometimes even enthusiastically) but then gets bored and wonders off and refuses to eat any more. I leave a bit of all the foods that were promising in her room with her but she rarely eats any more on her own. And then when I reheat and offer her more of the foods she seemed to like later on, she refuses to eat any more.
I have been reheating foods to body temperature, adding warm water, trying soooo many flavors, feeding every 3-4 hours, and I even tried putting some wet food gruel in a kitten bottle with a nipple but she wouldn’t suckle at all. She also doesn’t have worms (confirmed by vet).
I don’t know what to do! I’ve done everything the vet said but she’s still not eating and she’s losing weight fast. She’s super active and playful and has a crazy amount of energy for the lack of food she’s consuming. She has also only thrown up once and has solid stools (though she’s only pooping about once every 24 hours due to how little she’s eating).
Any advice?!

I have a six week old kitten (rescue situation who was probably weaned too young) who is not eating very much at all. I’ve had her for about a week and she started out at 1 lb 3.3 oz and is now 1 lb 0.9 oz. I’ve been in contact with my vet and I’ve tried EVERYTHING she could think of.
I swear I bought over a dozen different brands and flavors of kitten food and probably like 5 more cans of adult cat food just to see if I could get some calories in her. When I open a new can and offer her some food, she takes a few bites (sometimes even enthusiastically) but then gets bored and wonders off and refuses to eat any more. I leave a bit of all the foods that were promising in her room with her but she rarely eats any more on her own. And then when I reheat and offer her more of the foods she seemed to like later on, she refuses to eat any more.
I have been reheating foods to body temperature, adding warm water, trying soooo many flavors, feeding every 3-4 hours, and I even tried putting some wet food gruel in a kitten bottle with a nipple but she wouldn’t suckle at all. She also doesn’t have worms (confirmed by vet).
I don’t know what to do! I’ve done everything the vet said but she’s still not eating and she’s losing weight fast. She’s super active and playful and has a crazy amount of energy for the lack of food she’s consuming. She has also only thrown up once and has solid stools (though she’s only pooping about once every 24 hours due to how little she’s eating).
Any advice?!