#page 3028

[pesterloglog]

Dave Strider, Jade Harley

Act 5, page 3024-3032

-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG] --

TG: hey

TG: welcome to the medium finally i guess

GG: hey!!!!!

GG: last time i talked to you i was asking for help and you were just nakking at me

GG: what was up with that bro???

TG: ok i dont know what youre talking about it was probably just some horrorterror chirping at you during one of your nap bubble mindfucks

TG: its not the point i just wanted to say

TG: i just saw you

GG: you did?

TG: yeah

TG: you appeared for a second

TG: shooting at an imp

TG: then you disappeared

GG: ohhhhhhh

GG: yes, i did get around during that battle didnt i?

GG: it was really intense!!!

GG: those stupid things are impossible to kill :(

TG: no you can kill them

TG: youll get better dont worry

GG: in the heat of the fray i didnt notice you!

GG: where were you?

TG: three places

TG: i remember seeing you twice before in different locations

TG: but at the moment im standing in the middle of this snowy goddamn field freezing my shit off

TG: just wanted to see if you were cool

GG: yeah im fine, thanks for asking!

GG: what do you mean you remember seeing me?

GG: was i jumping through time or something?

TG: no i was

TG: this is future me

TG: one of the future mes that is

GG: youre from the future?

TG: yeah jade thats what future me means

GG: :p

GG: john told me you have been doing some time traveling

TG: yeah

GG: that is.....

GG: really really awesome!

TG: its ok

TG: hey its pretty fucking cold

GG: i knoooooow

GG: it is a really neat place but its freeeeezing :o

TG: so im gonna go some place warm be back in a while later

-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GG] --

GG: wait!

GG: dave!!

GG: uuugh stupid lousy cool dudes

-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG] --

TG: ok im back

TG: an hour later

GG: an hour?

TG: an hour for me

TG: a second for you

TG: i ran around for an hour got my ass some place warm

TG: went back in time

TG: picked up where we left off

GG: :O

GG: i can not believe how cool that is

GG: this is me believing neither that, nor its coolness :O

TG: yeah

TG: i guess im sorta used to it by now i dont think of hours going by the same way anymore

TG: i mean

TG: they are my hours but not everyone elses theyre kind of like private hours all to myself

TG: while everyone else is sort of in slow motion stuck in the thick of the alpha

GG: hmmmm...

GG: i dont know if i get that but ok!

TG: well yeah

TG: my thing is time yours is space

TG: pretty different things

TG: you GET things about space i dont

TG: or you will

GG: i will?

TG: yup

GG: ok........

GG: but anyway youre right, its coooold!!!!!!

GG: i have to go back inside

GG: i wish i had winter clothes

GG: and if i did, i ALSO wish that my wardrobifier didnt blow up with all of my beautiful clothes inside it :C

GG: im so horribly unprepared for this.... i have never even seen snow before, can you believe that!!!

TG: pretty believable since you lived on guam or wherever the fuck

TG: and also inside an active volcano

GG: derp yes dave that is so where i lived

GG: that is as biographically accurate as it gets about me!

TG: well ive never seen it either now that i think about it

GG: no???

TG: no

GG: isnt it great?????

TG: nah

TG: lavas better

GG: lava is NOT better than snow :|

TG: yeah it is lava and skeletal skyscrapers all melting and shit how is that not way cooler than

TG: snow and

TG: like

TG: more snow

GG: you cant play in lava, its no fun

GG: you can only die in lava

TG: snows a big chilly carpet of nobody gives a shit

TG: like old man winter spread around his nasty mayonnaise and turned the landscape into his personal asshole sandwich

GG: eww dave no

TG: when i look around all i see is the miles of unharnessed snowmen im just too damn cool to build

GG: no this is so lame

GG: i am hearing an insane and stupid guy say stupid idiot things while wearing dumb sunglasses for lame morons!

TG: whoa jade with the fucking haymaker

TG: i need to go look for my teeth on the canvas as soon as shit stops spinning and there stops being like ten of you

GG: heheheh

GG: why dont we play in the snow later

GG: as soon as you get some....................................

TG: time

GG: ..............................

TG: time

GG: ...................

TG: time then shades

GG: ..........

TG: time

GG: ...............

TG: time/shades lets go

GG: .......

GG: ....

GG: ...

TG: oh my fucking god

GG: ..

GG: .

GG: time 8)

TG: im not gonna play in the snow

TG: maybe you missed those credentials i flashed which clearly stated me being too cool for that

TG: like federally too cool

TG: my coolness is named after a dead president plus his middle initial to make it sound extra legit

GG: i know youre joking around, you are not too cool at all, you dont even think that

TG: ok

GG: brrrrrr

TG: i thought you were going inside

GG: i forgot :\

TG: well at least make some damn clothes

TG: something warmer why dont you alchemize some shit

GG: i cant!!!

GG: all that stuff blew up

TG: blew up

GG: its a long story that involves a pinata and a gun and a very naughty doggie

TG: i completely understand everything about that practically entirely

GG: so anyway, that reminds me ive got to talk to john!

GG: ive got to get him to make me some new gizmos...

GG: assuming thats even possible

TG: no dont bother john

TG: hes on like his fuckin

TG: wind mission or whatever

TG: getting all his ridiculous magic cyclone powers on and realizing his huge blowy destiny

TG: as the chump of shoosh

GG: john has magic cyclone powers?

TG: almost

GG: whoa....

GG: you guys are all so much better than me, i feel sooooo lame

TG: we all start out somewhere

TG: remember how i was scrambling up that tower to get that egg like an idiot

TG: what the hell was i doing

TG: i was like goddamn pooh bear in a tree reaching up his fat fuckin pooh paw for some mother fuckin honey

GG: heehee

TG: so even though im awesome now at one point i was plausibly likened to an autistic stuffed animal

TG: and you even knew what to do

TG: you told me how it worked all christopher robinning my ignorant ass about that egg

TG: but i was all like IM A LITTLE BLACK RAIN CLOUD BITCH WATCH ME CLIMB

TG: so maybe youre startin out with more sense than me

GG: maaaybe

GG: :)

TG: in any case egbert lost his computer and game disc

TG: so he cant do anything for you anyways

GG: oh no

GG: did he lose it in a magic cyclone?

TG: probably some shit like thats what happened

TG: but youre not completely screwed

TG: we just have to think outside the box here

GG: we do?

TG: yeah honestly i figured wed have to do something like this

TG: so i guess here we are doing it

GG: doing what??

TG: well youre my server player remember

GG: yes

TG: i need you to deploy something first

TG: in my apartment

TG: in a few hours ill go back there and we can continue this

GG: oh jeez, a few hours????

-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GG] --

-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG] --

TG: yeah

TG: as in a few seconds

TG: im back at my place now

GG: fastest hours :o

TG: yeah

TG: now

TG: deploy the intellibeam laserstation

GG: but that costs so much grist!!!

TG: no it costs practically nothing

TG: check out how much ive got

GG: omg...

GG: what does this thing do?

TG: its mostly pretty stupid and useless

TG: but itll come in handy here

TG: it reads captcha codes

GG: on the back of cards?

TG: yeah

GG: but

GG: we can already read those!

TG: some are too garbled and complicated

TG: the human eye cant decipher them

TG: needs sophisticated scanning technology

TG: and artificial intelligence to figure it out

GG: hmm

GG: but isnt the whole point of captchas that only humans can read them?

GG: and not robots???

TG: yeah well

TG: thats why this is so dumb

TG: i guess some captchas are so incomprehensible cause the game thinks it would be too cheap to let you duplicate them

TG: like an anti piracy measure

TG: so the solution to the anti piracy measure is to override the anti spam measure

GG: anti spam?

TG: well yeah thats what captchas are for

TG: and theyre on the back of cards for a really good reason

TG: cause god knows the last thing youd want was some web bot being able to figure out the code for like

TG: a potted plant

TG: that would be fucking mayhem

GG: yeah obviously!

TG: but in order to effectively cheat here weve got to open pandoras spam box

TG: and release the laserstation into the world with its leering intellibeam

TG: now no captcha is safe youll have bots signing up for email accounts and duplicating potted plants and shit

GG: oh nooo

TG: basically robots are in control now

TG: which is good news and bad news

TG: the bad news is theyre all pornbots and theyve got LOADS of provocative material theyre just dying to share with us

GG: whats the good news?

TG: thats also the good news

GG: dave i still dont know what youre actually doing here

TG: whats it look like

TG: im duplicating my server disc

GG: oh....

GG: to give it to john?

TG: nah i told you were not bothering john

TG: hes got shit to do

TG: ill just install it

GG: but...

GG: you are already roses server player!

GG: and john is mine!

GG: not to mention im yours!!!

GG: can you really be a server player to your own server player?

TG: dont see why not

TG: we have to get creative here

TG: this games already so far off the rails what else is there to do but improvise

GG: but i guess

GG: i thought that john sort of.....

GG: HAD to be my server? you know?

TG: well he was

TG: he got you in didnt he

TG: but now hes not

TG: been a change of plans

TG: time to roll with it

GG: well youre from the future right?

GG: dont you know already if itll work?

TG: yeah more or less

TG: i never really studied how it went down all that closely

TG: i just figured when the time came to sort it out the right thing to do would be obvious

TG: like it is now

TG: managing the loops is a balance of careful planning and just rolling with your in the moment decisions

TG: and trusting they were the ones you were always supposed to make

TG: by now im pretty used to having my intuition woven into the fabric of the alpha timeline

GG: pretty smooth dave

TG: yeah i know

GG: shades for everybody

GG: 8) 8)

TG: thisll be the disc i use for your connection

TG: while the original will stay bound to roses connection

GG: so you will be the server for BOTH us ladies???

GG: you just keep getting smoother, i cant handle all this smoothness

TG: well technically

TG: i will be your server

TG: and past me will stay as roses server

TG: which is to say present me will

TG: the one in the black suit

GG: ohh...

GG: i guess that makes sense

TG: he can keep managing her for a while

TG: until she sorta checks out soon and becomes totally useless

TG: then he can start hopping around time like i did

TG: make a ton of money and stuff

TG: eventually become me

TG: and become your server player

GG: ok i think i understand that!

TG: yeah see its not hard to get the hang of

TG: in the meantime ill kind of loiter around this timeframe to help you out for a while

GG: yessss thanks dave <3

GG: um

GG: what do you mean rose will check out? :\

TG: dont worry about it just some more future stuff

TG: now i need you to go downstairs

GG: uhhhh ok

TG: im just going to cut right to the chase and upgrade your alchemiter so you can avoid a lot of bullshit

TG: ill give you some codes and you can punch cards and slip em into jumper blocks

TG: which are really the exact same codes you first gave me when we upgraded my alchemiter

TG: which seems like a hella long time ago

GG: it does doesnt it

TG: yeah but it kind of literally is for me

GG: how long?

TG: few days i guess

GG: ok thats not THAT long :p

TG: whatever

GG: yaaaaaaaaaaaay!

[marketresearchintent]

Cloud ERP Market: Scaling New Heights in Business Productivity

Introduction

Have you ever wondered how businesses manage to keep all their operations running smoothly in this digital age? Well, let me introduce you to the game-changer: Cloud ERP. But what exactly is Cloud ERP, and why is it creating such a buzz in the business world?

What is Cloud ERP?

Cloud ERP, or Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning, is like having a super-smart, all-in-one assistant for your business that lives in the cloud. It's a software solution that helps companies manage and integrate their core business processes - from finance and HR to supply chain and customer relations - all in one place, accessible from anywhere with an internet connection.

The Skyrocketing Growth

Hold onto your hats, folks, because the Cloud ERP market is on a rocket ship to the stars! Industry analysts are projecting an incredible journey from $44.6 billion in 2023 to a whopping $93.8 billion by 2030. That's a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.2%! But what's fueling this meteoric rise? Let's dig deeper.

Current State of the Cloud ERP Market

2023: A Year of Robust Growth

As we speak, the Cloud ERP market is already a force to be reckoned with. In 2023, it's estimated to be worth $44.6 billion. That's no small potatoes! This substantial figure reflects the growing recognition among businesses of all sizes that Cloud ERP is not just a luxury, but a necessity in today's fast-paced, digital-first business environment.

Key Players Shaping the Landscape

The Cloud ERP market is a bit like a high-stakes poker game, with several big players vying for the pot. Companies like SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, and Workday are among the heavyweights, each bringing their unique strengths to the table. But don't count out the nimble upstarts and specialized providers who are carving out their own niches in this expansive market.

Download Sample Report @ https://intentmarketresearch.com/request-sample/cloud-erp-market-3028.html 

Factors Driving Cloud ERP Market Growth

Digital Transformation: The New Business Imperative

Remember when "digital transformation" was just a buzzword? Well, now it's the name of the game, and Cloud ERP is the ace up many companies' sleeves. Businesses are realizing that to stay competitive, they need to embrace digital solutions that can streamline their operations and provide real-time insights. Cloud ERP fits the bill perfectly, offering a centralized platform for digital transformation initiatives.

Scalability and Flexibility: Growing Pains, Be Gone!

Picture this: Your business is growing faster than a beanstalk in Jack's backyard. With traditional ERP systems, scaling up could be a nightmare. But Cloud ERP? It's like having a magical, expandable toolbox that grows with your business. Need to add more users? No problem. Want to integrate new modules as your business expands? Easy peasy. This scalability and flexibility are major drawcards for businesses of all sizes.

Cost-Effectiveness: More Bang for Your Buck

Let's talk money, honey. Cloud ERP is like the coupon queen of the software world - it helps businesses save big. How, you ask? By eliminating the need for expensive on-premise hardware, reducing IT staff requirements, and offering pay-as-you-go models, Cloud ERP makes enterprise-grade solutions accessible to businesses that might have balked at the price tag of traditional ERP systems.

Remote Work Trends: The Office is Everywhere

If the past few years have taught us anything, it's that work doesn't always happen at a desk in an office. The rise of remote and hybrid work models has put Cloud ERP in the spotlight. After all, when your team is spread across different time zones and continents, you need a system that keeps everyone on the same page, accessible from anywhere, at any time.

Industry Verticals Adopting Cloud ERP

Manufacturing: Streamlining from Factory Floor to Customer Door

In the world of manufacturing, efficiency is king. Cloud ERP is helping manufacturers reign supreme by integrating everything from supply chain management to production planning and quality control. It's like having a bird's eye view of the entire operation, allowing for smarter decision-making and faster response times to market changes.

Retail and E-commerce: Keeping Up with Consumer Demands

In the fast-paced world of retail and e-commerce, Cloud ERP is the secret weapon for staying ahead of the curve. From inventory management to omnichannel sales tracking, it's helping retailers provide seamless experiences for their customers, whether they're shopping in-store or online.

Healthcare: Prescription for Better Patient Care

Healthcare organizations are finding that Cloud ERP is just what the doctor ordered for managing complex operations. From patient records to supply chain management for medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, Cloud ERP is helping healthcare providers focus more on patient care and less on administrative headaches.

Finance and Banking: Balancing the Books and Beyond

In the high-stakes world of finance and banking, accuracy and security are paramount. Cloud ERP systems are proving their worth by providing robust financial management tools, enhancing regulatory compliance, and offering the security features necessary to protect sensitive financial data.

Regional Analysis of Cloud ERP Market

North America: Leading the Charge

North America is like the star quarterback of the Cloud ERP market. With its tech-savvy businesses and early adoption of cloud technologies, this region is setting the pace for Cloud ERP adoption. The presence of major tech hubs and a culture of innovation are keeping North America at the forefront of this market.

Europe: Following Close Behind

Europe isn't content to sit on the sidelines. With stringent data protection regulations like GDPR, European businesses are turning to Cloud ERP solutions that can help them stay compliant while modernizing their operations. The region's diverse business landscape is driving demand for flexible, scalable ERP solutions.

Asia-Pacific: The Rising Star

The Asia-Pacific region is like a rocket taking off in the Cloud ERP market. Rapid digitalization, a booming startup ecosystem, and government initiatives promoting digital transformation are all contributing to the explosive growth of Cloud ERP adoption in this region.

Rest of the World: Emerging Opportunities

From Latin America to Africa and the Middle East, the rest of the world is waking up to the potential of Cloud ERP. While adoption rates may be lower compared to other regions, the potential for growth is enormous as businesses in these areas look to leapfrog older technologies and embrace cloud-based solutions.

Access Full Report @ https://intentmarketresearch.com/latest-reports/cloud-erp-market-3028.html 

Challenges in Cloud ERP Adoption

Data Security Concerns: Keeping the Crown Jewels Safe

In the age of data breaches and cyber attacks, it's no wonder that data security is a top concern for businesses considering Cloud ERP. It's like being asked to hand over the keys to your kingdom - understandably, some businesses are hesitant. However, as cloud security measures continue to advance, many of these concerns are being addressed.

Integration Complexities: Piecing Together the Puzzle

Integrating Cloud ERP with existing systems can sometimes feel like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The complexity of connecting various applications and data sources can be a significant hurdle for some organizations, especially those with legacy systems.

Customization Limitations: One Size Doesn't Always Fit All

While Cloud ERP offers a wealth of features, some businesses find that the out-of-the-box solutions don't quite fit their unique needs. The limitations on customization can be a sticking point for organizations with highly specialized processes.

Emerging Trends in Cloud ERP

AI and Machine Learning Integration: The Smart Revolution

Imagine an ERP system that doesn't just store and process data, but actually learns from it. That's the promise of AI and machine learning integration in Cloud ERP. From predictive analytics to automated decision-making, AI is set to take Cloud ERP to the next level of intelligence.

Mobile ERP Solutions: Business in Your Pocket

In a world where smartphones are like extensions of our hands, mobile ERP solutions are becoming increasingly popular. These allow businesses to literally carry their operations in their pockets, enabling real-time decision making and on-the-go management.

Industry-Specific ERP Offerings: Tailor-Made Solutions

One size doesn't fit all in business, and ERP providers are catching on. We're seeing a rise in industry-specific Cloud ERP solutions that cater to the unique needs of different sectors, from healthcare to manufacturing to professional services.

Impact of COVID-19 on Cloud ERP Market

The COVID-19 pandemic was like a catapult for Cloud ERP adoption. As businesses scrambled to enable remote work and maintain operations during lockdowns, many turned to Cloud ERP as a lifeline. The pandemic highlighted the importance of cloud-based, accessible-from-anywhere solutions, giving a significant boost to the Cloud ERP market.

Future Outlook and Opportunities

Projected Market Size by 2030: A $93.8 Billion Opportunity

As we mentioned at the outset, the Cloud ERP market is projected to reach a staggering $93.8 billion by 2030. This growth trajectory speaks volumes about the increasing recognition of Cloud ERP as a critical business tool.

Potential Growth Areas: The Sky's the Limit

Looking ahead, we can expect to see growth driven by emerging technologies like blockchain and IoT integration with Cloud ERP. Additionally, as more small and medium-sized businesses realize the benefits of Cloud ERP, we could see a surge in adoption in this segment.

Conclusion

The Cloud ERP market is on an exhilarating journey of growth and innovation. From its current valuation of $44.6 billion in 2023 to a projected $93.8 billion by 2030, it's clear that Cloud ERP is not just a passing trend, but a fundamental shift in how businesses operate and manage their resources.

As we've explored, the drivers of this growth are manifold - from the push for digital transformation and the need for scalability to the rise of remote work and the integration of cutting-edge technologies like AI and machine learning.

While challenges remain, particularly around data security and integration complexities, the benefits of Cloud ERP are proving too significant to ignore. As solutions become more sophisticated, secure, and tailored to specific industry needs, we can expect to see even wider adoption across various sectors and regions.

The future of business is in the cloud, and Cloud ERP is leading the charge. Whether you're a small startup or a multinational corporation, Cloud ERP offers a path to streamlined operations, data-driven decision making, and ultimately, a competitive edge in an increasingly digital world.

So, are you ready to head to the clouds? The view up here is pretty spectacular, and the future looks bright indeed for Cloud ERP.

FAQs

What exactly is Cloud ERP and how does it differ from traditional ERP?

Cloud ERP is a software as a service (SaaS) that allows businesses to access and manage their enterprise resource planning tools over the internet. Unlike traditional ERP systems that are installed locally on hardware and servers, Cloud ERP is hosted on a cloud computing platform, making it accessible from anywhere with an internet connection.

Is Cloud ERP secure enough for handling sensitive business data?

Cloud ERP providers invest heavily in security measures, often surpassing what individual businesses can implement. They use advanced encryption, regular security audits, and compliance with international security standards. However, it's crucial for businesses to do their due diligence and choose reputable providers.

Can small businesses benefit from Cloud ERP, or is it only for large enterprises?

Cloud ERP is highly scalable, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes. In fact, small businesses often benefit greatly from Cloud ERP as it provides access to enterprise-grade tools without the need for significant upfront investment in IT infrastructure.

How long does it typically take to implement a Cloud ERP system?

The implementation time can vary widely depending on the size of the organization and the complexity of its processes. While some basic implementations can be done in a few weeks, more complex, enterprise-wide implementations can take several months to a year.

What should businesses consider when choosing a Cloud ERP provider?

Key considerations include the provider's reputation and track record, the specific features and modules offered, scalability, integration capabilities with existing systems, data security measures, pricing model, and the level of customer support provided.

Contact Us

sales@intentmarketresearch.com

US: +1 463-583-2713

[cattoy4ever]

Part Two: Who Was Matthew Warren?

Chewing at my fingertips, I was seconds away from giving up on my Facebook investigation. What kind of multi-millionaire rich guy doesn’t have ANY close friends or family? At the very least, business executives he’s met in the past? I checked all of his social media, nothing. So I tried seeing if he had anything on the public record. After going through multiple pages of google, I finally stumbled onto The Autobiography of Matthew Warren: Future billionaire!, it was really just a pathetic blog with no likes and 2 random followers. 

I scrolled all the way to the bottom and read every. Single. Entry.

Basic descriptions of his childhood, where he grew up, his family, and weekend plans. That was until 2 months ago, where he stopped mentioning his family completely. He posted less and less leading up to his death date. And when he did, it was very vague and generic posts. His last post was 4 days ago, 2 days prior to his death. 

“The Truman Show is the best movie to watch on a cold rainy day! It was a movie I discovered recently but apparently it’s not well liked by my friends and family! Anyways, if you’re reading this I recommend you give it a watch and come back to me. Thank you! Good night, America.” 

Another bust post, no clues. But he did mention his mother is a school teacher, meaning I can find the school’s database and hopefully get in touch with her. I could find out more information about Warren and if she knew anything about his death. 

I did just that and rang up her number. 

“Hello, who is this?” 

“Hello ma'am, are you Shelly Warren?”

“This is she.” 

“Okay, my name is Nancy Whitlock and I’m calling in concern for your son Matthew.” 

“I don’t have a son.” 

“... you aren’t related to Matthew Warren?” 

Click

“H-hello? Bitch.” I hissed and threw my phone. She was my only chance at contacting his family, I couldn’t find anyone else’s phone numbers. I sank into the Motel bed. Just then, my phone rang and I scrambled to pick it up.

“Hey Nance”

Micheal. 

“What do you want, Mike?” I snapped back. 

“I’m really sorry for our argument back there. I didn’t mean to offend you, I just got worried. And I want you to know that’ll always be there for you no matter what you’re going through-”

My screen lit up with another call from an unknown number. I itched, it could be related to the case. 

“So please just let me know if somethings bothering you or if there’s anything I can do to help you”

“Yeah yeah mike” I hushed, “love you too bye” 

“Wait but I-”

I switched calls and let out a sharp exhale. 

“Hello?”

A timid soft woman’s voice responded, “are you the girl who tried to call my mom?” 

“Yes. Yes! I’m her and you are?”

“I’m Matt’s younger sister, Bailey. Um, I wanted to talk to you about my brother. Can I see you tomorrow morning at 9 AM? I live at 3028 WestBurrow Dr?” 

“Wow oh wow that would be wonderful” I chuckled breathly, silently thanking god I picked up. 

Her house was just as depressing as her voice. A sad baby blue, molded chipped white fence, and viens sprawled up the sides. My gut was telling me to run away, she could be a serial killer and I’m just walking right into her house. 

But when she greeted me, all thoughts of her being a killer dissolved from my mind. Large tender eyes stained with dark circles, messy uncombed hair, and a very ragged robe stood before me. I suddenly felt less guilty about wearing the same work clothes from yesterday. 

“Please, please come in. I’ll make you some tea.” 

Her house was cluttered with useless junk. She was in the kitchen talking to me as I took a personal tour around her home. An entire wall littered with cut out newspaper clippings regarding her brother's death. All saying the same thing, natural causes. 

“Would you like jasmine or chamomile?”

Tracing a photograph of Warren with my finger, “Jasmine is fine.” 

“Heh, my mom thinks I’m a total nut. I was over at her house when she got the call and had to beg on my knees for her to hand over your number” 

Sitting down now, she kept her face close to the mug like she was freezing despite it being a warm day.

“I mean what perfectly healthy 30 year old’s heart just stops going? And a closed casket? It was a heart attack for god’s sake. Why would that be necessary?” 

Pulling out a notepad I began my series of questions, “Tell me, what was Mr Warren like?” 

She chuckled and smiled to herself, “Oh Matt was the best older brother anyone could ask for. He had large dreams of becoming a billionaire and spending it on his family. Total family man. He loved movies and writing, despite having this always-work grind mindset.” 

“Family man, you say?” Bailey nodded, still smiling, “But he isn’t following any of his family members? Not even you?”. Bailey’s smile morphed into a soft frown. 

“Yes it is true, he blocked all of us months ago.” 

“Why? What changed?” 

Bailey’s chest puffed up and sighed deeply, “A couple months ago he kinda lost his mind. He would stay awake all night for days near the front door with a baseball bat, changed locks 5 times, anytime we went out to a restaurant he would insist on sitting somewhere that faced his back to the wall so he could observe the entire diner. That was barely even the surface of his anxieties. I mean he’s always been a paranoid person but this is a different level.” 

Mike’s words replayed in my mind and I did my best not to seethe. 

“But what made him block all of you?” I repeated. 

“Well, we confronted him about his paranoia and he said that he was being followed. That he knew too much information but refused to elaborate for ‘our own safety’. We all got in an argument and he said some things that permanently severed his relationship with mom. He then said that if he ends up dead, he’ll be on our conscious and left. Guess he wasn’t wrong about that.” 

The silence was so thick it could be cut with a knife.

“What do you think happened to him?” My voice cut through the silence like a bullet causing Bailey to jump slightly. 

“I dunno, I think he was murdered. By someone… some people. I mean he told us himself, what else is there to think?” 

“Your family?”

“My dad says his paranoia made his heart give out and my mom is in complete denial of the whole thing. Even mentioning his name is enough to cause a meltdown. I’m the only one fucking doing anything, but it all leads to nothing. Sure he was murdered, but that’s where it ends. Checked with the phone company and all it was was business calls.” 

My tea's gone cold. 

[ericsonclan]

A Gesture of Tradition

Summary: Omid and Christa gather their family around to play their yearly tradition of Christmas charades

Word Count: 3028

Read on AO3:

“Thanks for helping me,” Jesse’s voice drew Ruby’s attention away from the stocking she was working on. She gave a warm smile to her brother and waved a hand dismissively.

“Aww, Sug, think nothing of it. It’s an easy fix.” Ruby’s eyes returned to the needle as she rethreaded it. Once she had done so, she worked to get the letter E back onto the cloth.

“You’re good at it,” Jesse leaned forward casually. His compliment made Ruby smile once more.

“Ruby and I had to sew all our clothes when we got a tear or something when we were in foster care.” Brody added with a gentle smile before handing her sister the pair of scissors. Ruby looked surprised for a moment when she received the scissors. Brody had learned to read her sister pretty well, making their timing when working together always go smoothly. Jesse’s face took a rather sour note at the mention of foster care. His younger sister seemed to pick up on that fact rather quickly and continued to speak. “But this is loads more fun, right, Ruby?”

“Mmhmm,” Ruby held up the finished stocking with a small victory sound. “Here you go, Jesse, good as new.” It was a simple stocking with his name and few felt horses on the bottom of it.

“Thanks,” Jesse reached out his hand to grab the stocking only for Buddy to headbutt his way in between. The orange tabby cat made a loud purring sound before plopping over.

“Buddy,” Brody leaned forward and picked up the cat. “Don’t get in the way.” A small meow from below the table drew the auburn’s attention downward where a small black cat was waiting impatiently for attention. “Uhhhh…”

“I’ll grab Squee,” Ruby offered, passing over the stocking then leaning down to give the cat some much needed attention. Jesse rose up from his spot and made his way over to the wall where the other stockings were placed. It was in order of age so Christa was placed first right beside Omid. From there was Violet’s dark blue stocking, her name written and surrounded by bright yellow and white stars. Next to hers was Louis that had some piano keys and music notes dancing around on it. After that was Brody whose stocking looked just like a beach, warm sand and seashells covered it. Besides hers was Ruby, her name spelled out with what looked to be lasso rope, the R on her name holding a small cowboy hat on it. Lastly was Omar’s looking like a page of a recipe book with little food illustrations that all his siblings helped make special for his stocking. Jesse had a tiny smile on his face as he looked at his family’s stocking before placing his right before Violet’s.

“Alright! Gather around, kids!” Omid’s lively voice made the three siblings look up from their separate tasks and at their dad. Omid walked down in a green T-shirt and hat that had little elf ears sticking out. “It’s time for the annual Christmas Charades.”

“Yes!” Louis’ bright voice echoed from the staircase that he was walking down with Christa, Violet and Omar. A sleeping turtle with a small Santa hat was gently swaddled in his arms.

“What teams are we doing this year?” Christa asked, then placed a quick kiss on her husband’s lips. That kiss made Omid giggle as he stood proudly in his spot with his hands on his hips.

“It will be guys vs girls. The ultimate showdown!” As their dad was speaking, the six siblings were making their way to the front living couches. Violet sat on one of the couch arms while Brody stood beside her, Buddy tucked in her arms. Ruby immediately took the spot beside her sister and plopped Squee down on her lap.

Christa had gone out of the room while Omid started to explain the rules like he did each year. All the kids knew the rules by heart so they just took the time to get comfy. Louis took the spot on the other couch next to the armchair so he could put Geoff the turtle there when it was his turn. Jesse took the opposite side of the couch and was pleasantly surprised when Fletch came forward and reached up his head to the oldest son’s hand. The black and white border collie gladly accepted Jesse’s affection before taking a spot by his feet. Omar came over and took the spot in the middle.

“So that’s the rules.” Omid smiled proudly at his kids. “Oh, and no cheating.”

“I got the hat,” Christa walked forward with the Santa hat and shook it; a gently crinkling noise emitted from it, all the pieces of papers bouncing and brushing against each other.

“Awesome! Thanks, babe.” Omid got on his toes and planted a warm kiss on Christa’s cheek. “So, which team wants to go first?”

“Oh, oh, oh!” Louis bounced in his seat for a second then froze when he remembered that Geoff was still asleep. “I want our team to go first.”

“Is that alright with you guys?” Omid looked over at his daughters who all seemed fine with the decision, giving short nods of approval.

“Okay then before we start we must know what we are fighting for!” Omid declared loudly. “The losers will make hot cocoa for the winners and give foot rubs.”

All the kids made faces at the last part of that sentence.

“I’m not rubbing anyone’s feet,” Jesse had a small frown on his face.

“Yeah, no way in hell I’m going anywhere near their feet,” Violet leaned back in her spot with her arms crossed.

“I think Omid got a bit too excited. That part of the winner’s reward is only for the two of us,” Christa gave a small smile. Small sounds of disapproval still showed on both sides of the couches.

“Anyway, shall we get started?” Omid smiled over at his kids. “Which one of you wants to go first?”

“Shouldn’t it be Louis?” Omar glanced over at his older brother. “He was the one that got excited about it.”

Louis’ eyes grew large before falling. “I actually want to go second. Geoff is still asleep,” Louis gently brushed the tip of the turtle’s nose then moved to pet the top of his shell. “I want to give him some more time for his nap.”

“Then why did you volunteer us?” Jesse asked with a raised brow.

“I just…. I was really excited,” Louis disappeared further into the couch.

“It’s fine. One of us can go first,” Omid took a spot in the middle of the couch with his sons.

“I can go,” Omar suggested in his calming voice.

“Sure,” Jesse shrugged. The other two seemed to be in agreement and so Omar walked forward and stuck his hand into the Santa hat and selected a scrap of paper. His face remained neutral as he unfolded it and read its contents.

“Just let me know when you’re ready and I’ll start the timer,” Christa stated from her spot on the couch with the girls.

Omar remained quiet for a few seconds then gave a short nod. “Ready.” Christa pressed the button and Omar began the charade. He held out two fingers to his team.

“Two words!” Louis swayed back and forth lightly in his spot. He always loved this game. Omar moved onto the next part, standing with his hands on his hips. Omid shouted out the next answer.

“It’s a person!”

Omar gave a short nod then proceeded to move his hands in a half circle over his stomach. Next he motioned to his face bringing direct attention to his chin then pretending to have something on his back.

“Santa Claus,” Jesse said simply.

“That’s right,” Omar moved to grab another piece of paper and the charades continued. They were able to score four points thanks to Jesse and Omar being on the same wavelength. Omar returned to his spot, sharing a high five and small smile with Jesse before sitting. Omid ruffled his son’s hair and Louis leaned over to give his younger brother a fist bump.

“We’ll be able to beat that, right, girls?” Christa smiled over to her daughters who all seemed to be in agreement.

“Yeah, we’re winning this year.” Ruby gave a competitive smile over to Louis who returned it in kind. Brody was the first up for the girls; her fingers searched for a scrap of paper. Once she read it, she took a deep breath.

“Take your time, Brody.” Omid reassured while holding up the stopwatch.

Brody gave a gentle smile over to her dad then gave a nod. “I’m ready.”

The soft click of the stopwatch threw Brody right into the charade. She held up five fingers.

“Five words,” Violet mumbled.

Brody’s smile grew and she continued on. She posed and looked like she was singing.

“It’s a song,” Christa’s guess made Brody nod her head happily. She then held up three fingers.

“Third word,” Ruby leaned forward, her arms wrapped around Squee who simply seemed happy for the warmth. Brody nodded and pointed to Ruby’s hair.

“Hair?” Violet’s guess made Brody shake her head wildly. She took a deep breath then pointed to her own hair.

“Red,” Christa’s smile grew when she saw that she had clearly gotten it right. Brody held up four fingers.

“Fourth word.” Ruby was determined to get this one. Brody tapped her nose. “Nose. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.”

“Yep!” Brody took another breath then moved on to the next charade.

When the time was up the girls were up by one point.

“Good job, Brody,” Violet smiled warmly over at her sister.

“Thanks,” Brody took a shaky breath; charades always made her a bit nervous. Ruby gave her a side hug and Christa continued to give her praise when Louis dramatically got up from his spot.

“Father!” He held out Geoff ever so carefully. “Hold our good luck charm while I win us enough points to win the game.”

Violet snorted at her brother’s cocky statement but that only seemed to make Louis more confident.

“Win us those points, Louis. I got Geoff,” Omid took the turtle and placed him gently on his lap. Louis strolled forward and turned away from his family while he read his charade. With a sharp spin and a beaming smile, he gave the go ahead that he was ready.

Shooting out his arm, the dreadlocked boy held out two fingers.

“Two words,” Omar guessed as he gave Geoff a few pets. Louis gave a nod, making his dreadlocks bounce before getting in a stance with his hands on his hips.

“A person,” Jesse’s hand wandered down to give Fletch some attention. The border Collie stuck his tongue out in approval. Louis nodded then moved his hand back and forth, making his older brother furrow his brow. “What do you mean sort of?”

Louis waved a hand dismissively then held out three fingers before tapping them on his arm.

“Three syllables,” Omid’s words made Louis’ smile grow, showing they were on the right track then Louis paused before placing a single finger on his forearm. “First syllable.” Louis pointed towards Ruby’s hair then Brody’s.

Omid started to list as many things as he could think of. “Hair, red, girl, bro, country…” The list went on and on but Omar and Jesse shared a look before Omar gave his guess.

“Ginger?”

Louis jumped up and down.

“That has two syllables.” Jesse pointed out but quickly brushed it aside.

“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Omid practically jumped off his seat and would have if it were not for the turtle that was resting on his lap. “Gingerbread man!”

“Righty-o!” Louis gave a quick bow then moved on to his next challenge. When the time was done Louis had successfully gotten his team three more points. His brothers gave him praise for his good work while Omid gently handed back the pet.

Violet was up next. Her hunched form moved over to the hat and she casually rummaged around for a piece of paper before pulling one out. After giving a quick nod the blonde began her charade. She held up one finger towards her group.

“One word,” Brody gave some headscratches to Buddy who purred loudly in approval. Her sister nodded then moved on to point at her wrist like she was wearing a watch. “An event.” Brody added. Her older sister continued on, holding up two fingers then tapping them on her arm.

“Two syllables,” Ruby answered. Violet then held up a single finger again. “First syllable. Violet’s hand then moved up to her ear and she gave it a quick tug.

“Sounds like,” Christa jumped in on the guessing. Her oldest daughter then pointed towards Louis. “Louis?” Violet shook her head then pointed again before moving her hand in circular motion in hopes her mom would continue to guess. “Lou.”

Violet nodded.

“Yuletide!” Christa shouted excitedly, causing her daughter to give a small smile and nod. Violet continued on from there, snagging her side three points as well. Violet received praise from her sisters and mom who gave a small head pat which made the blonde smile.

The rounds continued from there, continually being as heated as ever and the points being nearly the same amount through the whole game until the final two rounds were upon them. Christa was up now and she grabbed one of the pieces of paper, studying the contents for a few seconds. After taking a deep breath she gave a nod, holding up one finger. Brody guessed that it was one word then Christa moved to act out the charade to show it was an item which Ruby picked up on. Christa then held out three fingers and tapped them to her forearm.

“Three syllables,” Violet mumbled. Christa then held three again and placed them on her arm. “Third syllable.” Her mom then leaned over and pointed at the tip of her foot. “A toe?”

“Oh, oh!” Brody jumped up and down “A mistletoe!”

“That’s right!” Christa smiled warmly over at her daughters then moved on with the charades. She was successfully able to snag a grand total of five.

“Well played, Christa. But I’m going to blow that number out of the water.” Omid smiled over at his wife before pulling out a piece of paper and immediately acting out the charade.

It was going to be a close game. Omid had successfully been able to get four points and only needed one more to win. He glanced down at the scrap of paper. A small inkling on nervousness appeared in his eyes only to fade away a moment later. He shot out his hand with all five fingers sprawled out.

“Five!” Louis shouted, his body leaning forward and bouncing nervously. Geoff lightly bounced along too, his dark eyes looking up at Louis with confusion. Omid nodded his head wildly then with all his might pretended to crank an old movie camera.

“A movie,” Omar’s guess was right and his dad continued on, holding up three fingers. “Third word.”

Omid nodded then made face after face of grumpiness and anger. His sons continue to guess here and there but none were hitting the mark.

“Sad, mad, anger, salty,” Louis spouted out as many words as he could. Omid glanced over and saw that his time was running out. It seemed all hope was lost when he noticed that Violet had a rather grumpy look on her face and happened to be wearing some green. Omid felt guilty to be using his daughter to win a charade game but he couldn’t say no to his competitiveness. He pointed over to Violet who looked shocked for a split second before returning to her previous expression.

“Prickly,” Jesse guessed, causing his sister to shoot over a glare at him. He gave a smug smile in return.

“Grumpy?” Louis guessed and flashed an apologetic grin over at his sister. The three brothers went down through a list until Jesse’s eyes grew large.

“Grinch.”

Omid hopped up and down at that.

“How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

“Yes!” Omid slid down onto his knees. “We won!”

“Omid,” Christa’s tone had some warning to it. It was clear she didn’t approve of the way Omid had won. Omid’s face fell when it had hit him anew what he had done.

“I’m sorry, Violet. I got so caught up in the game.” he apologized.

“Eh, it’s fine.” Violet shrugged. “Let’s just get the hot chocolate started.” She hopped off the couch and soon Brody and Ruby followed along. The three brothers moved to the kitchen too to give their sisters some company and most likely boast a bit about how they won this year.

Omid sat on the couch with his wife. “I didn’t think that idea through,” Omid fell back on the couch. “I’ll be sure to pick up some chicken nuggets for Violet.”

“That would be a good idea,” Christa’s serious expression melted into a happy smile. “Guess I owe you a foot rub.”

“Oh yeah,” Omid put his legs up and on his wife’s lap. “It’s nice to get the charade crown back this year.”

“Well, just wait for next year. I’ll be the one getting the foot rub, not giving it,” Christa had a competitive look in her eyes as she smiled over at her husband. Her hands began to gently rub the soles of his feet. Omid was about to speak up when he heard some of his kids speaking in the kitchen.

“Sorry, Vi.” Louis’ voice appeared from the kitchen. “I can make you hot cocoa too,”

“It doesn’t matter. Besides, if anyone was the grinch in this house it would be Jesse,” Violet’s voice had a bit of a bite to it but it was obvious that it was said in jest.

Jesse’s laugh appeared before he spoke up. “If that means I get hot chocolate, I’m fine with that.” The conversation continued from there, the six siblings talking and laughing in the kitchen while they made hot cocoa.

[blanding-cassatt]

February 29 is the day of the year, also called Leap Day, that occurs in every fourth year before and after the current leap year. Leap years are usually divisible by 4, such as 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020. But on the other hand, century leap years for the different example occurs every 400th year and is divisible by 400, such as 2000, 2400, 2800, 3200, 3600. So if it's 2100, February 29 is not a valid date. The Leap Day comes because the Earth does not travel its orbital way around the Sun in exactly 365 days, and this prevents the days from staying in the right seasonal period, like for the Northern Hemisphere, Christmas wound fall in the autumn/fall; Halloween and Thanksgiving would fall in the summer; July 4th would fall in the spring; and Easter would fall in the winter. People who are born in the Leap Day are legally called Leaplings. In leap years, Leaplings celebrate their birthdays on February 29. But in common years, they have to force themselves to celebrate their birthdays either on February 28 or March 1. Common years have 365 days in them, which is why they call them common years. Leap years have 366 days, one extra than common years. The term leap year probably comes from the fact that a fixed date in the Gregorian calendar normally advances one day of the week from one year to the next, but the day of the week in the 12 months following the leap day (from March 1 through February 28 of the following year) will advance two days due to the extra day, thus leaping over one day in the week. For example, Christmas Day (December 25) fell on a Sunday in 2016, Monday in 2017, Tuesday in 2018, and Wednesday in 2019, but then will leap over Thursday to fall on a Friday in 2020. Example of leap years (reality years): 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 2028 2032 2036 2040 Examples of leap years (fantasy years): 2936 2940 2944 2948 2952 2956 2960 2964 2968 2972 2976 2980 2984 2988 2992 2996 3000 will not be a leap year because it is not divisible by 400. It's a century common year. See at the bottom of the page. 3004 3008 3012 3016 3020 3024 3028 3032 3036 Examples of century leap years: 1600 2000 2400 2800 3200 3600 4000 4400 4800

[deehellcat]

Tony Stark Bingo

yay, another fill done! 

Paging @aurumacadicus--this is the sequel I threatened to write from one of your rarepair shorts! :)

Title: If Only the Green Grass Knows

Name: DixieHellcat

Card Number: 3028

Square Filled: S5—Fantasy AU

Ship/Main Pairing: Gen

Rating: all

Major Tags: AU—Fae, First Meetings, Bullying, Magic

Summary: A foundling raised by two fae warriors, little Anthony is shunned for preferring human gadgets to weapons and magic. He finally finds a group of friends, who take up the challenge of helping him unearth the mystery of his origins.

Word Count: 3578

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22625932

[rwvv74]

An F/A-18E Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). por Official U.S. Navy Page Por Flickr: ARABIAN SEA (Sept. 16, 2019) An F/A-18E Super Hornet attached to the Sidewinders of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 86 launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points. With Abraham Lincoln as the flagship, deployed strike group assets include staffs, ships and aircraft of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 12, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 2, the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 7. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Michael Singley/Released)190916-N-MM912-3028

[ayearofpike]

Witch World/Red Queen

Witch World

Simon Pulse, 2012 521 pages, 24 chapters + epilogue ISBN 978-1-4424-3028-0 LOC: PZ7.P626 Wi 2012 OCLC: 924501501 Released November 13, 2012 (per B&N)

(HELL YES I DID take this picture in Vegas. Way back in November, underscoring just how behind this entry is.)

Red Queen

Simon Pulse, 2014 ISBN 978-1-4424-3029-7 LOC: PZ7.P626 Rd 2014 OCLC: 1030042441 Released August 19, 2014 (per B&N)

First I have to address the immediate question: It’s the exact same book. Like, down to pagination. (Yes, I read them both. We’ve already established I’m kind of a freak.) I don’t know why it has two different sets of catalog information. I don’t know why they changed the title, but I will hazard a guess that Witch World is a shitty title and it took slow or lacking sales for S&S to convince Pike/Pike to convince S&S to change it. I don’t know why they then picked a title that would be coming out shortly from another publisher, one that would go on to create a much more robust universe and move enough units to muddy any kind of search query. I don’t even really know why I bought them both. I don’t know a lot of things, and I’m not quite masochist enough to find out.

What I do know? This book is more of the same old shit. Like, OK, most people aren’t going to read all 95 of Christopher Pike’s books right on top of each other, so the connections and relationships might slide. But if you do, you start to see that this dude actually has no new or original ideas after ... let’s generously call it 1996. The beautiful girl in the California town in the middle of nowhere who goes on a weekend party outing with her friends, but then meets a dude with mysterious powers and ends up in a fatal situation, only to realize that she’s survived death and now has strength and vision beyond her prior ability or even imagination? A vision that taps her into an alternate parallel universe, where she’s had a child who has the potential to be the most powerful human ever, only evil forces know about this child’s genetics and want to use her for their own selfish and horrific ends? This is The Grave, gang. Well, mostly The Grave, with some Sita and Alosha and, yes, even Spooksville sprinkled in for flavor. But the point is, we’ve seen all of it already.

Pike has previously said that he felt rushed toward the end of his previous S&S days, and that he didn’t put everything he had into the stories he wrote because of being pulled in multiple directions. That’s fair, and it makes sense that he’d want to come back to something he felt wasn’t as good as it could be, something that didn’t get enough care and attention, and make it better. So it’s a little frustrating that this is what we get. Don’t get me wrong, it’s got a lot of potential, but then again, so did The Grave. I can’t help but feel like Pike is still just trying to figure out what has sold, what has been attractive to people who read his books and others like them, and is retreading so much old ground that it’s starting to become flat and uninteresting. (Which might be part of my reticence to finish this project.)

One thing that’s new and notable about WW/RQ: it marks the placement of Pike’s first YA F-bomb. He’s been using “damn,” “hell,” and “bitch” since the beginning, and starting with EoI (eliding maybe one or two in Whisper of Death) he began liberally (not literally, mind) dropping “shit.” But “fuck” has been sacred, hallowed ground, off limits in any but his adult novels, never mind that this is pretty much what all of his characters want to do all the time. So imagine my profound shock when I picked this book up right around its release date* and encountered the word “unfuckable” on page 18. A sign of the times, yes, and of what was becoming permissible in YA, but to someone who had grown up with Pike and expected a certain voice and stance, this felt kind of wrong and out of place. Much like my opinion of Pike in the 21st century in general.

*This was another random club store find in a rural town in southern New Mexico. I don’t know why the store where I mostly bought diapers was getting Pike in hardback on or near release when nobody else even knew these books were available, and can’t imagine I’ll ever find out.

OK, summary time. Jessie Ralle has just graduated from high school and her entire senior class is going to Las Vegas to celebrate. Said entire class is like 200 people — so not only does Pike still not get what a small town is, but he demonstrates increasing disconnect from how young people actually act. Vegas is a two-hour drive from Apple Valley, California (where Jessie’s mom relocated them after her Hollywood doctor dad bailed on them for a hot young nurse, and also where none of this takes place). I barely even wanted to drive across town to my senior party, to say nothing of paying for a hotel and a fancy dinner with a massive group that I barely know. And that was before the Internet and streaming media allowed us to prune and curate what (and who) we interact with so ruthlessly. Like, if this was a class of 40, I’d be on board, but 200?

But apparently it’s a close-knit 200 people, even though we only ever meet like six of ‘em. Jessie’s riding in a car with four others: her best friend since childhood, the uptight salutatorian, the class nerd who of course has always had a crush on Jessie, and Jimmy. Jessie has loved Jimmy from afar since the beginning of high school, and from up  close for a couple of months this past winter, but he dumped her to go back to his previous girlfriend, who graduated early and hasn’t been seen around town since. That doesn’t mean Jessie is over him — far from it, actually — so this car ride is either going to work out in her favor or be super awkward and uncomfortable.

They get a three-bedroom suite at the MGM Grand for $150 over a weekend somehow. It is all I can do to suspend my disbelief. Like, I’ve been to Vegas (obviously; see top image). Pike obviously has too; his description of spatial mechanics is (mostly) on point, which is what makes this price thing so jarring. I’ve been responsible for booking hotel rooms there off and on for the last 20 years. And the one time we ever got a suite, it was almost twice that PER NIGHT and still only had one bedroom. (We split it six ways, and we all HAD jobs.) And this was in the beat-ass old Luxor in September 2006. Ain’t no way these fucking CHILDREN managed a SUITE in a PREMIER CENTER STRIP HOTEL SIX YEARS LATER FOR LESS. And Jessie has the gall to fucking COMPLAIN ABOUT THE COST.

I MUST STOP YELLING. I am so a dad, right?

But anyway, Jimmy doesn’t have a room — he wasn’t even sure he was coming on this trip. Jessie’s best friend offers for him to stay with them, which Uptight Salutatorian bitches about, but like, chill the fuck out, there’s a couch, right? He and Jessie have to talk about whether this is OK, and it turns out he left her because his ex was pregnant, but the baby died just after he was born. And Jessie isn’t OK. They’d been together long enough that this smacks of either an excuse or a manipulation, and she doesn’t like either option. She kicks him out and cries a lot, and then the gang all goes to dinner at the Bellagio, which is where this starts to get financially realistic when half the class balks at the cost of the meal and fucking bails. Yet the restaurant serves the rest, even giving these (again) CHILDREN bottles of wine, which messes Jessie up enough to kiss Nerd Crush. In front of Uptight Salutatorian, who (it turns out) likes HIM. So everyone gets pissed off at each other and takes off, and then Jessie and Best Friend go see O (the Cirque show inside the Bellagio). 

It’s page 35, by the way. Almost 500 to go yet. At least from here the story gets more focused and straightforward.

After the show, they want to gamble. CHILDREN. But they have fake IDs, so they head down to the Tropicana, an older hotel with lower minimums on blackjack, where they bump into a dude who seems strangely familiar to Jessie, even though she’s sure she never met him before. This dude is in town for a medical conference ... Jessie will later learn about his genome-scanning technology and what it implies for people like her, but she’s gonna have to figure it out first. He has an uncanny ability to win, and people start asking him for advice, but he denies them all. Except Jessie. They quickly pile up hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is where she’s hosed because they’ll never let her cash out that much with a fake ID. So the dude gives her his room key (not at this old-ass dirtball hotel, at the Mandalay Bay across the street) and says he’ll get her money and bring it up in a minute, and she should order some dessert from room service while she’s waiting.

No, they don’t fuck. They almost do, but then Jessie remembers Jimmy and realizes she’s still hung up on him, even though he wronged her and left her hanging. But she learns that the dude will cop to some unnatural method of knowing what’s coming next in the deck, which is why he managed to bet properly at the right times. He doesn’t show her, but he does teach her how to play twenty-two. Not twenty-one, which is blackjack: in twenty-two, aces are only worth one, but red queens are eleven. And if you get a natural twenty-two (queen of hearts and queen of diamonds), you win instantly, PLUS your opponent HAS to try to win their bet back in full on the next hand. The dude doesn’t state why these are the strict rules, but he does imply that a portion of the winnings goes to some mysterious party that doesn’t come clear yet.

So Jessie goes back to the hotel, where Jimmy is sitting on the floor outside. He’s been sexiled from the nerd’s room, because it turns out he was OK going after Uptight Salutatorian (who I guess isn’t so uptight after all). And he’s crying and he’s apologetic, and this coupled with Jessie’s realization in Mystery Gambler’s room is all it takes for her to accept him back. They have breakfast with everyone the next day (room service, more invisible money spent) and then Jessie and Jimmy drive out to Lake Mead to splash and swim and sex. But what’s weird is that it reminds them both of the first time ... which neither of them remembers the same way. Even more awkward is the ex showing up with a warning: “They never take just one, Jessie. They always take both.” (102)

This doesn’t make any sense, right? Well, Mystery Gambler has planted a seed that things might get confusing pretty quick, and invited Jessie to talk to him about it. So she hops in a cab back to his hotel, except the cab takes her out to a creepy industrial area instead. When it finally stops at a stop sign, she bolts, only she doesn’t know where she is now. Luckily, a beautiful woman in a red Porsche pulls up at that exact moment and offers to give her a ride. Which ... aren’t you even the slightest bit concerned that a strange car brought you out here and now another strange car has just pulled up right when you needed it? Obviously not, which is what leads to her getting tased and waking up in a meat freezer, where the safety ax is of course missing. She wrestles with the door and some meat-hanging apparatus for a while, but can’t get it open and ends up spraining her ankle in the process. And even though it’s dangerous to sit, to slow down, to stop moving in this freezer, Jessie can’t help herself.

She wakes up in a hospital. Only this room doesn’t look or feel like a typical hospital room. Plus, she can’t move. She can’t even blink. She’s briefly relieved when two doctors come in, but that goes away when she realizes they’re here to perform the autopsy. The senior doctor gets called out, which is all the other guy needs to start satiating his necrophilia all over Jessie’s corpse. He’s pretty shocked when Jessie suddenly sits bolt upright and curses him out — enough that he has himself a nice little heart attack right there in the morgue. The other doctor comes back, and she seems to know what happened, and is also weirdly thrilled by the guy’s obvious pain? But she leaves without taking any action, and Jessie sees this as her chance to get out of Dodge.

The hospital is downtown, which is a long way from the MGM Grand but at least it’s an obvious straight shot on Las Vegas Boulevard. Only Jessie doesn’t recognize some of these north-end casinos. She goes inside one to get her bearings and is quickly accosted by three punks, who she casually injures like it’s no thing. What’s even stranger is how quickly they back off and the degree of respect they suddenly accord her. And even stranger than that is that the blackjack tables don’t say “blackjack.”

You guessed it. People in Las Vegas are playing red queen.

So now she has to talk to Mystery Gambler more than ever. She walks all the way to the Mandalay Bay, because fuck a taxi anymore, right? Only it’s called the Mandy, and his room on the top floor is now one floor lower than it used to be. But as it turns out, he does have some answers. He first tells Jessie the truth of why he's in Vegas: his whole medical conference story is just a front. There is some basis in reality, in that his group has identified certain genes that, when awakened, enable essentially superpowers. His genetic sensor identified that Jessie has seven of these genes — but he already knew that. He seems to know a creepy amount for some rando she just met. And also, he keeps calling her Jessica, and she realizes she's using a longer version of his name too, reflexively, even though he never called himself that in their interactions.

This, plus the hotels and the casino game and the fact that, y'know, she woke up on a fucking MORGUE TABLE a few hours ago help Jessie to realize the truth of her situation. With a little guided meditation, which helps her to remember things that never actually happened to her, she learns that there are two simultaneous dimensions happening on Earth, we live two lives in parallel, and the extra genes (when activated) allow people to experience both. These people, historically, are who we think of as witches, so for lack of a better term this second dimension is colloquially called witch world. Like, super lazy writing, right? I guess Pike blew his load inventing names for shit in Alosha and couldn't be arsed to consider that maybe twelve thousand years of connected humans might have named something themselves. (Yeah, I said twelve thousand years. Back at it again with the same timeline.)

But one of those things Jessie remembered is having a baby. This is where her father (remember, the dude who bailed on Jessie and her mom) suddenly shows up. We learn that he left (in the “real” world, not in witch world where he’s still present in her life) because he realized the importance of Jessie and her fate, and hoped that his absence would protect both her and the baby to come. (He has the "seeing-the-future" gene, I guess?) According to Dad, this baby is potentially the most important person in the history of both worlds, because she's the only one to have ever been born with all ten extra genes. It's also a weird connection, because this is the only occasion that anybody knows of where a child has been born to different parents in the two worlds. (The kid is an entirely different person because of that, so that's weird too.) But, just like the boyfriend's ex-girlfriend warned, "they" have taken both. 

"They" turn out to be a cadre of witches who want to use their powers to elevate themselves rather than ... well, it's never really made super clear what the "good" witches do. Like ... hang out and be immortal? Oh yeah, I didn't mention that once you're awakened you can't die of natural causes. I guess the dad says that sometimes they'll interfere when shit is really going sideways, but for the most part they want regular humans to regulate their own affairs. It's the Telar again! Only, no, wait, they call themselves the "Tar" in this book so it's obviously totally different. And yeah, both babies have been taken; they let the boyfriend think his son died in infancy so that he'd eventually be a lever to manipulate Jessie when he realized he had two living children. But it sounds like the daughter is already causing trouble for her kidnappers, without even being aware of her ten genes, which ... 

I don't know, it doesn't make any sense now that I'm writing about it. Like, I'm cool with the parallel dimensions, I'm on board with dying to become awakened, I'm down with extra powers and whatever. I'm even mostly OK with this story reusing so many assets from all these past books. But like ... how does the baby have some (even unconscious) control of her locked genetic powers when her counterpart in the real world is not only still alive, but had a different MOTHER and is therefore a totally different PERSON? The first chapter of the sequel (all I’ve read of it so far) doesn’t make it look promising that we’re ever gonna find out, so just keep suspending the shit out of that disbelief, I guess.

But anyway, now that Jessie’s connected, she’s hell-bent on rescuing her baby. Which I think she would have done even if she were still separated, but whatever. And I know, easy to think that not actually having a memory of the baby might make it difficult, but these memories are slowly bubbling up and emerging, especially strong ones like parenthood and family. She’s been warned against contacting Jimmy (or “James,” I guess) in witch world, but she doesn’t hesitate to tell him all the crazy shit that’s happened to her in the real world.

(This is another reason I have a problem with the lazy naming conventions on display. To witches, “witch world” is the most real. Each day takes place first there in their perceptions, followed by the same day in the “real world.” We’ll also see how events in witch world have a stronger effect on events in the real world; namely, if you die in witch world you pretty much always die in the real but the inverse is not true. So, once again, why wouldn’t witches have come up with some more appropriate naming patterns at least, given how old the oldest is? Just more lazy crap we gotta swallow.)

So anyway, Jimmy doesn’t believe her; he thinks someone drugged Jessie with a hallucinogenic and now she’s having altered state memories. So she gets out of the car they’re driving to the desert and picks it up to prove her new strength. Why are they driving in the desert? For some reason, Jessie is drawn to the power associated with the nuclear tests that the government ran in the barren nowhere that is most of Nevada. There’s gotta be a reason, after all, that the centers of witch power are here. So they bust into the deserted testing ground, only to discover it’s not that deserted — there’s a kid out there apparently living by himself. He takes to Jimmy immediately and agrees to come back to the city with them, where they’re going to talk more to Jessie’s dad.

The kid can’t speak, but he can write — with a prehensile tail that he has heretofore hidden by wrapping it around his waist. He tells them about the other freaks that live out in the nuked test cities, as well as the mean man who brings him food. The rationale isn’t clear, and the kid isn’t talking ... well ... you know what I mean. But this is where Jimmy finds out his son is still alive and being used as bait. And dude fucking TAKES it: as soon as his ex calls and wants to discuss what she might know about the children, not only does he refuse to step back and let the powerful people handle the rescue, but he actually wants to go through the death process in order to awaken his awareness of both sides.. They don’t let him do that, because apparently our good guys are not allowed to actively connect more witches, except when they are. So all they can do is talk to the ex and learn that she doesn’t care who she sells out to as long as it saves her son, which ... fair. But Jimmy isn’t willing to go that far, and they head back to her dad’s house to regroup, where they realize they’re being watched.

Or they were, I guess. There’s a car with two obvious spies in it, but they’re dead, and the killer is hanging out nearby. This dude is, we learn, second-in-command of the Tar leadership, a five-thousand-year-old Celt who wants to take a more proactive approach in encouraging good and deterring evil in both humans and witches, mostly with his sword. He’s a Highlander, is what I’m trying to say. He takes Jessie out to a sacred spring in the mountains, where they swim naked together, as you do when you first meet an ancient Celtic swordsman, right? But there’s some cliff writing out here, written by the ancient people in a script the Highlander knows, having been taught it by the man who turned him so many years ago. It describes a woman who will have such power that she controls the destiny of the world, and it’s essentially Jessie’s daughter. So like ... tell me something I don’t know, right? What’s more new and unusual is the Highlander’s description of red queen, how it was taught to him and spread throughout ancient Rome, and how a certain percentage of all winnings, no matter who takes it, has to ultimately return to his benefactor, who we’ll call the Alchemist because that’s what Pike calls him.

We’re going to have to wait on more description, because the Highlander takes Jessie home and we skip-cut forward to the next night in witch world, where she’s meeting the leadership council and discussing their intents to rescue the baby. Mystery Gambler is there too; he's going to act as Jessie's liaison to the bad guys, having served as a double agent since the Civil War. This scene seems like it might be superfluous, except that you mostly only retain the memories from the dimension in which you die, and so the council knows that Jessie needs some backstory.  (Don't we all.) The main thing we get out of this is that they've kind of figured out that WANTING to activate their witch genes has a high correlation with witches going bad at all, especially when they try to engineer the birth of high-number witches. So Jessie's contact with Jimmy was carefully arranged so as to appear NOT engineered, because even though the future sight told them that these two were compatible and would fall in love and make a power baby, any appearance of forcing it could make things all fucked up.

So Jessie's entire life is a sham, manipulated by sources of power she was never supposed to see, one of those being her own goddamn father.

What next? Well, on to the other purpose of this meeting: prep for said meeting with the bad guys. The council expects that they're going to offer Jessie her baby back, as long as both of them live under bad-guy control, and they want her to string them along while they figure out what to do. Great fuckin' plan, guys. You've been trying to make a power baby for how many thousand years, and you didn't have a contingency plan if it got kidnapped?

But so Jessie and Mystery Gambler go to the next meeting, and this is starting to sound like work. As it turns out, the leader of the bad guys is (plot twist that surprises nobody!) the coroner who was unfazed when Jessie sat up in the morgue. She's making this deal because the baby is difficult, and they think that if she has her mother that they'll be able to control her and her powers. They let Jessie hold her, which activates even more of those mom connections, but when they go to take her away the baby cries and creates almost a physical wall, which the big strong guard man has to fight with all his might to overcome. President Coroner has no qualms with the possibility that she might have to kill both baby and mom if they don't cooperate. In fact, she invites Jessie to die right here and now, by forcing her to fight for her life against Mystery Gambler. For Jessie, this is proving her worth and her importance in being allowed into the bad-guy circle. For Mystery Gambler, it's a step up to a higher ranking of leadership. For President Coroner, it's TV. So they have a monster sword fight ... well, Mystery Gambler has a sword; Jessie has a bamboo stick that proves its power when she somehow shoots fire out the end and totally incinerates the dude. Which is cool by the bad guys, because they already knew MG was a double agent and wanted him dead anyway. And then there's another kid ... this one with a tail ... only instead of a blunt prehensile end, this one has a stinger like a scorpion's. Guess whose kid THIS is.

Back in the real world, Jessie and Jimmy go see her dad, who confirms that there was a mysterious fire on the top floor of the Mandalay Bay the night before, with one fatality. Which ... does this even come close to matching the timeline? How could it have already happened if the day hasn't happened yet? But whatever — the important thing is that the council wants Jessie to accept the bad guys' offer and go live with the baby. The tail-boy is still here, though Jessie's dad says he's riddled with malignant tumors and can't possibly live too much longer. But they realize that if he can tap into those cross-dimensional memories, the way Jessie and Jimmy were doing when they argued about fucking all the way back ... two days ago, then maybe they can use him to triangulate the area where witch-tail-boy lives, presumably with President Coroner. He leads them to a gated community at the base of a mountain, which they figure is good intel to take back to the council even if they're not ready to investigate yet.

Jessie does want to try to find the area where she got dumped and zapped the day she was killed, for ... you know, reasons. She hears cries of pain coming out of the sewer in the general area she thinks it was, and in investigating she runs into the big mean guard from the bad guy meeting. He thinks it's been a waste of time trying to get her on their side and is just about to kill her when the Highlander shows up and unceremoniously lops off his head. He has some more info about what might be going on down here, and it has to do with his dearest and oldest love: that’s right, President Coroner. 

They met in ancient Rome, around the turn of the calendar, but every effort they made to procreate ended in tragedy. One son was killed in battle fighting the Huns, one daughter (and her children) died of the plague, and a final son (who, let it be known, they named HERME) disappeared during the US Revolutionary War. All this loss made the poor woman so bitter and angry that she naturally began striving for control, including supporting Hitler (like, literally helping him) during WWII. The Highlander thinks there's another dimension to her having gone there, though: somehow she can feed off the pain of misery and death, and is addicted to it. Also, it gives her another power of being able to confound people, which the Highlander experienced when trying to reason with her around the time of the Hiroshima nuclear explosion and again when the power baby was kidnapped. Is it helping anybody that he's holding out on the council with this info? 

So he takes Jessie back to the hotel, where she owes her best friend an explanation — only she already knows. Turns out that this dude she's been hooking up with in Vegas is a witch too, and has explained to her the ins and outs and difficulties of what's going on with Jessie, up to a point. Turns out this dude is ALSO a double agent, here supposedly on assignment from the bad guys but just about ready to turn face, at least partly because he's found himself in love with the friend. After two days. His primary power is the ability to change his appearance at will, which Jessie learns in a jarring fashion upon waking up in witch world and finding a tall hunky dude in her suite in place of this pudgy nerd. She has that gene too, he says, and helps her start down the path of disguising herself. She quickly gets good at it and then realizes: couldn't I use this power to sneak into that gated community and steal back my baby?

Obviously it's not going to be so easy as walking into the joint and walking back out with The Special, even disguised as President Coroner as she is. First of all, she doesn't even know for sure that the baby is here now, and she does know that the actual boss is in town, not here. (Lucky thing, right, when she goes through the guard shack in full makeup.) So instead she goes to Jimmy's ex-girlfriend's place. Don't ask me how she knows that THIS is an option, or that the girl is indeed even home, or that she is living there at all. There's not even really a reason to believe that she can help, or that she even KNOWS anything about the baby. But Jessie's concerned about the competition, and fairly confident that her target doesn't have the strength gene and will therefore be easy enough to overpower. It proves true in terms of tying the girl up and throwing her in the trunk of her car, but Jessie isn't counting on being lied to. The ex kicks through the backseat and forces Jessie off the road, where they have an epic Matrix battle that culminates in Jessie punching a hole in the gas tank and exploding the thing with an emergency flare. She feels a surge of pleasure while the ex-girlfriend dies, which is ... creepy? Shows some link to President Coroner? What else does it mean?

It at least means that Jessie should be prepared when she goes to talk to President Coroner tonight. She buys a handgun at a pawn shop, then meets Jimmy James in front of the Tropicana, where the big ugly bodyguard picks them up in a limo. James takes a little while to get in the car, and he doesn't sit right next to Jessie for some reason. The car takes them back to the gated community, to the biggest house, where President Coroner is waiting. Negotiations don't really go as well as could be hoped, since the boss already knows that she's not the one who kidnapped the ex in the trunk of a car. But while they're working out their threats and measuring their dicks, who should walk in but the Highlander. He's finally talked the Tar council into using brain powers to murder his dearest love, and as one person has to be present to make it work, guess who volunteered. Only the big mean bodyguard is holding the baby, and he'll rip her in half if they make a move against his boss. This is a good time for the best friend's boyfriend, the shapeshifting teacher, to appear out of thin air, grab the gun out of Jessie's waistband, and cap the bodyguard in the head. Yeah, he was sitting between them for the whole car ride, like there's not enough seats in a limo for him to stretch out somewhere else. Cockblocker.

But here's the weirdest part: President Coroner recognizes him. That's right, bitches — Herme lives! He has seen the evil his mother is doing and has finally come out of hiding to try to help put a stop to it. And James helped him because he knows what's going on in both worlds. He's experienced it, actually: after Jessie fell asleep, he killed himself (with Herme's help) so he could be fully present and help in witch world. I have more timeline problems and concerns, obviously, starting with the question of how Jimmy could possibly be here today if he hasn't yet killed himself, but that's not where the characters are right now. Right now they're concerned with stopping this ultimate evil who doesn't seem to care about murder. So Herme and his Highlander dad point blue brain lasers at President Coroner, who generates a red bubble to stop them, because everything we have to know about good and evil energy colors we learned from Star Wars.

And now Jessie finds herself inside the red bubble. She's been the most susceptible of those exposed to PC, after all, and so she might be convertible to the pain-suckers. She relives all of the memories that our dear villain has of her children dying and of how the pain could be turned into a pleasurable sensation, and it's just hypnotic enough and convincing enough that, as Jessie finds herself back in her own body, she can be persuaded to take her gun back from Herme and shoot the Highlander. He doesn't die, but he's weakened enough that President Coroner can steal his sword and stab him in the heart.

So now what? Well, it's a good thing Jimmy's here to save everybody! What would we do without a white dude who's barely aware of his powers? But he knows that together, with Jessie and the baby, they have a strength that is impossible to overcome. So they manage to paralyze our villain, but now her scorpion son shows up and wants to murder too. Only — plot twist! — he murders his mom! Turns out that when Jimmy killed himself, he also killed tail-boy in the real world, and now HE'S got good-guy memories. This is really telling about President Coroner's parenting skills that all of her living children not only think that she has to die, but show up to help DO IT.

But now all is good and we can move forward as a family, right? Totally! At least until Jessie wakes up in the real world and finds Jimmy lying beside her, still and cold and dead.

This would have been a good place to stop, right? Of course he doesn't. Two days later, Jessie and her best friend are home from Jimmy's funeral, talking about what's going on and all the implications, when suddenly there's a sound at the door — the mail box. (Does anybody still have one of these shits in 2012? Most rural neighborhoods are going to the community box.) Jessie collects the mail, among which is a red envelope containing a letter from the Alchemist (remember that dude) anticipating a future meeting and sending best wishes from ... President Coroner.

And that is the end of Witch World! Or Red Queen, whichever one you picked up. Like, are we starting to understand how Pike has so little grasp of world-building that he has ALREADY killed his main antagonist AND the potential monkey wrench in Jessie's future relationships? Doesn't he realize none of us are going to get invested in a world where you don't stay dead after you die? I mean, except zombies. But since that's not what we're talking about, I can't possibly imagine where Black Knight is going to take us. I mean, I can, because I've read the back copy, and it doesn't look remotely related. Maybe that's one more reason I've been stalling on this entry: to keep me away from the annoying-looking next one.

[yurupedia]

本日は全国禁煙推進協議会キャラクター「すわにゃん」について。

受動喫煙防止の活動をしている。 誕生日は2015年2月2日で、猫の日であり、スワンスワンの日でもある。好きな食べ物はカニカマ。

https://www10.atwiki.jp/yurupedia/pages/3028.html

[just6f]

SHAR-PEI DOG PLUSH LOVELY TOY FOR 12% OFF? BUY NOW. You don't want to miss this -- snatch your Shar-pei Dog Plush Lovely Toy from our store for a 12% discount today! Discover customer favorites such as Shar-pei Dog Plush Lovely Toy Stuffed Animal Doll Simulation Cute Dog Puppy Pillow Christmas Birthday Gift, all for a limited time only. DETAILS ON SHAR-PEI DOG PLUSH LOVELY TOY Material: Cotton Age Range: > 3 years old Features: Stuffed & plush Gender: Unisex Filling: Pp cotton If you’re looking for high quality products at a low price, you’re more than welcome to ADD TO CART this item right now to receive it as soon as possible! Because you'll hardly find another offer like this! PRODUCT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS What makes your Pug Plush Pillow competitive? Having the highest quality and lowest price, the Shar-pei Dog Plush Lovely Toy will certainly let you safely enjoy your choice with no post-purchase regrets. Is it available in some other colors? In the description of the Shar-pei Dog Plush Lovely Toy, you can see the relevant data on the available product variations. So choose anything you like. If I order your Pug Plush Pillow, will any extra fees apply? On the checkout page, you will see the total price. This is the final price, so no extra expenses will be necessary. What about taxes? Taxes may be included, but it depends on your location. In any case, you will see the total order cost together with the taxes (if any) on the checkout page before you confirm the order. Is it OK to share the photo of your product on social media? Dear client, we absolutely don’t mind you posting your photos with our products. Moreover, we’ll highly appreciate it. I’m not sure the Shar-pei Dog Plush Lovely Toy will suit me. I don’t want to order and then regret it. If you are not happy with your Shar-pei Dog Plush Lovely Toy, feel free to contact our support service, so we could solve your problem. ORDERING & STORE POLICIES Can you send my order to the address that is different from my place of living? It doesn’t make a difference which address you’re going to indicate. Because we will arrange the delivery to any address you specify. Can my order include two or more items? The number of items to include in one order is unlimited, so feel free to order multiple units if you want. How can I get help with my Toy dog purchase? There are multiple ways to contact the support team in our store, so use any of the channels listed at the bottom of this page. How many are available for purchase? The Toy dog stock is about to start running low in the next 3-4 days, which is why we recommend that you place your order as soon as possible. Are you authorized? If I order my Pug Plush Pillow, will I get a legal product? There is no reason to worry about this because we’ve got all the permits required for selling these products. How can I know that your store is better than any other one? Our team aims to provide customer support of the highest quality and make you genuinely happy with the purchase! https://just6f.com/shar-pei-dog-plush-lovely-toy-stuffed-animal-doll-simulation-cute-dog-puppy-pillow-christmas-birthday-gift/?feed_id=3028&_unique_id=62f99f7862de0

[attackofthezee]

Welcome to my thesis entitled All Fandoms Don’t Leave Kudos For Shit; Your Fandom Is Not Actually That Bad Comparatively, TBH It’s Actually Probably Pretty Average.

So I was minding my own business, scrolling through tumblr at 3 in the morning as one with insomnia does and I came across it. The post. The post in which the op begged people in their fandom to leave more kudos because ‘as a fandom we’re really picky and leave less kudos than other fandoms guys.’ Which. Great. I love leaving kudos! I wish people left more kudos! I looooove validation! I nodded a little, frowned a little, and kept scrolling. And then my brain went ‘well, no, hold on’ because in my experience all fandoms aren’t that great about things like leaving kudos and comments. We are all, no matter the fandom, in our own special way, picky and/or forgetful bitches.

So the hypothesis? When compared statistically there would be little to no major difference in kudos to hits ratio between fandoms/pairings.

The methodology? Probably flawed. I mean it is almost 6 in the morning and I’ve been working on this for at least a couple hours after only sleeping an hour.

The methodology? I took 7 pairings from 7 different fandoms, used ao3’s filters to sort by kudos, kept it to only works that were complete and in english, and recorded the kudos to hits ratios for 4 fanfics. One on the 1st page, one on the 5th, one on the 9th, and one on the 60th. I then worked out the percentage of kudos compared to hits, and then found the average of those percentages.

The accuracy? Ehhhh, it’s almost 6 in the morning, this is by no means a large sample size, and my brain refused to do math so early/late so I used online calculators for everything. You could probably take 4 different fics from each category and get wildly different results, and honestly I’m curious to see what the data would say if I did this with 100 fics instead, though I have a feeling it’d be at least somewhat similar.

The results? If you want a higher kudos/hits ratio write Bitty/Jack from Check Please or Poe/Finn from Star Wars. If you want to cry over the ratio of it, but probably get more kudos overall? Write Stiles/Derek. While the former are both in the 12% range, and the latter is in the 5-6% range, the most kudos Bitty/Jack and Poe/Finn have are 5,895 and 8,686 respectively, compared to Sterek’s highest kudos of 28,353 kudos. Which, like, tbh none of this is bad when you think about it? You have to look at the size of your fandom before you put any stock on kudos (not that kudos is the most important thing, either, but I get it, I love validation too and kudos are a super effective and easy way of getting that.) A webcomic like Check Please, or a ship like Poe/Finn that has to compete with the pretty large amount of shipping possibilities that Star Wars offers isn’t going to have the readership that something like Sterek has because Sterek is a fandom unto itself with writers and readers that sometimes don’t even consider themselves a part of Sterek’s parent fandom anymore.

The highest percentage on a fic was 17%, the lowest was 1%. I find it interesting to note that the fic with 1% kudos was also the top fic for it’s pairing. On average though, fandoms tend to leave kudos around 10% (give or take) of the time they read, which to be entirely honest, is what I’ve always figured just glancing at the numbers.

The Conclusion: Aka the TLDR;

Fandoms in general aren’t that great at leaving kudos. They leave, on average, kudos only 5-12% of the time. Which means that not leaving kudos? It’s not a specific fandom problem, it’s an overarching fandom problem where we as fans have either gotten jaded and picky or are too dang lazy to hit that kudos button. And tbh, I understand! For some of us ao3 hasn’t always been the default. The ability to let someone know you loved their work with a click of the button hasn’t always been there. There was no way to leave a kudos on livejournal! You had to be brave and comment if you wanted someone to know you liked their stuff.

So, in conclusion, no fandom is any better or any worse, and the kudos problem is only really a problem if you find it to be one. If you think your fandom is lacking in their ability to share little balls of warm fuzzies in the form of a click then make an effort to leave more kudos, to write more comments, to send authors you like more tumblr messages, or to do whatever you think needs to be done! If you’re fine with it, then continue on with your merry fandom journey cause that’s what it’s here for. 

And if you get discouraged by your kudos count, just remember that if you get even close to 10% of the people who read your fic to kudos it? Then you’re fucking awesome. (You’re awesome anyways, but like, statistically you’re great. Keep going with your bad selves and writing that fic, writers) 

THE DATA

I straight up used calculators on the internet for this, so if you see glaring innacuries here, let me know. Hopefully gently?

percentages for fics were all rounded up or down accordingly

TEEN WOLF DEREK HALE/STILES STILINSKI

Hits/Kudos

500802 / 28353 = 5%

212070 / 9959 = 5%

72824 / 7413 = 10%

91015 / 3024 = 3%

AVERAGE = 5.75%

MARVEL BUCKY BARNES/STEVE ROGERS

Hits/Kudos

202914 / 19093 = 9%

167776 / 6115 = 3%

78982 / 4611 = 6%

14825 / 1522 = 10%

= 7%

HARRY POTTER DRACO/HARRY  

281221 / 22544 = 8%

81623 / 5228 = 6%

48525 / 3000 = 6%

7940/801 = 10%

= 7.5%

CHECK PLEASE  BITTY/JACK

53062 / 5895 = 11%

12527 / 1862 = 15%

11377 / 1327 = 12%

3052 / 397 = 13%

=12.75%

BANDOM  JOSH DUN/TYLER JOSEPH

400379 / 5690 = 1%

3385 / 458 = 13%

3028 / 329 = 11%

1638 / 104 = 6%

=7.75%

SUPERNATURAL DEAN/CAS

308784 / 11120 = 4%

26483 / 3596 = 14%

108138 / 2777 = 3%

16108 / 997  = 6%

=6.75%

STAR WARS POE/FINN

108170 / 8686 = 8%

9700 / 1673 = 17%

6990 / 1063 = 15%

2293/ 228 = 10%

= 12%

[islandparkdental1399]

Wearing a mouth guard not only helps prevent damage to the structure of your teeth and jaw but also prevents injuries like lacerations to your tongue and cheeks. Mouth guards are also used to decrease the risk of concussions.

Usage Instructions 

Usage and maintenance of these guards to protect teeth as usual and is very less complicated.

Before inserting the mouth guard in your mouth, you must place it in a cup of lukewarm (not too hot) water for a minute so that it can soften up. This would allow minor adjustments to be done while setting your Mouth guard so that it may get fit even more precisely. For cleaning your Mouth guard, you are supposed to brush it using a regular toothbrush along with warm water and soap. You may also bring your Mouth guard to the clinic and we would clean it for you.

Looking for a long-term solution for your dental problems? Then you are on the right page.

Island Park Dental is your best Ottawa dental emergency clinic hence you may consider us as your family dentist. We offer you the best Dental Mouth guards.

Relieving your suffering and pain is our topmost priority.

Want to experience world-class dentistry at affordable rates?

Just schedule an appointment with Dr. Saral Rai at Island Park Dental.

CALL US TODAY - (613) 722-2265 or (613) 722-3028

Or e-mail us at – Info@islandparkdental.ca

Don’t just hurry up! Take your time to contact us today and get a world-class consultation before the treatment.

[bright-molina]

One Last Time (Part One)

Summary: You and Ben were the most talked about couple in Auradon. You were a princess, daughter of Cinderella and he was the future king, son of Belle. You were inseparable. That is until a new quartet came into town. After that you were still the most talked about, only this time it was for a very different reason. Everyone’s favorite couple quickly became the most scandalous news anyone had heard in years.

// So one last time I need to be the one who takes you home // 

// I’d take it all back just to have you //

Characters: Ben, Chad, Audrey, Mal, Evie, Carlos, Jay, fem!reader (daughter of Charming and Cinderella)

Warnings: none....yet

Word Count: 3028

A/N: So despite having lots of other things to be working on this idea popped into my head and you know I had to do it also I apologize for all the angst in future parts in advance (side note: there is waaaay too little content for Ben so here you guys are) (and also my summary sucks but I’m excited for this so I’ll change that later)

Part Two (x)

“You two are adorable! Have I ever told you that?”

“Only about a thousand times,” You rolled your eyes but nevertheless your smile didn't fade. Audrey, on the other hand, either didn't notice or didn't care.

“This one is perfect,” She smiled again while flipping through her magazine. The bolded red headlines stuck out like a sore thumb on the page covered in pictures of you and Ben. Has our soon-to-be King found his future Queen?

“I honestly don't see what the big deal is,” You muttered as you hovered over the magazine beside Audrey. “We've been dating for over a year already”

“Yeah but that was when Ben was a prince. Now he's going to be crowned King and you, my darling, are going to be his Queen” Audrey spoke dreamily, as if it were the most obvious and romantic thing in the world.

“His coronation isn't for another month, Audrey. A lot can change in that amount of time” You sighed letting the pessimistic thoughts take over for just a second.

“You're a Charming, Y/N. The name speaks for itself” Audrey reassured you making your frown fade. “And besides Ben is completely and one hundred percent smitten. Everyone but you sees it”

“He is not” You couldn't help but smile.

“Hi angel”

You heard Ben before you saw him. You knew it was him the second he wrapped his arms around your frame and placed a soft kiss on your cheek.

“Told you,” Audrey smirked. The two of you simply laughed when Ben gave you a questioning look.

“What are you up to?” He said with a smile and he slid into place next to you.

“Nothing,” You smiled softly when he pulled you into his lap easily. “Audrey was catching up on the latest gossip and I was listening in”

“So what's new” He asked the two of you. Audrey started going on about everything she had been reading in the magazine, not that Ben was paying much attention. He was more focused on you and fiddling with his ring that sat on your finger or twirling your hair in small spirals.

“You aren't even listening” Audrey laughed when she noticed.

“Enough with the PDA,” Chad announced himself as he walked over to your table. “That's my sister after all”

“Sorry” Ben didn't sound sorry at all. “Come with me?” He said, turning towards you. “I was going to tell my parents about,” He paused and glanced towards Audrey and Chad who were both listening in intently. “What we talked about”

“Of course I'll go with,” You told him right away and stood up. He stood up after you and the two of you were gone with one last goodbye to Audrey and Chad. The two of them watched as you walked away hand in hand.

“What do you think they were talking about?” Chad mused.

“I don't know,” Audrey rolled her eyes at him and then her smile widened. “Did you see the way he was looking at her hands though? Specifically her left hand, fourth finger” She held up her own left hand for emphasis.

“No,” Chad quickly shook his head. “No. That's definitely not it,” He refused to believe it. He could admit that you and Ben were good for each other but there was no way he would accept what Audrey was implying. I mean sure, everything moved fast on Auradon but you were his baby sister. Sure it was only by 12 minutes but still.

“You haven't been listening to anything I've said have you? What is it with you people?” Audrey huffed again. Chad didn't answer though. Instead he stayed occupied in his own thoughts.

“Congratulations,” You smiled once you and Ben were alone in the room again. He smiled in your direction and walked towards you, wrapping his arms around your waist and spinning you around. “You did it”

“I couldn't have without you,” Ben smiled and there was nothing but love and admiration for you on his face. “I love you”

Your smile brightened at his words and you reached up to kiss him softly. “I know,” You laughed when he pinched your side playfully. “I love you too”

“Good. Cause if you didn't we'd have a problem” He said making the two of you laugh. Suddenly Ben became quiet and he simply stared at you while grinning softly, still holding you in his arms. “Can I tell you something?”

“Anything” You assured him.

“There is no one else I'd rather have at my side than you” He told you honestly before kissing you again, harder and more passionate than last time.

You lost yourself in the kiss, blissfully unaware of the world around you. At that moment there was nothing but the two of you and you wouldn't have it any other way.

You were sitting with Ben in your room, both of you looking over the final preparations for the arrival of the kids from the Isle.

“What have I said about leaving this door open?” Chad announced, throwing said door open in the process and propping it open.

“What have I said about stealing mine and Audrey’s key” You shot back easily.

“That's where that went” Audrey shrugged absentmindedly as she snatched her key out of your brothers hand.

“It's still raining?” You asked, going back to the papers you were looking at. You were looking at them but not really doing anything, letting your mind drift off into other places.

“No I'm just carrying this around for fun” Audrey rolled her eyes as she shut her umbrella, leaving it by the door to dry off.

“I can't believe you're still going through with this,” Chad frowned as he saw what the mess of papers were. “They're villain kids”

“Don't start, Chad,” You immediately replied. “They deserve just as much a chance as we do. It's not their fault they're parents are who they are”

“They've lived on the Isle their entire lives. You expect them to just show up and be good?” He sat down on one of the chairs, not backing down whatsoever.

“It'll take getting used to obviously,” You didn't hesitate before answering him. “I think they can do it, become good. Pretty soon they'll be perfect ladies and gentlemen. Which is more than I can say about you”

You smirked when both Audrey and Ben laughed at your comment while Chad glared at you. Your eyes then fell towards the window where the rain was hitting softly. Ben knew exactly what you were thinking.

“Absolutely not. Remember what happened last time?” He told you.

“I'll wear a jacket this time, I promise!” You protested, jumping up from the bed. “Please?” You practically begged him. You absolutely adored the rain. There was something about it that relaxed you and made you happy. The feeling that hit you when you stepped outside after it rained was one of your favorites, the smell, the way the sun shone through the fading grey clouds, the dew drops covering every flower and blade of grass. You loved it all.

Ben smiled when he saw the small pout on your face and the puppy dog eyes. He couldn't deny you what you wanted, especially when you looked at him that way. “Fine,” He gave in. “But I'm taking an umbrella”

“Deal” You smiled and kissed him softly. A few minutes later he left along with Chad to take his things back to his room before coming back.

“Is this them?” Audrey asked, picking up one of the papers from your pile.

“Yeah,” You nodded as you walked to your closet to search for a pair of rain boots. When you looked back at Audrey you saw her examining the four people under intense scrutiny. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Audrey shrugged innocently.

“I know that look,” You protested as you stepped behind one of the changing screens in your room, not wanting to let your school clothes get ruined in the rain. “What do you think about them?”

“They're cute, the two boys” She told you. “The two girls,” That was where she paused. When you stepped out you noticed the way she was looking at their pictures. It was the same look you'd give a small child to scare the truth out of them. “We’ll see I guess”

You sighed knowing there was no talking her out of whatever she was planning. You took the papers from her and put them all away before promising to return soon.

When Ben found you you were already strolling through the rain.

“You said you'd wear a jacket” He smiled softly as he walked towards you. You were wearing one of his shirts you had stolen from him along with black leggings and pair of baby blue rain boots.

“Whoops?” You offered, turning to face him. He held up an extra sweater he had with him and you frowned before putting it on. “Come on” You smiled again before pulling him out into the rain.

“You're crazy, you know that?” Ben laughed. The two of you were completely soaked through and yet you were still walking around and jumping in puddles and everything.

“You love me for it though” You argued and he agreed. The crack of thunder took you by surprise and you wordlessly agreed to start heading in. You stopped before Ben could lead you inside though. Once again he knew what you wanted without you having to say anything.

“Seriously?” He shook his head lightly. “We could get struck by lightning but you want to kiss in the rain”

“It's cute” You argued with a laugh.

“And so are you,” Ben smiled softly as he leaned down and kissed you, just like you wanted.

“You’re so cheesy” You told him as the two of you started walking back inside.

“You love me for it though”

“I told you so” Ben said the second he walked into your room alongside Chad.

“She’s been like this since last night” Audrey sighed from her spot at the side of your bed, just far enough away so she wouldn’t get sick too.

“I’m fine,” You argued trying to stand up out of bed. It was the day the kids from the Isle were arriving and you had to get yourself ready. Before you could even sit up each of the three of them began protesting, insisting you stay in bed.

“Look at you, you’re burning up” Ben sighed as he removed his hand from your forehead. “You need to stay in bed. I’m officially putting you on bed rest”

“But what about today? We were supposed to-” You cut yourself off with a sneeze, only proving his point that you had to stay there.

“I’ll take your place,” Audrey offered. The smile on her face looked innocent enough but you knew better. “I don’t mind”

“I guess that works,” You gave in knowing there wasn’t really another option.

“Lucky for you I brought provisions,” Chad held up a brown paper bag and sat down next to you on your bed and began taking everything out one by one. Audrey had called to tell them what was going on and evidently they came prepared. “Soup straight from Tiana’s,” He handed you the styrofoam bowl and a spoon. “Movies for us to watch, some medicine to get better, and a brand new box of tissues”

“Have I ever told you you’re my favorite brother” You smiled softly as you ate a spoonful of the soup.

“I’m your only brother” Chad looked at you confused and you laughed lightly.

“See,” Ben said as he leaned down and kissed the top of your head. “You’re in good hands”

“Ready” Audrey announced as she stepped out of the bathroom looking perfect as always. “Let’s get going, shall we?”

You gave her a look, trying to communicate what you wanted to say without actually saying it since Chad and Ben were both in the room. Play nice. She simply smiled at you before leaving with a promise to be back soon.

Audrey looked the four villain kids up and down as Fairy Godmother spoke to them, a smile on her face but a questioning look in her eyes.

“It’s so good to finally meet you all,” Ben stepped forward first. “I’m Ben-”

“Prince Benjamin,” Audrey cut him off before he could go on. “Soon to be king” She watched as the one wearing blue stepped forward with a flirty smile on her face.

“You had me at Prince,” She curtsied as she spoke in a soft voice. “My mom's a queen which makes me a princess”

“The Evil Queen has no royal status here,” Audrey was quick to intervene. “And neither do you”

Ben meanwhile let out an awkward laugh in an attempt to diffuse the growing tension between the two of them. “This is Audrey” He told them only to be interrupted by her again.  

“Princess Audrey,” She corrected. “I’m only filling in for Princess Y/N,” She studied each of them, watching their reactions carefully. “Ben’s girlfriend and my best friend. Right Bennyboo?” She threw the old nickname out there to make a point. Whether they knew it or not, she was watching them. And if there was one person they shouldn’t mess with it was her.

She stood back as Fairy Godmother finished her speech and then as Ben gave his. Then she realized who it was that would most likely cause them the most trouble.

“A little bit over the top?” Ben asked as he looked at the one dressed head to toe in purple and green. Mal.

“A little more than a little bit” She answered

“Well so much for my first impression” He said, the two of them letting out a laugh. Audrey’s eyes shot between the two of them. Ben was about to continue while she held eye contact with a smirk on her face. And Audrey wasted no time in stepping between the two of them.

“Hey,” She said making them all look towards her. “You’re Maleficent's daughter aren’t you?” She didn’t wait for a response. She knew the answer well. “Yeah, you know what? I totally do not blame you for your mother trying to kill my parents and stuff” She ignored the shocked look from Mal and the warning look from Ben. “Oh, my moms Aurora. Sleeping-”

“Beauty,” Mal cut her off and Audrey did nothing but smile. The smile wasn’t a welcoming one though, she was testing them and they could tell. “Yeah I’ve heard the name. You know and I totally do not blame your grandparents for inviting everyone in the whole world except my mother to their stupid christening”

“Water under the bridge” Audrey answered back easily, not fazed at all.

“Totes” Mal answered, both of them laughing in sync while simultaneously glaring. Everyone else could feel the tension between the two of them and for a few seconds no one dared to move.

“Okay,” Ben drew everyone’s attention back to him. “How about a tour?”

“So you guys have a lot of magic here in Auradon? Like wands and things like that?”

There she goes again with the magic Audrey thought to herself. Each of them had asked about it at least once during the tour. For some reason they wouldn’t let it go.

“Yeah it exists of course but it’s pretty much retired” Ben answered easily. “Most of us here are ordinary mortals”

“Who happen to be kings and queens”

“That’s true,” Audrey nodded. “Our royal blood goes back hundreds of years. Especially the Charming bloodline, isn’t that right Ben?” She gave Ben a pointed look once she found a subtle way to bring you up again.  

“Doug!” Ben looked relieved when he saw Doug coming down the stairs. “Doug come down,” He went up to meet him leaving Audrey alone with them. She took the opportunity to subtly send them warning looks. It was so quick that they looked confused for a second, wondering if they saw it clearly if at all. “This is Doug. He’s gonna help you with your class schedules and show you the rest of the dorms” Ben’s phone dinged softly and he quickly glanced down again, a smile growing on his face when he saw your name pop up onto the screen. “I’ll see you later, okay?” He said to them. “And if there is anything you need feel free to-”

“Ask Doug” Audrey told them before taking Ben’s arm and pulling him away from the group with one last tight smile.

“Okay, what was that?” Ben asked once they started making their way back to your dorm.

“What was what?” Audrey shrugged innocently.

“All of that!” Ben sighed in an exasperated manner. “The comments and the looks and everything. We’re trying to make amends here”

“You were the one who was flirting left and right,” Audrey was quick to glare in Ben’s direction. “You have a girlfriend, Ben. Y/N in case you don’t recall”

“I wasn’t flirting!” Ben argued. “It’s called being nice and making conversation”

“It was flirting,” Audrey shook her head before softening her voice. “Look, even if you didn’t mean to do it she probably took it that way. Girls are different than boys, Ben. What you think is being nice she thinks is flirting. That’s just how it works”

“That makes no sense but fine,” He sighed as they reached the door. Audrey stopped him once more before he could open the door.

“Good intentions or not, let me remind you that Y/N is my best friend. If you hurt her in any way, shape, or form you will have not only me but also Chad to answer to. And let me remind you he is just as tough as you are, Charming or not” That was the last she said to him before swinging the door open and walking into your shared dorm again.

“How’d it go?” You asked immediately once the door was closed.

“It went great,” Audrey smiled in your direction. “Didn’t it Ben?”

“Yeah,” Ben nodded, walking over and kissing your forehead. “Great”

[marcioaikido]

Repost by @aikido.journal Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba Seminar in California: Part one of our photo journal publishes tomorrow on the AJ website and Facebook page. Entre em contato e conheça os benefícios do Aikido Aikido é nosso caminho. Se gostou, por favor compartilhe. If you liked, please share. Conheça Sobre o Aikido. INSTITUTO TACHIBANA DE AIKIDO Jaraguá do Sul MINAMI NO TANI DOJO aikido.jaragua@gmail.com 47 98405-6463 ou 47 3276-3083 Rua: Walter Marquadt, 835. Anexo ao Ginásio do Sesi. Porta na lateral do campo de Futebol. Joinville AIKIDO KITAHIRA DOJO aikido@aikidojoinville.com.br 47 3028-7919 ou 47 99995-0294 Rua: Xanxerê, 71, Saguaçu. ULTIMATE FIGHT & FITNESS CLUB contato@institutotachibana.com.br 47 99956-2447 ou 3028-7919 Pirabeiraba Aikido Pirabeiraba Dojo rafaeljantsch1977@gmail.com 47 99609-4197 www.aikidomaruyama.com.br www.institutotachibana.com.br #aikido #aikikai #aikidomaruyama #institutotachibana #合気道 #айкидо #artesmarciais #martialarts #defesapessoal #selfdefense #pratiqueaikido #aikido_techiniques #jaraguadosul #joinville #santacatarina #guaramirim #ansiedade #controledeansiedade #jaragua #corupa #pomerode #doshu https://www.instagram.com/p/CAftjJjJ7wp/?igshid=1pcce4vskl469

[alohalanijewelry]

30.28 Carat Fancy Ruby Cabochon - Gorgeous

Visit our Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/Alohalani-Jewelry-340218000170155

Check us out on Tumblr:

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/alohalanijewelry

Stop by our shop:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/AlohalaniJewelry

or

Link directly to this item:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/751649294/3028-carat-fancy-ruby-cabochon-gorgeous?ref=shop_home_active_7&frs=1

[blprompt]

Image taken from page 193 of 'A travers le royaume de Tamerlan-Asie centrale ... Illustré de 66 gravures par Paul Merwart ... Avec deux cartes, etc'

Image taken from: Title: "A travers le royaume de Tamerlan-Asie centrale ... Illustré de 66 gravures par Paul Merwart ... Avec deux cartes, etc" Author: CAPUS, Guillaume. Shelfmark: "British Library HMNTS 10077.h.14.", "British Library OC V 3028" Page: 193 Place of Publishing: Paris Date of Publishing: 1892 Issuance: monographic Identifier: 000601545 Explore: Find this item in the British Library catalogue, 'Explore'. Download the PDF for this book (volume: 0) Image found on book scan 193 (NB not necessarily a page number) Download the OCR-derived text for this volume: (plain text) or (json) Click here to see all the illustrations in this book and click here to browse other illustrations published in books in the same year. Order a higher quality version from here. from BLPromptBot https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/11122942725