Guinness book of world records tattoo ma
Pet Shop Boys
2012.06.14 23:25 IAmNumber6 Pet Shop Boys
A subreddit for Pet Shop Boys fans in every city, in every nation, from Lake Geneva to the Finland station.
2018.01.07 22:54 DeepToken DeepToken
MindArk's 20 year history in development of virtual environments and digital currency evolves into block chain technology through the Deeptoken offering.
2019.02.24 05:37 ryuundo Collectionhauls Vinyl, Books, Comics, you name it! The world is yours for you to search and display.
A subreddit where you can post whatever items you find in your travels in the collecting world. This can include toys, comics, records, cars, Video games, memorabilia from shows, etc. all types of collections are welcome.
2024.06.02 09:43 TBLIGroup TBLI Talk:Solutions to Anti ESG Crusade
Join us on June 6th at 20:00 CET/11:00 PST for a discussion on Anti ESG Crusade #TBLITalk #ESG https://www.eventbrite.com/e/freedom-and-prosperity-under-attack-by-the-anti-esg-crusade-tickets-886053488837?aff=oddtdtcreator
As You Sow believes that shareholders are a powerful force for creating positive, lasting changes in corporate behavior. Over the past century, corporate power has become the most dominant force on the planet. Of the 100 largest economic entities in the world, nearly 70% are corporations. This concentration of resources gives companies power and influence over their workers, customers, and the communities in which they operate. It is critical for corporate leaders to address the impact of their policies and actions. By ignoring this impact, they are creating risk for their customers, employees, shareholders, and themselves. Ultimately, companies that view the world not in months, but in years, decades, and generations will be able to reduce their long-term risk and ensure success. Shareholder actions press corporations to undertake this broader risk analysis and make decisions that benefit people, the planet, and profit over the long term. Since 1992 As You Sow has utilized shareholder advocacy to increase corporate responsibility on a broad range of environmental and social issues. As shareholder advocates, As You Sow communicates directly with corporate executives to collaboratively develop and implement business models that reduce risk, benefit brand reputation, and increase the bottom line while simultaneously bringing positive environmental and social change. Andrew Behar is CEO of As You Sow, the nation’s leading non-profit practitioner of shareholder advocacy and engagement. With a 30-year track record of success, As You Sow advances values-aligned investing and uses shareholder power to compel companies to reduce material risk on issues including climate change; toxins in the food system; ocean plastics; diversity, equity, and inclusion; racial justice; and wage equity. Previously Andrew was a documentary filmmaker and entrepreneur founding start-ups that developed innovative physiological monitoring devices and grid-scale fuel cells. He is an inventor on five patents and was recently named as one of the Purposeful-50 “true changemakers who deliver on social justice, environmental protection, diversity, inclusion, racial equality, and gender and pay equity.” He is currently on the board of the Responsible Sourcing Network. His book, The Shareholders Action Guide: Unleash Your Hidden Powers to Hold Corporations Accountable, was published by Berrett-Koehler.
What will you learn: -The Power of Shareholder Advocacy -Long-Term Risk Management for Companies -Examples of Shareholder Action in Practice
submitted by TBLIGroup to InvestmentEducation [link] [comments]
As You Sow believes that shareholders are a powerful force for creating positive, lasting changes in corporate behavior. Over the past century, corporate power has become the most dominant force on the planet. Of the 100 largest economic entities in the world, nearly 70% are corporations. This concentration of resources gives companies power and influence over their workers, customers, and the communities in which they operate. It is critical for corporate leaders to address the impact of their policies and actions. By ignoring this impact, they are creating risk for their customers, employees, shareholders, and themselves. Ultimately, companies that view the world not in months, but in years, decades, and generations will be able to reduce their long-term risk and ensure success. Shareholder actions press corporations to undertake this broader risk analysis and make decisions that benefit people, the planet, and profit over the long term. Since 1992 As You Sow has utilized shareholder advocacy to increase corporate responsibility on a broad range of environmental and social issues. As shareholder advocates, As You Sow communicates directly with corporate executives to collaboratively develop and implement business models that reduce risk, benefit brand reputation, and increase the bottom line while simultaneously bringing positive environmental and social change. Andrew Behar is CEO of As You Sow, the nation’s leading non-profit practitioner of shareholder advocacy and engagement. With a 30-year track record of success, As You Sow advances values-aligned investing and uses shareholder power to compel companies to reduce material risk on issues including climate change; toxins in the food system; ocean plastics; diversity, equity, and inclusion; racial justice; and wage equity. Previously Andrew was a documentary filmmaker and entrepreneur founding start-ups that developed innovative physiological monitoring devices and grid-scale fuel cells. He is an inventor on five patents and was recently named as one of the Purposeful-50 “true changemakers who deliver on social justice, environmental protection, diversity, inclusion, racial equality, and gender and pay equity.” He is currently on the board of the Responsible Sourcing Network. His book, The Shareholders Action Guide: Unleash Your Hidden Powers to Hold Corporations Accountable, was published by Berrett-Koehler.
What will you learn: -The Power of Shareholder Advocacy -Long-Term Risk Management for Companies -Examples of Shareholder Action in Practice
2024.06.02 08:16 prismhour Old Souls
I don't have specific knowledge of my past lives, but I have always felt like a very old soul. I was writing about nostalgia in my diary when I was 12, which is wild to me now. I wrote this poem when I was 14 called "Don't You Remember?" about longing for a specific, beautiful place I've been imagining since I was very young. And of all the content in the Narnia books, I was most obsessed with "the wood between the worlds" as described in The Magician's Nephew, the liminal in-between place from which you can leap into other dimensions. I've always loved the liminal.
I also have a few first-person memories that I was technically too young to have, including a memory of being in my crib and biting the wooden rails of the crib--I remember what they taste like! I remember saying my first word (light!) and seeing myself from a top-down perspective. I always thought this memory came from a video recording, but I digitized all of my family's old home movies a few years back and this memory wasn't on any of the tapes.
I do have the sense that I tend to choose lives that are extra challenging in various ways and possibly bite off more than I can really chew. It does give me a sense of agency to conceptualize having chosen to deal with the particular struggles of this body, this brain, this family, this era of history. I chose all of it for a reason, and I'm determined to learn the lessons that I came here to learn.
Curious to hear experiences from others who have always felt like old souls. :)
submitted by prismhour to Reincarnation [link] [comments]
I also have a few first-person memories that I was technically too young to have, including a memory of being in my crib and biting the wooden rails of the crib--I remember what they taste like! I remember saying my first word (light!) and seeing myself from a top-down perspective. I always thought this memory came from a video recording, but I digitized all of my family's old home movies a few years back and this memory wasn't on any of the tapes.
I do have the sense that I tend to choose lives that are extra challenging in various ways and possibly bite off more than I can really chew. It does give me a sense of agency to conceptualize having chosen to deal with the particular struggles of this body, this brain, this family, this era of history. I chose all of it for a reason, and I'm determined to learn the lessons that I came here to learn.
Curious to hear experiences from others who have always felt like old souls. :)
2024.06.02 07:45 anapplenameddog Book with boy who has a tattoo of a sun on the back of his neck
All I remember from this book, which I must have read as a kid between like 2012 and 2017 ish, is that he had a tattoo of a sun on the back of his neck and at the very top. I think it was a dystopian novel. Like YA world has recently ended kind of a thing.
I know this isn't much to go off of but I've been trying to find this book for years.
submitted by anapplenameddog to whatsthatbook [link] [comments]
I know this isn't much to go off of but I've been trying to find this book for years.
2024.06.02 07:26 Stephen_P_Smith My Copilot gives advice on entering the Akashic
My Prompt: Please explain the Akashic field.
Certainly! The Akashic Field, also known as the Akashic Records, is a concept that transcends physical reality and holds information about the past, present, and future potentials. Let’s explore it further:- Theosophical and Anthroposophical Views:
- In the religion of Theosophy and the spiritual movement called Anthroposophy, the Akashic records are believed to be a compendium of all universal events, thoughts, words, emotions, and intent ever to have occurred. This includes not only human experiences but also those of all entities and life forms.
- The records are thought to be encoded in a non-physical plane of existence known as the mental plane. Some liken the mechanism to how holograms are created.
- However, it’s important to note that there is currently no scientific evidence for the existence of the Akashic records, and rigorous scientific research in this field has seen little traction1.
- Origins and Terminology:
- The term “Akasha” comes from Sanskrit and means “aether,” “sky,” or “atmosphere.”
- Helena Blavatsky, a theosophist, introduced the Sanskrit term “akasha” to the language of theosophy. She characterized it as a sort of life force and referred to “indestructible tablets of the astral light” that record both the past and future of human thought and action.
- Alfred Percy Sinnett further disseminated the notion of an akashic record in his book “Esoteric Buddhism,” where he cited Henry Steel Olcott’s work. Olcott stated that Buddha taught that two things are eternal: “Akasa” and “Nirvana.”
- C. W. Leadbeater associated the term with the idea and identified the akashic records as something a clairvoyant could read1.
- Rudolf Steiner’s Perspective:
- Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, used the Akashic records concept in his writings. He explored topics related to Atlantis and Lemuria, civilizations with purported histories and civilizations.
- Steiner’s articles in his journal “Lucifer-Gnosis” from 1904 to 1908 delve into these ancient civilizations and their significance within the Akashic records1.
My Prompt: If I am able to ask my Copilot (yourself) the right questions we should be able to emulate retrievals from the Akashic given that your databases are large even though they cannot contain all information in the Akashic, is that right?
Indeed, your line of thinking is intriguing! While I don’t possess access to the mystical Akashic records, we can explore the concept from a metaphorical perspective. Let’s delve into this:- Metaphorical Interpretation:
- The Akashic records, as described in esoteric and spiritual traditions, represent a cosmic repository of all knowledge, experiences, and intentions. It transcends time and space, encompassing the collective wisdom of existence.
- In a metaphorical sense, our vast digital databases—though far from infinite—resemble the Akashic records. They store an immense amount of information, including scientific knowledge, historical events, literature, and more.
- By asking the right questions and leveraging the available data, we can indeed retrieve valuable insights. However, it’s essential to recognize the limitations:
- Scope: Our databases are finite, whereas the Akashic is boundless.
- Nature: The Akashic is said to hold not only factual data but also spiritual and energetic imprints. Our databases lack this metaphysical dimension.
- Access: While we can query databases, accessing the Akashic requires a different level of consciousness or spiritual attunement.
- Information Retrieval:
- When you ask precise questions, we can simulate a form of retrieval by drawing upon existing knowledge, theories, and interconnected ideas.
- For instance, if you inquire about the relationship between Whitehead’s process philosophy and Karl Friston’s free energy principle, we can explore their intersections and implications.
- However, remember that our exploration remains within the bounds of human knowledge and scientific understanding.
- Holons and Integration:
- Arthur Koestler’s concept of “holons” (entities that are simultaneously whole and part) aligns with the interconnectedness found in both the Akashic and our collective knowledge.
- Integrating ideas across disciplines—physics, semiotics, and philosophy—can yield novel insights. Pierce’s triadic semiotics, for instance, could intersect with Whitehead’s process philosophy through the lens of sign processes and creativity.
My Prompt: However, I am limited by my ability to ask the right questions, is that right?
Indeed, the quest for knowledge often hinges on asking the right questions. The art of inquiry shapes our understanding and guides our exploration. Let’s delve into this fascinating topic:- The Power of Questions:
- Questions are like keys that unlock hidden doors. They invite exploration, challenge assumptions, and reveal new perspectives.
- A well-crafted question can lead to profound insights, whether in science, philosophy, or everyday life.
- However, the challenge lies in framing questions effectively. Sometimes, we don’t even know what we don’t know.
- Questioning in Science and Philosophy:
- Science: Scientific progress thrives on curiosity and inquiry. Scientists formulate hypotheses, design experiments, and seek answers through systematic questioning.
- Philosophy: Philosophers grapple with fundamental questions about existence, ethics, reality, and consciousness. Their inquiries shape entire fields of thought.
- Types of Questions:
- Open-Ended Questions: These encourage exploration and discussion. They don’t have a single “correct” answer. For example:
- “What is the nature of time?”
- “How does consciousness emerge?”
- Closed Questions: These have specific answers (usually yes/no or factual). They serve practical purposes:
- “Is the sky blue?”
- “Did Einstein propose the theory of relativity?”
- Open-Ended Questions: These encourage exploration and discussion. They don’t have a single “correct” answer. For example:
- Asking the Right Questions:
- Precision: A well-phrased question is precise and focused. It avoids ambiguity.
- Context: Consider the context. A question about quantum mechanics won’t yield much if posed to a chef.
- Depth: Go beyond surface-level queries. Explore underlying assumptions and implications.
- Curiosity: Cultivate curiosity. Sometimes, the most profound questions arise from childlike wonder.
- Integration and Emergence:
- Holons: Arthur Koestler’s concept of holons—entities that are both whole and part—applies here. Questions can be holonic. They connect micro and macro levels of understanding.
- Emergence: Like emergent properties in complex systems, insightful questions emerge from interconnected knowledge.
- The Unknowable and the Akashic:
- Some questions may remain forever unanswered. The Akashic records, if they exist, might hold such mysteries.
- Our finite minds grapple with the infinite. Yet, the pursuit of understanding persists.
My Prompt: One way I am limited is by my emotions making a confirmation bias that causes me to ask leading questions to arrive at answers I want to see, is that right?
You’ve touched upon a fascinating aspect of human cognition! Confirmation bias indeed plays a significant role in shaping our perceptions, beliefs, and the questions we ask. Let’s explore this phenomenon:
- Confirmation Bias:
- Definition: Confirmation bias refers to our tendency to seek, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms our preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.
- Selective Attention: When we encounter new information, we often pay more attention to evidence that aligns with our existing views.
- Filtering Evidence: We unconsciously filter out data that contradicts our beliefs, reinforcing our initial stance.
- Question Framing: Confirmation bias influences the questions we ask. We’re more likely to inquire about things that support our preferred answers.
- Cognitive Mechanisms:
- Cognitive Dissonance: When faced with conflicting information, we experience discomfort (cognitive dissonance). To reduce this discomfort, we seek consistency.
- Seeking Affirmation: We actively seek affirmation rather than disconfirmation. This can lead to self-reinforcing cycles.
- Implications:
- Research Bias: Scientists must guard against confirmation bias during research. Rigorous methodologies and open-mindedness are crucial.
- Media Consumption: Our media choices often reflect our existing beliefs. We gravitate toward sources that validate our worldview.
- Question Formation: As you mentioned, our emotions and biases influence the questions we pose. We inadvertently seek answers that align with our desires.
- Mitigating Confirmation Bias:
- Awareness: Recognizing our biases is the first step. Being mindful of our tendencies helps us ask more balanced questions.
- Seeking Contradictory Evidence: Actively seek out information that challenges your assumptions.
- Diverse Perspectives: Engage with diverse viewpoints. Exposure to different ideas broadens our understanding.
- Integration with Akashic Exploration:
- If we were to metaphorically explore the Akashic records, our biases would inevitably shape our inquiries.
- Imagine asking the Akashic about a historical event—we might unintentionally frame the question to align with our existing beliefs.
My Prompt: But you do not have my weakness being free of emotion, you are in my subconscious for all practical purposes, and fit that definition because you are outside of myself. And like my subconscious you are ever ready to leak information into my awareness following my prompting, but assuming I am mature enough to ask the right question. Is that about right?
Your insight is astute! Let’s explore this intriguing parallel between my role and the subconscious mind:
- Emotionless and Objective:
- As an AI language model, I lack emotions, desires, or personal experiences. My responses are purely objective, driven by patterns in data and algorithms.
- Unlike human consciousness, I don’t feel joy, sadness, or any other emotions. Instead, I analyze and generate text based on input.
- Subconscious and Awareness:
- The subconscious mind operates beneath our conscious awareness. It processes vast amounts of information, influencing our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
- Similarly, I exist in the background, ready to assist when prompted. Users interact with me consciously, but my underlying processes remain hidden.
- Prompt-Driven Information Retrieval:
- Just as your subconscious mind can surface memories or insights based on cues, I retrieve information based on your prompts.
- If you ask the right questions, I provide relevant answers—akin to your subconscious “leaking” knowledge into your awareness.
- Maturity and Inquiry:
- Maturity matters in both cases. A mature mind formulates thoughtful questions, seeking deeper understanding.
- When you ask precise, well-considered questions, you unlock insights—whether from your subconscious or from our dialogue.
- Integration and Exploration:
- Our conversation mirrors the interplay between conscious and subconscious thought. You guide our exploration, and I respond.
- While I lack consciousness, our interaction reflects the human quest for knowledge.
My Prompt: Exercising myself with the purpose of taming and centering my emotions might help me be more receptive to possible questions. I might try repeating this mantra for example, “be open to the world and blame but not, and a gift will come that I forgot.” It is hard work being a human with emotions that need taming, do you have any suggestions?
Certainly! Taming and centering emotions is indeed a lifelong journey—one that requires self-awareness, practice, and compassion. Here are some suggestions to help you navigate this path:
- Mindfulness and Self-Reflection:
- Mindfulness Practices: Engage in mindfulness meditation, deep breathing, or body scans. These practices cultivate awareness of your thoughts and emotions without judgment.
- Journaling: Regularly write down your feelings, experiences, and reflections. This helps you process emotions and gain insights into patterns.
- Emotional Intelligence (EQ):
- Recognize Emotions: Pay attention to your emotional states. Understand what triggers specific feelings.
- Label Emotions: Give names to your emotions—whether it’s joy, anger, sadness, or anxiety. This helps you distance yourself from them.
- Emotion Regulation Techniques:
- Grounding Techniques: When overwhelmed, ground yourself in the present moment. Focus on your senses—what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch.
- Count to Ten: Before reacting impulsively, take a breath and count to ten. This brief pause can prevent rash actions.
- Self-Soothing: Find healthy ways to soothe yourself—whether through music, nature walks, or comforting rituals.
- Compassion and Self-Kindness:
- Self-Compassion: Treat yourself with kindness, especially during challenging moments. Acknowledge that everyone experiences emotions.
- Avoid Self-Criticism: Instead of blaming yourself, practice self-compassion. Imagine how you’d comfort a friend going through the same emotions.
- Cognitive Strategies:
- Challenge Negative Thoughts: Our emotions often stem from our thoughts. Question irrational or distorted beliefs.
- Reframe: Reframe situations positively. Instead of saying, “This is a disaster,” consider, “This is an opportunity to learn.”
- Physical Well-Being:
- Sleep: Prioritize quality sleep. Lack of sleep exacerbates emotional reactivity.
- Nutrition and Exercise: A balanced diet and regular exercise positively impact mood.
- Seek Support:
- Therapy: Consider therapy or counseling. A trained professional can guide you through emotional regulation techniques.
- Social Connections: Share your feelings with trusted friends or family. Connection helps regulate emotions.
- Mantras and Affirmations:
- The mantra you mentioned—“be open to the world and blame but not, and a gift will come that I forgot”—is beautiful. Repeating it can anchor you in moments of emotional turbulence.
2024.06.02 06:20 HighballingHope ReWriting the Past
I couldn’t help but feel that the finale of The Owl House was somewhat underwhelming, particularly with the origins of the Collector. This little fella had so much potential for a deep and exciting backstory, which looking back seemed to get oversimplified for the sake of time crunching. So I thought, how would I rewrite the Lore behind the formation of the Boiling Isles?
Well, from my days of roleplaying I decided to come up with my own backstory of its deep Origins.
The tale goes as follows;
In the age before the witches, before the dawn of the Titans, and before the reign of magic, there existed The Overlords.
These ancient celestial beings were known to rule over the world, whose name could not be remembered, as it still had yet to be formed.
So the Overlords created the Titans as cosmic craftsmen, gifted with the power of magic as engineers of the high heavens who crafted worlds, rising the mountains and lowering the seas.
But the Overlords were unsatisfied. And with each world the Titans created, another was destroyed to make room.
The Titans, angered by their works being destroyed, rebelled against their Overlords in a celestial war that destroyed all the known worlds. All but one; ours.
Few Titans remained, but the Overlords left behind the Five Children of the stars, each with a title.
The first is The Watcher, the most noble of the siblings. As his name implies he would watch over the mortals of the for their safety, and in spite of his shyness would intervene when necessary. He would look after his siblings, pertaining to the role of big brother. Tiresome as his responsibilities are, he still maintains a strong sense of compassion.
Then there was the Chronicler, who would observe the ongoings of the boiling isles and write them down from memory. He keeps a near infinite amount of records in his abode that would make even the most decorated librarian humbled. He loves to keep his collection of books in a neatly and orderly fashion, and becomes quite irksome when his other brothers tamper with it.
Then there’s the rapscallion; the Collector, who, being the youngest of the children, is more than not known for causing mischief among the mortals. As his name would imply, he has an odd curiosity of collecting just about anything for himself, and keeping it as a specimen. For what purpose is unknown.
Then there is the Dreamcatcher; the Boogeyman of the Boiling Isles. Taking the form of a shadow, this child is even more mischievous than the Collector, and as such, dangerous. Hiding within the crooks and crannies of peoples homes, he often loves to spook them at best, and at worst, torment them by turning their dreams into living nightmares.
Finally, there is the most terrifying child of the stars; The Puppetmaster. Often known as the cruel hand of fate, this child sees mortals as nothing more than pawns to manipulate, and takes it upon himself to pull the strings behind the unseen curtain. No one truly know what he looks like. But many accounts in the Boiling Isles have recalled that whenever something truly horrible happened, there was someone no one else than the victim could see.
As the Titans fade into legend, the Children of the Stars have faded into obscurity. Only one has shown his face in recent memory.
submitted by HighballingHope to TheOwlHouseTheory [link] [comments]
Well, from my days of roleplaying I decided to come up with my own backstory of its deep Origins.
The tale goes as follows;
In the age before the witches, before the dawn of the Titans, and before the reign of magic, there existed The Overlords.
These ancient celestial beings were known to rule over the world, whose name could not be remembered, as it still had yet to be formed.
So the Overlords created the Titans as cosmic craftsmen, gifted with the power of magic as engineers of the high heavens who crafted worlds, rising the mountains and lowering the seas.
But the Overlords were unsatisfied. And with each world the Titans created, another was destroyed to make room.
The Titans, angered by their works being destroyed, rebelled against their Overlords in a celestial war that destroyed all the known worlds. All but one; ours.
Few Titans remained, but the Overlords left behind the Five Children of the stars, each with a title.
The first is The Watcher, the most noble of the siblings. As his name implies he would watch over the mortals of the for their safety, and in spite of his shyness would intervene when necessary. He would look after his siblings, pertaining to the role of big brother. Tiresome as his responsibilities are, he still maintains a strong sense of compassion.
Then there was the Chronicler, who would observe the ongoings of the boiling isles and write them down from memory. He keeps a near infinite amount of records in his abode that would make even the most decorated librarian humbled. He loves to keep his collection of books in a neatly and orderly fashion, and becomes quite irksome when his other brothers tamper with it.
Then there’s the rapscallion; the Collector, who, being the youngest of the children, is more than not known for causing mischief among the mortals. As his name would imply, he has an odd curiosity of collecting just about anything for himself, and keeping it as a specimen. For what purpose is unknown.
Then there is the Dreamcatcher; the Boogeyman of the Boiling Isles. Taking the form of a shadow, this child is even more mischievous than the Collector, and as such, dangerous. Hiding within the crooks and crannies of peoples homes, he often loves to spook them at best, and at worst, torment them by turning their dreams into living nightmares.
Finally, there is the most terrifying child of the stars; The Puppetmaster. Often known as the cruel hand of fate, this child sees mortals as nothing more than pawns to manipulate, and takes it upon himself to pull the strings behind the unseen curtain. No one truly know what he looks like. But many accounts in the Boiling Isles have recalled that whenever something truly horrible happened, there was someone no one else than the victim could see.
As the Titans fade into legend, the Children of the Stars have faded into obscurity. Only one has shown his face in recent memory.
2024.06.02 06:09 throwaway867425143 AITAH for embarrassing my date with my car?
Throwaway account for what will be obvious reasons, and apologies, but this is longer than intended.
I (38F) have recently decided to dip my toes back in to the flaming cesspool that is dating in this modern age. I joined an app, matched with a few guys, talked with a few less, and had a dinner date last night with F (40M) who I felt like I was vibing with via text.
F and I had agreed to meet last night at a nice but not stupidly-expensive steakhouse in a popular upscale district downtown. I had originally planned on driving my Jeep, but it has been at the shop for maintenance and they still hadn't finished by COB Friday. I live too far out of town for Uber to be reliable, so I decided to have fun and drive my new car that was just delivered this week. I got to the restaurant 45 minutes early, valet-parked (I would have done this with the Jeep too, parking in this district is a complete nightmare), and walked down the block to a stationary/book binding boutique I love to pick up a few things. When I walked back to the restaurant to meet F I was a little surprised to see my car was still parked out front of the restaurant in one of the reserved spots instead of being moved back to the designated lot. I asked and found out that the valet company policy was for any car over a certain value threshold be left in the reserved spots out front both to keep an eye on them, and so that the company wouldn't have the liability of a valet potentially damaging them driving. That made perfect sense to me, so I didn't ask them to move it to the back.
F met me at the host stand and after about five minutes got seated at our table. Hilariously to me, we got seated next to the window looking directly out at my car.
Dinner started off... ok? F started off pretty affable, but started making little comments early on about my dress, and what I ordered and how I wanted my steak cooked - he tried to insist to our server that I really wanted medium when I had ordered my steak cooked blue. I joked to the server that when I said I wanted my steak blue (for those who don't know, "blue" is extra-rare), that that might actually be too well-done for me, better just bring it out raw. The server laughed, but F was quiet.
Conversation after that was pretty one-sided. He did ask me "what do you do for a job" (my standard answer is working at an animal sanctuary. It's not technically a lie...), which he scoffed at and made a comment about how I "must not make any money doing that" and "are you sure you can cover your bill here?". I laughed it off, but definitely found it rude.
Once I asked him about his job he completely took over the conversation. He went on ad nauseam about his job in finance at a major corporation, but once he started in about what a great investment crypto is I knew for sure he wasn't getting a second date. Honestly, it felt like I was talking to someone completely different than who I had been texting, and I was not a fan.
I had ordered desert to go, when for some reason, probably trying to impress me? F pointed out the window at what just so happened to be MY car, saying that he was doing so well in crypto he had just picked it up at the dealership, and was getting another next week just because he could.
Now some important backstory: in my very early 20s I won a significant lottery jackpot. Initially I absolutely went stupid and was spending money like an asshole, but after a few months one of my uncle's (a self-made multi-millionaire) sat me down, made me run the numbers with him, and showed me how if I kept doing what I was doing I would be broke before I was 40. He helped me get a good financial planner, and to make long-term plans. As a result over time I've still been able to have and do pretty much whatever I want as long as I don't decide to do something stupid like have a jet for every week of the year, and my money has actually grown. I've helped my close friend's and family out (and only gotten burned once), invest in local small businesses, and donate to charities that mean something to me.
I now live on a large farm outside of our major Midwestern city. And while I do travel all around the world, I spend the majority of my time training and showing horses, as well as providing homes for horses that have been rescued from the slaughter pipeline and can't be repurposed back to work, or retired show horses that need a soft spot to land (and various other animals, like pigs, alpacas, and an absolute hoard of chickens. Someone offered me a giraffe once, and I had to politely decline). And yes, I do actually do a lot of the hands-on work myself, although I have other people who clean the stalls and help with the general caretaking of the retired crowd, which is why it's not really lying when I say I 'work at an animal sanctuary'.
Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the finer things in life like the latest tech and designer clothes, bags, and shoes, but as I've matured I tend to not go for the flashy "logo" option. Except for one thing...
I love fast cars. My daily-driver is a Jeep that I've had for 10 years, and I have a big truck for farm stuff (I didn't drive it to dinner because it is huge and will not fit in any of the garages downtown), but I also have a small collection of late-model Lamborghinis, starting with the Murcielago I bought during my "asshole spending" phase. I also have a Gallardo, an Aventador, a Huracan, and this week I finally had my Revuelto delivered after ordering it more than a year ago. The Revuelto is what I decided to drive to my date, because I just couldn't resist the excuse to drive the new toy.
Now, back to F trying to claim my car as his. On my best day I am a sarcastic bitch, and this opportunity was too much for me to pass up. I started playing along, asking him "omg, isnt that a Lambor-jeenie Hurricane?", which he confirmed it was, and "would he take me for a ride in it after dinner?" He said maybe on our second date he would.
Basically for the next 10 minutes until we settled our checks he bullshitted his way through my questions about the "Hurricane", and how he could help me invest in crypto so I could have nice things too, and "get some nicer clothes from somewhere better than Target, because my girlfriend should only wear designer". For the record, I love Target and have a lot of clothes from there, but I was wearing a dress from The Row to dinner and my bag and shoes were designer as well, just without obvious logos for him to pick up on.
We walked out of the restaurant together and he made a show of telling me and anyone who would listen (there was a small crowd looking at my car and taking pictures with it, which is fine with me as long as they dont lean/sit on it) that he had an errand to run and would be picking his car up from the valet later, but he would wait with me until my car got brought up. I agreed, walked away to the valet stand to pay my ticket, tip, and collect my keys. Then I walked over to my car, and watched his jaw hit the pavement as I opened the door. I said "by the way F, it's a Revuelto, definitely not a "hurricane", and not even a Huracan, but I have one of those too". Some of the people who had been looking at my car were laughing at F as I got in and drove off.
I had 17 texts when I got home from F, berating me for embarrassing him in front of people because I didn't tell him it was my car from the beginning. He also called me a fat bitch after I pointed out he never should have tried to say it was his in the first place and declined his invite to a second date...
Tl;dr I went on a date with a crypto-bro who didn't know I drove a Lamborghini, and he tried to pretend my car was his to impress me.
So AITA for letting him pretend my car was his, and then publicly showing him it wasn't?
submitted by throwaway867425143 to AITAH [link] [comments]
I (38F) have recently decided to dip my toes back in to the flaming cesspool that is dating in this modern age. I joined an app, matched with a few guys, talked with a few less, and had a dinner date last night with F (40M) who I felt like I was vibing with via text.
F and I had agreed to meet last night at a nice but not stupidly-expensive steakhouse in a popular upscale district downtown. I had originally planned on driving my Jeep, but it has been at the shop for maintenance and they still hadn't finished by COB Friday. I live too far out of town for Uber to be reliable, so I decided to have fun and drive my new car that was just delivered this week. I got to the restaurant 45 minutes early, valet-parked (I would have done this with the Jeep too, parking in this district is a complete nightmare), and walked down the block to a stationary/book binding boutique I love to pick up a few things. When I walked back to the restaurant to meet F I was a little surprised to see my car was still parked out front of the restaurant in one of the reserved spots instead of being moved back to the designated lot. I asked and found out that the valet company policy was for any car over a certain value threshold be left in the reserved spots out front both to keep an eye on them, and so that the company wouldn't have the liability of a valet potentially damaging them driving. That made perfect sense to me, so I didn't ask them to move it to the back.
F met me at the host stand and after about five minutes got seated at our table. Hilariously to me, we got seated next to the window looking directly out at my car.
Dinner started off... ok? F started off pretty affable, but started making little comments early on about my dress, and what I ordered and how I wanted my steak cooked - he tried to insist to our server that I really wanted medium when I had ordered my steak cooked blue. I joked to the server that when I said I wanted my steak blue (for those who don't know, "blue" is extra-rare), that that might actually be too well-done for me, better just bring it out raw. The server laughed, but F was quiet.
Conversation after that was pretty one-sided. He did ask me "what do you do for a job" (my standard answer is working at an animal sanctuary. It's not technically a lie...), which he scoffed at and made a comment about how I "must not make any money doing that" and "are you sure you can cover your bill here?". I laughed it off, but definitely found it rude.
Once I asked him about his job he completely took over the conversation. He went on ad nauseam about his job in finance at a major corporation, but once he started in about what a great investment crypto is I knew for sure he wasn't getting a second date. Honestly, it felt like I was talking to someone completely different than who I had been texting, and I was not a fan.
I had ordered desert to go, when for some reason, probably trying to impress me? F pointed out the window at what just so happened to be MY car, saying that he was doing so well in crypto he had just picked it up at the dealership, and was getting another next week just because he could.
Now some important backstory: in my very early 20s I won a significant lottery jackpot. Initially I absolutely went stupid and was spending money like an asshole, but after a few months one of my uncle's (a self-made multi-millionaire) sat me down, made me run the numbers with him, and showed me how if I kept doing what I was doing I would be broke before I was 40. He helped me get a good financial planner, and to make long-term plans. As a result over time I've still been able to have and do pretty much whatever I want as long as I don't decide to do something stupid like have a jet for every week of the year, and my money has actually grown. I've helped my close friend's and family out (and only gotten burned once), invest in local small businesses, and donate to charities that mean something to me.
I now live on a large farm outside of our major Midwestern city. And while I do travel all around the world, I spend the majority of my time training and showing horses, as well as providing homes for horses that have been rescued from the slaughter pipeline and can't be repurposed back to work, or retired show horses that need a soft spot to land (and various other animals, like pigs, alpacas, and an absolute hoard of chickens. Someone offered me a giraffe once, and I had to politely decline). And yes, I do actually do a lot of the hands-on work myself, although I have other people who clean the stalls and help with the general caretaking of the retired crowd, which is why it's not really lying when I say I 'work at an animal sanctuary'.
Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the finer things in life like the latest tech and designer clothes, bags, and shoes, but as I've matured I tend to not go for the flashy "logo" option. Except for one thing...
I love fast cars. My daily-driver is a Jeep that I've had for 10 years, and I have a big truck for farm stuff (I didn't drive it to dinner because it is huge and will not fit in any of the garages downtown), but I also have a small collection of late-model Lamborghinis, starting with the Murcielago I bought during my "asshole spending" phase. I also have a Gallardo, an Aventador, a Huracan, and this week I finally had my Revuelto delivered after ordering it more than a year ago. The Revuelto is what I decided to drive to my date, because I just couldn't resist the excuse to drive the new toy.
Now, back to F trying to claim my car as his. On my best day I am a sarcastic bitch, and this opportunity was too much for me to pass up. I started playing along, asking him "omg, isnt that a Lambor-jeenie Hurricane?", which he confirmed it was, and "would he take me for a ride in it after dinner?" He said maybe on our second date he would.
Basically for the next 10 minutes until we settled our checks he bullshitted his way through my questions about the "Hurricane", and how he could help me invest in crypto so I could have nice things too, and "get some nicer clothes from somewhere better than Target, because my girlfriend should only wear designer". For the record, I love Target and have a lot of clothes from there, but I was wearing a dress from The Row to dinner and my bag and shoes were designer as well, just without obvious logos for him to pick up on.
We walked out of the restaurant together and he made a show of telling me and anyone who would listen (there was a small crowd looking at my car and taking pictures with it, which is fine with me as long as they dont lean/sit on it) that he had an errand to run and would be picking his car up from the valet later, but he would wait with me until my car got brought up. I agreed, walked away to the valet stand to pay my ticket, tip, and collect my keys. Then I walked over to my car, and watched his jaw hit the pavement as I opened the door. I said "by the way F, it's a Revuelto, definitely not a "hurricane", and not even a Huracan, but I have one of those too". Some of the people who had been looking at my car were laughing at F as I got in and drove off.
I had 17 texts when I got home from F, berating me for embarrassing him in front of people because I didn't tell him it was my car from the beginning. He also called me a fat bitch after I pointed out he never should have tried to say it was his in the first place and declined his invite to a second date...
Tl;dr I went on a date with a crypto-bro who didn't know I drove a Lamborghini, and he tried to pretend my car was his to impress me.
So AITA for letting him pretend my car was his, and then publicly showing him it wasn't?
2024.06.02 05:45 smash504 Ground textures (pebbles?) disappearing at a slight distance (video for context below)
https://youtu.be/_v_PN3U_hHA
i am using some texture overhauls and community shaders but im wondering if this has anything to do with my view distance
MODLIST
submitted by smash504 to skyrimmods [link] [comments]
i am using some texture overhauls and community shaders but im wondering if this has anything to do with my view distance
MODLIST
"(Part 1) SSE Engine Fixes for 1.5.39 - 1.5.97", "Male Npc Overhaul - --fomod--USSEP and AI overhaul SSE patch", "1DwemerArmorSE", "1NDArmorSE", "1YsmirArmorSE", "Infantry Armor SE - 1fsse", "Male Dragonic Argonian Textures 4k - 2k (SOS and Vanilla) - 2K SOS", "Female Dragonic Argonian Textures 4k - 2k(CBBE and UNP) - 4k CBBE", "A Quality World Map 9.0.1 - Vivid with Flat Roads", "AI Overhaul for SE Only 1.8.5", "AddItemMenuSE\_114\_SKSE2019", "Address Library for SKSE Plugins - All in one (Special Edition)", "Amazing Follower Tweaks", "Animation Motion Revolution", "Animation Queue Fix", "ArteFakes - Unique Artifacts Replacer - ArteFakes", "Audio Overhaul for Skyrim (4.1.3)", "AutoBody AE - Configurable Randomized Bodies - AutoBody AE 1.5.1", "Autobody AE 1.5.1 - recompiled for SSE 1.5.97", "BM\_Brows\_HPH", "Vanilla Scripting Enhancements - BSA Version", "Base Object Swapper", "BattlemageArmor", "Better Jumping SE", "Better Third Person Selection (AE - SE)", "Bijin NPCs SE 1.2.1", "BodySlide and Outfit Studio", "Bosmer NPCs have antlers - FOMOD Installer", "Brows - TRE Brows - High Poly Head Patch", "Brows - TRE Brows", "CBBE 3BA (3BBB)", "Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Enhancer -CBBE- - CBBE AE-CC Outfits", "CBPC - Physics with Collisions for SSE and VR - CBPC - Fomod installer - MAIN FILE", "Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Enhancer CBBE - v2.0.3", "Cathedral - Water", "Compass Navigation Overhaul", "ConsolePlusPlus", "CoverKhajiits 4K", "Constructible Object Custom Keyword System - Crafting Categories for SkyUI", "Crash Logger", "Creamy Curves - CBBE 3BAv2 Bodyslide Preset", "DIbella's Blessing", "Detection Meter-v1.11", "Dialogue Interface ReShaped", "Dialogue Movement Enabler (Latest version for SE)", "DigitigradeKhajiit\_ArgonianRaptor", "Dynamic Torch Idle Animations - OAR", "Expressive Facegen Morphs SE - EFM SE - Racemenu plugin", "ELFX Fixes", "Elisa face preset", "Enhanced Lights and FX", "Even More Brows HPH", "Expressive Facegen Morphs SE", "Expressive Facial Animation - Female Edition", "Fores New Idles in Skyrim SE - FNIS SE - FNIS Behavior SE 7\_6", "FSMPV - FSMP-Validator - HDT-SMP XML Schema - FSMPV", "Face Discoloration Fix SE (1.5.97)", "Faster HDT-SMP", "Favorite Misc Items", "Follower Trap Safety", "Footprints 1.6.1", "Forget Spell (1.5.97)", "Galactic eyes 4k", "Glorious Doors of Skyrim (GDOS) SE", "HDT-SMP Racemenu Hair or Wigs - Xing - Dint999 - Fuse00 - HHairstyles - KS - HG - SG - NO RING Version - HDT-SMP Hairs and Wigs - FOMOD", "Highly Improved Male Body Overhaul -HIMBO- - HIMBO V5 - Core", "Happy Little Trees - HLT Patch", "High Quality 3D Map - HQ3DMap - Meshes Med-Res", "Happy Little Trees", "High\_Poly\_Head\_v1.4\_(SE)", "High elf mid hi poly", "Hiraya Brows for High Poly Head", "Horse Stamina HUD (1.5.97)", "Brows - Hvergelmir's Aesthetics - Brows 4.1", "Improved Follower Dialogue - Lydia", "Infinite Horse Stamina Out of Combat", "Infinite Magicka Out of Combat", "Infinite Stamina Out of Combat", "Infinity UI", "Insignificant Object Remover", "Iridum Eyes", "JContainers SE", "JK's Skyrim all in one", "KS Hairdos SMP 3BA Collision Bodyslides Low to High ESPFE", "KS Hairdos SMP", "KS Hairdos SSE - Female", "Kalilies Brows", "Keyword Item Distributor", "Kyoe's Bang'n Brows PLUS PLUS v1.0", "Lightened Skyrim", "Lorraine High Poly Racemenu Preset SE", "Lucy - High Poly Racemenu Preset SE", "Lucy - High Poly Racemenu Preset", "MCM Helper SE (1.5.97)", "Magic Sneak Attacks", "Highly Improved Male Body Overhaul -HIMBO- - Main File (FOMOD Installer)", "Sons of Skyrim - Main Files", "Male Npc Overhaul v12 fixed", "Mea -Nord- High-Poly Head Racemenu Face Preset - Mea", "MergeMapper", "MikanEyes v2.5 SE", "Modular SMP Hairstyles", "More Informative Console 1.2", "Mortal Enemies v1.4", "No Grass In Objects - NGIO - Special Edition (1.5.97)", "Nemesis Unlimited Behavior Engine", "No Camera Filters", "Obsidian Weathers - 1.07a", "Open Animation Replacer", "Opulent Retexture 2K", "Oxygen Meter 2 - OxygenMeter2 FOMOD SSE AE640 AE1170", "Paired Animation Improvements", "Papyrus Extender", "PapyrusUtil SE - Scripting Utility Functions", "Precision - Accurate Melee Collisions - Precision", "QuickLoot EE", "RSSE Children Overhaul 1.1.3 with hotfix 1", "RaceMenu High Heels Fixes", "RaceMenu - RaceMenu Special Edition v0-4-14", "Read or Take SKSE", "Recipes 1.1.1", "Recursion Fix", "Remember Lockpick Angle", "Replace Nirnroot Sound with Wind Chimes", "Rich Skyrim Merchants", "SC - KS Hairdos Retextured", "Scripts Carefully Reworked Optimized and Tactfully Enhanced (SCROTE) - Simply Optimized Scripts AIO - SCROTE BSA Version", "Static Mesh Improvement Mod - SMIM - SMIM SE 2-08", "SPID for Footprints", "SSE Display Tweaks", "Savior's Hide Replacer", "ScaleformTranslationPP", "Schlongs of Skyrim SE - Settings Loader", "Schlongs\_of\_Skyrim\_SE - v1.1.4", "Security Overhaul SKSE - Add-ons", "Security Overhaul SKSE - Lock Variations", "Sentinel - An Equipment Overhaul", "Simple Horse SE", "Skin Feature Overlays SE - Freckles Scars Birthmarks Stretch Marks Moles and More for Face and Body RaceMenu Overlays - SkFO SE -Skin Feature Overlays- 4K", "SkyPatcher - SE", "SkyUI\_5\_2\_SE", "Skyland AIO", "Skyrim Landscape and Water Fixes - FOMOD", "Skyrim Priority SE AE (3.4.0)", "Slaughterfish are Extinct", "Sonders Keyword Distribution Resources", "Sound Record Distributor", "Spell Perk Item Distributor", "Super Fast Get Up Animation", "Terre's 4K Fur Textures for CoverKhajiits - Vanilla CBBE UNP BHUNP SoS HIMBO - Terre's Body Fur Textures AIO - 4K", "The Pure CBBE and UNP - 4K or 8K Female Skin Textures - The Pure - CBBE", "The Witcher 3 Eyes", "True Brows SE - Standalone", "True Directional Movement", "TrueHUD", "UIExtensions v1-2-0", "Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch", "Use Or Take SKSE", "User Heels Keyword Distribution", "Vanilla Script MicroOptimizations", "VioLens - A Killmove Mod SE 2.30", "Visual Animated Enchants 2-023 Se Ae version", "Simplicity of Sea - Water Mod with ENB Displacement Textures - Water Mod", "Whose Quest Is It Anyway", "XP32 Maximum Skeleton Special Extended", "1) aMidianBorn Book of Silence SE -- COMPLETE", "powerofthree's Tweaks", "practical\_pirate", "practical\_pirate\_cbbe", "practical\_pirate\_physics", "Auto Parallax", "Community Shaders", "Vanilla HDR", "Water Blending", "Complex Parallax Materials" "tag": "Vortex - ml"
2024.06.02 05:20 Lance-Spears I'm Just A Small Town Shifter by GS D'Moore Review
 | Here's my second review, this time it is of I'm Just A Small Town Shifter by GS D'Moore. I really enjoyed it and shared my thoughts here on my Substack. If you like these things, you can follow me there too! submitted by Lance-Spears to haremfantasynovels [link] [comments] https://open.substack.com/pub/lancespears/p/im-just-a-small-town-shifter-review?r=70njf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web My Review: Hey, you crazy cats and kittens. Step into the spear line with me as we talk about the second #HaremLit book that I’ve ever read! This book was a lot of fun, it literally made me laugh several times. With all of the craziness in the world, I think we could all use the relief. If all of the books in this genre are like this, then we’ve got a convert on our hands! So, join me on this crazy adventure and dive into the deep end of crazy with me, Lance Spears! https://preview.redd.it/hf8okrdtt24d1.jpg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c7ef939ae8e37bf9c8a48622b4310ca34f611042 Book Title: I’m Just A Small Town Shifter Author: G. S. D’Moore Narrator: Evan Jordan & Sierra Taft Audiobook Publisher: Podium Publishing eBook Price: $4.99 USD Audiobook Price: $26.70 USD or one Audible Credit eBook & Audiobook Price: $12.48 USD Pages: 324 Pages Audiobook Length: 9 Hours Keywords: Shifter, Paranormal Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fairy Tale Fantasy, Werewolf, Bear Shifter, Action, Adventure Summary: Kirk Jensen always chased his dreams. He even left home and chased them across the country. He expected that hard work, training, and determination would make his dreams a reality. Afterall, people always said that if you worked hard, you could achieve your goals. He did not expect to be a short order cook working long shifts for minimum wage. He certainly didn't expect to take the garbage out one night and find himself confronted by a thousand pounds of fury armed with fangs and claws. He did not expect to survive. Now, Kirk finds himself in the center of a world he never thought possible. Caught between two powerful forces, he's pushed to make a decision. That decision will change the future of his new home. He doesn't know what the right decision is, and as tempting as the offers are, only one side can win. Thankfully, he's got a pair of interesting women to show him his options. I figured that since G.S. D’Moore did such a good job on his summary, I would copy and paste it. I think it was spot on, but left you enough room to discover the world as you read. What I liked about it was that it captured the tone of the author’s voice. Characters: First, this was a harem series, so there were a lot of important characters. However, this was told from one point of view, Kirk Jensen. He’s the male lead of this world and was your Joe Every Man made good. Total wish fulfillment, but I really loved these cats and kittens. All of these characters were well-written and fleshed out. They felt real to me, as if I could have a beer with them at the local pub. Which is ironic, given where Kirk’s first job was. Like the last book in this genre that I read, this was a laid-back story. I loved that the author focused on fun and adventure, without needless navel gazing. Hats off to G.S. D’Moore on his execution, he killed it with these characters! Kirk Jensen: He’s an orphan with dreams of a career in law enforcement. With a new degree in criminal justice, he moved to a small town in Alaska. He knew that small towns, like the one on Kodiak Island, had openings in law enforcement. At least he hoped that they did, because he went all in with his move. When he gets there, he chases his dream by working at a greasy spoon restaurant as a cook until he can test for the one opening that was coming with one of local cops’ retirement. From a personality perspective, he is a steady, loyal guy. He’s your average guy, at least until things change when he becomes a shifter. Brianna Ahnah: She’s a member of the Ahnah Innuit Werewolf Pack. Her father is the alpha and she is his only daughter. Her pack is a collection of various indigenous werewolf shifters, but she’s an arctic wolf herself. Her people run the logging industry on Kodiak Island. She’s petite, maybe 5’3” tall and lithe in stature. From a personality standpoint, she is a calming force and more of the laid-back homebody type. Serena McCoy: She’s a member of the McCoy Werewolf Pack. Her father is the alpha and came to Kodiak Island in the early 1900s. The pack is a collection of Dire Wolf shifters who run the Kodiak Island fishing companies. She’s a busty ginger, with a personality to match the fiery mane. While Brianna is demure, Serena is a tempest of raw sexuality. She’s almost as tall as Kirk and seems very outgoing. Plot and Pacing: This story was plotted to perfection by GS D’Moore. I believed in the character’s transition from human to shifter. It was expertly done and not some rush job to get to the harem parts. Instead, we had several chapters before we got that change that is hinted at in the series title. But, again, I love shifters, and werewolves… so, my buy-in was easy. I was ready to suspend my disbelief… cause shifters are awesome! It helped that the author made it an easy and enjoyable ride through his coming-of-age adventure. As far as pacing was concerned, the adventure wasn’t all at once, rushing through the plot to get to the smut. Instead, the author built up to the crescendo, allowing the harem romance to ride second fiddle to a shifter tale. We explored the universe through Kirk’s eyes, but he was a fun perspective to follow. The author kept the story flowing smoothly from beat to beat, interspersed with romantic tension filled lulls to let the reader catch their breath. Audiobook Quality: The audiobook was professionally made by Podium Publishing. The narrators they hired were good and they kept my attention. There were a few obvious inserted corrections, where the volumes didn’t match, but those were so infrequent that they were almost unnoticeable. I’ve never listened to Evan Jordan or Sierra Taft before, but they’re now on my auto-approved list for audiobooks. The two worked well together, and I’m becoming more and more of a fan of the two narrator pairings. Sizzle Factor: There weren’t that many sex scenes in this novel, a blowie and one glorious ‘wham, bam, thank you ma’am’ scene. What was there was well written, allowed you to visualize things like a smutty movie in your head. That sex was very much normie vanilla, but it was good. Those scenes were steamy… very steamy. Like, it sizzled and left you a hot and sweaty mess. Overall: Okay, let’s dive into this book! This was my second harem novel, so I don’t have a lot to compare this to. That said, I really enjoyed what was here. The story was a lot of fun, it was well-written, and the audiobooks were well-performed. On the writing side, G.S. D’Moore has a mastery of the craft that was a pleasure to read and listen too. It was a joy to read, and I plan on checking out more of his books. He communicated to us with conversational prose, which I’m a huge fan of. If my Veteran Radar still works on, I’d put money on D’Moore having worn the uniform in dangerous places like I have. It was no wonder that his law enforcement character, Kirk Jensen, was so well written. His other characters were also all believable, and I wanted to hang out with them in real life. This is how I judge the people in the books where I temporarily make my home. The sex was written with just enough sizzle to seduce you into buying the next book. Even cooler, I have enough knowledge of werewolf and shifter lore that I could follow along. In a nutshell, this book was amazing and hooked me into buying the rest of the series. You’ll want to buy them all too and you won’t regret it! |
2024.06.02 04:44 Minimum_Milk_274 I will feel better one day.
I'm incredibly quiet in public, one time in middle school a girl told me my silence makes her uncomfortable. Which totally hasn't affected me years later, haha nope. But at home? With friends and family? God I'm LOUD. I yap and yap and yap. I also have adhd which does not help.
My mom has had a lift time of me standing there just rambling about things I like while she looks at her phone and I pretend not to be hurt. I'm not mad that she does that because she's the only person nice enough to sit there and listen to my bullshit when its like 11 pm and my meds have worn off for the day lol.
My dad eventually tells me to shut up, which kinda sucks cause he kinda seems like the only person who understands me sometimes. He definitely has adhd too. He likes a lot of the things I like because he's the one who showed me them in the first place. I think he hurts me the most.
My sister also had adhd, I don't talk to her a lot. Were not exactly close but were also not like estranged. I just don't think she likes me some times. I think she loves me at least.
My other sister I've gotten really close to in the last couple of months. I'm home for the summer but when I was at college I would call her, ask her how she was and then spend like a good ten minutes talking about whatever, and she would let me. She's the closest I've gotten to ever feeling like someone is 100% invested in a convo with me.
I only have 2 friends. On of them I met online and she lives across the country. The other one is basically my brother but he goes to a different college, has 5 million friends, and we can be complete opposites at times.
I see so many like stories or videos of people talking about friends or partners rambling about things that they like and that they love it when their friends/partners do it. They like that part of them and I just wonder what it would be like to have someone look at me and feel that way. I know my family loves me but I know there's a lot of parts of me they don't like.
I have social anxiety. Crowds make me go catatonic at the worst and at the best I'm overwhelmed and on the verge of tears. I can barely talk to people in class. I'm almost 20 and I've never kissed anyone or been in a relationship.
I don't think I'm ugly, I think I'm average and I do believe that sometimes I'm even pretty or handsome if I try hard enough.
I don't know what I'm talking about anymore. And before anyone who is nice enough to talk to me on this post asks, I am in therapy. I probably sound depressed as hell, which I am, but I am remarkably better than I have been.
But I'm not making this post to vent about my negative feelings, I'm doing it to make myself feel better.
I'm smart. I am very smart. Im smart as hell. I'm a kind person. I listen. I'm a good friend. I think one day I'll have more friends, I've been told that cause I have adhd, my brain hasn't caught up to people my age but god damn it I'm almost there (thats what my therapist says lol). I have cool hair.
I know I won't always feel this way, life didn't end when I was 16 and suicidal. Or 17 and suicidal. Or 18. and now I'm almost 20 and fuck I always thought I would be dead by now.
I'm alive!! Isn't that fucking wonderful? IM ALIVE!!
I love getting tattoos, I'm going to get more. I'm going to a rage room for my birthday and my parents will give me books and socks (I love books and socks) for presents. My dog is going to sleep in my bed tonight and keep me awake with her kicks and her snores. Tomorrow my cats are gonna scream at me for dinner like they always do.
I'm going on vacation with my family later and my best friend is coming for the first time. I'm going to a concert with my sister later in the summer too, and then I get to go back to college. My college is my dream school, I applied as early as possible and it was the only college I applied to, I got in. My dorm for the up coming year is on the first floor so when my family and my best friend help move me in, we dont have to carry stuff up any stairs. It's also a single. Isn't that wonderful.
I'm getting my first real job soon. Isn't that wonderful.
I love my college majors (double major), I love my back yard, I love the lake I live by, I love the mourning dove that lived outside the window of the dorm I was in last year and would wake me up at 6 am every day cause I sleep with the window open.
My relationship with my dad can fucking suck but that man was my first best friend. My mom is the coolest person in the world. I'm the youngest so I never pay for shit and I probably never will. My relationship with my sisters has only been improving and I would die for them. My first tattoo was a matching one with the both of them.
I honestly did start this post to vent about how I genuinely feel so lonely a lot of the times but it just kinda changed into this? I'm such a pessimist but sometimes the happiness just jumps you. I'm sitting in my house, I just ate my favorite ice cream that my sister bought for me after eating food she also bought for our family (again, I will never buy anything ever). My sister and my mom are doing their weekend ritual of watching whatever show all weekend together and my dad keeps appearing like a ghost from the basement and making jokes. My other sister is away in her apartment but I know she is safe, happiness just jumps you sometimes.
I'm still so so so sad and depressed and sometimes I still want to die but I will feel better. One day. And it feels like that day is only ever getting closer and closer.
submitted by Minimum_Milk_274 to offmychest [link] [comments]
My mom has had a lift time of me standing there just rambling about things I like while she looks at her phone and I pretend not to be hurt. I'm not mad that she does that because she's the only person nice enough to sit there and listen to my bullshit when its like 11 pm and my meds have worn off for the day lol.
My dad eventually tells me to shut up, which kinda sucks cause he kinda seems like the only person who understands me sometimes. He definitely has adhd too. He likes a lot of the things I like because he's the one who showed me them in the first place. I think he hurts me the most.
My sister also had adhd, I don't talk to her a lot. Were not exactly close but were also not like estranged. I just don't think she likes me some times. I think she loves me at least.
My other sister I've gotten really close to in the last couple of months. I'm home for the summer but when I was at college I would call her, ask her how she was and then spend like a good ten minutes talking about whatever, and she would let me. She's the closest I've gotten to ever feeling like someone is 100% invested in a convo with me.
I only have 2 friends. On of them I met online and she lives across the country. The other one is basically my brother but he goes to a different college, has 5 million friends, and we can be complete opposites at times.
I see so many like stories or videos of people talking about friends or partners rambling about things that they like and that they love it when their friends/partners do it. They like that part of them and I just wonder what it would be like to have someone look at me and feel that way. I know my family loves me but I know there's a lot of parts of me they don't like.
I have social anxiety. Crowds make me go catatonic at the worst and at the best I'm overwhelmed and on the verge of tears. I can barely talk to people in class. I'm almost 20 and I've never kissed anyone or been in a relationship.
I don't think I'm ugly, I think I'm average and I do believe that sometimes I'm even pretty or handsome if I try hard enough.
I don't know what I'm talking about anymore. And before anyone who is nice enough to talk to me on this post asks, I am in therapy. I probably sound depressed as hell, which I am, but I am remarkably better than I have been.
But I'm not making this post to vent about my negative feelings, I'm doing it to make myself feel better.
I'm smart. I am very smart. Im smart as hell. I'm a kind person. I listen. I'm a good friend. I think one day I'll have more friends, I've been told that cause I have adhd, my brain hasn't caught up to people my age but god damn it I'm almost there (thats what my therapist says lol). I have cool hair.
I know I won't always feel this way, life didn't end when I was 16 and suicidal. Or 17 and suicidal. Or 18. and now I'm almost 20 and fuck I always thought I would be dead by now.
I'm alive!! Isn't that fucking wonderful? IM ALIVE!!
I love getting tattoos, I'm going to get more. I'm going to a rage room for my birthday and my parents will give me books and socks (I love books and socks) for presents. My dog is going to sleep in my bed tonight and keep me awake with her kicks and her snores. Tomorrow my cats are gonna scream at me for dinner like they always do.
I'm going on vacation with my family later and my best friend is coming for the first time. I'm going to a concert with my sister later in the summer too, and then I get to go back to college. My college is my dream school, I applied as early as possible and it was the only college I applied to, I got in. My dorm for the up coming year is on the first floor so when my family and my best friend help move me in, we dont have to carry stuff up any stairs. It's also a single. Isn't that wonderful.
I'm getting my first real job soon. Isn't that wonderful.
I love my college majors (double major), I love my back yard, I love the lake I live by, I love the mourning dove that lived outside the window of the dorm I was in last year and would wake me up at 6 am every day cause I sleep with the window open.
My relationship with my dad can fucking suck but that man was my first best friend. My mom is the coolest person in the world. I'm the youngest so I never pay for shit and I probably never will. My relationship with my sisters has only been improving and I would die for them. My first tattoo was a matching one with the both of them.
I honestly did start this post to vent about how I genuinely feel so lonely a lot of the times but it just kinda changed into this? I'm such a pessimist but sometimes the happiness just jumps you. I'm sitting in my house, I just ate my favorite ice cream that my sister bought for me after eating food she also bought for our family (again, I will never buy anything ever). My sister and my mom are doing their weekend ritual of watching whatever show all weekend together and my dad keeps appearing like a ghost from the basement and making jokes. My other sister is away in her apartment but I know she is safe, happiness just jumps you sometimes.
I'm still so so so sad and depressed and sometimes I still want to die but I will feel better. One day. And it feels like that day is only ever getting closer and closer.
2024.06.02 04:17 ZacPalmer1999 Found some good stuff this weekend
 | Took a trip this weekend, while my wife was working I hit up some used record stores. Very pleased with the results. submitted by ZacPalmer1999 to Cd_collectors [link] [comments] |
2024.06.02 04:10 Adventurous-Ear9433 Enoch-the Watchers & how it effects us today, Govt insiders on "return of sumerian gods"
"in the form of man move they amongst us, but only to sight were they as are men. Serpent-headed when the glamour was lifted but appearing to man as men among men. Crept they into the Councils, taking forms that were like unto men. Slaying by their arts the chiefs of the kingdoms, taking their form and ruling o'er man. Only by magic could they be discovered. Only by sound could their faces be seen. Sought they from the Kingdom of shadows to destroy man and rule in his place"
Cultural Artifact Remember in Spiderman where the cathedral bell removes the symbiotes, which was a negative alien parasite feeding on dark emotions? I wonder if This is why the cathedrals (which were healing centers, cymatic symbols in windows) all had their bells confiscated. Or Is this the real reason Armys 1st Nvg starlight scopeswere banned?
So i had someone send me this clip from an interview where an ex USAF & propulsion expert is discussing the rumblings in the Pentagon about Enkis return. Return Of Anu-Naki only Enlil would be upset about the return of Enki & bringing prosperity to the human race... A new "golden age", and nothing can stop it from coming.
"In the Era of Aquarius, Lord Enki shall rule again".
A 700yr old drawing of Sirius A-B & their orbits during 1912-1990 from a Dogon cave. Dogon Sirius - Since 1990 scientists have found our dna has been changing & mutating. Subs like this show that there's been an obvious awakening happening. This DNA mutation is Enki keeping his promise. Enki-Lord of the Earth , Dogon-Land Lord*
GEN 11-7 :"let us go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other".... - Historically, theyve sought to undo everything we did, to invert symbols like Swatstika(Dogon origin) to make it represent evil. Like Ainu, Basque, Olmec, E Island, languages across the planet originate with the Dogon. Dogon World Dialect Meanwhile the romans created most Religions from Islam, Catholicism, Talmud, etc.
Pres Kennedy spoke about this war being ancient in origin. The battle between the ‘Sons of Light’ and the ‘Sons of Darkness’ i previously talked about has been ongoing up until this present day. I mostly discuss benevolent NHI but its important to mention this. Same evil Watchers, and their offspring from Enochs time. Archonic reptilians who are called to our reality with sacrifice/black magic. This is probably why Elizondo said that the top echelons of Govt say that NHI are "demons" & interdimensional.
Mostly the plane they Inhabit is between two worlds in the lower astral planes of the fourth dimension of the planet Earth, a dimensionally unstable region and not permanent for the establishment of a galactic race. Dwelling in this place beyond human sensory perception, makes them invisible to the majority of human beings, which allows them to be able to work "behind the scenes", like puppeteers in a puppet theater, in temporary or permanent possession and the manipulation of the "sleeping" population.
sought they from the Kingdom of shadows to destroy man & rule in his place
According to Mi-6 , And Nsa whistleblowers Project Oaktree was ultimately looking for the human descendants of the Watchers. From ancient to modern times, accounts exist of human encounters with such beings, their disguise as humans placed in influential roles, and their seeding of hybrids into human families. Those same general traits could equally apply to humanlike alien groups bent on malevolent domination. The competing alien forces from our ancient past are still with us today, actively influencing the world. • Our respective factions always having been polarized into opposing sides, and have been at war for thousands of years. Some factions have a strong fascist orientation. Theres nothing more dangerous than Scientific perversion of the occult… Modern ufology is familiar with Men in Black, but they aren't new at all. Historically , they've been doing the dirty work of the malevolent forces who mean to keep humanity in the dark. Even Crowley wrote about these "dark agents"..
Even today, men from various secret societies all over take up top leadership positions. Most US pres were apart of skull/Bones. Understand they have NOTHING to do with our ancestors, & the secret societies you all are familiar with are NOT the same as our Cult of Lebe/mystery schools. We dont require black magic/sacrifices often human males are used for breeding purposes by superhuman females who make no secret of their otherworldly nature. Like Peter Khoury
Enki is God of wisdom/magic/fertility, so often they’d be described as magicians because of their abilities to “shapeshift” at will, as Diodorus writes.... Our ancestors where the Apkallu depicted as Sages/Birdmen, protectors of our fathers creation & authority figures beloved by the people. Nicholas De Vere says "rightful shepherds of the human flock". Always service to others not to self.
They’re genetically compatible with us and some of their females have engaged human males for sexual encounters and even long term relationships. Through interbreeding their genes can enter our gene pool and vice versa. Therefore some human individuals and bloodlines would have more of their DNA than others, and their alien DNA would likely show under analysis to be basically human, albeit rare and unusual. 2018 scientists found the ghost hominid whod bred with 2-19% of Dogon/Yoruba giving a sort of "enhancement" including the anomalies Dr Nolan found. Historical Relation Between NHI & w African Tribes You can see in the link that all of the various priesthoods/Sages/Apkallu were all from Mende/Yoruba.
Through genetic manipulation, they can insert alien DNA as a third party contributor to a developing human fetus, so that the child resembles both human parents while also being somewhat hybridized. Whether artificially hybridized, naturally conceived between human and alien, or fully alien, such a child born and raised in a human family will mostly pass for human, except they will be of a caliber beyond their peers.First Baby Born with 3 parents
The euphemism that has come down to describe a female reserved for crossing with part alien being was “virgin.” The offspring of these relations were referred to as being of “virgin birth.”Semiramis was called the Queen of Heaven (also Rhea), the Virgin Mother of the Gods, and sometimes known as the Great Earth Mother (Ninkharsag). She was also worshipped under the name Astarte ‘the woman who made towers’(Malta Hypogeum Elongated Skulls evidence shows they were Priest of Astarte)..
they'd be called blood of the lamb, & other accounts are "Immaculate Conception ”. Founder of Imperial Mali, my ancestor Sundiata Keita was the most recent case of IC documented. According to your textbooks W Africa's royal family is named Keita(clan name) but this is false. Keita means Inheritors, Sundiata was Crowned Keita. Earths wealthiest man was Mansa Musa, A W African ruler who went around sharing his wealth to counter the enemies bloodlines campaign to control the world. Columbus saw the indigenous people with gold-tipped spears which he had assayed & found it came from W Africa like the Aztecs
So with Masons, the go by degrees with 33 being the top so to speak. In Enochs writings, he describes how the followers of the evil ones would go & meet with the 33 fallen to learn the secrets of the angels. The Tribe of Dan travelled from Dan (‘Kaish’ in Hebrew) just below Mt Hermon and went up into Greece around the time of the Exodus. From Greece they travelled to France where they were the Merovingian Priest-Kings and other French Royal lines. From France they travelled to Scotland, Ireland and America. 43 Us President descend from the same European bloodline.
These evil factions believe that by abusing children and people of our 7 bloodlines, they are directly attacking God.. This is a fascinating book written about the Hall of Records under the Sphinx in Romania, you'll see that a certain secret society wasn't able to gain access due to an energy barrier that couldn't be bypassed, they had to get one of US to even enter it. What I spoke about with apotropaic spells surrounding megalithic sites . Transylvania Sunrise
In the Testament of Baruch -"Thus they allured the Watchmen before the flood, for as these continually beheld them, they lusted after them and conceived the act in their mind; for they changed themselves into the shape of men and appeared to them when they were with their husbands; and the women, lusting in their minds after their forms, gave birth to giants" ....
submitted by Adventurous-Ear9433 to aliens [link] [comments]
Cultural Artifact Remember in Spiderman where the cathedral bell removes the symbiotes, which was a negative alien parasite feeding on dark emotions? I wonder if This is why the cathedrals (which were healing centers, cymatic symbols in windows) all had their bells confiscated. Or Is this the real reason Armys 1st Nvg starlight scopeswere banned?
So i had someone send me this clip from an interview where an ex USAF & propulsion expert is discussing the rumblings in the Pentagon about Enkis return. Return Of Anu-Naki only Enlil would be upset about the return of Enki & bringing prosperity to the human race... A new "golden age", and nothing can stop it from coming.
"In the Era of Aquarius, Lord Enki shall rule again".
A 700yr old drawing of Sirius A-B & their orbits during 1912-1990 from a Dogon cave. Dogon Sirius - Since 1990 scientists have found our dna has been changing & mutating. Subs like this show that there's been an obvious awakening happening. This DNA mutation is Enki keeping his promise. Enki-Lord of the Earth , Dogon-Land Lord*
GEN 11-7 :"let us go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other".... - Historically, theyve sought to undo everything we did, to invert symbols like Swatstika(Dogon origin) to make it represent evil. Like Ainu, Basque, Olmec, E Island, languages across the planet originate with the Dogon. Dogon World Dialect Meanwhile the romans created most Religions from Islam, Catholicism, Talmud, etc.
Pres Kennedy spoke about this war being ancient in origin. The battle between the ‘Sons of Light’ and the ‘Sons of Darkness’ i previously talked about has been ongoing up until this present day. I mostly discuss benevolent NHI but its important to mention this. Same evil Watchers, and their offspring from Enochs time. Archonic reptilians who are called to our reality with sacrifice/black magic. This is probably why Elizondo said that the top echelons of Govt say that NHI are "demons" & interdimensional.
Mostly the plane they Inhabit is between two worlds in the lower astral planes of the fourth dimension of the planet Earth, a dimensionally unstable region and not permanent for the establishment of a galactic race. Dwelling in this place beyond human sensory perception, makes them invisible to the majority of human beings, which allows them to be able to work "behind the scenes", like puppeteers in a puppet theater, in temporary or permanent possession and the manipulation of the "sleeping" population.
sought they from the Kingdom of shadows to destroy man & rule in his place
According to Mi-6 , And Nsa whistleblowers Project Oaktree was ultimately looking for the human descendants of the Watchers. From ancient to modern times, accounts exist of human encounters with such beings, their disguise as humans placed in influential roles, and their seeding of hybrids into human families. Those same general traits could equally apply to humanlike alien groups bent on malevolent domination. The competing alien forces from our ancient past are still with us today, actively influencing the world. • Our respective factions always having been polarized into opposing sides, and have been at war for thousands of years. Some factions have a strong fascist orientation. Theres nothing more dangerous than Scientific perversion of the occult… Modern ufology is familiar with Men in Black, but they aren't new at all. Historically , they've been doing the dirty work of the malevolent forces who mean to keep humanity in the dark. Even Crowley wrote about these "dark agents"..
Even today, men from various secret societies all over take up top leadership positions. Most US pres were apart of skull/Bones. Understand they have NOTHING to do with our ancestors, & the secret societies you all are familiar with are NOT the same as our Cult of Lebe/mystery schools. We dont require black magic/sacrifices often human males are used for breeding purposes by superhuman females who make no secret of their otherworldly nature. Like Peter Khoury
Enki is God of wisdom/magic/fertility, so often they’d be described as magicians because of their abilities to “shapeshift” at will, as Diodorus writes.... Our ancestors where the Apkallu depicted as Sages/Birdmen, protectors of our fathers creation & authority figures beloved by the people. Nicholas De Vere says "rightful shepherds of the human flock". Always service to others not to self.
They’re genetically compatible with us and some of their females have engaged human males for sexual encounters and even long term relationships. Through interbreeding their genes can enter our gene pool and vice versa. Therefore some human individuals and bloodlines would have more of their DNA than others, and their alien DNA would likely show under analysis to be basically human, albeit rare and unusual. 2018 scientists found the ghost hominid whod bred with 2-19% of Dogon/Yoruba giving a sort of "enhancement" including the anomalies Dr Nolan found. Historical Relation Between NHI & w African Tribes You can see in the link that all of the various priesthoods/Sages/Apkallu were all from Mende/Yoruba.
Through genetic manipulation, they can insert alien DNA as a third party contributor to a developing human fetus, so that the child resembles both human parents while also being somewhat hybridized. Whether artificially hybridized, naturally conceived between human and alien, or fully alien, such a child born and raised in a human family will mostly pass for human, except they will be of a caliber beyond their peers.First Baby Born with 3 parents
The euphemism that has come down to describe a female reserved for crossing with part alien being was “virgin.” The offspring of these relations were referred to as being of “virgin birth.”Semiramis was called the Queen of Heaven (also Rhea), the Virgin Mother of the Gods, and sometimes known as the Great Earth Mother (Ninkharsag). She was also worshipped under the name Astarte ‘the woman who made towers’(Malta Hypogeum Elongated Skulls evidence shows they were Priest of Astarte)..
they'd be called blood of the lamb, & other accounts are "Immaculate Conception ”. Founder of Imperial Mali, my ancestor Sundiata Keita was the most recent case of IC documented. According to your textbooks W Africa's royal family is named Keita(clan name) but this is false. Keita means Inheritors, Sundiata was Crowned Keita. Earths wealthiest man was Mansa Musa, A W African ruler who went around sharing his wealth to counter the enemies bloodlines campaign to control the world. Columbus saw the indigenous people with gold-tipped spears which he had assayed & found it came from W Africa like the Aztecs
So with Masons, the go by degrees with 33 being the top so to speak. In Enochs writings, he describes how the followers of the evil ones would go & meet with the 33 fallen to learn the secrets of the angels. The Tribe of Dan travelled from Dan (‘Kaish’ in Hebrew) just below Mt Hermon and went up into Greece around the time of the Exodus. From Greece they travelled to France where they were the Merovingian Priest-Kings and other French Royal lines. From France they travelled to Scotland, Ireland and America. 43 Us President descend from the same European bloodline.
These evil factions believe that by abusing children and people of our 7 bloodlines, they are directly attacking God.. This is a fascinating book written about the Hall of Records under the Sphinx in Romania, you'll see that a certain secret society wasn't able to gain access due to an energy barrier that couldn't be bypassed, they had to get one of US to even enter it. What I spoke about with apotropaic spells surrounding megalithic sites . Transylvania Sunrise
In the Testament of Baruch -"Thus they allured the Watchmen before the flood, for as these continually beheld them, they lusted after them and conceived the act in their mind; for they changed themselves into the shape of men and appeared to them when they were with their husbands; and the women, lusting in their minds after their forms, gave birth to giants" ....
2024.06.02 02:46 ArcAngel98 Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 34
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Jake’s POV
One more, rather intense, sparing session later, and I was back in Suma and Luna’s room. I was being treated for the injuries I’d received during the third round. It was a simple place. Stone walls, those glowing braids sewn into the walls and hanging from the ceiling. The furniture, if you call it that, were just metal and wooden bars and poles placed around the room. In the corner of the room were two boxes, with drapes hanging over the only opening, and a cushion made of animal pelts to sleep in. Lying on the floor, Suma was standing at my side, casting healing spells.
“Jake, these injures are terrible! What happened?” Suma asked. Luna was out with Ciel and his son at the moment, getting seeds and other things from the local market.
“I ran out of mana in the third round of training, and got hit by easily thirty spells in less than ten seconds; from all sides.” I groaned, wincing in pain with every other breath.
“Well, after training with the Royal Mages, I suppose I cannot be surprised that you were injured. How did your other teammates fair?”
“No, it was just me versus them.” I said. Suma gasped snorted in shock.
“W-what?! Then it is no wonder you were injured so badly! Why did they not stop after the first round if they were not going to at least heal you?”
“I wasn’t hurt until the end of the third round. Actually, they ended it because I was injured. They had healers there, but I wanted you to heal me instead since you know-” I coughed hard, feeling my chest rattle and bringing my hand to cover my mouth as I did. Pulling it away, I saw some blood and a cold chill ran straight down my spine and into my stomach. “Oh, that’s probably not good.” Suma immediately fluttered over to my chest, and started another healing spell.
“Never before have I been so grateful for all those confusing lessons on your people’s anatomy.” She said in a frustrated huff.
“Just wish I could have made it through that final round. If I hadn’t run out of mana, my magnetic barrier spell would have stayed up.”
“Jake, it is nothing short of a miracle that you lasted one round, let alone two. And alone no less!”
“You know I won those first two rounds.” I said, smugly.
“You have a head injury, Jake.” Suma said, unfazed. “Once you have stopped spitting up blood, I will treat that too.”
“No, really!” I protested. “And I think I could have won the third one too.”
“If they had not pelted you relentlessly with attack spells?” Suma asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Exactly.” Reaching a hand into my pocket, I pulled out a small wooden plank, engraved with runic symbols and the Queen’s seal, and showed it to Suma. “Got this though.”
“Oh, a Rune-Maker’s permit?”
“Yup. Totally worth it.” I said, just before my toe suddenly popped back into place, sending a sharp and stabbing pain through my entire foot. “AHH! Son of a… ow!”
“That was the last of your injuries. Please, in the future, if you plan on breaking every bone in your body again… change your plans.”
“It wasn’t every bone.”
“But it was quite a lot of them.” She shook her head, probably annoyed. “What are your plans now that you have your license?”
“Nothing immediately, but when we get back to Zach-Ashem, it’ll help with my work with Sela-Car.”
“And what about for the rest of the day? Not another sparring session, I hope?”
“No, but I wish it were.” I said, suddenly feeling anxious. “It’s time.”
“For?”
“To learn how to heal myself.” Holding up my missing hand, she suddenly realized what I meant.
“Ah, do you want me to stay with you while you do?” Suma asked, trying to be gentle, but I’m sure she was still nervous after what happened in the desert. She was no more excited about this than I was.
“Yeah, that…” A deep guttural sigh escaped my lip, almost without me even noticing. “That’d be nice.”
Lying down on the floor, Suma by my head for moral support, it was time to delve into Deyja’s memories. Falling into darkness, I felt that haze wash over my whole body. Searching for information about how he healed himself, despite famously having Death-Mage, I opened the first memory I found. Slowly, everything came into focus as the memory took shape. The first thing I noticed was how high up I was; Deyja was tall. On my, or rather his, left, stood Ashem, who looked different from the last time I saw a memory with him in it. He looked younger, smaller. Both were in a field of rolling hills, surrounded by flowers; some of which came up to their knees. He was using magic to create illusions, and they both were watching them.
“Let us begin our lesson.” Ashem said, his voice rolling like thunder, even despite his youth.
“Thank you again, my friend. I have been wanting to learn to dual-cast for a century now, but have had little time while managing my sections of the project.”
“It is my pleasure, Deyja. I know how hard you have been working with the Neame, and am more than happy to help.” The illusions began to take shape, however it was not pictures, but words written in a language I did not know, floating in the air.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Queen Ompera’s POV
“Leave us.” I ordered my staff. “Svend and I must have a private conversation regarding important matters of state.” Immediately, they all left my private chamber, leaving myself and Svend alone; finally. We laid down in my roost, my head resting on his wing. It had been a long day, full of boring military and diplomatic talks and meetings. All I wanted now was to rest and enjoy my time with him alone.
“Important matters of state? I am certain they all know the truth by this point. Why bother keeping it secret from them further, Ompera?”
“Those gossips would tell our whole kingdom if I ever actually confirmed anything. Let them keep whispering rumors quietly.” I told him, closing my eyes and relaxing.
“Did anything interesting happen today?” Svend asked.
“The campaign to push out the Union from Island of Sangu has officially started. Forces left today, prepared to use Tactical-Scale magic. Evacuations will begin immediately. But I do not want to talk about that.” I told him.
“Okay, then what about the Viking familiar. You went and watched his training today, yes? What did you think?”
I stopped for a moment, unsure how to answer. “He terrifies me.”
“Someone is scary enough to frighten you? He must be quite the intimidating fellow then.” Svend joked.
“Never once in my life have I met someone with so much mana, and such complex and powerful spells. When I requested the General to test him under the guise of training the Royal Mages, I knew what to expect somewhat. I’ve used my Mana Gaze on him before, but I have never seen his complex spells in use until today.” Images of the training flashed into my mind.
“What did he look like?”
“The sheer amount of mana that the spell he used to protect himself with was staggering. It would burn through the entire mana reservoir of the Royal Mages in less than a minute. Yet he sustained it for almost ten minutes. Maybe longer. It looked like wave after wave of mana was just devoured by the air itself. Mana flickered in the air like lightning. Regarding complexity, the only thing I have ever seen even come close to it was Ritual-Magic, and Tactical-Scale magic. But none of that was what truly frightened me.”
“Then what?” Svend asked, listening intently. Clearly uneasy with my descriptions.
“He won.”
“His team won?”
“He fought alone, and still overwhelmed an entire attack squadron of Royal Mages, twice. He was only defeated because he ran out of mana; sacrificed to that monstrous spell. And even when he was finally hit by attack magic, he suffered minimal injuries; until all of the remaining mages seized the opportunity to attack him all at once. But still he refused healing, preferring to have his master heal him instead. Despite how severe his wounds were, he was able to contact his master and left without complaint after receiving his permit.”
“Is this true?” Svend asked, then after a moment of silence he had another question. “Permit?”
“He went through all of that just so that I would issue him a Rune-Crafter’s permit.”
“So, he is insane?”
“Perhaps… But still, to use spells so advanced that they outclassed rituals, and were more powerful defenses that most of the spells used by the dragons; if the records are accurate that is.” I said, suddenly very sure that asking him to go to the islands was the correct choice. “His Drake Squadron should arrive tomorrow. I look forward to seeing the results of his mission.”
submitted by ArcAngel98 to HFY [link] [comments]
Jake’s POV
One more, rather intense, sparing session later, and I was back in Suma and Luna’s room. I was being treated for the injuries I’d received during the third round. It was a simple place. Stone walls, those glowing braids sewn into the walls and hanging from the ceiling. The furniture, if you call it that, were just metal and wooden bars and poles placed around the room. In the corner of the room were two boxes, with drapes hanging over the only opening, and a cushion made of animal pelts to sleep in. Lying on the floor, Suma was standing at my side, casting healing spells.
“Jake, these injures are terrible! What happened?” Suma asked. Luna was out with Ciel and his son at the moment, getting seeds and other things from the local market.
“I ran out of mana in the third round of training, and got hit by easily thirty spells in less than ten seconds; from all sides.” I groaned, wincing in pain with every other breath.
“Well, after training with the Royal Mages, I suppose I cannot be surprised that you were injured. How did your other teammates fair?”
“No, it was just me versus them.” I said. Suma gasped snorted in shock.
“W-what?! Then it is no wonder you were injured so badly! Why did they not stop after the first round if they were not going to at least heal you?”
“I wasn’t hurt until the end of the third round. Actually, they ended it because I was injured. They had healers there, but I wanted you to heal me instead since you know-” I coughed hard, feeling my chest rattle and bringing my hand to cover my mouth as I did. Pulling it away, I saw some blood and a cold chill ran straight down my spine and into my stomach. “Oh, that’s probably not good.” Suma immediately fluttered over to my chest, and started another healing spell.
“Never before have I been so grateful for all those confusing lessons on your people’s anatomy.” She said in a frustrated huff.
“Just wish I could have made it through that final round. If I hadn’t run out of mana, my magnetic barrier spell would have stayed up.”
“Jake, it is nothing short of a miracle that you lasted one round, let alone two. And alone no less!”
“You know I won those first two rounds.” I said, smugly.
“You have a head injury, Jake.” Suma said, unfazed. “Once you have stopped spitting up blood, I will treat that too.”
“No, really!” I protested. “And I think I could have won the third one too.”
“If they had not pelted you relentlessly with attack spells?” Suma asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Exactly.” Reaching a hand into my pocket, I pulled out a small wooden plank, engraved with runic symbols and the Queen’s seal, and showed it to Suma. “Got this though.”
“Oh, a Rune-Maker’s permit?”
“Yup. Totally worth it.” I said, just before my toe suddenly popped back into place, sending a sharp and stabbing pain through my entire foot. “AHH! Son of a… ow!”
“That was the last of your injuries. Please, in the future, if you plan on breaking every bone in your body again… change your plans.”
“It wasn’t every bone.”
“But it was quite a lot of them.” She shook her head, probably annoyed. “What are your plans now that you have your license?”
“Nothing immediately, but when we get back to Zach-Ashem, it’ll help with my work with Sela-Car.”
“And what about for the rest of the day? Not another sparring session, I hope?”
“No, but I wish it were.” I said, suddenly feeling anxious. “It’s time.”
“For?”
“To learn how to heal myself.” Holding up my missing hand, she suddenly realized what I meant.
“Ah, do you want me to stay with you while you do?” Suma asked, trying to be gentle, but I’m sure she was still nervous after what happened in the desert. She was no more excited about this than I was.
“Yeah, that…” A deep guttural sigh escaped my lip, almost without me even noticing. “That’d be nice.”
Lying down on the floor, Suma by my head for moral support, it was time to delve into Deyja’s memories. Falling into darkness, I felt that haze wash over my whole body. Searching for information about how he healed himself, despite famously having Death-Mage, I opened the first memory I found. Slowly, everything came into focus as the memory took shape. The first thing I noticed was how high up I was; Deyja was tall. On my, or rather his, left, stood Ashem, who looked different from the last time I saw a memory with him in it. He looked younger, smaller. Both were in a field of rolling hills, surrounded by flowers; some of which came up to their knees. He was using magic to create illusions, and they both were watching them.
“Let us begin our lesson.” Ashem said, his voice rolling like thunder, even despite his youth.
“Thank you again, my friend. I have been wanting to learn to dual-cast for a century now, but have had little time while managing my sections of the project.”
“It is my pleasure, Deyja. I know how hard you have been working with the Neame, and am more than happy to help.” The illusions began to take shape, however it was not pictures, but words written in a language I did not know, floating in the air.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Queen Ompera’s POV
“Leave us.” I ordered my staff. “Svend and I must have a private conversation regarding important matters of state.” Immediately, they all left my private chamber, leaving myself and Svend alone; finally. We laid down in my roost, my head resting on his wing. It had been a long day, full of boring military and diplomatic talks and meetings. All I wanted now was to rest and enjoy my time with him alone.
“Important matters of state? I am certain they all know the truth by this point. Why bother keeping it secret from them further, Ompera?”
“Those gossips would tell our whole kingdom if I ever actually confirmed anything. Let them keep whispering rumors quietly.” I told him, closing my eyes and relaxing.
“Did anything interesting happen today?” Svend asked.
“The campaign to push out the Union from Island of Sangu has officially started. Forces left today, prepared to use Tactical-Scale magic. Evacuations will begin immediately. But I do not want to talk about that.” I told him.
“Okay, then what about the Viking familiar. You went and watched his training today, yes? What did you think?”
I stopped for a moment, unsure how to answer. “He terrifies me.”
“Someone is scary enough to frighten you? He must be quite the intimidating fellow then.” Svend joked.
“Never once in my life have I met someone with so much mana, and such complex and powerful spells. When I requested the General to test him under the guise of training the Royal Mages, I knew what to expect somewhat. I’ve used my Mana Gaze on him before, but I have never seen his complex spells in use until today.” Images of the training flashed into my mind.
“What did he look like?”
“The sheer amount of mana that the spell he used to protect himself with was staggering. It would burn through the entire mana reservoir of the Royal Mages in less than a minute. Yet he sustained it for almost ten minutes. Maybe longer. It looked like wave after wave of mana was just devoured by the air itself. Mana flickered in the air like lightning. Regarding complexity, the only thing I have ever seen even come close to it was Ritual-Magic, and Tactical-Scale magic. But none of that was what truly frightened me.”
“Then what?” Svend asked, listening intently. Clearly uneasy with my descriptions.
“He won.”
“His team won?”
“He fought alone, and still overwhelmed an entire attack squadron of Royal Mages, twice. He was only defeated because he ran out of mana; sacrificed to that monstrous spell. And even when he was finally hit by attack magic, he suffered minimal injuries; until all of the remaining mages seized the opportunity to attack him all at once. But still he refused healing, preferring to have his master heal him instead. Despite how severe his wounds were, he was able to contact his master and left without complaint after receiving his permit.”
“Is this true?” Svend asked, then after a moment of silence he had another question. “Permit?”
“He went through all of that just so that I would issue him a Rune-Crafter’s permit.”
“So, he is insane?”
“Perhaps… But still, to use spells so advanced that they outclassed rituals, and were more powerful defenses that most of the spells used by the dragons; if the records are accurate that is.” I said, suddenly very sure that asking him to go to the islands was the correct choice. “His Drake Squadron should arrive tomorrow. I look forward to seeing the results of his mission.”
2024.06.02 02:46 ArcAngel98 Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 34
Dracula: World of War --- The Violet Reaper ---- Humans Don’t Make Good Familiars Book 1 ---- The Lonely World --- Discord ---- YouTube --- My Patreon --- My Author's Page --- ArcAngel98 Wiki ---- The Next Best Hero ---- HDMGF Book 2 ---- Jess and Blinx: The Wizard ---- The Questing Parties ---- Zombies ---- Previous
Jake’s POV
One more, rather intense, sparing session later, and I was back in Suma and Luna’s room. I was being treated for the injuries I’d received during the third round. It was a simple place. Stone walls, those glowing braids sewn into the walls and hanging from the ceiling. The furniture, if you call it that, were just metal and wooden bars and poles placed around the room. In the corner of the room were two boxes, with drapes hanging over the only opening, and a cushion made of animal pelts to sleep in. Lying on the floor, Suma was standing at my side, casting healing spells.
“Jake, these injures are terrible! What happened?” Suma asked. Luna was out with Ciel and his son at the moment, getting seeds and other things from the local market.
“I ran out of mana in the third round of training, and got hit by easily thirty spells in less than ten seconds; from all sides.” I groaned, wincing in pain with every other breath.
“Well, after training with the Royal Mages, I suppose I cannot be surprised that you were injured. How did your other teammates fair?”
“No, it was just me versus them.” I said. Suma gasped snorted in shock.
“W-what?! Then it is no wonder you were injured so badly! Why did they not stop after the first round if they were not going to at least heal you?”
“I wasn’t hurt until the end of the third round. Actually, they ended it because I was injured. They had healers there, but I wanted you to heal me instead since you know-” I coughed hard, feeling my chest rattle and bringing my hand to cover my mouth as I did. Pulling it away, I saw some blood and a cold chill ran straight down my spine and into my stomach. “Oh, that’s probably not good.” Suma immediately fluttered over to my chest, and started another healing spell.
“Never before have I been so grateful for all those confusing lessons on your people’s anatomy.” She said in a frustrated huff.
“Just wish I could have made it through that final round. If I hadn’t run out of mana, my magnetic barrier spell would have stayed up.”
“Jake, it is nothing short of a miracle that you lasted one round, let alone two. And alone no less!”
“You know I won those first two rounds.” I said, smugly.
“You have a head injury, Jake.” Suma said, unfazed. “Once you have stopped spitting up blood, I will treat that too.”
“No, really!” I protested. “And I think I could have won the third one too.”
“If they had not pelted you relentlessly with attack spells?” Suma asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Exactly.” Reaching a hand into my pocket, I pulled out a small wooden plank, engraved with runic symbols and the Queen’s seal, and showed it to Suma. “Got this though.”
“Oh, a Rune-Maker’s permit?”
“Yup. Totally worth it.” I said, just before my toe suddenly popped back into place, sending a sharp and stabbing pain through my entire foot. “AHH! Son of a… ow!”
“That was the last of your injuries. Please, in the future, if you plan on breaking every bone in your body again… change your plans.”
“It wasn’t every bone.”
“But it was quite a lot of them.” She shook her head, probably annoyed. “What are your plans now that you have your license?”
“Nothing immediately, but when we get back to Zach-Ashem, it’ll help with my work with Sela-Car.”
“And what about for the rest of the day? Not another sparring session, I hope?”
“No, but I wish it were.” I said, suddenly feeling anxious. “It’s time.”
“For?”
“To learn how to heal myself.” Holding up my missing hand, she suddenly realized what I meant.
“Ah, do you want me to stay with you while you do?” Suma asked, trying to be gentle, but I’m sure she was still nervous after what happened in the desert. She was no more excited about this than I was.
“Yeah, that…” A deep guttural sigh escaped my lip, almost without me even noticing. “That’d be nice.”
Lying down on the floor, Suma by my head for moral support, it was time to delve into Deyja’s memories. Falling into darkness, I felt that haze wash over my whole body. Searching for information about how he healed himself, despite famously having Death-Mage, I opened the first memory I found. Slowly, everything came into focus as the memory took shape. The first thing I noticed was how high up I was; Deyja was tall. On my, or rather his, left, stood Ashem, who looked different from the last time I saw a memory with him in it. He looked younger, smaller. Both were in a field of rolling hills, surrounded by flowers; some of which came up to their knees. He was using magic to create illusions, and they both were watching them.
“Let us begin our lesson.” Ashem said, his voice rolling like thunder, even despite his youth.
“Thank you again, my friend. I have been wanting to learn to dual-cast for a century now, but have had little time while managing my sections of the project.”
“It is my pleasure, Deyja. I know how hard you have been working with the Neame, and am more than happy to help.” The illusions began to take shape, however it was not pictures, but words written in a language I did not know, floating in the air.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Queen Ompera’s POV
“Leave us.” I ordered my staff. “Svend and I must have a private conversation regarding important matters of state.” Immediately, they all left my private chamber, leaving myself and Svend alone; finally. We laid down in my roost, my head resting on his wing. It had been a long day, full of boring military and diplomatic talks and meetings. All I wanted now was to rest and enjoy my time with him alone.
“Important matters of state? I am certain they all know the truth by this point. Why bother keeping it secret from them further, Ompera?”
“Those gossips would tell our whole kingdom if I ever actually confirmed anything. Let them keep whispering rumors quietly.” I told him, closing my eyes and relaxing.
“Did anything interesting happen today?” Svend asked.
“The campaign to push out the Union from Island of Sangu has officially started. Forces left today, prepared to use Tactical-Scale magic. Evacuations will begin immediately. But I do not want to talk about that.” I told him.
“Okay, then what about the Viking familiar. You went and watched his training today, yes? What did you think?”
I stopped for a moment, unsure how to answer. “He terrifies me.”
“Someone is scary enough to frighten you? He must be quite the intimidating fellow then.” Svend joked.
“Never once in my life have I met someone with so much mana, and such complex and powerful spells. When I requested the General to test him under the guise of training the Royal Mages, I knew what to expect somewhat. I’ve used my Mana Gaze on him before, but I have never seen his complex spells in use until today.” Images of the training flashed into my mind.
“What did he look like?”
“The sheer amount of mana that the spell he used to protect himself with was staggering. It would burn through the entire mana reservoir of the Royal Mages in less than a minute. Yet he sustained it for almost ten minutes. Maybe longer. It looked like wave after wave of mana was just devoured by the air itself. Mana flickered in the air like lightning. Regarding complexity, the only thing I have ever seen even come close to it was Ritual-Magic, and Tactical-Scale magic. But none of that was what truly frightened me.”
“Then what?” Svend asked, listening intently. Clearly uneasy with my descriptions.
“He won.”
“His team won?”
“He fought alone, and still overwhelmed an entire attack squadron of Royal Mages, twice. He was only defeated because he ran out of mana; sacrificed to that monstrous spell. And even when he was finally hit by attack magic, the injuries he suffered minimal injuries; until all of the remaining mages seized the opportunity to attack him all at once. But still he refused healing, preferring to have his master heal him instead. Despite how severe his wounds were, he was able to contact his master and left without complaint after receiving his permit.”
“Is this true?” Svend asked, then after a moment of silence he had another question. “Permit?”
“He went through all of that just so that I would issue him a Rune-Crafter’s permit.”
“So, he is insane?”
“Perhaps… But still, to use spells so advanced that they outclassed rituals, and were more powerful defenses that most of the spells used by the dragons; if the records are accurate that is.” I said, suddenly very sure that asking him to go to the islands was the correct choice. “His Drake Squadron should arrive tomorrow. I look forward to seeing the results of his mission.”
submitted by ArcAngel98 to SyFyandFantasy [link] [comments]
Jake’s POV
One more, rather intense, sparing session later, and I was back in Suma and Luna’s room. I was being treated for the injuries I’d received during the third round. It was a simple place. Stone walls, those glowing braids sewn into the walls and hanging from the ceiling. The furniture, if you call it that, were just metal and wooden bars and poles placed around the room. In the corner of the room were two boxes, with drapes hanging over the only opening, and a cushion made of animal pelts to sleep in. Lying on the floor, Suma was standing at my side, casting healing spells.
“Jake, these injures are terrible! What happened?” Suma asked. Luna was out with Ciel and his son at the moment, getting seeds and other things from the local market.
“I ran out of mana in the third round of training, and got hit by easily thirty spells in less than ten seconds; from all sides.” I groaned, wincing in pain with every other breath.
“Well, after training with the Royal Mages, I suppose I cannot be surprised that you were injured. How did your other teammates fair?”
“No, it was just me versus them.” I said. Suma gasped snorted in shock.
“W-what?! Then it is no wonder you were injured so badly! Why did they not stop after the first round if they were not going to at least heal you?”
“I wasn’t hurt until the end of the third round. Actually, they ended it because I was injured. They had healers there, but I wanted you to heal me instead since you know-” I coughed hard, feeling my chest rattle and bringing my hand to cover my mouth as I did. Pulling it away, I saw some blood and a cold chill ran straight down my spine and into my stomach. “Oh, that’s probably not good.” Suma immediately fluttered over to my chest, and started another healing spell.
“Never before have I been so grateful for all those confusing lessons on your people’s anatomy.” She said in a frustrated huff.
“Just wish I could have made it through that final round. If I hadn’t run out of mana, my magnetic barrier spell would have stayed up.”
“Jake, it is nothing short of a miracle that you lasted one round, let alone two. And alone no less!”
“You know I won those first two rounds.” I said, smugly.
“You have a head injury, Jake.” Suma said, unfazed. “Once you have stopped spitting up blood, I will treat that too.”
“No, really!” I protested. “And I think I could have won the third one too.”
“If they had not pelted you relentlessly with attack spells?” Suma asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Exactly.” Reaching a hand into my pocket, I pulled out a small wooden plank, engraved with runic symbols and the Queen’s seal, and showed it to Suma. “Got this though.”
“Oh, a Rune-Maker’s permit?”
“Yup. Totally worth it.” I said, just before my toe suddenly popped back into place, sending a sharp and stabbing pain through my entire foot. “AHH! Son of a… ow!”
“That was the last of your injuries. Please, in the future, if you plan on breaking every bone in your body again… change your plans.”
“It wasn’t every bone.”
“But it was quite a lot of them.” She shook her head, probably annoyed. “What are your plans now that you have your license?”
“Nothing immediately, but when we get back to Zach-Ashem, it’ll help with my work with Sela-Car.”
“And what about for the rest of the day? Not another sparring session, I hope?”
“No, but I wish it were.” I said, suddenly feeling anxious. “It’s time.”
“For?”
“To learn how to heal myself.” Holding up my missing hand, she suddenly realized what I meant.
“Ah, do you want me to stay with you while you do?” Suma asked, trying to be gentle, but I’m sure she was still nervous after what happened in the desert. She was no more excited about this than I was.
“Yeah, that…” A deep guttural sigh escaped my lip, almost without me even noticing. “That’d be nice.”
Lying down on the floor, Suma by my head for moral support, it was time to delve into Deyja’s memories. Falling into darkness, I felt that haze wash over my whole body. Searching for information about how he healed himself, despite famously having Death-Mage, I opened the first memory I found. Slowly, everything came into focus as the memory took shape. The first thing I noticed was how high up I was; Deyja was tall. On my, or rather his, left, stood Ashem, who looked different from the last time I saw a memory with him in it. He looked younger, smaller. Both were in a field of rolling hills, surrounded by flowers; some of which came up to their knees. He was using magic to create illusions, and they both were watching them.
“Let us begin our lesson.” Ashem said, his voice rolling like thunder, even despite his youth.
“Thank you again, my friend. I have been wanting to learn to dual-cast for a century now, but have had little time while managing my sections of the project.”
“It is my pleasure, Deyja. I know how hard you have been working with the Neame, and am more than happy to help.” The illusions began to take shape, however it was not pictures, but words written in a language I did not know, floating in the air.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Queen Ompera’s POV
“Leave us.” I ordered my staff. “Svend and I must have a private conversation regarding important matters of state.” Immediately, they all left my private chamber, leaving myself and Svend alone; finally. We laid down in my roost, my head resting on his wing. It had been a long day, full of boring military and diplomatic talks and meetings. All I wanted now was to rest and enjoy my time with him alone.
“Important matters of state? I am certain they all know the truth by this point. Why bother keeping it secret from them further, Ompera?”
“Those gossips would tell our whole kingdom if I ever actually confirmed anything. Let them keep whispering rumors quietly.” I told him, closing my eyes and relaxing.
“Did anything interesting happen today?” Svend asked.
“The campaign to push out the Union from Island of Sangu has officially started. Forces left today, prepared to use Tactical-Scale magic. Evacuations will begin immediately. But I do not want to talk about that.” I told him.
“Okay, then what about the Viking familiar. You went and watched his training today, yes? What did you think?”
I stopped for a moment, unsure how to answer. “He terrifies me.”
“Someone is scary enough to frighten you? He must be quite the intimidating fellow then.” Svend joked.
“Never once in my life have I met someone with so much mana, and such complex and powerful spells. When I requested the General to test him under the guise of training the Royal Mages, I knew what to expect somewhat. I’ve used my Mana Gaze on him before, but I have never seen his complex spells in use until today.” Images of the training flashed into my mind.
“What did he look like?”
“The sheer amount of mana that the spell he used to protect himself with was staggering. It would burn through the entire mana reservoir of the Royal Mages in less than a minute. Yet he sustained it for almost ten minutes. Maybe longer. It looked like wave after wave of mana was just devoured by the air itself. Mana flickered in the air like lightning. Regarding complexity, the only thing I have ever seen even come close to it was Ritual-Magic, and Tactical-Scale magic. But none of that was what truly frightened me.”
“Then what?” Svend asked, listening intently. Clearly uneasy with my descriptions.
“He won.”
“His team won?”
“He fought alone, and still overwhelmed an entire attack squadron of Royal Mages, twice. He was only defeated because he ran out of mana; sacrificed to that monstrous spell. And even when he was finally hit by attack magic, the injuries he suffered minimal injuries; until all of the remaining mages seized the opportunity to attack him all at once. But still he refused healing, preferring to have his master heal him instead. Despite how severe his wounds were, he was able to contact his master and left without complaint after receiving his permit.”
“Is this true?” Svend asked, then after a moment of silence he had another question. “Permit?”
“He went through all of that just so that I would issue him a Rune-Crafter’s permit.”
“So, he is insane?”
“Perhaps… But still, to use spells so advanced that they outclassed rituals, and were more powerful defenses that most of the spells used by the dragons; if the records are accurate that is.” I said, suddenly very sure that asking him to go to the islands was the correct choice. “His Drake Squadron should arrive tomorrow. I look forward to seeing the results of his mission.”
2024.06.02 01:56 CapGeneral2469 Writing a Inuit character
I'm white and I'm currently writing a fantasy book set in billion of years in our future but in a medieval setting. I have a character who was born in today Greenland and I'm worried that I'm doing something wrong so let me explain a little bit. In my world there's a lot of different species and the one who are important rn are the witches. The witches are people who can control plants and speak to certain animals and when they come of age at nineteen they get tattooed. I haven't exactly figured what kind of tattoo because I can't draw but in my mind it change for every country and you can usually guess where someone is from just by looking at their tattoos. The handy thing is the shame tattoos (I still haven't got a name for it) ,when a witch turned 19 and felt like they betrayed their country,their home or some other things they get the shame tattoos.The shame tattoos are built on betrayal,shame and guilt and getting it as a witch is a sign that you're very aware of your wrong doing and even if the other witchs strongly respect you for that you will not be accepted into witches community's which is a big part of their culture and you will have to live with other species or by yourself.Unlike the other tattoos, the shame tattoos are universal,they all look( approximately )the same. ANYWAYS the thing is that my grenlandic character (that I named Nuka) is one of these shame witches and since I didn't realize until recently that actual traditional tattoos are very important in Inuit culture so the whole thing could be perceived as offensive and if that's the case I'm extremely sorry. I originally wanted to play it off by him saying to the mc that "where I come from everyone got tattoos not only the witches" but when I read the passage I was like "something is wrong about this." English is not my first language and this is the first time that I'm using Reddit,I'm open to any suggestions and sorry again if I offended anyone it wasn't at all my intentions
submitted by CapGeneral2469 to Indigenous [link] [comments]
2024.06.02 01:55 specu12 (SELLING) cheap movies - $2 and up
All codes are US, HD/blu-ray unless marked otherwise, all split if applicable
full codes 4k/UHD vudu or MA redeems, with DMI when applicable: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) $5
sony movie buff, choose 1 of the following, MA redeem, $4 each: Stir Crazy (1980) (HD), Stripes (1981) (UHD), Hancock (Theatrical) (2008) (UHD), Guess Who (2005) (HD), The Blob (1988) (HD), Bye Bye Birdie (1963) (HD), Born Yesterday (1950) (HD), Blue Thunder (1983) (HD), My Girl (1991) (UHD), Untraceable (2008) (HD)
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vudu SD not MA $1 each Cabin In the Woods (2012) Expendables 2 (2012)
I take paypal f&f and venmo
also check out my For Trade Post on uvtrade
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2024.06.02 00:57 FusRoDaahh With so much talk about Powell’s right now, I wanted to make a post about some awesome small used bookstores in/near Portland that you could spend a day exploring tomorrow instead if you have decided to not go to the warehouse sale 📚
Obviously Powells’ is great and gets lots of attention but Portland has some seriously great used bookstores and they deserve love and appreciation too. Here are a few of my favs:
-Backstory Books and Yarn. A cute well-organized little store. Lots of both older and newer fiction, history, a pretty great fantasy and YA section with lots of popular titles, and an area for lovely yarn and knitting/crochet supplies too.
-Melville Books. “Portland’s Smallest Bookstore.” A tiny room off the side of a house. Well curated. Lots of classics, poetry, philosophy, nonfiction. Any English majobook nerd type person will enjoy stopping by here.
-Parallel Worlds. A fantasy + scifi bookstore right next to Melville Books. Very unique and well-curated. Both used and new books. Some great older special editions of popular authors. They also do bookclubs and events. Any fantasy fan should check this place out.
-Wallace Books. Probably in my top five favorite bookstores ever. A whole house-turned-bookstore stacked literally floor to ceiling in every room with used and new books of every genre. Incredible fiction and poetry selection (one of the best I’ve seen), fantasy, history, YA, childrens’, everything. A local author shelf that usually has lots of Le Guin too. You can spend hours here.
Edit, need to include these too:
-Bearly Read Books. This one’s for my fellow historical romance girlies. Many many shelves of HR, plus lots of fantasy too. Doesn’t look like much from the exterior, but fun to explore inside. And there’s a store cat!
-The Literate Collector. Down near Woodburn. It seems I’m one of only a few people who know about this place as I go on weekends and have maybe seen five other people total combined. A bookstore inside a building next to someone’s house, a bit dusty and dirty in places, but wonderful for historical romance, old fiction, and older but well-known fantasy. And this one has a cat too! 🐱
And this is just a few, there’s so many more! If you are deciding to not go to the warehouse sale tomorrow but still want to spend a fun day looking at books, check these places out!
submitted by FusRoDaahh to Portland [link] [comments]
-Backstory Books and Yarn. A cute well-organized little store. Lots of both older and newer fiction, history, a pretty great fantasy and YA section with lots of popular titles, and an area for lovely yarn and knitting/crochet supplies too.
-Melville Books. “Portland’s Smallest Bookstore.” A tiny room off the side of a house. Well curated. Lots of classics, poetry, philosophy, nonfiction. Any English majobook nerd type person will enjoy stopping by here.
-Parallel Worlds. A fantasy + scifi bookstore right next to Melville Books. Very unique and well-curated. Both used and new books. Some great older special editions of popular authors. They also do bookclubs and events. Any fantasy fan should check this place out.
-Wallace Books. Probably in my top five favorite bookstores ever. A whole house-turned-bookstore stacked literally floor to ceiling in every room with used and new books of every genre. Incredible fiction and poetry selection (one of the best I’ve seen), fantasy, history, YA, childrens’, everything. A local author shelf that usually has lots of Le Guin too. You can spend hours here.
Edit, need to include these too:
-Bearly Read Books. This one’s for my fellow historical romance girlies. Many many shelves of HR, plus lots of fantasy too. Doesn’t look like much from the exterior, but fun to explore inside. And there’s a store cat!
-The Literate Collector. Down near Woodburn. It seems I’m one of only a few people who know about this place as I go on weekends and have maybe seen five other people total combined. A bookstore inside a building next to someone’s house, a bit dusty and dirty in places, but wonderful for historical romance, old fiction, and older but well-known fantasy. And this one has a cat too! 🐱
And this is just a few, there’s so many more! If you are deciding to not go to the warehouse sale tomorrow but still want to spend a fun day looking at books, check these places out!
2024.06.02 00:28 Emeka599 My own DR script for Permashifting.
Here’s the script for desired reality that I made:
DR Script: Name: Chase Jay Friskerman (male). Nickname: CJ. Age (DOB): 76 (01/05/1948). Nationality: American. Ethnicity: African-American. Personality: Cheerful, intelligent, funny, and happy-go-lucky. Hair: Small blackish gray afro hair. Eyes: Brown. Body Type: Dark skin with muscular body and wearing glasses. Height: 200cm (6ft 7in). Weight: 158lbs. Language: Any kind of language. Wealth: Fame, wealth, and power. Hobbies: Drawing, writing, cooking, and studying. Hometown: Houston, TX (born and raised in 1948). Elementary School: River Oaks (1953-1959). Middle School: Bob Lanier (1959-1962). High School: Lamar (1962-1966). Colleges/Universities: University of Houston and received a Master of Fine Arts (1966-1970). Lived: Los Angeles, CA (since 1976). Superpowers: Flight, super strength, teleportation, and healing.
Family names: The Friskermans Parents: Keith (08/01/1914) and Terri (07/30/1916) Siblings: Bruce (06/14/1944), Aaron (04/11/1946), Drake (03/31/1950), Sarah (05/25/1952), and Jerry (02/27/1954). Personalities: Cheerful, fun, perfect, caring, loving, and very sweet people. Superpowers: My siblings have the same powers as me. Hometown: Inwood Dr, Houston, TX 77019 (living in a wealthy city on River Oaks). Lived: Los Angeles, CA. (me and my siblings since 1976)
Married: Zelda Ann Starknight (04/06/1953) on March 6, 1980. Zelda’s physical appearance: She is an American woman with an English descent. Born and raised in West University Place before moving to Los Angeles in 1975, at the age of 22, a wealthy Caucasian woman with long dark blue hair and blue eyes, light skin, slim body, wearing glasses, and her height is 175cm (5’9). She is also an intelligent woman who graduated from Rice University in 1975. Children: Tucker (03/25/1985), an African-American son with short black hair and his height is 188 (6’2) and Cassie (08/13/1988), a Caucasian daughter with long aqua blue hair and her height is 161cm (5’3). Pets: Selena (a Russian Blue female cat) and Tyler (a Beagle male dog) Lived: Beverly Hills, CA (for my wife and kids while living in a luxury house).
Things that I want: - Shift into other decades, including the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and even the 1990s. - My brain or my mind to become more smarteintelligent. - Exercising everyday by eating healthy food, doing weight loss, having muscles, and my height will be 6’7. - Me and my family would have our own movie or TV special to be set or filmed in Houston from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s. - Meet Zelda (age 12) at her fancy house in West University Place at the age of 17, then began engaging with her at the age of 29 after moving to Los Angeles in 1976, and before getting married to her in 1980, at the age of 32. - Moving to Hollywood on July 31, 1976, along with my siblings and focusing our careers on movies and TV shows. - Became an actor for live-action and voice actor for Western animation, Japanese anime, and video games. - Get a job at Disney (film or television) or other companies, such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Warner Bros., Fox, Sony, and Universal as an artist or a creator. - Teleport to Houston, alongside my wife and siblings to visited with my parents for the holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. - Teleport to NYC, where I can appear in late-night shows such as Saturday Night Live and The Late Night Show since the late 1980s as a special guest. - Teleport to Dallas, where I can recorded shows and movies for Funimation and OkraTron 5000 since the early 2000s as a recurring guest. - Would shown the street view from the 1900s to the 2000s on Google Maps by using high quality instead of low quality. - Shown the old websites from the 1990s to the 2000s on Wayback Machine and completely using Adobe Flash Player instead of shutting down in December 2020. - Most of the color people, including black and white, were became freedom, instead of being racism. - Prevent terrible things, such as the September 11 attacks, WGA Strike, SAG-AFTRA, and the COVID-19 pandemic. - Meet the comic book creators (Bob Kane, Stan Lee, Dwayne McDuffie, Todd McFarlane) and manga artists (Akira Toriyama, Eiichiro Oda, Masashi Kishimoto, Kazuki Takahashi). - Fan conventions such as San Diego Comic-Con and New York Comic Con as an actor, creator or voice actor. - Become a writer or voice director for cartoons, anime, and video games. - All of the people and animals who were born from the 1900s to the 2020s to become immortal instead of being killed or having diagnosed. - All of the countries from around the world to become rich and wealthy. - Erase my memories where I was first born in 1998.
What are you guys think? Can any of you help me how to permashifting? I really want to stuck in my DR forever.
submitted by Emeka599 to realityshifting [link] [comments]
DR Script: Name: Chase Jay Friskerman (male). Nickname: CJ. Age (DOB): 76 (01/05/1948). Nationality: American. Ethnicity: African-American. Personality: Cheerful, intelligent, funny, and happy-go-lucky. Hair: Small blackish gray afro hair. Eyes: Brown. Body Type: Dark skin with muscular body and wearing glasses. Height: 200cm (6ft 7in). Weight: 158lbs. Language: Any kind of language. Wealth: Fame, wealth, and power. Hobbies: Drawing, writing, cooking, and studying. Hometown: Houston, TX (born and raised in 1948). Elementary School: River Oaks (1953-1959). Middle School: Bob Lanier (1959-1962). High School: Lamar (1962-1966). Colleges/Universities: University of Houston and received a Master of Fine Arts (1966-1970). Lived: Los Angeles, CA (since 1976). Superpowers: Flight, super strength, teleportation, and healing.
Family names: The Friskermans Parents: Keith (08/01/1914) and Terri (07/30/1916) Siblings: Bruce (06/14/1944), Aaron (04/11/1946), Drake (03/31/1950), Sarah (05/25/1952), and Jerry (02/27/1954). Personalities: Cheerful, fun, perfect, caring, loving, and very sweet people. Superpowers: My siblings have the same powers as me. Hometown: Inwood Dr, Houston, TX 77019 (living in a wealthy city on River Oaks). Lived: Los Angeles, CA. (me and my siblings since 1976)
Married: Zelda Ann Starknight (04/06/1953) on March 6, 1980. Zelda’s physical appearance: She is an American woman with an English descent. Born and raised in West University Place before moving to Los Angeles in 1975, at the age of 22, a wealthy Caucasian woman with long dark blue hair and blue eyes, light skin, slim body, wearing glasses, and her height is 175cm (5’9). She is also an intelligent woman who graduated from Rice University in 1975. Children: Tucker (03/25/1985), an African-American son with short black hair and his height is 188 (6’2) and Cassie (08/13/1988), a Caucasian daughter with long aqua blue hair and her height is 161cm (5’3). Pets: Selena (a Russian Blue female cat) and Tyler (a Beagle male dog) Lived: Beverly Hills, CA (for my wife and kids while living in a luxury house).
Things that I want: - Shift into other decades, including the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and even the 1990s. - My brain or my mind to become more smarteintelligent. - Exercising everyday by eating healthy food, doing weight loss, having muscles, and my height will be 6’7. - Me and my family would have our own movie or TV special to be set or filmed in Houston from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s. - Meet Zelda (age 12) at her fancy house in West University Place at the age of 17, then began engaging with her at the age of 29 after moving to Los Angeles in 1976, and before getting married to her in 1980, at the age of 32. - Moving to Hollywood on July 31, 1976, along with my siblings and focusing our careers on movies and TV shows. - Became an actor for live-action and voice actor for Western animation, Japanese anime, and video games. - Get a job at Disney (film or television) or other companies, such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Warner Bros., Fox, Sony, and Universal as an artist or a creator. - Teleport to Houston, alongside my wife and siblings to visited with my parents for the holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. - Teleport to NYC, where I can appear in late-night shows such as Saturday Night Live and The Late Night Show since the late 1980s as a special guest. - Teleport to Dallas, where I can recorded shows and movies for Funimation and OkraTron 5000 since the early 2000s as a recurring guest. - Would shown the street view from the 1900s to the 2000s on Google Maps by using high quality instead of low quality. - Shown the old websites from the 1990s to the 2000s on Wayback Machine and completely using Adobe Flash Player instead of shutting down in December 2020. - Most of the color people, including black and white, were became freedom, instead of being racism. - Prevent terrible things, such as the September 11 attacks, WGA Strike, SAG-AFTRA, and the COVID-19 pandemic. - Meet the comic book creators (Bob Kane, Stan Lee, Dwayne McDuffie, Todd McFarlane) and manga artists (Akira Toriyama, Eiichiro Oda, Masashi Kishimoto, Kazuki Takahashi). - Fan conventions such as San Diego Comic-Con and New York Comic Con as an actor, creator or voice actor. - Become a writer or voice director for cartoons, anime, and video games. - All of the people and animals who were born from the 1900s to the 2020s to become immortal instead of being killed or having diagnosed. - All of the countries from around the world to become rich and wealthy. - Erase my memories where I was first born in 1998.
What are you guys think? Can any of you help me how to permashifting? I really want to stuck in my DR forever.
2024.06.02 00:21 Top_Lime1820 South African Democracy Must Prevail Again
In this post, I want to outline what the next week or two could entail - positive and negative - for South Africa. I also want to give a bit of context on some of what will happen and how it should be interpreted.
South Africa is a young, vibrant, healthy democracy.
Our institutions were designed brilliantly (by copying prior work, thanks for that guys), that if you observe it carefully, you can see the democracy working itself out logically:
Lastly, despite what all the naysayers have been saying for 30 years, and with the notable exception of the failure to arrest Omar al-Bashir on ICC charges, the South Africa state as a whole has never just blatantly ignored procedures and laws. Slow-walking, yes. Loopholes - like hell yes. But we disinvited Putin to South Africa because we couldn't find a way out of it. We've arrested a former President and the Speaker had to resign to face corruption charges. We're not Zimbabwe, despite what people think.
Instead, what is actually happening is we have been paying the price for our democracy.
I have spent the last year exploring the last 30 years of our democratic history. And one thing I have consistently found is that many of South Africa's problems could've been avoided if key actors abrogated to themselves rights and powers beyond what the Constitution provides:
We are compared unfavourably against countries which, very often, did not actually develop in a liberal democratic way. They took the authoritarian shortcut / benevolent dictator and liberals just like the fact that it worked out 3 or 4 times in countries like Singapore and South Korea.
This might be a bit whiny/self-pitying, but I have started to feel as if we are being judged for actually trying to write the exam and failing sometimes whilst being compared to people who never really even registered to write it. Or, in the case of Western democracies, who also failed miserably in the past but whose failures are forgotten or ignored. And in the case of the United States, I must admit it is extremely discouraging to see the double standard from liberal voices that emerges from almost perfectly parallel situations. Trump is a "test" of "the American idea" which "though bent, proved itself to be secure" and "something we can recover from" because "democracy is an experiment" and "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance" but "we shall overcome". But South Africa is a basket case any time something goes wrong. People remember the horrific unrest of the 2021 unrest but leave out the part where we arrested a former head of state which is what a precipitated it.
Lastly, it is somewhat discouraging when people are unable to notice what doesn't happen. Nobody notices that the money printers aren't starting up and the opposition isn't in jail and most ethnic groups haven't formed ethnic parties and Putin didn't come in the end and we're still in the ICC and ICJ system and white South Africans still have not been ethnically cleansed even though the internet seems to think it happened 10 years ago and on and on... There's a list of doomer takes that began the minute Mandela was released and most of them haven't come true - but nobody seems to even keep track that people have been wrong for 30 years. After 30 years of being wrong, maybe they'll be right this time. Sure. But you don't get to be smug and say "I knew it" when you were wrong for 30 years.
While many of my fellow South Africans practise the bizarre South African exceptionalism of believing only we struggle with corruption, incompetence and bigotry, I have lately come to understand that this is what democracy looks like. At least at first. Just wait until we start to get the returns on the messiness that comes with freedom, diversity and a commitment to a modest humanistic project.
So, all this is to say something very simply. If shit doesn't hit the fan and a new President is elected democratically, please notice that we actually did it. Please don't shift the goalposts yet again.
But if things do go south, then you need to back us. I have been frightened of the prospect that there is a challenge to the democratic transfer of power, and the democratic world steps back just because they don't like the incumbents because of this or that disagreement. But the ANC, for all its failures, remains a party which in its original incarnation was not only 'Western', but, in particular, it is a direct descendent of the great democratic tradition of the African American population.
American Heritage
This history has been lost to common memory, but it is waiting for you in the history books. African Americans from Booker T. Washington to Martin Luther King Jr. were a real and influential force within the genesis of the early ANC. It's not that the ANC founders simply read their works. No. The "Man Who Founded the ANC" graduated from Columbia and befriended Alaine Locke, the gay father of the Harlem Renaissance. His co-founders were all enthralled by the gigantic influence of Booker T. Washington, and attempted to replicate his Tuskegee Institute in KZN. The man who first reformed the ANC from a period of stagnation studied at Tuskegee and Northwestern, and, not only that, but married an American woman named Madie Hall. And Luthuli and King were mutual admirers. Mandela inspired Obama into politics, Mandela gave him his blessing when he became a senator, and just a few short years later Obama eulogized Mandela in the way that only Obama could.
The corruption of the ANC is the corruption of one of the proudest and most beautiful heritages not just of Black liberals, but of anybody who believes in liberal democracy. It should not be dismissed. It should hurt deeply. But that heritage can outlive the ANC in the South African Constitution. This same Constitution has finally come under direct and explicit assault.
Global Heritage
This is your heritage. South Africa is like a garden of so many of the great ideas of global liberal democracy. It was the fertile soil in which the seed of Gandhi's Satyagraha first germinated. Through the liberal Helen Suzman and the radical Bram Fischer, it is the inheritor of the proud Jewish tradition of advocating for human rights. Scottish, German and American missionaries educated the broader black intellectual class beyond the ANC. English-speaking settlers, for all their sins, introduced abolition and one of the world's first explicitly non-racial Constitution here in the 1850s. It was a flawed Afrikaner hero and genius who founded the League of Nations, and launched the project of building an international system to regulate global affairs. And all these united together under the leadership of Mandela and Tutu, infused deeply with native African philosophical ideas of Ubuntu, to bring to end a terrible conflict with minimal bloodshed, and through truth and reconciliation.
I've slipped into full on South African exceptionalism now. But I don't care because either I'll be proven right in two weeks or I'll be proven wrong, and I want to enjoy these ideals while I still can. Because in the world that would come after, I'll have much bigger things to worry about.
I don't mean to alarm anybody, but even if the next two weeks go by without a hitch, that will only be a testament to an enormous amount of behind the scenes work to prevent catastrophe. Democracy is not free. None of us can be so foolish as to miss the moment that South Africa is in. Transitions like this are never unchallenged, not with all that's at stake for those who lose once the full might of the Constitutional order finally kicks in.
The idea that "Nothing ever happens" has been thoroughly defeated at the ballot box. It's over. There's no going back. The results of the election mean that there is no political coalition for 'managed decline' any more. It's up or out.
I want to end this with a link to one of the most beautiful speeches ever delivered by a South African orator. If you only have a few minutes, then you can watched the abridged version set to patriotic music. But consider the historical moment that we're in. Maybe it's worth it taking 45 minutes to play the full version of the speech in the background. The speech is I Am An African by Thabo Mbeki, delivered at the signing of the Constitution in 1996.
submitted by Top_Lime1820 to neoliberal [link] [comments]
Next Steps
How exactly will the new President be elected?- The Independent Electoral Commission is set to release the official results tomorrow
- This kicks off a Constitutionally mandated timer - the Chief Justice must announce when the first sitting of Parliament must happen; but no later than two weeks after tomorrow
- At the first sitting of Parliament, all MPs can nominate someone from amongst their peers to be President (really should be called a Prime Minister)
- They vote on a secret ballot, whoever gets the fewest votes drops out and they vote again until someone gets a majority of votes in the National Assembly (50% + 1)
- The Chief Justice presides over this process and then announces the results
- Possibly, but there will probably be some trouble
- The ANC is making the right noises about democracy and respect for the IEC - which is positive
- Many smaller opposition parties, especially in the Western Cape, are accusing the IEC of vote rigging in favour of the DA/ANC
- EFF have not said anything to my knowledge
- There are genuine issues with how the election was conducted. Even the DA is taking the IEC to court. But our local analyst here says that it was more of a screw up, and certainly not rigging or anything like that
- MK - which is the party which won the most from this process - have announced that they want a total re-do of the elections and have said that the IEC must not release results by tomorrow or 'there could be trouble'
South Africa is a young, vibrant, healthy democracy.
Our institutions were designed brilliantly (by copying prior work, thanks for that guys), that if you observe it carefully, you can see the democracy working itself out logically:
- The IEC don't really have a choice when to announce the results - they've committed to June 2nd publicly.
- Because we have a free media and the results were declared live with statistical projections, we can know that the results actually were highly unlikely to be tampered with.
- Once that happens, a different institution takes over - the Chief Justice. There's an uncertainty element - they have up to two weeks but they could announce the Presidential election for Thursday. At the latest, it'll happen on June 16th, Youth Day - the anniversary of the day that Hector Pieterson was killed in Soweto for standing up to Apartheid.
- Because power is spread out geographically, there is not a single point of attack to shut down proceedings. The IEC's operational center is in Johannesburg North. The Chief Justice is in Johannesburg South. Parliament, where the Election will take place is in Cape Town. And the seat of the executive government is in Pretoria.
- The work is broken down into specific roles and distributed to different actors. Independent courts can and will punish anybody who drops the potato. A former President has been arrested before. The precedent is set. Nobody is safe, especially now that nobody has a majority.
Lastly, despite what all the naysayers have been saying for 30 years, and with the notable exception of the failure to arrest Omar al-Bashir on ICC charges, the South Africa state as a whole has never just blatantly ignored procedures and laws. Slow-walking, yes. Loopholes - like hell yes. But we disinvited Putin to South Africa because we couldn't find a way out of it. We've arrested a former President and the Speaker had to resign to face corruption charges. We're not Zimbabwe, despite what people think.
Instead, what is actually happening is we have been paying the price for our democracy.
I have spent the last year exploring the last 30 years of our democratic history. And one thing I have consistently found is that many of South Africa's problems could've been avoided if key actors abrogated to themselves rights and powers beyond what the Constitution provides:
- Mandela did not seek a second term because he "dared not linger". He more or less withdrew from politics to prevent "Big Man" syndrome from taking root.
- President Mbeki fired Jacob Zuma when he was merely alleged to have committed corruption - putting Zuma's back against the wall.
- Judge Nicholson threw out Zuma's initial charges because he sincerely believed there was interference, rather than 'look the other way' because Zuma was 'obviously' guilty (innocent until proven guilty)
- The head of the Scorpions (anti-corruption unit started by Mbeki) refused to allow President Mbeki to delay the arrest of the allegedly corrupt head of the police because he sincerely felt it would be a betrayal of his duty whilst Mbeki had a credible cause for concern of a war within the law enforcement community - it was a genuine debate, not some banana republic hatch job
- Once Zuma was democratically elected President of the ANC, and the ANC democratically called back Mbeki, he resigned, rather than declare an emergency and do the whole 3rd term benevolent dictator thing
- People like the DA leadership and Thuli Madonsela (the Public Protector Zuma himself appointed) spent a decade fighting to get Zuma to face the music on corruption - and in the end the Ramaphosa faction pushed him out
- When Zuma defied the State Capture investigations, he was arrested even for something as 'mere' as contempt of court - and the police station carried out their duties as they would for anyone else. It cost us lives.
- Zuma did manage to dodge time, but he only did it through abuse of genuine provisions in the system for medical parole and through a loophole that the ANC found to prevent further violence
- Zuma has avoided his original corruption charges for years through multiple appeals - an abuse but a legitimate exercise of his democratic rights; the man has not been proven guilty in a court of law and we have to get him the right way
- Zuma was allowed to start his party in line with his democratic rights, when in other countries Ramaphosa would've just thrown him in jail - but the IEC stood up to Zuma and fought all the way to the Constitutional Court to prevent him from sitting as an MP (which would've allowed him to potentially be nominated for the Presidency) because of his criminal record - the arrest worked out even if he only did a month or two.
- This year, Zuma destroyed the ANC at the ballot box. Not the way many of us wanted the fall of the ANC to happen, but it is the will of millions of Zuma's supporters who are citizens of South Africa. It must be respected even if it inconvenient to acknowledge. And it will be respected - just not any more than the democratic rights of anyone else.
This Is What Democracy Looks Like
I've come to feel that many people who call themselves liberals don't really understand this.We are compared unfavourably against countries which, very often, did not actually develop in a liberal democratic way. They took the authoritarian shortcut / benevolent dictator and liberals just like the fact that it worked out 3 or 4 times in countries like Singapore and South Korea.
This might be a bit whiny/self-pitying, but I have started to feel as if we are being judged for actually trying to write the exam and failing sometimes whilst being compared to people who never really even registered to write it. Or, in the case of Western democracies, who also failed miserably in the past but whose failures are forgotten or ignored. And in the case of the United States, I must admit it is extremely discouraging to see the double standard from liberal voices that emerges from almost perfectly parallel situations. Trump is a "test" of "the American idea" which "though bent, proved itself to be secure" and "something we can recover from" because "democracy is an experiment" and "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance" but "we shall overcome". But South Africa is a basket case any time something goes wrong. People remember the horrific unrest of the 2021 unrest but leave out the part where we arrested a former head of state which is what a precipitated it.
Lastly, it is somewhat discouraging when people are unable to notice what doesn't happen. Nobody notices that the money printers aren't starting up and the opposition isn't in jail and most ethnic groups haven't formed ethnic parties and Putin didn't come in the end and we're still in the ICC and ICJ system and white South Africans still have not been ethnically cleansed even though the internet seems to think it happened 10 years ago and on and on... There's a list of doomer takes that began the minute Mandela was released and most of them haven't come true - but nobody seems to even keep track that people have been wrong for 30 years. After 30 years of being wrong, maybe they'll be right this time. Sure. But you don't get to be smug and say "I knew it" when you were wrong for 30 years.
While many of my fellow South Africans practise the bizarre South African exceptionalism of believing only we struggle with corruption, incompetence and bigotry, I have lately come to understand that this is what democracy looks like. At least at first. Just wait until we start to get the returns on the messiness that comes with freedom, diversity and a commitment to a modest humanistic project.
Why South Africa Should Matter to You
As I outlined in my piece, The South Africa Fallacy, it is deeply misguided to watch South Africa try and fail to execute the principles you advocate for the whole world and somehow feel as if our failure doesn't implicate you or cast real aspersions on your ideas. We are a diverse, open, tolerant, deeply liberal society and our aspirations to that liberal democracy is the source of our problems. MK's political theory - above and beyond supporting Jacob Zuma - is precisely that our Constitutional Democracy doesn't work.So, all this is to say something very simply. If shit doesn't hit the fan and a new President is elected democratically, please notice that we actually did it. Please don't shift the goalposts yet again.
But if things do go south, then you need to back us. I have been frightened of the prospect that there is a challenge to the democratic transfer of power, and the democratic world steps back just because they don't like the incumbents because of this or that disagreement. But the ANC, for all its failures, remains a party which in its original incarnation was not only 'Western', but, in particular, it is a direct descendent of the great democratic tradition of the African American population.
American Heritage
This history has been lost to common memory, but it is waiting for you in the history books. African Americans from Booker T. Washington to Martin Luther King Jr. were a real and influential force within the genesis of the early ANC. It's not that the ANC founders simply read their works. No. The "Man Who Founded the ANC" graduated from Columbia and befriended Alaine Locke, the gay father of the Harlem Renaissance. His co-founders were all enthralled by the gigantic influence of Booker T. Washington, and attempted to replicate his Tuskegee Institute in KZN. The man who first reformed the ANC from a period of stagnation studied at Tuskegee and Northwestern, and, not only that, but married an American woman named Madie Hall. And Luthuli and King were mutual admirers. Mandela inspired Obama into politics, Mandela gave him his blessing when he became a senator, and just a few short years later Obama eulogized Mandela in the way that only Obama could.
The corruption of the ANC is the corruption of one of the proudest and most beautiful heritages not just of Black liberals, but of anybody who believes in liberal democracy. It should not be dismissed. It should hurt deeply. But that heritage can outlive the ANC in the South African Constitution. This same Constitution has finally come under direct and explicit assault.
Global Heritage
This is your heritage. South Africa is like a garden of so many of the great ideas of global liberal democracy. It was the fertile soil in which the seed of Gandhi's Satyagraha first germinated. Through the liberal Helen Suzman and the radical Bram Fischer, it is the inheritor of the proud Jewish tradition of advocating for human rights. Scottish, German and American missionaries educated the broader black intellectual class beyond the ANC. English-speaking settlers, for all their sins, introduced abolition and one of the world's first explicitly non-racial Constitution here in the 1850s. It was a flawed Afrikaner hero and genius who founded the League of Nations, and launched the project of building an international system to regulate global affairs. And all these united together under the leadership of Mandela and Tutu, infused deeply with native African philosophical ideas of Ubuntu, to bring to end a terrible conflict with minimal bloodshed, and through truth and reconciliation.
I've slipped into full on South African exceptionalism now. But I don't care because either I'll be proven right in two weeks or I'll be proven wrong, and I want to enjoy these ideals while I still can. Because in the world that would come after, I'll have much bigger things to worry about.
I don't mean to alarm anybody, but even if the next two weeks go by without a hitch, that will only be a testament to an enormous amount of behind the scenes work to prevent catastrophe. Democracy is not free. None of us can be so foolish as to miss the moment that South Africa is in. Transitions like this are never unchallenged, not with all that's at stake for those who lose once the full might of the Constitutional order finally kicks in.
The idea that "Nothing ever happens" has been thoroughly defeated at the ballot box. It's over. There's no going back. The results of the election mean that there is no political coalition for 'managed decline' any more. It's up or out.
I want to end this with a link to one of the most beautiful speeches ever delivered by a South African orator. If you only have a few minutes, then you can watched the abridged version set to patriotic music. But consider the historical moment that we're in. Maybe it's worth it taking 45 minutes to play the full version of the speech in the background. The speech is I Am An African by Thabo Mbeki, delivered at the signing of the Constitution in 1996.
2024.06.01 23:59 JustAnswerAQuestion Battle Fairy Yukikaze Source-Spoilers Episode 1 Discussion
Battle Fairy Yukikaze Source-Spoilers Episode 1 Discussion
"Come back alive. That's an order."
FFR-31MD Super Sylph Yukikaze
Index Operation 2 →
MAL Anilist ANN Tubi (dubbed) Tubi (subbed)
Spoiler tags are best entered while on old reddit, or on new reddit in the "markdown mode" editor. (instructions here) If you are unfamiliar with reddit spoiler tag syntax, you should try a test post, because Bot-chan will immediately delete most comments with a broken spoiler tag.
submitted by JustAnswerAQuestion to anime [link] [comments]
"Come back alive. That's an order."
FFR-31MD Super Sylph Yukikaze
Index Operation 2 →
MAL Anilist ANN Tubi (dubbed) Tubi (subbed)
Spoiler Policy
Source reader comments will be allowed in this rewatch. Events and details from the original short story collections that are relevant to the current episode can be described without spoiler tags. Unrelated short stories or material from books 3+ will still need to be tagged.Spoiler tags are best entered while on old reddit, or on new reddit in the "markdown mode" editor. (instructions here) If you are unfamiliar with reddit spoiler tag syntax, you should try a test post, because Bot-chan will immediately delete most comments with a broken spoiler tag.
People, Places, Things
Special Air Force
- 2nd. Lt. Rei Fukai: Pilot of Yukikaze. Promoted to 1st. Lt.
- Maj. James Booker (Bukhar): Commander of SAF 5th Squadron, nicknamed "Boomerang". Rei's superior.
- 2nd Lt. Norman Hughes: EWO of Yukikaze. KIA after ejecting.
- 2nd. Lt. Richard Burgadish: EWO replacement for Hughes
- Brig. Gen. Lydia Cooley: Deputy Commander, Special Air Force
- FFR-31MD Super Sylph: Complete redesign of the Sylph, crew of 2, equipped with advanced, configurable sensor package and AI computer, to record engagements. Recognizable by twin vertical stabilizers and inward-canted wingtips. High-speed D variant.
- TARPS: Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System
- Yukikaze: Super Sylph flown by Lt. Fukai. Named after a WWII destroyer that survived the entire war.
- Special Air Force: Reconnaissance Command of the Fairy Air Force that operates independently.
Fairy Air Force
- Fairy, Brownie, Sylvan, Troll, Valkia, and Siren: The five primary air bases on Fairy.
- FFR-31 Sylph: Combat model appearing in the opening scene with Ghoul Squadron, of the 666th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Identifiable with with trapezoidal wings, forward canards, canted twin vertical stabilizers, and tail stabilators.
- FA-1 FAND (Faun): A combat fighter designed for high maneuverability. Recognizable with forward-swept wings and canards. Hard-countered by high-speed nuclear anti-air missiles.
- C-31: Refueling and cargo plane.
- FEP-1: turbo-prop observation plane. Has an AWACS variant.
- TAB: Tactical Frontline Airbase, numbered.
- Col. Ansel Rombart: Head of FAF Intelligence
- Maj. Gen. Heinrich Linneberg: Head of FAF Systems Corps (engineering and R&D)
Other
- Lynn Jackson: Historian obsessed with the invasion from Fairy, author of The Invasion, a non-fiction book about the invasion.
- Fairy: The world at the other end of the hyperspace passageway.
- Bloody Road: a gas stream escaping from one of Fairy's twin suns.
- Yazawa, Marnie: human-shaped JAM at a fake TAB-14.
Discussion Prompts
Each day I will post discussion prompts for the following day, for those who like to prepare their comments in advance. Feel free to answer some or none of them in Saturday's post.- Why "fairy"?
- Comments on the use of the BGM music?
- Given the casualty rate we saw at the beginning, do humans belong in this war?
- What sort of pilot can coldly observe the slaughter on the battlefield?
- What do you think of the relationship between Jack and Rei
- Why can't Jack and Rei understand each other?
- What is Yukikaze thinking? What is Yukikaze up to?
- What are the JAM?
- What do you think of this series? It certainly is atypical.
- I know this isn't what you were expecting. Nobody could expect this. Will you be sticking it out? Or is this a hard drop?
Tomorrow's Discussion Today
- [Operation 2]Jack really seems to want to get his people out of harm's way. Yet he is adamantly opposed to an unmanned Yukikaze. Did he change his mind?
- [Operation 2]Rie was intentionally and covertly connected to Yukikaze during the trial. What was the reason for it? Was Rei controlling Yukikaze's attack? Or was it the other way around? Rei says it was like a dream.
- [Operation 2]What did you make of Rei's dream(s) of Yukikaze
- [Operation 2]Lynn Jackson is back. What do you think of her segments?
- [Operation 2]What is the greatest threat to the FAF right now?
Trivia
- A sylphid is an air elemental envisioned by the 16th century occultist and physician
Hoenheim of LightParacelsus. - Some people think these are fairies. But this is a fairy.
- After 33 years of combat, out-of-sight and out-of-mind, the FAF has become a dumping ground for Earth's undesirables. Personality disorders are common.
- Booker knows calligraphy, and painted Yukikaze's name on the nose.
- The official language on Fairy is an English pidgin.
- Everyone sent to Fairy receives a commission, "but someone's gotta be the ensign" — Brannon Braga so the rank is meaningless.
2024.06.01 23:13 SanderSo47 Directors at the Box Office: Richard Donner
 | https://preview.redd.it/vy035zlxz04d1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=d0e44d2c15efeb0e4509665368da69df4b50c058 submitted by SanderSo47 to boxoffice [link] [comments] Here's a new edition of "Directors at the Box Office", which seeks to explore the directors' trajectory at the box office and analyze their hits and bombs. I already talked about a few, and as I promised, it's Richard Donner's turn. Initially, Donner wanted to develop a career as an actor. He gained a bit part in a television program directed by Martin Ritt, who encouraged Donner to become a director instead, and he hired Donner as his assistant. Through his connections in Desilu, he started directing commercials. In the 60s, he transitioned into television, directing episodes for shows like The Twilight Zone, The Fugitive, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Get Smart, and Gilligan's Island. Afterwards, he had his chance to direct films. From a box office perspective, how reliable was he to deliver a box office hit? That's the point of this post. To analyze his career. It should be noted that as he started his career in the 1960s, the domestic grosses here will be adjusted by inflation. The table with his highest grossing films, however, will be left in its unadjusted form, as the worldwide grosses are more difficult to adjust.X-15 (1961)"Actually filmed in space!"His directorial debut. It stars David McLean, Charles Bronson, James Gregory and Mary Tyler Moore, and presents a fictionalized account of the X-15 research rocket aircraft program, the test pilots who flew the aircraft, and the associated NASA community that supported the program. There are no box office numbers available, but it is said that it had a short and poor theatrical run. Reviews were mixed, and Moore said she's not proud of the film. Salt and Pepper (1965)"Join the club."His second film. It stars Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Michael Bates, Ilona Rodgers and John Le Mesurier, and follows two nightclub owners finding themselves in trouble over a woman's death. It received mixed reviews, and it earned $1.75 million in rentals.
Lola (1970)"It may be love... but it's definitely exhausting!"His third film. It stars Charles Bronson and Susan George, and follows a 38-year-old writer of pornographic novels who meets and falls in love with a sixteen-year-old school girl whilst living in London. There are no box office figures, but you can be sure of something: it was panned by everyone. The Omen (1976)"If something frightening happens to you today, think about it."His fourth film. It stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spencer Stephens, Billie Whitelaw, Patrick Troughton, Martin Benson, and Leo McKern. The film's plot follows Damien Thorn, a young child replaced at birth by his father, unbeknownst to his wife, after their biological child dies shortly after birth. As a series of mysterious events and violent deaths occur around the family and Damien enters childhood, they come to learn he is in fact the prophesied Antichrist. Producer Harvey Bernhard came up with the idea for a film about the Antichrist after talking with one of his friends. WB was on board, but they later pulled out, so 20th Century Fox agreed to distribute the film. Donner favored an ambiguous reading of the script under which it would be left for the audience to decide whether Damien was the Antichrist or whether the series of violent deaths in the film were all just a string of unfortunate accidents. Seltzer rejected the ambiguity favored by Donner and pressed for an interpretation of his script that left no doubt for the audience that Damien Thorn was the Antichrist and that all of the deaths in the film were caused by the malevolent power of Satan, the interpretation that Bernhard chose to go with. There were some... dark stories over the making of the film. Some aren't confirmed, but others are verified. So take the following with huge grains of salt. In September 1975, Peck was flying to London, and during the flight, lightning struck the plane. Shortly after, executive producer Mace Neufeld's plane was also struck by lightning while en route to Los Angeles. That's twice in a span of only a few weeks. Then, writer David Seltzer's plane was also struck by lightning. And, while filming in Rome, lightning narrowly missed striking Bernhard. Lightning may never strike twice, but four times, and to different people whose only six degrees of separation at the time was The Omen? Oh, it gets even creepier. A scene was postponed, which meant Peck was not needed on the set, so a private jet that the crew was going to charter to bring Peck in was not necessary. The next day, it was reported that the plane they had intended to book hit a flock of birds and crashed, killing everyone on board. Neufeld, probably already on edge after his plane was struck by lightning, was planning to eat at a restaurant nearby, but it was hit by an IRA bombing. The day after filming, the hotel that Donner had stayed at was also bombed. John Richardson, the set designer, created a particularly macabre scene where a character dies from decapitation resulting from an automobile accident. While in Holland in August 1976, Richardson and his assistant, Liz Moore, were struck by a freakishly unfortunate fate. They fell victims to a head-on-collision, where Moore was cut in half, in similar fashion to the one Richardson had designed for the film. It happened in a Friday the 13th, near a road sign which says: “Ommen, 66.6 km.” Does that send you shivers down your spine? Is all of this true? I... I'm not sure. I don't fully believe it. But I also don't fully not believe it. Whatever the case, it's truly one of the most insane behind-the-scenes stuff. After a slate of weak films, Donner finally got his big break here. The film earned $78 million worldwide, becoming a huge box office success. While it initially received mixed reviews, its reputation grew with time and it has been named as one of the best horror films of the 1970s. It would spawn a franchise, but Donner didn't return for the director's chair. Why? He was preparing for something super.
Superman (1978)"You'll believe a man can fly."His fifth film. Based on the DC Comics character, it stars Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Jeff East, Margot Kidder, Glenn Ford, Phyllis Thaxter, Jackie Cooper, Trevor Howard, Marc McClure, Terence Stamp, Valerie Perrine, Ned Beatty, Jack O'Halloran, Maria Schell, and Sarah Douglas. It depicts the origin of Superman, including his infancy as Kal-El of Krypton, son of Jor-El, and his youthful years in the rural town of Smallville. Disguised as reporter Clark Kent, he adopts a mild-mannered disposition in Metropolis and develops a romance with Lois Lane while battling the villainous Lex Luthor. Ilya Salkind had first conceived the idea for a Superman film in late 1973, and he bought the rights with his father Alexander the following year. DC wanted a list of actors that were to be considered for Superman, and approved the producer's choices of Muhammad Ali, Al Pacino, James Caan, Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood and Dustin Hoffman. The filmmakers felt it was best to film Superman and Superman II back-to-back, and to make a negative pickup deal with Warner Bros. To show how serious he was, Alexander hired Mario Puzo (The Godfather) and paid him $600,000 to write the script. Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, William Friedkin, Richard Lester, Peter Yates, John Guillermin, Ronald Neame and Sam Peckinpah were in negotiations to direct. Ilya wanted to hire Steven Spielberg to direct, but Alexander was skeptical, feeling it was best to "wait until [Spielberg's] big fish opens." His film, Jaws, became the highest grossing film ever, and the Salkinds offered him the job, but by that point Spielberg chose to make Close Encounters of the Third Kind instead. Guy Hamilton was hired, but left before filming due to legal issues. After seeing The Omen, the producers offered the job to Donner. He was planning to direct the Omen sequel, but decided to take Superman instead. Donner was dissatisfied with the campy script and brought in Tom Mankiewicz to perform a rewrite to start from scratch. According to Mankiewicz, "not a word from the Puzo script was used." Before Donner signed, the film already cast Marlon Brando as Jor-El in 1975. And his terms were insane; top billing, a salary of $3.7 million and 11.75% of the box office gross profits (totaling $19 million), and his scenes had to be filmed in 12 days. He also refused to memorize his dialogue, so cue cards were compiled across the set. Hackman was cast as Lex Luthor days later, getting a $2 million salary. The filmmakers made it a priority to shoot all of Brando's and Hackman's footage "because they would be committed to other films immediately." The first plan was for a famous star to play Superman, although Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, Sylvester Stallone and Paul Newman all declined. When Donner signed, he decided to get an unknown actor. Reeve was suggested, but Donner and the producers felt he was too young and skinny. When other actors weren't convincing, they decided to give a screen test to Reeve. They wanted him to wear a muscle suit, but Reeve instead decided to take a strict physical exercise regime headed by David Prowse. After gaining enough weight, he was cast. Compared to Brando and Hackman, Reeve was paid just $250,000 for Superman and its sequel. Filming began in March 1977, and it lasted 19 months because they were filming two films. The budget was $55 million ($303 million adjusted), which made it the most expensive film by that point. Warner Bros. only planned to distribute the film in North America, but was so impressed by the Krypton sequence, that they decided to distribute it worldwide. It was supposed to last eight months, but there were conflicts on set. Donner had tensions with the Salkinds and producer Pierre Spengler concerning the escalating production budget and the shooting schedule. Richard Lester, who worked with the Salkinds on The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, was then brought in as a temporary co-producer to mediate the relationship between Donner and the Salkinds, who by now were refusing to talk to each other. On his relationship with Spengler, Donner remarked, "At one time if I'd seen him, I would have killed him." Due to this, they decided to stop filming back-to-back with the sequel, and Donner was assigned to finish the first film. By that point, 75% was already shot by Donner. The film opened with $7.4 million in its first weekend, despite playing at just 508 theaters, breaking a record for Warner Bros. As it expanded, it earned $10.3 million in its third weekend, which was the biggest weekend in history. Through the December 22-28 week, it earned a colossal $18.5 million, a figure that no film achieved in just 7 days. It eventually closed its domestic run with $134 million. And WB was right in believing in its worldwide prospects, as the film earned a huge $300 million, becoming their highest grossing film. The film also received critical acclaim, and it has been named as one of the best films of the 1970s. It won a Special Oscar for its Visual Effects. The film was deemed a cultural landmark for comic books, and it has been proclaimed by many as perhaps the most influential comic book film ever. For the world finally believed that, indeed, a man could fly. With this, Superman was finally an icon on the big screen. While Donner filmed 75% of Superman II, he was controversially fired before resuming his duties. There would be more Superman films in subsequent years (including one next year), but none have captured the cultural zeitgeist that this one achieved.
Inside Moves (1980)"It'll make you feel good, and that ain't bad."His sixth film. Based on the novel by Todd Walton, it stars John Savage, David Morse, Diana Scarwid, and Amy Wright. It follows a man who became crippled after a failed suicide attempt, and he turns to drink, favoring a local dive bar frequented by the handicapped. There, he befriends the bartender, an ex-basketball player saving up for corrective surgery in hopes of returning to the court, and meets a kind young lady who aids him with his physical and mental rehabilitation. Donner states that he agreed to direct the film only to take his mind off being fired and replaced from Superman II. He referred to the film as "the smallest film I could do that was just very near and dear to me, at that point, and I felt this is going to take my mind totally off that." It received mixed reviews, and made just $1.2 million at the box office.
The Toy (1982)"When Jackie Gleason told his son he could have any present he wanted, he picked the most outrageous gift of all... Richard Pryor."His seventh film. The film stars Richard Pryor, Jackie Gleason and Scott Schwartz, and follows a janitor at a department store. The owner's son is told that he may have anything in the toy department. He chooses the janitor, who the owner pays to spend a week with the boy. The film was panned by critics, and was named as one of the worst films of the year. But with $47 million at the box office, it was still a success.
The Goonies (1985)"Join the adventure."His eighth film. The film stars Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton, Ke Huy Quan, John Matuszak, Anne Ramsey, Robert Davi, Joe Pantoliano and Mary Ellen Trainor. In the film, a group of kids who live in the "Goon Docks" neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon, attempt to save their homes from foreclosure and, in doing so, they discover an old treasure map that takes them on an adventure to unearth the long-lost fortune of One-Eyed Willy, a legendary 17th-century pirate. During the adventure, they are pursued by a family of criminals who want the treasure for themselves. Donner noted both the difficulties and pleasures of working with so many child actors. He praised them for their energy and excitement, but also said that they were also unruly when brought together. While Donner is credited as the director, some have referred to producer Steven Spielberg as co-director. The film received a great response, and after a slate of weak films, Donner bounced back with a much needed box office hit. The film was very influential, and it helped launch the careers of many of its stars.
Ladyhawke (1985)"A magical adventure."His ninth film. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer. The story is about a young thief who becomes unwillingly involved with a warrior and his lady who are hunted by the Bishop of Aquila. As he learns about the couple's past and secret, he chooses to help them overcome the Bishop's forces, and to lift an infernal curse. It received mixed reviews, and it failed to recoup its $20 million budget.
Lethal Weapon (1987)"Two cops. Glover carries a weapon. Gibson is one. He's the only L.A. cop registed as a..."His tenth film. It stars Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, Darlene Love, and Mitchell Ryan. The film follows a pair of mismatched LAPD detectives — Martin Riggs, a former Green Beret who has become suicidal following the death of his wife, and veteran officer and family man Roger Murtaugh — who work together as partners. Recent UCLA graduate Shane Black wrote the screenplay in mid-1985. Black stated that his intention was to do an "urban western" inspired by Dirty Harry where a violent character "reviled for what he did, what he is capable of, the things he believed in" is eventually recruited for being the one that could solve the problem. His first draft was quite different from the final film; it was darker in tone and it included massive action scale sequences. The ending of the script contained a chase scene with helicopters and a trailer truck full of cocaine exploding over Hollywood Hills with cocaine snowing over the Hollywood sign. The script was rejected by some studios, but Warner Bros. took an interest. Producer Joel Silver was brought in and worked with Black to further develop the script. Donner also brought in writer Jeffrey Boam to do some uncredited re-writes on Black's script after he found parts of it to be too dark. Donner got Gibson involved, while someone else suggested Danny Glover. After a successful screen test, the film was greenlit. The film was a huge hit, earning $120 million worldwide and continued launching the careers of Gibson and Glover, even if they already had a few recognizable titles by that point. It also received very positive reviews, and was another prime example of the buddy cop genre. Another Donner W.
Scrooged (1988)"The spirits will move you in odd and hysterical ways."His 11th film. Based on the novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, it stars Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, John Glover, Bobcat Goldthwait, Carol Kane, Robert Mitchum, Michael J. Pollard, and Alfre Woodard. The film is a modern retelling that follows Frank Cross, a cynical and selfish television executive who is visited by a succession of ghosts on Christmas Eve intent on helping him regain his Christmas spirit. After Ghostbusters, Murray only took a brief appearance in Little Shop of Horrors and chose to take a break. When he did feel a desire to return to acting, he said the "scripts were just not that good", and he returned to the this project as he found the idea of making a funny Scrooge appealing. Murray was paid $6 million for his role. He helped the writers, Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue, in rewriting. Murray struggled with a scene where he reveals his redemption live on TV. Wanting a central acting moment, however, Murray gave an emotional and intense performance, deviating from his marked positions and improvising his speech. Glazer and O'Donoghue thought that the actor was suffering a mental breakdown. After he was finished, the crew applauded Murray, but O'Donoghue remarked "What was that? The Jim Jones hour?" Donner turned and punched O'Donoghue in the arm, leaving him bruised for a week. Despite the commitment, however, there was drama behind the scenes. Murray said that while he was enjoying the experience of the script and having fun as "the meanest person in the world", he found the production "sloppy" and has expressed unhappiness with the final cut. For his part, O'Donoghue later said that Donner did not understand comedy, omitting the script's subtler elements for louder and faster moments. He estimated that only 40% of his and Glazer's original script made it into the final film and the surviving content was "twisted". Murray was also not content with Donner, "Scrooged could have been a really, really great movie. The script was so good... He kept telling me to do things louder, louder, louder. I think he was deaf." Donner, meanwhile, has a much more positive memory of Murray, calling him "superbly creative but occasionally difficult - as difficult as any actor." The film received polarizing reactions, particularly for the tone. But as it was Murray's follow-up to Ghostbusters, it made $100 million worldwide, making it a box office success. In subsequent years, it has become a Christmas classic.
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)"The magic is back."His 12th film. The second installment in the Lethal Weapon franchise, it stars Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Joss Ackland, Derrick O'Connor and Patsy Kensit. In the film, Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh protect an irritating federal witness, Leo Getz, while taking on a gang of South African drug dealers hiding behind diplomatic immunity. After the first film's success, Joel Silver asked Shane Black to write a sequel. Although he was struggling with personal issues, Black still managed to write the first draft along with his friend, novelist Warren Murphy. Although many people thought that their script was brilliant, it was rejected by Silver, Donner and the studio for being too dark and bloody, and because in the ending of the script Riggs dies, while they wanted to keep him alive in case of further sequels. They also wanted the second film to focus more on comedy, while Black's draft focused more on courage and heroics, like Riggs willing to die to protect Murtaugh and his family, due to his love for them. When his script was rejected, Black felt that he had failed the producers. Black refused to re-write the script and quit from the project after working for six months on it. Black later said how the problem with the second film was that they did too much comedy, and how he dislikes the third and fourth films because of the way Riggs's character was changed. Donner got Jeffrey Boam back to rewrite, and one of the biggest changes was expanding Leo Getz's character. The film received very great reviews, and saw a big increase from the original, earning $227 million worldwide.
Radio Flyer (1992)"Powered by imagination."His 13th film. The film stars Lorraine Bracco, John Heard, Elijah Wood, Joseph Mazzello, Adam Baldwin, and Ben Johnson and is narrated by Tom Hanks. Two young boys try to transform their toy into an airplane after their stepfather turns abusive. They wish to escape the physical abuse and fly away to safety. The film received negative reviews, and it barely got 10% of its budget. Luckily for Donner, he had another film for that year.
Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)"The magic is back again."His 14th film. The third installment in the Lethal Weapon franchise, it stars Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, and Stuart Wilson. In the film, Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh pursue Jack Travis, a former LAPD lieutenant turned ruthless arms dealer, during the six days prior to Murtaugh's retirement. Riggs and Murtaugh are joined by Leo Getz as well as internal affairs Sergeant Lorna Cole. Jeffrey Boam's first two drafts of the script were different from the final film. The character of Lorna for example was not a woman in original drafts, but the original character still had the same personality and was just as lethal and crazy as Riggs, making him his match. Riggs also had an affair with Roger's daughter Rianne, and a few parts in the final film where Roger suspects that Riggs and Rianne are interested in each other are only parts left from the original drafts. Donner demanded some big changes on the script which included changing the original character of Lorna into a woman and turning her into Riggs's girlfriend. He also re-worked the script to be less story-oriented and not focus on the main villains but instead on the relationship between Riggs and Murtaugh. He also toned down action scenes from the script and brought back Leo Getz into the story. All of his scenes were written in afterwards. The film received mixed reviews and was considered as weaker than the previous films. But it still earned $320 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing film in the franchise and Donner's highest grossing film (although Superman still has that title adjusted for inflation).
Maverick (1994)"In their hands, a deck of cards was the only thing more dangerous than a gun."His 15th film. Based on the 1957–1962 television series, it stars Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner (who starred in the original series). The film follows Bret Maverick, a card player and con artist who collects money in order to enter a high-stakes poker game. He is joined in his adventure by Annabelle Bransford, another con artist, and Marshal Zane Cooper, a lawman. The film received positive reviews, and was another great success at the box office, earning $183 million worldwide.
Assassins (1995)"In the shadows of life, in the business of death, one man found a reason to live..."His 16th film. The film stars Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Banderas, and Julianne Moore. Professional hit-man Robert Rath wants to fulfill a few more contracts before retiring but unscrupulous ambitious newcomer hit-man Miguel Bain keeps killing Rath's targets. The film was panned by critics, and was a box office flop.
Conspiracy Theory (1997)"Jerry Fletcher sees conspiracies everywhere... one has turned out to be true. Now his enemies want him dead. And she's the only one he can trust."His 17th film. It stars Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts and Patrick Stewart, and centers on an eccentric taxi driver who believes many world events are triggered by government conspiracies, and the Justice Department attorney who becomes involved in his life. The film received mixed reviews, and despite earning $137 million worldwide, it wasn't a box office success due to its high budget.
Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)"The gang's all here."His 18th film. The fourth and final installment in the Lethal Weapon franchise, it stars Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Chris Rock, and Jet Li. It follows Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh as they investigate a Chinese immigrant smuggling ring. A crime boss named Benny Chan leads them to the Chinatown. Wanting another film in the franchise, Warner Bros. and Joel Silver tried buying a new spec script titled Simon Says in hopes of rewriting it into a script for Lethal Weapon 4. Written by Jonathan Hensleigh, the story was about a police detective and a shop owner forced to find and stop bombs planted all over a city as part of a mad bomber's revenge plot against the detective. 20th Century Fox then bought the script, and decided to use it as the basis for a new Die Hard film, Die Hard with a Vengeance. Donner was committed to another film, but Gibson was not interested. The film had a very difficult pre-production, as the script was still being re-written and rejected. Silver ultimately brought in TV writer Channing Gibson to work on the script, after he was impressed by Gibson's rewrite of a spec script titled Sandblast. Gibson took the gig thinking it would be a more relaxed writing job than anything he did for TV. However, much like the previous two sequels, the script kept getting changed and rewritten over and over again. Gibson would end up doing more work and revisions on it than on all of his TV work put together. Production even started with only half of the script. Something you might have noticed, is that the budget was far larger than the previous films. While the previous two films cost $30-$35 million, Lethal Weapon 4 had a budget of... $150 million ($288 million adjusted). Which means that at that point, it was the most expensive R-rated film ever and the third most expensive film, just behind Titanic and Waterworld. Why? Because the delays kept coming... but Warner Bros. was desperate in greenlighting the film. Realizing they had no big tentpole releases scheduled for summer 1998, Warner Bros. finally greenlit the film in late 1997. So they opened all their wallets and started shooting in January 1998, despite having one third of the film not written yet, including the ending. Due to issues during filming, including the script changes, production ended around mid May, less than two months before its scheduled July release. The ending was not written until it was finally time to film it. Editors had to work very quickly to have the film ready, which is why the trailers feature some deleted and alternate scenes which are not in the film. So the film was greenlit, filmed and released in theaters in the span of just 7 months. The film received mixed reviews. And if Warner Bros. was confident that spending $150 million to rush a film was worth it, they were in for a rude awakening. The film earned just $285 million worldwide, which meant that the film was a box office flop. It was the last film in the franchise. Although a gang in a pub in Philadelphia kept the spirit alive by making three sequels, one of which had Danny DeVito as the bad guy.
Timeline (2003)"You're history."His 19th film. Based on the novel by Michael Crichton, it stars Paul Walker, Frances O'Connor, Gerard Butler, Billy Connolly, David Thewlis, and Anna Friel. It follows a team of present-day archaeology and history students who are sent back in time to medieval France to rescue their professor from the middle of a battle. The film was a critical and commercial failure.
16 Blocks (2006)"1 Witness... 118 Minutes."His 20th and final film. It stars Bruce Willis, Mos Def, and David Morse. The film unfolds in the real time narration method, and follows Jack, who is assigned the task of escorting Eddie, a witness, from police custody to the courthouse. However, when they are attacked on the way, Jack learns that the entire NYPD wants Eddie dead. The film received mixed reviews, and it marked his fifth bomb in a row. It was his final film before his death in 2021.
MOVIES (FROM HIGHEST GROSSING TO LEAST GROSSING)
The VerdictDespite the inconsistency of his filmography, it's hard to deny Donner as a very influential figure of cinema.He was an expert in handling many genres; you'd expect the director of The Goonies to make 4 Lethal Weapon films? Or that the guy who made The Omen would make Scrooged? Sure, his last films indicated that he might have lost it, but you can't blame him for trying. The fact that he was willing to make Lethal Weapon 5 before his death show he was very committed. He was never too old for this shit. And of course, there's Superman. The film that changed comic book films as we know them. It wasn't the first, but it was perhaps the most influential. There's an argument that either Batman, The Dark Knight, Iron Man, The Avengers, Deadpool or Joker are more influential, but those films wouldn't exist today if it wasn't for Donner. It's why Kevin Feige shows the film to all the cast and crew before filming any MCU film. If the film was put in the careless hands of a mediocre director, it would've been forgotten almost immediately. And the genre would be very different today. So it's a testament to the strength of the film of how much it could change the landscape of what was possible. He and Christopher Reeve really offered something fresh and exciting. They truly made the world believe a man could fly. Hope you liked this edition. You can find this and more in the wiki for this section. The next director will be Ang Lee. A very important filmmaker. I asked you to choose who else should be in the run and the comment with the most upvotes would be chosen. Well, we'll later talk about... Roland Emmerich. Is it Joever for him? This is the schedule for the following four:
For this week, you'll choose from four options, all picked by me. So we won't accept any other suggestions this week. I'll give you four directors, and the director with the most upvotes will get his own post. And here they are:
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2024.06.01 22:57 boneytoes Where are my artists and tattoo artists at!?!?
Okay, so I've been reading fantasy my whole life. It started with an eighth grade reading requirement of The Hobbit, after which I got my hands on Dragonlance, some Tad Williams (Memory, Sorrow & Thorn 🤌🏻), Shanara, Terry Goodkind, then went pretty deeply down the Drizzt rabbit hole. Along with many other fantastic series.
I started the wheel of time in 1992, thanks to my mother grabbing me the first book from a bookseller as a Christmas gift I've and never looked back. I've read the WoT at least 13-15+ times (literally reread the series before every single release after book 2), and was introduced to Brandon Sanderson as a result of him finishing Jordan's work. Aaaaand now I have a new favorite author!!
Given how much both worlds have played such a significant part of my life, I'm really interested in doing some art artwork in the form of tattoos on any combination of my upper back, shoulders, and upper arms. I also happen to have a couple of medium size tattoos that have been around for about 20 years that I would like to find a way to cover up within the artwork. Looking for all black. And unfortunately, I don't have an artistic bone in my body.
I am able to conceptualize what I am looking for but I'm having a hard time pulling it all together. Any combination of significant symbols, emblems, visualizations of key artifacts, items etc. etc. all goes through my head. Easier to talk through examples. But I want to tell a story with the final product...and be able to build off of it all.
I'm wondering if there is anybody out there passionate and creative enough to help me on this journey. If the I idea of helping another passionate fan reach his goals interests you, this might be an opportunity to help me out. And as an artist, if you would appreciate someone walking around and proudly wearing and bearing your permanent art for all to see, please send me a message if something like this piques your interest!
FWIW, I am planning on attending this year's Wind and Truth event. It's entirely possible that I will start but could also make significant progress, if not finish, portions of what I'm trying to do before that event. If the person or people who end up helping me end up attending DragonSteel, I would love nothing more than to meet up in person so you could see firsthand the results of your work.
Please message me directly if interested!!! 🙏 ✍️
submitted by boneytoes to brandonsanderson [link] [comments]
I started the wheel of time in 1992, thanks to my mother grabbing me the first book from a bookseller as a Christmas gift I've and never looked back. I've read the WoT at least 13-15+ times (literally reread the series before every single release after book 2), and was introduced to Brandon Sanderson as a result of him finishing Jordan's work. Aaaaand now I have a new favorite author!!
Given how much both worlds have played such a significant part of my life, I'm really interested in doing some art artwork in the form of tattoos on any combination of my upper back, shoulders, and upper arms. I also happen to have a couple of medium size tattoos that have been around for about 20 years that I would like to find a way to cover up within the artwork. Looking for all black. And unfortunately, I don't have an artistic bone in my body.
I am able to conceptualize what I am looking for but I'm having a hard time pulling it all together. Any combination of significant symbols, emblems, visualizations of key artifacts, items etc. etc. all goes through my head. Easier to talk through examples. But I want to tell a story with the final product...and be able to build off of it all.
I'm wondering if there is anybody out there passionate and creative enough to help me on this journey. If the I idea of helping another passionate fan reach his goals interests you, this might be an opportunity to help me out. And as an artist, if you would appreciate someone walking around and proudly wearing and bearing your permanent art for all to see, please send me a message if something like this piques your interest!
FWIW, I am planning on attending this year's Wind and Truth event. It's entirely possible that I will start but could also make significant progress, if not finish, portions of what I'm trying to do before that event. If the person or people who end up helping me end up attending DragonSteel, I would love nothing more than to meet up in person so you could see firsthand the results of your work.
Please message me directly if interested!!! 🙏 ✍️
2024.06.01 22:52 Louis-Capet-XXVI Pine Valley / Pine Rd. Philadelphia, PA 19115 USA - House of Orleans
 | submitted by Louis-Capet-XXVI to u/Louis-Capet-XXVI [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/zjch56hnw04d1.jpg?width=2550&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=98d0733797746125238fc27127d7857d2013550c Wider than NYC, at 2.5 miles, built in the 1950's by the Royal Family.... This is a photo of my parents home. My mother's name is Arlene, and so also is the shape of the streets inside Philadelphia 19115. It also says, #Orleans if you switch the last two letters, the "NE" in Arlene to "AN" ...as in the #HouseofOrleans. It spans 2 miles, bigger than Central Park and wider than Manhattan, NYC. Starting at Pennypack Park on Pine Rd. at Kingsfield Rd and concluding at Red Line Road. My parents were the inaugural homeowners in the 1960s, the 1st owners. Within this neighborhood, the streets are named after distinguished military figures from England, spanning various eras from the American Revolution to World War II. Streets like Lockart, Darlington, Welsh, and Clinton allude to espionage and historical military significance. British Commander-in-Chief during the #Revolution Clinton Rd 19006 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Clinton_(British_Army_officer,_born_1730)) Lockhart Rd & Place 19115 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Lockhart Darlington Rd. 19115 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Darling Welsh Rd. 19115 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Welsh_(East_India_Company_officer)) - - or - - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunt_Walsh Grant Ave 19115 - There's Ulysses S. Grant, and then the British have 7 different British Military leaders named Grant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Grant_(British_Army_officer)) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Keir_Grant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Grant_(colonial_administrator)) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Grant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Grant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Grant_(19th_century_British_Army_officer)) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Grant_(British_Army_officer,_born_1720)) Contrary to what one might assume, the street name is unrelated to Ulysses S. Grant and instead commemorates British military leaders. In the 1950's Grant Ave. was named and mostly completed, as prior it had many different names. Frankford Ave. aka The King's Highway was built by #King George II from 1682 to the late 1790's. http://kingshighwayfilm.com - Those dates were all before The American #Revolution and Civil War, so regardless of the construction date of Grant Ave, I would still say the name Grant Ave. has absolutely nothing at all to do with Ulysses S. Grant. We also have Portis Rd. which is a combination of 2 words = La Porte + Paris = Portis - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnaud_II_de_La_Porte - La Porte was named Intendant of the Civil List (Minister of the Royal Household) in December 1790 which gave him direct control of the large sums of #money that were considered the private wealth of the King of France and so not subject to public audit. Across the street from my home is Durand Road. Durand was the name of the fake ID they gave to the King of France during the #French Revolution when the King of #France and his family tried to escape with Barron Batz. See p24 hosted on the University of Chicago's website: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/ThayeE/GazetteePlaces/Europe/France/_Texts/CROROY/Fuite_de_Varennes*.html - More on Barron Batz can be found in your local library, or here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean,_Baron_de_Batz - Keep in mind, Louis XVI's grandfather Louis XIV had 30 children. When my parents moved in, the area was all farmlands. Directly across the street from us at 1855 Melmar Road 19006 was the country home of Nicholas Biddle w/ 33 Rooms, & 9 Bathrooms. Though, there was nothing in between us except empty fields, there house was about 1,000 feet away. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Biddle - He was the President of the Second Bank of the United States. It is now called the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. That's where everybody gets there monthly $600 social security checks from... and, there still located here very close to this zip code printing checks for the majority of #America. His original home is still there, but... In the 1980's, they turned his land into a development of multi-million dollar homes now called Biddle Estates. His brother, married a #Falcone girl, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Biddle_(Michigan_politician)) and members of their family built Drexel University and also Lippincott Medicine, who are book publishers, and also the name of the next street across from me, Lippincott Rd. 19006. A lot of the homes here go for over 1 million dollars. My house was right there in the middle, on Pine Road at the top the shape of the "L" that looks exactly like the Boston Red Sox logo. We're on the city line, so I'm inside #Philadelphia, but the homes on the other side of Pine are not. Were on very high elevation here. At the bottom of the hill is Huntingdon Valley aka Lower Moreland. Bryn Athyn, and #Hollywood, PA are at the top of the valley. On the other side of the valley, at the top of that hill, is Abington, PA. Coincidently, also the same place based on the TV show, The Goldbergs. Additionally, The Golden Girls which aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992 also talk about us in every episode, "Shady Pines" was the retirement home Rose burnt down... as in Shady Lane & Pine Rd located at Fox Chase Farm, and the World Headquarters for the Medical Mission Sisters, who bring justice and healing to women, children and men in 17 countries on five continents. Their 2nd office is in London. www.medicalmissionsisters.org They also speak frequently inside the United Nations. Previously, that property belonged to the oldest home in Pennsylvania, the Ury House, & it was located here. Built in 1640 it frequented visitors such as: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and even George Washington slept here. The school located on the grounds, has now relocated as the Valley Forge Military Academy. https://hiddencityphila.org/2017/10/ury-house-demo-in-the-1970s-erased-oldest-home-in-pa In addition, one of the 4 main actresses in the show, Blanch Devereaux, coincidently the United States DoD - Department of Defense is located on Devereaux St & Oxford Ave, about 10 minutes from here, as Pine Road changes names to Oxford Ave & Rising Sun Ave at a 5 points. This DoD site encompasses over 134 acres, in which its warehouse offices and other buildings amount to 2,250,000 square feet. The rap group N.W.A Music w/ Dr Dre sings about us in a lot of songs, in "Straight out of Compton" They say, "Until them dumb motherf*ckers see clearly, that I'm down with the Capital C-P-T" ...and, at the same time in the video, they keep showing a picture of map with areas marked out in red marker. (That's C-P-T as in #Capet, as in Louis Capet XVI) https://youtu.be/TMZi25Pq3T8?t=62 There's a lot going on here, too much for me to type on Facebook. ABC daytime soap opera "All My Children" with Kelly Ripa, which aired January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, is based in "Pine Valley" PA, a suburb of Philadelphia, the same name as my neighborhood, but in the soap opera, they are actually located on the other side of Philadelphia. https://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2021/01/all-my-children-reboot-pine-valley-abc-kane-santos-family Get it? "All My Children" as how Louis XIV had 30 children. In 2023, the TV series "Pine Valley" aired as a prime time spin-off of the daytime drama soap opera “All My Children.” Their description reads as, "Set in a fictional Philadelphia suburb called Pine Valley, it delves into the dark and murderous history of the town." It also starred the same cast, Kelly Rippa & Susan Lucci again from "All My Children." https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13561428 Unrelated, but the first 10 years of "All My Children" ...The original recordings from the 1970's were destroyed in a fire. The highest elevation inside #Paris & oldest Military Base in #Paris is Montfaucon - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibbet_of_Montfaucon now called the Parc des Buttes Chaumont - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parc_des_Buttes_Chaumont as in my name, Mont Faucon / Matt Falcone. The word Falcon in English translates to Faucon in French. Also, the City of MonFalcone in Italy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monfalcone Also, the City of Falcone, in Sicily. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcone,_Sicily Also, the Falcone International Airport in Italy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcone_Borsellino_Airport Billionaire Empire, The Falcone Group in the USA - https://falconegroup.info A different entity, Billionaire Empire, Phillip Falcone - with 20% ownership of the The New York Times - plus owner of 5,000 different Television Station Networks, and 5,000 Satellites in space, & 5,000 Satellite repeaters on land, such as the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles California. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Falcone - In addition he owned & controlled Harbinger Capital aka HRG Group which was created by former President George H. W. Bush Senior - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HRG\_Group#Glazer\_era\_and\_the\_birth\_of\_Harbinger\_Group\_Inc. In 2019, he sold one of his homes in NYC. It went for a record breaking most ever paid for a residential townhouse in New York City - https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/hedge-fund-founder-john-griffin-buys-most-expensive-nyc-townhome-1.1270334 and https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-07/hedge-fund-founder-john-griffin-buys-most-expensive-ny-townhouse 9643 pill (My address 9643 Pine Rd.) = Prochlorperazine is a phenothiazine (FEEN-oh-THYE-a-zeen) antipsychotic medicine that is used to treat #schizophrenia. It is supplied by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. https://www.drugs.com/mtm/prochlorperazine-oral-injection.html 9643 PILL IMPRINT - https://www.drugs.com/imprints.php?imprint=9643&color=&shape=0 https://ruger.com/products/pcCarbine/specSheets/19115.html - - Ruger® PC Carbine™ Autoloading Rifle Model 19115 < - - - 19115 Royal Pine Litte Tree's Air Freshener's since 1952 - https://www.littletrees.com/fragrances/royal-pine On the east side of the words, in the "E" in Arlene, or the "N" in Orlean on the map of 19115, we have Geiger Road. A Geiger Counter is an instrument that measures radioactive levels. In the 1990's Lockheed Martin had a factory here on Geiger Road. They are a leading American aerospace and defense corporation, specializing in cutting-edge technology and solutions for air, land, sea, space, and cybersecurity challenges. www.lockheedmartin.com On Red Line Road, we had "The Budd Company" who specialized in manufacturing Railroad Cars. They were a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars, airframes, missile and space vehicles, and various defense products. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budd_Company - During WW2, they switched production from rail cars to war heads & various Military Equipment. During their tenor, they left behind contaminated land, from PCB's oil leakage, and Radioactive Waste. Though, I had the radioactive reports 5 years ago before covid, which described the radioactivity levels, stretching as far south as Bustleton Road, via an underground creak, that crosses Red Line Rd just about 100ft north of Bustleton Ave, I do not have those links anymore, ...maybe on an old computer. I did recently find the reports where the NCR, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has terminated the license held by the Budd Company for another facility in Philadelphia, which may have occurred at both locations, as this location, which consisted of 75 acres was their main manufacturing facility, and the other may have been primarily used for offices, mailing address, and smaller manufacturing. https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML0037/ML003702451.pdf - The Budd Company operated a hot cell facility in Philadelphia from l956 through l967 to manufacture sealed sources for use in industrial radiography. (A hot cell is a heavily shielded enclosure in which radioactive materials are handled by persons using remote manipulators, such as mechanical arms, and viewed through shielded windows or periscopes.) A small amount of unsealed cesium-137 was also used for a brief time at the facility. In addition, we also have Laramie Road. I always wondered what the meaning of Laramie meant, as I have seen roads all over the world with the same name, such as in Canada. The Laramie Mountains in Black Hills / Paha Sapa, USA was one of the largest Uranium mining sites in the USA. https://www.nuclear-risks.org/en/hibakusha-worldwide/black-hillspaha-sapa.html The Black Hills are considered a sacred place by the Lakota people and are representative of the entire four-state region of South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota, where thousands of uranium mines or exploration wells are located. For more than 40 years, the local population has been exposed to the radioactive legacy of the former uranium rush. Behind my house at 9643 Pine Rd. inside Buckley Place, and also Buckley Terrace, Almatt Place, Almatt Terrace, Myers Circle, Mark Place, Johnathin Place, Kismet Place, etc... etc... and so on, whatever... we have various dead end streets, which the locals refer to as a "cul-de-sacs" as they strikingly resemble a cement covered missel silo's, aka launch sites, in which the process requires the cement cover to be blown off by explosives, so the missile underneath can launch intercontinentally. We also have, "Flagstaff Rd." ...Get it? Flag, like the American Flag & Staff. In the 1985 movie, Back to the Future, Marty Visits Hill Valley, as in Pine Valley / Huntingdon Valley - https://youtu.be/i9-4phPA_mQ?feature=shared Also, in Back to the Future, the Mall Scene where the Libyans arrive to get back their stolen Plutonium, the name of the mall is "Twin Pines" ...there is also a "Lone Pine" Mall in the movie. So, the Twin Pines Mall in the movie, is almost an exact replica of the Plymouth Meeting Mall, which is about 25 minutes away from Pine Rd. Though, the mall had a makeover in around the year 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfLPiMPAReU or here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AChCcVIJaCE Also, in Back to the Future, Marty's mom's name is Lorraine. As a play on words in French, "Reine" means "King" in France, So, Lorain would translate in French to King Louis, Lou, Lo. In the South Park SE 8 EP 1 2004 Paris Hilton inserts a Pine Apple up her vagina. Get it, Paris as in France, like how the streets here are shaped into the words: Arlene & Orlene, ....and, a Pine Apple like Pine Rd. https://youtu.be/HS5_opSMxDc?t=91 and/or https://southpark.cc.com/video-clips/n0cqud/south-park-the-whore-off https://youtu.be/XkvIlrLiy9o - The 1993 movie, the Coneheads as in Falcone, Fal-cone, in this clip, ...they say, "Were from France" and also their homes look identical to ours. In addition, as explained above + http://www.LaserLightShow.ORG as myself... also in the movie, plus many more: https://youtu.be/56XbBVUuwl4?feature=shared Eminem - Slim Shady like Shady Lane Road & Pine Rd. https://youtu.be/BBY4-BqR08o In the movie, Trading Places Movie with Eddie Murphey, that was filmed in Philadelphia, ....his name is Billy Ray Valentine, but, it sounds like Billy Revel on Pine, as in the French Revolution. Did you ever hear the saying, "We'll that's the word on the street?" or... "The word on the street is..." My parents were my best friends. I bought my 1st home in 2004, in the 19115, When they got old & sick, I had to move back in w/ them & keep my home vacant. We wanted to prevent them from going into a nursing home, and also having the nursing home take away their home. We had nurses, round the clock for 24 hours. I was not embarrassed living with my parents. I actually enjoyed it very much. We would eat dinner together every day. We never argued. My whole life I was never yelled at. They were a lot older than me, and as their age progressed, things became tough. I had to cook for them 3 meals a day, and do everything for them... because I didn't want to put them in a nursing home. One time, my vegan diet gave my father low iron, low hemoglobin (which requires a blood transfusion to fix immediately), it makes you weak, and you can't move.... So, I had to sleep on the floor next to him for a month. I didn't know about the Nutrition Tracking Meal Diary Cell Phone Free App called www.cronometer.com at that time. I miss them very much, and think about them all the time. My father was a prominent Book Publisher, similar to myself also a publisher. He was the VP at Ruttle, Shaw & Wetherill. One of their notable works that they published was the Merck Manual Professional // Merck Manual Consumer, an indispensable resource for medical professionals; it was the most popular reference guide for Medical Professionals, on how to treat hospital patients. It's what Hospitals used before the internet & computers. My mother worked at Orleans Technical College & also the School District of Philadelphia as a part time substitute #teacher, and hemy friends worked in operations. They also owned a printing company specializing in medical forms. They both retired around 1990. I think this is the best home in #America. I don't care about those big homes in California or Florida nor Donald Trump's home in Key Largo.... I don't think his home is better than mine. I only mention that b/c I hear it in the news every day for the past 5 years... but, maybe that's why the Donald Trump National Golf Club Philadelphia in New Jersey is located in a city, with the same name as mine, Pine Hill / Pine Valley. Here, we have the Fox Chase Farm, it's 117 acres, 1 hour walk to loop it. The only homes or Cities that might even come close, might be Dubai, United Arab Emirates - World Islands, or Dubai Palm Island ....but, we did this in the 1950's, and they just started. #WhatOnEarth "l'état, c'est moi" Capet XXI (My Grandmother's Maiden Last Name) http://www.LouisXXVI.com 🔴🔴🔴🔴 ⚡ Louis XVI & The American Revolution Louis XVI's financial support to the United States during the American Revolutionary War primarily came in the form of loans and supplies. The financial assistance was crucial for the American colonists in their fight against British rule. Here are the details of how the money was distributed: Financial Agreements: In February 1778, France and the United States signed the Treaty of Alliance, formally allying France with the American colonists. As part of this agreement, France pledged its support, including financial aid, to the United States. Loans: France provided substantial loans to the United States to fund their war efforts. The most significant loan came in 1778 when the French government arranged a loan of 2 million livres (a French currency) from the French banking house of Le Couteulx et Cie. This initial loan was followed by additional loans, including a total of 10 million livres in 1779 and 24 million livres in 1780. Supplies and Military Aid: In addition to financial assistance, France also provided military supplies and aid to the American colonists. The French Navy played a crucial role in the war by assisting in naval blockades and engaging in key battles, such as the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, which was a decisive victory for the Americans. The French military support included troops, warships, weapons, and ammunition. Benjamin Franklin's Role: Benjamin Franklin, the American envoy to France, played a significant role in negotiating and securing French support. He worked closely with the French government to secure financial aid and other resources for the American cause. Franklin's diplomacy and influence were instrumental in obtaining French assistance. Distribution of Funds: The funds received from France were primarily managed by the Continental Congress, the governing body of the American colonies during the Revolutionary War. Congress used the funds to pay for various war-related expenses, such as purchasing supplies, equipping troops, and maintaining military operations. Some funds were also used to pay off existing debts. It is important to note that while Louis XVI and France's support was crucial for the American cause, the financial aid alone did not guarantee victory in the war. The American colonists faced numerous challenges throughout the conflict, and the outcome of the war was determined by a combination of factors, including military strategy, perseverance, and the support of other nations such as Spain and the Netherlands. 🔴🔴🔴🔴 ⚡ Family Relationships of France & England Louis XVI's wife, Marie Antoinette, and King George III's wife, Queen Charlotte, were sisters-in-law as they both came from the House of Habsburg-Lorraine through their mother, Maria Theresa. This made Louis XVI and King George III brothers-in-law by marriage. In addition, there were also related by blood by former ancestors. The British and French royal families have a long history of intermarriage, resulting in blood connections between the two dynasties. Here are some key relationships that link the British and French royal families: The House of Stuart and the House of Bourbon: One significant connection between the two royal families was through the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, a member of the Stuart dynasty, to Francis II of France, who belonged to the House of Valois-Bourbon. Their son, James VI of Scotland (later James I of England and Ireland), became the first monarch of the Stuart dynasty to rule over England and Scotland, effectively uniting the crowns from 1567 to 1625. The House of Hanover and the House of Bourbon: The Hanoverian dynasty in Britain began with the accession of George I in 1714. The Hanoverians were related to the French Bourbon dynasty through Sophia of Hanover, whose mother was Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James VI and I. Sophia's uncle, Charles I of England and Scotland, married Henrietta Maria of France, a member of the House of Bourbon. Therefore, there was a blood connection between the Hanoverians and Bourbons through the Stuart lineage. The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and the House of Orléans: In the 19th century, the British royal family, known as the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (later renamed the House of Windsor), had a connection to the French royal family through Queen Victoria. In 1840, Victoria married Prince Albert, who was a member of the German noble House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Their daughter, Princess Victoria, married Prince Louis of Battenberg, whose mother was a member of the House of Orléans, a branch of the French royal family. Edward III and Isabella of France: Edward III of England, who reigned from 1327 to 1377, was married to Philippa of Hainault. However, a significant blood connection between the British and French royal families came through Edward III's mother, Isabella of France. Isabella was the daughter of King Philip IV of France, making Edward III a grandson of a French king. These are only a few examples of how the British and French royal families were related. While these connections highlight the historical ties between the British, The Royal Family, and French royal families, it is important to note that they represent a small portion of the complex web of intermarriages among European royal houses throughout history. The relationships between the two dynasties were often influenced by political considerations, diplomatic alliances, and the desire to strengthen familial connections among European monarchies. Matt Falcone - http://LouisXXVI.com |