I don't understand people who are so proud they were finally able to leave the church! Jesus this ain't the moonies or some other religious dangerous cult. This is just a bunch of people who made some shit up just like the Bible and Harry potter. All stories made up of fairy tales to scare the children and adults as well. I have an official Mormon number. I was baptized so I guess technically I'm a Mormon. Since I enjoy fairy tales but not necessarily believe in them. I say "not necessarily" because we did have dragons at one time. The fossil record shows. So I don't believe thier wierd dogma. This goes for all religions. I chose just not to be involved so I'm not. If you get flak for your beliefs put on your big boy pants and stand up for yourself and say no more weird please. You are not some thirteen year old girl escaping from wI don't understand people who are so proud they left the church! Jesus this ain't the moonies or some other religious dangerous cult. This is just a bunch of people who made some shit up just like the Bible and Harry potter. All stories made up of fairy tales to scare the children and adults as well. I have an official Mormon number. I was baptized so I guess technically I'm a Mormon. Since I enjoy fairy tales but not necessarily believe in them. I say "not necessarily" because we did have dragons at one time. The fossil record shows. So I don't believe thier wierd dogma. This goes for all religions. I chose just not to be involved so I'm not. If you get flak for your beliefs put on your big boy pants and stand up for yourself and say no more weird please. You are not some thirteen year old girl escaping from warren jeffs in some van in the middle of the night! Personally I am keeping my number I like to hedge my bets. Maybe some day I can have drinks in a wierd alien bar with Obie won and all the gang! That seems like a better heaven than being chained to that harpy ex-wife for eternity. We'll at least they get to do their favorite thing. Looking down on people. I don't understand people who are so proud they left the church! Jesus this ain't the moonies or some other religious dangerous cult. This is just a bunch of people who made some shit up just like the Bible and Harry potter. All stories made up of fairy tales to scare the children and adults as well. I have an official Mormon number. I was baptized so I guess technically I'm a Mormon. Since I enjoy fairy tales but not necessarily believe in them. I say "not necessarily" because we did have dragons at one time. The fossil record shows. So I don't believe thier wierd dogma. This goes for all religions. I chose just not to be involved so I'm not. If you get flak for your beliefs put on your big boy pants and stand up for yourself and say no more weird please. You are not some thirteen year old girl escaping from warren jeffs in some van in the middle of the night! Personally I am keeping my number I like to hedge my bets. Maybe some day I can have drinks in a wierd alien bar with Obie won and all the gang! That seems like a better heaven than being chained to that harpy ex-wife for eternity. We'll at least they get to do their favorite thing. Looking down on people. arren jeffs in some van in the middle of the night! Personally I am keeping my number I like to hedge my bets. Maybe some day I can have drinks in a wierd alien bar with Obie won and all the gang! That seems like a better heaven than being chained to that harpy ex-wife for eternity. We'll at least they get to do their favorite thing. Looking down on people.

For orientation:
Slide 1: 3 days post procedure left side profile Slide 2: 3 days post procedure right side profile Slide 3: 3 days post procedure front view Slide 4: natural lips, no filler, front view Slide 5: natural lips, no filler, left side view. Slide 6: immediately after fillers front view Slide 7: immediately after fillers right side profile
I have had my first lip filler procedure 4 days ago, total of 1 ml. Now I understand when people think of “duck lips” or over filled lips they think of extremes. Currently I can notice the “shelf” being created on my upper lip as it seems that too much filler was injected at once causing the lips to bend unnaturally. This is especially visible when compared to the photos before hand.
Now, do you think I should be worried about this. Will this “shelf” look good down and overall the upper lip size.
I could tell even before the filler I had a more pronounced lip ledge, which is why I’m trying to stay optimistic about the whole look seeming unnatural at the minute.
I was also looking into the work of Dr Harris, who is have only discovered after my appointment, he explains these things in great detail. If you know him, then for reference this is exactly what I would’ve been interested in when it comes to the desired lip filler look.
What do you think is my best way to proceed about this?
Thank you.

I completely understand if a YouTuber puts out one video a week, you spent 20 minutes hate watching it and then put one post on Tattle about how insincere they are or whatever. That’s one thing – it doesn’t take up much time and this person has a very small audience so it’s not as if you have anywhere else to go in your life to gossip about some random person on the internet with 75,000 subscribers. This is probably true for the more obscure celebrities too (I know there is a thread about Sara Davies from Dragons’ Den). That’s not the most productive use of time, but I don’t think it’s relatively unhealthy or anything. In any case, all of these threads are usually slow moving and, more often than not, the criticism is relatively measured.
However, I do not understand the people who post 800 times a day about Harry and Meghan or Katie Price. Primarily because it takes hours upon hours to read all the articles across the internet and dive into the Twitter conspiracy theories as each of them seems to have a small cottage industry of doom and gloom in the media. They are also household names so it’s relatively easy to gossip about them to your colleague or neighbour or the woman at the bus stop or whatever rather than taking to a forum. These are the types where there are two or three new threads on the subject per week because everybody is on there 24/7. I would go as far to say that the atmosphere that these threads cultivate is really unhealthy. I have no idea what goes on in the minds of people who truly detest Harry, Meghan, Katie Price or whoever but spend all day on the internet talking about them. To what end?

I wish I remembered where I saw it- the most likely scenario is an author I was really enjoying who's bookmarks I went exploring in, but I came across the Tom Riddle/Amy Benson tag. Now when I was much younger I knew Harry Potter inside out, but these days I'm more of a HP fanfiction fan than a HP fan, an counterintuitive as it sounds. So it took me a minute to place but I eventually did- for anyone who doesn't recognise her, she's mentioned about once by name is HP6, as one of the two fellow orphans a young Tom takes to the cave and traumatises. In this fic, Amy Benson is also a witch, and the two go to Hogwarts together. The series consists of two works, one chronicling their Hogwarts years, the other a time jump forward to when they're both adults.This fic BLEW. ME. AWAY. I wanted to recc it in the main HP fanfiction forum, which I think I will anyways, because this deserves sooo many more eyeballs than it has, but I figured it was applicable enough here because whilst there isn't even a whiff of Hermione, Amy Benson very much gives off Hermione energy. She's not the brightest witch of her age, but she's a Potions whizz and eventually a Healer and she's no-nonsense and pragmatic and deeply attached to Tom but she can read him like a fucking book and knows exactly who he is. And Tom, because he's Tom, is obsessive about her too, coveting her and wanting her even though all the way until the end he doesn't quite realise just how important she is to him and how keeping her should have been more important than any other possible item on his agenda. They're SO Hermione coded and the writing is just brilliant; from Tomione authors, I'd compare it to ObsidianPen's prose in terms of its similarity- a clearly experienced and talented wordsmith with absolutely no lapse in their characterisation or dialogues or the imagery they evoke, but not one for very lyrical writing and purple prose laden with metaphors to convey the characters' motivations and arcs (my absolute favourite style of writing, I hasten to add). Part 1, detailing their time at Hogwarts, is brilliant and satisfying enough as a stand-alone, but Part 2 just ELEVATES IT- all the OCs and fresh storylines are excellent but the Tom/Amy dynamic is as compelling and delicious as ever, even if the scarceness made me scream. I can't recommend it highly enough, and if anyone reads it, I would love to have a very detailed discussion about it.
Barbed Wire, Grass Crown by dwellingondreams
Part 1: [My heart is a fist of barbed wire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18224369)
Part 2: [And the grass will become my crown](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22574047)

Edit: I forgot to mention that I live in Japan.
I recently went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour in Tokyo with my wife and kids for my birthday. As a big Harry Potter fan, I had high hopes, but despite the incredible setting, the experience was pretty disappointing.
I don't normally post things like this but think I should put this out there for anyone thinking of going. Just temper your expectations. I'm glad I went but probably wouldn't go again.
The place itself is fantastic, beautifully built and laid out, perfect for fans to explore. But the way it's run really spoiled our visit.

1. **Constant Rushing and Anxiety**: At every corner, we were repeatedly told "don't touch anything!" and "hurry up!" albeit in polite Japanese. It felt like we were being rushed through the exhibits, unable to fully enjoy or explain things to my kids. For instance, I tried to point out something to my 5-year-old daughter at Privet Drive, and a staff member immediately told us to move on. It was stressful and took away from the experience.
2. **Leaving the Building**: They wouldn't let us go to the car unless we had a "good enough" reason, which was frustrating.
3. **Staff Knowledge and Behavior**: The staff seemed oblivious to the Harry Potter source material, making mistakes and generally being cringey. It didn't feel like they understood the importance of what they were working with. The mini-attractions with actors were really low-energy and disappointing.
4. **Food Quality**: The food was disappointing—cold and much lower quality than what I found at Universal Studios Japan. For example, the banger in the Bangers and Mash was just a standard wiener you can get anywhere in Japan.
5. **Rude Staff**: When I was upset about not being allowed to go to the car to put our bags away before eating, the staff laughed at me. They made me explain my reason and then exercised their power to say no, which felt really disrespectful. Generally, every interaction we had with a staff member seemed like an inconvenience to them. One even tried to tell me that we couldn't change seats in the restaurant because the tracker thing they give you when you order your food would get messed up. We were a family of four on a tiny table, and I had just found a big table to move to that had opened up while we were waiting. I was only asking out of politeness and was shocked she wanted us to huddle around a tiny table just so that she wouldn't have to update where the food was brought to.
6. **Overpriced Everything**: The prices for parking and other things were ridiculously high, especially for a place like Nerima.
7. **Ticket Issues**: This was our second attempt to visit due to health issues the first time. They wouldn't let us move or cancel our booking, and when we tried to give the tickets to a friend, they just said "no".

The tour is an amazing work of art, but the management treats it like a cash cow, not appreciating the blessing it is. One staff member in the restaurant was lovely and did something nice for us, but the rest of the staff made the experience worse.
Also, my wife and I speak Japanese, but our kids don't, and the lack of English-speaking staff was surprising. The only English speaker we found was in the gift shop trying to sell stuff to tourists. Maybe it would've been better if I didn't understand what was being said.
Overall, I won't go again.
I really hope I just caught them on a bad day, but I've heard of similar experiences when looking up reviews online on the way home.
I also want to reiterate that the exhibits are brilliant. Even the fact that they had English next to the Japanese in the displays and didn't dub the actors was good. I just felt robbed by the attitude of the staff and especially the food.

I finished this book in around 5/6 days.
Wow. So many great moments and storylines in this book, storylines being resolved even! All great except a few chapters of Elayne in the middle of the book. RJ is back to his old form, with great characterisation and stuff happens for once!?! Unbelievable.
You can really feel the story torpedoing to Tarmon Gai’don, I can’t wait.
Here are some thoughts on this book:
Nynaeve
Nynaeve loves, trusts, and feels for Lan so much; I can’t help but tear when she rallies for Malkier. Favourite scene of the whole series personally, involving my favourite characters.
“My husband rides from World’s End to Tarwin’s Gap, toward Tarmon Gai’don. Will he ride alone?
CHILLS!!!
Also, give me more Nynaeve, she needs more page time.
Perrin
Great ending to a sometimes lacking storyline (just Faile’s PoV), and it has ended with Perrin ready for the time ahead with his beloved and the shaido finally disappeared, forever hopefully.
Perrin was so blind to everything but Faile this book. Ignoring the signs of Tarmon Gai’don for the one he loves. This obviously isn’t healthy, but I understand him; his whole family died and she is the one who filled the gaps in his heart, if she died I doubt Perrin would ever recover from it.
I guess Aram isn’t a darkfriend as I previously speculated, just a man who is very susceptible to being manipulated. An abrupt ending to someone who got introduced in the first book, and later become a reoccurring character. His descent was quite tragic though; died trying to kill the man who helped him get back on his feet many times over just because of one man’s manipulation. Fuck Masema.
Rolan and the other two brotherless’ death was unjustified but I can’t blame Perrin for killing him. Adrenaline pumping through his veins and he sees 3 men standing between him and his wife. It was bound to end in blood. However, while Rolan was a bit of a creep at times he didn’t deserve to die like that after helping Faile. Now that I think about it though, he was sort of trying to steal her from Perrin, Rolan’s death was inevitable.
Tam finally learned that Rand is the dragon reborn, after I think around 3 years. I would have expected he would know by now, but I guess the two rivers is notorious for being secluded and only getting information from peddlers.
Perrin and seanchan captain has a quite nice mutual respect for each other, another bridge to seanchan relations has been built.
After all these deaths, failures, and triumphs, Perrin and Faile are finally reunited! I am interested to see where the story goes with them, maybe they will go after Masema?
Mat
Mat is always an enjoyable read, and now he has accepted that he can’t escape his luck and the battlefield, Mat now just tries to work out a way to make as little people die as possible.
I have to talk about Moiraine first of course. She is confirmed to be alive, which I hoped for and expected. However, didn’t expect it to take this many books. I have been waiting too long for this, I missed her so much and I am excited for her to be back hopefully soon.
Mat and Tuon are my second favourite couple so far, after Nynaeve and Lan, they have a great dynamic!
From the start Mat knew that he would marry Tuon, but she was slowly deciphering whether this man was truly who she would marry. She did ask many seemingly random questions which was a big giveaway. The build up was worth it though, she completely confuses Mat by doing it out of the blue and revealing her prophecies from her damane. Hilarious moment!
I feel Tuon growing on me but then I remember that she agrees with slavery and leashing those who can channel. I am conflicted on her, but maybe she will change. We have a love-hate relationship.
Mat, please just go free Moiraine already. Please.
Rand
While he hasn’t had the spotlight for a few books, his chapters are always full of major plot points and revelations which are always great.
Lews Therin is creeping in like a parasite, taking control of the power and Rand even confuses his thoughts with Lews Therin. One lack of control and that could be it for Min or others around him. Disturbing thoughts.
One minute I was watching a lovely wedding between Loial and Erith, the next there is thousands of trollocs outside the window. The juxtaposition is crazy.
The new weaves are really powerful, it can’t be nice for random dead trollocs to appear outside your house though.
Did Semirhage expect to defeat Rand? I think there is some other plot she has. Semirhage went down too easy for that to be her only plan. Potentially trying she is trying manipulate his allies to go to the shadow. Or like many of the forsaken she was just arrogant.
Hoping that Rand gets his hand back, I loved Rands swordplay and It will absolutely cause issues. Surely he can use the power to create a fake hand.
Breaks my heart, to see Rand so calm after all he goes through. Poor guy. Cadsuane needs to teach Rand to feel again and quickly!
Seanchan truce incoming. Rand will now see what Mat has been up to while he has been battling the forsaken.
Egwene
Thoroughly enjoyed her political manoeuvrings around the white tower, slowly planting seeds of dissent between the different layers of aes sedai. Egwene is great at scheming and manipulation; she is a genius. Not the best person though.
I have a lot of respect for Egwene. Multiple strappings a day, and she carries on twisting the aes sedai, what a powerhouse!
Egwene is consistently interesting to me, I think she will play a big part over the next few books.
Elayne
Elayne was great late in the book, while lacking a bit at the start.
She was overconfident this book, just because she won’t die any time soon (min’s viewing) doesn’t mean she can’t be captured. It was very reckless to just burst into the BA’s house and expect to live.
I loved Vandene getting her revenge on Careane, what a way to go, her short storyline was amazing. Amazing but tragic.
I found it weird how an aes sedai sent by Elaida just stormed in, said Elayne would regret sending her away and ran off. There had to be something larger going on with her.
Problem after problem kept pilling up, but she dealt with them with resilience and it somewhat worked out. A true queen if I ever saw one.
Other
Rand has caused a whole civilisation to kill themselves. Let’s hope he never finds that out. This was a really horrifying moment, left my mouth open for a while.
Taim is not a forsaken, but just a very high ranking dark friend it seems. He must be very high ranking to know about the lord of chaos. What if he is a newly raised forsaken? Only the forsaken know about the lord of chaos, not regular dark friends. I don’t know how one would raise a darkfriend though, does it come with new abilities or just being closer to the dark one?
RJ is great at the small details however he doesn’t touch upon the slavery stuff, which I find weird. Could just be me though.
Overall
This book ends so many dragging storylines, I can’t wait for the next!
I’m sad this is the last Robert Jordan book, but I’ve heard that Brandon ended it well, I watched a few videos on him and read his eulogy on RJ and he seems very kind and admires RJ a lot. I don’t know how his writing style is though, maybe someone can give me an idea of how it compares to RJ?
It is tragic RJ couldn’t finish his series by himself though, but glad someone was found to finish it.
just don’t mess up Nynaeve Brandon!
I probably missed a lot of plot points but I didn’t want this to be too long, and I want to read the next book already.
Book ranking so far - very susceptible to changing:

1. The Shadow Rising
2. The Fires of Heaven
3. The Lord of Chaos
4. The Dragon Reborn
5. Knife of Dreams
6. The Great Hunt
7. The Eye of the World
8. New Spring
9. A Crown of Swords
10. Winter’s Heart
11. The Path of Daggers
12. Crossroads of Twilight

I thought I’d add a trip report for Universal Studios Japan as I found some of this detail was hard to find online (e.g. the opening time!) My husband and kids (aged 8 and 11) visited USJ on a weekday in mid April.
Tickets: All purchased through Klook without any problems. Printed at home to save the hassle of flicking through four passes on my phone every time. We bought the 7 Express Pass which was worth every cent. We also bought the Early Entry studio pass, designed to let us in 15 minutes early. That wasn’t entirely accurate, see paragraph below!
Entry times: We had read online that the park opens an hour before the posted time. Not today! The posted time was 9am, and we turned up at 8:15. The park opened at around 8:40. At this time, the regular lines and the Early Entry lines opened all at once. But it was still definitely worth buying the Early Entry pass, because the lines were much, MUCH shorter. If you’re using an Early Entry pass, just show the attendants when you turn up and they’ll direct you to the Early Entry lines.
Super Nintendo World: We had already reserved an entry time for Super Nintendo World at 10:50 through our express passes, but we didn’t want to wait. We checked the app as we walked in at 8:50, and we could get an entry time to SNW at 9:10. We went straight there, lined up, and they let us in 15 minutes early! We found the same for all of our express passes too: They would allow us in at least 10 minutes earlier. Perhaps it’s because it wasn’t a particularly crowded day (still crowded, but not a weekend or holiday). In brief, SNW is everything you’ve seen online, but so spectacular in person.
SNW power up bands: We bought these at the first kiosk, but should’ve followed the advice online and walked further into the area. There were power up band kiosks with no queues inside. We didn’t really get much value for money out of these: the kids had fun hitting the blocks and coins and interacting with them a little on the rides, but they couldn’t be bothered to wait in the long queues for the more elaborate games. There’s a big challenge which requires playing several games to collect keys to enter a boss level. It probably would have taken an extra hour or two, but we were ready to go on more rides.
Jaws: We went on this next, but there was no need for a fast pass as the queue was very short. It was entertaining enough despite being in Japanese. We would have preferred to ride the Hollywood roller coaster; our 7 express pass had that as an alternative to Jaws, but unfortunately it’s currently closed.
Minions Mayhem: This was the best 3D movie ride I had ever been on (until we went on Soaring at DisneySea!). Both are excellent. The intro videos have English subtitles; the main 3D movie ride didn’t, but there wasn’t much dialogue. Very fun, enjoyed by all. Walked past the other Minions ride, Freeze Ray Sliders, but looked like a version of spinning teacups, not worth the ever-lengthening queue times.
Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge: Probably our favourite ride for the day. It’s a combination ride / 3D movie / interactive experience with virtual goggles – worth every bit for the express pass, and worth the queue if you don’t have an express pass!
Yoshi’s Adventure: Very much a young kids’ ride and can be skipped! Even our kids looked bored. There are good views, but not much that you can’t see elsewhere. (As an aside, the two best views of the not-yet-opened Donkey Kong Country were found at the peak of the Flight of the Hippogriff rollercoaster, and on the Tempozan Ferris Wheel which we visited the day before.)
Flying Dinosaur: Our 11-year-old doesn’t like extreme roller coasters, but our 8-year-old was unsure as she has liked some bigger roller coasters before. We decided that my husband and I would ride it while the kids watched (and took videos, hilarious) and we could tell her afterwards if it was too scary. DEFINITELY too scary, haha. I love roller coasters, and I closed my eyes in parts. I’m so glad I did it, but it’s not for the faint-of-heart.
Jurassic Park meet and greet: We happened to walk past as the dinosaurs were coming out. Cute for the kids, but not worth structuring your day around. I wish the Jurassic Park log flume ride was open, but it’s currently still closed.
Waterworld: We queued for this 20 minutes before show time, but we needn’t have bothered, as the seating area was huge. They were still letting people in as the performance began, and none were having trouble finding seats. We could have chosen the front row, but we sat slightly behind the ‘splash zone’ so we wouldn’t get wet. Sitting higher up afforded a better view too, but views would have been good from anywhere. The plot was simple enough to follow without understanding Japanese – fun and good for a long rest for our already tired feet!
Hogsmeade: Utterly stunning, all of it: The shops, the food, the performances (singing frogs and magical beasts turned up regularly). We ate at the Three Broomsticks, which appeared crowded with a long queue, but with an app to order, it cleared quickly enough. There were plenty of empty tables out the back, with a view across the lake to Hogwarts! My kids had wanted to try butterbeer for so long, but it was sickly sweet, like bubbly maple syrup. It was quite difficult to find a place to dispose of the rest of the drink so we could take the souvenir cups home, but eventually we just dumped the contents in the bathroom sink.
Interactive wands: These were much better value for our kids, and they took part in five of the seven interactive spells before exhaustion hit at the end of the day. The first (wingardium leviosa!) was not being managed by staff, so it was hard to get it to work. It had about a 50% success rate. The later ones were all managed by very kind and patient staff (who also happened to speak excellent English) who allowed each guest to keep trying until it worked. It meant the queues were slow-moving, but most were short enough, and my kids were happy to wait while they watched others attempting the spells.
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey: We were so excited for this one, but it scared both my kids a bit! The 8-year-old because of the giant dementors (both on-screen and big animatronics), and the 11-year-old because the chair actually tipped a really long way back and forward. She was worried we would go right upside-down, but we didn’t. It was a lot more intense than we had expected. I really loved it, but be careful if you have sensitive kids.
Flight of the Hippogriff: This is a pretty tame roller coaster, and I’m not sure why people would queue two hours for it. The kids loved it, though. One warning: my six foot tall husband had to be moved to the front row as his legs didn’t fit!
Minions Mayhem again: We noticed on the app that there was only a 10 minute queue for Minions Mayhem, so my husband and 8-year-old had another go. A 10 minute queue means no queue at all, as it takes 10 minutes to walk through and watch the intro videos. We checked the app, and all the more popular rides still had huge queues, so decided to call it a day.
All up, we were there from opening to 6pm, and were utterly exhausted by the end of it. Plan a quieter day for afterwards, if you can! And we were very jealous of the people staying in the hotel right by the park – in hindsight it would have been worth the extra packing and unpacking to shift to that hotel for the night before and/or after.

​
Part 1
Part 2
View Poll

ok so i’m not a reader at all. i (my mother to me) read the first book (of harry potter) maybe when i was like 7. but when the hp books were coming out i remember my grandma always carrying around a giant hp book. and once i got a bit older i really liked the movies and watched them with her. anyway recently i watch a video by carly thorne on the marauders fandom and i learned about atyd! so i asked my grandma if she missed the world of hp. i told her about how there is so much more representation and most importantly what and iconic piece of fanfic it is. anyway i just thought it was funny that i told my grandmother to read fan fiction. i think she’s only read the first chapter so far and likes it. i’m gunna have her tell me what happens too lol

Entering a medieval castle is akin to turning the pages of a historical narrative. With its rich history, the UK is home to some of the world’s most magnificent and historically significant medieval castles. These castles provide an amazing, educational, and immersive look into the past for anyone interested in history, photography, or just having a fun day out. We’ll take you on a tour of the top medieval castles in the UK in this blog post. Get ready to be mesmerised by their ageless beauty, enthralled by their grandeur, and fascinated by their history.

1. Windsor Castle

History: The world’s oldest and biggest inhabited castle is Windsor Castle, situated in Berkshire. Since William the Conqueror’s original construction of it in the eleventh century, British royalty has continuously resided there. Over the centuries, the castle has undergone multiple renovations and expansions, resulting in an intriguing fusion of various architectural styles.

Highlights

• St. George’s Chapel: This gothic masterpiece is the resting place of ten monarchs, including Henry VIII and Charles I.
• State Apartments: Adorned with opulent décor and an impressive art collection, these rooms are still used for state occasions.
• Changing the Guard: Witness this iconic ceremony, a quintessentially British tradition.

Windsor Castle presents a singular fusion of royal magnificence and historical significance. For visitors, it’s a convenient day trip due to its close proximity to London.

2. Edinburgh Castle

History: Scotland’s capital’s skyline is dominated by Edinburgh Castle, which is perched atop Castle Rock. Based on archaeological findings, it appears that the location has been inhabited since the Iron Age. As a royal residence, a military stronghold, and a representation of Scottish power, the castle has played a significant role in Scottish history.

Highlights

• Crown Jewels and Stone of Destiny: These symbols of Scottish monarchy are housed within the castle.
• The Great Hall: Completed in 1511, it showcases medieval weapons and armour.
• The Royal Palace: Birthplace of James VI, who became James I of England.

In addition to providing stunning city views, Edinburgh Castle delves deeply into Scotland’s turbulent past. Because of its central Edinburgh location, it’s easily accessible and a must-see.

3. Warwick Castle

History: Constructed in 1068 by William the Conqueror, Warwick Castle is among the best-preserved examples of a medieval English castle. It began as a wooden fort, evolved into a stone fortress, and finally became a stately home over the ages.

Highlights

• The Castle Dungeon: Experience the darker side of history with this interactive attraction.
• The Mound: Climb to the top for stunning views of the castle and the River Avon.
• Medieval Banquets: Enjoy a feast fit for a king in the castle’s grand dining halls.

Warwick Castle is ideal for both families and history enthusiasts because it blends historical authenticity with contemporary attractions.

4. Tower of London

History: As part of the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror established the historic castle known as the Tower of London on the north bank of the River Thames in 1066. It has had a variety of uses, including armoury, treasury, prison, and royal palace.

Highlights

• The Crown Jewels: Home to the British Crown Jewels, including the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond.
• The White Tower: The oldest part of the castle, housing an impressive collection of arms and armour.
• Yeoman Warders: Also known as Beefeaters, these guards offer entertaining and informative tours.

There is a lot of history and legend surrounding the Tower of London, from the beheadings of queens to the ravens that are incorrigible. For those who are interested in England’s royal past, this is an intriguing place to visit.

5. Leeds Castle

History: Leeds Castle has been called the “loveliest castle in the world.” It is located in Kent on two islands in a lake created by the River Len. Constructed in 1119 initially, it housed six mediaeval queens before turning into a private home.

Highlights

• The Maze: This hedge maze leads to an underground grotto, a fun challenge for visitors.
• Bird of Prey Centre: Offers daily falconry displays.
• The Gardens: Beautifully landscaped gardens that provide a perfect setting for a leisurely stroll.

Leeds Castle is a wonderful place for a leisurely but educational day out because of its beautiful surroundings and array of attractions.

6. Alnwick Castle

History: The Dukes of Northumberland have had their residence at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland for more than 700 years. Originally constructed in the latter part of the eleventh century, it has undergone numerous renovations and restorations over the years.

Highlights

• Film and TV Location: Featured in the Harry Potter films as Hogwarts and in the TV series Downton Abbey.
• Alnwick Garden: Includes the Grand Cascade, the Poison Garden, and a massive treehouse.
• Historical Re-enactments: Regular events bring medieval history to life.

Because of its appearances in popular media, Alnwick Castle is not only a historical treasure but also a cultural icon. The vast gardens enhance the attraction.

7. Caernarfon Castle

History: Edward I constructed Caernarfon Castle in North Wales as a part of his campaign to subjugate the Welsh. It was finished in 1330 and is well known for its imposing walls and polygonal towers.

Highlights

• Eagle Tower: The castle’s most famous tower, offering panoramic views.
• Royal Investitures: The castle has been the site of investiture ceremonies for the Prince of Wales.
• Interactive Exhibits: Learn about the castle’s history through engaging displays.

Medieval fortress Caernarfon Castle is one of the most impressive in the United Kingdom due to its dramatic architecture and rich history.

8. Bodiam Castle

History: A typical example of a medieval moated castle is Bodiam Castle in East Sussex. During the Hundred Years’ War, Sir Edward Dalyngrigge erected it in 1385 with the intention of defending against French invasion.

Highlights

• The Moat: A picturesque and defining feature of the castle.
• The Gatehouse: Provides a formidable entrance and offers great views from the top.
• Interactive Displays: Exhibits that provide insight into medieval life.

Bodiam Castle, which offers the ideal fusion of beauty and history, is one of the most photographed castles in England because of its fanciful appearance.

9. Dover Castle

History: Dover Castle has a rich and illustrious past and is referred to as the “Key to England” because of its advantageous location. It was established in the eleventh century and has been vital to England’s defence over the ages.

Highlights

• The Great Tower: Explore the recreated medieval royal palace.
• Secret Wartime Tunnels: Discover the tunnels used during World War II.
• Medieval Tunnels: Walk through tunnels dating back to the medieval period.

Dover Castle is a fascinating place for people of all ages because it provides a unique blend of military history from the 20th century and medieval history.

10. Cardiff Castle

History: The history of Cardiff Castle in Wales dates back more than two millennia. It began as a Roman fort and evolved into a Victorian Gothic mansion and a Norman keep.

Highlights

• The Norman Keep: Climb to the top for views over Cardiff.
• The Castle Apartments: Lavishly decorated rooms reflecting Victorian opulence.
• The Roman Walls: Discover remnants of the original Roman fortifications.

Cardiff Castle is a must-see attraction in the Welsh capital because of its rich history and convenient location. For anyone visiting Cardiff, it is a must-see.

Conclusion

With their distinct histories and allure, the medieval castles in the United Kingdom provide an enthralling window into the past. These castles, which range from the imposing Windsor Castle to the well-known Tower of London, are more than just crumbling strongholds; they are dynamic tributes to the history and cultural legacy of the United Kingdom. These castles ought to be at the top of your list, regardless of whether you’re organising a focused tour of UK castles or just want to give your vacation a historical touch. Prepare to discover the finest medieval castles the UK has to offer by packing your bags and grabbing your camera!

My Own Dark Fantasy Realm

Hi there, fellow fans of dark fantasy! Thanks to your unflinching support, our blog — which is packed with tales and inspirations of dark fantasy — is making waves on TikTok, Pinterest, and YouTube. Even more thrilling is the fact that we’re creating a captivating Trading Card Game to further engross you in Twilight Citadel’s eerie mysteries. Explore the depths of the shadows with our website, where you can get eerie yet lovely phone wallpapers and posters. Furthermore, we’ve got you covered with free resources like desktop wallpapers and profile pictures to make sure your gadgets are brimming with eerie fantasy atmosphere. Come along with us on this surreal adventure, where fears come true and shadows dance. Are you prepared to welcome the gloom?

I am NOT the Original Poster. That is u/JazzlikeOriginal358. They posted in AmItheAsshole
Trigger Warning: discussions of transphobia
Mood Spoiler: moving in a positive direction
Original Post: March 22, 2024
I'm having a bit of family drama and need a reality check about if I am being unreasonable here. I really need the perspective of LGBT+ sensitive individuals because the drama surrounds transphobia perpetrated by JK Rowling.
My step daughter is going through a pretty tough time. The last couple years have been really rough on her. She has been dealing with bullying at school, being held back a year, not getting along with her mom's new husband, self harm and identity issues. Lots of questioning of her sexuality and gender. (We have been working on getting her a good mental health team of doctors and therapists to help her navigate all of this, please know we aren't throwing her to the wolves or internet to deal with it all herself).
I've been in her life since she was 7. We've always had a pretty good, though not terribly close, relationship. I have not taken on a parental role, but have always tried to make myself available for her.
Until last year, her mom had primary custody and her dad had weekends with alternating holidays. Last year due to the issues with her school and mom's house, my stepdaughter requested that custody arrangements be changed.
Since she came to live with my husband and I full time, there has been quite a bit of friction between the two of us. One of the biggest points of contention is my Harry Potter fandom, particularly "The Bookcase", and my supposed transphobia (due to my apparently "wrong" stance when it comes to the politics regarding trans issues in our country)
I grew up in the hayday. So many of my childhood and teen memories are tied to the franchise. My friends and I were all really into it. We attend midnight book releases, dressed up in costume for movie releases, threw HP themed parties when we wanted to hang out, etc. In many ways it shaped the course of my entire life, those same friends and I joined our high school's botany club because herbology. That unlocked a lifelong passion of mine and my career is working with plants.
Over the years I've collected quite a bit of memorabilia, many of which are gifts, and they have always been displayed on my most prized possession. A monstrously large custom bookcase my grandfather, a former woodworker, built for me when I was a teenager. I love this thing. The shelves are live edge black walnut slabs. All around the casing my grandpa carved beautiful HP themed imagery. Owls, cauldrons, shooting stars, lightning bolts, an adorable little rat at the bottom and nibble marks from said rat, etc. It's both sentimental and valuable (the slabs of walnut for the shelves alone would be pushing a grand, let alone attempting to value the hand carved craftmanship). The bookcase has always been proudly displayed in my home. It currently lives in our living room.
During one of our family therapy sessions, my stepdaughter expressed that seeing my HP shelf made her feel really uncomfortable because of the author and that she was really disappointed in me and her father for being so supportive of a biggot. I apologized for making her feel uncomfortable in her own home, and said that I would take down the HP stuff.
So I packed up all the HP themed merch off the shelves. Made sure I didn't have the books or anything on display that said "Harry Potter" anywhere. I bought some LED grow lights and converted the bookcase into a plant shelf to display succulents. I bought some witchy, but not overtly harry potter, themed pots for the little guys so they'd go with the shelf.
This was not an acceptable compromise for my stepdaughter and has remained a point of contention. With my stepdaughter hurling that I/we (referring to my husband) broke a promise by saying we would get rid of the Harry Potter stuff. I tried to explain to my stepdaughter that, while I do not agree with JK Rowling's political stance at all, the media has a special place in my heart because of my childhood association with it and that the shelf was very important to me because it was a gift from my grandpa, but she maintains that none of that should matter because in 2024 it is nothing but a symbol of transphobia and hate.
At first my husband was supportive of me and my desire to keep my bookcase, but lately the arguments are wearing on him and he asked me if I would reconsider keeping it in the living room. Suggesting we rent a storage unit to house it in.
After the most recent blow up about it, I kinda lost my temper. I didn't yell or anything, but I did very firmly tell my stepdaughter that this is my home and my bookshelf stays. If it is such a big problem for her, she can always go back to live with her mother.
I knew it was a low blow pretty much as soon as I said it. I quickly apologized but it was out there. My stepdaughter has been on an emotional downward spiral.
My husband and I have been arguing almost nonstop. I think it is mostly stress because he is at his wits end with how to help his daughter but he is becoming pretty mean and nasty towards me. Telling me to "grow up and just get rid of the fucking bookcase"
I know I was a dick for saying my stepdaughter could always go back to live with her mom (and I suspect that will be the main topic at hand in our next family therapy session).
But am I really being unreasonable in wanting to keep my beloved bookcase?
EDIT: Thank you everyone. Honestly. Thank you for those who shared their insight and advice and thank you to the people who have asked me hard questions that made me think. Especially those who asked what matters more, a bookcase or a/my child?
I've been reflecting really hard on what my bookcase means to me an why it is so important. I'm hitting some deep truths I don't think I was ready to recognize about how I really feel about my relationship with my step daughter.
All in all I think we just need to shelf things until our next therapy session. (I'll see myself out...)
Relevant Comments:
Commenter: Can you temporarily put it in storage until she’s off to college, then take it back out? That way it will be safe, and everyone can take a deep breath and calm down a little.

OOP: I looked into storage units when my husband suggested it, for the size and climate/humidity control we would need it would cost us approximately $7,500 to store my shelf until she goes to college.
It's cost prohibitive.

Commenter: Why can't you just move the bookcase into the primary bedroom?

OOP: It's 7' x 4' x 1', made of solid wood, and we have a L shaped stair case.
The only way it is going upstairs is if it is completely dismantled and rebuilt. I don't have the skills, knowledge or tools to do that and hiring out a task like that is cost prohibitive especially because it would have to be done again when moving the bookcase back out.

Commenter: NTA. You need to put that bookcase in a room with locks, because your husband is going sell it or damage it.

OOP: My husband isn't an emotionally unstable monster. I don't believe he would ever do anything like that to me. I wouldn't have married him if he was that kind of person.
(to another commenter): I have absolutely zero concern about my husband doing anything to it. He isn't that kind of person. He is incredibly stressed out about all of this and has said shitty things in anger but this isn't some tv show where he and my stepdaughter are going to have daddy and daughter bonding time with a sledge hammer.

Commenter: I think he was just frustrated and worried about his daughter. Hopefully you can talk it out with him and he will apologize for the "grow up" comment.

OOP: That is my impression in regards to him too.
I can't imagine how hard it must be to see your child suffering and not being able to fix that pain.
I've been doing my best to give him grace due to the circumstances.
It is something we will address when he has the spoons to do so.

Commenter: One question: who owns or rents the house you are living in? If it is yours you can suggest that your husband move out and get a place of his own to his daughter liking

OOP: My husband and I purchased it together. We are both on the mortgage.

Commenter: Then time to figure out who stays, who goes, and how the equity...if any...is split.

OOP: I don't intend to divorce my husband and throw away a decade plus long relationship because he said one shitty thing to me during a period of great stress for him.

Commenter: If he destroys the bookcase to show solidarity with his daughter, what will you do?

OOP: Have him pink slipped.
That is not the action of a reasonable adult. I would be very concerned for his mental state.

Commenter: I wonder if she made similar unreasonable demands in her mother’s home or at school that lead you to the conflict there?

OOP: Part of the issues with her homelife with her mother involved my step daughter demanding that her mother choose between her now husband and her because mom's husband's political views.
So, this isn't exactly left field behavior.

Commenter: Your stepdaughter needs a massive reality check and probably different therapists.

OOP: oof. We are on our 5th

More on therapy:

Yes. She meets with a psychiatrist as well as her therapists.
(to a different commenter) We are in family counseling already. Couple's counseling is likely to happen if there isn't a resolution to this current bookcase issue in the very near future.

Commenter: Info needed: what is your ‘wrong stance’ when it comes to trans issues?

OOP: I'm kinda middle of the road when it comes to the trans political issues, and mostly take the stance of "I don't know, I have my own feelings about the issues but as it is not my area of expertise I am not beholden to them and I will leave these big problems up to the people who have made learning about them their focus of study"
Like, I get my feathers ruffled when medically uneducated politicians try to interfere with any kind of health care. Like seriously ruffled.
I believe that people facing gender identity issues should have free and easy access to health care and therapy to navigate those issues.
I believe that society in general should strive to use preferred pronouns if only as a matter of politeness.
But when it comes to things like trans people in sports or having afab only "safe spaces" - I see both sides of the argument and refer back to my "I think this should be left up to the people who focus on this and not form a super strong opinion either way based on my lay opinion"

OOP is voted NTA
Update Post: May 12, 2024 (1.5 months later)
Some one asked if I could update this situation, and I'll try my best to summarize the past several weeks.
My husband and I spoke about the situation. He apologized for being snappish with me, and agreed that SD was being unreasonable about the bookcase. He ultimately agreed to back me about it. He and I are just as tight as we ever have been.
I once again apologized to my SD for the remark I said out of frustration about her moving back with her mom. I reiterated that our home is her home too and she is always welcome here. That even though families sometimes fight and disagree we ARE family.
But the general argument about HP, JK Rowling, and my bookcase continued to escalate for a couple weeks. And then the discontent about that started to bleed over into complaints about me. She started to be more disrespectful and sarcastic.
During all of this we were still attending our family therapy sessions. Our therapist was pretty certain that the misbehavior was anxiety related and didn't suggest that we give in to the demands to have the bookcase removed and wanted to just keep working on the things we all have been.
Well, SD's disrespectful attitude hit a climax. She called me the c word and some other choice things within my husband's ear shot. My husband honestly kinda lost it on her. I don't think I have EVER seen him that angry before. He was bright red and vein popping angry as he marched her to her room and declared "YOU WILL NOT SPEAK TO MY WIFE IN SUCH A WAY".
This was probably the first time my SD had ever seen her dad angry, let alone anger directed at her. It left her pretty shook. Like that was her rock bottom. We ended up needing to do a couple emergency session with her counselor because there was concern about her relapsing with some self-destructive issues she has been working on.
But that incident lead to us having a break through. Her counselor invited my husband and I into one of her sessions, and she had a bit of a break down. Basically she was dealing with a lot of existential dread and a lot of fear due to politics and it being an election year.
That ended up being an excellent opening for us to bond. This is gonna sound silly but I was able to pull up my social media timelines back from 2016 and I showed her some of the things I had written or had shared with me back then.
She was able to see that I shared a lot of the same fears that she has.
So we have all had some really big talks about things like feeling helpless when things are out of your control, about disengaging from the media machine for your own mental health, etc.
Things have been on the upswing since then. Before she left for her mom's this past weekend she even gave me a mother's day gift. An adorable little planter that says Caution: Mandrakes.
I love it. I put one of my favorite props in it and it is front and center on the bookcase now.
Relevant Comments:
To a downvoted commenter:

your continued support of JK Rowling through fandom will likely be an issue for other LGBT people in your life

The only other LGBT person in my life sent me bertie botts every flavor beans in my christmas package this past year...
Commenter: This poor girl is terrified of being kicked out from another set of abusive parents and is forcing herself to buy merchandise to support someone who wants her dead to make her stepparent happy. This update is horrifying, for real.

OOP: Hope you stretched before this reach.
SD was not kicked out of her mom's home. That was a choice she made. She is in no danger of being kicked out of our home either.

I have an exceptionally difficult time really getting into books (as well as movies and video games). There’s lots of books i can read and be like “that was fine” but it’s hard to find a book or series where I’m like, excited to read it every day. I tend to go back and re-read the same stuff over and over again because there are books I’ve found that really resonate with me, and it’s easier to read those over and over again rather than go through the effort of finding something new and going through the slog of suffering through it until it grows on me enough that I feel invested. I think I’m extremely picky about what I do and don’t like, but I have no idea how to articulate what that is. Despite my difficulties in finding new stuff to read, I would really like to read a lot more, but I’m not sure where to start.
I think the best way I can explain what I’m looking for is by giving examples of what I like and don’t like. What I like:
Brandon Sanderson is easily my favourite author because (aside from his prose which I know is generally not great) he manages to have this complex high fantasy that feels grounded and engaging because of the way the characters are written. His stories are fundamentally about interesting and relatable characters existing within worlds that are so much bigger than them.
Since starting them at the age of 7 I think I’ve read the Harry Potter books in their entirety like 15 times. They’re awesome. I don’t think I need to explain why I like them. They probably strike some of the same balances that Brandon Sanderson hits as I explained above.
I read a lot of YA stuff growing up. The Percy Jackson books and the Eragon series are probably the main books from my youth that I still read and find compelling, though I’m not necessarily looking for stuff similar to them. The writing is really juvenile in both examples. Nostalgia is probably an element of my enjoyment, though I think I do find the characters in those books pretty compelling. The other “big” YA stuff I read when I was younger I’m really NOT a fan of (Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Divergent (holy shit I hate that series so much)). I think I really hate books that are like, edgy and cool for the sake of being edgy and cool (which is probably most YA).
For stuff I’ve tried to get into but couldn’t, or even books I did read and enjoy but am not really looking for more of:
I read Dune. Took me a couple of tries but eventually managed to finish it and overall I enjoyed it. Definitely NOT looking for more books like it. (both because Frank Herbert writes really weird, and also because it sort of feels like the opposite of Brandon Sanderson, where the characters exist within this big cool world, except they’re not even remotely relatable or compelling).
I know many people will recommend I read Wheel of Time after saying I like Brandon Sanderson. I’ll probably give it another try in the future, but on my first attempt I just could NOT get into it at all. I don’t know what was wrong with it or me. The series is incredibly long (which is totally fine with me), but I hear it fluctuates quite a bit in terms of quality/engagement, which I’m not a fan of.
I read Enders Game and actually really enjoyed it, but I’m not sure if it’s quite what I’m looking for.
I swear I’m gonna finish it one day, but holy moly I’m really struggling to get into Lord of the Rings.
I read most of the Witcher books and wasn’t really a fan, but I love the world and vibe of the Witcher.
This is very different, but I recently read fifteen dogs by Andre Alexis, at the behest of a friend. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I’m not opposed to books that have more complexity in their themes/messages.
I hope that’s some help. I’m looking for books that I can’t put down because I’m just so invested in them. I think the characters, including their design and how they’re written is a big element of my enjoyment. I enjoy fantasy and cool world building, but that’s not necessarily a rule, especially since a lot of fantasy feels extremely derivative which I don’t like. The books don’t have to be fantasy at all, it could be (some form of) sci-fi or even realism (or whatever you’d call it).

(prepare for a hella yap session)
I am not much of a hater. Even some of the heavily hated stuff, take RWBY for example, I can easily ignore the negatives and look at the positives. Though, there are 4 things I hate in this world. Katsuki Bakugo, Ragyo Kiryuin, Marilyn Manson and Dio vs Sakuya. Now while the first two are for another day on why I hate them and the third one is a musician which I won't talk about here, I will happily explain here why this is one of the worst matchups. Not just for Sakuya, or just Dio, or just for Touhou or Jojo. No. One of, if not, the worst matchup. Period. At the end, I will leave recommendations to other matchups for them. And by the way, this is in the style of u/McMania's matchup ranking style, atleast from what I can find from him so thank you for this indepth overview/kinda debunk. Let's go.
Part 1: Connections
Well, heres the thing. There aren't any! The only connection is "they stop time". There is also the fact they use knives but Sakuya's main weapon are her knives while Dio has several other means of attacking. Okay. By that definition, Michael Newman from the 2006 movie "Click" vs Dio can work as well. I will not deny the fact they both can stop time but with it being a small connection and it being the only one, and the fact it can be applied to many other characters, it is barely impressive. Although, while the connections suck. I want to point out one of a few positives.
Part 1.5: Contrasts
Now while the connections suck, the contrasts is actually interesting. With Dio being a vampire, having a human servant while also having time powers and using knives (again, weak connections). While Sakuya is a vampire HUNTER and she is the said human servant to a vampire (Remilia). Now Remilia vs Dio is a topic for a different time, this is a neat contrast matchup. But that is the only thing carrying it. Nothing else impressive. For connections, I will have it as a 0.5/10. Now, how thematic is it?
Part 2: Thematic
Not in the fucking slightest. According to Mr Mania, a thematic matchup is how similar their story is and how good the theme is. Like I said earlier, very bad themes to it. But a vampire theme is decent to this. And their stories matching up, the fucking fuckity no. They do NOT allign up in the SLIGHTEST. So that, it gets a ZERO out of 10. Next up, animation potential.
Part 3: Animation potential
Okay, you get the win this time. With how much fanmade sprites, 3d renders and how easy it could be drawn as. Although for the other options, I feel it isn't as impressive. For that, Im giving this an 8. But only because of how popular and good their sprites, 3d renders and drawability are.
Part 4: Fight potential
Hmm. We could use the knives, but Dio uses a multitude of other weapons. Also, Sakuya's spell cards and hax completely negate all of Dio's weapons so for that, this gets a 4 due to the fact Sakuya hard counters all of Dio's hax. By Mr Mania's definition, even if one character hard counters, as long as its nothing basic, it gets a 4 or higher.
Part 5: Interaction Potential
If you know stuff about Touhou, Sakuya is mainly just hands. With that, Dio will be the main talker in this. Which he will be very cocky but Sakuya, she will ignore Dio. This is my main issue with Sakuya as she isn't much of a talker in a fight, but knowing how cocky Dio will be, she will probably ignore Dio even more. With that, it gets a 3. They can interact, its just realistically, Sakuya refuses.
Part 6: Story Potential
Again, another suprising positive. Sakuya actually has a motivator for fighting as Dio is a vampire and she hunts vampires. Although, by Mr Mania's definition, there has to be a sort of growth or something interesting about the story and the fight. Which brings it down as I doubt Sakuya will have much of a reaction to Dio's death (spoiler for part 8 of this). And I don't see anything special about this. With that, it gets a 5.
Part 7: Music Potential
Okay, you got lucky again. I refuse to elaborate but it can be done in rock, classical, metal, etc. As well as with plenty of music to work with and the said music both blending well and going hard as fuck. I am giving it a 10. But their other matchups also get a 10 in music so nothing impressive.
Part 8: Debatability.
If I could, I would give it a 0 or negatives. But, by Mr Mania's definition, if both have feats, at minimum, it gets a 1. And dear god, Sakuya farts and Part 3 of Jojo is gone (please don't make fetish art from me mentioning that). Anyways, the only way Dio can win is with EoH or comp Dio; entirely different matchups to begin with. So with that, I give it a 1, but if the definition gets changed, I am willing to give it even lower.
Part 9: Promotability
Again, another positive. Lots and lots of offical renders for both. As well as lots of fanart for both to be able to use. For drawing, its literally a maid with white hair and a blonde buff dude wearing a yellow suit. Extremely easy to draw. Even I could draw it. Although for trailers, we gotta use the fanmade anime for Sakuya. But plenty of clips for Sakuya. With that, it gets an 8. Mainly due to Sakuya needing a fanmade anime for her clips.
Part 10: Recognizability
Touhou isn't that recognizable. I first heard of Touhou from Bad Apple in my recommendations in my Youtube feed but with the amount of fan content being popular but not noticing it is Touhou, it could be recognizable. As for Dio, well Dio is an anime icon along with Jojo. But, with that, gets a 6. Mainly carried by Dio and stuff like Bad Apple and Fumo memes.
Total: 45.5/100. By u/McMania and "The Council"'s definition, FAILURE. (suprisingly, it did 1.5 points better than Kiritapp's original review). By definition from Mr Mania, it could work but hella issues with the episode.
Now, who is better for them?
If you want a good matchup with Sakuya fighting a Jojo character or Dio fighting a Touhou character? May I introduce you to Sakuya vs Pucci (https://www.reddit.com/DeathBattleMatchups/s/Ujld0klUVM) and Dio vs Byakuren (https://www.reddit.com/DeathBattleMatchups/s/h1MiTLbddY). Now, they aren't perfect but they are way better than this piece of shit matchup. Now, lets first talk about the star of the show first: Sakuya Izayoi
Sakuya has plenty of options I really like. Bayonetta and Alucard from Castlevania immediately come into mind. Bayonetta makes Sakuya's time powers properly treated while Alucard gives an interesting debate and hella potential with other stuff. Besides those two stars and the priest, it kinda stops there. (someone please make a good Sakuya matchup.)
Dio on the other hand, I will be talking about four Dios. Part 1, Part 3, EoH and Comp.
Part 1 should go to Muzan from Demon Slayer. Should be the same amount of potential with Johnathan vs Tanjiro but villain and less emotion yet a more colder death.
Part 3, two actually. Voldomort from Harry Potter and Alucard from Hellsing are both his best for going over Part 3 Dio. I will skip Diego as they are different yet similar due to the reset. Also Diego is a separate entity.
Eyes Of Hevaen Dio, I choose What If Ultron. I think the highlights are the interaction potential from it and it's amazing connections.
And Comp Dio, Reverse Flash or Beatrice from Umineko. I know the second one is controversial but I would say it is 10x better than Sakuyio. As it actually presents them in a good light and their actual personalities are presented well.

My son has been asking about when he can read the "grown up" books like me, which at the time was the First Law series. It got me thinking about what he could read in his growing years until it's appropriate to read something more mature like that. This is my attempt, using major fantasy series only (there are plenty of standalone that could be supplemented in there as well). I tried to keep in mind the complexity and length as well, beyond just the dark or mature themes. I imagine this should get him into high school at least.

1. Percy Jackson & the Olympians by Rick Riordan - Youthful and adventurous, centered on Greek mythology.
   
2. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling - Begins as a children's series and matures over the books.
   
3. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis - Classic children's literature with deep allegorical themes.
   
4. The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi - Engaging for younger readers, involving magical creatures and adventures.
   
5. Artemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer - A blend of fantasy and science fiction with a young criminal mastermind as the protagonist.
   
6. The Inheritance Cycle (Eragon) by Christopher Paolini - A young adult fantasy series featuring dragons and epic quests.
   
7. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman - A bit more mature, dealing with complex themes and darker elements.
   
8. Redwall Series by Brian Jacques - Anthropomorphic animals in a medieval setting, meant for older children and teens.
   
9. The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud - Includes witty, mature humor with a mix of serious themes.
   
10. Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan - Adventure and coming-of-age themes aimed at younger teens.
    
11. The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper - A mix of Arthurian legend with modern fantasy, suitable for middle school to young adults.
    
12. The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin - Starts pretty simple but reveals deeper, more introspective themes.
    
13. The Old Kingdom Series by Garth Nix - Explores more complex themes, suitable for older teens.
    
14. Mistborn Series by Brandon Sanderson - Moves into more adult themes with complex magical systems and light political intrigue.
    
15. The Shannara Series by Terry Brooks - Classic epic fantasy with a traditional good versus evil plot.
    
16. The Witcher Series by Andrzej Sapkowski - Contains mature content, including complex moral choices and dark themes.
    
17. The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan - Epic in scope with complex narratives and a vast character ensemble.
    
18. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson - Uses deep world-building and complex themes.
    
19. The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb - In-depth character development with emotional and mature storylines
    
20. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin - Firmly in the mature theme camp now. With complex characters, and intricate plots.
    
21. The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss - Detailed storytelling and mature themes. At a point where better reading comprehension/attention span is very important for the full reading experience.
    
22. The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson - Complex with a vast scope, and a wide-spanning history. Includes themes of war, mortality, and suffering.
    
23. The Black Company by Glen Cook - Dark fantasy focusing on the lives of mercenaries in a gritty, realistic setting.
    
24. The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie - Known for its dark humor and morally gray characters.
    
25. The Broken Empire Trilogy by Mark Lawrence - Features a dark, ruthless protagonist and mature, grim content.
    

This can also hopefully serve to help someone find a series that fits their flavor or maturity in a book.

LATHANDER
The Morninglord, Commander of Creativity, Patron to Spring and Eternal Youth, Mentor of Self-Perfection, Bringer of the Dawn, Lord of Birth and Renewal
Greater Power of Elysium
Symbol Sunrise made of pink, red, and yellow gems, or a simple rosy pink disk
Realm Morninglory (Elysium/Eronia)
Alignment Neutral Good
Aliases none
Superior none (AO)
Allies Chauntea (lover), Deneir, Eldath, Gond, Ilmater, Kelemvor, Llira, Lurue, Mielikki, Milil, Oghma, Paladine, Selune, Siamorphe, Silvanus, Sune, Torm, Tyche (dead), Tymora, Tyr, Ushas
Foes Bane, Beshaba, Bhaal (dead), Cyric, Ibrandul (dead), Iyachtu Xvim (dead), Loviatar, Moander (dead), Myrkul (dead), Shar, Talona
Servants none
Servitor Creatures butterflies, celestials of all types, elysian dragons, hollyphants, radiant creatures, robins (normal and celestial), sanctified creatures, sun peacocks (normal and celestial), sunwyrms (good aligned only)
Manifestations an intense and rosy radiance that appears around objects to indicate special qualities or at confusing or dangerous junctures to indicate a safe or preferred path, and that causes those people it surrounds to be telekinetically pushed out of harmful situations, healed of all wounds, purged of any diseases, poisons, foreign objects, magical and nonmagical afflictions and deleterious effects, magical or psionic compulsions, fear, and curses, causes resurrection effects to be automatically successful, and transmits messages
Signs of Favor aster blossoms, an intense and rosy radiance with the same qualities as his manifestation, sun peacock feathers
Worshipers Aristocrats, artists, athletes, farmers, hunters of the undead, merchants, monks of the Sun Soul, peasants, performers, the youthful
Cleric Alignments LG, NG, CG
Specialty Priests Morninglord
Holy Days Midsummer morning, the mornings of the vernal and autumnal equinoxes
Important Ceremonies Song of Dawn; contracts, marriages and promises made at dawn, funerals for those not meant to be raised or resurrected
Portfolio Athletics, birth, creativity, dawn, renewal, self-perfection, spring, vitality, youth
Domains Community, Courage, Endurance, Good, Glory, Hope, Life, Protection, Radiance, Renewal, Strength, Zeal
Favored Weapon Dawnspeaker (heavy or light mace)

LATHANDER
Male Sentinel 20, Cleric 20, Morninglord 20, Master of Radiance 5
NG Medium Outsider (Extraplanar, Good)
Divine Rank 17
Init 44 (+16 Dex, +8 Superior Initiative); Senses 17-mile-radius; Listen 77, Spot 77; remote sensing (20 locations), portfolio sense
Aura divine aura (DC 78), courage (100 ft, +8 saves against fear), radiant 3/day; Languages can communicate with any living creature; Words of Creation
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AC 105, touch 57, flat-footed 95, undead 107 (+18 armor, +20 deflection, +10 Dex, +17 divine, +30 natural)
hp 1,860 (20d10 + 45d8 plus 1300), fast healing 74; divine shield 23/day (170 hp); renewal 1/day (if fall below 0 but less than -10 hit points regain 1d8 +20 hp); DR 40/epic, evil and adamantine
Immune ability damage, ability drain, banishment, death effects, disease, disintegration, electricity, energy drain, fire, imprisonment, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, rebuking, sleep, sonic, stunning, transmutation, and turning
Resist acid 37, cold 37; SR 81
Fort 111 Ref 101 Will 105; +2 against evil outsiders and undead, +4 against mind-affecting effects from evil outsiders, +5 against evil spells or spells from evil characters
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Speed 60 ft. (12 squares)
Melee dawnspeaker 115/110/105/100 (55 plus 18 fire plus 18 holy plus 1 negative level vs evil plus 48 vs evil outsiders and undead plus undead disruption [Fort DC 79 or die]/19-20/x2 plus 36 fire plus 36 holy plus 2 negative levels vs good plus death [Fort DC 79, evil outsiders and undead] plus undead disruption [Fort DC 79 or die]), +8 atk vs evil outsiders and undead; or
Melee spell 80 or
Ranged spell 76
Base Atk +43; Grp +63
Atk Options Awesome Smite, Cleave, Holy Potency, Power Attack; smite evil 24/day (+20 atk, +455 damage)
Special Actions alter reality, divine blast (444 damage) 23/day, feat of endurance 1/day (+30 Con for 1 minute), destroy evil outsiders and undead 27/day as a 66^th level cleric (turning check 73, turning damage 105; Heighten Turning, Intensify Turning, Multiturning, Quicken Turning), protective ward 1/day (+65 resistance bonus to one saving throw for one hour), surge of hope 1/day (when failing a skill check, attack roll, or saving throw, add 1d6 to the result), touch of life 1/day (1d6 +65 temporary hp to a single creature for one hours), zeal 1/day (take 20 on a skill check, except on checks are not normally allowed to take 20, without increasing the amount of time needed to make the check); Battle Blessing, Corona (Will DC 62), Divine Censure (Will DC 62), Epic Divine Might, Epic Divine Vengeance, Sacred Vengeance
Combat Gear dawnspeaker
Divine Spell-like Abilities (CL 65^th; +1 good spells; all [fire] and [light] spells are intensified)
At will – aid, animate objects, animate plants, antimagic field, atonement, bear’s endurance, bigby’s clenched fist, bigby’s crushing hand, bigby’s grasping hand, blade barrier (DC 53), bless, bless weapon, bolt of glory, bull’s strength, charm person (DC 48), cloak of bravery, color spray (DC 48), commune, consecrate, crown of glory (DC 55), death ward, dismissal (DC 51), dispel evil (DC 52), disrupt undead, disrupting weapon (DC 52), endure elements, enlarge person, widened faerie fire, flame strike (DC 52), fire shield, fire seeds (DC 53), freedom, gate, globe of invulnerability, good hope, greater cloak of bravery, greater dispel magic, greater heroism, greater planar ally, greater restoration, greater status, greater teleport, heat metal (DC 49), helping hand, heroes’ feast, heroism, hide from undead (DC 48), holy aura (DC 55), holy smite (DC 51), holy sword, holy word (DC 54), hypnotic pattern (DC 49), iron body, lesser restoration, lion’s roar (DC 56), magic vestment, mass bear’s endurance, mass heal (DC 56), mind blank, mordenkainen’s magnificent mansion, plant growth, plane shift (DC 52), polymorph any object (DC 55), prayer, prismatic sphere (DC 56), prismatic spray (DC 54), prismatic wall (DC 56), protection from energy, protection from evil, rary’s telepathic bond, rainbow, rainbow pattern (DC 51), refreshment, refuge, regenerate, reincarnate (DC 51), remove disease, remove fear, repulsion (DC 54), righteous might, sanctuary (DC 48), scintillating pattern, searing light, sustain, spell immunity, spell resistance, status, stoneskin, sympathy (DC 55), summon monster IX (good creatures only), sunbeam (DC 54), sunburst (DC 55), tongues.
1/day – calm emotions (DC 51)
Master of Radiance Spell-like Abilities (CL 56^th; +1 good spells; all [fire] and [light] spells are intensified; only usable during aura of radiance)
1/round – beam of sunlight, searing light
Morninglord Spell-like Abilities (CL 54^th; +1 good spells; all [fire] and [light] spells are intensified)
1/day – daylight, searing ray (as searing light, but automatically empowered against undead)
Cleric Spells per Day (CL 54^th; +1 good spells; all spells are energized and maximized; all [fire] and [light] spells are intensified)
20^th (3+1/day) – heightened intensified end to strife (DC 63) (x2), heightened last judgement (DC 70), enhanced heightened intensified mass heal (DC 59) (D).
19^th (3+1/day) – heightened miracle (DC 69) (x2), consecrated intensified purified sacred storm of vengeance (DC 59), enhanced empowered heightened sunburst (DC 63) (D).
18^th (3+1/day) – consecrated enhanced heightened purified flame strike (DC 62) (x2) (D), intensified quickened righteous smite (DC 57), enhanced intensified righteous smite (DC 57).
17^th (3+1/day) – heightened holy word (DC 67) (D), heightened know true name (DC 67), empowered intensified lion’s roar (DC 58), heightened quickened miracle (DC 63).
16^th (4+1/day) – intensified mass heal (DC 59), intensified righteous exile (DC 59) (x2), intensified storm of vengeance (DC 59), enhanced quickened sunburst (DC 58) (D).
15^th (4+1/day) – empowered intensified blade barrier (DC 56) (D), enhanced quickened searing erupt (DC 59) (x2), intensified mass cure critical wounds, heightened righteous glare (DC 65).
14^th (4+1/day) – enhanced fire-substituted fiery searing lion’s roar (DC 58) (D), heightened quickened holy word (DC 60) (x2), empowered quickened sunburst (DC 58) (x2).
13^th (4+1/day) – enhanced quickened flame strike (DC 55) (D), quickened implosion (DC 59) (x2), quickened sublime revelry, intensified weight of sin (DC 56).
12^th (5+1/day) – empowered enhanced blade barrier (DC 56) (D), empowered enhanced cometfall (DC 56), intensified divine retribution (DC 55), consecrated purified sacred firestorm (DC 58) (x2), quickened visions of the future.
11^th (5+1/day) – quickened amber sarcophagus, consecrated purified quickened cometfall (DC 56), sacred searing erupt (DC 59), quickened greater shield of lathander, quickened light of purity, quickened sunbeam (DC 57) (D).
10^th (5+1/day) – quickened crown of brilliance, consecrated fire-substituted searing earthquake (DC 58), quickened heal (DC 56) (D), empowered fire-substituted stormrage.
9^th (7+1/day) – heightened eternal rest (DC 56), quickened flame strike (DC 55), feast of champions, gate, mantle of the fiery spirit, prismatic sphere (DC 59) (D), summon elemental monolith, undeath’s eternal foe.
8^th (8+1/day) – chain dispel, holy aura (DC 58) (D), illusion purge, know true name (DC 58), mass restoration, mass valiant spirit, spread of contentment (DC 58), shun the dark chaos (DC 58), consecrated purified wages of sin.
7^th (8+1/day) – bastion of good, control weather, fortunate fate, quickened light of Venya (DC 53), rain of embers (DC 57), radiant assault (x2) (DC 57), rejuvenating light (DC 57), sunbeam (DC 57) (D).
6^th(8+1/day) – chasing perfection, consecrate battlefield, quickened deific vengeance (DC 52), heal (DC 56) (D), fiery vision (x2), ghost trap, light of courage (DC 56), vigorous circle.
5^th (9+1/day) – atonement, blistering radiance (DC 55), chaav’s laugh (DC 55), condemnation (DC 55), crown of flame, divine agility, divine retribution (DC 55), searing meteoric strike (DC 54) (x2), valiant fury (D).
4^th (10+1/day) – aligned aura (DC 54), assay spell resistance (x2), aura of the sun (x2), channeled divine health, cure critical wounds, holy smite (DC 54) (D), recitation, sacred haven, sunmantle.
3^rd (10+1/day) – cure serious wounds, fell the greatest foe, find the gap, flamebound symbol (x2), forced manifestation (DC 53), heart’s ease, mass align weapon, phieran’s resolve, prayer (D), protection from negative energy.
2^nd (10+1/day) – detect aberration, eagle’s splendor, healing lorecall, make whole, mark of doom (x2), mark of judgment (x2) (DC 52), master’s touch, share talents, shield other (D).
1^st (10+1/day) – bless water, conviction, detect taint, divine favor, endure elements (D), exorcism (x2) (DC 51), nimbus of light, ray of hope, ray of resurgence, vision of heaven (DC 51).
Orisons (6/day) – create water, cure minor wounds, guidance, light, purify food and drink, read magic.
Epic Spells Prepared 6 divine, up to Spellcraft DC 122
Epic Spells Known epic mage armor, epic repulsion, epic spell reflection, global warming, glorious light of renewal, greater ruin, hellball, nailed to the sky, nimbus, rain of fire, ruin, superb dispelling. Lathander has additionally created many epic spells that bring light and life, as well as bring ruin to the undead.
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Abilities Str 50, Dex 42, Con 50, Int 36, Wis 51, Cha 50
SQ avatar, bane of the restless, celestial fortitude, celestial minion 1/day, creative fire +20, divine grace, divinity, immortality, lathander’s light, resist fiendish lure
Feats Awesome Smite, Battle Blessing, Cleave, Consecrate Spell, Corona (Will DC 62), Divine Censure (Will DC 62), Divine Might, Divine Vengeance, Empower Spell, Energize Spell, Energy Substitution (fire), Extra Turning, Fiery Spell, Heighten Spell, Heighten Turning, Holy Potency, Improved Critical (heavy mace), Improved Initiative, Improved Turning, Maximize Spell (B), Power Attack, Purify Spell, Quicken Spell, Quicken Turning, Sacred Vengeance, Sanctify Martial Strike, Searing Spell, Weapon Focus (heavy mace), Words of Creation (B)
Epic Feats Enhance Spell, Epic Divine Might, Epic Divine Vengeance, Epic Spellcasting (B), Great Smiting (x2), Improved Heighten Spell, Intensify Spell, Intensify Turning, Multiturning, Positive Energy Aura, Superior Initiative
Salient Divine Abilities Area Divine Shield (170 hp in a 170 ft square or a 17 ft sphere or hemisphere), Automatic Metamagic (energize spell), Banestrike (evil outsiders), Banestrike (undead), Call Creatures (17 celestials with up to 37 HD), Divine Inspiration (hope), Divine Fast Healing (x2), Divine Paladin, Divine Spellcasting, Divine Weapon Focus (heavy mace), Divine Weapon Specialization (heavy mace), Earthmother’s Boon (unique salient divine ability), Energy Burst (170 ft, 136 fire damage), Energy Storm (170 ft, 17 holy and 17 positive), Gift of Life, Indomitable Strength, Life and Death (Fort DC 79 or die, 340 damage on a successful save), Lord of the Dawn (unique salient divine ability), Mass Life and Death (any number of creatures no more than 17 miles apart, Fort DC 79 or die, 340 damage on a successful save), Power of Nature, Rejuvenation (-17, -34 in Morninglory), Undead Mastery (17 creatures)
Skills Appraise 70 (78 paintings and sculptures), Bluff 82, Concentration 125, Craft (painting) 138, Craft (sculpting) 138, Diplomacy 143, Gather Information 72, Heal 125, Jump 84, Intimidate 86, Knowledge (arcana) 80, Knowledge (history) 92, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 118, Knowledge (religion) 118, Knowledge (the planes) 118, Listen 77, Perform 145, Ride 62, Search 75, Sense Motive 82, Spot 77, Spellcraft 122, Survival 67 (75 extraplanar), Swim 82, Tumble 67
Possessions +8 full plate of the celestial battalion, dawnspeaker

Aura of Radiance (Su) The light of Lathander shines perpetually. No matter how dark it is, the Morninglord sees as though the conditions were identical to the outdoors at sunrise. This ability functions like darkvision out to 60 feet, except that he sees in color. Lathander also has a +2 sacred bonus on saving throws against spells with the darkness descriptor and a +2 sacred bonus to Armor Class against attacks from undead creatures.
Beam of Sunlight (Sp) Lathander can evoke a dazzling beam of intense light (the equivalent of a beam from the sunbeam spell) once per round as a full-round action as long as his radiant aura is active as a 56^th level caster.
Blessing of Dawn (Su) The sight of the morning sun is an inspirational vision for the Morninglord. Lathander gains a +2 morale bonus on Will saves from sunrise until noon. This ability is in effect only while he can see the sun; the effect is suppressed any time he is deprived of the sight of it during this period.
Celestial Fortitude (Su) Lathander’s endurance and fortitude are enhanced against fiendish attacks. He has a +2 sacred bonus to all Fortitude saving throws against effects from evil outsiders and evil spells. Additionally, if he makes a successful Fortitude saving throw against an effect from an evil spell or evil outsider that normally deals half damage or partial effects on a successful save, he instead takes no damage and suffers no partial effects.
Celestial Minion (Sp) Lathander may summon a Medium or smaller size celestial animal (with the celestial creature template) as a standard action usable once a day. This celestial minion carries the same responsibilities as a paladin's special mount and gains the same bonuses to its HD, natural armor, Strength, Intelligence, and other special abilities that a paladin's special mount has, but only remains for 20 hours before returning to the outer plane from whence it came.
Creative Fire (Ex) The Morninglord is a creative, expressive deity. He has a bonus equal to his morninglord level on all Craft and Perform checks.
Divinity Lathander is an embodiment of ancient divine power. As such, reality is his to shape as he sees fit.
Alter Reality: Lathander may alter reality within the bounds of his portfolio. This functions as a wish spell that requires no XP or material cost. The limits of this ability are fully described in Deities and Demigods. He can additionally alter his size from Fine to Colossal and may additionally alter up to 100 pounds of objects in the same manner.
Avatar: Lathander can have up to 20 avatars at any given time. The Morninglord appears as a golden-skinned athletic male of exceeding beauty who has just fully entered early manhood. He wears noble robes constructed in the colors of the dawn, carries himself proudly, and dresses in the finest golden plate armor if attending to matters that might turn violent.
Divine Blast: Lathander can create a ray of divine power that extends for up to 17 miles, dealing up to 444 points of damage, as a ranged touch attack with no saving throw. Lathander can unleash a divine blast 23 times per day, and alter the visual, auditory and sensation-based qualities of his divine blast as he desires. Lathander’s divine blasts generally take the form of rays of fiery sunlight.
Divine Shield: As a free action 23 times per day, Lathander can create a shield that lasts 10 minutes and stops 170 points of damage from attacks. Once the shield stops that much damage, it collapses. Any damage Lathander is naturally immune to does not count towards the shield’s limits.
Earthmother’s Boon (unique salient divine ability) Chauntea is Lathander’s lover and has bestowed a degree of protection over her consort. By her grace, the Lord of the Dawn cannot be harmed by any nonmagical plant or any creature with less than 33 Hit Dice with the plant subtype. Epic creatures and creatures with equal or more than 33 Hit Dice must succeed at a Will save (DC 79) to harm the Morninglord.
Greater Turning (Su) Six times per day, Lathander may use greater turning as the granted power of the Sun domain. This is superseded by his Lord of the Dawn salient divine ability.
Lathander's Light (Su) Whenever Lathander casts a spell with the light descriptor, its area is doubled.
Lord of the Dawn (unique salient divine ability) Lathander is the sun. He is the light that drives back the darkness, the brilliant spark that lights the way out of night and the creative brilliance within every artist. His dominion over light and the sun, both physical and metaphysical, grants him a variety of powers as listed below:
Fires of the Sun: The light of the sun shields Lathander’s body. This protection renders Lathander immune to all forms of magical and nonmagical fire, with searing effects only dealing half damage. In addition, spells and spell-like abilities cast by Lathander from the Sun domain, or with the [fire] and [light] descriptors, are similarly enhanced and are always intensified.
Radiance of the Dawn: Lathander can shed light equal to full sunlight in a 17-mile emanation from his body that counters and dispels all Darkness effects unless created by a higher ranked deity. Undead and evil outsiders caught within the radius must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 79) or be destroyed and turned into dust. Creatures vulnerable to sunlight suffer a -17 penalty to the saving throw. A successful saving throw still deals 17d8 points of damage, while creatures vulnerable to sunlight suffer 17d12 points of damage.
Spark of Creativity: Lathander is the commander of creativity, the inspiration and muse for craftsmen and artists throughout the Realms. 17 times per day, Lathander may bestow a +17 divine bonus to any Craft or Performance check, or the Efficient Item Creation feat, to up to 17 creatures for the next 24 hours. Performances and non-magical items crafted beneath the aegis of this ability always earn three times the normal gold amount and have three times the listed market price in cost. Magical items crafted with the benefit of this ability add +17,000 gp to the listed market price and increase any numeric benefit (enhancement bonuses for the purpose of attack and damage rolls, armor and save bonuses and so forth) by +4.
Spurn the Profane: Lathander uses the totality of his character level to determine the effectiveness of his ability to smite evil, turn outsiders and undead as well as any of his feats that affect the undead. His turn attempts resolve as greater turnings (as the granted power of the Sun domain). In addition, Lathander adds his paladin spells to his clerical spell list, using the sum of both lists to determine his caster level.
Wrath of the Dawn: As a standard action Lathander can generate a ray of scorching light that extends for up to 17 miles and inflicts 17d6 points of damage, half fire and half divine. As a full attack option, he can generate up to four rays, and undead and evil outsiders suffer 17d12 points of damage. In addition, Lathander can duplicate the effects of any spell with the [light] descriptor as a standard action. (CL 65^th, DC 50 plus spell level).
Maximize Turning (Su) Once per day, Lathander can automatically achieve the maximum possible result on a turning damage roll. This is superseded by his natural divine powers.
Radiant Aura (Su) Three times per day, Lathander can emanate an aura of brilliant light that weakens undead creatures for one minute. The aura provides bright illumination in a 30-foot radius around him, and shadowy illumination for an additional 30 feet beyond that. Creatures that take penalties in bright light also take them while within the radius of the bright aura. In addition, undead creatures within the radius of bright light take a —2 penalty on attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws. Activating the radiant aura is a free action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. While his radiant aura is active, Lathander casts spells with the light descriptor at +2 caster level. The radiant aura is the equivalent of a 5th-level spell with the light descriptor for the purpose of interacting with spells and effects with the darkness descriptor.
Rejuvenation of the Morn (Su) Dawn is a powerful symbol of rebirth and renewal. Once per tenday, Lathander may spend one uninterrupted hour before dawn in prayer. As soon as the sun rises after this prayer ritual, he gains one benefit of his choice from the following list.
· Healing up to full normal hit points (self only).
· Removal of any poisons or diseases (self only). This effect does not restore ability damage or ability drain caused by poison or disease.
· Full restoration of ability damage due to one poison or disease.
If his prayers are interrupted for even a single round, the attempt is ruined, and he must wait a full tenday to try again.
Resist Fiendish Lure (Su) Lathander has a +4 sacred bonus to all saving throws against mind-affecting attacks of evil outsiders.
Possessions
Dawnspeaker, Lathander’s gold-and-ivory mace, is a +10 fiery blast ghost strike mighty disruption heavy mace of holy power and evil outsider and undead dread. When held by the Morninglord, it also functions as a holy devastator. The DC of the weapon’s disruption and dread abilities is 79, and creatures vulnerable to sunlight suffer a -17 penalty to saving throws made to resist Dawnspeaker’s abilities. Lathander is known to loan out Dawnspeaker to questors and warriors he deems worthy and can call it back to his hand from anywhere in the cosmos.
The Morninglord also occasionally wears a set of golden +8 full plate with the powers of an armor of the celestial battalion. The bonuses are not reflected in the above statistics.
Other Divine Powers As a greater deity, Lathander automatically receives the best possible result on any die roll he makes (including attack rolls, damage, checks, and saves). He treats a 1 on an attack roll or saving throw normally and not as an automatic failure. He is immortal. Senses Lathander can see (using normal vision or darkvision), hear, touch, and smell at a distance of 17 miles. As a standard action, he can perceive anything within 17 miles of his worshippers, holy sites, objects, or any location where one of his titles or name was spoken in the last hour. He can extend his senses to up to 20 locations at once. He can block the sensing power of deities of his rank or lower at up to two remote locations at once for 17 hours. Portfolio Sense Lathander is aware of any event under the light of the sun, competition or act of artistry of the number of people involved up to 17 weeks in the past and 17 weeks in the future. Automatic Actions Lathander can use any skill related to his portfolio as a free action if the DC for the task is 30 or lower. He can perform up to twenty such free actions each round. Create Magic Items Lathander can craft any magical item that associated with heat and light, aids in self-empowerment, preserves or restores vitality or harms the undead, including artifacts.
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Eternal Rest [Ravenloft: Legacy of Blood 71]
Necromancy
Level: Cleric 6
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: Ray (see text)
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will partial (see text)
Spell Resistance: Yes
This spell creates a ray of golden light that destroys one undead creature’s material body (if it has one), causing it to crumble to dust, which is then wafted away in a swirling breeze. This spell affects incorporeal undead without the usual incorporeal miss chance, and such a creature merely winks out of existence if it fails its save. If the target makes a successful save, it still takes 6d6 points of damage. If the creature has a special quality that allows it to return after destruction (such as a vampire’s fast healing power or a ghost’s rejuvenation power), the creature gains a bonus equal to its Charisma modifier on its saving throw. If such a creature fails its saving throw against this spell, it must make a successful Will save at the same DC (also with its Charisma modifier as a bonus) to return. If the creature’s method of return normally requires a saving throw (as a ghost’s rejuvenation power does), the creature must first make that saving throw, then make the Will saving throw against this spell.
You can improve your chance of success by presenting at least one object or substance that the target hates, fears, or otherwise finds repulsive or painful (such as a mirror and bud of garlic for a vampire). For each such object or substance, you gain a +1 bonus on your caster level check to overcome the target’s spell resistance (if any), and the spell’s saving throw DC increases by +1. A particular creature’s history might suggest additional objects or substances that would make the spell more effective.
This spell can also be cast when an undead creature has been physically destroyed and its remains are not present. In this case, the spell must be aimed at the spot where the creature was destroyed, and it must be used within 1 minute of the undead creature’s destruction. No attack roll is required for this use of the spell.
This spell can destroy an undead darklord’s physical form, but it cannot prevent the darklord from returning.
Rainbow [Dragon Magazine 321 68]
Conjuration (Creation)
Level: Cleric 6, Radiance 6
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Effect: Rainbow bow, quiver, and arrows
Duration: 1 hour / level
Saving Throw: No
Spell Resistance: Yes
A rainbow-hued longbow appears in your hand, along with a full quiver of arrows fletched with different colors. The longbow is considered a +1 longbow that the caster is proficient with. The quiver holds an endless supply of seven different colored arrows, each being made of a different material and having the following effects:
Red: +1 elemental-bane adamantine arrows.
Orange: +1 construct-bane silver arrows.
Yellow: +1 plant-bane evil-aligned arrows.
Green: +1 magical beast-bane good-aligned arrows.
Blue: +1 undead-bane lawful-aligned arrows.
Indigo: +1 aberration-bane chaotic-aligned arrows.
Violet: +1 dragon-bane cold iron arrows.
Only the caster is able to use the bow, quiver, and arrows. They appear immediately back in the caster’s possession if dropped or given away, though the caster may drop the bow and quiver to use another item, but can rematerialize them at will, as a free action. The bow, quiver, and arrows have no weight and cannot be disarmed or sundered.
Know True Name [Kalamar: Player’s Guide 3.0 177]
Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind-Affecting]
Level: Cleric 8
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 action
Ranged: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft. / 2 levels)
Target: One fiend
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
You force a fiend to tell you its true name. Once you know a fiend’s true name, all spells that you cast at that creature have their save DCs increase by +4. You also gain a +4 on all checks to penetrate the creature’s spell resistance.

I’ve been meditating on this topic for a while and while previously I never thought this was a problem, I am now very much starting to see how harmful this is. Now Im not saying that religious history shouldn’t be studied because obviously most sane people can look at Greek mythology or Hindu literature and pull a valuable amount of wisdom and insights from them while maintaining a rational belief that those are just stories and the same could be said of the Bible. But a lot religious parents these days seem to push Christian literature and dogma onto children to an insane degree without exposing them just as much to stuff like evolution or biology. This is extremely harmful in a few ways:

1. Since children are immature and their brains are very susceptible to ideas and behaviors that they observe, they will become accustomed to what they are taught or shown that is very hard to break free from in adulthood.
   
2. Psychological pressure. These religious ideas teach that if you commit good or evil than you will go to either heaven or hell on some sense. This can be very stressful for young children who have not developed the emotional maturity to handle the fear that they might be doing something wrong.
   
3. It wreaks havoc on critical thinking skills. Believing in religious dogma that you were taught from childhood basically teaches you that you need to believe in something that can’t be proven regardless of what evidence is brought forward. This is pretty important to consider since this kind of indoctrination can cause children to participate in harmful actions out of blind obedience rather than rational thought.
   

All in all, children shouldn’t be exposed to this stuff, at least from the standpoint that it is real. The Bible, Quran, and other texts are old fictional books and should be treated no differently than if reading a book like Harry Potter or a book on Greek mythology. Children should only be exposed to truth such as science, empirical evidence and mindsets that foster critical thinking. Whether or not they should research fictional texts like the Bible or Quran should be left up to them when they are adults. Let me know what you guys think.

TL;DR I’m getting the ick and wondering if this is just a bump in the road or if I’m just crazy.
So, as the title says, I, 29nb, feel like I’m going insane in my relationship. I’ve been with my fiancé for two, going on three, years and things felt like they were going great until he came to stay with me over Christmas. We’re long distance and I went to visit him in his home state and we talk everyday, but when he came to my home state it feels like, for the lack of the better words, got the ick from him. Just a few things that I can think of…

1. He compared my, then, 7 month puppy, to an abusive ex and has been terrified of him since. And, I will admit, he was a terror and growled and snapped at my fiancé. But in the doggo’s defense, my fiancé is very loud and scared him. I’m not a loud person and my pup, now a year old, has calmed down a lot but is fiercely protective of me.
   
2. Kept saying, ‘we can’t live here when we have a baby’ about my two bedroom apartment I just had started to rent. And then told my best friend, who later told me, that he wanted to get rid of my dog because he was so violent.
   
3. And speaking of my dog, I ordered door dash for my fiancé and instead of holding, again, a 7 month hyper puppy back while he got the stuff, he just let him run out. Luckily, he jumped in the dasher’s car and the guy was super cool about. He, fiancé, also let him chew is stuff up and didn’t try to stop him.
   
4. I’ve said multiple times that sighing when upset about something is triggering for me since my grandma always did it and it made me feel like shit. But he kept fucking doing it and kept complaining about my lack of cooking ware, I don’t cook much to begin with and hadn’t been there long myself, and how he was going to turn my apartment into a home.
   
5. Promised he would help clean while I’m at work and ended up sleeping and playing video games all night. I’m still finding cigarette buds.
   

That was just for the trip, now for recent things.

1. He got a job in February but has called out multiple times because he doesn’t feel well and has slept through alarms and calls and didn’t seem to care and keeps his phone on silent all the time. I will admit he has health issues, but I also have health issues but I’ve taken one mental health day and was out a week because of Covid.
   
2. Bought a ridiculously expensive robe. A robe. He’s suppose to be saving up to help move out here so I can have less stress about things. He did get me a nice necklace for my birthday that I wear all the time and a refurbished iPad mini and I appreciate both things. It’s just the robe that pisses me off and I don’t know why.
   
3. Gets upset when I don’t want to interact with his current hyperfixations. Like I’ll listen to him talk, but if I see one more thing about Hazbin Hotel, I’m going to scoop out my eyes with a rusty spoon and I loved the show. He has told me that he’s disappointed that I didn’t want to continue the Roleplay we had going while abandoning every Roleplay I was interested in claiming that ‘he wasn’t in the mood and his writing would be effected’. But lord help me if I wasn’t in the mood to write.
   
4. Makes me feel like I’m stupid and everything I say is offensive. He was angry that a lot of people didn’t know who Abel, from the Bible, was in the Hazbin fandom and I said that made sense since Christianity wasn’t the only religion in the world and apparently that was the wrong thing to say. For the second part, I’m pan, he’s trans, my best friend is pan, everyone is gay. I will occasionally and not mean offense when I say ‘Gaaaaaay’ because my best friend and I have this bit like ‘I know I am but what are you/Also gay’ and we laugh. But it’s triggering to him. Everything I say seems to be triggering it feels like.
   
5. Plays a Star Wars game to the point I feel like I’m being ignored. I can’t play this particular game because it doesn’t have controller support and I need it so I asked if he wanted to play ESO because it does with me and was told no. I also feel like I can’t talk about Harry Potter any more. Like I get it, it’s problematic, but it’s a special interest of mine. And, yea, I know it’s sort of like my issue with Hazbin, but I know I’ll eventually go back to it. Harry Potter is just a no it feels like.
   

I just…I don’t know. I feel like I’m going crazy. I don’t think I’m ready for a kid or ever will be if I’m being honest and I had the worst thought when waking up that I would be the one taking care of the kid and working all the time while he sits at home. I feel like I can’t bring up anything because I’m always wrong and my words are triggering. So I’m here, internet strangers, wondering what I should do and will clarify anything I need to. I tried to stay as neutral as I can, but I’ve been struggling with this and wondering if this will pass, if I’m crazy, or what.

There’s something truly magical about the combination of creamy vanilla custard nestled within a crisp, buttery cookie cup. These delightful treats offer a symphony of flavors and textures that are sure to delight your taste buds and satisfy your sweet cravings. Whether served as a dessert at a dinner party or enjoyed as a special treat with a cup of tea, vanilla custard cookie cups are guaranteed to be a hit. In this article, we’ll explore how to make these indulgent delights from scratch, providing you with a step-by-step guide to create your own batch of sweet bliss.
Ingredients: For the Cookie Cups:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup powdered sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt For the Vanilla Custard:
2 cups whole milk 1/2 cup granulated sugar 4 large egg yolks 1/4 cup cornstarch 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Optional Toppings:
Fresh berries Whipped cream Mint leaves Chocolate shavings Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease a mini muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Gradually add the flour and salt to the butter mixture, mixing until a soft dough forms. Roll the dough into small balls, about 1 tablespoon each, and place them into the wells of the greased mini muffin tin. Using your fingers or the back of a teaspoon, press the dough balls into the bottom and up the sides of the muffin tin wells to form cookie cups. Bake the cookie cups in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden brown. Remove the cookie cups from the oven and allow them to cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. While the cookie cups are cooling, prepare the vanilla custard. In a medium saucepan, heat the whole milk over medium heat until it reaches a gentle simmer. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch until smooth and creamy. Slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 5-7 minutes. Remove the custard from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Allow the custard to cool slightly before spooning it into the cooled cookie cups, filling each cup to the top. Refrigerate the filled cookie cups for at least 1-2 hours, or until the custard is set. Once chilled, garnish the vanilla custard cookie cups with fresh berries, a dollop of whipped cream, mint leaves, or chocolate shavings, if desired. Serve and enjoy these heavenly delights with your loved ones! Conclusion: Vanilla custard cookie cups are the epitome of indulgence, combining buttery cookies with silky smooth custard for a truly decadent treat. Whether enjoyed as a dessert or a sweet snack, these delightful treats are sure to impress. With this simple recipe, you can recreate the magic of vanilla custard cookie cups in your own kitchen and treat yourself to a little slice of sweet bliss.

I spent a lot of time reading about how to enter USJ/express passes and Super Mario World so thought I would provide an updated guide here.
About us, party of four, no particular interest in SMW or Harry Potter, but still love going to theme parks. English speaking tourists.

1. Bought tickets using Klook as USJ website didn’t accept our cards.
   
2. No express passes were available as seemed to be all sold out (We were glad we didn't buy the anyway).
   
3. Went during Golden week so was expecting to find massive crowds.
   

Arrived at the park at 7.30am. Already large lines there, but the staff managed the crowds well. In terms of bag check it is a very light touch.
Once each person in your party has scanned into the gates you can choose a timed entry pass for SMW. Having walked through the gates right at 8am, we selected 8.20 as the walk in time (earliest time available)
Walking straight over to SMW and lined up for the Mario cart ride, waited around 45 mins (though app said 60 minute wait).
As mentioned by many others, since SMW is the popular area, you need a timed entry so they can stagger the entries. You can book these via the USJ app as soon as you have scanned through the gates.
It's as simple as that for getting into SMW!
The next part of this will be around my review of the rides in no particular order
1 Koopla's Challenge - Consistently the longest queueing line at USJ, going first thing in the morning, we only had to wait 45 mins but expect wait times of up to 2 hours. I didn't find the ride itself that interesting really - I would classify it as a Interactive VR coaster, but the scenery within the queuing space is amazing. Would've liked to have ridden again, but didn't as the queue times were long. To be frank, i found the ride a little underwhelming considering all the hype.
2 Demon Slayer - Second longest line in park - A Great VR Rollercoaster. Went on it twice. I don't watch the series but could work out what was going on.
3 Flying Dinosaur - Thrilling and with short wait times. This is the most intense rollercoasters in the park, I probably rode it about 3 times (no more due to it's intensity). I feel like the intensity turns some people off which is why the wait times are quick.
4 Flight of the Hippogriff - Kids Rollercoaster, will have fairly long wait times as the train has small capacity - rode on it once
5 Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey - VR Roller Coaster - I found this one extremly impressive in terms of visual effects, the queue line sceneary was also amazing. I like HP a little as well so that helps. Queues move quickly on this one but still expect a short to medium wait (has english subs).
6 Jaws - Short Queue times - more of a live show then a rollercoaster. Did it once and enjoyed it.
7 Hollywood Dream - Probably my favourite roller coaster - less intense then Flying Dinosaur. The line moves quickly as their are 3 trains. Rode on it 3 times.
8 Hollywood Dream Backdrop - Similar to HD - but slower line as only 1 train. Very Enjoyable.
9 Minion Mayhem - Simulator Ride pretty fun, - rode on it twice (has english subs)
10 Waterworld - very good show, saw it twice (note that the actors are Japanese speaking)
Other Items of note
- Many of the shows are in Japanese / have no english subtitles, but there is still enough to see being english speaking only.
- Golden Week has extended opening hours which gave us all the time to see the attractions we wanted. Even then based on the crowds, I think a standard opening hours would be enough.
- Looking back, I would've liked to see some more of the interactive shows such as the Dinosaur and Magical Creatures Meet and Greet but apart from that, I did everything I wanted to.
- Bought Butterbeer, worth it for the experience
- Based on my experiance, Express pass is not necessary

So we heard on the street, she was moving after her trip across the border, she had some brick/plyboard shed in the background yesterday when she was taking the role of being a judge serious for a hot minute. Then she got pissed, probably due to everyone was more talented that herself, and left. So then back on live in the basement of brick and shame. I tried to ask if she had moved to a Manhattan loft, the vibe........ but she has the attention span of a goldfish. She also said no room tour to a lot of comments, now back on live today with green screen, so what is the deets, is she camping, in a plywood box, under the stairs like harry potter. If anyone has the answer to this question then you would be awarded a green heart