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Eternity Club: Front page posters only
2013.12.12 23:22 1Voice1Life Eternity Club: Front page posters only
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2017.03.14 21:37 panspal People who actively act like a piece of shit
A place to post screenshots or gifs of people acting like a piece of shit. The worst of the worst, people who you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.
2013.02.18 06:46 Destiny 2
All about Destiny 2: The epic, online-only looter-shooter MMO from Bungie, which launched in September of 2017.
2023.03.25 23:42 HokageEzio Why did Oda make him a Conqueror? A look at shared losses with Luffy and why you should still believe in this character being important in the story (Chapter 1079)
TL;DR - Summary
All of the reasons that people are saying that the lost to Shanks is taking Kid out of the race are the same losses that Luffy has taken over the course of the series. The loss of their ship and the crew being eradicated only made the Straw Hats stronger, and I think the wording being the exact same from the Narrator should not be ignored or taken as a sign that Kid is out of the race. It's simply far too on the nose to be used as a throwaway line of Kid's defeat. I believe the Underworld works out of Elbaf, and this sets Kid up through his Underworld connections to build a new ship of Adam wood just like the Straw Hats. Shanks leaving Elbaf also clears a path for Kid to still be the main villain of Elbaf. The Kid Pirates will come back stronger.
Comparisons to Luffy's losses
Kid just got one shotted in a fashion I have rarely seen in any series. If Kid is your favorite character, I honestly feel bad. I wouldn't describe myself as a Kid fan, but this is still a character that I believe serves a larger purpose in the story than getting turned into scrap metal by Shanks. I just don't think Oda would have this character moved along throughout the story for 15 years just to make Shanks look good. Shanks doesn't need that to look good, they literally made a whole movie for this dude lol.
I think what we're seeing for Kid is a series of defeats very similar to Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates that will make him actually strong enough to be a rival to Luffy. Obviously he's going to lose in the end, Luffy is going to be Pirate King. But I just couldn't disagree more with the people saying Oda is just cutting the fat to get to the finish line as fast as possible. I have more faith in his ability as an author than that, and I don't think disliking a character means that their narrative purpose has been served whenever they're done helping Luffy look good.
Like I referred to in the title, I think Luffy and Kid's greatest defeats are mirroring each other until they eventually square off.
Loss of their beloved ship
I see a bunch of people saying Kid has to be out of the race for the One Piece, just look at their ship. How can they possibly get to the finish line first? Well, let's ask Luffy the same thing. Did Luffy's journey end when the Going Merry passed away? Nope. They rebuilt and kept going, with the Merry carrying them as long as she could.
Losing a ship does not mean the end of the journey. Kid's ship, the Victoria Punk,
is named after his old friend and childhood crush who died when he was young. People think that because this is something Oda elaborated on in the SBS it's proof that he doesn't care about the character and is just trying to get it out of the way and move on. I disagree. I think he's building up the emotional connection that almost surely exists in them naming the ship after her. And while it's surely a tough loss, Luffy's crew is proof that you can absolutely rebuild. Loss of a ship is not the end of the journey.
I'll even take it a step further; I wouldn't be surprised if the Klaubterman for the Victoria Punk in some way has Victoria's spirit. People say Kid has to be doomed because he sunk in the water with no ship or back up around to help them. But is this not exactly what happened to the Straw Hats at Enies Lobby? How were the Straw Hats supposed to escape from Enies Lobby? Well... by the end, they weren't. They were doomed, but Merry used the last bit of her spirit to save them with a little help from Iceburg. I don't think it would be a huge leap for the Victoria Punk to save the Kid Pirates and get them to safety.
We've seen ships do crazier things. Death of a childhood friend
Victoria Shiruton Doruyanaika was Kid and Killer's childhood friend who was killed by a rival gang in their home country.
As stated by Oda in the SBS: Q: Is there a reason why Kid and Killer became pirates? And what’s the story behind Heat and Wire joining them?
Oda: Of course there’s a story. These four were born on a certain island in South Blue, Kid and Killer knew each other since they were kids. The country they live in is not allied with the WG, and a gang ruled the country as if they’re royalties. There’re 4 districts on the island, each of them have their own outlaw group, and the 4 leaders are Kid, Killer, Heat and Wire. There were conflicts every single day.
One day, Kid’s close friend was killed by the gang, her name was “Victoria S Doruyanaika”(Kid and Killer’s crush revealed in previous sbs). Kid, in his rage, united the four group and took down the mightiest force in the country, the gang.
“I don’t want to stay in a closed world like this!” And like that he took his friends and form a pirate crew with them, naming their ship “Victoria Punk”.
I don't have to tell you about Luffy's childhood friends dying. Frankly, take your pick. Either Sabo being "killed" when he set sail from Foosha Village or Ace dying in Luffy's arms.
What I found pretty interesting though is that the mindset of why Kid decided to set sail is very similar to Sabo, just living the opposite life. I'm sure there are stories like this across a bunch of pirates in the story, I just think there's a pretty clear parallel in why Luffy and Kid both set sail. And it was largely inspired by the death of a childhood friend.
Getting absolutely dunked on by a Yonkou
Kid got absolutely destroyed by Shanks. But I don't see how it's any different than Luffy getting one shotted by Kaido. If anybody is in line for Haki blooming, it's Kid with the amount of shit he gets himself in.
It's a tough blow, but it can just as easily be a learning experience like Luffy's first loss (and second... and third... and fourth...) was to Kaido. Eradicated
Some people are saying that this has to take Kid out of the race because the Narrator came through and said that the crew was eradicated. There are even people using that as an argument to say he's dead (seriously what series are you guys reading who believe this). If the narrator coming in and saying that a crew is eradicated is proof that they are dead or out of the running for One Piece, somebody should really tell Luffy and the crew that they've been dead for the last two years.
The Straw Hats were eradicated on Sabaody Archipelago, and it wasn't until the following chapters when we learned what that meant. They took the ultimate loss. There is no chance that a call back this direct is not on purpose. I'll use this to link back to a previous post I made pointing out the many parallels of Egghead Island to
Sabaody Archipelago and Post Enies Lobby. Add yet another connection and proof of the validity of that analysis.
Kid is down, but he's not out
Kid is in about as bad a spot as we've seen a character, but I don't see how this eliminates him in the story. All of the reasons that people are saying this eliminates Kid from being a factor in the story are things that we've seen happen to the Straw Hats. Like people who are saying that he's out because he no longer has a ship, if that was the case Luffy's journey would have ended ages ago. I would argue that the Adam Tree is from Elbaf to begin with, being near Elbaf would put him right in position to get a ship upgrade. I think we have pretty solid information suggesting that the Underworld operation going on throughout the One Piece world traces to Elbaf (for example, Mother Carmel's operation).
The Underworld headquarters is ran out of Elbaf
Like I pointed out, I think we can tie a large portion of the Underworld market in One Piece to Elbaf and I think that will be the main portion of conflict in that arc when we finally get there. Where else would be better to run a secretive operation outside of the eyes of the Marines than a secluded society filled with monsters that nobody wants to mess with? Just look at what Cipher Pol said to Mother Carmel after Big Mom killed Jorul
They never thought she would leave Elbaf. Why would they think that this character who has been working for the Underworld for decades wouldn't leave Elbaf... unless Elbaf is the home of the Underworld? It puts the market for her activities right next to her. Not to mention Franky engaging in Underworld activities before he became a Straw Hat. This was how he was able to buy Adam wood with the money he stole from the Straw Hats before becoming their friend.
To this day we still have so much mystery surrounding the Underworld operations that Doflamingo was so tied up in. And while Kid isn't a Broker, we did learn in Punk Hazard that he was connected with the Underworld and aware of the going ons. I wouldn't be surprised if this is how he knows who the man with the burn scar is to begin with.
Kid has some knowledge of the Underworld that we still need to learn as an audience and as the Straw Hat crew. Why did Oda make Kid a Conqueror?
This is a question that I've asked in pretty much every discussion of Kid since it was revealed that Kid and Shanks were on Elbaf together. One Piece is a story written by an author, and that author makes decisions for what will close out certain narratives. That's how storytelling works. So the question I ask people who think that Kid will serve no more importance; Why did Oda make Kid a Conqueror?
The group of known Conquerors in One Piece is incredibly short. People have suggested that Kid has Conqueror's Haki because it would boost his resume and make Shanks look good. And I truly do not understand this argument at all. If that was truly Kid's role in the story, he doesn't need Conqueror's Haki in order to serve that purpose. If Law went to Elbaf instead of Kid and got one shotted by Shanks, I doubt anybody would be sitting here saying "yeah that's cool, but Law isn't a Conqueror so it's not
that impressive." Because that would be silly. Oda could have made Kid as good with his Devil Fruit as Law is and it still would have shown just how strong Shanks is whether he was a Conqueror or not.
Kid did not even use Conqueror's in the fight with Big Mom. Excluding the anime, all we have is Kaido telling us that Kid is a Conqueror and nothing else. So again, why did Oda add this at all? This isn't like Armament Haki where everybody and their mother has it at this point, this is a very exclusive group of characters. And being Conquerors serves a very in your face narrative purpose for almost all of these characters, with the rest still having future roles to play in the story.
- Shanks - Doesn't need to be explained
- Luffy - Really doesn't need to be explained
- Rayleigh - Right hand of the Pirate King, the Dark King himself, and Luffy's mentor on his path to being the Pirate King
- Hancock - Oda could have easily had Hancock be captured and turned into a slave again, but that hasn't happened as far as the story stands now. I don't know what her role will be now that she's left Amazon Lily looking for Luffy, but her strong will power was shown when she faced Blackbeard with no fear
- Doflamingo - A man who desires to tear down the entire Holy Land with knowledge of the National Treasure and controlled the entire Underworld of the One Piece world
- Don Chinjao - A gatekeeper of the old age of One Piece as a combatant of Garp, and Luffy's baptism into combat on the highest level in the New World
- Big Mom - a Yonkou, self explanatory
- Katakuri - The gatekeeper between Luffy and breaking the billion berry benchmark, and the person who gave Luffy the respect of eventually being able to beat a Yonkou (will you come back and defeat Big Mom)
- Sengoku - Fleet Admiral and an Admiral during the days of Roger and Whitebeard
- Kaido - a Yonkou, self explanatory
- Zoro - desires to be the greatest swordsman
- Yamato - future role still pretty up in the air post Wano, but is the child of one of the greatest Conquerors and desires to be Oden. Also the guardian of Wano next to Momonosuke (who will probably also have Conquerors by the end of the story, but that's speculation)
- Whitebeard - 2nd to the throne
- Ace - Ace died before ever truly reaching his potential, but his lived with the desires to make Whitebeard the King of the Pirates and is the son of the Pirate King
- Oden - Shogun of Wano and the central point of the entire saga of arcs that put us in Wano to begin with
- Gol D. Roger - King of the Pirates
Conquerors are all important characters. This is not a power that Oda just hands out. Until we can answer the question of why Kid is a Conqueror, his narrative is not complete. Don't take my word for it; take Kid's (and Oda's).
If I die now, what was the point of my whole pirating career? Conclusion
I think we're seeing the path clear for Kid to be the antagonist of Elbaf, even with as shaky as it looks for now. We can pretty confidently say Shanks is not going to be on Elbaf, that possibility was erased last chapter. Blackbeard probably has to get ready for war with Garp. Big Mom is definitely still a possibility, but she has much bigger issues to actually gather her crew first and get to Elbaf (including rescuing Pudding). I think Kid will come back having gone through the same growth that Luffy went through in the Udon mines and by the time Luffy gets to Elbaf, Kid will actually be strong enough to be his rival.
Kid has not served his entire narrative purpose. And because of that, I'm keeping my Kid stocks. I would advise you all to not sell just yet.
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2023.03.25 23:41 sharkletts I feel doomed. Relapse got the best of me. (excuse my poor grammar)
I really hope someone reads this. This is my story: I'm a 23 year old male. I developed anxiety and panic attacks on October 28th, 2022. It all began with an unexpected and massive panic attack. I was at work ready to clock out when I noticed that my heart rate was pretty jacked(150-160bpm). I freaked out and I ended up going to the ER and pretty much all tests ran back as normal. I did get admitted just for observation. This kept going on for nearly seven hours after the cardiologists decided to run me a trial of metoprolol. It was pretty traumatizing. Ever since then I have not been the same person. I have gone back to the ER two more times ever since then for the same reason. All of this caused me to develop agoraphobia. I was still able to go to work, run my errands and even hang out with friends but could not travel far or walk on very far distances. I was improving without meds or therapy. I was also afraid of working out and cardio because I feared a fast heart rate but I even improved greatly on that. All of this pretty much took a massive relapse last night when I decided to do a bit of exposure therapy. I decided to drive on the freeway and see how far I could go before getting a panic attack. It was a mistake. I got as far as 10 miles before I ended up freaking out. I made an exit very quickly and headed back home. I was getting calmed but then out of nowhere I began to feel very tense and more panic attacks began to hit but I was able to bring them down. I could not sleep all of last night and I lost my appetite. I have been feeling horrible all day. I tried going to the gym in the morning but my fast heart and palpitations said no. I am afraid that I won't be able to even leave my house anymore. What worries me the most is my job. I need my job. I'm trying to stay out as much as I can to not turn into a home-bound person. I'm yet to see my doctor in two days. I will let her know that I am slowly getting worse and that I am going to start getting CBT and possibly meds to avoid getting worse. As of now I have 40 capsules of hydroxyzine 25mg. I haven't taken none since I haven't had to yet but I might just take one at work if I don't get better. All of this makes me sad. I was already an anxious person but not this bad. I just need to fix this before it's too late.
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2023.03.25 23:37 bobjones271828 Upon reflection, a non-supernatural interpretation of the ending makes most sense within the show's aesthetic
I realize there's a lot of disagreement and controversy in the past week. I'm writing here only of my own way of coming to terms with the finale. Others certainly may disagree and have other perfectly valid interpretations.
After a week and having time to decompress, reflect, and think about what others have written, I really feel (to me) the best interpretation of the show is a non-supernatural one. I first started considering this after M. Night Shyamalan's statement last week in the
Vanity Fair interview:
Are they all imagining things, connecting dots where there are no dots to connect?
“It was always meant to be right on the fence for me,” Shyamalan explains. “You could, if you wanted to, [say] it’s a group of crazy people that believe this stuff. But they’re pretty convincing.”
MNS here explicitly seems to say that the interpretation of the ending is up to the viewer, and the writers seem to have gone to some effort to make this non-supernatural interpretation still feasible, even with everything we're shown on the show.
This is in line with what Tony Basgallop said back in 2019:
No one ever levitates anything off a table, but there are things that are unexplainable. The whole point of it is to be able to tell a story that can be read in two ways, which is probably one of the reasons it’s taken me so long to get the structure of the show right. Because every time something happens in the show that is seemingly unexplainable, the point is that the characters look for the explanation behind the unexplainable — and they find it. One of the ways we pitched the show is, “Is this a miracle or is it a crime?” And it often depends on your personal belief system. If your mind is open to incredible miracles, then you can watch the show and enjoy it on one level. And if you look for explanations — if you refuse to accept the divine or miraculous events — then you can always find the logic behind something.
There have been quite a few threads here over the past week exploring how everything was always "so obvious" -- Leanne was some angel/supernatural being, Jericho was temporarily reincarnated somehow, the cult was pretty much "real" as presented, etc. But there were also many other "obvious" clues of other significance in the show that bore no fruit: e.g., the emphasis in the cinematography on shoes and feet and crossing thresholds, the potential ramifications and symbolism of food choices (and food-related imagery), the hinting at deeper and darker and more thought-out theories concerning religious allegories or connections to deeper biblical/historical religious events/customs, the possibilities that there was "something more" to the backstories of pretty much all the main characters and/or the tragedy that preceded the series. And that doesn't even get into the (sometimes more reaching) scenarios proposed on this subreddit about grander allegories or "it is all in someone's head" ideas, etc.
Meanwhile, the "obvious" supernatural tale also has so much left unexplained, contradictory, and sometimes downright confusing. The idea that the cult was "good" despite so many of its actions, the rather silly depictions of many cult acts/rituals, the somewhat confusing morality of the cult and Leanne's final sacrifice, etc. are just one of several major threads. I'm not suggesting one can't reconcile these ideas for a supernatural conclusion, but it requires the viewer to accept a lot of seemingly bizarre developments and a somewhat crazy logic and ethical system to whatever supernatural world lies behind the series.
So, on the other hand,
what is really in the way of the non-supernatural explanation? Thinking it over, there are really only a few potential barriers (to me) that immediately stand out as not explained within, for example, Uncle George's tale of how things
might be non-supernatural:
- The coincidence of "earthquakes" (with the basement hole opening up further, etc.) when there's tension involving Leanne on several occasions, particularly when she's potentially leaving or under stress.
- The pigeon attack in S04E01.
- Leanne's knowledge of Nancy's background (abuse) in S03E06.
- Leanne's apparent strength and fighting abilities, particularly as demonstrated against the cult several times.
Personally, I'm not too bothered about (4), because the cult is shown to be a bunch of wackos on quite a few occasions who appear a bit bumbling or unfocused, and they're clearly
scared of Leanne. (See the final confrontation between her and Uncle George, where the two other minions just run in fear -- Leanne doesn't even need to threaten them, when just a few moments before we saw Sean and Julian easily capture her with their own strength and manhandle her down the stairs from the attic.) At a moment when we might have seen Leanne's power finally manifested, Uncle George also just takes the ropes off her wrists, claiming they couldn't hold her. But again, Sean and Julian were just able to capture her?!
So, the other fight scenes we see in other episodes with Leanne -- it's feasible she was just a bit crazed and believed in her own power, coupled with the obvious incompetence of most cult members.
As for (1), we later see a giant sinkhole open in the middle of the street, and most of the major "earthquakes" (that I recall, maybe I'm missing one) occur while it's
raining, a time when groundwater could clearly be moving things around if there's a growing sinkhole in the neighborhood. It's still coincidence but... I mean, it rains quite a bit in Philadelphia at times.
One moment I personally took as important in establishing Leanne's supernatural nature was her knowledge of Nancy's background (3). When I was watching, that was one of the first moments when I really thought -- this is a major clue that's difficult to interpret another way! Except... well, apparently Sean already knew about this stuff regarding Nancy (perhaps the entire prayer group... and Leanne has spies throughout the neighborhood). There seems to be a lot of people Leanne could have heard some rumors from about Nancy, or even overheard Sean maybe having a phone conversation or (the house had a security system we know could be used for spying on others)... there are possibilities. It's not like this was apparently some deep secret that
no one knew.
And that leaves the pigeon attack. That's the hardest. Pigeons, as I've learned from a little research, very rarely attack humans. They have to be threatened usually, or their young/nests have to be threatened, etc. We could imagine some sort of electromagnetic event that drove the birds a bit nuts or something... and stranger real-life things have happened rarely, but that's one hell of a coincidence.
So I'm back to the two main possibilities:
- The "obvious" supernatural interpretation, which requires us to swallow a lot of unexplained supernatural weirdness
- Everything's non-supernatural, except we need to believe Leanne did some "research" on Nancy off-screen and there's one bizarre bird attack that's hard to explain
Occam's razor suggests I go with the latter.
Furthermore, the
show suggests I go with the latter. Because the show was clearly constructed to have a lot of red herrings and blind alleys that don't mean anything. The answer, in the end, seems to be that
we as viewers should be skeptical and not look for deeper meaning about... well, just about anything that happened in the show. Hell, Julian's final scene almost seems to make fun of those who'd look deeper, because all of those supposed background details that meant
nothing in the various shots are now juxtaposed against the happenstance of Julian viewing "wings" in his reflection.
Just another coincidence?
MNS may or may not agree, but that choice of the final shot seems to me to be invoking the opposite of what many viewers took away. It's showing an obvious stupid coincidence in the way a shot was framed, which Julian interprets as potentially significant... even though it's more likely it's just confirmation bias, because his brain was thinking about angels and the weird conversation he had just had with the officer.
To me, it's the final deconstruction that says "you see what you want to see." People can believe there are "angels among us" or maybe it's all just coincidental cinematographic shots and angles that are ultimately meaningless.
I choose the latter. It makes more sense to me. It doesn't require me to come up with a bunch of explanations for all of the wackiness of the cult or to believe in some sort of insane deity with very questionable morality and rituals running stuff behind the scenes... or why a dead baby just keeps turning back into a
doll. It ONLY requires for me to accept that one day pigeons attacked people. Yeah... well, it has literally rained frogs and all sorts of other bizarre events during history, so... believing in one coincidental bird attack requires much less suspension of disbelief than the alternative.
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2023.03.25 23:35 sharkletts I feel doomed at this point. (excuse my grammar)
I really hope someone reads this. This is my story: I'm a 23 year old male. I developed anxiety and panic attacks on October 28th, 2022. It all began with an unexpected and massive panic attack. I was at work ready to clock out when I noticed that my heart rate was pretty jacked(150-160bpm). I freaked out and I ended up going to the ER and pretty much all tests ran back as normal. I did get admitted just for observation. This kept going on for nearly seven hours after the cardiologists decided to run me a trial of metoprolol. It was pretty traumatizing. Ever since then I have not been the same person. I have gone back to the ER two more times ever since then for the same reason. All of this caused me to develop agoraphobia. I was still able to go to work, run my errands and even hang out with friends but could not travel far or walk on very far distances. I was improving without meds or therapy. I was also afraid of working out and cardio because I feared a fast heart rate but I even improved greatly on that. All of this pretty much took a massive relapse last night when I decided to do a bit of exposure therapy. I decided to drive on the freeway and see how far I could go before getting a panic attack. It was a mistake. I got as far as 10 miles before I ended up freaking out. I made an exit very quickly and headed back home. I was getting calmed but then out of nowhere I began to feel very tense and more panic attacks began to hit but I was able to bring them down. I could not sleep all of last night and I lost my appetite. I have been feeling horrible all day. I tried going to the gym in the morning but my fast heart and palpitations said no. I am afraid that I won't be able to even leave my house anymore. What worries me the most is my job. I need my job. I'm trying to stay out as much as I can to not turn into a home-bound person. I'm yet to see my doctor in two days. I will let her know that I am slowly getting worse and that I am going to start getting CBT and possibly meds to avoid getting worse. As of now I have 40 capsules of hydroxyzine 25mg. I haven't taken none since I haven't had to yet but I might just take one at work if I don't get better. All of this makes me sad. I was already an anxious person but not this bad. I just need to fix this before it's too late.
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2023.03.25 23:34 poppy_moonray Best Title 2022 Winners!
Already suffering from spring fever? Stuck in the March doldrums? Still reeling from the cool twenty year old you know asking you if Dick Van Dyke is an actual person or a bunch of slurs you threw together?
Well, I'll tell you what—I, too, have got a fever, and the only prescription is
more cowbell announcing the winners of the Best NoSleep Story Title for the year 2022!
NoSleep's seen a lot of brilliant titles come through over the years. Literary works of art that enrapture you with their beauty, intricate clickbait luring you in and tangling you in their vines, XXX rated titles that ensnare you with their huge, throbbing tentacles. Each year, we gather round the campfire and in hushed voices speak of the titles who most haunted us. This year, there was one titular tale who tripped titillatingly off our tongues, and you know what it said?
Go Fuck Yourself, Kenneth The awesomely skilled
u/abastreusmonzuzu gifted the community this brilliantly succinct whopper of a title and story and in return, I wrote it a haiku:
Well, listen here, punk Hey—go fuck yourself, Kenneth Suck an egg, loser Of course, our unlucky little Ken isn't the only one who achieved notoriety this year! The wickedly talented
u/ChristianWallis managed to accomplish a feat few can boast with their second place title,
I work for the government rehabilitating ancient gods. To appease the deities, I wrote him a haiku as well:
Holy ancient ones Please grant the mods leniency remove not stories Last, but absolutely certainly not least, we got a doozle of a bamboozle in the form of a protagonist with tummy troubles to the extreme in:
I think a witch cursed me, because I’ve been squirting a continuous stream of shit for the past forty-five minutes by
u/ByfelsDisciple! BooplesDiscooples delivered this case of soft-serve revenge cold as the icy bowels of Hell, and we enjoyed every moment of it! So much so, that we wrote him a haiku:
Shook me to my core Witch curse, butt hurts, life's a blur Help, I keep pooping u/abastreusmonzuzu will receive:
"Best Title 2022" flair by your username whenever you post on nosleep so you can stunt on these hos!
In addition to those beautiful haikus, all winners will:
Get preserved for all time in the annals of nosleep’s Contest Winner’s Archive!
Eternally be haunted by a cuckoo clock that pops out every hour on the hour to shout, "Hey shawty, what that huge ass do?" at you like a construction worker
An enormous congratulations to all the authors nominated in this category! You're all titans of titles and masters of mystery!
Keep your eyeballs and grapes peeled for the rest of the Best of 2022 winners to be posted over the next few weeks!
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2023.03.25 23:33 StepwiseUndrape574 GTA 6: Rumors, Leaks, and Speculations
The anticipation for GTA 6 has been building up for years now, and with each passing day, new rumors, leaks, and speculations emerge about the game. Some sources claim that the game is currently in development, while others argue that it's still in the planning phase.
One of the most popular rumors is that the game will be set in Vice City, the fictional version of Miami, Florida. This is based on some leaked information from a supposed insider who claimed to have worked on the game. However, this has not been confirmed by any official source.
Another rumor suggests that the game will have a female protagonist, which would be a first for the franchise. While this is an exciting prospect, it's important to take this information with a grain of salt until it's confirmed by the developers.
There have also been speculations about the release date of the game, with some sources claiming that it could be as early as 2022, while others argue that it won't be released until 2025 or later.
As always, it's important to remember that rumors and leaks should be taken with a grain of salt. The only official information we have about GTA 6 is that it's in development, and until Rockstar Games confirms anything else, everything else should be considered speculation.
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2023.03.25 23:27 This_Kick_2130 [FL] Crazy Wife
Hello all so lets cut to it. I have a 4 year old almost 5. My baby dad has been on child support for 3 years now. He is married now. I have 100% custody and he gets visitation.
Anyways here is a rundown of my Living situation for the past few years: 2020 Covid Grandparents 2021 my own Apartment 2022 Me and my sis shared lease in an apartment
Lease ends and randomly something popped up on my credit couldnt get mynown place. Ended up staying with roomates (a couple) find out theyre crazy and argue nd fight so I leave. No where to go staying in hotels (for like 1 month) end up moving to lakeland with my dad. (Lakeland is like 2 hrs away from Orlando)
Anyways now Im finally back in Orlando. These past couple months been super rough so Ive needed the help of my baby daddy more then his visitation.
The past year his wife has been training my kid to call her mom. My daughter lately has been saying she doesnt want to live with me. Come to find she is unable to have kids (i huess theyve been trying) and has been taking over mother duties over mine.
Also come to find theyve seeked out a lawyer to see if they can legally adopt my kid. He called me a month ago and we argued bc he literally said he wants 50/50 and wants to leave my kid with her and that i move around so much that im not stable?
Anyways the guy who gave me an apartment is an old friend of mine and his for years and he called me and said that I guess my baby daddy called him screaming saying why did he help me find an apartment that the plan was to keep me ‘homeless’ and without stability to take the baby away.
Now yall i do have a good job i work in IT im actually interviewing for jobs that are past $60k salary. (Im currently only at 40k and with child support added im at 45k) He wasnt helping me in any apartment and visitation states he needs to come and pick his kid up let me tell you not even once had he done so I have always taken her to him and gladly bc a little girl needs her father.
Anyways I wanted to kick this b#%@ ass but honestly im scared that theyve gone through such lengths to see if they can take her away and its noticeable they telling my kid stuff like what can i do legally?
Whos stopping them from leaving the state? Anyways, no one is taking my kid away from me im a damn good mom but i cant find anything online that would help and i dont have $$ for lawyer fees.
This is seriously something that bothers me. Its like a lifetime movie where the girl cant have a kid and she takes someone elses.
His mom reached out to me because i guess she is concerned that they are serious about creating a case. Please help. I have 3 people that are now coming to me with statements of what seem to be a plan to take my kid away. What do i do ?
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2023.03.25 23:26 Purtle [PIL] #890 3/25/2023
Purtle's Internet Lineup for March 25th, 2023 6:28pm Pics: Clips: Videos *
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2023.03.25 23:17 _debunct Does anyone have experience with crafting psych-based ADA accommodations?
Flared as compensation bc this doesn’t really fit elsewhere. I also can’t share too many details here, I welcome DMs for anyone who wants to delve deeper in order to give advice. Mods, I hope this is kosher? Lmk if there are other subs that could help, too.
I am in a rare situation where, after staging a fight to get a disability accommodation approved, the company policies shifted to the point where I don’t even really need the accommodation. As a result, I can revisit my accommodations with my doctor and possibly have some lifted.
That said, I kind of just asked for the bare minimum the first time around. I now have the opportunity to ask for what I really need—last year I would not admit that I needed space for LOA, for example. It would be really cool if I could get some advice on what accommodations work well for people like me. Before this job, I just worked places that defaulted to discrimination, so I don’t know how to make this work for me beyond that bare minimum.
To be clear, requesting accommodations and my legal rights etc, I have that down. I just want to know what options I have now that my disability is taken seriously.
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2023.03.25 23:04 CreepyScribbler I am a Pharmaceutical scientist, I wish I had never tried my latest breakthrough.
I have been working on a new drug ‘ConSed’ which can put a person in a sleep like state while still being fully aware. This was first tested on various monkey’s on their responsiveness to instructions given while they were under. All of the test monkey’s followed the basic instructions once the effects of the drug wore off. Once this had been proven successful, we proceeded onto clinical trials. The main purpose of this medication was to help individuals who struggled with sleep disorders, such as insomnia or sleep apnea. It provides the restorative effects of sleep without actually requiring them to sleep. This would over time, alleviate some of the negative health effects of chronic sleep deprivation.
All trials were concluded in controlled environments, all patients were monitored at all times. These again were successful, 97% of all patients could recite pieces of text that were played to them while under the medication. Nearly all patients were able to describe many sounds that were played into the control room. The tests showed that 85% of all patients felt well rested after a five hour period while under the effects of ‘ConSed’. There were a few rare side effects that only around 1% of the patients experienced. One side effect noted was that some patients felt nausea once they had awoke. Another side effect which did somewhat unnerve me was that some experienced a person enter the room. They seemed very distressed when they finally ‘awoke’, many demanded to know who came in and why they approached them while they were unable to move.
We told all of these patients that nobody had entered the room, all of the cameras that were monitoring them, showed them alone for the full 5 hour period. One quite disturbing interview with a patient in their early twenties, told us that once this person was looking over them, they whispered into their ear how they were going to kill them. We did further tests on this particular subject without any further anomalies in our analysis, they did refuse to try the drug a second time. The ultimate conclusion that was drawn by all parties was a phenomenon similar to sleep paralysis, which was rare but common in a lot is sleep based drugs.
I personally had my own sleep issues and this was a big influence in my drive in making this new drug a success. If it could help people, like me, that struggled with getting the desired rest that is needed, then that would be a dream come true.
One Sunday night just under a month ago I was having a lot of trouble sleeping, even more than normal, I had a big presentation at 09:00 in the morning and it was nearly 01:45. I remembered I had some ‘ConSed’ in my lab bag downstairs, I carefully got out of bed trying not to wake my wife. I went downstairs and took the medication, I went back up to bed as the drug took effect within 10-15 minutes. It worked as it should, my breathing began to grow slow and shallow with my muscles relaxed and my mind grew calm.
It was around an hour or two in when I heard the door slowly open with a slight creek, my wife stirred slightly, before settling again. My mind eased as I remembered the hall window was left slightly open, the wind must have caught it gently. It then opened wider, I could feel the slight breeze across my face. Quiet, muffled footsteps slowly made their way round to my bedside. I felt a wave of fear come flooding from my mind, as much as I tried, I couldn’t move a single muscle. I felt the static like someone was right next to me, then someone leant towards my face, warm air brushed my cheek as I heard a rasping breath draw closer to my ear.
“I am free, I will find you again, my face will be the last image you see before I rip your body open and take your life. Hear me, fear me, expect me”
My brain was trying frantically to wake my still calm body, like I was trapped unmoved in my own head. I felt the warm air leave just as fast as the static, then the footsteps slipped back out of my room. Two agonising hours later, I started getting mobility back into my legs and then slowly I could move once again. My breathing started getting erratic and I felt a terror I had never experienced before in my life. I explained what happened to my wife but she said it must have been a kind of sleep paralysis, but it felt so real, too real. I remember thinking that this happened to one of the test subjects in the preliminary trials and we did rule it as sleep paralysis. This slightly eased my fear, I know the mind is powerful but this just felt different.
I got into work earlier than usual, so I could make sure everything was in place for the 09:00 presentation with the investors. When I got in, the head of the facility, Mike, was already there and called me into his office. He explained that the presentation had been put back as there had been a complication. When I asked what had happened he said that one of the patients that had taken part in the trial had unfortunately passed away. When I probed for more details on what had happened, the undeniable fear took over me once more. Mike said that the patient that suffered from sleep paralysis in the trial period had been killed. Mike seemed to have more details on the incident then he really should have, but I know he had some high ranking contacts on the police force.
He said that the woman in her twenties was found in her apartment, hung up to a ceiling light fitting and had been sliced open from her lower abdomen up to her neck. There had not been any forced entry or any signs of a struggle. Most baffling of all, the security cameras didn’t catch anyone entering or leaving the apartment in the alleged time of the incident.
It was exactly a month to the day that she had been given the drug and had been in our facility. I left Mikes office, my face drained of blood and still not entirely sure the link between ‘ConSed’ and the senseless murder of one of the subjects. I went back to my office and re-watched the interview of the woman, she was in fear the whole way through. Her eyes darting around the room as if looking out for an imminent attack, then she went over how a person had entered the room and whispered in her ear. I watched the whole five hours of her laying in the test lab, nobody entered or left that room the whole time.
There was something that I had missed though, a second interview. I was not involved as I had been away for a couple of days, my colleagues Dr Perez and Dr Stein conducted this follow up two weeks after the initial interviews and tests. Here is the transcript of part of the interview, that I’m sure is the reason why this project has been halted and why I now fear for my own safety.
Date: 24th February 2023
Time: 10:45am
Dr Perez: I am conducting this follow up interview with my colleague Dr Stein as witness. The interviewee is with a Miss **** ***. The start time for this follow up interview is 10:45, Miss ** do you recall the date when you last visited this facility.
Subject: I do, it was 10th February 2023.
Dr Perez: Good, do you recall the initial interview in which you experienced some minor side effects.
Subject: They were not minor, someone came into the room and threatened to kill me.
Dr Perez: The secure location that you were situated in, was monitored the whole time you were under the medication. Four cameras placed around the room and two more outside showed that nobody entered the room while you were under.
Subject: Are you calling me a liar? What I experienced that date was horrifying, I have hardly slept since, due to the horrific things I experienced.
Dr Perez: We believe that you felt what is known as sleep paralysis, any phenomenon such as hallucinations or illusions experienced during sleep paralysis are not real and are simply the result of the brain being in a state of partial wakefulness.
Subject: Bullshit! I know what I heard, what they said to me!
Dr Perez: Miss *****, Please state what you heard while under this medication.
Subject: I can’t.
inaudible sobbing
Dr Perez: Please Miss ****, we are trying to help you, you need to let us know what was heard during this time.
Subject: It..He said: I am free, I will find you again, my face will be the last image you see before I rip your body open and take your life. Hear me, fear me, expect me.
Uncontrollable sobbing
I stopped the video, my eyes began to water out of pure horror, I haven’t said anything since to any of my work team, I have only spoken to my wife. Tonight is exactly one month since I took the medication, there has been no progress with the drug due to investigations. I’m scared and plan not to sleep tonight, the date is 18th March 2023. I plan to record myself all night and hopefully I will be able to update you all in the morning.
After all, even though the subject experienced the same hallucinations as me, there couldn’t have been a link between her murder and the medication she had been given.
Only a mere coincidence.
UPDATE
Hello,
I’m not sure what this forum is or what it is about but please can this post be taken down.
I am a colleague of the late Dr Graham ****, who sadly passed away in the early hours on 19th March 2023.
This written post was found on his laptop in his home and is the legal property of the company, we would like this to be deleted from all records. Otherwise we will pursue with legal advice against your website.
Furthermore, if anybody has any information regarding Dr Graham **** or the described recording devices that were allegedly in his presence, please contact Detective Collett on **********.
Respectfully,
Dr M Baker.
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2023.03.25 22:45 Vanbosch Moving on for now.
| Sharing what I assume will not be an unpopular opinion... but will most likely be ratioed into oblivion... and that's ok. I hope that in sharing my experience, mindset and decision making process that Shadow Systems will continue to improve, evolve and become a world class brand. For starters I've owned an MR920 for the past year and a CR920 for the last 6ish months. Out of the gate, I firmly believe that the MR920 and CR920 are two of the very best pistols on the market. Shadow Systems quality, fit, finish, feature set, ergonomics and value are second to none. I don't think that there is a better value in the marketplace... especially when looking at the Glock Platform. Secondly, I work in the outdoor industry and have had the opportunity to meet many of Shadow System's employees at several trade shows. Shadow Systems very clearly has a solid internal culture. All of the people I have met that are affiliated with the company have been extremely professional, insightful, informative and focused on the customer experience. I think this goes hand in hand with their well deserved reputation for customer service and doing the right thing to stand behind their products and provide a great experience for their customers. All this being said I sold my Shadow Systems MR920 and CR920 this week... at a very large financial loss. I would like to think that I, like many other firearms enthusiasts, are above the gun gear chatter from social media... The truth is I've probably been "influenced" by many of these social media outlets. After several thousand rounds through both the MR920 and CR920 I've come to the conclusion... that even with all of the well deserved accolades and the fact that I shoot the platform better than I shoot my respective Glock's... and that the Shadow Systems experience and CS Support is miles ahead of Glock... the fact remains that I don't have the same confidence in Shadow Systems that I do in Glock. If push comes to shove and I ever need to use my firearm in a self defense situation, I simply can't have any doubt that the gun will do what I need it to do in that situation. While the Shadow Systems break-in period is well documented, I continue to have a roughly 2% failure rate. This includes Failure to Feed, Stove Piping and the rare Jam / Double Feed. I use 115 Blazer Brass and Herter's range ammunition and Hornady Critical Defense as my EDC and Home Defense cartridge. There are of course a multitude of variables that go into a malfunction and even with those variables taken into consideration, I am still seeing roughly a 2% malfunction rate after a couple thousand rounds in my Shadow Systems MR920 and CR920. Using the same ammunition, I have never had a single malfunction with my Glock 19, 45, 43 and 43x. While I believe Shadow Systems to be superior in every way to Glock... I can't in good conscience put their positive attributes above, what I consider to be a fatal flaw in reliability. A 2% failure rate simply isn't acceptable when you are looking at your EDC carry as being a life saving tool. I need this tool to be 100% reliable, 100% of the time. All of this being said I hope to be able to come back to Shadow Systems down the road. I am confident they will continue to progress, grow and improve as a brand. I'm confident that many who read this will disagree, have different experiences and point out the large variables that can lead to my experience. The reality is that your mileage will differ greatly from others and the journey that led me to this decision came after a long period of time with an overall 2% malfunction rate. That % base is probably fine for the majority of shooters... it's just not one I'm willing to live with at this time. submitted by Vanbosch to shadowsystems [link] [comments] |
2023.03.25 22:35 Miss_Robot_ Hi
Not sure if this belongs here but I wanted to say hello to everyone. I plan on creating another post with resources when I have some time.
Hey everyone, I'm 31, from the U.S Midwest, have been mitigating since March 2020 and still am. I have long Covid (August 2022, infected by a home carer), was disabled before Covid/the pandemic (worse now) and am active in the covid community on many of my socials.
I made two health blogs (on for pandemic info the other for clean aiaerosol science), working on a substance and several informative zines. I'm trying my best to connect with people, inform others with accurate information and advocate for public health however I can.
I am pursuing medical care (testing at this point and specialists), taking an experimental treatment (I do not advise and am not endorsing, if people do experiment I understand, I just don't want to push people to do things that may cause harm to them from what I say).
I enjoy video games, movies, tv shows, collecting (all sorts of things), books, music, food, science, writing and art/digital art. I miss cooking, dancing -- exercise, being outside and going to most indoor spaces (long Covid has taken plenty of things from me, I even lost part of a tooth because of it, yes covid can attack your mouth).
Would love to hear from other people 💕💕💕💕 Tell me who you all are (only if you want of course) 😊 It could be a great way to build some cohesion/community here by us all getting to know one another a little more 💜 Anyway hope everyone has a good day 🌼🌻
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2023.03.25 22:34 TallyMarkRoot25 Leadville 100 Trail Run - Lessons Learned
TL;DR On Aug 21st 2022 I completed the Leadville 100 Trail Run in 29 hours. Completing the Leadville Trail 100 and having such an amazing team to help me get across the finish line has been one of the highlights of my life. Below are some tips that I wanted to share, and if it helps one person than awesome!
There are some lessons learned I wanted to share with /ultrarunning community to hopefully improve your success but also prepare you more so you can soak in this amazing adventure. Background- 44 Year old male, living at sea level, casual runner who has done one marathon and does an Olympic length triathlon every year. The Leadville 100 Trail Run was my first Ultra.
If you can participate in the Leadville training camp then do it. The most significant ROI for doing the camp is access to the camp guides who share their knowledge over the 3 days during guided runs and also panel sessions. I came away from this with critical knowledge about planning for the race (crew, nutrition, gear, pacing, training). You can also test out gear on the course and find out what is working. I realized I was doing too much road running prior to the race and needed to get on the trail a lot more.
Volume Volume Volume- have a plan to build up to a significant amount of volume for your runs. The majority of these should be a conversational pace so for me that was zone 2 (132-140 BPM). I also focused staying at or below my Maffetone aerobic heart rate of 136 BPM. Additionally after doing the Leadville camp I began practicing running steep grades with all my kit on (ultra running vest which was about 12 lbs of water, nutrition, rain shell, poles, etc)! This is a lot of weight you need to get used to moving with it. What worked for me was increasing training volume for 3 weeks then having a week of deload/ recovery. So it would look like week 1: 60 total miles, week 2: 65 miles, week 3: 72ish miles, week 4: 48ish miles. Then the following 4 week block I would increase the mileage by 5-15 percent depending on how I was recovering and feeling. I think the deload really helped out in reducing the risk of over training. You might want to consider 2 weeks of load and 1 week deload depending on your goals. I worked up to my final high volume week which was 20 hours of running/power hiking hills- mileage was not important for me it was time on feet ( I climbed hope pass twice in prep to get my mind right for race day and build confidence up and this was 10 total hours of those 20 week hours) 95% of my runs during training was at conversational pace. One word on the Maffetone, when I started training in January 2022, my Maffetone of 136 was generally a 10 min 15 sec per mile pace, by August 2022, my Maffetone of 136 was generally 8 min 45 sec per mile. This was huge data point, and indicated to me I had gotten considerably more efficient at running. I did a taper of 10 days before the race, and basically did very easy shakeout runs, stretching, and hikes. The last 3 days before the race I did nothing.
Gear- you should plan on light trekking poles. Poles were a necessity for me to get up and over hope pass. It seemed like only the elite runners were not using poles. Some runners made the mistake of not bringing poles and tried to find sticks to use because the climb was taking a serious toll. I would also recommend practicing with poles. Dial them into the perfect length. I geeked out to the point where my pole length was shorter going up (125mm) and longer going down (135mm), I would get the telescoping poles. Invest in a good light pair, if you plan on caring the majority of the race, the grams in weight make a big difference over the hours. Garmin Fenix 6pro (i bought refurbished which saved me some money) watch was critical also for me- I downloaded the Leadville 100 race course to it and it would beep if I got 10 feet off course. I purchased this after camp, because I got turned around at one point during the camp; I ended up 2 miles off course, then I had to run back, ugh 40 min lost, and I was not going to let that happen on race day. While the course is pretty well marked sometimes if you lose concentration you can make a wrong turn, this happened to quite a few people. The garmin watch also has some great climbing dashboards that break down each climb of the race, so you know how much is left in certain sections, it was like having a coach on my wrist. For Aid stations use very large clear zip lock bags and mark with Sharpies. Pay attention to your Head Lamps, I forgot mine leaving Twin lakes outbound for Hope Pass. I realized when I was just starting my trek up Hope pass and I was not going to go the 30 min back to the aid station and lose an hour. I was very blessed that someone had dropped out, and offered their Head lamp for me to use. I would recommend putting extra head lamps in your drop bags, and consider caring 2, I had one go out during a portion of the race. Some folks seemed to really like the waist lamps. I thought I could wear very light Saucony Kinvaras, my fav running shoe, but I realized at training camp, I needed something more robust. For the race I got Altra Superior, and these were phenomenal for me. I changed them after I hit twin lakes in bound for a fresh pair of Altras at 60ish miles. Pay attention to gels, some have caffeine which is written in very small text, this caffeine could throw you off if taken too early or not at the right time.
Crews- I highly recommend having a crew if you are an average runner like myself because the more time you are on the course the more support you need. It is absolutely amazing the elite runners who dont even have an ultra vest and they dont even need a head lamp because they are getting done as the sun is setting, but I was no where near that level, and I knew I would be headed toward the finish line as the rising sun was high in the sky. Consider getting bright colored balloons to mark crew location/tent area, when you are tired all you need to do is scan the sky and hone in on where your crew is at. My wife found it very helpful getting a rugged pull wagon, that she could load up with gear from the car and take to the tent spot. You really don't need a crew at Mayqueen Outbound, its only 13ish miles into the race. Also dont waste a lot of times in aid stations- get your business done and move out, this can pay dividends later in the race.
Pacing- I had a plan A and B for my crew. I was able to hit all the aid stations with in 5-15 min of my pace plan which helped my crew anticipate my arrival. Don’t underestimate the challenge of the 18 min/mile pace required for under 30 hours. Murphy’s law can strike out of no where. I hit the 50 mile turn around at 12 hours 30 min. Well things did not go wrong and I slowed down considerably at 80ish miles. My body/bone structure felt like it had it and I dipped into my mental reserves and had an awesome pacer. Break the race up into 10 smaller races, basically each section between aid stations is its own race- require certain equipment changes and pacing changes. To give you an example, when I left twin lakes for Hope pass, I learned from camp that because I am using my poles it is very difficult to access nutrition bars. So a guide recommended this amazing supplement called Tailwind, calories that dissolve in water. So I was able to get 7 scoops of about 100 calories each in my water bladder and I could focus on power hiking and moving the trekking poles while sucking down liquid calories. Additionally when I left twin lakes I added some gloves, and a midlayer for under my shell (I always carried shell for random storms, this paid off on the way back home).
Arrive as early as you can pre race to Leadville. I was very lucky and my boss allowed me to work remote for 3 weeks in Leadville. This allowed me to acclimate as much as possible. I noticed that as I was in Leadville longer and longer I adapted to the elevation and heart rate was dropping on runs. There is an awesome hostel in Leadville called Inn the Clouds. This is packed with athletes and through hikers. I made a bunch of friends with other runners there for leadville and we did training runs together and there was some great transfer of knowledge going on and fun times.
Avoid negativity it is contagious- at the 50 mile turn around 3 runners all convinced themselves that there was no need to go back to finish they had seen the whole race. As the first one started talking about quitting the others started agreeing. I immediately got up and sat down with other positive people that were smiling and embracing the experience. I left the turnaround in a small positive group that made it back up and over hope pass.
Have a plan for your crew. If you have the time accompany crew to recon the aid stations they will meet you at. This will give them a lot of confidence.
Gifts for family and friends and race swag. Try to shop early for any Leadville race swag it goes quick the couple days leading up to race. We got t shirts and coffee mugs for my pacers and crew to thank them for all their support.
I would consider building time in to recover after the race, I did not realize how much of a toll the race would take on me. I could not walk without assistance until later the following day, and I was walking very slow the next couple. My wife reserved a hotel in Glenwood Springs CO, and I basically soaked in the natural salt springs the following day- this was so key to my recovery, and if you can build this into the trip I highly recommend it.
If you are interested below is a rough calculation and breakdown of how much it cost to earn the buckle. It cost my family quite a lot because we were coming from the coast and built in a lot of time to acclimate, but hopefully you can find some cost savings.
Total Cost to earn the Belt Buckle: ~$10,054 (Estimate)
Total cost for Leadville Camp (ball park): race entry and camp(~$1389ish) , camp costs- hostel ($641), food ($500), airfare ($280), rental car ($1233)= $4,043
race costs (Wife and Daughter Joined) - hostel ($800), Airbnb $(600), rental car ($2289), air fare ($622), food ($800), Equipment ($900 this is tent, wagon, first aid, chairs, drop bags, etc)= $6,011
Last words of advice- If you are lucky enough to get a spot, then your job until you cross the finish line should really be to do everything you need to do to get across. Make the little sacrifices along the way to get your mileage and don't cut corners and you will earn that buckle and hear "Welcome Home" from Ken and Marilee as you cross the finish line at 6th Street.
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2023.03.25 22:24 This-Ambition-3007 I don't know how should I continue the interaction with a girl from tinder
Td:Lr- been talking to girl since late December, met once in Jan, suddenly I had to get out of city for two months, kept in touch (like a message each per day) but she never asks any personal questions about me, not even simple one. So I am getting tired of carrying the conversation. Should I just stop intiating conversation?
In late Dec last year I (m27) matched with a danish girl (f29) on tinder. Our initial conversation was okish, but one thing was really weird that she rarely asked questions about me. I know I should have taken this as a sign that she might not be that interested in me (but I also had experiences on online dating where text conversation were super fun and we didn't even met even for first date after talking for more than month so I never go to conclusion on just text).
We met for a short coffee date in mid of January, which was a decent date and she said we should meet again soon. She had exams going on in next weeks so I said let's meet after her exams. But something came up at my work and I had to leave the city for just more than two months, so I asked her if she wants to continue texting or stop talking. She said let's stay in touch. We kept chatting but conversation hasn't developed much, it's still surface level stuff and it's like one message per day. I know she is quite busy (studies, work and thesis work) so I don't mind less amount of conversation but what bothers is she is still not asking any questions about me. Our conversation continued until this point mainly because I tried to keep open ended replies to her texts. She still rarely asks questions about me (one that really bothered me was, when I asked her when is her birthday. She just told me hers and didn't ask mine). At start of this month, she asked a question (one of only three times) about when I will be coming back to the city and I told her the right after ester and then said I am looking forward to seeing her and she said she is also looking forward to meeting me.
I am not sure if she is just bad at texting or just not that interested (but we are still in contact). I am kind of loosing interest in her because of this. I don't know how should I continue this, I will be in town in two weeks. Help me decide please 😅
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2023.03.25 22:23 Ykhare r/fantasy 2022 Bingo card and short reviews
| Challenge (100 % Successful) : As many books as possible from existing TBR. Sometime I read up to half a dozen books or more that could have fit a square, for this card I selected the one I rated highest, and in case of ties the more obscure ones, guess they can use whatever tiny boost I can provide. If there was still a tie, the most original and ‘out there’ one won. Some squares had less or no competition though I could find at least a 3/5* read to fill each one. **LGBTQIA List (HM) : Armistice (The Amberlough Dossiers #2) - Lara Elena Donnelly 3.5/5*\* As in the first book, the overwhelming majority of characters are involved willingly or not in intelligence work or in the running of goods/people/information through unofficial channels, either for some form of government, political movement, or to line their own pockets or fulfill some other personal goal. The character work, politicking, double dealings and so on are still just as delicious, though maybe a bit lacking in speculative elements for my mood at the time I was reading it, as the only thing to place it on the SFF spectrum is the secondary world setting, in a WW2 analogue era. **Weird Ecology (HM) : Into the Rain (Phantasia #1) - M.U. Riyadad 3.5/5*\* YA Science-Fantasy. The protagonist's star system is progressively invaded by highly adaptive, assimilating aliens strongly reminiscent of WH40K Tyranids. As the story starts he and his associates are headed for their final exam (in the form of a survival/monster-slaying trip) to graduate from an academy for students gifted with MMORPG and superhero-flavored abilities, trained to fight against the invaders, and their own native critters should they be taken over by the aliens. He hopes to qualify for a tournament that would allow him to join an elite soldiers program with his best female friend, though the more things progress and take them through a variety of wondrous places, the more the organization sponsoring said program begins to take on shades of Final Fantasy 7's Shinra... **2+ Authors : Salt in the Water - J. Ray & S. Cushaway 4.5/5*\* Science-Fantasy, Shadowrun X Mad Max, on another planet. A very coveted resource can be found when and where some celestial bodies make landfall, but those have also had strange effects on the flora, fauna and sometime people nearby, similar to Shadowrun's Awakening. While cushy high-tech cyberpunk enclaves exist and not too subtly pull the strings in their areas of influence, the book is concerned with the dusty and thirsty struggles of characters who can only dream of ever accessing them. The main character is a nearly legendary scout, who has been able to carve out a place of more respect than granted most other meta-humans (he's an elf) in human desert settlements, but the mission he's sent on this time might prove his match. **Historical (HM) : The Sixteen Burdens - David Khalaf 4/5*\* YA Mystery in Alt-Golden Age Hollywood, if some of the most talented and famous people around were also secretly gifted with superhero-type abilities or knacks. The protagonist starts in a much more humble place, in a orphanage... of sorts. While the kids aren't encouraged to steal outright, there doesn't seem to be a lot of formal education involved, and they're definitely made to hustle. The young protagonist has developed an obsession that unwittingly puts him on the path of danger, and discovering information some people would rather remain hidden. **Set in Space (HM) : The Truth Beyond the Sky – Andrew M. Crusoe 3/5*\* Juvenile/YA Science-Fiction. Though he’s gone on to become an apparently successful and well-adjusted young profesionnal, the protagonist remains haunted by his mother’s unexplained disappearance several years ago. When he discovers a wondrous spaceship and its pilot temporarily stranded, he seizes the opportunity to go look for answers, go places, have adventures, meet a quite special girl, and possibly help quite a few people. Optimistic, fairly pleasant if a bit lightweight overall. **Standalone (HM) : Naheli’s Sacrifice – Rabea Scholz 4/5*\* YA Fantasy. When she was much younger, the protagonist performed a feat of magic, something rare enough to mark her to be groomed as a future willing sacrifice to the Goddess of the Sea, for the sake of her own secluded community of telepaths in their tower and the other ordinary people on the island. As the day looms near, some disquiet and lingering nostalgia for a lost love motivate her into a forbidden last visit with a long-time common friend. **Anti-Hero : The Ways of Khrem – D. Nathan Hilliard 4.5/5*\* Sword & Sorcery in a Lankhmar-esque urban setting. The protagonist, a successfully and comfortably retired thief, gets roped into helping with a few cases by an overeager young officer who has discovered his past. His intimate knowledge of the pathways in, above and below the city will prove quite valuable. Some ghosts from his past might still linger and maybe be finally confronted or put to rest. **Book Club : Grave Peril – Jim Butcher 3/5*\* Urban Fantasy. Still going on with the Dresden buddy read. It’s not… bad. But I could probably name a half-dozen UF series that are just as good or better and whose protagonist doesn’t make me want to club them over the head sometime. Boobs ? Yeah. Roughly one in two humans has them. Get over it. **Cool Weapon (HM) : Dark Siren – Katerina Martinez 4/5*\* Urban Fantasy. So our ‘cool weapon’ is a named, special photo camera, woohoo. Nicely polished UF with a bearable romance sub-plot, the female protagonist is competent and has her own supernatural thing going on, even if right now she needs help from her (maybe not so-) ex, with whom she stayed in refreshingly civil if distant terms. Slightly puzzled by the take on a supernatural creature that goes by a name associated with a fairly specific definition in past decades of table-top RPG lore, but this doesn’t seem to be quite what it is here. **Revolution/Rebellion (HM) : The City Darkens – Sophia Martin 5/5*\* Alt-pre/early WW2 analogue era, in an Europe that was mostly subjugated by nordic countries. The protagonist is a young woman in an arranged marriage. She doesn’t see her noble husband much as he seemed content until now to let her live with their young son on his estates. That changes quite abruptly as she is taken to the capital and strong-armed into being the highly visible and pliant wife at her husband’s arm that the new political climate she has yet to fully grasp apparently requires her to be. Initially in shock and with few other apparent choices but to adapt and outwardly submit, her determination to recover her son doesn’t waver and eventually leads her to juggle a quite interesting double life. **Name in the Title (HM) : The Devil and Preston Black – Jason Jack Miller 4/5*\* Appalachian contemporary magical realism. The story of a young musician circling down the drain, with or without supernatural help depending on how you interpret some events. **Initials (HM) : Leviathan Wakes – James S.A. Corey 4.5/5*\* SF/Space Opera. The ingredients are quite simple and not tremendously original, at face value, be it the characters, the prose or the plot, but the mix very successfully sucked me in. **Published in 2022 (HM) : A Touch of Light – Thiago Abdalla 3.5/5*\* Didn’t quite work for me. The POVs come from/through a carefully and interestingly described variety of backgrounds and situations, but from quite fairly early on the main points of their arcs all seem to blur together into establishing them as (or having them become) some form of magically enhanced badasses (all possibly ultimately linked to the same underlying source or cause, but with different manifestations). **Urban Fantasy (HM) : Love Song for a Vampire (Dale Bruyer #2) – J.L. Aarne 4.5/5*\* Queer (m/m) Urban Fantasy. A severely compromised monster hunter who now seems to see more of them on a daily basis than regular people (and on mostly peaceful terms), the protagonist is alerted to a situation developing in nearby New Orleans where someone seems to be handing out microdoses of vampire blood like candy, and nearly nobody wants that. Had fun with the gloriously wacky take on ‘Dracula in the modern world’ (no, he’s not the primary antagonist), but I suppose anyone overly attached to the classical picture of him should probably give this book a veeery wide berth. **Africa (HM) : The Rage of Dragons – Evan Winter 4/5*\* Heroic Fantasy in a not-Africa setting. Undergoing a Heroic Blue Screen of Death after the last of several grievous injustices hits particularly close, the average-guy protagonist swears to become enough of a badass to obtain vengeance from people placed well above him by their social station, training and inborn fighting abilities, and turns into The Determinator. Cue over-the-top training montage. Heh, it’s probably one of the finest examples I can think of if that’s what you’re looking for. **Non-Human : Moonlit Miles (Kris Grant #2) – Jon Kershner 4/5*\* Urban Fantasy. Having freshly ‘acquired’ the territory of a much older and nastier vampire in what to outsiders looks like it must have been an incredible stroke of luck, the fangy protagonist soon faces what looks suspiciously like the first probes and challenges from local contenders and possibly other powerful neighbors or visitors as well. **Timey-Wimey (HM) : The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August – Claire North 4.5/5*\* That one probably doesn’t need an introduction. It’s good. Not fast-paced, particularly flashy or action-heavy though, **Short stories (HM) : Outcasts – Nick Wisseman 3.5/5*\* OK, not particularly memorable. Preferred this author’s full-length novel The Red Wraith some years ago. **Mental Health (HM) : Amanojaku – Damien Lutz 4.5/5*\* Dark Cyberpunk thriller. An ex-con released through a program involving an implant to control violent urges, and now doing specialized maintenance work in the harder-to-reach corners of a very vertical (wretched) hive city, the protagonist comes to suspect with dismay his implant doesn’t dull just violence when an intriguing female android sparks his interest. Hitting some snags and delays in his plans for a much-desired change of scenery doesn’t help either. **Self-Published (HM) : Beneath the Fading Sun – Richard M. Ankers 4/5*\* An unlikely crossover between Vampire Hunter D. & Moorcock’s Dancers at the End of Time. Yes it works. Mostly. In a far future Earth left much darkened by a weakening Sun, vampire hybrids rule the world long after regular humans went extinct, toying with the remains of fantastical technology that they can’t comprehend or elaborate upon but that allow the more powerful among them who gained control of such artefacts to shape their surroundings nearly effortlessly (unfortunately, most of them have pretty tacky tastes and not a lot of imagination). The protagonist is one of the last born, and the few to rebel at their endless petty quarrels and their lack of interest in remedying their still far-off but inevitable doom, though for a while he is… fairly petty himself. Until a few events and things witnessed send him on a more focused path. **Runner-Up (HM) : The Path of Flames – Phil Tucker 4.5/5*\* In a sundered world whose dominant religion believes in reincarnation, and largely ties individuals’ intrinsic moral worth to where they were born, the protagonist Asho was given a rare opportunity to elevate himself and train to become a knight under the lord whose life his father saved. Yet many only see as far as his origin, and he himself comes soon to witness both the death of his protector and troubling revelations about the faith. Still, he is determined to support his lord’s widow and new liege to the best of his abilities. So far feels like very solid and fairly classical Epic fantasy with a welcome fresh coat of paint (like the orcs initially present as hired shock troops in the opening battle, but then having a POV and developments back home rather than being just endless disposable mooks irretrievably in thrall to some villain). **BIPOC : Resurgent – C.C. Ekeke 3/5*\* Science-Fiction, Space Opera, Superheros. Rogue alien elements have been executing increasingly successful terrorist hits. They might kinda have a point, because at the end of the previous conflict, Earth-born humans took over their home planet in retaliation, largely shaped it to their own needs and scattered the remaining native populations to mostly servile and unpleasant fates, just so you know. Anyway, in this mess the main protagonist is a non-Earth-born human, begged to come back take over leadership of some very beleaguered special forces he retired from not too long ago, though it looks like disaster struck in the interval and they’re weeks away from being poached out of any worthwile personnel left. **Shapeshifters (HM) : Deep Magic – Gillian St. Kevern 4.5/5*\* M/M Paranormal Romance, rural Wales coastline, Merfolk. One of my annual or bi-annual « I don’t read much Genre Romance but it looks like I picked up this one at some point and it was indeed quite fun. » Long kept from home, or from settling anywhere else for very long with his mother by a strange restlessness they both suffer from, the protagonist comes back to his grandmother’s cottage after she’s taken ill. Maybe walking the paths of his childhood vacations for a while will grant him some peace, or answers a child couldn’t find. **No Ifs Ands or Buts (HM) : Eeny Meeny Criminy Crow – Julie C. Eger 4.5/5*\* Murder mystery. Magical realism, of the darker sort in an impoverished part of the rural USA, though seen through the lens of some fairly resilient kids whose closest adults mostly try their best for them. A young girl sneaking in a place where she definitely wasn’t supposed to be, was hidden observing as a masked boggeyman walked out of his just murdered victim’s home. Afraid to be scolded or killed too, or that she won’t be believed and convinced she doesn’t have much to tell anyway, she only confides in her closest friends. After they decide to cautiously try and uncover more, the make-believe occultish game their slightly older ring-leader convinced them to engage in seems to lead them with uncanny clarity to elements about the situation, present and past. **Family Matters (HM) : L’Héritière – Jeanne-A. Debats 4/5*\* French Urban Fantasy, Paris. After her mother passes away, the protagonist somewhat reluctantly becomes involved in the main family business with her grand-father. Which amounts more or less to taking care of many legal, mundane and sometime not-so-mundane affairs for some of the Masqueraded supernaturals in the area. https://preview.redd.it/n1e84ezscypa1.jpg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=886481d62ead5fba9294aab1fd1382db93a8fce7 submitted by Ykhare to Fantasy [link] [comments] |
2023.03.25 22:12 Secret-Tomatillo5044 Self Respect: A Dared My Best Friend and TFTGS story
Spencer had been hired as an assassin by the crime boss Sophie Atrickson. It didn't take him long to kill the targets she assigned and he was satisfied with his earnings. He was ready to leave for the next client when she gave an offer he couldn't refuse. She’d pay for his housing and other resources if he became a permanent employee. With how easy it was to eliminate his victims, he agreed to the terms with little hesitation. Unaware that the greatest thing he’d have to face was the one he was prohibited from killing. Soon after moving into the apartment, she'd secured for him, he met her romantic partner and right-hand man, David King. An individual he despised off the bat. Despite working under him, Spencer had no respect for the tall brunette. He never bothered getting close to him since he believed he knew everything he needed to. He was a weak man obsessed with someone because of what they could be molded into, instead of what they were. A narcissist who was far more pathetic than his blind followers would accept. And worst of all, he was dreadfully boring and predictable. For someone who perceived themselves as a master manipulator, they had a rather limited bag of tricks. Unfortunately, he was forced to work for him directly when Sophie assigned him to stalk Zander Jones, the piece of human putty David couldn't pry himself away from. Spencer grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge near his foot. Opening it with a loud crack before drinking it.
“Taking a break already?” Spencer leaned back further in his foldable chair, looking up at David. Rolling his eyes and taking another sip.
“I drink some water and you assume I’m not working? You're more uptight than I thought.” David sighed, blocking Spencer’s view of the window he was looking through.
“You do realize you're stopping me from keeping watch of that boy toy you're crazy about right?” he grunted whilst harshly pushing him away.
“Well, there’s no point in you seeing anything if you aren't paying attention! You haven't taken a single note on his behavior for the past 36 minutes!” he complained, to Spencer’s annoyance.
“I haven't written anything down because he hasn't done shit! The last relevant thing he did was go into the bathroom to shower!” he retorted, getting closer to the window.
“Why are you getting so irritated with me? I’ve seen how you are with Sophie and you're not nearly this hot-headed,” he questioned in a calm yet condescending tone that only infuriated Spencer more.
“I’m irritated with you because you bitch about every little thing that doesn't go your way! Sophie isn't someone I particularly respect either, but at least she doesn't extensively nitpick people’s actions like you do!” David’s eyes widened at his response, not expecting him to be that upfront.
“I wouldn't criticize you so harshly if you handled your assignments with more care. When watching him you don't take in the greater implications of what he's doing.” He responded, slumping into the now empty chair. Spencer turned back with frustration and glanced down at David's shoes.
“Please, you're not any more productive, sitting around in your fancy little pumps looking like a Disney princess so ugly no prince came to save her.” David pulled out a green pen twirling it in his left hand, the plastic smacking against his nails.
“I do more than that and you know it. You're simply ignoring my contributions to prove your weak point. I train every member of our organization, keep Sophie in check when her plans get too risky, and most importantly, push people to not only survive their monotonous lives but break free from them.” Spencer scrunched his face up in a way that David couldn't help but smirk at. The gruff man was struggling to respond, a rarity for him. He couldn't find a reasonable counter to David's cases, as worthless as he was to him, he couldn't deny that he was good at leading the weaklings around him. And it was that ladder part of Spencer's realization that gave him ammo.
“Alright, sure, you're good at leading your little fan club. But your repetitive, bare-bones, strategies are only effective because you go after those who are already fragile. No matter how hard you try, you can't turn rock into gold.” He responded with smug pride. David cocked his head to the side, giving him an oddly enchanting smile.
“I must admit, I'm impressed with your argument, I expected far less than what you've delivered.” He snickered, temporarily stopping the rotation of the pen in his grasp.
“If I'm correct, you believe I wouldn't be able to control someone who’s less mentally vulnerable or has an opposing mindset?” he questioned, motioning his free hand to Spencer's water bottle without him noticing.
“Yeah pretty much, any way to prove me wrong? Or are you already running out of cheap party tricks?” David kept his sympathetic smile, countering with a question of his own.
“Heh, not quite, more importantly, your mouth was on this right?” he picked up the partly used bottle and Spencer stared back with further irritation.
“Are you kidding me? I was just drinking out of it dumbass! Of course, I put my mouth on it, I don't drink out my fucking nose!” David held the bottle neatly in his lap, growing in anticipation of what was about to happen. He knew the bulky man didn't like him, but his reactions were even more amusing than he expected.
“Good, I'm just checking, I needed to be sure.” the brunette then stabbed the pen into the container. In a single swift motion, the item was lodged through the plastic. Water rapidly poured from the poorly punctured opening. Spencer rolled his eyes at the sight, David’s pettiness appeared to extend further than he thought.
“Wow, real heartbreaking move there, that was my favorite...” his sarcastic response slipped past his lips as a heavy wave of tiredness wafted over him. He fell to the ground, while David grinned. His vision blurred, things went dark, and his entire body went still. David checked to see if Spencer was breathing, got up, and went into another room to grab his supplies, he expected this to be fun.
When Spencer awoke, he was greeted with an all too familiar texture. Harsh rope scratched his skin, though, unlike his past experiences, his bindings were more meticulous. Both his arms were tied together at each joint, with his legs getting the same treatment, with the addition of his upper thighs also being tied.
“I pulled out all the stops with this one, I couldn't have you getting away,” David spoke, seated in the same chair from earlier, looming tall while Spencer remained slumped against the wall.
“For God’s sake, what pathetic game are you trying to play? Spencer groaned.
David pulled out a syringe from his breast pocket. It was filled with a deep purple liquid, the end of the metal stained red.
“I'm not playing any games with you, you're far too mature for that. Instead, consider a business transaction.” David set a small container of clear liquid on the ground beside him.
“While you were unconscious I injected a deadly toxin into your body. It’s festering inside you as we speak, only giving you 20 minutes before it terminates every vital organ you have.” His domineering tone in tandem with his icy stare almost impressed Spencer. It was hard to believe that an individual with half his weight and wits just took him out in both departments.
“The vile to my left contains the antidote, but I'll only provide it to you under one condition. You beg.” Spencer's eyes widened, David was truly testing his limits.
“What?!” he yelled, managing to push his torso off the wall.
“You heard me, I want you to beg for all of it. Your life, the cure, my forgiveness, everything.” Spencer took a moment to sigh from what he just heard.
“Well, in that case, just take me out now.”
David squinted, with skepticism, placing a heel against Spencer’s forehead. Something the tied man found especially strange since the position seemed more uncomfortable for his captor.
“Are you truly willing to die for your pride? It would take you two minutes at most and no one else would see it.” David pressed the heel further into the man’s skin but he didn't budge. Instead, smirking, as if he’d just heard an inside joke only he understood.
“The better question is how much pride are you willing to sacrifice? If the roles were reversed and I had you tied up with only 20 minutes to live, would you start pleading?” Spencer questioned, with a hint of excitement.
“Of course, unlike you, I have an actual life to live. There are so many things I’d miss out on if I died this young, I'm not sacrificing years of joyous experiences for a blip of superiority.“ Spencer softened his expression and nodded in agreement.
“Alright, I see your perspective, gotta say that’s surprisingly reasonable by your standards. But there are different levels of sacrifice, so I'm going to get more specific.”A cocky grin crossed his face when he finished his sentence, making David flinch. Something about the undertone of his expression was wrong in a way that caught him off guard. He didn't expect to see it on him, or any person for that matter.
“In this scenario, you’d still be tied up with 20 minutes to live. But this time around you’d have to blow me in that time frame or I'd shoot you.”
“Are you kidding me?” The spark of intimidation instilled in him faded once he heard the bound man’s crude words.
“It’s a genuine question! You're always yapping about the value of your precious life, so I'm testing how much dignity you’re willing to live without! Cause I don't know about you but I'd just let you pull the trigger.” David looked to the ground, feeling embarrassed about what he was about to say.
“If I'm being honest with you, I would do it if I had to.“ Spencer chuckled at his response.
“Wow! You’d seriously suck my dick to spare your hopeless life!“ He laughed, as David developed a response.
“How is my life hopeless, if anything it's entering its prime. Are you unaware of the multitude of crimes I've gotten away with and the power I've accumulated in only a couple of months? While you were a dog for a government that doesn't care about you, I was re-tooling mechanisms in people’s brains.” Spencer scoffed at David’s response.
“Jeez, you're more delusional than I expected! Firstly, I'm no one’s bitch, I didn't do any of the army shit cause I cared about this country. I took on those missions so could legally end lives and beat people’s asses. I didn't feel shit for anyone involved. The kind of stuff that traumatized other soldiers is what I lived for.” He hissed, making David recoil his leg. Spencer’s pure lack of empathy took him by surprise. He knew he was sadistic but he was impressed by the extent of it.
“Secondly if this is the prime of your life then you better untie my legs and open that mouth up cause being a professional cock sucker is more respectable. You think you're so damn smart with your morbid little game but you’re nothing special. You are wasting your time on the embodiment of vanilla to answer psychological questions that have already been answered by people with degrees. This entire pursuit for inevitably lackluster results is useless.” David was awe-struck by what he was hearing, no one had ever talked to him like that.
“Spencer I-”
“What, are you surprised? You shouldn't be, I‘m not another love-deprived loser begging for your approval. I've survived in places you wouldn't last two minutes in, I’m more than capable of seeing through your bullshit“ David calmly lifted his hands.
“I know, I know, it's obvious your not my typical target. Still, all of what you have said is subjective. As thorough as your take-down of me was, it doesn't change my perspective.” Spencer’s grin grew wide once more.
“Alright, I guess I'll try to be more understanding. If working towards this Zander goal is your prime, and you're still a few years younger than me, what the hell are you doing after?” Despite his underlying smug tone, it was a valid question. David pressed the heel of his shoe back onto his face. This time landing it between his eyes, the harsh feeling making the bound man cringe.
“I predict that he’ll end up similar to me and we’ll be able to play the game together again with a target of our choosing.” He responded calmly, checking his nails.
“Aww, isn't that just adorable? Two best buddies reconnect by playing make-believe. Do you want me to pick you up from his house after you're done with this over-complicated play date?” he mocked in a patronizing tone.
“It's starting to baffle me how childish your logic is, love or hate me I don't try to hide my motives. I never lie to people since the truth is always worse, and the same goes for you. The fact is princess, you are way in over your head. This minimum required effort philosophy isn't the worst, but if you keep clinging to Mr. Meh, you’ll end up wasting most of your life away.” David shivered when he called him princess, it was secretly validating. Though he wasn't ready for the conversation about why that was. More importantly, he understood where Spencer was coming from. Spencer was a smart man with valid points. After all this time, David was speaking to someone on his level.
“I get why you think that, but you're even more naive than me by assuming that it stops there. Zander is the blueprint for something greater, once I have a proven method I’ll be able to streamline and alter it to any possible liking. I want Zander to help me with the next game as a final test to see if he came out how I wanted him to.” He got up from his chair and sat across from the bound man. Grabbing him by the face, forcing him to stare into his eyes.
“I can make anyone around me into what I want with enough effort, no matter how much they hate me.” Spencer could tell who his sentence was directed at.
“There is always an exception to the rule, now do me a favor, and let me die.” David’s eyes widened at Spencer’s casualty.
“Going off on your backward ass has been fun and you have ambition, but I'm still not apologizing. I don’t take back anything I said before, even if you become a real master manipulator and develop a whole cult around your logic. You’ll just be another lunatic taking advantage of stupid people. Our time spent with each other is proof that you can't change anyone with a shred of intelligence and stability.“ David was transfixed on the gruff man. He was a boulder impossible to budge.
“So that’s it, you’ll die in an almost empty apartment with someone you despise because you're too prideful to even pretend to say sorry? After all the things you’ve gone through, this is what you’re content with?” He asked in genuine disbelief, Spencer took a deep breath, gazing up at the ceiling.
“Yep, what can I say, I’ve had a good run. My life has been fuller than people twice my age without a plan or any definitive goals. Sure this wasn't my ideal way to die, but it's rare anyone gets an ideal death anyway. After everything, I'd rather die on my terms than humiliate myself on someone else’s.” He explained, calmer than ever. His sudden serenity unnerved David, it didn't feel right coming from him.
“You seem very content with this like you expected to pass soon.” Spencer furrowed his brow.
“Just say die, no need to be respectful with terminology. And it's not that I expected or wanted it, but I came to terms with the concept a long time ago. I mean, I'm an assassin, I risk my mortality daily going after people. Death is inevitable and with so many close calls, I accept that it’ll get me sooner than later. Don't get me wrong, I’ll fight for my life, but if I know I won't make it I'm not gonna waste my time.” David found his explanation beautiful.
“Wow, it's so rare to find someone so comfortable with dying without outright wanting it. I have a lot of respect for your perspective even if I can never relate.” Spencer was surprised by David’s appreciation of his viewpoint. Still, he had his issues.
“Of course, you can't, you're too narcissistic to feel the weight of your mortality. Even if you get scared in a life-or-death situation, in the back of your mind you’re convinced you’ll make it out.” David didn't have a response, he was spot on. He’d never admit it, but death is what he feared most, which was why he tried not to address its finality. He pulled up his phone to check the time, coming to realize they were running out of it.
“Well, we have about 8 minutes left, any final requests?” Spencer was slightly disappointed by how David ignored his statement, but it was what he expected for the most part.
“Hmm, you know a blow job-”
“Within reason Spencer.” David quickly cut off. Spencer smirked at his visible disgust.
“Oh come on, it'll only be 2 minutes max and no one will see it.” he mocked.
“Any real requests?” David asked with a twinge of annoyance
“A hand job for the sake of courtesy, I am about to die after all.” He grinned, relaxing his eyes in an exaggerated flirtatious manner.
“Ugh, why do you keep going back to these crude jokes?” David asked despite knowing why.
“Because they work every time! It makes sense, you’re too busy with the stick up your ass to get fucked by anyone else.” Spencer paused, leaning forward.
“Apart from your boss of course.” He continued with a wink.
“Sophie is not my boss! If anything I have more power over the business.” Spencer laughed at David’s response.
“Sure pal, face it she’s your pimp. I haven't been here long but I can already tell you’ve had to get on your knees in order to keep your position. Maybe that's why you're doing this weird bondage shit with me.”
“Oh shut up, you know that isn't what this is! Saying that is a pretty low blow.” As soon as David’s words left his mouth he regretted it.
“Not lower than the one you said you’d give me.” Spencer snickered, David clenched his fists, holding in the urge to groan at the obvious trap he fell into.
“Alright, do you have any real least requests?” David asked, changing the subject.
“Yeah, I'd like some coffee.” Spencer nonchalantly stated. David nodded, walking into his kitchen. He pulled out a half-empty plastic cup from the fridge and poured it into a mug. Spencer could tell the leftovers were from a chain, but he wasn’t petty enough to complain. David set the timer for under a minute. Quickly returning with it, sitting across from Spencer on the ground. A smile far sweeter than it had any right to be, spread across his face. He pressed the mug against Spencer’s lips.
“Fuck you,” he mumbled before opening his mouth wider to swallow the beverage. Being forced into needing assistance with drinking felt more embarrassing than he anticipated. He’d been so focused on the short-term joy of getting the drink, he didn't consider his circumstances. He had to stop and start in different intervals so he didn't choke, all while David had the same expression as a child playing with a new toy.
Once the cup was empty, David placed it on his counter. By this point, Spencer didn't have anything more to say. While he would have loved to continue his life, he understood that it was almost over. He shut his eyes and reflected on his life. He should have known that this job was too good to be true. Consistent pay with free housing all so he’d kill some low-level crooks and suburbanites. It was the easiest route he could have taken, and now he was paying with his life. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for the pain he was about to endure.
“You passed the test!” David excitedly announced. Spencer’s eyes shot open.
“What the hell do you mean?!” He questioned, annoyed that David broke his concentration.
“This was a test to see if you were truly on my level, and you passed with flying colors! I had an interest in you since the moment you arrived, and this just proved to me that your worth is beyond what I expected.” Spencer stared dumbfounded at the news.
“So this whole fucking thing was a test to determine whether or not I was worth your time?!” he asked with a rapidly growing sense of anger.
“I know it sounds bad, but yes. Take it as a compliment though. In my eyes, most of the population is expendable, so the fact I’m enamored with you and took the time to do this says something.” Spencer couldn't believe that David was able to say such self-centered things without a hint of self-awareness.
“So the poison was made up?” he questioned with a growl.
“Yeah, I figured that seeing how you react to an ultimatum would be best.”
“David, I swear to God, or whatever the fuck is out there, I will beat your ass.” David giggled, the light-hearted smile remaining on his face.
“In your dreams, we both know what Sophie would do to you.” Spencer let out a long groan, utterly fed up with him.
“I hate your guts so much right now you can’t even understand.” He tiredly complained as David brought out a knife from his back pocket.
“Good, I’ll have fun trying to,” he replied while cutting Spencer free. It was particularly awkward when David sliced the rope around his upper thighs. He was sure that the knot’s placement was there to make things as uncomfortable as possible. Once free, Spencer rubbed his arms and legs, looking up at David with total contempt.
“You're lucky your pimp pays me well, or else I'd destroy every inch of your pathetic excuse of a body.” David’s expression relaxed, as he gave him strangely dreamy eyes.
“I guess I gotta make her lower your salary then~” he cooed, twirling a piece of tight curly hair. Spencer cringed at his comment.
“It's not funny when you do it, you sound way too sincere.” He replied, getting off the ground.
“You're seriously the worst, I don't understand how anyone wants to pound you let alone like you.” He insulted him while heading out.
“I look forward to seeing you later too.” David happily waved, Spencer scoffed and flipped him off while slamming the door. David stood outside the window in silence for a couple of seconds. Watching him speed walk with clear frustration. Once he was gone, David sat back in his chair and pulled out his laptop. Accessing the cameras in the room to review the footage. Opening a word document titled “Notes on SM” on the side. He was excited to start analyzing one of the few people who were worthy of being considered a real person.
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2023.03.25 22:09 Scorch301 BETS ARE LIVE! GO GO GO!
BETS ARE LIVE! GO GO GO!
Seeing as the initial craziness about the ending of Round 8 has subsided, we will allow people to start posting about bets/forfeits. HOWEVER, please take note of the following:
- Do not mention or even hint at who won in the title of your bets post
- All bets posts must be spoiler tagged as the comment section will undoubtedly talk about the results of Round 8
- Please clearly state what your initial bet was at the start of your post
- Please use the "Bets" Post Flair when posting
Thanks to
u/MUI-Tojo the FULL list of bet
losers can be seen here:
Also seeing as we can't exactly ban people for not fulfilling their bets, let's just say that if you don't do your bet then you are an incredibly smelly individual.
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2023.03.25 22:01 BookGirlBoston Is it Fridging? Let’s Talk about that plot line!
Hey folks, so, 3x02 was a doozy. I have been trying to reconcile what was a plot line that felt specifically emotional impactful and if it is a good plot line for the show.
Should Superhero content be hard? Before I go further, I do just want to acknowledge this show chose a really hard, triggering plotline, especially for people who have been through cancer or who have someone close go through cancer. I believe Bitsie Tulloch has already acknowledged in an interview that she understands that this is going to be too hard for some viewers. This does not hit close to home, but I found it was really emotionally taxing.
I am split on how things like comic book TV should approach sensitive topics like this, especially in very head on ways. On one side, this is a comfort show for a lot of people and there is an expectation of safety (Even so, giving cancer to Lois still has an expectation of safety as a title character has a certain amount of inherent plot armor.) There is a great question, should some fiction exists to be safe and escapist without diving into big, heavy issues? Does Superman & Lois have a reasonability to coddle our emotions or is their duty to represent real life issues on screen? I am unsure of the answer, it is a valid discourse but one I do not have here. This show has always been about strong emotions, but have they taken it too far and alienated their audience? Only time will tell. I do not have the answer here. Personally, I wish it had not, but for others, this plotline will provide much needed representation.
Real life representation While I am not a fan of the cancer plot line, I think there is a real question if this show can do good with representation. So, the thing with cancer in media is that it is usually reserved to a few very specific scenarios.
- Teen cancer media (Fault in our Stars, Zac and Mia, Alexa & Katie, Red Band Society) for whatever reason, people love a good movie/ book/ TV show about kids with cancer. I wish I could pretend I have not seen all of these, I have. Usually, these are about wise kids beyond their years dealing with something hard. I think kids cancer works because it is tragic without being complicated or messy. No on is at fault, so it is easy to be mad cancer as a villain instead of each other.
- Medical dramas which are more about the doctors then the patients
- The sick mothe wife/ sister who is a back ground character to enhance the main characters story.
Lois Lane becomes an interesting choice for a cancer story. As mentioned above, she inherently has enough plot armor to survive. This show has been light on death in a post Game of Thrones world and Lois’s name is in the title. Both Lois Lane and Bitsie Tulloch are too instrumental to the show to do without, and the cast and writers have all expressed that they are hopeful for a season 4, even with CW chaos, so this show seems to be written as if a season 4 is happening and a few people close to the show have expressed that they feel it likely to continue.
So, this is where this becomes interesting. There is a certainly a piece of Lois’s cancer plotline that is set up to serve this perpetual superman question around “I have all these powers and I still could not save them.” Usually this is Jonathan Kent Sr.’s role in the story. He dies of a heart attack when Clark is a teenager and Clark has to grapple with his own limitations, that there are things powers cannot do. I have a lot pretty strong opinions about imparting this on Lois Lane, especially because this is supposed to be her show as well and this absolutely becomes fridging lite, because Lois’s illness is all about Clark’s emotions. There is going to be a piece of that I don’t love, especially when the show has often been a bit lacking on exploring Lois’s emotions around Clark’s sort of parallels. In 1x12, this episode was mostly a logistical episode to get Clark back where Lois gave a single speech to the boys, 2x07 did not really focus on either the emotions of Lois or the boys with Clark’s arrest and Clark being gone for a month late in season 2 was famously critiqued for essentially dropping Lois’s abonnement issues to focus on Lana as soon as Clark returned. So there is a clear history where we actually do not get to walk through much of Lois’s emotions around Clark’s things, but we are presumably going to spend a disproportionate amount of time focused on Clark’s emotions around Lois’s illness.
But, what we have already scene is that the writers seem cognizant that this story needs to center Lois first and foremost. In 3x02, Lois’s cancer diagnosis was about Lois and all of her big emotions. She was still able to save the day (which she got very little of that in season 2) and they writers even let her have the iconic All-Star Superman Panel where she talks someone off a ledge. So, we did get All-Star Lois Lane, which I thought was a important inversion.
So often, both in fiction and real life, cancer patient, very specifically breast cancer patients are reduced down to pink clad motivational posters with a wise attitude of gratitude. They are not allowed to be angry or scared. They are sidelined and pitied. The real test of this plot line will be if Lois is allowed to remain Lois without becoming these tropes and stereotypes. So, there is the opportunity to do some real good here by allowing Lois to remain Lois and provide really important representation for cancer patients. I though 3x02 did a good job of showing how scared she was, how she was making mistakes, but also how she very much did not want to be seen only as a sick person. The show really needs to commit to make sure she is bigger then her illness. Even though this is an all-encompassing illness, Lois cannot be encompassed by it.
So, this becomes all about the execution. Lois needs to be Lois Lane throughout if this is going to work. We need scenes where Clark is treating her like his wife, where we are seeing physical intimacy (kissing, sex, etc.). We need to see Lois still in the story with Mannheim. We need to see Lois writing. We need to see Lois mothering. Given the shows history with Lois, I think there is a big question here.
Is it Fridging? I wrote this next part as a comment in another post, but wanted to include it with my more wholistic thoughts on the plot line. This conversation gets tricky because it seems that the trauma Lois is put through is often most substantial then Clark’s.
In season one, we learn that she has had not only a miscarriage, but this devastating late term miscarriage that some would actually define as a still birth. The thing is, most women who attempt to conceive do have miscarriages. I think the statistic is like a 3rd of mothers have a miscarriage, it is common, but a lot of these miscarriages happen very early in pregnancy, plenty before women even know they are pregnant. This is everything from chemical pregnancies to the sort of late term miscarriage that Lois had. These writers chose the most traumatic story to give Lois. They had named the baby and she was already visibly pregnant. It was easy to applaud this story, it stayed focused on mostly Lois without spending a ton of time exploring Clark's feelings without being supportive. It is still a good story, but woah, that was a lot for one character. Different women experience this trauma differently, and I do suspect a piece of it is how far along you are in the pregnancy. Lois was to the point where most mothers think they are safe, that was clear.
In the second season, we learn Lois is a child of divorce, like Lois, I am a child of a crazy traumatic divorce, but even so, Lois got a double, maybe triple whammy of losing her mom, having a father that was both physically and emotionally absent, and a sister that was hell bent on destroying her career. Also worth noting, Lois was mostly sidelined because her journalistic integrity was called into question. Also worth noting, there were 2 episodes in which Clark was away on Superman stuff in season 2, and in both episodes Lois was left to deal with the hardest parenting of the season. Clark mostly got to coach football and do flying lessons.
Now, we are in the 3rd season. and they did not just give Lois cancer, they gave her a super aggressive, rare form of cancer with a terrible prognosis. This is not a PSA about cancer, this is choosing the most horrible, traumatic story possible. It is a trend. It is a trend we see with both strong women, LGBTQ people and people of color. It is like because these people are not what society wants, they need to be humbled, or killed off, or given the tragedy stories. It says that these people, marginalized people are for exploring trauma and very important issues. That these people cannot be self inserts. It sucks for the people who see themselves in these characters, because they are not allowed to be full characters, just poster children for very important issues.
Second of all, Lois is a self-insert, a power fantasy just like Clark. While there are stories like All-Star where Clark is sort of sick, Clark's sickness lands different. He is not a cancer patient; his sickness is about some hero’s journey. It is hard not to feel like Lois's sickness is really to explore Clark's emotions about not being able to cure cancer. And Lois is going to be sick, that is something Bitsie has shared. Too sick to keep working.
This story forgets that this show is called Superman & Lois and that just like Superman gets these big victory moments, Lois should be allowed that as well. Instead, she just gets a hodgepodge of all the trauma that can be inflicted on women during the 8pm family hour.
I guess Lois will get to fight Mannheim, until she is too sick and Clark takes over. But mostly big arc is this trauma for being terribly ill in the worst way possible and it is not fair. Why does Clark get to be Superman, but Lois has to always bare some sort of trauma that makes her cry. Why is she never allowed to just have the big victory and be happy? She is a hero in her own right, but she rarely gets to be that on this show. Why does her vitality have to be stripped from her in a way that the show can only dance around with Clark (Remember, the most they could do with him losing his powers was 1 episode before he was heroically restored by the sun). Lois is going to be sick for episodes and there is likely no sun Deus ex Machina to stop the trauma.
While Lois will live, the writers need to spend some more time understanding why fridging is a thing, and why this feels like fridging lite. Lois getting cancer is just a way to explore Clark's emotions. Lois has been sidelines yet again, to ask these big Superman questions. That is literally the definition of fridging, doing something traumatic to a women to explore a man’s emotions.
People will love it sure, but we need to ask, why does Lois have to crushed under the most traumatic things possible, almost always often taking away from her reporting, while Clark gets to the Superman every single episode.
How long must the audience endure? I think the thing I am struggling with this the most is 11 episodes of the sort of heart wrenching, emotional gut punch we got in episode 3x02. I think first off, this is probably one of the worst, if not the worst of the entire season. The second thing is, is that I think Lois having cancer, being an active cancer patient actually wraps up around episode 7. In the past two seasons, this show has had a big shift around the 7th episode. In season 1, we got the big John Henry reveal that closed out his arc hunting Clark and completely changed the audiences perception. In 2x07, Bizarro was killed off and the Anderson became the villain. Also in 2x07, Jonathan’s X-K story also had a pretty big shift.
So, my guess is that 3x07 will represent a shift in Lois’s cancer, whether there will be some sort of 11th hour deus ex machina that saves Lois from cancer or Lois will reach a more natural remission (Unlikely) I think Lois being sick will feel concluded by the end of 3x07 (At least this is my hope, I’m not sure I can handle that much illness). My guess is that we will introduce a few more characters with cancer that will remain sick even after Lois is better to continue to theme, but I do not think Lois is going to be actively sick the entire season. This show moves fast and often does not leave characters in these sorts of limbos for more than a few episodes. In the course of an episode, the cancer story is already positioned for Lois to start treatment.
I think there is something interesting in how Lois’s cancer story concludes. The show purposefully gave her a very aggressive type of cancer with a horrible prognosis. This is not a lump, with a successfully lumpectomy that can be wrapped up and done with in a few episodes. This suggests that Lois is actually going to get pretty close to death (Which I already hate thinking about that, that episode is going to be really hard I think). We already know that Mannheim is doing some cancer experiments and it looks like blood is going to be key (Clark’s blood, the boys’ blood, the X-K Smallville residents blood). So, there is potentially a science fiction solution, but does that become insensitive to actual cancer survivors as well as those that have lost loved ones to this cancer?
How does the show write themselves out of the cancer hole while both returning a status quo that is important but also being sensitive to real people dealing with this, given that Lois needs to make a full recovery this season?
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2023.03.25 22:00 AutoModerator What is #VALZUBIRIAGENDA and some ideas and insights
The 3 basic parameters of hashtag #Valzubiriagenda:
- We artists and everyone else can write and self-publish art- and artist-related books: memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs. Books are forever. Pamphlets and brochures are not books.
- We announce a schedule of increasing prices of our art pieces, which includes quantities (scarcity numbers) per price point and overall (the total quantity of art pieces we might ever make). This helps art traders, art investors and art collectors speculate or even stop speculating and instead join a community of investors working together to hopefully skyrocket to the higher announced prices in a shorter span of time.
- We can use the NFT world, because NFTs provide the tracking (who owns what) and trading.
We can also not be involved with NFTs. Stores and individuals can help sell art using online presence and our catalogs in the stores. If this trends, or once this trends, even expensive art can be sold by neighboring businesses, without exclusivity. Commission systems do not have to be standardized. Art investors can produce their own catalogs to leave at the cafés. Even the cafés can produce their own catalogs.
Valzubiriagenda NFTs NFTs only came about a few years ago. But I had been working on this since the 1990s. I wrote a book,
Valzubiriagenda, along with fellow artist
Silverio Perez, and released it in 2018 (Amazon and elsewhere), tackling everything related to #1 & #2. We'll come up with #3 in a later book/ memoi marketing book.
Any artist, including tangible artists can release 10,000 NFTs if the artist chooses to do so. For tangible artists, the NFT first becomes an Art Commission Contract for sight unseen, yet-to-be made art. Once the art is made, the NFT becomes proof of ownership that the actual, tangible art is theirs.
Warehousing our tangible art Another related idea is that the tangible art may be warehoused by the artist so that the NFT traders continue to trade. This means that even 10-ton 10-foot tall sculptures can be owned and traded by anyone without worrying about shipping, reshipping, scratches, smudges, parts breaking off, etc. The newness of the pieces remain because they are stored by the artist, source, gallery, etc. The art piece gets shipped to the art collector, the ultimate owner.
An artist who makes ceramic coffee mugs - smaller art pieces, can release 10,000 NFTs with a schedule of increasing prices so that NFT traders can trade immediately. The 10,000 coffee mugs can get damaged, so as they are made, they continue to be stored by the artist, until the time when art collectors decide to have the art pieces shipped to them.
Why only now? I decided to write as many book-length memoirs as I can before I came out to promote this.
I'm an artist and an author. Both need time to "master." I would not even fully use "master" on myself, because there's always something new, even to my own art, my own writing and publishing.
I am now claiming that I'm the visual artist who has produced the most artist memoirs in the world. I have 5 on Amazon. I count Valzubiriagenda as both a marketing book and a memoir-of-sorts, because it has a lot of my own life lessons on writing and publishing. I would not care to contest my claim of having the most memoirs. I will release 5 more over the next 3 years.
BARTER! Get help to write, photograph art and publish your books! Anyone can hire 11 ghostwriters for 11 memoirs. If you can make art, but you cannot write, then barter your forever art with those who can help you produce forever books.
I don't feel the pressure of writing and publishing because I feel my focus should be on art students and art experts who would study my art and my books 100 years from now. Don't expect relatives and friends to read your books.
I call myself the Dollman For my NFTs, I am proposing to make dioramas - my original, costumed, bejeweled porcelain dolls in backdrops that will also have precious metals and gemstones. This way I can incorporate precious metals and gemstones in my work, to make sure that people perceive my art as expensive, just in case I myself don't become "famous" - there's no need to get world famous. We are artists and all we need to do is to satisfy the art niche.
Use your laptop now! I will encourage you to start writing your book-length memoir. Write, Edit and then Self-publish it. Get help. Why wait a hundred years for someone to write about you when all you need is a laptop and a nearby coffee shop.
Don't start counting chickens before the eggs hatch. I have encountered a lot of would-be writers who immediately see themselves as bestselling. world famous assets to society. Two even wanted me to sign NDAs (Nondisclosure agreements), because they did not want me to steal their book ideas.
Here's a suggestion. I would not personally do it. From one manuscript can come 2 books: The Original Draft (unedited, with misspellings, considered to be an art piece, scanned pages(?) of your handwritten original effort), and The Final Edition (edited).
PROVENANCE! Another way to enhance our investability, tradability and collectability is
PROVENANCE - how art ownership proceeds through time. The way this can be done is also through publishing books. Everyone can write their memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs, including traders, investors and art collectors. In effect, we artists can continue to be included or mentioned in even more books, without any additional effort by us.
You as an investor, reseller, trader, art collector should be able to publish a catalog with 250 works by 250 different artists, but they need to agree to this right from the start - it's your money, you should require them to follow your version of the hashtag
#valzubiriagenda parameters, which preferably should include permission for you to publish their art. Why would you track down 250 artists later?
No exclusive contracts If you're a café, you can call for artists, and come up with a book with for example, 30 artists, with a chapter devoted to each artist's profile and images of the artist's art.
You can distribute your catalogs to businesses and individuals near and far and online.
The book
Valzubiriagenda even cites that funeral homes and janitors closets can sell art, with or without exclusivity. Airline catalogs can include million dollar art pieces. Car manufacturers, showrooms and even car repair shops can sell art as well. Everyone should be able to do this, anywhere in the world, especially not just because of the pandemic, but right now, we are in really bad economies.
What's with the name #Valzubiriagenda I was into conspiracy theories in 2018, and this term,
"The Mandela Effect," was popular. I had read many times that an artist coined the term, but I had to research online, for her name, many times, before remembering it. I'm not good at remembering names. It took me a year and a half to finally tell you that
Fiona Broome coined "The Mandela Effect."
I also thought I might have to research trademarks and copyrights just to come up with a generic name. So I decided on
"Valzubiriagenda." I was not really sure at first, but I decided to use it as the title for my book (with co-authoartist
Silverio Perez) so that there would be no turning back and I can move on.
Am I a FUTURIST? Someone I recently met this May 2022 just called me a futurist.
In the 1990s, I proposed to a pension fund that they can raise billions of dollars, especially for emergencies, or as needed, or out of desperation, if the pension fund purchases a quantity of art from an artist who not only has a current, reasonable price, but an announced future price that the artist wants to reach.
That future price would obviously be higher than the current price. The art commission contract for multiple art pieces can be taken to the fund's financial lender for a loan. The higher future price can be used for financing purposes.
The pension fund's treasurer, a publicly elected official, said this idea might work, but we had to keep this a secret and discuss this some more, because other pension funds might copy and do this prematurely. This idea had to come from the two of us. The treasurer needed his votes and I needed credentials.
Added into the pot was my idea that I, as the artist, will also write one book-length artist memoir. This was and still is a strong factor, because the leadership and marketing books I had read then mentioned a strong tip. If you want to advance in your field, write a full-length book that is related to the field.
Unfortunately, the elected official, the treasurer of the pension fund, who was also a friend, passed away - he was old and had ailments. At that point in time, I cannot just approach another pension fund treasurer to share this idea with.
I realized I had to write a few memoirs. I needed to set an example for other artists, so I needed to write more than one memoir. Then I felt I should also make ready another book - the how-to of what I'm up to. I wrote
Valzubiriagenda, which was a memoir of sorts. I knew how long it would take me to write a book, so I had to make sure I can also consider this book a memoir.
In 2008, I imagined that someone like Bernie Madoff, or a fund like Lehman Brothers, would be desperate enough to use this to save themselves and their companies. I was not ready. I had only written 1 manuscript for a memoir.
In 2012, I released
Dollman the Musical, A Memoir of an Artist as a Dollmaker. Once again, I was not ready because writing it depressed me a little, and I knew I had to write more.
In 2014, I released 3 memoirs, and re-released
Dollman the Musical. Besides releasing regular books, I released special editions of the 4 books, which had a
"Special Secret Insert for Bankers," which explains my ideas of an announced schedule of exponentially increasing prices, to satisfy investors, and the publication of artist memoirs, to satisfy art collectors.
In 2014, I also issued out a press release. Google
"Can Billion Dollar Artist Save Investors and World Economy Valentino Zubiri PRWeb August 19 2014" and you will see the press release.
What I did was stake a claim on my ideas. I did not promote my books and the press release. I just wanted them to stay online, like a sleeping giant or a dormant volcano. I even designed 3 of the book covers to look like indie books from the 1980s. I was planting the seeds, thinking they will eventually grow and bear fruit in the future.
In 2015, I was interviewed by
Richard Syrett, about one of my memoirs,
Hocus Pocus Lately. This book is my memoir with paranormal stories. I could have pursued promoting my paranormal stories, but I wanted to be known first as a visual artist and memoirist, so I allowed myself one interview related to
Hocus Pocus Lately. Richard Syrett has(had?) his own syndicated radio show,
The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett, about the paranormal. He also guest hosts on
Coast to Coast AM, another internationally syndicated show about the paranormal.
In 2018, I released
Valzubiriagenda (co-authored by artist
Silverio Perez, a fellow artist). Finally, this book is "the how-to of what I'm to."
I'm going to end this with some strangeness. In 1986, a lady at a religious gathering went into a trance and left a good number of messages. Supposedly, anyone who got into a trance would have messages, but once the trance was over, the person would not remember what was said.
I was not part of the group, but the lady turned her head to face me. She "foretold" that whatever I would decide to do in the future, it will take time, but it will be the right thing. This is one of my stories in one of my memoirs,
Hocus Pocus Lately. The Tulipmania of 1634-37 I discovered that there was this incident of rare tulips becoming collectible during the Dutch Golden Age. There were tulips so rare and so well-desired that their prices equaled to that of a house. You can read more about this online (Wikipedia) or watch a few YouTube videos about it.
Here is the most useful idea that I gleaned from the Tulipmania. The tulip bulbs remained safe inside nurseries. The traders were carrying the deeds of ownership to the tulip bulbs.
Then NFTs came to the forefront I started learning PHP, an HTML scripting language, and MySQL, the database that PHP can connect to in the background, in 1999, when there were only 3 books about PHP and MySQL at the bookstores.
By 2014, I was trying to figure out how to make the "ledger," or database that can be used to update ownership and who can be contacted. If we are trading art, then the art ownership should be updated.
Then NFTs came about. This can be used as our ledger. Everyone can immediately trade NFTs of future, yet-to-be made art pieces, especially because it takes time to make tangible art.
NFTs actually went a step ahead, by allowing digital art to be traded.
The only setback with NFTs, in my opinion, is that it still lacks a commission system for resellers and representatives.
For example, if a café wants to represent me, then they can promote me at their café and on their online pages. If I make one piece of art that will be exclusively represented by a gallery, then that commission will be different and more specific. As ownership is transferred, the subsequent owners should be able to reset the commission. We should also have the option of giving commissions to hundreds of representatives at one time with different percentages if need be.
The recent crypto crash Lately, we have observed that NFTs and cryptocurrencies have been behaving like the stock market and other markets. They have been fluctuating.
I believe that it is time for a trend which discourages fluctuation of prices.
I have also seen YouTube videos where social influencers are encouraging us to be on the lookout for exponentially profitable ventures, because we have all seen this happen with the exponential increase of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Let's see if #Valzubiriagenda trends We can announce present and future art prices. The galleries won't do this (yet?) because they follow a more traditional approach to the business of art.
We have a choice of using incrementally or exponentially increasing prices. We still reserve the right to change things in the future, so everyone should know to follow the latest update.
If this trends, if you as an artist simply announces that you will write an artist memoir, or that you will include the future works in future art books, you might have more art traders, investors and collectors approaching you.
Get your pen, paper and calculator Imagine yourself as an artist, where you are right now. Let's just say you still do not have a book about yourself and your art yet. Imagine now that you have a memoir out there. Don't you think it makes sense to charge more than what you are charging now? Writing and publishing books is just the beginning. I'm just standardizing this approach. The books also say to do other related projects. In my case, getting
Dollman the Musical onstage is one idea. You will have other related projects, but the publication of memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs will help all of us.
You can also imagine that a law firm that has meeting rooms, with someone who wants to form a local #valzubiriagenda group, can have meetings. A local café can do the same. Local photographers for your art, writers, editors, book designers, proofreaders and others can join in.
I suggest have printed books to share. 15 copies of your memoir or art books will be better than an e-reader or laptop or your phone to show. These gadgets can be stolen, sabotaged, broken, have coffee spilled on them, etc. 15 printed books means simultaneously showing to 15 people. You can even give them away to potential resellers, investors, traders and collectors.
When it rains, it pours, as in the days of Noah There's a saying, "When it rains, it pours." There is a negative interpretation and a positive interpretation.
Negative: When trouble comes, they cascade to even more.
Positive: When opportunity comes knocking, more follow suit. We can assume that if one gets our art because of #valzubiriagenda, more want to do it now, because of the rising prices, and FOMO - fear of missing out. What will they lose if they miss the boat?
As I have said earlier, if the #valzubiriagenda trends, if you announce a future memoir or art catalog, you might have an increase of investors, traders and art collectors who would want to check you out. You might encourage more sales. Just remember to write and publish that memoir and art catalog.
There's this saying, "As in the days of Noah." Imagine Noah, building his ark, with members of his own family, putting all his time and effort into it. Noah was a nice guy. I'm sure every once in a while a neighbor offered him coffee, or chai latte, or whatever refreshing drink they might have back then.
Here's the lesson to be learned. Just because they offered him some type of bubble tea drink, or coca cola, they still didn't make it to the ark. Rubbing shoulders with actors does not make you an actor. I have told my artist friends to write their memoirs. They told me that once they see me succeed, after all these many years of seeing my seemingly useless efforts, then they will write their memoirs and follow the road that I had paved for them.
Good luck to them, but if I were you, act now, get my art or make art. Support the 5-year old artist whose parent promised to release a comprehensive art catalog. If you get that 5-year old's art, and mine, I would be honored to be in the same art catalog that you will produce. I'm already successful at that point. You have gotten the mission just right.
I have already claimed to have written the most book-length artist memoirs in the world. Dethrone that claim. Barter. Use ghostwriters. Success to me means facing God one day and saying, I wrote my memoirs and left the world a legacy of books and art. I will not tell God, smiling and proudly, that I encouraged a run for my art by announcing a schedule of exponentially increasing prices that reached 9 figures. I'm sure God knows we had fun.
JOIN THIS GROUP
If you want to try out #valzubiriagenda, in any capacity, join this group. Let others know about this group as well.
If you are an artist, you can let everyone know here that you will produce your memoir, art catalogs, etc. It's okay if you don't know how to go about publishing yet, I will discuss this. Please be honorable enough to produce what you promise to produce.
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- Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, Artist, Memoirist Underaged artists are welcome here, so please be mindful of your language. We cannot post your adult-oriented art pieces, but you can direct us to a separate page or community. There will be limits to your posts, and there will be adult-oriented art that we cannot allow to be posted.
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2023.03.25 21:30 Forestsounds89 How to protect your crypto accounts tips for device and network security and password management
Hello everyone, technology/privacy/security have always been of great interest to me and i have refined my techniques over the years and it has come in very useful in my crypto investing so i will attempt to share what i do:
- Security through obscurity: This means dont tell anyone anything period, it also means try not to stand out so you will not be targeted, some of the tips i recommend will make you stand out with hardened security so it is a trade off you must choose
- Not your keys not your crypto: This means take ownership of your crypto by controlling your keys with a wallet you own, hard wallets are preferred but do not protect you if you dont protect yourself with proper OPsec and basic network and device security, this also means that you must safely protect your keys for the long term so that no one can steal your physical keys you have written down or stored in metal key card, if your house is robbed it should be the one thing they dont find
- Passwords: Many ways to create and store passwords so i will share the secret method i use: I use a combination of keepassXC and an app called password generator i downloaded from fdroid store for android I will explain later about neostore and fdroid and how i protect my android phone and pc, if you search for it the icon has 4 stars like this ****, description is privacy friendly password generator, i use this one for a few reasons i will explain:
first you change a few settings: before creating your first password, in the setting menu turn off the bind passwords to device option this allows you to recover your password on any device using your master password that is never stored or transmitted, Then go into expert mode and change the hash algorithm to sha512 and increase the number of hash iterations, these settings will need to be re entered on a new device along with the masterpassword to get the app to create the same password again on a new device if you ever need todo so, now you make your first password by clicking on the plus symbol and filling in the two required fields account name and user name also adjust the slider to max password size and check all four boxs for the strongest password the app can make, there are stronger passwords created by keepass but we choose this method so we don't need to store passwords or keepassfile to have our passwords with us everywhere we go, if the phone becomes compromised there is no passwords stored anywhere and the app will not generate them without the master code, when you create a password for example reddit this is what it would look like: Account name = reddit username = username then i enter my masterpass and it generates a password based on those inputs, if you come back into the app the account name and user name will be stored all you have todo is click on it and enter your masterpass again, the passwords are not stored on the device, next step is to save that password from your phone into your keepassXC so you can have all the wonderful benefits of keepass on your PC which is hopefully well protected and encrypted i will go into that more in a min, some choose to upload or travel with the keepass file, i dont like todo that and also if loose the device on my travel i will be locked out and the file could eventually be cracked, i dont save passwords in my browser, i use a keepass browser extension it its autofill feature
- Device isolation: For most people this could be the smartest thing you do, device isolation means you have different devices for strict purposes for example i have and android phone and a fedora linux pc i use them both online for many things and have many apps installed this greatly increases my attack surface and increases the chances of infection, so i bought a cheap Chromebook just for my banking and crypto sites only, i choose chromebook for a few reasons, it has secure and verified boot comes secure out of box, but mainly because it is a different OS then my main Linux OS, i also use a 2ffa app on my phone i will talk about that, what this means is that an attacker will need to hack multiple types of OS and layers of passwords and encryption to gain control of my account, i also use browser isolation meaning i do not have multiple sites open with multiple tabs i would instead use multiple browsers for example firefox, brave, chrome ect this is important
- 2ffa not SMS I use the app Aegis for my 2ffa instead of using keepass or sms this requires an attacker to have control of my phone and the code to Aegis app before they can get my 2ffa code
- Phone security I use open source everything i recommend you buy a pixel phone and flash an opensource operating system to it there are many to choose from both android and linux, i use degoogled pixels with lineageOS or GrapheneOS, this was easy to learn and do
From there i choose wisely what i install Starting with fdroid and neostore and Aurorastore
I then install RethinkDns and Hypatia, Vigilante and URLcheck, i setup all the blocking scripts in rethinkdns and download updated lists for hypatia i install fennec browser and ublock and setup URLcheck as the default browser, i dont give my number out or install random apps or connect to random wifi, i have Bluetooth and nfc turned off as well as mic and camera, i use rethinkdns firewall settings to block all apps including newly installed apps by default, if needed i run rethink thru tor network using orbot app, i also dont recommend biometric security it is not safe
- PC security This can be a touchy topic but the truth is windows is not your friend, i made the switch to linux years ago i am very happy, i game in 4k and edit videos and pics, mine crypto, theres nothing my Fedora machine cant do, Fedora has many extra security features not found elsewhere, it is secure out of the box, i set the firewall to public when i am not home, i set the DNS to use quad 9 or nextdns and i only install apps from the built in app store, this reduces so much trouble, i then use a hardened firefox or librewolf browser and practice safe browsing habbits, on firefox i use ublock and canvasblocker, skip redirect and smartrefer
- Network security This is the hardest part and the most important, many ways you can go about it
The first line of defense is your routemodem box that probably came from your internet service provider, if they came from your ISP i would recommend you upgrade them both asap and turn on the strong security features of your router, the modem is most likely out of date and should be upgraded to the newest model your isp can run, order it or buy it at walmart it does not need to come from your isp nor do you need to pay rental fees, as for the router i recommend openWRT routers you can buy preflashed or flash your self, whatever router you choose you need to make it secure, change the default password, turn off wps, setup a dns of your choice such as quad9 or next dns i will talk more about that in a min, in the router settings look for an option for device isolation or setup vlans and guest networks so you can have network isolation, the router password and wifi password should not be the same, learning how to maintain router security is very important, i hard reset my router often and set new password, i think i have 4 passwords memorized one is my encryption password to my ssd/bios, one is my masterpassword for keepass/password app, and one is for my phone, and one is for my chromebook, all other passwords are saved in keepass on my encrypted linux machine, i do pc backups to an encrypted flashdrive, i have my ssh keys stored in keepass as well
- DNS This is often overlooked and is of great benefit to us, a dns provider like quad9 or next dns gives us our privacy back as well as lets us filter out bad sites and trackers, i use encrypted DNS with quad9 you can set that up in your browser network settings or in the dns settings of your router, this uses dnssec and tls 1.3 so nobody can see what site your connected too, combine that with a vpn and you are ghost, this prevents alot of attacks such as man in the middle, the dns block list and dnssec will prevent a fake website from even loading, it will not enter your network and you will not be taken to the bad site, this level of protection with a hardened firefox and Linux machine will make you stand out to certain people who are looking so its a trade off, i do my dns encryption on my openwrt router with dnscrypt proxy v2, but you can set it up very easy by following the instructions on quad9 or nextdns sites
The only thing i can think of past this level would be to use deep layer network protection such as DMZ zones and multiple routers and switches in between you and the internet making all the more difficult to penetrate, i should also mention portmaster and SPN and also the next gen firewalls that are not open source and cost alot more money but also have alot more features, this is my first large post im sure in missed somethings feel free to fill in the blanks or correct me if i am wrong, move smart take care, i hope everyone is well and in pursuit of dreams and goals
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2023.03.25 21:25 ComfortablyImperfect 2023 32 Teams/32 Days: Minnesota Vikings
- Team: Minnesota VIkings
- Division: NFC North
- Record: 13-4, NFC North Champions
- Playoffs: at least it wasnt a lost to the Eagles
Season review
Weeks 1-7: the good start
With the coaching changes in the offseason and the lost of some big name defensive players it felt like going into week one this might be the start of a rebuild season. A unexpected surprisingly good start with only the week 2 loss breaking up a fast start.
Week 1: 9/11 versus Green Bay Packers W 23 - 7 About as good as a starter as Viking fandom can ask for. GB seemed unwilling or unable to cover Justin Jefferson who had a outstanding 9 receptions, 184 yards 2 TD
Week 2: 9/19 at Philadelphia Eagles L 7 - 24 What GB was unable to do week 1 had Philadelphia ready for week 2 pairing Darius Slay squarely on Jeffersons hip holding his 6 receptions to a mere 48 yards
Week 3: 9/25 versus Detroit Lions W 28 - 24 In hindsight this game was closer than it should have been, though after the loss in Philly this was reassurance at the time.
Week 4: 10/2 versus New Orleans Saints in England W 28-25 Sneaking a lead in the last 30 seconds by a FB was unexpected, the Saints failing to make theres to tie it soon after even more unexpected.
Week 5: 10/9 versus Chicago W 29-22 This writer has no memories of this game outside noting this makes the third straight win by one score to that wont be more substantial to later in the season.
Week 6: 10/16 at Miami W 24-16 Like week 5 this was another one score win though more memorable was this was Dalvin Cooks first game in Miami where he was born and that made it a bit more sentimental a win. Also learned in this game that Miami's stadium is built such that the visiting sideline is never in shade and is often much hotter than the home team.
Week 7: Bye week
Weeks 8-13: the streak
what started as a good start to the season started to build momentum mid season as Minneosota would win 8 straight. None of these games would be as easy and were often determined by a TD or less, with Minnesota often putting points up early and surviving 2-3 quarters to win in dramatic fashion the fourth quarter. This is also when it starts to become clear to many that the defensive scheme was good on paper and making things difficult on the field.
Week 8: 10/30 versus Arizona W 34-26 Much like week 5 nothing comes to mind looking at this week off hand. Another closer then it should have been win to keep the streak alive.
On November 1, 2022, the Lions traded Hockenson along with a 2023 fourth-round draft pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round draft pick to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for a 2023 second-round pick and a 2024 third-round draft pick. Week 9: 11/6 at Washington W 20-17 Apparently, a tradition started after the week 4 win on the plane ride home the team celebrated by having Kirk wear chains. Why this is significant now week 9 is a video of a shirtless Kirko Chainz went viral after this win.
Week 10: 11/13 at Buffalo in OT W 33-30 Two big takeaways this week: Buffalo effectively gave the game or in the very least kept Minnesota's chances alive through some bad moments though this is very much over shadowed by
the catch of the year Week 11: 11/20 versus Dallas L 3-40 All good things must come to an end, and so does the Vikings winning streak starting season 3. One glaring, obvious thing to note is a problem that has been lurking just under the surface all season: Ed Donatells infamous bend-dont-break defensive scheme was just delicious to Dallas.
Week 12: 11/24 versus New England W 33-26 Thankfully a quick bounce back and win after the loss earlier in the week, what is most memorable about this Thanksgiving Day game is afterward
Adam saying the turkey is dry Week 13: 12/4 versus NY Jets W 27-22 After the win week 12 this started to look like the start of another series of wins by one score, alas it was not meant to be.
Weeks 14-Playoffs
Starting with the week 14 loss the end of the season ended sourly. The long win streak was over, Minnesota will lose to teams they had won against earlier in the season. Even after clinching the NFC north and a playoff spot there was not much hope of a deep playoff drive.
Week 14: 12/11 at Detroit L 23-34 While this loss was not memorable at the time of the writing here, Detroit and Dan Campbell were on a hot streak and as close as the game was week 3 this outcome was not a surprise.
Week 15: 12/17 versus Indianapolis W 39-36 This was the game of two halves. First half the Vikings could not get anything going while Indianapolis took advantage of some big opportunities to run the score up 33 - 0 at halftime. Second half the Vikings mounted the greatest comeback in NFL history managing to tie the game up and surviving to overtime before sealing the win.
Week 16: 12/24 versus NY Giants W 27-24
Week 17: 01/01 at GB L 17-41
Week 18: 01/08 at Chicago W 29 - 13
Wildcard: 1/15 versus NY Giants L 24 -31
#
Quick Stats Offense 672 Pass attempts (3rd most in NFL)
66.7 Completion percentage (4th most in NFL)
7.2 Yards Per Attempt (10th most in NFL)
30 Passing Touch Downs (4th most in NFL)
15 Interceptions (7th most in NFL)
47 Sacks (8th most in NFL)
404 Rush Attempts (5th fewest in NFL)
4.1 Yards per Carry (7th fewest in NFL)
18 Rushing TD (7th most in NFL)
Defense 617 Passing Plays (4th most in NFL)
66.1 Completion percentage allowed (9th most in NFL)
7.3 Yards per Reception (3rd most in NFL)
23 Receiving Touchdowns (16th most in NFL)
15 Interceptions (10th most in NFL)
38 Sacks (12th fewest in NFL)
463 Rushing attempts (15th most in the NFL)
4.5 Yard Per Carry (13th most in NFL)
18 Rushing TD (10th most in NFL)
Offense I'd say the Vikings offense overall played well, but failed to break the barrier to being a great offense.
Quarterback This is probably the start of my above claim. While Kirk Cousins certainly isn't a bad quarterback by any means, time and time again it. More often than not, the team posting the Lombardi also carries a top 5 QB. Sometimes those borderline top 10 QBs manage with a strong supporting cast. Once you start getting to the those middle teams your chances off getting a super bowl seem nigh impossible. That's where Kirk Cousins currently sits. He's hit his ceiling, and I'm afraid that he's a weight on the Vikings cap at this point.
Receivers The Vikings receivers are likely their most shining group. Leading with the young Justin Jefferson, who broke into the short group of four wide receivers to ever win the AP Offensive player of the year. At 1809 yards, 8TD, and 128 receptions, Jefferson is an absolute thread that I fully expect should continue for years. Beyond that, the immemorial Adam Thielen continued to trudge on admirably. While I think it's clear that he's not his younger self, his continues to play a central part both on the field and in the locker room. K.J. Osborn is the the third notable receiver. While I don't quite see him reaching the heights of Jefferson or a younger Thielen, he's a quality third option to fill out the group. On a personal note, I'm a Colts fan who is helping out an this write-up and I hate K.J. Osborn for what he did to us.
Running Backs Dalvin Cook spent the last year acting like he's got no miles on his legs. He just continues being a constant runner, while being versatile enough as a receiver. While Alexander Mattison may pop in to give Cook some rest, I think it's clear the Cook is still the guy at this position.
Tight Ends After the mid-year trade, Hockenson became an incredibly important part in the receiving game, while being being an surprisingly adequate blocker. While he certainly isn't a master of the skill, something about the change of teams has rounded him out a bit. I'm interested to see if he continues to grow after another year with the team.
Offensive Line As mentioned earlier, I'm a Colts fan who is helping out with this write-up and we find one of my greatest regrets with Chris Ballard. No, it's not that we could have had Jefferson, but rather that we passed up Christian Darrisaw. This kid was absolutely great this year. I'll just quickly note that Ezra Cleveland, Garrett Bradberry, and Brian O'Neill were all quite good as well with only the rookie Ed Ingram having some struggled. Just one good offseason of growth could be all he needs to help out whoever likely replaces Bradberry next year.
Defense I'll be honest, as a Colts fan filling in, I'm not really sure what's wrong here. There's clearly a couple of holes, but a feel like the sun of the parts doesn't quite live up to the quality of some of these players. Given that the season ended with the firing of Ed Donatell, I think the players the survive this offseason might be capable of bouncing back.
Defensive Line Jonathan Bullard and Ross Blacklock both joined the team this year off free agency and spent much of the season trying to decided which is worse. Harrison Phillips was the bright side of DL free agency, having been fairly solid. Danielle Hunter and Za'Darius Smith continued to be fantastic OLBs.
Inside Linebackers While Eric Kendricks has started to age, he's still played fairly well for his play style. Jordan Hicks similarly played adequately. That said, This is probably the group that needs the strongest reset.
Defensive Backs Finally, the DBs were probably the most solid group on defense. Patrick Peterson came back from the dead to have one of his statistically best seasons. While Cameron Dantzler hasn't quite taken the next step like I hoped, he's still a pretty solid DB. Harrison Smith has basically looked the same every year for a decade. Absolute solid safety. Camryn Bynum had a decent second year, but again didn't quite live up to his expectations.
Coaching staff review
Might have been too obvious far too late, a lot of those one score games were due to Ed Donatels defensive scheme. Now I'm not a coach myself, it just seems easier to keep your opponent from scoring if you play defense all 100 yards and not just the red zone. The lost against Dallas week 11 wasnt even the start of the riot mob asking for Ed to be fired and it took far too long to happen for many Vikings fans.
KOC's first year as head coach brought much welcome change over all to the team. Whether true or not, many rumors have been said that the team culture the last few years of Zimmers reign have gone between sour and toxic and KOC brought fresh life with many stars on the offense side shining to new heights.
Upcoming free agents from your team
Eric Kendricks: Though not unexpected given the dire cap situation, the release of this 2015 draft pick was rough for many Vikings fans.
Adam Thielen: another victim of the dire cap situation plus some frustration with usage under the surface, best of luck in Carolina. A personal favorite, Thielens use and stardom with Minnesota was first overshadowed by Stefon Diggs and then Justin Jefferson. Next seasons game versus Carolina will be interesting.
Scheduled to become free agents:
Kris Boyd
Garrett Bradbury
Jonathan Bullard
Andrew DePaola
Ben Ellefson
Bisi Johnson
Greg Joseph
Alexander Mattison
Nick Mullens
Patrick Peterson
Irv Smith, Jr.
Austin Schlottmann
Duke Shelley
Chandon Sullivan
Dalvin Tomlinson
Olisaemeka Udoh
Kenny Willekes
Team needs
With the upcoming draft Minnesota has four, potentially five with a compensatory pick. Worth noting is additional picks could come through trades this offseason.
per the Athletic The Vikings need cornerbacks; only 2022 rookies Andrew Booth Jr. and Akayleb Evans are locks to return in 2023.
Minnesota also could benefit from additional youth at linebacker. Beyond 2022 third-rounder Brian Asamoah, the team does not have potential impact players at the position.
Why root for the Vikings
While at times not playing as well as expected, Minnesota consistently places toward the top of the division with over 20 division championships. Field goals are never guaranteed, Kirk Cousins and many of the teams stars are genuinely likeable people, and
US Bank Stadium is legitimately beautiful.
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2023.03.25 21:14 jpb1732 Returner’s remorse (like buyer’s remorse or regret, but worse)
Tl;dr don’t return a coveted, much-loved item, even if at the moment you think it is a goner (because it likely isn’t and you’ll regret it each day). Also: Todd Snyder customer service is 100
In the fall, in the year 2022, I had gotten a new job with a biiiig raise and could finally afford to drop some good coin on Todd Snyder, which I had been admiring for a long time but was stuck with a J Crew/ W&B budget. I love J. Crew: I’m essentially a fit model and their evolution is right in line most of the time with my own. So when I discovered TSNY it really fit the sweet spot of my style (and learning Todd made his name during prime-J Crew time was a revelation), was elevated enough but not fussy or precious. Or so I thought!
The Bedford chore coat was the piece I had my eye on the longest and when it arrived it in my mailbox it immediately became my favorite. Could style it with anything up/ down and side to side. I wore it everywhere, easily every other day. I was going to have it forever. I might have been buried in it.
Then, (at a mall, oh, cruel irony) taking a flight of stairs at a leisurely pace I caught one of the hip pockets on a railing and riiiiiip. Guess the downside of double-reinforced stitching is that, while the pocket stayed in tact, it ripped the fabric to which it was sewn. I was devastated, really really bummed to say the least. The fabric, not any seam is what had failed. Thank god the 6ers won the game I went to later that day, still wearing my mortally wounded jacket.
You can see the jacket in action on my person, as well as images of the tears. I thought long and hard if it could be repaired but thought it just wouldn’t be even halfway the same. So I contacted customer service and they were fantastic—took it back for a full refund without question. They didn’t haven’t any more in my size in stock, so this was the only option. I just had to mail the piece back in. I did so, and even included a note that if it could be repaired I would pay to have it back!
But every day since I think about that jacket. I look for others like it, but that one was mine. It was made for me; I was close to naming it. I should have held on to it, I should have taken it to the local mender and had them repair it to the best of their ability which would have given it new character, and a new life.
So, learn my lesson, ye. Don’t let go, no matter how bad you think it is.
(And, if you’re looking to unload your own green TSNY Bedford cord chore coat in a size Medium, hmu!!!!!!!!)
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