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grits-galraisedinthesouth · 1 year

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Mind YOUR business Harry! Leave America & take the wife with you.

An American think-tank called the Heritage Foundation has launched a lawsuit demanding that the U.S. government hand over files relating to Prince Harry’s visa application in light of his having confessed to drug taking, enough to block his entry by law.

The Heritage Foundation has launched a legal battle against the U.S. government after it refused to release files relating to Prince Harry’s application for an American visa.

Officials at the organization are reportedly looking for the files in order to confirm whether or not the UK Royal admitted to past illegal drug use while applying for permission to stay in the United States, with the country often rejecting visa applications from people with previous convictions for the possession, dealing or use of illicit substances.

With Prince Harry having now repeatedly admitted to using such controlled substances in a variety of locations — including his memoir Spare published earlier this year — the Heritage Foundation made a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the royal’s visa application, seemingly curious about whether or not he admitted to such drug use while applying for the right to stay in the United States.

All visa applicants looking to gain access to the United States are reportedly asked on a form whether or not they have in the past used illegal drugs, with those that admit to doing so more often than not having their application refused.

However, such a request for the answers provided by Prince Harry on these forms has been reportedly rejected by the Department of Homeland Security, prompting the conservative organisation to sue the U.S. government for access to the files.

“The requested information is of immense public interest,” the Heritage Foundation complaint filed in the federal court in Washington D.C. arguing for the release of the files seen by Breitbart London reads.

“Widespread and continuous media coverage has surfaced the question of whether [the Department of Homeland Security] properly admitted the Duke of Sussex in light of the fact that he has publicly admitted to the essential elements of a number of drug offenses in both the United States and abroad,” it continued. “United States law generally renders such a person inadmissible for entry to the United States.”

The document goes on to say that there is now “intense media coverage” over whether the department “improperly granted the Duke of Sussex a waiver to enter the Country on a non-immigrant visa” considering his past drug use, as well as whether his visa should be reconsidered in light of this drug taking.

The filing makes reference to “many prominent examples” of celebrities with known drug habits trying to enter the United States in the past, including Happy Mondays musician Mark Berry who was refused a visa, Libertines Frontman Pete Doherty who was turned around at New York JFK and put on the next flight home, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, and even John Lennon of the Beatles.Since revelations about Prince Harry’s drug-taking leaked to the general public shortly before the publication of his memoir, questions have been raised over whether the senior royal should be permitted to stay in the United States, which has traditionally refused legal migrant status to those with a history of illegal substance use.

To make matters worse, not only did Harry admit to using illegal drugs in his home country, but he also reportedly admitted to using controlled substances while in the United States as well, at one point detailing in Spare his interactions with a talking toilet while doing magic mushrooms in California.

“He would have been asked [about drug abuse when applying for his visa],” Professor Alberto Benítez of George Washington University’s Immigration Clinic previously said regarding the situation. “If he was truthful in his answers, he should have been denied.”

One official from the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom, Nile Gardiner, has now called on the U.S. government to ensure American law is applied evenly in the wake of Prince Harry’s admissions.

“The Biden administration must assure the American people that the rule of law is applied equally with regard to immigration,” he reportedly said.

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#megxit from the USA #megxit #strip the titles #declaration of independence #1776 #like a spare #spare us #Go home Harry #heritage foundation #the royal grift #Youtube #don't do drugs kids

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zoobus · 2 years

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I’d love to see a post about dental care, as someone with depression and sensory issues.

Warning:

I am not a dentist.

All of these accommodations cost money ( generally ~$2-$5)

The reference photos I use are all brand names. You do not need brand name floss

Many of these might have recycling concerns

I am an American living in an urban and well-off area talking about products *I* think are accessible and easy to find.

It's plausible everyone already knows about these things, I'm just saying I didn't and they were game changers for me.

Also this will mostly focus on flossing because dentists don't seem to realize the dichotomy here is "give me an easier way to floss or I never will" not "floss with string like I want or I'll shame you until you give in." One exception though:

Disposable mini toothbrushes

(all images have description in alt text)

When shit goes left and you can't drag yourself out of bed, it's nice to have these on hand. Brush and spit in.

This is a better than nothing suggestion. Do not replace normal brushing with disposable breath fresheners. Please don't end up like that guy who interpreted generic you-are-depressed-and-valid posts as reason to skip dental hygiene altogether and racked up thousands of dollars in tooth repair surgery

Soft picks

Pros:

out of everything I'm suggesting, this is the most sensory non-abrasive - no plaque/spit splashback, none of the up and down string snapping, no pain/blood, even if you haven't flossed in a long time

almost soothing on your gums

If you struggle to floss because flossing feels bad, start here

easy to have with you at all times, some even come with a cute carrying case

Cons:

best for your front teeth; you can use them on your molars but their reach is pretty short

don't have the firm up and down floss motion so you're probably missing some plaque

Floss picks

Pros:

easy to use

easy to place around the house and in your bag and just various places that might make you more likely to use them

more pleasant than touching the mouth germ string

kid version has fruit flavors

angled version specifically made for reaching the back of your molars, the most hated area of flossing

Cons

online dentists complain that you're dragging germs in one area to other areas which is bad, allegedly

online dentists also seem to think you use one pick for your entire mouth instead of using different areas of superior floss string. This is a little ??? And i think that's an expert's bias talking - these things shred and break, you'll likely use multiple picks for one session.

Long reach floss picks

Pros:

this is basically the only way I've consistently flossed my molars

not having to look at my uncomfortably gaping maw or shove my whole hand in my mouth or stretch my lips back to reach/see my back teeth

makes a task i literally won't do (flossing molars) doable

Cons:

see dentist complaints for flossers

this particular brand is stingy with the extra floss heads

i find this particular brand's string snaps too easily

Gotta clean the handle thing

Lastly, interdental brushes

Pros:

can't find a consensus but these seem the most dentist-approved, lacking the previous criticism

really gets those nooks and crannies

More interesting to see the food carnage on brush than string

reusable? They often come with caps, suggesting they can be washed and reused. I'll be honest, i don't use these super often and have always tossed after one use. They aren't that sturdy

interdental brushes come in multiple sizes, catering to those with wide gaps to exceptionally tight teeth

Cons:

shortness hinders molar reaching

sometimes you scratch your teeth with the fine metal wire (except the GUM brand which I think uses a different, softer material)

These are my workarounds. I hope someone finds it useful!

#niche effortposts #dental hygiene #sorry it took so long to respond #disability workarounds

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demi-shoggoth · 2 years

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2022 Reading Log pt. 21

101. The Rise and Reign of the Mammals by Steve Brusatte. This book covers mammalian evolution throughout synapsid history, starting in the Carboniferous and ending in the present day. There’s a lot of good information in here, both about the species themselves and the history of their discovery and discoverers. But I found the authorial voice consistently off-putting. Brusatte writes about evolution alternately like a war or a poker game, and there are constant references to dominating, beating or tricking other lineages, particularly dinosaurs. After crowing about how mammals survived and thrived in the Mesozoic by exploiting small body sizes and niches like eating seeds and insects, he dismisses all of bird evolution (which in the Cenozoic did the same thing) in a paragraph, and never talks about Cenozoic animals other than mammals at all. What’s weird is I don’t remember his previous book, The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs, being so mercilessly jingoistic about its focus clade. Maybe the publisher told him to write more enthusiastically about a “less exciting” group; maybe it’s the zeal of the newly converted (Brusatte was primarily a dinosaur paleontologist until relatively recently); maybe the first book was this annoyingly written and I have forgotten.

102. The Accidental Ecosystem by Peter S. Alagona. This book is a short overview about how wild animals have moved into American cities, why American cities developed into places where animals can thrive, how humans are reacting to these and how we should in the future. The tone is generally optimistic but realistic—that cities can serve as oases of biodiversity during climate change and extinction events, but a world with only rats, crows and sparrows would be a depauperate one. Most of the book is organized around an incident of some charismatic megafauna making the news (like Pedals the bipedal bear of New Jersey, or a nesting pair of bald eagles blithely feeding their chicks fresh kitten), and then talking about that species in greater context. I’ve read several other books recently about human/animal interactions, and this one did the best job at being inclusive, talking about how parks can and have been used as agents of gentrification, the impact of economic decisions on the fate of cities and animals alike, and existing biases within ecology and evolutionary studies. Highly recommended.

103. Travels to the Otherworld and other Fantastic Realms, edited by Claude and Corinne Lecouteux, translated by Jon E. Graham. This is a collection of medieval European fantastic literature, although not all of it is necessarily fantasy in the modern sense. Some are religious visions, others historical fantasies, others excerpts from novels and folk tales. All of them are wild. Both as a look into the medieval mindset and for their various bizarre creatures and occurrences. Some highlights include multiple versions of the adventures of Alexander the Great, the Vision of Tundale, a German journey through Hell that’s much gnarlier than anything in Dante, and the adventures of Marcolf, the Sherlock Holmes to King Solomon’s Watson (!). Also highly recommended; this might be the most fun I’ve had with a book this year.

104. Empire of the Scalpel: The History of Surgery by Ira Rutkow. Just what it says on the cover. The book starts with trepanations of cavemen and progresses to the modern era. Rutkow follows the Great Man school of history, and many of the chapters are biographical sketches of a surgeon who was important in developing the field. It feels somewhat incomplete—not only are non-surgical advances in medicine basically ignored, the development of the modern American insurance state is glossed over, even as the book discusses how hospitals became prestigious institutions and surgeons very wealthy. The book also uses weird kennings, as if it were written by an Icelandic skald—surgeons are “scalpel wielders” or “students of the knife”, etc, as often as they’re just surgeons. I definitely learned stuff from this book (like the quack “orifical surgery”, which posed that all diseases could be cured by cutting out irregular shapes from the mouth, nose, anus and genital openings!), but found the book rather less than the sum of its parts.

105. Monster Anthropology, edited by Yasmine Musharbash and GH Presterudstuen. This is a collection of academic essays about monsters as cultural signifiers and participants. After a very good introduction (the Works Cited of which will keep me busy a long while), the bulk of the book looks at particular cultures and particular monsters. The book was published in Australia, and several of the essays are on the same group of Indigenous Australians, the Warlpiri, and their monsters (most of which have not penetrated Western consciousness, but the pankarlangu is starting to make some inroads). One minor note I found interesting—there’s an actual folkloric monster that fits the D&D concept of a rakshasa! The tepun of the Eastern Penan people in Borneo is a shapeshifting hedonist that has aspects of humans and tigers.

106. Scent: A Natural History of Fragrance by Elise Vernon Pearlstine. Gave up on 50 pages in. The book purports to be a natural history—what molecules are made by what plants, why, and how those plants live. The actual contents contain some of that, but much more cultural histories. I’ve read and enjoyed several books about the cultural history of plants recently, so I’m not inherently opposed to the concept. But the book is incredibly poorly organized. The narrative skips back and forth through time and space and species, words are used and then defined several pages later as if it’s the first time we’re seeing them, concepts will be repeated multiple times to the point of redundancy, and the preface and introduction contain the exact same sentences, twice! The fact that this book was published in this state is frankly embarrassing.

#reading log #bad books #botany #cultural history #paleontology #stem mammals #prehistoric mammals #anthropology #monster books #surgery #medical history #european folklore #medieval folklore #ecology #urban ecology

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stankycowboy · 10 months

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A History of Severen Van Sickle's Lineage ( 1809-1873 )

-------------- Disclaimer: Everything I have written below is of my own invention sourced from American history. I do not own the characters Severen Van Sickle or Jesse Hooker. All other characters, background details associated with them, Severen, and Jesse, are solely my creation. Please do not use any part of this character history for your own purposes without my express permission. Otherwise please enjoy, this was a labor of love. --------------

Esper Van Sickle was born in 1809 in the Kingdom of Holland (Netherlands). His family had both agricultural and cattle farms, which benefited from the previous Golden Age of trade; making them fairly prosperous for a time. They did well for themselves and his upbringing was uneventful. As the middle child of five he did not stand to inherit much except for the knowledge of how to work a ranch, something that would prove useful later in life. He first began to consider emigration to the Americas amidst the rumblings of the French Revolution. After growing up during the tail end of the Napoleonic Wars, and his family’s regaling of the previous civil unrest in his youth, Esper wanted to avoid the conflict as much as possible and find a more prosperous future.

During the subsequent economic downturn, many trade workers had moved to more economical environs. As class divides between the north and south deepened, Esper was forced to go further north in search of a new smith to help on the farm, this is where he met Annelis Smit. She grew up with only her father, her mother having died in childbirth. He owned and operated the only smithy in a rural town, even so, his work was consistent and popular. Often referred out by locals to outsiders, his good name and generous attitude helped keep the small town afloat. Unfortunately, he took to drinking just as adamantly, leaving Annelis to finish the work he would abandon when too far in his cups. She picked up the trade quickly out of necessity, soon taking over completely for her inebriated father. Though it seemed unsightly for a young woman to be engaged in physical labor, there were no others skilled enough to take the post. When Esper offered her a contract she was more than happy to oblige, eager to have a life outside the backwater smithy. After two years, in light of his plans to emigrate, he proposed marriage to her, more out of convenience than romance, but she was agreeable nonetheless.

They boarded a ship in 1829, landing in New York and traveling with their fellow Dutchmen out to Midwest America. Annelis proved vital to their coexistence, knowing both French and Dutch, whereas her husband mostly spoke French. The small group they resided with was a contingent of devout Catholics. Esper saved their money by working as a day laborer on a Quaker farm, picking up what he could while his wife gained an education in maintenance of the home; tasks previously never set before her. Although they did their best to integrate, Annelis had rarely if ever attended church services, and Esper maintained only a passing practice of the religion of his region. Their inconsistent adherence to the faith was tolerated until Esper sought a plot of land of his own. He was denied full stop. In his frustration, he decided to seek out true independence.

Annelis and Esper made their way down south to Texas. They followed in the path of other land seeking Americans under the invitation of the Mexican government to become Anglo-Texans. They were unaware that the colonization effort in the northern part of the state was to keep a barrier between the Mexican invaders and indigenous tribes. Armed only with the knowledge that the land was going cheap and promised in plenty, they signed away their savings, hoping for the best. They were given a decent acreage, and immediately set about making the land theirs, determined to have their own horse ranch using a line of Dutch Warmbloods. Even amongst the competition surrounding them, their fine stock turned heads, the resiliency of the breed faring well even in the faraway land. Shortly after getting themselves situated, the Texas Revolution began. In an effort to make sure they could keep their ranch, Esper joined the conflict, mainly in his own self interest. Annelis kept the ranch up in his stead, alone with the few hands they were able to keep on, impressively keeping everything afloat.

He returned home, weary, with a few more scars than when he left, but none the worse for wear. He had served primarily under General Houston, a man he came to respect. Now, with their homestead secure, the couple settled into married life. After two miscarriages, Severen Van Sickle was born in 1839, their one and only child. Severen would prove to be wily and headstrong, eager to learn, though reckless and stubborn. His father had him riding as soon as he could hold reins in his hands, keen to have his son as his right hand in what he hoped would become a family business. At home, both of his parents emphasized him learning not only English, but the specific lingo of their home state to better assist in dealing trades. He learned their native French and Dutch, rarely if ever speaking either outside of the home; picking up a smattering of Spanish from those he encountered on neighboring ranches. Both of his parents grew up during the education reformation in the Netherlands and stressed getting him into the schoolhouse whenever able. There was not always a schoolmaster around, so they kept books in the house to make certain he learned his letters and arithmetic; the only subjects either could speak on with some authority. At school, Severen did well on the work given, studiously engaged on his lessons, yet when left to his own devices would often become meddlesome Frequently disciplined with isolation, he often wore signage declaring him idle, or coming home with badly bruised knuckles. This did not stop him from becoming a favored student by the itinerant teacher, often charmed by his disarmingly easy humor and willingness to stay and sharpen pencils or help repair quills or pen nibs. What was usually overlooked was this charade was employed to enable Severen to have school supplies, as he pocketed writing utensils unobserved, as well as vellum, and his first slate. His mother never questioned when he came home with a new book, though if the thievery was discovered by his father, Severen was punished, though not dissuaded. Amongst other children he often started contests or picked fights, always eager to square up to any he thought stronger than himself. This habit would continue into adulthood, often mistaken for a desire for leadership, more so born out of an innate bravado and developed love of showmanship. In this regard, he had few friends, many enemies (all reluctant to stand up to him), and notable notoriety amongst others his age. It worried his parents some, him staying closer to the ranch instead of playing, yet his father was happy to have the extra set of hands with the horses; using any extra free time to help hone the boy’s skills in roping and riding.

Esper would be pulled into one more engagement in 1846, the Mexican-American War. In defense of his own land, he set out to make sure his family would have their homestead kept safe. Now with the addition of his only living child during this war, he was ever more eager to protect his family. Having witnessed firsthand the brutal repercussions wartime had across the land in his youth, Esper sought to safeguard those he loved. Back on the ranch, Annelis and Severen had to contend with his exact fears. Raiders targeted even rural homesteads in the hopes of finding unguarded goods; nor did those that previously traveled through the land they had acquired take kindly to their presence when discovered. Annelis had no hesitancy in taking up arms against those that meant her family violence, and ensured her boy knew how to handle a rifle even at his young age. Though ammunition was not always in ready supply, her skill in the forge proved more than viable for handcrafting lead bullets, and had the opportunity come her way she might have even taken up gunsmithing. The pair kept the Van Sickle ranch well protected, and after complicated dealings, managed to work out some arrangements with their indigenous neighbors, bartering well trained horses for supplies.

By the time Esper came home, suffering a leg injury that would give him a permanent limp, and later be his downfall, he returned to a boy who broke wild mustangs, promoted their thoroughbred horses in feats of skill at other ranches, and was a deadshot at twenty paces. Impressed, but wary of his progeny's foolhardy pursuits, he would encourage his successes, and rebuke failure harshly; hoping to keep the boy’s arrogance in check—ultimately failing in this regard. He mainly used reproachful silence as discipline, though not hesitant with a switch or horsewhip if deemed necessary. Severen would come to view his mother as a bastion of stability and his father a quiet enigma whom he sought to best. At the age of ten, Severen was gifted his own revolver, and by thirteen had earned a name for himself as a preeminent horse tamer and trick shot.

As the indigenous tribes they had partnered with in the area became fewer, rounded up by the state and moved out to reservations, Esper began to pay more of a mind to the ruminatings in the Texas government, mainly about how the people in its borders would be treated. While Severen delighted in tales of The Red Ghost (having perhaps had a hand in the phantom’s construction, and most assuredly stolen at least one camel from the brigade), Esper and Annelis listened attentively to the political happenings around them. Both had plenty of experience in the Netherlands of what occurred when one people were considered greater than another. Neither one, nor any family of theirs, had any dealings in the trade of other humans, and what had been witnessed around them they had previously considered not of their personal concern. More and more, however, with rumblings of secession and laws being passed in the effort to increase inequality, they did their best to defame such beliefs to their teenage son. Although the abolitionist movement was not popular in their home state, they did what they could to assist those fleeing or freed. By giving them a place to stay and paid labor, there was little that Patrols could do with the family insisting that those on their ranch had been dutifully employed. Those who could not be convinced rarely made it off the property. Under the guise of trade, the Van Sickles helped escort some of those seeking freedom across the border into Mexico. These often dangerous escapades ignited in Severen an even more fervent delight for risk. Reading about John Brown’s raids only further incentivized him, needing no excuse for violence, yet enjoying the excuse of “free reign” to cut down those perceived as enemies. On one such run he conducted solo at the age of fifteen, Severen ended up killing three Catchers who illegally followed them into Mexico. He went into hiding, sending word to his parents, though this would be one of the last few communications they would ever receive from him. His mother would be the only one to see him in person again.

When he could at last re-emerge, he set out to make a name for himself, far from the drudgery of ranch work. Using his talents for entertaining, he employed himself with the newly popular medicine shows convincing the snake oil salesmen to take him up as a tout, or barker, to draw in the crowd. He eagerly performed eccentric gun tricks, or rode wild horses through town to pull in the audience. Sometimes he would even sell the patent concoctions himself, making a tidy coin. He gained a moniker The Wild Dutchman for a time, known to take on any dare or duel. A few seeking to make good in their Manifest Destiny tried to hire him to their employ, but he proved to be obstinate and unruly when his routes or methods were questioned, causing him to be quickly let go, if not outright leaving himself. Never one to rest on his laurels, or stay out of trouble, Severen ventured into banditry. With the states ramping up to the Civil War, he made himself scarce, unwilling to join the conflict in the Confederate ranks, and feeling he could do more good for any people in need if left to his own devices.

Back home, Esper was too old to be forced into the draft, and the couple remained resolute in their assistance of those seeking escape. In 1863, while trying to mount a new stallion, Esper lost his footing and fell out of the saddle due to his poor right leg. The startled horse trampled him leaving him barely alive. Annelis did all she could for him, but a week later he died. Severen was never notified of his father’s passing. His mother was left alone to care for the ranch, which she did with aplomb, though with the knowledge that its legacy would likely end with her.

Severen, meanwhile, gathered together a ragtag group of miscreants to raid pro-Confederate homesteads, and to cause general mayhem. He would not claim to have anything other than chaos in mind when going on these rampages, but would on occasion direct those he freed back to the ranch with a note for his mother, never expecting to hear back. During the Civil War proper, Severen remained out of reach of both the law and conscription, thought the former would catch up to him on occasion. When he needed somewhere to lie low he used alliances he had built with other ranchers in Mexico, or native tribes to hide out. His crimes escalated from acts in the pursuit of helping others, to bank and train heists. With the recklessness of his acts ever increasing he often had to draw iron. After his first act of murder the body count only became easier to increase. From the delightful Wild Dutchman, Severen became known as Reaper. As much for his proclivity to gun men down as consigning those that traveled with him to an early grave. Few were noteworthy in his crew, his compatriots in frequent rotation as he endangered their lives with little regard. Feared instead of applauded, Severen was not discouraged from performing eccentric feats even in the process of murdering those who tried to stand up to him. Of the few times he was successfully arrested, he would draw large crowds, ready to watch the miscreant hang or make a daring escape, equally pleased by either result.

Even as a notorious outlaw he sometimes defended homesteaders from bushwhackers, the indentured from their “masters”, and often sided with indigenous tribes who had shown him friendliness in the past, but these were acts of loyalty, something he could not be said to be without. This would not stop him from seeking payment for these favors then or in the future, happily committing retributive acts if stiffed. His most infamous crime was the slaughter of the town of Ponyville. What had started as an outcry to his cheating during a poker game became a deadly shootout. Severen (and what gang members survived) were the only ones left living, having gunned down every person in the quaint burg. This was in 1868.

Three years later he would be approached by a man, Jesse Hooker, who confessed an appreciation for the carnage he had committed, offering a proposition of partnership in further heinous endeavors; with the benefit of immortality. Although skeptical at first, Severen accepted, murdered the posse that had come along with him, and turned his back on humanity with impunity. In the wake of his newfound hunger, he committed even bloodier slaughters, using his every power to the most extreme he could manage. There was one rule that Jesse stressed above all others, and it would bring Severen to his mother’s side one last time. He arrived on the old doorstep in 1873, Annelis having recently turned 60 and ailing poorly. Jesse had convinced him that all social ties to the past should be broken off, lest they draw one back toward the mortal world. Severen agreed to do so, though he long held the belief that it was out of Jesse’s own loss of his wife and two daughters that he believed this. Their murder by Union soldiers frequently angered his associate, though the subject lost its impetus when Jesse could neither inspire ire in his companion, nor vitriol. Severen simply ridiculed the man for joining a fruitless cause that needn’t ever begun. Though they could agree that the reasoning for it was unwarranted, Severen rebuked Jesse for participating, even under duress, instead of deserting.

Jesse had been drafted from the second Conscription Act, joining as a privateer so he could at least keep his steam vessel and work the Mississippi river routes he was used to. For awhile this had worked fine, but as the Union blockades grew more fierce he was forced to abandon both his ship and family, assigned for the rest of his service to the CSS Gaines. When the ship was sunk in the Battle of Mobile Bay, he was one of the wounded soldiers that eventually drifted onto the beach, thought dead. What found him on deck had rendered it so he would never fear death again. Such a gift did not dull the despair he felt when finally he made it to his home to find it torched with his family slain within.

It took him time to hone his skills and learn the laws of his new nocturnal life. Once honed, he spent his time trying to find someone who could help him with him avenge those he lost. Although he had every confidence he had the right man, it became apparent his Reaper could not be inspired to rally to his cause for vengeance. He had hoped to provoke ire in Severen suggesting he end his own family, to prove a point about the pain he felt, but the man only agreed and took to task. The two went along to the Van Sickle ranch, finding it with naught but chickens and goats left, his sickly mother the only human remaining.

While Jesse watched from afar, Severen reunited with the woman who had raised him. They were awkward and quiet with one another, only able to find connection through the paintings she had managed to complete in her time of solitary solace. What had been meant as a quick death became a three night stay. She never questioned why he slept through the day, nor why he never ate in front of her. She shared with him all that he had missed, he told her stories of his escapades, freely telling her the truth as he could tell her illness was terminal, and demise soon. He fasted up till the last night, then, with a savage hunger, he drained her dry, despite how horrid her diseased blood made him feel. Severen took the silver ring from her hand his father had given her, leaving everything else in his former abode where it lie.

After burying his mother beside his father, Severen returned to Jesse assuring his full commitment to the new life he had begun. Jesse was taken back by his loyalty, and promised to show it in kind, assuring his new partner he would never doubt him. The two turned away from the human world, committed to an eternity lived in shadow.

#✘ hc.#near dark #severen van sickle #jesse hooker #(lots and lots of ridiculous research)

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f0ntainefuturistics · 1 year

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I beta tested the outlast trials, here’s what it was like:

So I was lucky enough to to be apart of the closed beta test for the outlast trials the day testing dropped after waiting since the gamescom beta announcement, as someone who has been a fan of outlast since the launch of the first game all the way back in 2013 this was a huge honour and I’m glad to say that I participated.

Obviously with any beta test there was bugs, what I didn’t expect was there to be issues with accessing the game itself, however this was easily fixed by changing a setting in the game launch options. I expect that this will be fixed on launch.

The opening cutscene for the game is absolutely brilliant, typical gore and uneasy feelings I’ve come to expect from the series. Cant wait to see it again upon launch! I’ll link it here for those that want to see it before the game comes out.

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After the opening cutscene you get to customise your character, don’t worry about the choices you make being permanent as you can always change it in your character’s room just by going to the mirror. Room customisation is also a unique aspect of the game, I enjoyed having my own personalised ‘hub’ to wake up in every time I booted up the game. You can choose the wallpaper, floor and bedsheets as well as a wide variety of items and posters for your room

The tutorial is far more akin to classic outlast than the rest of the game, it’s single player and obviously walks you through the basic mechanics of the game all while introducing the story.

The opening of the tutorial (past the generic press shift to run, space to jump, etc parts) sees your reagent/patient/character whatever you’d like to call them undergo reconditioning, going through different aspects of the stereotypical early 20th century American lifestyle (more so referring to discipline, church, etc.) these are false memories that murkoff is feeding to the player’s character as apart of the ‘therapy’. The introduction of Mother Gooseberry and Dr Futterman is also shown off here as you go to the upper floor of the house and learn that you must destroy any evidence of your previous life so that you, the player, may create your new one with murkoff, all while avoiding mother and many other NPCs.

After the tutorial, seeing other players walk around the facility took a while to get used to but it’s quite fun to watch other players jump about and arm wrestle. Arm wrestling is a really fun mechanic and I had the joy of arm wrestling with a couple red barrels staff members- really wish there was some form of leaderboard for it

The only trial available was Snitches Get Stitches, which is a Coyle/Police Station centric level. I won’t go too much into the plot of the trial since my memory’s failing me with certain aspects but it was extremely fun. Trials can be played alone or in teams of 2, 3, or 4 I’d recommend playing as a team as certain parts of the level get significantly harder when playing alone but it would be enjoyable those who want a challenge.

For those worried that trials will be a dead by daylight knockoff: don’t worry, there’s a lot more to the trials than there is in DBD. There’s several enemies and the objectives are not as simple as doing five gens and escaping (for example in SGS, your main objective is to find the snitch and kill him all while avoiding Coyle and whoever else is lurking around the station)

The ‘combat’ in trials is more of a stun system rather than actually fighting the enemies which is something I was extremely worried about going into this game.

Trials is definitely the most unique outlast title to date, it was an unexpected change but my initial harsh criticisms of the game have been proven wrong and I’m glad!

If you’ve read this far, thank you! There’s definitely things I’m missing from this post and I’m sorry for that- it’s been a while since the beta so my memory’s lacking a bit.

#outlast #outlast trials #red barrels #outlast 2 #the outlast trials #miles upshur #waylon park #murkoff corporation #mother gooseberry #officer coyle #Youtube

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reborrowing · 1 year

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Kíkítok Pronunciation/Spelling

Kíkítok Main Post (messy)

This is the kinda boring bit where I explain how to read and make noises.

I don’t actually love this orthography as an in-universe spelling. I think realistically, it would be less standardized and potentially not even in Latin characters. So this would be more of an academic romanization that’s mostly phonetic which makes it easy to read.

So, let’s look at this alphabet. All vowels have two pronunciations, tense and lax, and it’s fairly predictable. In general, I’m going to use IPA notation for explaining pronunciation, but comparisons are made to “standard” American English here for you to refer back to if you’d like.

Also, there are so many good resources for learning IPA sounds, if you can't figure out what I'm talking about for a given sound.

a -

tense - /a/, similar to in cat

lax - /ɛ/, as in pet

b - /b/ as in boy

c - /c/, not used in English. Similar to a t, but produced by placing the body of your tongue on slightly further back on the palate / roof of your mouth

d - /ɟ/, not used in English. Similar to a d, but produced with the body of your tongue on your palate

tense - /e/, similar to the sound in late

lax - /ɪ/, as in sit

f - /f/, as in fire

variably produced as /ɸ/, an f without your lips touching your teeth

g - /g/, as in garden

h - /x/, not in English. It's the same sound as in (Mexican) Spanish j

tense - /i/ as in eat

lax - /ɪ/ as in sit

j - /dʒ/ as in judge

k - /k/ as in break*

m - /m/ as in mom

n - /n/ as in no

tense - /ɔ/ like in caught**

lax - /ʊ/ as in put

p - /p/ as in soap*

q - /ʔ/, as in the sound between syllables in uh-oh

r - /r/, not in English, “rolled r”

when it comes after another consonant, [ɹ] as in bride

s - /s/, as in sew

t - /t/, as in white*

tense - /u/, as in goose

lax - /ʊ/, as in put

v - /v/ as in van

w - /w/ as in wine.

y - /j/, as in yam

z - /z/, as in zebra

ts - /t͡s/ potentially as in tsunami. A lot of English speakers don’t pronounce the t, in which case, as in the Japanese pronunciation of tsunami.

ch - /t͡ʃ/, as in church

sh - /ʃ/, as in shy

ai - /aɪ/, as in fly

oi - /ɔɪ/, as in boy

ou - /oʊ/, as in go

*/p, t, k/ in Gáshutok are unaspirated, which makes them different than the /p, t, k/ English speakers produce at the beginning of a word.

**/ɔ/ is not in all English accents. If you pronounce caught identically to cot, you don't have /ɔ/ as a part of your English (and if you're american, you're prooooobably from the west coast). I don't have it.

The first accent mark in a word marks stress. This is often the first syllable in the word. The exception to this is when a diphthong (two vowels next to each other) occurs before an accent mark, in which case stress falls on the diphthong.

Stress is enunciated similarly to in English, where we say the syllable with more force and slightly louder. However, the pitch of the stressed syllable also jumps up, like what you would expect to hear in Norwegian. (ie, go look over there for an example if you need one.)

Additional accent marks in a word do not mark stress and only indicate that the vowel is spoken with a tensed pronunciation. Barring additional accent marks, assume vowels alternate between tense and lax. Tensed vowels which are unstressed do slightly pitch upwards.

Examples, where stress is underlined, tense is bold:

Ímamo kai pá? (How are you?, lit. you eat well?)

Tí ch�� bó kyú? (What's your name?, lit. this person is who?)

Bébteme Kíkítok yá? (Do you speak Kíkítok?)

Some vowels are variable. In function words (prepositions, particles) without an accent mark, the vowel is unstressed and continues the tense-lax-tense pattern from the previous word.

Chíkosot ka up. (I can't hear you.)

Chíkosot up. (I don't hear you.)

#g/t #kíkítok #clong #idk I want to tag this much rly since it's kinda useless on its own #but I finished this post #and I want it to be done done #i think I'm failing phonology I hate this part sm #regardless please ask questions if u want to poke at this

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dracolunae · 1 year

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I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW ABOUT SONIC lay it on me. sits head in hands attenative mode

I’ll just give you a general ramble of whatever I can think of but if you wanna know anything specific like lore or the different comic runs or stuff about the music lmk!!

Sonic is a franchise that I’ve found so fucking fascinating for a long time because it combines just so many fun things: a mostly non-human cast, intricate world building a continuity between games, interesting abilities, and a protagonist that is not only cool and fast and heroic but also a wildly fascinating personality!

My start into Sonic was, ironically, not any of the actual mainline games or anything because my ass was a DS kid with no consoles. It wasn’t even one of the mainline DS games! My start was Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games for the DS.No clue of any lore, all I knew was that this franchise had really interesting character designs and was really cool because YO IS THAT A ROBOT??? (I was also. Very into the transformers movies at the time so robots were fucking awesome).

Anyway, from there my brother and I shared a copy of Sonic Colours for the DS! Sonic Colours for the Wii is often regarded as one the better if not one of the best modern Sonic Games with unfortunately really bad writing but fear not! That’s where the DS version comes in! Entirely different gameplay wise since in that sense it’s a continuation of the earlier Rush games but the story is nearly identical to the Wii version except there’s more of it and the characters are significantly better written!

It’s pretty common to make jokes about people who play games for the plot but honestly the plot is really one of the main draws of Sonic for me! The Adventure era (Sonic Adventure, Adventure 2, Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog and kind of Sonic 06) had overarching story elements and would legitimately flash back to what happened in previous games, which at the time (1998-2006) was huge!

There’s also several runs of comics and manga as well as several tv shows that accompanied the franchise, most of which are entirely non-canon to the games but still add so much to the characters and in some ways the world.

The original 2 shows and Comic runs were Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog (more commonly known as Sonic SatAM), the Sonic Archie comics and Sonic the Comic, published by Fleetway. The shows were both made simultaneously by the same people and a lot of elements from both (though mainly SatAM, the grittier of the 2) were adapted into the Archie Comics. Sonic the Comic (more often referred to as Fleetway) was the British run of Sonic Comics and while Archie went kinda wild with a lot of stuff, Fleetway did so in a way that was less insane and more just incredibly contradictory to the games, such as changing the way that Super Sonic worked (it splits Sonic into 2 different beings instead of just being like a Dragonball Super Saiyan inspired power up) and also entirely changing the design and origins of Chaos, the additional antagonist of Sonic Adventure.

Both Fleetway and Archie have been canceled, Fleetway quite a while ago and Archie in 2017, which has brought a new Comic into the scene, published by IDW! The staff is comprised almost entirely of former Archie Sonic staff, who were pulled over by head writer Ian Flynn, who took over this position for Archie in 2006 and was hired by IDW pretty immediately once they got the comic license for Sonic. These comics directly tie into what was at the time the most recent Sonic game, Sonic Forces, and are confirmed to be canon, unlike literally every other piece of extended media we’ve ever gotten!

The American Sonic comics are very dear to me because I used to read them a lot (in what is possibly the most annoying way one could possibly read them, YouTube videos panning through incredibly slow pans of each individual page or panel). And the staff post Ian Flynn takeover is fascinating to me because a decent chunk of it consists of Sonic fans that started out as fancomic artists, got recognised for their talent and then hired to work on the real deal! What kind of Dream job is that???? The amount of passion the current staff has for the world of Sonic is palpable and so refreshing. Ian Flynn also got to write the story for the most recent Sonic game, Sonic Frontiers and holy shit I love the way he respects the previous world building done by older games. It might come off a little awkward to some but I’m just glad they’re acknowledging their past

With all my love for the comics tho I gotta say the Archie comics are a wild fucking trip, especially when Ken Penders had free reign of the plot. I’m rereading the Archie comics and I skipped over the first 60 or so issues the first time I read them as a kid and wtf???? Why did I just read about a bee dying of an LSD overdose???? (Yes. This is a real plot point. It is relevant for one 3 issues side arc and never again)

#friendly visitors #my beloveds came to talk

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freifraufischer · 2 years

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A Gymnastics Mystery: Was the 1981 World Championship Stolen? Part 4 - You decide.

In the previous episodes (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) I laid out one of the oldest unsolved mysteries of the sport of gymnastics. Did the East German government force one of it’s greatest athletes to throw the 1981 World Championships to please their Soviet master.

My answer is ... I don’t know and I swing between yes and no depending on how I think about it. The sport was incredibly corrupt and ripe with manipulation (both successful and attempted) by many different countries at the time. The Soviets had ample motive to want to show success in 1981 at a home world championship--enough to enter an age falsified gymnast--and the East German state was perfectly capable of tossing away the ambitions and goals of a 17 year girl to do that.

Here are the things that make me doubt the conspiracy theory.

Evidence the injury was real:

youtube

This is the ABC broadcast of the 1982 World Cup. In the 1980s the World Championships only took place in the years right after and right before the Olympics, leaving the mid quad year having only one major international gymnastics meet: the World Cup. It was an invitation only event where the field was determined by results from the 1981 World Championship (though there is controversy to be had here too). As they are introducing the competitors the American commentators begin to talk about Gnauck’s injury at the World Championships at 2.37 in the video.

He references that she had a serious injury at worlds and “appears” to have had ankle surgery. He then speculates that it was Achilles surgery. I’m assuming there was a visible scar--and let’s for a minute contemplate the terrifying nightmare that would be East German Achilles repair. The thing that makes me hesitate here is that he is not quoting Gnauck or an East German source. He’s seen the incident from the previous year and he’s seen a scar. This is also a full year later so she could have been legitimately injured after Worlds and it still could have been a bit of pantomime in the team optionals.

Gnauck continued to win event medals (including the bars title at the 1982 World Cup and the 1983 World Championships but there were cracks in her AA in those years. She ws generally finishing in the 5-7th place range. She recovered some of her all around form tying for bronze in the 1984 Friendship Games AA with Elena Shushunova. The next year in her last international competition the 1985 Euros she won the silver medal behind Shushunova who would be World Champion that year. She also won the bars title. In a 2016 interview (English translation, German video) , Gnauck now club coach for young gymnasts in Switzerland said that she retired in 1985 (at age 21) primarily because of the change in the uneven bars apparatus. She did not believe she could adapt to such a radical new style of bars work that late in her career.

youtube

[One last look at gymnastics from this period. The 1985 European Championships uneven bars final is a unique moment in time when the bars were moving further apart to allow more swing but gymnasts hadn’t quite adapted to the new settings. Almost like an evolutionary missing link. I highly suggest watching the above video starting at 50.36 to see 1985 UB world champion Gabrielle Fähnrich back to back with Gnauck showing the transitional space between the two styles.]

And that leads me to my second problem with the conspiracy theory. Gnauck hasn’t confirmed it at any point in the three decades since the collapse of the East German state. She has been active in the gymnastics community, giving occasional commentary for German TV and a rare interview (though she tends to be restrained person). In a world of a unified Germany she could have gained a certain amount of advantage by claiming to be a victim of the state.

Like most star athletes from the GDR of course she made statements in support of the state like this one after it was announced that East Germany would boycott the 1984 Olympics: “In preparing for the Olympic Games, it is clear that my participation would have been possible only if all participants were guaranteed equal opportunities. I utterly condemn the activities that are being prepared against the athletes of the socialist countries, as well as the policies of the Reagan administration, which has exploited the Olympic ideal into the opposite. Therefore, I stand behind the logical decision of the National Olympic Committee of the GDR to not attend the Summer Games, and starting now I will dedicate my performances in international competitions in honor of our Republic.” I’m not inclined to hold that against her (anymore than I hold political statements from the 1980s against Katarina Witt). These were people born in and living in a highly sophisticated police state and Gnauck had no choice but to fully support the actions of the Olympic committee. But of course that swings back around to why the entire conspiracy theory is plausible: if it was something that she was ordered to do she would have played her part even at the cost of her own individual ambitions.

If you’ve followed me down this rabbit hole of 4 posts what do you think? Was there a conspiracy, was there an injury, and was this the most insane time in the history of the sport?

#gymnastics #maxi gnauck

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altmusicposting · 2 years

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Heroes or Cons? Breaking down 21st Century Breakdown

Released on May 15th, 2009, 21st Century Breakdown was Green Day's 8th Studio album, and proof that they had no intention of slowing down or shutting up anytime soon. An 18 track album full of (mostly) under 5-minute bangers that carry a combination of Green Day's tried and true socio-political criticism and their more recent story-driven angle, this disc deserved way more credit than it got.

Unfairly overshadowed by and nearly always discussed in the context of the band's previous album, American Idiot, especially now that we are more than a decade out from its release, Breakdown doesn't get the opportunity to stand on its own, the way it absolutely can. While the concept-album, rock opera style angle was inspired by its predecessor, Breakdown does plenty on its own to differentiate itself and thus I will be speaking in the context of Idiot no further.

Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield describes the overarching concept of the album as "a Seventies-style epic, telling the story of two young punk lovers [Christian and Gloria, songs according to Rolling Stone] on the run in the wreckage of post-Bush America," who take care of each other because "no one else will." Included and beyond this are themes of technology, stagnation, complacency, disenchantment, hope, and defiance. This can be heard throughout the album through literal means, like the scratchy radio and technical glitch sounds, and both literally and figuratively through Green Day's iconic biting lyricism. As Alternative Press's Scott Heisel says, "Armstrong [front-man, singer, and guitarist] isn't afraid to spit out exactly what he's thinking."

Many of the band's fans cite this album or songs from it as favorites despite its relative underdog status. However, it was not as well received by some critics, like Pitchfork's Jess Harvell, who can, in the nicest way possible, fuck off. How could anyone who listened to songs like East Jesus Nowhere and Peacemaker call Green Day's efforts here "pompous and dumb"? With lyrics like "Don't test me/second guess me/protest me you will disappear," and one of my personal favorites of all time "this is a stand-off/a molotov cocktail/on the house," it should be more than clear that Green Day has by no means lost their desire or ability to speak their mind and revolt. Furthermore, the specific references like the name drop of Beretta (an arms dealership used for private, police, and military supply), nuclear disputes, climate change, and more show they are not just spewing generalist political outrage. There is nothing empty or hollow to suggest that Green Day is merely trying to recreate previous successes.

youtube

One concession I will make is that there are a few areas where the typical up-front message is detoured to further the "plot" of the characters, as in Last Night on Earth, and that can be a bit confusing. The main thing I suppose, is that there is a lot happening all at once, which can be hard to follow. Even still, this is one of the things I personally enjoy about the album. It makes it fun to listen through and to more than once, and putting the disparate parts together forces you to be an active listener.

What creases me about this review though, almost more so than the ignorance in regards to the album's finer points, is that Harvell makes snide comments about each of the band members and their musical/artistic prowess in turn. Criticisms of this kind always bother me a bit because, while it's fine to have a negative opinion of something, particularly when it comes to art, that's not necessarily a reason to insult the artist who created it. Furthermore, despite a proclaimed love of the band, and punk and alternative music in general, Harvell seems to focus on the simplicity and repetition of the musical techniques, phrases, and chord progressions used in this album and by the band in general. Not only is this claim at least partially baseless, given the diversity in instruments (including strings, tympani, and piano), tempos, time signatures(4/4 to 7/4), and moods of these songs, but also ignores the fundamental punk idea that its anyone's game. Yes, much of Green Day's music relies heavily on a few power chords, but its accessible. Which I think, is the point. You don't have to be a musical genius, you just have to say something, and say it loud.

I mean, just listen to !Viva La Gloria! and ?Viva La Gloria? [Little Girl] and tell me you don't get excited by the tempo changes, genre mixing, and impassioned lyrics.

youtube

For further proof that Harvell's claims that Green Day are just concerned with "reinforcing their own stature," or "could shit this stuff out in their sleep," are false, one need only turn to the source. In an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper, Billie Joe Armstrong described the aftereffects of leaving the record as akin to post-partum depression. Could this have been a publicity stunt? Sure, I guess. Though I am more inclined to believe it was perhaps exaggerated, but genuine.

One other commonly critiqued part of the album is the Song Know Your Enemy, which appears early on (track 3), and in all honesty does not have much substance. Alternative Press calls it more of "an interstitial piece than a stand-alone song," which I can understand. In all honesty, it has never been a favorite of mine, but I still believe there is a place for it in the track list and in the genre. It serves as a call to the classic angry, repetitive, head-bangy short songs of the "Clash-sized bootboy chants," as Sheffield puts it.

Another critique I have, is with the choice to include the n-word in the lyrics of the second to last track, American Eulogy: Mass Hysteria/Modern World. It is not the first time the band has done this, and though it is (in this case) used as something the martyr, who is described as a compulsive liar, says to insight more chaos and hysteria, it's use by a non-black individual has always made me feel a bit uncomfortable. Given the band (and Billie in particular)'s political activism and stances outside of their music, I find its use especially confusing.

My final issue with the album is that there appears to be little to no songs from the perspective of Gloria. This is disappointing because I love that the songs switch perspectives between in the story (through Christian's eyes), and a narrative third party (Billie/Green Day). This shifting makes the absence of Gloria's perspective in all but Murder City all the more apparent. Whether this absence is for any particular reason, i.e. the band wanted to mainly draw parallels between Christian and Billie, or not, it is still frustrating to have the female "main character" largely as an observed/addressed party rather than an active story-teller.

To return to positives for the end here, the individual songs throughout this album provide some of my favorite examples of high-energy socio-political commentary. For its part, the album as a whole employs fantastic transitions between tracks, with the ending of one leading seamlessly into the next, and so I highly recommend listening to this album all the way through.

#music #rock music #punk #punk music #green day #my thoughts #my writing #album review #alternative

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grimmshood · 2 years

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i personally like 2 think ji-woon was a trainee when nospin debuted and was added a year after their debut, then their all-kill hit had been the same year (think rookie of the year type of deal) and also he's naturally the Functional + literal maknae (and probably the same age as the existing maknae as well)

my No BHVR Lore based NOSPIN lore is something else entirely bc i have So many thoughts

i came up with my own nospin members + concept btw so.

based only off the idea that ji-woon has several cosmetics that are costumes referencing nospin's previous successes (specifically the fur coat ones and recolors) and off a friend's statement, nospin had a more mature/sexier concept in their later work, personally i think they started off with a fresh / colorful concept and grew more mature over time to appeal to GLOBE (personal name for nospin's fandom bc icant call them orbit...)

i thought nospin probably had to have been suffering a bit from debut to require the addition of a new member, which goes into the arrangement i have.

also heights for the members were decided based off the nospin tome charm, also used skz as a reference to see how short would make sense for changmin lmao. ages are at the time of being taken / death

woojin - leader, he's indian and recruited from overseas. he's 5"8 making him the tallest member. woojin is his stage name (i havent come up with his legal name yet lol) he's a trans man and bisexual. '95 liner (24 at time of death, wouldve been 26)

blink- visual / rapper, thai recruit. he's 5"7, i do not have a legal name for him either. trans man and gay. '95 liner (24 at time of death, wouldve been 26)

jang chun-woo- american recruit, grew up in chicago and moved to korea in order to train at mighteeone. transmasc lesbian like ji-woon. '96 liner (23 at time of death, wouldve been 25)

su changmin- first maknae, 5"5 being the shortest. born + raised in seoul. unlabeled but he's just there. guy who says yippee! '97 liner (22 at time of death, wouldev been 24)

hak ji-woon - maknae, 5"6 (ash calculated this based on model heights so it's what im going with) debuted at 16 and was a trainee under mighteeone for 2 years. transmasc lesbian, was fully transitioned by 20 (bhvr wont say this but /I/ think nospin took a hiatus for 2 years in which he completed his transition) '97 liner (24, 22 during the fire)

my nospin is a self produced group with yun-jin supervising and doing production as well. woojin, blink and ji-woon are the primary producers where changmin and chun-woo primarily write lyrics. all of them contribute to composition, production and lyric writing but the separate groups applies typically to their title tracks. their songs vary in genre but tend to lean towards EDM and R&B. Songs Ji-woon does primary production on sound noisier and have a more distinct sound (leading into part of why the snuff scream music became his trademark, even though the audio was layered under other sounds)

i also. like to apply shinee things to nospin so i think they were on a reality show a year after debut (think hello baby) and the child they spent time with them is a boy named on-gyum who was 4 when they met, 11 when NOSPIN's members died and 13 in 2020.

my idea of their relationships with each other are that blink + woojin were the closest due to both being foreign members, chun-woo facilitated most of the early communication due to knowing english and being able to speak to woojin and blink that way + translating for the rest. chun-woo and ji-woon were pit as rivals, spending a decent amount of time paired up (as well as both being attention-hogs + roommates.) changmin had a crush on ji-woon for some time and ji-woon bullied him over it. this and ji-woons general shitty self centered attitude made the rest of the group despise him, but he hated them for taking attention from him so. they got along still but ji-woon got into fights with other members a lot, he did learn from woojin though. also woojin and blink were probably gay if you catch my drift

#txt #NO ido not think any of them are cis. they promoted as a boy group bc both lesbians were masc presenting and liked it that way.#understand my vision.

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valdeznash60 · 3 months

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The saying goes that your home is your sanctuary. It is where your most prized possessions, including your family, are contained. But what security do you currently have in place to protect those things that are dear to your heart? And if your answer is "nothing", how do you go about finding the right security for your home? Read on to answer these questions and more.There are cheaper alternatives to installing a home security system that deters criminals from breaking into your home. Simply putting up a fence or a "large dog" sign can help immensely. Criminals want to make the process as simple as possible for themselves, so dealing with a large dog would deter them. Choose a deadbolt lock over a spring-latch lock. The spring-latch lock is much easier for burglars that are experienced in "loiding." Loiding refers to the method where a plastic card like a credit card is slipped against the latch tongue in order to depress it, which will unlock your door. The deadbolt will prevent an attack like this. <a href="https://premiersecurity.co.nz/">security alarms auckland</a> are vulnerable only when there is plenty of space in between your door and your door frame for intruders to use hacksaws or power tools. Do not leave an extra key under your doormat or any other place that a burglar would look for it. If you know that you have a tendency to misplace your keys, it would be a good idea to leave an extra set with one of your neighbors, or you can leave them inside your car. If you are moving into a new home, the first thing you should do to make your home more secure is to change the locks. You do not have to change the actual locks, a locksmith can re-key the locks to make them inaccessible with any of the previous keys. In spite of all the advantages of a home security system, and all the advertising, only 15 percent of American homes have one. Homeowners may be unsure of which system will work best for them, and worry about the additional cost. Some people also worry they will be unable to figure out how to use it. The first step in making your home more secure is to change out your locks. This could be an ex-spouse or roommate you got into a fight with. It is generally cheap and may be done in a little under a day. One of the biggest areas of concern in regards to home security is the landscaping of your home. Do not let your bushes and other landscaping grow to where it can hide entry points into your home. Thieves just love to be able to stay hidden while they enter and leave your home, so keep your bushes trimmed. Lock up your home, even if you are around. Many people think that their neighborhood is the safest out there. They'll leave their doors unlocked all day (and night long) without a second thought! This is inviting trouble. Make it a habit to lock those doors (and windows) even if you're home. It's probably the most important basic thing you can do for your family's overall safety. Check the batteries of your smoke detector each and every week to determine if they are running low. If your smoke detector is not on, it will not pick up the smoke of the fire, which can lead to a disaster. Use quality batteries that last a very long time on your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Do you have sliding patio door in your home? If you do, be sure that you have taken steps to make them more secure. One inexpensive way you can do this is to purchase a closet rod and cut it to fit tightly into the track behind the door which slides open and shut. Always lock your house, even if you are only going to be away for a few minutes. This is often a surprise, but the majority of burglaries are due to someone just waltzing right into an unlocked home. A burglar can steal a lot of expensive stuff in a short amount of time. You should now be a lot wiser on what steps you should take to protect the people and items that you love the most. Do not delay any longer putting security measures into place. Using the advice in this article, peace of mind is a lot closer than you may think.

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libramonthlyhoroscope1 · 1 year

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Which nation has the highest overall level of debt?

The sum total of the federal government's financial obligations to the general public and to its own agencies is referred to as the national debt.

The continued practice of Congress simultaneously running budget deficits and reducing tax revenue has contributed significantly to the size of the national debt of the United States.

Which nation has the highest overall level of debt?

If efforts are not taken, the United States' ability to repay its debt will be called into question, which will have an impact on the economy of the entire world.

The Growth of the National Debt of the United States

The years 1989 through 2021 are represented in the graphic below as milestones for the United States' debt. Over the course of that time period, its value has climbed by more than 800 percent. In February of 2022, the national debt passed the $30 trillion mark for the first time. This figure accounts for both the debt held by the public as well as the debt owed between different levels of government.

The accumulation of previous years' worth of federal budget shortfalls is what makes up the national debt. The national debt increases with every new spending program and a tax cut that is enacted. The current president, Barack Obama, is responsible for the greatest deficit yet. He contributed an additional $8.3 trillion to the debt, which represents a 70 percent increase. This is because of a stimulus package known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which helped put an end to the financial crisis that occurred in 2008. Additionally, he reduced tax rates while raising spending on the military. Although the national debt increased by a greater monetary amount under the Obama administration, it was not the greatest growth by percentage.

The total amount of the federal government's outstanding debt is what is referred to as the national debt of the United States. It did so for the first time on February 1, 2022, surpassing $30 trillion in value. The current total public debt outstanding is monitored by the Treasury Department of the United States, and this number is subject to daily modification. In addition to that, the debt clock in New York keeps track of it. The majority of the country's debt is made up of debt that is held by the general public.

The federal government is responsible for repaying purchasers of United States Treasury notes, which can include private persons, corporations, and even foreign governments. The remainder is comprised of debt held within the government. This debt is owed by the Treasury to the many departments within the government that own securities from the Government Account Series. The Social Security Trust Fund makes up the largest portion of the ownership. The federal government has been running surpluses in these Government Account Series securities for years, and it utilizes these surpluses to pay for other departments. Over the next twenty years, they will become delinquent as baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) enter their retirement years.

This distinction is due to former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Between 1933 and 1945, he was only able to contribute approximately $236.1 billion, yet this represented a rise of almost 1,048 percent. He did this in order to combat the Great Depression and have the United States ready to enter World War II at the beginning of the 1940s. He undertook this preparation work. In terms of dollars contributed, President Donald Trump is the second-largest donor to the national debt. He contributed an additional $7.8 trillion to the total debt.

This represented an increase of 39 percent. Since he took office on January 20, 2021, President Biden has contributed $2.26 trillion to the ever-increasing national debt as of the 1st of February, 2022. This spending is significantly more than that of either President Obama or President Trump. Spending on economic stimulus programs that assisted individuals and businesses in recovering from the COVID-19 epidemic contributed more than two trillion dollars to the total debt that Trump racked up as president. Before the epidemic hit, Trump's budgets for the fiscal year added to the nation's debt as well.

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leolcann · 2 years

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Recipe for Armadillo Eggs

Making the perfect Armadillo Eggs should only take approximately 22 min . It’s considered an Easy level recipe. Below are the ingredients and directions for you to easily follow. The Armadillo Eggs recipe can feed your family for 8 servings.

There are many different ways to make this Armadillo Eggs recipe. Once you’re familiar with our recommended ingredients and directions, you can add your own twist to this recipe to make it your own! We’ve also listed potential Cookware items below that might be necessary for this Armadillo Eggs recipe.

Armadillo Eggs Popular Ingredients

8 whole pickled jalapenos

4 precooked breakfast sausage links, cut in 1/2 (recommended: Jimmy Dean)

1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

1 can croissant rolls (recommended: Pillsbury Crescent Rolls)

Steps for making Armadillo Eggs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut each jalapeno in half removing the stem and seeds. Place precooked sausage in 1 half of the jalapeno and sprinkle the other half with cheese, roughly reforming the jalapeno.

Pop open the package of croissant rolls. On a work surface, unroll 1 roll placing the longest side toward you.

Place the stuffed jalapeno on top of the dough and roll away from you. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining peppers and dough. Sprinkle the tops with remaining cheese. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown.

Popular Categories for this Recipe

Easy Main Dish

Main Dish

Easy Breakfast Recipes

Breakfast – Breakfast is the first meal of the day eaten after waking from the night’s sleep, in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. There is a strong likelihood for one or more “typical”, or “traditional”, breakfast menus to exist in most places, but their composition varies widely from place to place, and has varied over time, so that globally a very wide range of preparations and ingredients are now associated with breakfast.

Easy Brunch Recipes

Brunch – Brunch is a combination of breakfast and lunch and regularly has some form of alcoholic drink (most usually champagne or a cocktail) served with it. It is usually served between 9am and 1pm. The word is a portmanteau of breakfast and lunch. Brunch originated in England in the late 19th century and became popular in the United States in the 1930s.

Egg Recipes

Jalapeno Recipes

Sausage Recipes

Cinco de Mayo – Cinco de Mayo (pronounced in Mexico, Spanish for “Fifth of May”) is an annual celebration held on May 5, which commemorates the anniversary of Mexico’s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Led by General Ignacio Zaragoza, the victory of a smaller, poorly equipped Mexican force against the larger and better-armed French army was a morale boost for the Mexicans. Zaragoza died months after the battle from an illness, and a larger French force ultimately defeated the Mexican army at the Second Battle of Puebla and occupied Mexico City.More popular in the United States than in Mexico, Cinco de Mayo has become associated with the celebration of Mexican-American culture. Celebrations began in California, where they have been observed annually since 1863. The day gained nationwide popularity in the 1980s due to advertising campaigns by beer, wine, and tequila companies; today, Cinco de Mayo generates beer sales on par with the Super Bowl. In Mexico, the commemoration of the battle continues to be mostly ceremonial, such as through military parades or battle reenactments. The city of Puebla marks the event with various festivals and reenactments of the battle.Cinco de Mayo is sometimes mistaken for Mexico’s Independence Day—the most important national holiday in Mexico—which is celebrated on September 16, commemorating the Cry of Dolores in 1810, which initiated the war of Mexican independence from Spain. Cinco de Mayo has been referenced and featured in entertainment media, and has become an increasingly global celebration of Mexican culture, cuisine, and heritage.

You might need the following Cookware

In this section we’ve listed Cookware items that might be helpful to make this Armadillo Eggs recipe (or similar recipes). If certain tools or utensils are not applicable, then ignore and choose relevant items.

Cooking pots

Frying pan

Steamers

Colander

Skillet

Knives

Cutting board

Grater

Saucepan

Stockpot

Spatula

Tongs

Measuring cups

Wooden Spoon

via https://underspicycrab.com/general-recipes/armadillo-eggs-recipe/

from Chef Clemenza - Blog https://chefclemenza.weebly.com/blog/recipe-for-armadillo-eggs

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chefclemenza · 2 years

Text

Recipe for Armadillo Eggs

Armadillo Eggs Popular Ingredients

8 whole pickled jalapenos

4 precooked breakfast sausage links, cut in 1/2 (recommended: Jimmy Dean)

1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

1 can croissant rolls (recommended: Pillsbury Crescent Rolls)

Steps for making Armadillo Eggs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut each jalapeno in half removing the stem and seeds. Place precooked sausage in 1 half of the jalapeno and sprinkle the other half with cheese, roughly reforming the jalapeno.

Pop open the package of croissant rolls. On a work surface, unroll 1 roll placing the longest side toward you.

Popular Categories for this Recipe

Easy Main Dish

Main Dish

Easy Breakfast Recipes

Easy Brunch Recipes

Egg Recipes

Jalapeno Recipes

Sausage Recipes

You might need the following Cookware

Cooking pots

Frying pan

Steamers

Colander

Skillet

Knives

Cutting board

Grater

Saucepan

Stockpot

Spatula

Tongs

Measuring cups

Wooden Spoon

from Crabbie Recipes https://underspicycrab.com/general-recipes/armadillo-eggs-recipe/

0 notes