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semperamans · 9 months ago

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western nights

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hello all! this is my first time posting something i've written to tumblr in well over ten years. for context, i was a 1D writer back in the golden days. i don't quite know how to do anything on here now, so please offer me grace! i posted this story to ao3 (semperamans) a while ago and wanted to bring it here, too!

bones and all has become my new obsession, so, i hope you enjoy!

blood and gore implied, but it's not graphic! pining for one another but make it as obvious as possible. lee is a soft boy in this one. oc doesn't have a name, so could be read as self-insert but there are a few descriptors. didn't proofread, so be gentle with me.

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The summer sunlight, despite her weakening, danced upon the blacktop as the beat-up Chevy rambled eastbound. A sentimental sadness filled the cabin as a sweet-scented breeze carried the whisper of night across Lee’s cheeks. With the sky as his canvas, God himself must’ve hand-picked the clouds that raced over head. They were perfect. Toy Story clouds, Lee had called them. Who knew when he’d see them again?

Electric green numbers flickering on the dash declared that it was 8:15 in the diminutive town of Paxton, Nebraska, meaning that most everyone was tucked away in their single-story homes. The road, including the visible miles that stretched beyond, was nearly barren. There wasn’t much to look at in this part of the country, but the sun had a magical way of casting everything in gold. Every blade of grass shimmered. Every bird flapped auriferous wings. Every run-down John Deere seemed to emit a copper radiance. Lee was entranced. With his head hanging out of the open window, he watched as the sparse scenery barreled into view, then quickly disappeared. Tree bled into tree as the wind tangled his curls into tornado-like spirals. The ripping zephyr blasted against his eardrums, and he allowed himself to relish in the moments in between. He was with and without. He was in the truck’s cabin and soaring miles above with the whooping cranes. He was experiencing this moment in isolation, yet the girl sat inches away on the bench seat. This was Lee’s purgatory, served with the scent of wheat. After a while, the novelty began to wane. He pulled his head from the window.

“Perfect timing,” the girl said. Lee only looked at her. Bathed in twilight’s orange and periwinkle luminosity, she was ethereal. Strands of her thin brown hair had fallen from the knot atop her head. The wispy strands cupped her cheeks in a way he wished he could. She peered over at him with a grin. “Listen.” Her long fingers splayed outward. The truck’s radio had two knobs, one for volume and the other for tuning. She fiddled with both of them momentarily, and then he heard it.

“Amarillo by morning,” George Strait crooned through the static. The girl furrowed her brows and shifted the dial to the right the slightest bit. The next line was clearer. “Up from San Antone.” She appeared pleased as she glanced at her passenger. Lee gave her a smile and began to sing along.

“Everything that I’ve got is just what I’ve got on.” Like all good Kentucky boys, the lilting wail of forlorn cowboys had been the soundtrack to Lee’s childhood. He had mentioned it to her once as they curled for warmth in the truck bed, their chattering teeth harmonizing with serenading cicadas and crickets. The girl’s battery-operated radio had lain between them, emitting staticky white noise for upwards of twenty minutes, when an unexpected voice came through. George Strait. Lee chuckled. His breath made a Toy Story cloud. He explained to the girl how this had been the song he had his first real slow dance to. Even with half her face tucked behind a blanket, Lee registered her disbelief. He smirked at her, eager to show his prowess, and up he jumped. The girl giggled, Lee turned the volume higher, and in the dim glow of the Chevy’s headlights, he demonstrated the way he had twirled and dipped and romanced his childhood flame.

“Amarillo by morning. Amarillo, I’ll be there.” He sang, reaching over to push the girl’s hair behind her ear.

Lee liked singing to her. Lee liked touching her. Lee liked her even though he knew he shouldn’t. Their kind didn’t make friends often. They couldn’t. Lee figured this out the hard way when he was venturing out on his own. He tried to ward her off. He met her friendly advances with cold shoulders and clipped responses, but it was no use. On their first night together, Lee fished pieces of Barry Cook from between his teeth, and he watched her every action. She was lithe and intentional. Lee caught himself grinning as she plucked records from Barry’s stand, belittling his choices and then begrudgingly admitting he had taste. Her eyebrows rose as she peered at Lee from over her shoulder.

“Well, I wouldn’t know. But surely you can attest to that, yes?”

She was witty. By the end of the night, Lee had bitten the inside of his cheeks raw to keep from smiling.

“You can sleep with me in the bedroom.” She told him that night after ensuring that while she did bite, she wouldn’t take more than a nibble out of him. Lee didn’t respond. She blinked absently at him. “The couch is covered in jizz, and the recliner has springs that will go up your ass. So, it’s either the floor, or,” She took a running start, then flung herself onto the bed. It wobbled beneath her. Her smile stretched from ear to ear. “The waterbed.”

Lee couldn’t help himself. He propelled himself forward, bellyflopping onto the polyvinyl with a thwack. The girl laughed, then rolled onto her side to look at him. She didn’t say anything, not at first anyway. It wasn’t awkward. Not for Lee. He realized in that moment that he liked looking at her. She had freckles, quite a few of which concentrated primarily over the bridge of her nose. Her eyes reminded him of the lake back home—a shimmering blue green with a depth that made him nearly uncomfortable. Her hair, clean of grime and blood, hung in loose, wet spirals. Runny droplets raced down her arm. Lee dampened his lips.

“You’re staring.” Her voice was melted chocolate. Lee wanted to drink it.

“So are you.”

Silence. Then,

“Can I draw you?”

Before Lee could answer, the girl had nearly toppled off the bed to grab her bag. She rummaged through it, making a pleased sound when she pulled a moleskin from the deep recesses. Lee still hadn’t given permission, and so she waited, blinking up at him expectantly.

“You can draw?”

“Sort of.”

Lee gave a curt nod, then watched as she etched his face onto a yellowed page. She was sort of a liar. She could do more than draw. She could create works of art. Watching her sketch quickly became his favorite past time. On long stretches of highway, he would gaze over frequently. She never failed to amaze him, often capturing the smallest of details that he had long forgotten, like the mole on the waitress's cheek or the glint in a toddler’s eye. Somewhere in Missouri, they stumbled upon a mom-and-pop art supply store. Lee, who was usually so good with their money, placed a box of colored pencils on the counter after the girl had vacated the aisles. Six dollars. They’d have to ration their meals, but the smile on her face was worth it.

He was falling in love with her.

He was lying to himself.

He was already in love with her.

“Are you feeling okay?”

Lee could no longer hear George Strait’s voice. The song on the significantly quieter radio was a Patsy Cline classic. He’d gone quiet some time ago. The girl appeared concerned. With an easy grip on the large steering wheel, her eyes continuously darted from the road to his face.

“I’m fine.” Lee said. He ran a hand through his hair. “Tired.”

“There’s a state park entrance somewhere up the road. Weather is nice. You okay with sleeping in the truck bed?”

Night had fallen quickly. Gone was the golden brilliance of the day. Deep blues and blacks coated the void in isolation.

“Sounds good to me.”

Silence. The girl pulled into the left turn lane.

The meandering path, lit only by the Chevy’s headlights, felt as though it had been plucked from a horror story. It was impossible to see more than a few feet ahead, but the girl expertly guided the truck onward. They both knew that they were likely the scariest things in this part of the woods. As they ventured forward, Lee watched the lightning bugs littering the vast expanse of darkness overhead. They were mesmerizing, their somber glow churning the darkness. Lee couldn’t wait to settle in and watch them with the girl pressed against his side.

The gears whined as she put the truck in park. They had stumbled upon a meadow that Snow White herself would have felt right at home in. Flowering bushes bordered the expanse of mashed grass. Hordes of hooting owls and night birds nested in nearby trees, keeping them company as they prepared to bed down for the night.

As Lee fluffed their blankets and lined the truck bed, he watched the girl collect purple columbines. She had an affinity for flowers. There were quite a few detained in the pages of her journal, and even more hung on a strand of jute across the back window. There was something so whimsical about her, despite the griminess that came from life on the road. Lee found himself wondering how she had been as a child.

“Oh, I don’t really remember.” It was only after she spoke that he realized he had asked the question aloud. “Most of my childhood is a blur.” The pair had known each other for a week, and suddenly Lee realized they didn’t know each other much at all.

“Mine too.” He said, tossing their makeshift pillows atop the blankets. “I remember when my mom brought Kayla home, though. Best day of my life.”

The girl smiled. Like the flowers, she had planted herself on the moon-soaked ground. Her fingers were weaving the columbines together. Lee went on.

“She’s five years younger than me, but you wouldn’t be able to tell. The girl grows like a goddamn weed.” He let out a contented huff. “She was a tiny little thing back then, though. My mom said she was born too early.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Lee, who was leaning pieces of firewood together, nodded. “Mom thought I’d be upset because she wasn’t a boy, but I didn’t care. I was so fuckin’ excited.” He canted back on the vamps of his worn sneakers, evaluating his work. “I loved her so much. Right from the start.” He fished for the fire started lodged deep within his pockets. “My mom was in a car accident so the doctor prescribed her a bunch of pills. She slept a lot, so I took care of Kayla. She felt like she was mine from the very beginning.”

The girl didn’t speak. She couldn’t tell if the warmth she felt came from the fire now blazing before her or the power of Lee’s love for his baby sister. Regardless, it felt good. She had never been in the presence of such devotion.

“Kayla never cried, which was a blessing because our dad was a real piece of shit. He beat my ass more times than I could count for crying.” Lee’s blue eyes were awash in flame. “Kayla rarely did.” He pulled at a few strands of grass. “Girl is a fuckin’ mystery.”

“You made her feel safe.” The girl’s hushed voice was near silent beneath the popping wood. Lee turned to see that she had drawn her knees to her chest. The crown of columbines sat abandoned near her boot. Their eyes met. “She had no reason to cry. She had you.”

There was something buried in her sentence. It was a whisper wedged too far beneath the ground for Lee to grasp. The girl gave him a sad smile, propping her chin atop a kneecap.

“It was just me and my grandma growing up,” she said, picking her dirty fingernails. “We moved around a lot, because, you know.”

Lee could imagine, but he didn’t know, and he told her that. She was amazed. Had he not felt it since birth? Had he not had to battle the burn? The urge?

No. Lee told her that up until puberty, he was what anyone would have described as a clean-cut country boy, but at 16, he became the devil. The first was a girl from his neighborhood—a blonde who picked at Kayla until she bled. It happened suddenly. Lee had gone over to set things right. To ask her, as he had before, to leave his sister alone. Lee knew something bad was going to happen from the moment she opened the screen door. The breeze wafted her scent over him: perfume and lemon pledge. He wanted to get closer, and closer he came until suddenly he was bathed in crimson. Despite her deplorable actions, the blonde’s blood was sweeter than honeysuckle. Lee’s veins positively thrummed in delight as he took the life that had not belonged to him. The sin was second nature. The next kill was easier. Cleaner. More efficient. Unlike reaching second base or driving, Lee did not need a manual to learn this debaucherously sickening feat. It came naturally.

A flash of ire lit the girl’s electric blue eyes. How did he get away with it? Lee shrugged. It was too easy, really. In their neck of Kentucky, people disappeared often. Age-old adages of fathers leaving to get milk and never returning were true. The impoverished area was stricken with depression and drug addiction; no one cared, and no one accused Lee of any wrongdoing until...

The words became thick in his throat. Too dry. Too real. He was too close to the truth, which he simply could not face.

“I was seven.” The girl said. She must have sensed his trepidation but mentioned nothing of it. Lee had skidded to a stop, but the girl was slowly beginning. In a near-embarrassed murmur, she recounted her descent into what she called madness. It was a boy who lived next door. Her eyes fluttered shut. Lee knew she was drawing him. Reanimating his dead limbs. Filling his cavernous chest with stolen breaths. His hair was the color of the sand on a New York beach. His eyes were driftwood. He had been kind to her; he was the only one in class who didn’t stare with wide, judgmental eyes. “He cried.” She said it with open eyes. Nothing more came from her, and Lee knew she would not speak more of it, and he didn’t blame her.

“Come ‘ere.” He patted the cool metal of the tailgate, his rings clattering against the ridges. There was a moment of nothingness. Nothing appeared to move. Nothing stirred within her eyes. “S’okay.” His voice was even. Delicate. She turned her chin, contemplating him for a moment before ambling onto fawn-like legs. The crown of columbines dangled from her index finger as she neared.

As she came to a stop before him, he studied her face. Dusky plum circles ringed the delicate skin beneath her eyes. He wanted to run his thumbs over them. He wanted to brush the exhaustion from her features. Instead, he reached for her hand. It was a first. It was tip-toeing to the end of the diving board, and, blessedly, the girl chose to jump. Her hands were smoother and softer than Lee could have imagined. There was no biting this smile away. There was no tamping this feeling down.

“Let’s go to California.”

The girl’s eyebrows furrowed. Lee had been headed for Wyoming when they met. He wanted isolation and solitude; he had told her that. What had changed? Lee was honest.

“You.”

Lee wanted everything with her, but he wouldn’t say that yet. Maybe one day. In the meantime, he squeezed her hand. She was grinning at him in a way that made monarchs flutter within his gut.

“What do I have to do with California?” The girl placed the crown atop Lee’s greasy curls.

“You said you’ve never seen the West Coast. I think you’d like it.” It was the golden state, and she was a golden girl. He knew they’d make a lovely couple. The girl dropped her eyes, then pulled her hand away. With the fire’s warmth wrapping around her ankles, she moved closer to the flames. Lee traced her silhouette. He would never be an artist. Where she was creativity and beauty, he was destruction and brimstone. He would never be an artist, so he would brand this image into his mind. She smiled from over her shoulder.

“Can we be people in California?”

“People?”

"Mm," the girl said, turning to face him. “Get a place. Get jobs. We could just-” She hesitated, her eyes bouncing back and forth between his. “Be people.”

“Yeah.” Lee nodded. His smile was wide. “Let’s be people.”

#lee bones and all #timothee chalamet as lee #bones and all fic #timothee chalamet #timothee chalamet fic #timothee chalamet imagines #bones and all imagines #bones and all (2022)#lee x reader #timothee chalamet x reader

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deadmotelsusa · 2 years ago

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Dead Route 66 Motels

The Zia Motor Lodge opened in 1938 and closed in 2002. It was demolished in 2005 after being damaged by fire. Its massive sign still stands and was featured in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, both set in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The English Motel of Amarillo, Texas was likely built in the 1950s and remained in business until the 1990s. Although it's been closed for decades, a caretaker lives on the property and recently repainted some of the cabins.

Opened as the Circle ‘S’ Motel, closed as the Relax Inn. This motel looks like it may have been operating when Google Street View first drove by in 2008 but by 2016, it was overgrown and abandoned. Located in Tucumcari, New Mexico.

Another Tucumcari motel - the long abandoned Paradise Motel (pictured in the 1950s and 2022) closed in the 1990s. In 2018, after suffering two fires in a span of a few months, the neon sign was removed from the property.

Villa Ridge, Missouri's Gardenway Motel closed abruptly in 2014. In 2019, its neon sign was purchase and removed by advertising collector Nathan Lippe.

#route 66 #then and now #abandoned #deadmotelsusa

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mewling-central · 1 year ago

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Introduction to Collective Seraphic

Now that Seraphic's at a stable place, I think I'm gonna take some time to delve into the basics of how it operates. For this post I'll only be going into the language itself and not the writing system, as that's going to need a post of its own to elaborate on. I'll try to keep this as concise as possible, but I may make separate posts expanding on topics discussed in this one. So, without further ado, onto the infodump!

Background

Collective Seraphic (which I'll be referring to as "Seraphic") is an artlang that I've created for a comic that as of this post I have not began yet, but am still developing. The majority of the comic will take place on the Seraph Homeworld, an alien planet some 3,000 lightyears from Earth populated by the seraph species (pictured below):

Within the story, Seraphic acts as the lingua franca of the Seraph Homeworld and the many colonized planets under Seraph control. It's used in the government, and among speakers of differing languages. As such, this language was the first one that I knew I would need to make as it will play a vital role in both the storytelling and narrative structure.

Syntax

Seraphic is largely a fusional language, employing affixes to modify the semantic role and meaning of morphemes. Seraphic does not, in the traditional sense, have verbs, so the sentence structure is strictly subject-object (will expand upon later). Nouns decline for number and tense, and are grouped into seven noun classes. Adjectives agree with nouns in number, except if derived from nouns themselves, in which case they'll also agree in class. Seraphic is very head-initial; with demonstratives, numerals, possesives, adjectives, genitives, and relative clauses following the noun the modify; and prepositions preceeding the nouns they modify. Auxiliaries preceed procedurals (again, will expand upon later).

Phonology

Here is the phonological chart for Seraphic:

It has a syllable structure of (CC)V(CC). Plosives cannot exist word finally, clusters of consonants of the same manner are illegal, and vowel clusters are also not permitted. Syllabic consonants are grouped with vowels and behave much like them, carrying tone and stress, so they together are grouped and referred to as vocalics. Seraphic is a tonal language, employing the use of four tones: rising (á), falling (à), high (ā), and low (a). Low tones remained unmarked in both the Seraphic script and in romanization. Stress is syllable-independant. It will take either the ultimate, penultimate, or rarely the antepenultimate. Stress always falls on the syllable with a voiceless initial obstruent nearest to the end of the word. If none are available, it will fall on the syllable with an initial sonorant within the same parameters. Stress will never fall on a voiced obstruent. For clarity, I'll provide a key describing the pronunciation of the romanization.

Sounds that are similarly pronounced as they're read in American English:

m, n, p, b, t, d, k, g, f, v, s, z, y, w, l

Sounds that have special pronunciations:

ŋ, like the ng in English "sing"

p', like the ጴ in Amharic "ጴጥሮስ"

t', like the t' in Navajo "yá'át'ééh"

k', like the კ in Georgian "კაბა"

', like the the space within English "uh-oh"

c, like the sh in English "sharp"

j, like the s in English "measure"

x, like the gh in English "ugh"

ğ, like the γ in Greek "γάλα"

pf, like the pf in German "Pfirsiche"

ts, like the z in Italian "grazia"

tc, like the ch in English "chain"

kx, like the kh in Lakota "lakhóta"

r, like the rr in Spanish "perro", although occasionally like the r in Spanish "amarillo"

i, like the ee in English "meet"

į, like the ы in Russian "ты"

u, like the oo in English "boot"

e, like the é in French "beauté"

œ, like the a in English "Tina"

o, like the o in Classical Latin "sol"

a, like the a in English "bra" although this can change to be more forward or more backward.

Another letter that might trip people up is ł, which is meant to represent the high tone syllabic 'l'. Otherwise, syllabics are written the same as their pulmonic counterparts, with tone markers written when applicable.

Nouns

Nouns make up the bulk of the Seraphic lexicon. Every noun is grouped into one of seven classes:

Solar class: nouns related to seraphim or seraph-like beings, and seraph body parts. Prefix appears as zā-, zō-, zē-, s-, or ts-.

sēr = "person"

Astral class: nouns related to non-seraph animate lifeforms (their equivalent to "animals"). Prefix appears as ğr-, x, or kx-.

xuc = "cherub"

Vital class: nouns related to inanimate lifeforms (their equivalent to "plants"). Prefix appears as wā-, wō, w-, ū-, wē-, or wī-.

wējlux = "tree"

Terranean class: nouns related to landscapes, locations, and natural phenomena. Prefix appears as va-, vo-, vu-, f-, and pf-.

voxāl = "sun"

Metallic class: nouns related to inanimate objects, both natural and artificial. Prefix appears as ja-, jo-, c-, or tc-.

jağrú = "rock"

Lunar class: nouns related to abstract concepts, and terms related to time. Prefix appears as la-, lo-, le-, li-, y-, or l/ł-.

levren = "job"

Oceanic class: nouns related to general words, tangible concepts, numbers, all adjectives, and non-incorporated loanwords. Prefix appears as a/ā-, o/ō-, or aw-.

awuf = "group"

Adjectives do not agree in class, due to the fact that nouns originally are derived from adjectives, and noun classes acted as a way to differentiate between nouns and adjectives.

fa = "warm, hot"

jafa = "fire" (lit. "a hot thing")

When adjectives are used as predicatives, they decline into the oceanic class in order to take the procedurals (once more, will expand upon later).

Nouns also decline for four numbers: singular (one thing, usually unmarked), dual (two things, both things; suffixes as -ac, -oc, -œc, or -c), plural (things, many thing; suffixes as -n, -an, or -in), and collective (every thing, all things; suffixes as -āf/ōf, -áf/-óf, or -'ōf).

Seraphic doesn't use pronouns. Everything and everyone is referred to by name, including yourself. From our perspective, the Seraphic language constantly speaks in the third person. However, it can be repetitive to use the same name over and over again in a sentence, and sometimes you don't know the name of things, so they'll apply what I've called pro-forms. They consist of the demonstrative adjectives fl "this", sl "that", and xl "yon" declined into the Solar class and taking the place of the first, second, and third person respectively. For ease of reference, I'll provide the forms and their declensions below.

zāfl (I/me), zāflc (both of us), zāvlin (we/us), zāfláf (all of us)

zāsl (you), zāslc (both of you), zāzlin (you guys), zāsláf (all of you)

zōxl (they), zōxlc (both of them), zōğlin (many of them), zōxláf (all of them)

Seraphic makes no distinction in the gender of the speaker, in this regard. Although these resemble pronouns, they're not meant to be used as often as regular pronouns, and whenever possible it's much preferred that you refer to someone or something by name.

Adjectives and Prepositions

Adjectives are fairly straightforward. Adjectives follow the noun they modify (e.g. sēr tan "big person"), and agree with them in number (e.g. sēr tan "big person" vs sērn t'aŋon "big people"). Adjectives agree in the singular form with singular and collective nouns, and they agree in the plural form with dual and plural nouns.

There are three main types of adjectives: native adjectives (e.g. cna "good"), borrowed adjectives (e.g. anzn "nice"), and noun-derived adjectives (e.g. arfi/ofi "new"). Native and borrowed adjectives don't agree with noun classes, but noun-derived adjectives do. It originated from the animacy-based adjective agreement system in Proto-Seraphic, which has been lost in all other adjective instances. When you want to make a noun into an adjective you'll affix one of two prefixes to it: ar- (if agreeing with Solar, Astral, and Vital nouns) and o- (if agreeing with Terranean, Metallic, Lunar, and Oceanic nouns). There are specific rules on the forms each prefix takes based on the noun they're attached to:

"ār-" when preceeding high or falling vocalic syllables (e.g. sēr ārzājna "popular person")

"ar-" when preceeding low or rising vocalic syllables (e.g. wēn arfe "local fruit")

"ó-" when preceeding high or falling vocalic syllables (e.g. lalel ówē "grassy flavor")

"o-" when preceeding low or falling vocalic syllables (e.g. lesar olvulvren "economic problem")

"ōw-" when preceeding words that start with a vocalic (e.g. lnin ōwāsāvbas "momentary event")

Prepositions occur before the nouns they modify, and don't change form in any circumstance. There are currently 19 prepositions in the modern language, and they are usually connected to nouns via a hyphen (e.g. e-fe "at (the) place"):

cu = of; indicates possession

pr̄ = indicates the indirect object, equivalent to "to" in the phrase "The man sends the letter to me."

in/īn = as or like; indicates similarity or resemblance. Will either be low or high tone depending on the tone of the following syllable.

e/ē = at or on; indicates location.

tsa = near or for; indicates relative distance from a location or an action performed for the sake of the referent.

cni = without; indicates a lack of possession or company.

wa = in or inside of; indicates interior position.

tn = on top of, above, or before; indicates superior position or a prior instance in time.

pux = under, beneath, or after; indicates inferior position or a following instance in time.

pi = with, together with; indicates being in company of or making use of the referent.

fān = from or away from; indicates the motion of leaving the referent.

ku = out of; indicates motion from within the referent towards the exterior.

tun = into or through; indicates motion from outside the referent towards the interior.

xel = to or towards; indicates the motion of approaching the referent.

kxun = across; indicates motion from one location to another

pn̄ = around; indicates location surrounding the referrent.

cāza = between; indicates location in the middle of the referrent.

tē = after, behind; indicates posterior position.

fr = during; indicates a moment in time

Prepositions aren't combined in Collective Seraphic, but may be in certain instances in colloquial speech.

Procedurals

Okay, this is probably the most complicated part of Seraphic, so I'm going to need to get into things individually. First, I'll start with defining a procedural itself. Procedurals are the term I use for the prefixes used to describe the relationship or process of and between the agent noun and the patient noun. These are what act as the equivalent to "verbs" in earth languages. There are three in use:

Existential: used to denote a state of being or equivalence between agent and patient, or to the patient and itself. Equivalent to English "to be" (e.g. A is B, there is B). Usually prefixes as some variant of n-, m-, or ŋ-.

Actional: used to denote an action or process between the agent and patient, or with the patient and itself. Equivalent to English "to do" or "to act upon" (e.g. A acts upon B). Carries a connotation of agency and intent. Usually prefixes as some variant of re-, ra-, or r-.

Resultative: used to denote an occurence or change in state between agent and patient, or patient and itself. Equivalent to English "to become", "to happen", or "to change into" (e.g. A becomes B, B happens to A). Carries a connotation of passiveness or motion. Usually prefixes as some varient of ed- or ez-.

The procedural will change its form slightly depending on the class and declension pattern of the noun it modifies. It always affixes to the patient noun, demonstrating a relationship of an action and what is being acted upon. In this way, the patient can be clearly identified. In transitive or causative clauses, the word order is always S(P)O, with the agent acting as the subject and the patient as the object. In intransitive and passive clauses, the word order is always (P)S, with the patient acting as the subject and the agent demoted to the indirect object or omitted entirely.

Although seemingly limiting, using these three procedural, as well as prepositions, nouns, and adjectives, altogether can be used to make all sorts of verb equivalents that are called "procedural phrases". I'll demonstrate how to build a sentence now. First thing we need to know is the subject and object:

Sāx ... jafa (The child ... the fire)

Next, I'll add the actional procedural in the present tense to this.

Sāx rejafa (The child acts upon the fire)

By itself this is technically grammatically correct, but it doesn't really mean anything. It's too broad. So we add a prepositional phrase to specify exactly what action the child is taking towards the fire.

Sāx pi-sīman rejafa (The childs acts upon the fire with (their) eyes)

Now we know that the child is performing an action involving the use of their eyes. Now of course this could mean many different things in English, but in Seraphic the first thing that comes to mind would be fairly obvious: to see! Thus, "Sāx pi-sīman rejafa" would be the same as saying "The child sees the fire" in English! There are a lot of set phrases that equate to verbs, and remain consistent in their arrangement. Often differing phrases are a useful way to ascertain where someone is from or what their first language is.

Tense and Aspect

Seraphic has six main tenses: two pasts, two presents, and two futures. The two pasts consist of the recent past (happening recently) and the remote past (happening a long time ago), and they prefix and/or combine with the procedural.

Sāx pi-sīman ğrejafa (The child just saw the fire)

Sāx pi-sīman eğrejafa (The child saw the fire a while ago)

Similarly, the future tenses consist of the near future (will happen soon) and the distant future (will happen eventually).

Sāx pi-sīman drejafa (The child will soon see the fire)

Sāx pi-sīman izrejafa (The child will eventually see the fire)

The present tenses consist of a general present tense (happens) and the infinitive (to happen) which is used with auxiliaries and copulae and carries no presence in time.

Sāx pi-sīman rejafa (The child sees the fire)

Pi-sīman ezrejafa (To see a fire)

Whether someone considers an event to be nearer or farther in time from them is completely up to their discretion. There's no set timeframe for when to use the recent vs. remote past, it's all fairly subjective. However, whether you decide to use the recent or remote can really indicate whether you believe something to be in the distant past or future, or just a few moments ago or soon.

Seraphic also makes use of two copulae, the perfective -r and the imperfective -l, helping clitics that expand on the aspect of the procedural, i.e. how the procedural happens over time instead of when in time. The copulae are separate from the procedural, being placed directly before it and conjugating on their own similarly to the lexical procedural. When the copulae are in use, they are conjugated instead of the lexical procedural, while the lexical will be put into the infinitive. The exception to this is if the point in time is considered necessary to be stated for the sake of clarity or emphasis, in which case the lexical verb will also conjugate (though this isn't considered to be the default). The two copulae each conjugate to six tenses, and give 12 individual aspects in total. They are as follows, starting with the perfective:

āgxōnr - Pluperfect: indicates that the action happened at a point before some time in the past either specified or implied (e.g. āgxōnr nidsl "that has happened")

xōnr - Preterite: indicates that the action happened in the past with no reference to if it was completed recently or remotely. A general past (e.g. xōnr nidsl "that happened")

nar - Relative: indicates relative clauses, i.e. clauses that act to modify a noun similarly to an adjective. Equivalent to "that", "who", or "which" (e.g. lsl nar nidsl "the thing that happens")

ednr - Gnomic: indicates general truths, common knowledge, and aphorisms (e.g. ednr nezłsl "things happen")

t'enr - Future Simple: indicates the action will happen in the future with no regard to how near or far it is from the present (e.g. t'enr nidsl "that will happen")

āt'ēnr - Future Perfect: indicates that the action will happen before a time or event in the future (e.g. āt'ēnr nidsl "that will have happened")

And the imperfective:

ŋ̄xōzl - Discontinuous: indicates that an action was happening in the past, but is no longer happening in the present (e.g. ŋ̄xōzl nidsl "that used to happen")

xōzl - Habitual: indicates that an action is done often or out of habit (e.g. xōzl nidsl "that always happens")

īzl - Progressive: indicates that an action is happening at the very moment of conversation (e.g. īzl nidsl "that is happening")

nizl - Prospective: indicates that an action will be starting to, or is in the process of happening (e.g. nizl nidsl "that is about to happen")

t'ezl - Iterative: indicates that an action happens again, repeatedly, or more than one time based on context (e.g. t'ezl nidsl "that happens again" or "that happens again and again")

nt'ezl - Continuative: indicates that an action happens continuously and without end (e.g. nt'ezl nidsl "that still happens")

With both tense and aspects, this largely expands the capability of Seraphic in referring to time.

Moods

Seraphic makes use of seven modal particles to denote seven moods. They are always placed at the beginning of clauses, and no two modal particles can exist in the same clause. They are grouped into four categories: the declaritive (indicative and negative), the inferential (evidential and interrogative), the deontic (volitive and imperative), and the epistemic (subjunctive and conditional). They add extra clarity in the speakers mood or opinion concerning the clause they modify, and are as follows:

Indicative: base form of a clause. Indicates that the speaker is stating a fact or what exists, and is unmarked (e.g. idsl "that happens")

tu - Negative: indicates that the speaker is stating a fact that is untrue or what doesn't exist. Usually only appears in formal, official texts, as the first syllable of the procedural will chage tone to contrast as well and leaves the particle unneccesary in colloquial speech (e.g. tu īdsl "that doesn't happen")

cuc - Evidential: indicates that the speaker is stating a fact that they believe or understand to be true, regardless of having experienced it or not. (e.g. cuc idsl "apparently that happens") Direct evidentiality is denoted using a different method.

an/ān - Interrogative: indicates that the speaker is confirming whether a statement is or isn't true. Forms questions (e.g. an idsl? "does that happen?")

tcān - Volitive: indicates that the speaker desires for the statement to be true (e.g. tcān idsl "that wants to happen" or "that needs to happen" or "that should happen")

m�� - Imperative: indicates that the speaker is giving a command or suggestion, to themselves and/or to other referents. Functions additionally as a cohortative and a jussive (e.g. má idsl! "let that happen!")

tir - Subjunctive: indicates that the speaker believes the statement to be possible or likely (e.g. tir idsl "that could/would/might happen")

nun - Conditional: indicates that speaker believes the statement to be possible under specific circumstances or conditions (nun idsl "if/when that happens..."

Miscellaneous

That's about the basics of the Seraphic language outline. I'd like to eventually get into things like comparison, evidentiality, declension forms and the like, but those are all topics that definitely need their own individual posts. Real quick, I want to provide one more additional fact about Seraphic.

Seraphic uses base-16, meaning it groups numbers in sets of 16 instead of sets of 10 like we do. 1-16 would be written 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, 10. 10 would be read as 16, and equally 20 would be 32. They're still counting the same amount of things, they're just dividing it up differently!

Anyways that's about it, I hope to share more about Seraphic soon, and when the comic gets released I hope you'll all be able to read it and pick out the many many lines of Seraphic I've poured into it!

ŋKowīci cu-stux 'ōf tsa-levp'ā cu-zāsláf pi-lizt'n ğōdjasa! (Thank you all so much for reading!)

#conlang #constructed language #artlang #grammar #phonology #syntax #linguistics #seraphic #collective seraphic #info post #hope i didn't make a fool of myself in front of the whole community #accidentally showed the world i dont know shit abt linguistics gotdamn #im sure itll be fine #writing system tutorial forthcoming

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groriatrevi10xx · 23 days ago

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°•I don't know if you deleted the publication, but I remember that once you said that glorma was originally not like the other versions and that its crown did not float. could we see a drawing of this?•°

Anónimo: No sé si borraste la publicación, pero recuerdo que una vez dijiste que Glorma originalmente no era como las otras versiones y que su Corona no flotaba. ¿Podríamos ver un dibujo de esto?

-------

G: Perdón por no responder antes, estoy redibujando a Creathea... Jaja, no me gustó y lo estoy rehaciendo, pero aquí está... Creo que es lo que preguntaste, estoy confundida, no sé si traduje bien tu pregunta... Pero ahí está.../Sorry for not answering sooner, I'm redrawing Creathea... Haha, I didn't like it and I'm redoing it, but here it is... I think that's what you asked, I'm confused, I don't know if I translated your question correctly... But there it is...

Originalmente, así es como se ve Glorma... No la dibujo así, solo porque es costumbre para mí dibujarla como las otras versiones... Pero en serio, así es como se ve originalmente... No creo que la vuelva a dibujar así, porque ya estoy acostumbrada a ella en su versión de fantasía... XD/Originally, this is how Glorma looks like... I don't draw her like this, just because it's customary for me to draw her like the other versions... But seriously, this is how she originally looks like... I don't think I'll draw her like this again, because I'm already used to it in her fantasy version... XD

Glorma tiene el pelo así por una disminución de melanina... Es decir, canas a temprana edad, realmente puede pasar por lo que sé, pero creo que es menos exagerado... Muchos creen que era hereditario, pero curiosamente esto le empezó a pasar cuando tuvo un accidente... Nadie sabe la causa aunque le hicieron chequeos, en realidad también se operó de los ojos, está viva de milagro.../Glorma has her hair like this because of a decrease in melanin... That is, gray hair at an early age, it can really happen from what I know, but I think it's less exaggerated... Many believe it was hereditary, but strangely this began to happen to her when she had an accident... Nobody knows the cause although they did check-ups, in reality she also had an operation on her eyes, she is alive by a miracle...

Extraña su apariencia anterior, pero bueno.../She misses her previous appearance, but oh well...

Y si, ¡no tiene los ojos amarillos!... ¡Aquí son color miel, ese color de ojos existe!... ¡No te atrevas a decir que no!... 🫠/And yes, he doesn't have yellow eyes!... They are honey-colored here, that eye color exists!... Don't you dare say no!... 🫠

Un pariente mío tiene ese color de ojos, que envidia... Pero, esto es fruto de una combinación genética específica.... Los ojos color miel son una mezcla de marrón y verde con tonos dorados o ámbar.... Por lo que tengo entendido, son menos comunes que los ojos marrón oscuro.... El color de ojos lo determina la cantidad de melanina en el iris, mi querido amigo, la melanina es un pigmento marrón oscuro que absorbe y refleja diferentes longitudes de onda de la luz... ¡Anótalo!... 😎/A relative of mine has that eye color, how envious... But, this is the result of a specific genetic combination.... Honey-colored eyes are a mix of brown and green with golden or amber tones.... From what I understand, they are less common than dark brown eyes.... Eye color is determined by the amount of melanin in the iris, my dear friend, melanin is a dark brown pigment that absorbs and reflects different wavelengths of light... Write it down!...

Por último, a diferencia de las otras versiones {Brittany de "There Is Nobody" también es algo similar a lo que es originalmente}, ella no odia el color rojo, en todas las versiones su color favorito es el rojo, no el amarillo... Pero estas versiones son unas perras mentirosas, el color rojo les recuerda su horrible pasado... A Glorma también, pero también le trae nostalgia de los buenos tiempos y también le recuerda lo lejos que ha llegado... Así que sigue siendo su color favorito, usa muchos más colores... Pero su favorito siempre será el rojo.../Lastly, unlike the other versions {Brittany from "There is Nobody" is also somewhat the same as she is originally}, she doesn't hate the color red, all versions her favorite color is red not yellow... But these versions are lying bitches, the color red reminds them of their horrible past... It does to Glorma too, but it also brings back nostalgia for good times and also reminds her of how far she's come... So it's still her favorite color, she wears a lot more colors... But her favorite will always be red...

Y gracias por leer todo el texto que te mostré aquí, ¡hasta luego!... (⁠ ⁠´⁠◡⁠‿⁠ゝ⁠◡⁠`⁠)/And thanks for reading all the text I showed you here, see you later!... (⁠ ⁠´⁠◡⁠‿⁠ゝ⁠◡⁠`⁠)

#groriatrevi10 #mio #Hello Neighbor #Oc #Au #Glorma #Princesa #Princesa Glorma #Jaja #Pregunta #Preguntas #Estrella #Lol #🫠✨♥️

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 10 months ago

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Jack Ohman, Tribune Content Agency

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

May 1, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAY 02, 2024

Today, Florida’s ban on abortions after six weeks—earlier than most women know they’re pregnant—went into effect. The Florida legislature passed the law and Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed it a little more than a year ago, on April 13, 2023, but the new law was on hold while the Florida Supreme Court reviewed it. On April 1 the court permitted the law to go into operation today.

The new Florida law is possible because two years ago, on June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that recognized the constitutional right to abortion. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the modern court decided that the right to determine abortion rights must be returned “to the people’s elected representatives” at the state level.

Immediately, Republican-dominated states began to restrict abortion rights. Now, one out of three American women of childbearing age lives in one of the more than 20 states with abortion bans. This means, as Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood, put it in The Daily Beast today, “child rape victims forced to give birth, miscarrying patients turned away from emergency rooms and told to return when they’re in sepsis.” It means recognizing that the state has claimed the right to make a person’s most personal health decisions.

Until today, Florida’s law was less stringent than that of other southern states, making it a destination for women of other states to obtain the abortions they could not get at home. In the Washington Post today, Caroline Kitchener noted that in the past, more than 80,000 women a year obtained abortions in Florida. Now, receiving that reproductive care will mean a trip to Virginia, Illinois, or North Carolina, where the procedure is still legal, putting it out of reach for many women.

This November, voters in Florida will weigh in on a proposed amendment to the Florida constitution to establish the right to abortion. The proposed amendment reads: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” Even if the amendment receives the 60% support it will need to be added to the constitution, it will come too late for tens of thousands of women.

It is not unrelated that this week Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, along with other Republican attorneys general, has twice sued the Biden administration, challenging its authority to impose policy on states. One lawsuit objects to the government’s civil rights protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. The other lawsuit seeks to stop a federal rule that closes a loophole that, according to Texas Tribune reporter Alejandro Serrano, lets people sell guns online or at gun shows without conducting background checks.

In both cases, according to law professor and legal analyst Steve Vladeck, Paxton has filed the suit in the Amarillo Division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, where it will be assigned to Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, the Trump appointee who suspended the use of mifepristone, an abortion-inducing drug, in order to stop abortions nationally.

Last month the Judicial Conference, which oversees the federal judiciary, tried to end this practice of judge-shopping by calling for cases to be randomly assigned to any judge in a district; the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas says it will not comply.

And so the cases go to Kacsmaryk, who will almost certainly agree with the Republican states’ position.

Republicans are engaged in the process of dismantling the federal government, working to get rid of its regulation of business, basic social welfare laws and the taxes needed to pay for such measures, the promotion of infrastructure, and the protection of civil rights. To do so, they have increasingly argued that the states, rather than the federal government, are the centerpiece of our democratic system.

That democracy belonged to the states was the argument of the southern Democrats before the Civil War, who insisted that the federal government could not legitimately intervene in state affairs out of their concern that the overwhelming popular majority in the North would demand an end to human enslavement. Challenged to defend their enslavement of their neighbors in a country that boasted “all men are created equal,” southern enslavers argued that enslavement was secondary to the fact that voters had chosen to impose it.

At the same time, though, state lawmakers limited the vote in their state, so the popular vote did not reflect the will of the majority. It reflected the interests of those few who could vote. In 1857, enslaver George Fitzhugh of Virginia explained that there were 18,000 people in his county and only 1,200 could vote. “But we twelve hundred…never asked and never intend to ask the consent of the sixteen thousand eight hundred whom we govern.” State legislatures, dominated by such men, wrote laws reinforcing the power of a few wealthy, white men.

Crucially, white southerners insisted that the federal government must use its power not to enforce the will of the majority, but rather to protect their state systems. In 1850, with the Fugitive Slave Act, they demanded that federal officials, including those in free states, return to the South anyone a white enslaver claimed was his property. Black Americans could not testify in their own defense, and anyone helping a “runaway” could be imprisoned for six months and fined $1,000, which was about three years’ income. A decade later, enslavers insisted that it was “the duty of the Federal Government, in all its departments, to protect…[slavery]…in the Territories, and wherever else its constitutional authority extends.”

After the Civil War, Republicans in charge of the federal government set out to end discriminatory state legislation by adding to the Constitution the Fourteenth Amendment, establishing that states could not deny to any person the equal protection of the laws and giving Congress the power to enforce that amendment. That, together with the Fifteenth Amendment providing that “[t]he right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” Republicans thought, would stop state legislatures from passing discriminatory legislation.

But in 1875, just five years after Americans added the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, the Supreme Court decided that states could keep certain people from voting so long as that discrimination wasn’t based on race. This barred women from the polls and flung the door open for voter suppression measures that would undermine minority voting for almost a century. Jim and Juan Crow laws, as well as abortion bans, went onto the books.

In the 1950s the Supreme Court began to use the Fourteenth Amendment to end those discriminatory state laws—in 1954 with the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, decision that prohibited racial segregation in public schools, for example, and in 1973 with Roe v. Wade. Opponents complained bitterly about what they called “judicial activism,” insisting that unelected judges were undermining the will of the voters in the states.

Beginning in the 1980s, as Republicans packed the courts with so-called originalists who weakened federal power in favor of state power, Republican-dominated state governments carefully chose their voters and then imposed their own values on everyone.

Just a decade ago, reproductive rights scholar Elizabeth Dias told Jess Bidgood of the New York Times, a six-week abortion ban was seen even by many antiabortion activists as too radical, but after Trump appointed first Neil Gorsuch and then Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the balance of power shifted enough to make such a ban obtainable. Power over abortion rights went back to the states, where Republicans could restrict them.

Trump has said he would leave the issue of abortion to the states, even if states begin to monitor women’s pregnancies to keep them from obtaining abortions or to prosecute them if they have one.

Vice President Kamala Harris was in Jacksonville, Florida, today to talk about reproductive rights. She put the fight over abortion in the larger context of the discriminatory state laws that have, historically, constructed a world in which some people have more rights than others. “This is a fight for freedom,” she said, “the fundamental freedom to make decisions about one’s own body and not have their government tell them what they’re supposed to do.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#history #Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richardson #corrupt SCOTUS #rule of law #women #women's rights #human rights #states rights #Civil War #slavery #white Southerners #fugitive slave act #income inequality #wealthy white men #Fifteenth amendment

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thethistlegirlwrites · 2 years ago

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Name: Sierra Aguirre (legally changed her name to Aguirre-Stoker when she found out who her birth father was) Species: Human Age: 24 Powers: None, but she's agile and good with a variety of weapons, as well as being a highly skilled pursuit driver. Physical description: She's 5'7, petite but not fragile. She's got dark brown hair, usually braided or pulled back in a bun, and at the time of the story has one side shaved and growing back from where she had to have stitches put in after a fight with a vampire. She has dark brown eyes and tawny skin, and a thick rippled scar on the outside of one forearm where she burned it on an engine block working on a car. Her nails are always cut short and her fingers have permanently ground in grease and oil. Personality: Snarky, aggressive, and driven. She's got a chip on her shoulder and a family name to live up to. Background: Sierra grew up in Amarillo, Texas with a single mom who was an underground street racer in her spare time, and has been working on cars since she was old enough to hold a wrench, and driving them since she could reach the pedals. She was going to her local community college to become a mechanic when she found some of her father's journals, and learned that he wasn't killed in a car accident like her mother always told her, but had been part of a vampire hunter agency and was killed on an operation. After learning the truth about her father, Sierra started researching the secret underworld of vampires and hunters and eventually joined a rogue vigilante hunter group, looking to rid the world of what she felt were the monsters that took her father from her. After she was captured by the members of a real, legal hunter agency, Sierra was offered a choice, help them bring down the vigilantes and get a second chance, and an offer to join the agency and do things the right way, or get sent to an off the books prison. She chose to help, and joined her father's old agency in the aftermath, although after initial training she transferred to the Los Angeles "Chimera" agency, where her uncle John Stoker was working with a team. After her training probationary period, she was partnered with Pete Jemison, a forensic accountant, and they work together taking down a variety of vampire-related illegal businesses. Other: She has a 1967 Chevy Camaro retrofitted as a hunter patrol car. It's got a holding compartment in the back seats to transport a vampire prisoner (which isn't a great fit for Shane but he's going to have to deal) and it's painted silver with dark blue pinstripe details that make the front look like a stylized wolf's head. She's nicknamed it 'Lobo'.

Taglist:

@nade2308 @catwingsathena @the-one-and-only-valkyrie @telltaleclerk @floh673

#compass #sierra aguirre-stoker #character introduction #hunter #vampire hunters

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wenmistry · 6 months ago

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babygirl's bad day

#wendraws #2024 #my art #oc #original character #laszlo vary #operation amarillo #digital art #clip studio paint #art #flatcolour #shitpost #fullbody #illustration #artists on tumblr

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nickgerlich · 1 year ago

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Missing The Target

Sometimes it is stylish to arrive late at a party, because since pretty much everyone else is there, all eyes will turn when you make your grand entrance. You have entered the room.

But this is often not the case in business, when it is not so much your presence that is noticed, as it is your absence. And when you do finally get there, people are left wondering why you waited so long.

Kind of like with Target, who is now finally considering a membership club. Nothing like spotting your competitors a huge lead, and then trying to stage a comeback, if at all.

To be fair, retail membership clubs have been around a long time, like Costco (1983), Sam’s Club (1983), BJ’s (1984), and others. It was not until 2005 that Amazon Prime launched, and completely in the digital realm. Fifteen years later, Walmart+ set sail, combining brick and mortar with digital.

Which leaves Target so late there might not be any party treats to consume. The booze bottles are nearly empty, the trays of food picked over. It’s not like Target got stuck in traffic; they merely forgot to come at all.

While the early membership clubs are not an immediate threat to Target, Amazon and Walmart are. Prime costs $139 a year, while Walmart+ clocks in at $98. Both include free shipping components, as well as video. Prime Video is provided in Amazon’s bundle, while Walmart has partnered with Paramount+ to offer the streaming service free of charge. Walmart, though, also offers free delivery from its BAM stores, not just online orders, as well as a 10-cent discount on gas.

So what in the world could Target possibly offer that might compete? Target’s grocery operations pale in comparison to Walmart; full-service groceries are only available in Super Target locations, while smaller stores, like the one in Amarillo, offer only a limited selection, the kind that makes even a Trader Joe’s or Aldi look like a world bazaar.

Target would have to find a streaming partner as well to offer a viable option to customers. Oh, and never mind that gas discounts are out of the question, because they never got into that line of business.

All of this then raises the question of how many store memberships a household needs. I have Sam’s, Amazon, and Walmart. I don’t need another. They have a way of locking in customer loyalty, but you are paying for the privilege. I am not that loyal to Target, if only because it is 18 miles away, but more importantly because they don’t offer what the Canyon Walmart has.

We should also note that Target has been busy offering its Target Circle rewards program, which allows shoppers to score discounts and coupons. But the proof is in the pudding. Target’s revenues were in a rather steep decline last year. Perhaps some of this is fall-out from their Pride month merchandise and displays. Timing is everything, and since this happened only a month after the Bud Light fiasco, they wound up in the crosshairs of public scrutiny. Then they blinked and acquiesced, moving the displays farther back into the store.

There are a lot of things I like about Target, though. Hey, Walmart never had folks clamoring to make a faux French word like Target—I mean Tar-zhay—customers did. It’s a higher class of junk, as I joke.

It’s just that they missed the boat on membership clubs. They are a revenue stream, and they provide stickiness. I sense this party is starting to wind down. The fun has about all been had, and we’re looking at a retailer that has missed its own target.

Dr “Improve Your Aim” Gerlich

Audio Blog

#marketing #Target #retail #membership

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nwbeerguide · 1 year ago

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Stone Brewing Company adds Stone Delicious Hazy IPA to their already popular lineup.

Press Release

ESCONDIDO, CA (January 31, 2024) – Stone Brewing, among the world’s most renowned IPA breweries, introduces a new addition to its popular lineup of Delicious IPAs. Stone Delicious Hazy IPA is now available on draft and in cans year-round and nationwide. Thanks to this fourth Stone Delicious variation, the brewery also announces the anticipated release of a Stone Delicious IPA Variety 12-Pack in addition to its innovative variety six-pack.

The newly expanded Stone Delicious lineup includes:

Stone Delicious Hazy IPA (7.2% ABV) Brewed with Sabro, El Dorado and Azacca hops, giving the beer intense creamsicle, peach and pineapple flavors with a beautiful slightly opaque appearance.

Stone Delicious IPA (7.7% ABV) The original Stone Delicious IPA packs a refreshing and hoppy lemon candy flavor making it especially complementary to an array of foods and a superior standalone IPA.

Stone Delicious Double IPA (9.4% ABV!) A beer that stands out with a serious depth of flavor and explosive aroma of lemon and tropical fruit from Centennial and Amarillo hops. With less bitterness than a typical double IPA, this one is extra fruity, extra gratifying and extra Delicious.

Stone Delicious Citrus IPA (7.7% ABV) Brewed with Talus hops that impart vibrant citrus notes complemented by the addition of sweet orange peel. The result is especially bright and satisfyingly juicy.

Stone Delicious Hazy IPA – like all the beers in the Delicious series – also happens to be gluten reduced. In fact, each beer clocks in below the FDA requirement for “gluten free” labeling (less than 20 parts per million). A gluten-reduced Hazy IPA is hard to come by. Not only does this one exist, but it also packs an unparalleled flavor rendering that gluten conversation nearly irrelevant. The beer is juicy, creamy and full-bodied with notes of peach candy, orange, vanilla and sweet pineapple.

“The Brewing Team takes the challenge of calling a beer ‘Delicious,’ very seriously and all four of the beers need to live up to that name,” explained Jeremy Moynier, Senior Manager of Brewing & Innovation. “Stone Delicious Hazy IPA definitely lives up to the Delicious standard and is a great addition to the Delicious family of beers.”

Fans of Delicious things can find Stone Delicious Hazy IPA nationwide in stand-alone six-pack as well as in Stone Delicious Variety Six-Packs and Stone Delicious Variety 12-Packs. Find them nearby at Find.StoneBrewing.com or order online in select states at Shop.StoneBrewing.com.

...

ABOUT STONE BREWING

Founded in 1996, Stone pioneered the West Coast Style IPA, helping to fuel the modern craft beer revolution and inspire generations of hop fanatics. Today Stone operates breweries in Escondido, CA and Richmond, VA plus seven tap room and bistro locations. Stone offers a wide range of craft beers including its most popular Stone IPA, Stone Delicious IPA and Stone Buenaveza Salt & Lime Lager. The company’s long list of environmental efforts includes a LEED Silver Certification, world-class water reclamation and creative uses of spent grain. Stone has been called the “All-time Top Brewery on Planet Earth” by BeerAdvocate magazine twice. To find Stone beers, visit find.stonebrewing.com. For more information on Stone Brewing visit stonebrewing.com, Facebook, Instagram��or Twitter.

#Stone Brewing Company #California #Escondido #San Diego #Beer #Press Release

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usafphantom2 · 2 years ago

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Poland will receive 8 Apache helicopters from U.S. stock before a contract for 96 helicopters

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 05/10/23 - 14:00 in Helicopters

The Polish military will soon begin training on how to operate the AH-64 Apache helicopters, before the delivery of eight aircraft from the U.S. surplus stock.

“The U.S. army will provide Poland with Apache helicopters from its own resources, even before signing the contract for the purchase of 96 helicopters,” said Deputy Prime Minister Mariusz Blaszczak after the meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin, on May 5.

The topics of discussion also included Polish-American military cooperation, the security situation on the eastern flank of NATO and in Europe, the deepening of military interoperability and the US military presence in Poland.

Gathered in Washington, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin, signed the Reciprocal Defense Acquisition Agreement, and the U.S. agreed to provide an initial batch of 8 used Apache attack helicopters, while Poland awaits the new Apaches it intends to order. (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

Speaking of strengthening the Polish Armed Forces, building interoperability and acquiring Boeing Apache helicopters, the head of the Ministry of Defense emphasized that these are among the best machines in its category.

“Since the founding of our republic, Americans and Poles have fought side by side,” Austin said. "And the bond between our two countries continues to strengthen to this day. In fact, without the tremendous contributions of Poland, we would never have been able to do so much for Ukraine after the indefensible invasion of Russia,” Austin said.

U.S. ground forces will provide Poland with eight helicopters, and the training of Polish pilots should begin in a few weeks. The helicopters will go to eastern Poland next year, Blaszczak said.

He added that the helicopters will go to the eastern flank of NATO, to the 18ª Mechanized Division.

Last year, Poland expressed its desire to buy 96 Apache helicopters, although it is not clear when deliveries will take place.

Tags: AH-64 ApacheMilitary AviationHelicoptersPAF - Polish Air Force / Polish Air Force

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Daytona Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work around the world of aviation.