#the advent of ardor
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At long last, The Eleventh Day (and the Tenth Night).
Hannibal takes Will upstairs.
Scream at me. Scream with me. We all scream for finally getting [redacted]. 😘🖤🖤🖤🔥🔥🔥
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slants peace
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The Rise of Cosmeceutical Companies in India: A Deep Dive into Ardor Biomed
In recent years, India’s cosmeceutical industry has experienced unprecedented growth, fueled by increasing consumer demand for skincare, anti-aging solutions, and personal care products. Cosmeceutical companies in India are bridging the gap between cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, offering products that not only enhance appearance but also provide therapeutic benefits. One of the pioneers in this dynamic sector is Ardor Biomed, a company that has set new standards in the production of cosmetic products in India. This article takes an in-depth look at the rise of cosmeceuticals in India, with a special focus on Ardor Biomed’s innovative contributions to the industry.
What are Cosmeceuticals?
Cosmeceuticals are products that combine the aesthetic properties of cosmetics with the medicinal benefits of pharmaceuticals. Unlike regular cosmetics that only focus on beautification, cosmeceuticals are scientifically formulated to treat various skin concerns like acne, pigmentation, aging, and sun damage. These products are typically infused with active ingredients such as vitamins, peptides, antioxidants, and botanical extracts that provide therapeutic effects beyond just surface-level enhancement.
The unique position of cosmeceuticals in the market has created a niche category that appeals to health-conscious consumers seeking effective and safe beauty solutions. This demand has been the catalyst for the rise of cosmeceutical companies in India, where a combination of local ingredients, cutting-edge technology, and pharmaceutical expertise converge.
Growth of the Cosmeceutical Industry in India
India’s cosmeceutical industry has grown at a rapid pace in the past decade. According to industry reports, the Indian cosmetic and cosmeceutical market is projected to grow by 8.1% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) over the next few years. Several factors have contributed to this exponential rise, including:
Changing Consumer Preferences: Today’s consumers are more informed and selective about the products they use. With increased awareness of the ingredients and effects of skincare products, they now seek solutions that offer both aesthetic and therapeutic benefits.
Rising Disposable Income: As India's middle-class population continues to grow, there is a higher willingness to spend on premium beauty and wellness products. Cosmeceuticals are seen as a valuable investment due to their perceived higher efficacy.
Technological Advancements: The advent of new technologies in product formulation, such as nanotechnology and biotechnology, has enabled Indian companies to create high-performance cosmeceuticals that meet international standards.
Increased Focus on Skin Health: The growing awareness about skin health and anti-aging solutions has led many consumers to switch from conventional cosmetics to cosmeceuticals that promise long-term benefits.
The Role of Ardor Biomed in India’s Cosmeceutical Revolution
One company leading the way in this booming sector is Ardor Biomed. Known for its innovative approach and commitment to quality, Ardor Biomed has carved a niche for itself in the competitive world of cosmeceuticals. The company has been instrumental in developing a range of cosmetic products in India that not only beautify but also nourish and protect the skin.
Focus on Research and Development
What sets Ardor Biomed apart from many other cosmeceutical companies in India is its dedication to research and development (R&D). The company invests heavily in cutting-edge technology and partners with leading scientists and dermatologists to create breakthrough products. Their formulations are backed by extensive clinical trials and safety evaluations, ensuring that every product meets the highest standards of efficacy and safety.
Ingredient Transparency and Ethical Sourcing
In today’s beauty market, consumers demand more transparency about the ingredients used in their products. Ardor Biomed addresses this by using only clinically proven ingredients and providing detailed information on the benefits of each component. Their products are free from harmful chemicals like parabens, sulfates, and artificial fragrances, making them suitable for even the most sensitive skin types.
Moreover, the company focuses on ethical sourcing of ingredients, often choosing to use local and sustainable materials. By doing so, Ardor Biomed not only reduces its environmental footprint but also supports local farming communities.
Key Products Offered by Ardor Biomed
Ardor Biomed has launched a wide range of cosmeceuticals designed to address various skin concerns. Here’s a look at some of their most popular products:
1. Anti-Aging Creams
A major focus for many consumers in the cosmeceutical space is anti-aging. Ardor Biomed offers several anti-aging products that use a blend of peptides, antioxidants, and collagen-boosting ingredients. These creams not only reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles but also improve skin elasticity and hydration.
2. Brightening Serums
Skin brightening is another popular category within cosmeceuticals, and Ardor Biomed’s brightening serums are highly effective at addressing issues like hyperpigmentation and uneven skin tone. These serums are infused with potent actives like vitamin C, niacinamide, and licorice root extract, all of which work together to give the skin a radiant glow.
3. Sunscreens
Given the harsh UV exposure in India, sun protection is a critical concern for many consumers. Ardor Biomed offers a range of broad-spectrum sunscreens that not only shield the skin from UVA and UVB rays but also contain antioxidants that protect the skin from environmental stressors. These sunscreens are lightweight, non-greasy, and suitable for all skin types.
4. Acne Treatments
Acne is a common issue in India due to the country’s hot and humid climate. Ardor Biomed’s acne treatment line includes cleansers, toners, and spot treatments infused with salicylic acid, tea tree oil, and witch hazel, all of which help reduce acne breakouts and prevent future blemishes.
How Cosmeceuticals Differ from Conventional Cosmetics
Many consumers still wonder how cosmeceuticals differ from regular cosmetics. While both product categories focus on beauty and skin enhancement, cosmeceuticals go a step further by addressing the underlying causes of skin issues. Here’s a breakdown of the key differences:
Active Ingredients: Cosmeceuticals contain active ingredients that penetrate deeper into the skin to address specific concerns like aging, acne, or pigmentation. Conventional cosmetics, on the other hand, focus more on surface-level effects.
Regulation and Testing: Cosmeceuticals often undergo rigorous testing and are subject to more stringent regulations compared to conventional cosmetics. They may require approval from regulatory authorities if they contain medicinal ingredients.
Long-Term Benefits: Unlike conventional products that provide immediate, temporary results, cosmeceuticals offer long-term improvements in skin health by promoting collagen production, cell regeneration, and hydration.
Why Choose Cosmeceuticals?
The rise of cosmeceuticals in India is a reflection of the growing demand for multifunctional beauty products that offer more than just aesthetic enhancement. Consumers are increasingly looking for products that provide therapeutic benefits, improve skin health, and are backed by scientific research.
Cosmeceuticals stand out because they provide visible improvements in skin texture, tone, and elasticity while being formulated with safe and effective ingredients. These products are especially popular among individuals with sensitive skin, as they are often free from harsh chemicals and allergens commonly found in conventional cosmetics.
Conclusion
The rise of cosmeceutical companies in India marks a new era in the beauty and wellness industry. Companies like Ardor Biomed are at the forefront of this movement, offering cosmetic products in India that combine the best of both worlds—cosmetic appeal and therapeutic benefits. As consumers become more knowledgeable about the ingredients and long-term effects of their skincare choices, the demand for high-quality, scientifically-backed cosmeceuticals is set to grow even further.
With its focus on R&D, ethical sourcing, and product efficacy, Ardor Biomed is not just a player in the cosmeceutical industry but a leader shaping the future of skincare in India. Whether you’re looking to treat specific skin concerns or simply invest in products that promote overall skin health, cosmeceuticals like those from Ardor Biomed offer a compelling solution.
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Elevate Your Ride: The Art of Wrapping a Car in Gold Coast
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Baring the Artistry - Princess Sitara's Ascend from Aspirations to the Catwalk
In the tapestry of Sitara's life, the earliest threads were woven with the dreams of being a muse. Childhood memories found her perched in her aunt's art studio, a willing subject for the brushes and palettes that sought to capture her essence on canvas. As she posed, an enchanting passion for the world of modeling began to take root. The advent of technology, particularly the proliferation of camera phones, only fanned the flames of this budding ardor. In those early years, she would implore friends to immortalize moments through photographs, curating a visual record of her journey. Even more ambitiously, she sought out artistically inclined friends to translate her image into paintings and drawings, cherishing each creation as a testament to her evolving identity. Little did she know these whimsical pursuits were laying the foundation for a journey that would redefine the contours of her reality.
Her narrative unfolds against the backdrop of societal expectations and conventional beauty standards. Despite harboring dreams of gracing the covers of magazines and striding down runways, a gnawing doubt lingered. Society's often narrow view of beauty cast a long shadow over her aspirations. Standing at a diminutive 5'1" and adorned with a rich, dark skin complexion, she found herself at odds with the ideals championed by the Indian beauty industry. The specter of British colonization had left an indelible mark, influencing standards that glorified Eurocentric features. Bollywood, as the vanguard of these ideals, perpetuated an image of tall, fair-skinned stars, diverging significantly from the diverse tapestry that characterized most of the Indian populace.
Sitara's decisive turning point crystallized during her formative period in San Jose, where she landed her inaugural modeling opportunity with the retail giant, Target. This experience, far more than a mere professional engagement, served as a profound validation that fueled her determination and emboldened her to set her sights on the bustling metropolis of Los Angeles. Known worldwide as a hotbed of creativity, ambition, and unbridled talent, the city gleamed with the allure of potential fulfillment for her diverse artistic interests, which encompassed music, modeling, dance, and acting. Until this moment, Sitara had merely dabbled in these art forms within her local community. Yet, she possessed an innate understanding that to truly metamorphose these passions into a sustainable career, she would need to immerse herself in the dynamic, pulsating heart of Los Angeles, the city that never sleeps. Princess Sitara Masilamani
Upon arrival, the city of angels embraced her aspirations. Networking became second nature, and it wasn't long before she caught the discerning eye of EMG Models, a pivotal moment that marked her official entry into the modeling agency realm. Yet, she refused to tether herself exclusively to agency life. Embracing the freedom of freelance opportunities, she found herself collaborating with an impressive array of brands and personalities. From the sultry allure of SavagexFenty to the high-energy collaborations with Soulja Boy and Machine Gun Kelly, her portfolio began to reflect the kaleidoscope of her talents. Social media giant Instagram, the musical maestro Tesher, and the chart-topping Jason Derulo were among the luminaries she encountered on her ascent.
The extraordinary trajectory of Sitara took a thrilling leap forward when she became the leading face of a major campaign for Haus Labs, an esteemed beauty brand by global pop star, Lady Gaga. This was a moment where reality and dreams seemed to blur, her breathtaking image found gracing banners and in-store displays across the nation, standing in an almost surreal alignment with the legendary figure of Gaga. The emergence of Haus Labs was more than a simple professional endeavor for Sitara; it was a creative sanctuary where she discovered like-minded individuals and an atmosphere reminiscent of a second family. This symbiotic relationship that bloomed with the brand gradually became a defining feature in her career's narrative, ultimately solidifying her status as an in-demand and reliable figure in the industry.
During her blossoming career, she chose to fortify her foundation through education. Enrolling at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles, she delved into the realms of Beauty Marketing and Product Development. This academic pursuit reflected her commitment to understanding the industry from multiple dimensions, foreshadowing aspirations beyond the ephemeral glitz of the runway. A visionary at heart, she harbors dreams of establishing her own beauty brand tailored specifically to South Asian women, a testament to her commitment to inclusivity in an industry that often falls short. Sitara Masilamani
Her philosophy regarding beauty extends beyond the surface, transcending the physical to embrace the spiritual. She champions the idea that true beauty is an amalgamation of kindness, self-empowerment, and the pursuit of dreams. In her worldview, one's treatment of others, the ability to uplift oneself and others, and the unwavering pursuit of dreams and kindness are the facets that truly define beauty. Beauty, in her eyes, is a force that transcends the superficial and leaves an indelible mark on the soul.
As her journey continues to unfurl, Sitara stands resolute, a lighthouse of inspiration for those who dare to dream beyond the conventional and the mundane. From the unfiltered creativity of her childhood fantasies to her empowering reality of standing shoulder to shoulder with industry icons, her aspirations have been painstakingly woven into a vibrant tapestry of experiences. Her narrative is a powerful testament to the indomitable force of beauty in all its incarnations, biding its time to be unveiled. In a world frequently shackled with limitations and constrictions, she has not merely defied these odds, but has emerged as an enchanting force, creating ripples in the narrative of beauty and success, defining it on her own terms and rewriting the playbook.
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Schools of Exorcism
This is limited to the European and North American ones due to overlap and competition among them.
NOTE: No school of exorcism is accredited or considered official. While theories about exorcism exist and exorcism works, attempts to find out what makes someone able to be a true exorcist or not have routinely failed. The children of exorcists are no more likely than anyone else to become one, and generally one has to do at least five True exorcisms to be considered a proper exorcist.
(A true exorcism is not the same as a True one. Letting people know their ‘ghost’ is just infrasounds, animals in the walls, loose wiring etc. This DOES ‘count’ as a proper exorcism later on in terms of personal ranking and successes, since it is far better than lying or manipulating people and is given a weighted ranking on Hauntr, which is the app that keeps track of how good exorcists are.)
The Windhover School: Augustus Windover III founded the Windover school in 1500 in England, and Francis Bacon was a founding member of the school though not an exorcist himself. The idea of exorcism as not linked to religion was considered heretical and so by 1730 the Windover school had relocated to Weymouth, Massachusetts and is now part of greater Boston. This school emphasizes the banishment of ghosts and is very, very traditional. Circles are used, along with bells, books and candles. While the members are respected and successful, if they are unable to use the tools of their trade their success rate drops dramatically.
Items of ‘power’ are passed on from masters to students but whether this helps or not is a matter of some debate even within the school. All members wear black and have staves and Augustus at least was very forward thinking in that they allowed female exorcists to become members as early as 1750, though cynics claim that was an effort to boat their numbers as many remained in England.
The Royal Society of Exorcists: Founded in 1602 by John Dee , the Royal Society was a direct response to the Windhover school and Elizabeth I made it a royal charter, an act that James I did not overrule as he saw the Windhover school as linked to various Catholic plots and the Royal Society was more than happy to go along with those theories.
It was rebranded the Royal Society of the unExplained in 1809. It has existed in the centuries since as a smaller school whose focus is more on the psychic powers and how those relate to exorcism and has more scholars of exorcism than actual exorcists among its numbers.
McDonald College: Founded in Canada in 1911, the McDonald College is based out of Ottawa and trains a select number of exorcists every year. With the advent of World War I, the college had some use in the war effort and its members were again used in World War 2 to help prevent axis ghosts from spying on allied plans. How successful they were is a matter of debate.
These days the College is often compared to McDonalds and much of its reputation has been lost though it remains the only College of its kind in Canada and in the last thirty years has made impressive strides in modern exorcism, where the focus is more the will of the exorcist and persistence of the ghost, rather than chants and tools and other aids they think get in the way of the actual art.
Ordo Gnostica: A modern exorcism school that started in 1956, the Ordo Gnostica is more concerned with ghosts that are dangerous, their destruction, and demons. Like adorcists nothing they do is ‘magic’ and everything is willpower. They consider psychic powers to be a manifestation of human/ghost interaction and
Quercus Foundation: Ardors are those who follow Quercus, which is not a school but a tradition passed down from student to teacher. They almost always just call themselves adorcists and the term is rarely used - the goal of an adorcist is not to banish a ghost but find a way to bring it peace. Who founded the school is unknown but it’s believed to be sometime in the past thirty years.
Quercus was founded by Becky Rosenthal in 1986. Becky made a fortune in selling haunted houses in the 70s and avoided the housing crash in the 80s simply because she ran into an exorcist in ‘79 who was quietly angry at her using the dead. She diversified, made her fortune and later approached the exorcist - one Clovis Hendry - with the idea of helping rather than banishing ghosts, and they founded Quercus.
Geistphase: NOT exorcists. These are people who have learned how to eat ghosts for power. They are blacklisted by exorcists and adorcists alike and there are no studies on what eating ghosts does to people because it’s generally considered the height of perversion.
A Geistphase with a powerful ghost can do things commonly considered the purview of ‘real’ psychics.
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[fanfic] A Prisoner’s Desire
Shun stood at the cave opening, drinking in sunlight that cascaded downward. He couldn’t step a single footstep past the entrance – Yuuri’s magic made certain of that. He’d tried. He’d tried more times than he could even name – mostly because he tried multiple times a day and he’d been with Yuuri close to a year now.
Just thinking that sent his stomach twisting and his heart pounding in hatred and rage even more. He clung to that rage – it kept him from giving up hope altogether. He wasn’t gong to let the dragon take that away from him. Yuuri had already taken so much away from him. Starting with his freedom.
It was already late afternoon. Soon the sun would slide behind the mountains to the point no light entered this valley and the moon would rise. Shun stared at that as often as he did at the sun. Anything that represented freedom he stared at hungrily, aching to reach it once again.
Though in fairness, he could set foot beyond the cave entrance, but there was a condition to that. He could only do so when Yuuri was with him and that wasn’t what he wanted.
Yuuri had taken him out a few times, mostly when Shun demanded certain cooking implements be purchased. Shun insisted that if he were going to be Yuuri’s cook, then he was going to at least have the utensils to make what he wanted. Yuuri seemed to find that very amusing.
A faint noise sounded from outside. Shun frowned. He’d heard that sort of sound before. It wasn’t Yuuri; Yuuri had gone to visit one of his brothers. Or so he’d said. Shun wasn’t certain if or when Yuuri told the truth, even after a year.
He’d heard it before, but he hadn’t heard it in a very long time, and it wasn’t until he actually saw the person who entered that he recognized the sound of armor. Someone wearing chain mail entered the valley and stumbled their way towards the cave entrance. They also wore a helmet, concealing their features, and Shun didn’t let himself feel even a scrap of hope.
The knight – or whoever – stopped in front of the cave, tilted their visor back, and shouted at the top of their lungs.
“Dragon! Evil beast! Bane of the world! I demand you face me in single combat for the freedom of your captive – or captives!”
Shun did not stop himself from facepalming. He’d hoped for a year now that Yuuto or Ruri or Crow or someone that he knew would find him and help him get home. This wasn’t what he wanted at all.
“Who do you think you are?” Shun asked, shifting to where he could be seen. The knight blinked and turned towards him.
“You’re not a dragon,” he said. Shun presumed he was more or less attractive, but there didn’t seem to be a great deal of intelligence in his eyes. “Are you the dragon’s servant?”
In all technicality, Shun knew that was the truth. He argued continually with Yuuri about that. He preferred to call himself a captive if he were going to call himself anything. Yuuri preferred other names. Shun did not like to think about those names.
So he didn’t quite answer. “I’m not here because I want to be,” he said. “Who are you?”
“I am the Prince of Devalon!” The knight raised his head so much that Shun didn’t think he could see anything else in front of him. “I’ve heard that the dragon who lives here is the most terrifying of monsters who has taken many people captive and will not release them. I’ve come to slay the beast and free them all.”
Shun let out a very annoyed breath. “You’re partially right. He is a terrifying monster. But he’s only taken one prisoner – me.” He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the prince. “And I don’t think you’re going to be able to slay him.”
The prince slowly lowered his head and blinked at him. “Excuse me? There aren’t any princesses here?”
“No.” Shun bit the word off. “Nor princes.” One could never be too certain how a prince’s tastes ran. He’d heard of one that actually had a dragon as a consort. “Just me.”
The prince’s eyes narrowed, moving past Shun and then back to him. “What about treasure? I could at least loot the place. Let me in.”
For a few seconds Shun considered it. He wasn’t sure of how Yuuri set up his defenses so that Shun couldn’t leave. Perhaps anyone who wasn’t a dragon who entered couldn’t leave again. Or perhaps the prince wouldn’t be able to get in at all. He already knew that he wasn’t getting out. If it had been someone he knew, he would have faith in them to figure it out.
This person, however, who focused on rescuing people who didn’t exist and ignored the one who stood right there, and who wanted to take all the treasure, wasn’t the sort of rescuer who could do anything for him. He wasn’t even a rescuer at all.
“I can’t,” he finally said. He wasn’t entirely certain if he would have if he could. Leave on his own, without a doubt. Let this person who intended to steal everything that wasn’t nailed down and probably couldn’t even break the spell that kept him in here? No.
The prince stared at him, lip curling. “I’ll make you my squire if you let me in,” he said, trying for a commanding tone and sounding more petulant. “You’ll have three hot meals a day and be allowed to live in my castle. A soft warm bed, too.”
I have that here. And more. He wasn’t very happy about the soft warm bed that he shared with Yuuri – or Yuuri insisted that they share – but he cooked three hot meals a day and Yuuri didn’t mind if he made more for himself, so long as Shun always had enough for him, no matter what it was.
“No.” Shun started to turn away. “You’d better leave here before he comes back. I don’t think he’d like to see you here.”
He’d taken no more than a bare step away before there was the loudest clang he’d heard in close to a year rang out. Shun turned back to see the prince trying to get through the cave mouth and beating against empty air. The faintest hint of a smirk crossed his lips.
So it looked like he couldn’t enter at all.
“Let me in! How dare you just walk away! I am Prince of the realm! I will set you free from this place and you can be my servant! Wouldn’t you rather be mine than a beastly dragon’s?”
Shun didn’t like Yuuri. He hated it when Yuuri’s tongue traced against his skin, sending his head spinning and rousing ardor that he’d never had for anyone else. But Yuuri also talked to him. Yuuri talked to him like a person, telling him stories of being a dragon, and listened to his own tales. Shun told them in the hopes that he could persuade Yuuri to let hi go. It hadn’t ever worked, but there were so many nights when they’d curled up beside the fireplace together, Yuuri teasing him to greater and greater heights of passion, and Shun - Shun hated to admit it, but he’d grown a bit attached to that.
There were probably names for things like that. But Shun refused to think about it too much. It would tell him things he’d rather not know about himself.
“No,” was all he said. He wanted to go free. Not be someone else’s servant. He wanted the skies again. He could live forever as a falcon if he needed to.
The prince pounded on the invisible barrier harder and harder. “Let me in! I demand it!”
A shadow fell over the prince from behind. Shun turned back, a tiny thrill racing through him that he pretended wasn’t happening. He knew that shape, and he knew the one that appeared a breath later, as Yuuri in his human form approached from behind.
“What do we have here, my pretty bird?” Yuuri asked, his gaze sliding past the angered prince to Shun. Shun stepped closer to the cave entrance.
“He says that he’s a prince,” Shun answered. “And he wasn’t all that happy to find out there weren’t any princesses here.” He considered for a moment. “Then he wanted me to let him in so he could rob the treasury.” He’d seen Yuuri’s treasury. There were kings who would weep at the sight of that. Even if he could have let him in. the prince wouldn’t have been able to carry it all away from there on his back.
The prince whirled to glare at Yuuri, who stood there ever so calmly in his purple garments, one hand resting on his hip, head tilted to one side. “Let me in there! That treasure is stolen!”
“That treasure is mine. None of those who I took it from are alive to claim it – neither are their heirs.” Yuuri smiled in that way that displayed his draconic teeth in a human mouth. “If you take it from me, you’re nothing but a thief.”
“It’s not theft to take from a dragon!”
Yuuri chuckled softly. “Then let us settle this the old fashioned way. It’s a bit boorish but I suppose you won’t learn any other way.” He turned towards Shun and reached one hand out to him. “Come on out, pretty bird. I want you to see this.”
Shun’s initial thought was just to step back and let Yuuri do t+his without him. But he knew far too well how Yuuri would react to that. It would probably happen anyway, so the least he could do was do it by his own choice. He set his hand in Yuuri’s and Yuuri pulled him through the barrier as if it wasn’t even there.
Again the knight threw himself at the barrier, but it bounced him back as hard as it had before. Yuuri shook his head.
‘You can’t enter my home without my permission. Now, if you can slay me, then you can have my treasure, and you, my pretty bird, can depart to wherever you wish to go,” Yuuri told him, and Shun could feel the tingle of magic in his words. “But when I slay you, I will eat your corpse and whatever you have that I want I’ll keep and sell the rest.” His violet eyes shifted over to Shun. “And then I’ll celebrate with you.”
Shun shuddered, both from what Yuuri said and the way his eyes slitted for a few seconds as he turned back towards the knight. For a few brief seconds he considered taking to the air. But he knew Yuuri could easily catch him again – he’d tried that before, so many times in the first month or two, before he’d unwillingly began to accept that Yuuri was far faster than he was.
He would find a way. He’d never for a breath given up on that. Now wasn’t the time.
The knight glared at Yuuri. “I will have you know that I wield the greatest weapon to slay dragons ever forged! It has been passed down in my family for seven generations!”
Yuuri sniffed towards him and his lips quirked. “You bought it at a cheap fair two weeks ago. Along with the armor. You >are a prince, but you’re the youngest of your family and all of your older brothers have married and produced heirs. The only way you’d ever ascend a throne is to marry into it or if some sort of disaster happened to your entire family.”
Shun couldn’t see the prince’s face, but the way his eyes widened and his fists clenched before he yanked the sword out of the sheath told just how true those words were. He settled himself on the rock he enjoyed sitting on the most when Yuuri brought him out for sunshine and exercise. He didn’t think this would take long.
Nor did it. The prince lunged forward, sword flailing as if he’d never had a day’s worth of proper training. Yuuri didn’t even bother to change form. He slipped to one side and perched on another rock, caressing the soft blossoms of meadow sage growing nearby.
“I said that I’ll sell whatever of yours I don’t want – and you don’t have anything I want – but I also don’t know who might want to buy that. It’s not going to be worth anything once I’m done with you.” Yuuri regarded his erstwhile opponent with a very amused look. “Are you ready to die yet or did you want to run around a little more?”
Again the prince charged, sword waved about fit to cut the wind to tatters, and Yuuri lazily strolled out of the way. The prince kept on charging forwards, showing nothing that resembled the slightest knowledge of how to fight, finally taking the sword’s hilt in both hands and running at Yuuri.
Yuuri didn’t move this time. Instead, he reached up and caught the sword in his bare hands – bare hands that still were as strong as a dragon’s scales – and wrenched the blade away from the prince. He examined it only for a moment, then snapped it in half. The prince stumbled to a halt as Yuuri disarmed him, then stared as if utterly incapable of believing what just happened.
Then Yuuri did change. The meadow here was more than large enough for him, but he still brought fear by his mere existence. Yuuri smiled. Shun doubted that the prince realized it was a smile, which was probably a good thing for him.
Yuuri did not allow any last words. He simply breathed fire, a raging torrent of burning blaze that blinded Shun for a few seconds. When he could see what was going on again, Yuuri was once more in his human form, and there wasn’t anything left of the prince saved a burned smear on the ground.
“You’ll have to clean that up tomorrow,” Yuuri said, strolling over towards Shun. “It’s unsightly and I don’t want it on the front doorstep.”
That didn’t surprise Shun. Yuuri never cleaned up his own messes. He regarded Yuuri curiously.
“How did you know that about him?”
Yuuri shrugged. “He came with a friend. That’s how he got up here – it was a magician. He was waiting down below and I saw them on the way home. Magicians know better than to enter my territory. Most of them do, anyway. When the magician saw me, he told me everything about his friend.” Yuuri swayed close to Shun, his eyes dark and desirous. “And then I ate the magician.”
Shun couldn’t move a single muscle. Yuuri’s gaze had that effect on him, keeping him trapped with his eyes alone. Sometimes he wasn’t sure if he just couldn’t move or if he didn’t want to.
“I thought you didn’t like to eat humans,” Shun murmured, recalling what Yuuri told him on his first day there. Yuuri smiled and licked his lips.
“I don’t. Not very often. Certainly not my favorite.” Yuuri swayed a little closer. “Not when you prepare so much better meals for us, my pretty bird.” He rested one hand against the side of Shun’s face and tilted the shapeshifter down towards him. “I think I promised a celebration after I was done, didn’t I?”
Shun swallowed. He knew exactly what was coming next and he could not have said if he anticipated it or feared it. All it would take would be one simple touch from Yuuri’s far too wicked tongue and all thoughts of resistance would vanish, replaced by cravings he could not deny.
“Yes, you did,” he murmured when Yuuri expected him to say something. Yuuri smiled, leaning in closer, his breath ghosting hot against Shun’s ear.
“I always keep my promises.” He wrapped one hand around Shun’s and tugged him once more to the cave entryway. Shun followed along, casting a longing glance at the darkening sky overhead, where a single star gleaming bright.
Then they were in the cave once more, moving through the entryway and the variety of corridors until they arrived at the bedroom. Before he’d seen this for the first time, Shun always imagined that dragons slept on piles of gold. That was what legend always told him.
Yuuri had a large bed, with a soft mattress and a dozen softer pillows, each in a slightly different shade of purple, edged around with pink, all of it matching Yuuri’s own coloring. Large was perhaps not the right word. There was more than enough space for both of them, as well as perhaps two more if Yuuri had so chosen. So far he hadn’t – and Shun eternally knew he was grateful for that.
It wasn’t just large. It was comfortable. Shun could not remember having slept in a better bed. It would be more so if it weren’t for the company.
“Are you going to -” Shun couldn't quite form the question but Yuuri knew what he meant and shook his head, reaching for Shun.
“I don’t think I need to tonight, do I?”
The way that Yuuri smiled sent more shivers all through Shun. He wanted to look away, but those eyes of Yuuri’s kept him focused on the dragon. Yuuri fitted one hand against the side of his face and brought him down closer.
“Do I?”
Later, Shun thought he didn’t melt into Yuuri’s arms, but it was a close thing. He knew Yuuri could get him to do whatever he wanted with a simple brush of his tongue. Yet he didn’t. And Shun did all that he wanted regardless.
A tiny part of him murmured that he also wanted this. But it was not a part that he chose to listen to.
The End
Notes: Well, "break me" was supposed to be for an angsty drabble. I think I got the angsty part done. Drabble, not so much.
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With the most vitamin C, tumbo fruit benefits
Agricultural Treasure
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Oh my god, it’s The Twelfth Day.
All things must end, but what a way to go.
I have so much to say about this fic, about the process and the response and every silly little detail I snuck in, but I edited this for five hours today and my eyes are crossed.
ENJOY. I love you all with everything I have!!! Thank you for supporting this journey. If you’ve been waiting to binge, now’s the time! 🖤🖤🖤
#hannigram#hannibal#hannibal fanfic#fanfiction#hannibal fic#hannigram fanfic#the advent of ardor#my fic#my fics#it’s DONE!!!!
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SOURCE: cont. PAIRING: @manticxre ft. seunghwa
zestful smile diaphanous - it appears to be the sole countenance sungil shall ever face when he is around the younger boy. incandescence and ardor glistening in his eyes, for the boyish zeal in him has arsoned, cauterized onto his skin -- and that is not a deportment which the older lad can facilely / undemandingly extirpate. ❛ it doesn’t matter much, you know ? regardless of your age, you’re obviously unwilling to go there so... let me be your moral support. ❜ ingenuousness guides his conducts towards grasping onto the other’s tightly and funneling him on as if that physical affinity or perhaps even his own advent by itself could become an elevating sensation. this representative naivety shall once day get him into grave mishaps. ❛ you can do it ! ❜
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Our Kind Of Love
Title: Our Kind Of Love
Webcricket's Advent Calendar Day 15: Affectionate Nicknames
Rating: Fluff
Pairing: John Winchester x Reader
Word Count: 867
Warnings: Mention of sex, but it isn't described here. Big age difference between John and reader, she's in her 20's. If any of this bothers you, please don't read.
A/N: If you want to be tagged in future works, let me know!
DO NOT POST THIS ANYWHERE ELSE, I WILL NEVER GIVE PERMISSION FOR THAT.
You were lounging on the hotel bed watching the news, trying to relax from the last case that you had went on with John Winchester. It had been a relatively easy one, but you always felt so ramped up after a hunt that it was hard to bring yourself back down. John seemed to be the same way, though he never showed it through that calm facade that he had up all the time.
The shower earlier had done well to help relax you a little, but your nerves were still on high alert, and would be for a while at least. Stretching out a little, you sighed and looked away from the tv toward the bathroom door, hearing the water cut off, which signaled the end of John's shower. You were eager for him to get dressed and join you, having him close always helped to ease all the tension away.
Sam and Dean had not been pleased with your relationship at first, mainly due to the serious age gap between you and John. You were easily half his age, but you knew the first time you laid eyes on him that he was your one, and John had felt a similar reaction to you. So it was only natural for the two of you to finally get together, but it still raised a lot of eyebrows. Not that either of you cared, you loved each other and were happy, nothing else mattered really.
Your mind drifted over those thoughts again before you pushed them aside, refocusing on the here and now as you heard the rustling of clothes. He came out a couple minutes later in his lounge pants, slung low on his hips and making your mouth water at how good he looked. Those hazel eyes took in your expression as a smile tugged at his lips, “Does everything I do turn you on, sweetheart?”
A blush crossed your cheeks and you glanced away, sitting up on the bed a second later, “Well I can't help it, John, you're ridiculously attractive.” He laughed as he put his dirty clothes into a separate bag before pulling one of his shirts on over his head to help ease your ardor. Not that it did much really, you still wanted to rip it off and do some incredibly naughty things to him. But you restrained yourself, you'd already done that once tonight, you could cool it enough to just relax now.
Walking over, he sat on the bed beside you and pulled you up against his side as he kissed your forehead, “You know that I like it when you think like that, it's flattering. But I'm only a man, and an older one at that, you'll have to let me rest first.”
You snorted a laugh at that, him acting like he was oh so old and couldn't keep up with you. It was a crazy notion, considering he was the one who usually made you pass out from pleasure when things turned heated between you two. Rolling your eyes at him, you squirmed out of his hold to lay back down on the bed, comfortable in one of his shirts and a pair of fuzzy pajamas.
He laughed again and shifted to lay beside you, gathering you up against his chest as his head rested against yours, “I love the way you pout, Y/N. You're adorable, sweetheart.”
The warmth from his chest felt good and you snuggled deeper into him, loving the way his strong arms held you close, kept you safe, “I'm not pouting, baby.” You argued gently as you breathed in his scent, hands gripping his shirt as you stayed as close to him as you could get.
He let you curl and snuggle all you wanted, one big hand rubbing soothingly along your back as you tried to find your spot for the night, “Of course you aren't, angel. But you know that even when you do, I still love you.” His voice soothed you even more and you settled down beneath his touch, pillowing your head on his chest.
“Mea Vita...I love you too.” You whispered as you pressed close to him, sliding your arms around him as he did the same, pressing another kiss to your forehead. John loved when you spoke Latin, even though you didn't know much more than the exorcism, and a few terms of endearment. Those were things you only ever used with him, and he loved the way it rolled off of your tongue.
John breathed deep and then let out that same breath, rubbing your back again as he relaxed there with you, “Get some rest, angel.” He murmured as you started to drift off to sleep, content and warm in his arms, thankful once again that you had him in your life.
Mea vita - my life, more or less, from what I can tell. My latin is shit these days, so forgive me if this is incorrect. I don’t trust translation apps very much, so I’m relying on memory here. Apologies if it’s wrong!
@webcricket @waywardangelcupcake
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Tests (SAT & TOEFL)
TOEFL
emphasize narrow upstanding anticipate toxic revive harmful innovative scenic expansion widespread odd deep uphold narrate acclaim indifferent acknowledge profuse heighten inactive fertile finite disperse moderate disapproval truncate underscore prime relate idol paramount gigantic woo flourishing burgeon practical elicit clever shed crush critical assert distinguish ample phenomenon abroad novel harbor transport feasible pinpoint mimic peculiar worthwhile extensive demeanor distribute myth cultivate chaotic streamline intrusive decline enact acquire limber distinct improperly circulate placid dignitary alter magnitude omit evoke ancient potent engross commonplace enormous noteworthy synthesis prosperous lethargy particle ascertain ridge endure restore purposefully indiscriminate maintain postpone spacious unique mediocre pass recompense circumvent eclectic amusement benefit symbol pattern comparatively periodic aptly prophetic classify disregard susceptible element energetic spontaneous inordinate proficient assimilate intensify consistently foster valid ambiguous sustained delicate elaborate impulsively confirm evolve actually convert resilient wanton settle genuine recover adhere vigorous nominal confidential unbiased shallow trap particular erratic portray baffle straightforward initiate sharply highlight currency avert brash adverse motivate normally varied gain witticism accurate diverse investigation vast tangible brilliant attribute persuade staple arbitrary rigid durable conscientious swift trait ignite weak steady devise facilitate notion stable enlighten inaccessible compel infrequently intentionally perceive suitable astute presumably account emerge abrupt promote exemplify determined instantly readily affordable caliber oblivious reportedly zenith prompt tedious predictably motion negligible forfeit feign unravel mindset annoying intricate discrepancy demonstration inevitable stream exaggerate astounding fundamental core withdraw dense immense provoke exceptional persistent eloquent defy renown overlook heyday scattered fallacious display sufficiently eventually elude curious incessant intrinsic opposition accentuate amenity documented condense conspicuously engender striking appealing export undeniably substantial archaic approximately freshly dominant gather launch charisma release dictate surpass chiefly transform docile exceedingly turbulent advantage obsolete reluctantly dwelling minuscule vibrant analogous obviously isolated install stoic subsequently jargon compile facet severe creep unmistakable vital reaction refine coherent mention celebrated impressive vanishing theoretically extinguish integral justify hasten prevalent robust haphazardly formidable convenient agitate means redundant proportion frail face function inadvertently bring about contradictory factor in encompass found distort briefly discernible elementary advice deficient reject relinquish offensive nurture controversial conceivably gradually hazardous dramatic reliably mundane delighted oblige clarify hue entirely accelerate mammoth balanced rudimentary overcome predominant generic collide encircle partially sheltered skeptical intolerable profoundly precious contemporary caution allocation situated inundate blur dim somewhat impartial legitimate mirror halt contaminated mortify lack plentiful outlandish convey preconception endorse evaporate propose poll perilous lasting absurd partisan encourage bear selective assortment infancy trigger supposedly obstruct overtly advent tempt conventional nevertheless drab exhibit marvel conform debilitating mysterious dormant ongoing take on reflection arduous enhance conceal autonomous coarse potential routinely chronic evident ingredient blind security rhythm unwarranted gratifying philanthropic aggravating comply tranquility obtain uniform sporadic precarious parallel discreetly insignificant superficial reveal emit volume systematically suspect exclusively triumph analyze eliminate curative designate superior embody disguise instigate withstand come across handle fabricate acceptable erode disruptive acute harvest underestimate remarkable involuntarily vague deplete agile interpret solid prone enrich span concur requisite broaden deceptively visibly unlikely antiquated succinct radiant complex stamina outburst petition convince arid scarcely crucial retrieve exhaust diligent culminate flaw shift wisdom attractive exert
SAT 1
apathy emancipate catharsis verbose lineage parsimony temperance pragmatic nonchalant magnanimous querulous impetuous unanimous inscrutable discerning revoke ruthless impetus eulogy arbitrary expedite cynic demagogue eradicate debilitating mercurial frugal circumspect insubordination eloquent orthodox recluse equivocate catalyst heresy banal rectify schism incisive carping apologist clemency curtail inane postulate inexorable anthropology benevolent flourish prudent assuage insolent forlorn deference decadent pontificate indulgent rejuvenate tenuous mundane refurbish erudite stoic sedate evocative astute laconic unstinting succinct allude bombastic ambivalent appalling appease rebuke grudging exhortation anarchist facilitate enthralling callous sequester contrite incontrovertible provincial credulous surreptitious benediction meticulous hierarchy induce confound demeaning unscrupulous unfettered revelation impassive adjudicate circumlocution pedestrian advocate impervious bane loquacious strident inept irresolute debunk fluctuate discursive punitive flimsy averse lethargic viable uniform intransigent fallible conformist cajole maverick cantankerous insipid enervate squander repudiate colloquial candid efficacy estranged tangential amicable reprehensible servile vilify substantiate peruse depraved obtrusive evade protean platitude vehement anthology pacify assiduous conspire zealot chicanery ameliorate elucidate alacrity oblige complacent vindictive vacillate transmute diffident embellish subjective discernment resolute disdain coherent malevolence reticent placid digress construe rancor futile delineate eclectic poignant objective scrupulous elusive enticement benefactor speculation precipitous propagate lassitude rebut insinuate misanthrope equanimity propriety propensity provocative circumlocutory mutate ethics machination sanguine beneficiary stagnant renounce domineering anecdote pedantic disingenuous skeptical tactful incongruous jurisprudence revamp fastidious tout empirical supplant fickle tirade scrutinize despot prodigious ambiguous vigor refinement derivative contempt cursory censure disputatious harangue anomaly conventional circuitous precedent benign prevalent epilogue mollify melancholy qualitative coerce sanction relinquish qualify conjecture indifferent insidious cohesive gratuity partisan disburse extol homogeneous auspicious indoctrinate disseminate indigenous ephemeral euphonious circumscribe ebullient avarice instigate vex clamor elocution aesthetic progeny comprehensive convoluted derision mandate profuse bolster exploitative resign amorphous perjure berate hyperbole pervasive immutable audacious capricious denounce concur insurgent exonerate prosaic malign vindicate antipathy transient decorum disperse mitigate sublime tractable metamorphosis intermittent superfluous litigious treacherous volatile imperious subterfuge unremitting brevity predominant utility garrulous adroit fallacious reprove analogy criterion insular synthesis proficient judicious placate anachronism enumerate remuneration jurisdiction virulent buttress proliferate censor dispel protracted steadfast exorbitant usurper exacting lavish irreverent ossify irony recalcitrant iconoclast guile arbitrate subvert verbatim subjugate palpable indignant extemporaneous acquiesce spurious animosity innocuous melodrama capitulate gratis paradox dictatorial introspective dolorous languish dormant dogmatic exemplar concession euphoria phlegmatic belie discriminating infer symbiosis sagacious vigilant congenital dubious abstract gratify encroach opulent concise inhibited solicitous condescend eminent discretion indelible language ineffable satiric mercenary allegation extricate nebulous lithe acumen contentious mutable prodigal altruistic affable rupture duplicity rhetoric specious adverse potent belligerent effusive lucrative diversion euphemism choleric refute regress pugnacious indigent consensus divulge fervent idiosyncrasy adjure vacuous abridge hackneyed valor grandiloquent vestige ingratiate adversary bourgeois exacerbate alleviate pusillanimous brusque apprehensive empathy obstinate flout tenacious concord archaic reciprocate ardor enigma conciliatory complement deleterious splendid lament obsolete intrepid amend dearth abash
SAT 2
specious recalcitrant anarchist appropriate diatribe capacious affable preempt prosaic synthesis protean decry cryptic reprimand culpable painstaking germinate scanty amass renounce enervate static tangential cacophony gratis congenital blight incongruous indigent moratorium equanimity brusque ebb demography quagmire benediction crass pugnacious apprehensive benevolent protracted tenacious refrain prescient volatile concur spurious mitigate fanatic insipid annex guile flippant impregnable defunct evanescent atheist conspire garrulous industrious diverge impediment impede acquit vacillate malapropism cosmic magnanimous deference nefarious revere succinct reproach gustatory disputatious pedantic orthodoxy unanimous agility heresy meager dirge fluctuate candid anecdote interminable calumny attrition heinous sanctuary consummate assiduous misanthrope cajole disingenuous sanctimonious prolific pariah filch ingratiate fallow seclusion derogatory inscrutable fetter banish portend penitent odious wheedle slander enterprising tangible obsequious forgo fallacious scrutinize stratagem blatant mutiny loquacious colloquial renegade geniality epilogue dogged lunar outmoded diligence potent lament bilk amicable incite pseudonym eclectic affix verbatim robust congenial barren debilitate auditory isolate destitute baroque ostracize dupe contemporary obdurate atrophy levity provoke abdicate lurid cultivate recluse resolute berate prevaricate jurisdiction euphemism provocative decorum discursive convoluted ostentatious solitude judicious lionize jurisprudence improvident semantics torpor aptitude malefactor remuneration postscript conform rebuff despondent digress beguile spur contentious pusillanimous sociology brazen itinerant irreproachable sanguine machination pilfer placid rupture abort disperse ethics euphonious remorse thwart fecund aural expel appalling contrite fleece lassitude desultory curator insubordination transitory adamant celestial pathology pecuniary adjure preeminent ambivalent veracity peripheral listless amorphous goad talisman sacrosanct adjudicate indict swindle premeditate efface haughty anguish benign affliction euphoria paragon append curmudgeon hedonist ruse anomaly desiccated pejorative zealot brawn entrepreneur impassive lofty denigrate astute disparage insolvent steadfast vacuous caustic obsolete replete hamper theology incisive palpable acumen venerate surfeit threadbare transmute transient jettison anthology inexorable propagate tribulation amity expertise placate bigotry thrifty abstinence nautical decrepit schism gullible formidable ignominy indomitable relic reprove disseminate censure oncology coerce paucity convention grandiose amalgam wane diminutive banal cession perpetuate bard savory decorous immutable sporadic respite prophetic abominable serene dissuade mollify opulence verisimilitude deplete astral gregarious antediluvian irascible compliant anthropology impeach adept precocious epitaph harass allegation contempt equivocal esoteric dilettante antipathy revile profound optimist expedite porous exhort parody portent pertinacity litigious arable lethargic frugal capricious entomology querulous acrimony venal noisome iconoclast quiescent infamous mundane metamorphosis ambulatory adversity munificent dilapidated sybarite addendum embezzle swagger exile glacial ephemeral extemporaneous affront stealth tentative tumultuous artifact desolate yoke beneficiary compel verbose doleful idiosyncrasy vilify indefatigable unfathomable tout bellicose furtive propensity unerring relinquish pungent deft quarantine obligatory arid coax genealogy impugn facade spartan reprehensible stymie witticism perquisite vulnerable raze pessimist influx hermit debunk nullify belligerent diffuse stagnate distend clandestine premonition vindicate inert impudent pacifist repugnant amiable rebuttal anemic abridge callous gratuity circumlocution insolent etymology poignant nebulous pious prudent rescind assail pedestrian irreverence bode rampant jocular saturate mutate archaic bombastic prerequisite culprit anachronism subterfuge forthright impertinent epic garish perambulate malevolent flagrant deterrent intractable inimical impeccable dearth rife exonerate meticulous impervious alleviate omen effrontery tactile venerable perjure perfidy neurology outspoken eloquent aesthete harbinger sacrament adroit abstain apostasy hypocrite dormant castigate dubious impel benefactor purge ineffable inundate doldrums braggart apocryphal malady choleric copious augur absolve insurrection emollient mercenary proliferate pathos abstemious nihilist dolorous convoke ascetic olfactory harangue philanthropist ruthless rapacious outcast archeology supercilious amend myopic resignedly begrudge paleontology meander altruism archive chastise abysmal foresight exculpate sadistic nomadic grandiloquent laconic deplorable phlegmatic surreptitious egregious intransigent bulwark synchronize pauper induce pretentious aesthetic repudiate compatible miserly animosity gratify fraudulent pragmatic torpid console servile integrity dissident rebuke ambiguous affect ornate impecunious contemporaneous hinder discern cathartic obscure dissipate boorish melancholy notorious pompous truculent larceny candor charlatan obstinate scrupulous pontificate appendix voluminous malediction pacify enigma elocution avarice concise anesthetic redoubtable consecrate impotent concord narcissist rarefy antiquated supplement putrid vagrant augment elegy efficacious clairvoyant encore mercurial revamp despot splendid relegate invoke abate duplicity undermine stalwart sacrilegious acrid admonish dexterous lampoon bucolic insurgent brevity coalesce fickle discerning predominant perceive invigorate ramble heretic apathy deviate curtail mirth parsimony hiatus superfluous instigate prophecy astringent uniform bastion sparse eulogy hackneyed peripatetic empathy predilection refute satire assuage ascertain
SAT 3
turmoil ominous liberate cerebral machination mediocre precocious sedentary sagacious demarcate despot exacerbate maverick redundant daunt divert scintillating obstreperous sonorous schism refute evanescent revile eccentric desiccated discern defer elucidate gourmand candid truncated adversary insight epistolary commend suppress paradox subterfuge fundamental rebuke perfidious serendipitous provincial impute conformity fallible belittle savant camaraderie exculpate impugn calumny atypical ambivalent sanction tacit proletarian augment alienate prophetic lexicography autocrat dissent infer eloquent entrepreneur bureaucrat indifferent futile conscientious idealism emancipator obdurate factious consensus mitigate guile ascetic sustain disdain deliberate reprehensible egregious vainglorious belligerent pliant perspicacity cynical usurper discord combatant connoisseur frivolous ornamentation bard vacillate disgruntled demeanor compatriot exuberant laud sibilant furtive exonerate supplant trite contempt erratic parody illuminate beneficiary colleague buffoon subjective malleable reticent flourish serene polyglot vengeance tactile cordial bromide assiduous ephemeral elite circumvent pundit adulation invidious itinerant estrangement disenfranchise alleviate dubious vulgar obstinate scarce subsequent perquisite boor narcissist capricious oration differentiate recluse hierarchy philanthropist innocuous insular intransigent anomaly parsimonious renounce ingenious obsolete nascent soberly pristine penitent indignant mandate fomentation espouse fortify irascible decorous dispel tumultuous magnanimous meticulous inimical modest susceptible paragon melodrama querulous amalgamation tranquil harangue melange conspire quantitative effrontery emissary hedonist conspicuous sedulous inundate allude cunning populist incompetent sarcasm efficacious agnostic inhibit proliferate esoteric invoke alacrity sully concomitant incongruity clairvoyant concise deride avid stifle inherent decry anarchist pragmatic disillusion amateur condescend satire destitute rhetoric anecdote interlocutor demagogue obscure authoritarian idiosyncrasy jarring flotsam insinuate malevolent avenger flippant auspicious juxtapose ingenue picayune consummate denigrate spontaneous prudent exemplary baffle remuneration rancorous enervated deject martinet totalitarian proselytize condone gustatory oppress innovative popularizer eclectic pedagogical perplex bolster vitiate bombast tenacious chicanery assert warrant mundane prolific fallacy indictment censure contrite diplomatic ebullient stringent caricature halcyon scoff equivocate exasperate substantiate toady enervation reactionary egalitarian abstemious nuance vigor humility vanquish dearth mogul discredit console monarch stricture pugilist catastrophic illusory meliorate raiment archaeology emulate quiescent tinder emphatic treacly pugnacious overt panacea endure hostile acute reminiscence antagonize cantankerous transcend convoluted doctrine ignominious tact resolute defector eradicate improvise therapeutic insolence penchant animated utilitarian deleterious disingenuous stultify reproach extravagant nostalgia vociferous propensity mercenary insidious undermine periphery inconsequential phenomenon propaganda devotee dogmatic empirical indulgent potentate cataclysm reformist genial prominent verbose debunk profound nomad arid benevolent impervious pervasive churlish prodigy pacify unctuous agile affable advocate malice evoke chronicler ardor quixotic precedent utopian cumbersome condemn reconcile conventional vitriolic wistful oracle reiterate verisimilitude glutton subtlety exoneration dissembler query patriarch inquisitive corpulent empathy lucid surreptitious weary disclose disparate petty ornate aristocrat sanctimonious allege denounce provocative tenuous inchoate autonomy superficial extol curative interrogate ostensible meritocracy lament subversive anthropocentrism vulnerable moratorium monotony astute somnolent 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The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 243-254: Chapter (24) Corinth
This chapter is based on Acts 18:1-18.
During the first century of the Christian Era, Corinth was one of the leading cities, not only of Greece, but of the world. Greeks, Jews, and Romans, with travelers from every land, thronged its streets, eagerly intent on business and pleasure. A great commercial center, situated within easy access of all parts of the Roman Empire, it was an important place in which to establish memorials for God and His truth.
Among the Jews who had taken up their residence in Corinth were Aquila and Priscilla, who afterward became distinguished as earnest workers for Christ. Becoming acquainted with the character of these persons, Paul “abode with them.”
At the very beginning of his labors in this thoroughfare of travel, Paul saw on every hand serious obstacles to the progress of his work. The city was almost wholly given up to idolatry. Venus was the favorite goddess, and with the worship of Venus were connected many demoralizing rites and ceremonies. The Corinthians had become conspicuous, even among the heathen, for their gross immorality. They seemed to have little thought or care beyond the pleasures and gaieties of the hour.
In preaching the gospel in Corinth, the apostle followed a course different from that which had marked his labors at Athens. While in the latter place, he had sought to adapt his style to the character of his audience; he had met logic with logic, science with science, philosophy with philosophy. As he thought of the time thus spent, and realized that his teaching in Athens had been productive of but little fruit, he decided to follow another plan of labor in Corinth in his efforts to arrest the attention of the careless and the indifferent. He determined to avoid elaborate arguments and discussions, and “not to know anything” among the Corinthians “save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” He would preach to them “not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” 1 Corinthians 2:2, 4.
Jesus, whom Paul was about to present before the Greeks in Corinth as the Christ, was a Jew of lowly origin, reared in a town proverbial for its wickedness. He had been rejected by His own nation and at last crucified as a malefactor. The Greeks believed that there was need of elevating the human race, but they regarded the study of philosophy and science as the only means of attaining to true elevation and honor. Could Paul lead them to believe that faith in the power of this obscure Jew would uplift and ennoble every power of the being?
To the minds of multitudes living at the present time, the cross of Calvary is surrounded by sacred memories. Hallowed associations are connected with the scenes of the crucifixion. But in Paul's day the cross was regarded with feelings of repulsion and horror. To uphold as the Saviour of mankind one who had met death on the cross, would naturally call forth ridicule and opposition.
Paul well knew how his message would be regarded by both the Jews and the Greeks of Corinth. “We preach Christ crucified,” he admitted, “unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness.” 1 Corinthians 1:23. Among his Jewish hearers there were many who would be angered by the message he was about to proclaim. In the estimation of the Greeks his words would be absurd folly. He would be looked upon as weak-minded for attempting to show how the cross could have any connection with the elevation of the race or the salvation of mankind.
But to Paul the cross was the one object of supreme interest. Ever since he had been arrested in his career of persecution against the followers of the crucified Nazarene he had never ceased to glory in the cross. At that time there had been given him a revelation of the infinite love of God, as revealed in the death of Christ; and a marvelous transformation had been wrought in his life, bringing all his plans and purposes into harmony with heaven. From that hour he had been a new man in Christ. He knew by personal experience that when a sinner once beholds the love of the Father, as seen in the sacrifice of His Son, and yields to the divine influence, a change of heart takes place, and henceforth Christ is all and in all.
At the time of his conversion, Paul was inspired with a longing desire to help his fellow men to behold Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of the living God, mighty to transform and to save. Henceforth his life was wholly devoted to an effort to portray the love and power of the Crucified One. His great heart of sympathy took in all classes. “I am debtor,” he declared, “both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.” Romans 1:14. Love for the Lord of glory, whom he had so relentlessly persecuted in the person of His saints, was the actuating principle of his conduct, his motive power. If ever his ardor in the path of duty flagged, one glance at the cross and the amazing love there revealed, was enough to cause him to gird up the loins of his mind and press forward in the path of self-denial.
Behold the apostle preaching in the synagogue at Corinth, reasoning from the writings of Moses and the prophets, and bringing his hearers down to the advent of the promised Messiah. Listen as he makes plain the work of the Redeemer as the great high priest of mankind—the One who through the sacrifice of His own life was to make atonement for sin once for all, and was then to take up His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. Paul's hearers were made to understand that the Messiah for whose advent they had been longing, had already come; that His death was the antitype of all the sacrificial offerings, and that His ministry in the sanctuary in heaven was the great object that cast its shadow backward and made clear the ministry of the Jewish priesthood.
Paul “testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.” From the Old Testament Scriptures he showed that according to the prophecies and the universal expectation of the Jews, the Messiah would be of the lineage of Abraham and of David; then he traced the descent of Jesus from the patriarch Abraham through the royal psalmist. He read the testimony of the prophets regarding the character and work of the promised Messiah, and His reception and treatment on the earth; then he showed that all these predictions had been fulfilled in the life, ministry, and death of Jesus of Nazareth.
Paul showed that Christ had come to offer salvation first of all to the nation that was looking for the Messiah's coming as the consummation and glory of their national existence. But that nation had rejected Him who would have given them life, and had chosen another leader, whose reign would end in death. He endeavored to bring home to his hearers the fact that repentance alone could save the Jewish nation from impending ruin. He revealed their ignorance concerning the meaning of those Scriptures which it was their chief boast and glory that they fully understood. He rebuked their worldliness, their love of station, titles, and display, and their inordinate selfishness.
In the power of the Spirit, Paul related the story of his own miraculous conversion and of his confidence in the Old Testament Scriptures, which had been so completely fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. His words were spoken with solemn earnestness, and his hearers could not but discern that he loved with all his heart the crucified and risen Saviour. They saw that his mind was centered in Christ, that his whole life was bound up with his Lord. So impressive were his words, that only those who were filled with the bitterest hatred against the Christian religion could stand unmoved by them.
But the Jews of Corinth closed their eyes to the evidence so clearly presented by the apostle, and refused to listen to his appeals. The same spirit that had led them to reject Christ, filled them with wrath and fury against His servant; and had not God especially protected him, that he might continue to bear the gospel message to the Gentiles, they would have put an end to his life.
“And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshiped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.”
Silas and Timothy had “come from Macedonia” to help Paul, and together they labored for the Gentiles. To the heathen, as well as to the Jews, Paul and his companions preached Christ as the Saviour of the fallen race. Avoiding complicated, far-fetched reasoning, the messengers of the cross dwelt upon the attributes of the Creator of the world, the Supreme Ruler of the universe. Their hearts aglow with the love of God and of His Son, they appealed to the heathen to behold the infinite sacrifice made in man's behalf. They knew that if those who had long been groping in the darkness of heathenism could but see the light streaming from Calvary's cross, they would be drawn to the Redeemer. “I, if I be lifted up,” the Saviour had declared, “will draw all men unto Me.” John 12:32.
The gospel workers in Corinth realized the terrible dangers threatening the souls of those for whom they were laboring; and it was with a sense of the responsibility resting on them that they presented the truth as it is in Jesus. Clear, plain, and decided was their message—a savor of life unto life, or of death unto death. And not only in their words, but in the daily life, was the gospel revealed. Angels co-operated with them, and the grace and power of God was shown in the conversion of many. “Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.”
The hatred with which the Jews had always regarded the apostles was now intensified. The conversion and baptism of Crispus had the effect of exasperating instead of convincing these stubborn opposers. They could not bring arguments to disprove Paul's preaching, and for lack of such evidence they resorted to deception and malignant attack. They blasphemed the gospel and the name of Jesus. In their blind anger no words were too bitter, no device too low, for them to use. They could not deny that Christ had worked miracles; but they declared that He had performed them through the power of Satan; and they boldly affirmed that the wonderful works wrought by Paul were accomplished through the same agency.
Though Paul had a measure of success in Corinth, yet the wickedness that he saw and heard in that corrupt city almost disheartened him. The depravity that he witnessed among the Gentiles, and the contempt and insult that he received from the Jews, caused him great anguish of spirit. He doubted the wisdom of trying to build up a church from the material that he found there.
As he was planning to leave the city for a more promising field, and seeking earnestly to understand his duty, the Lord appeared to him in a vision and said, “Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.” Paul understood this to be a command to remain in Corinth and a guarantee that the Lord would give increase to the seed sown. Strengthened and encouraged, he continued to labor there with zeal and perseverance.
The apostle's efforts were not confined to public speaking; there were many who could not have been reached in that way. He spent much time in house-to-house labor, thus availing himself of the familiar intercourse of the home circle. He visited the sick and the sorrowing, comforted the afflicted, and lifted up the oppressed. And in all that he said and did he magnified the name of Jesus. Thus he labored, “in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.” 1 Corinthians 2:3. He trembled lest his teaching should reveal the impress of the human rather than the divine.
“We speak wisdom among them that are perfect,” Paul afterward declared; “yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” 1 Corinthians 2:6-13.
Paul realized that his sufficiency was not in himself, but in the presence of the Holy Spirit, whose gracious influence filled his heart, bringing every thought into subjection to Christ. He spoke of himself as “always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” 2 Corinthians 4:10. In the apostle's teachings Christ was the central figure. “I live,” he declared, “yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Galatians 2:20. Self was hidden; Christ was revealed and exalted.
Paul was an eloquent speaker. Before his conversion he had often sought to impress his hearers by flights of oratory. But now he set all this aside. Instead of indulging in poetic descriptions and fanciful representations, which might please the senses and feed the imagination, but which would not touch the daily experience, Paul sought by the use of simple language to bring home to the heart the truths that are of vital importance. Fanciful representations of truth may cause an ecstasy of feeling, but all too often truths presented in this way do not supply the food necessary to strengthen and fortify the believer for the battles of life. The immediate needs, the present trials, of struggling souls—these must be met with sound, practical instruction in the fundamental principles of Christianity.
Paul's efforts in Corinth were not without fruit. Many turned from the worship of idols to serve the living God, and a large church was enrolled under the banner of Christ. Some were rescued from among the most dissipated of the Gentiles and became monuments of the mercy of God and the efficacy of the blood of Christ to cleanse from sin.
The increased success that Paul had in presenting Christ, roused the unbelieving Jews to more determined opposition. They rose in a body and “made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat” of Gallio, who was then proconsul of Achaia. They expected that the authorities, as on former occasions, would side with them; and with loud, angry voices they uttered their complaints against the apostle, saying, “This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.”
The Jewish religion was under the protection of the Roman power, and the accusers of Paul thought that if they could fasten upon him the charge of violating the laws of their religion, he would probably be delivered to them for trial and sentence. They hoped thus to compass his death. But Gallio was a man of integrity, and he refused to become the dupe of the jealous, intriguing Jews. Disgusted with their bigotry and self-righteousness, he would take no notice of the charge. As Paul prepared to speak in self-defense, Gallio told him that it was not necessary. Then turning to the angry accusers, he said, “If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: but if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters. And he drave them from the judgment seat.”
Both Jews and Greeks had waited eagerly for Gallio's decision; and his immediate dismissal of the case, as one that had no bearing upon the public interest, was the signal for the Jews to retire, baffled and angry. The proconsul's decided course opened the eyes of the clamorous crowd who had been abetting the Jews. For the first time during Paul's labors in Europe, the mob turned to his side; under the very eye of the proconsul, and without interference from him, they violently beset the most prominent accusers of the apostle. “All the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things.” Thus Christianity obtained a signal victory.
“Paul after this tarried there yet a good while.” If the apostle had at this time been compelled to leave Corinth, the converts to the faith of Jesus would have been placed in a perilous position. The Jews would have endeavored to follow up the advantage gained, even to the extermination of Christianity in that region.
#egw#Ellen G. White#Christianity#God#Jesus Christ#Bible#conflict of the ages#the acts of the apostles#the early church#corinth#corinthians#apostle paul#aquila#priscilla#ministry#faith#wisdom#reaching people#repentance#redemption#selfless love#prophecy#fulfillment of prophecy#type meets anti-type#the Holy Spirit#divine inspiration#testimony#rejection of truth#religious persecution#justus
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Vladimir Mayakovsky – A Cloud in Trousers (English)
Prologue
Your thought, Fantasizing on a sodden brain, Like a bloated lackey on a greasy couch sprawling, — With my heart’s bloody tatters, I’ll mock it again. Until I’m contempt, I’ll be ruthless and galling.
There’s no grandfatherly fondness in me, There are no gray hairs in my soul! Shaking the world with my voice and grinning, I pass you by, — handsome, Twentytwoyearold.
Gentle souls! You play your love on the violin. The crude ones play it on the drums violently. But can you turn yourselves inside out, like me And become just two lips entirely?
Come and learn– You, decorous bureaucrats of angelic leagues! Step out of those cambric drawing-rooms
And you, who can leaf your lips Like a cook turns the pages of her recipe books.
If you wish– I’ll rage on raw meat like a vandal Or change into hues that the sunrise arouses, If you wish– I can be irreproachably gentle, Not a man — but a cloud in trousers.
I refuse to believe in Nice blossoming! I will glorify you regardless, — Men, crumpled like bed-sheets in hospitals, And women, battered like overused proverbs.
Part I
You think I’m delirious with malaria?
This happened. In Odessa, this happened.
“I’ll come at four,” promised Maria.
Eight… Nine… Ten.
Soon after, The evening, Frowning, And Decemberish,
Left the windows And vanished in dire darkness.
Behind me, I hear the neighing and laughter Of candelabras.
You wouldn’t recognize me if you knew me prior: A bulk of sinews Moaning, Fidgeting. What can such a clod desire? But a clod desires many things.
Because for oneself it doesn’t matter Whether you’re cast of copper Or whether the heart is cold metal. At night, you want to wrap your clamor In something feminine, Gentle.
And thus, Enormous, I hunch in the frame, And with my forehead, I melt the window glass. Will this love be tremendous or lame? Will it sustain or pass? A big one wouldn’t fit a body like this: It must be a little love, — a baby, sort of, It shies away when the cars honk and hiss, But adores the bells on the horse-tram. I come face to face With the rippling rain, Yet once more, And wait Splashed by the city surf’s thundering roar.
Running amok with a knife outside, The night caught up to him And stabbed him, Unseen.
The stroke of midnight Fell like a head from a guillotine.
The silver raindrops on the windowpane Were piling a grimace And yelling. It was as if the gargoyles of Notre Dame Started yelping.
Damn you! Haven’t you had enough yet? Cries will soon cut my throat all around.
I heard: Softly, Like a patient out of his bed, A nerve leapt Down. At first, He barely moved. Then, apprehensive And distinct, He started prancing. And now, he and another two, Darted about, step-dancing.
On the ground floor, the plaster was falling fast.
Nerves, Big ones Little ones,– Various! — Galloped madly Until, at last, Their legs wouldn’t carry them.
The night oozed through the room and sank. Stuck in slime, the eye couldn’t slither out of it. Suddenly the doors started to bang As if the hotel’s teeth were chattering.
You entered, Abrupt like “Take it!”, Mauling suede gloves, you tarried, And said: “You know,– I’m soon getting married.”
Get married then. It’s all right, I can handle it. You see — I’m calm, of course! Like the pulse Of a corpse.
Remember? You used to say: “Jack London, Money, Love and ardor,”– I saw one thing only: You were La Gioconda, Which had to be stolen!
And someone stole you.
Again in love, I shall start gambling, With fire illuminating the arch of my eyebrows. And why not? Sometimes, the homeless ramblers Will seek to find shelter in a burnt down house!
You’re mocking me? “You’ve fewer emeralds of madness than a beggar kopecks, there’s no disproving this!” But remember Pompeii came to end thus When somebody teased Vesuvius!
Hey! Gentlemen! You care for Sacrilege, Crime And war. But have you seen The frightening terror Of my face When It’s Perfectly calm?
And I feel- “I” Is too small to fit me. Someone inside me is getting smothered.
Hello! Who’s speaking? Mother? Mother! Your son has a wonderful sickness! Mother! His heart has been set alight! Tell Lydia and Olga, his sisters, That there’s simply no where to hide. Every word, Whether funny or crude, That he spews from his scorching mouth, Jumps like a naked prostitute From a burning brothel.
People sniff– Something’s burned down. They call the firemen. In glittering helmets, They carelessly start intruding. Hey, tell the firemen: No boots allowed! With a sizzling heart one has to be prudent. I’ll do it! I’ll pump my watery eyes into containers. Just let me push off my ribs and I’ll start. I’ll leap out! I’ll leap out! You can’t restrain me! They’ve collapsed. You can’t leap out of the heart!
From the cracks of the lips, A cindering kiss springs, Running away from the smoldering face.
Mother! I can’t sing. In the heart’s chapel, the choir was set ablaze!
The figurines of words and numbers From the skull, Like kids from a burning building, scurry. Thus fear, Reaching up to the sky, called And raised Lusitania’s fiery arms with worry.
A hundred-eyed blaze looked into the peace Of apartments, where the people perspired. With a final outcry, Will you moan, at least, To report to the centuries that I’m on fire?
Part II
Glorify me! The great ones are no match for me! Upon everything that’s been done I stamp the word “naught.”
As of now, I have no desire to read. Novels? So what!
This is how books are made, I used to think: — Along comes a poet, And opens his lips with ease. Inspired, the fool simply begins to sing — Oh please! It turns out: Before they can sing with elation, On their calloused feet they tramp for some time, While the brainless fishes of imagination Are splashing and wallowing in the heart’s slime. And while, hissing with rhymes, they boil All the loves and the nightingales in a broth-like liquid, The tongueless street merely squirms and coils — It has nothing to yell or even speak with.
In our pride, we work all day with goodwill And the city towers of Babel are again restored. But God Grinds These cites into empty fields, Stirring the word.
In silence, the street dragged on the ordeal. A scream stood erect on the gullet’s road. While fat taxies and cabs were bristling still, Wedged in the throat. As if from consumption, The trodden chest gasped for air.
The city, with gloom, blocked the road rather fast.
And when — Nevertheless! — The street coughed up the strain onto the square And pushed the portico off its throat, at last, It seemed as if, Accompanied by the choirs of an archangel’s chorus, Recently robbed, God would show us His heat!
But the street squatted down and yelled out coarsely: “Let’s go eat!”
The Krupps and the Krupplets gather around To paint menacing brows on the city, While in the gorge Corpses of words are scatted about,– Two live and thrive,– “Swine” And another one,– I believe “borsch”.
And poets, soaking in sobs and complaining, Run from the street, resentful and sour: “With those two words there’s no way to portray now A beautiful lady, Or love Or a dew-covered flower.”
And after the poets, Thousands of others stampeded: Students, Prostitutes, Salesmen.
Gentlemen, Stop! You are not the needy; So how dare you to beg them, gentlemen!
Covering yards with each stride, We are healthy and ardent! Don’t listen to them, but thrash them instead! Them, Who are stuck like a free add-on To each king-size bed!
Are we to ask them humbly: “Help us, please!” Imploring them for hymns And oratorios? We are the creators with the burning hymns To the hum of the mills and laboratories.
Why should I care about Faust? In a fairy display of the fireworks’ loot, He’s gliding with Mephistopheles on the parquet of galaxies! I know– A nail in my boot Is more frightening than Goethe’s fantasies!
I am The most golden-mouthed, With every word I am giving The body a name-day, And the soul a rebirth, I assure you: The minutest speck of the living Is worth more than all that I’ll ever do on this earth!
Listen! The present-day Zarathustra, Wet with sweat, Is dashing around you and preaching here. We, With faces crumpled like a bed spread, With lips sagging like a chandelier, We, The Leprous City detainees, Where, from filth and gold, lepers’ sores were raised, We are purer than the Venetian azure seas, Washed by the sunshine’s balmy rays.
I spit on the fact That Homer and Ovid didn’t create Soot-covered with pox, Men like us all, But at the same time, I know That the sun would fade If it looked at the golden fields of our souls.
Muscles are surer than prayers to us! We won’t pray for aid any more! We– Each one of us– Holds in his grasp The driving reins of the world!
This led to Golgotha in the auditoriums Of Petrograd, Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, And there wasn’t one of you Who wasn’t imploring thus: “Crucify him!” Teach him a lesson!” But to me,– People, Even those of you who were mean,– To me, you are dear and I love you with passion.
Haven’t you seen A dog licking the hand that it’s being thrashed by?
I am laughed at By the present-day tribe. They’ve made A scabrous joke out of me. But I can see crossing the mountains of time, Him, whom the others can’t see.
Where men’s sight falls short, Wearing the revolutions’ thorny crown, Leading at the head of the hungry horde, The year 1916 is coming around.
Among you, his precursor, Wherever there’s pain, I’ll be near. I have nailed myself to the cross there, On every single drop of a tear. There’s nothing left to pardon now! In souls that bred pity, I burnt out the fields. That is much harder than Taking a thousand thousands of Bastilles.
And when His advent announcing, Joyful and proud, You’ll step up to greet the savior– I will drag My soul outside, And trample it Until it spreads out! And give it to you, red in blood, as a flag.
Part III
Ah, how and wherefrom Did it come to this That the dirty fists of madness Against the luminous joy were raised in the air?
She came,– The thought of a madhouse And curtained my head with despair.
And As in the Dreadnought’s downfall With chocking spasms The men jumped into the hatch, before the ship died, The crazed Burlyuk crawled on, passing Through the screaming gaps of his eye. Almost bloodying his eyelids, He emerged on his knees, Stood up and walked And in the passionate mood, With tenderness, unexpected from one so obese, He simply said: “Good!”
It’s good when from scrutiny a yellow sweater Hides the soul! It’s good when On the gibbet, in the face of terror, You shout: “Drink Cocoa — Van Houten!”
This moment, Like a Bengal light, Crackling from the blast, I wouldn’t exchange for anything, Not for any money.
Clouded by cigar smoke, And stretching like a liquor glass, One could make out the drunken face of Severyanin.
How dare you call yourself a poet And gray, like a quail, twitter away your soul! When With brass knuckles This very moment You have to split the world’s skull!
You, With one thought alone in your head, ��Am I dancing with style?” Look how happy I am Instead, I,– A pimp and a fraud all the while.
From all of you, Who soaked in love for plain fun, Who spilled Tears into centuries while you cried, I’ll walk away And place the monocle of the sun Into my gaping, wide-open eye.
I’ll wear colorful clothes, the most outlandish And roam the earth To please and scorch the public, And in front of me, On a metal leash, Napoleon will run like a little puppy.
Like a woman, quivering, the earth will lie down, Wanting to give in, she will slowly slump. Things will come alive And from all around, Their lips will lisp: “Yum-yum-yum-yum-yum!”
Suddenly, The clouds And other stuff in the air Stirred in some astonishing commotion, As if the workers in white, up there, Declared a strike, all bitter and emotional.
The savage thunder peeked out of the cloud, irate. Snorting from huge nostrils, it howled And for a moment, the face of the sky bent out of shape, Resembling the iron Bismarck’s scowl.
And someone, Entangled in the clouds’ maze, To the café, stretched out his hand now: Both, tender somehow, And with a womanly face, And at once, like a firing cannon.
You think That’s the sun above the attics Gently stretching to caress the cheeks of the café? No, advancing again to slaughter the radicals It’s General Galliffet!
Take your hands out of your pockets, wanderers – Pick up a bomb, a knife or a stone And if one happens to be armless, Let him come to fight with his forehead alone!
Go on, starving, Servile And abused ones, In this flea-swarming filth, do not rot!
Go on! We’ll turn Mondays and Tuesdays Into holidays, painting them with blood! Remind the earth whom it tried to debase! With your knives be rough! The earth Has grown fat like the mistress’ face, Whom Rothschild had over-loved!
May the flags flutter in the line of fire As they do on holidays, with a flare! Hey, street-lamps, raise the traders up higher, Let their carcasses hang in the air.
I cursed, Stabbed And hit in the face, Crawled after somebody, Biting into their ribs.
In the sky, red like La Marseillaise, The sunset gasped with its shuddering lips.
It’s insanity!
Not a thing will remain from the war.
The night will come, Bite into you And swallow you stale.
Look– Is the sky playing Judas once more, With a handful of stars that were soaked in betrayal?
The night, Like Mamai, feasted with delight, Crushing the city with its bottom’s heft. Our eyes won’t be able break through this night, As black as Azef!
Slumped in the corner of the saloon, I sit, Spilling wine on my soul and the floor, And I see: In the corner, round eyes are lit And with them, Madonna bites the heart’s core.
Why bestow such radiance on this drunken mass? What do they have to offer? You see – once again, They prefer Barabbas Over the Man of Golgotha?
Maybe, deliberately, In the human mash, not once Do I wear a fresh-looking face. I am, Perhaps, The handsomest of your sons In the whole human race.
Give them, The ones molded with delight, A quick death already, So that their children may grow up right; Boys — into fathers Girls — into pregnant ladies.
Like the wise men, let the new born babes Grow gray with insight and thought And they’ll come To baptize the infants with names Of the poems I wrote.
I praise the machine and the industrial Britain. In some ordinary, common gospel, It may perhaps, be written That I’m the thirteenth apostle.
And when my voice rumbles bawdily, Every evening, For hours and hours, awaiting my call, Jesus, Himself, may be sniffling The forget-me-nots of my soul.
Part IV
Maria! Maria! Let me in, Maria! Don’t leave me out on the street! You can’t? My cheeks cave in, But you wait ruthlessly. Soon, sampled by everyone, Stale and pallid, I’ll come out And mumble toothlessly That today I’m “Remarkably candid.”
Maria, You see– My shoulders are drooping again.
In the streets, the men Prick the fat in their four-story craws. They show their eyes, Worn out in the forty years of despair, and restless- They snicker because In my teeth, Again, I hold the hardened crust of last night’s caresses.
The rain wept over the sidewalks, — That puddle-imprisoned fraudster. The corpse of the street, clobbered by cobbles, soaked in its cries. But the gray lashes– Yes! — The eyelashes of icicles became frosted With tears from the eyes– Yes! — From the drainpipes’ overcast eyes.
Every pedestrian was licked by the rain’s snout: Athletes glistened in the carriages on the street. People burst Overstuffed, And their fat oozed out. Like a muddy river, it streamed on the ground, Together with juices from A cud of old meat.
Maria! How can I fit a tender word into bulging ears? A bird Sings for alms With a hungry voice Rather well, But I am a man, Maria, Coughed up by the ailing night into Presnya’s filthy palms.
Maria, do you want me? Maria, take me in, please. With shivering fingers I’ll squeeze the iron throat of the bell!
Maria!
The pastures of streets turn wild and loud! They’re squeezing my neck and I’m almost collapsing.
Open!
I’m hurt!
Look – my eyes are pricked out By the common womanly hatpins!
You’ve opened the door.
My child! Oh, don’t be alarmed! You see these women, Hanging on my neck like mountains, — Through life, I drag with me A million of massive, enormous, pure loves And a million millions of filthy, disgusting lovelets. Don’t be afraid If betraying the vow Of honesty, Seeing a thousand pretty faces, I’ll throw myself at them, — “Those, who love Mayakovsky!”- Please, understand that that is the dynasty Of the queens, who have mounted the heart of a madman.
Maria, closer!
Whether naked and shameless, Or shivering in dismay, Yield the wonder of your lips, so gentle: My heart and I have never lived until May, But in my past, A hundreds of Aprils assembled.
Maria! A poet sings praises to Tiana all day, But I– I’m made of flesh, I’m a man, — I ask for your body, Like the Christians pray: “Give us this day Our daily bread.”
Maria, give it to me!
Maria! I fear to forget your name As a poet fears to forget under pressure A word He conceived in a restless night, Equal to God in effect.
Your body I shall continue to love and treasure As a soldier Amputated by war, Alone And unwanted, Cherishes his remaining leg.
Maria, — You won’t have me? You won’t!
Ha!
Then gloomy and dismal, Once more, I shall carry My tear-stained heart Forward, Like a dog, Limping, Carries the paw That the speeding train had ran over.
With the blood from the heart I cheer the road that I roam, Flowers cling to my jacket, making it dusty, The sun will dance a thousand times round the earth, Like Salome Danced around the head of the Baptist.
And when my years, at their very end, Will finish their dance and wrinkle, A million bloodstains will spread The path to my Father’s kingdom.
I’ll climb out Filthy (sleeping in gullies all night), And into his ears, I’ll whisper While I stand At his side:
“Mister God, listen! Isn’t it tedious To dip your generous eyes into clouds Every day, every evening? Let’s, instead, Start a festive merry-go-round On the tree of knowledge of good and evil! Omnipresent, you’ll be all around us! From the wine, all the fun will ensue And Apostle Peter, who’s always been frowning, Will perform the fast-paced dance — ki-ka-pu. We’ll bring all the Eves back into Eden: Order me And I’ll go– From the boulevards, I’ll pick up all the pretty girls needed And bring them to you!
Should I?
No?
You’re shaking your curly head coarsely? You’re knitting your brows like you’re rough? Do you think That this Winged one, close by, Knows the meaning of love?
I too am an angel; used to be one before– With a sugar lamb’s eye, I stared at your faces, But I don’t want to give presents to mares anymore, — All the torture of Sevres that’s been made into vases. Almighty, You created two hands, And with care, Made a head, and went down the list, — But why did you make it So that it pained When one had to kiss, kiss, kiss?!
I thought that you were the Great God, Almighty But you’re a miniature idol, — a dunce in a suit, Bending over, I’m already reaching For the knife that I’m hiding At the top of my boot.
You, swindlers with wings, Huddle in fright! Ruffle your shuddering feathers, rascals! You, reeking of incense, I’ll open you wide, From here all the way to Alaska.
Let me go!
You can’t stop me! Whether I’m right or wrong Makes no difference, I will not be calmer. Look, — The stars were beheaded all night long And the sky is again bloody with slaughter.
Hey you, Heaven! Take your hat off, When you see me near!
Silence.
The universe sleeps. Placing its paw Under the black, star-infested ear.
[1914]
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New Post has been published on Add Crazy
New Post has been published on https://addcrazy.com/black-bloggers-connect-hosts-4th-annual-blogger-week-unconference-in-washington-d-c/
Black Bloggers Connect hosts 4th Annual Blogger Week UnConference in Washington, D.C.
Blogger Week is a multicultural social media festival centered on imparting bloggers and virtual media professionals of color get entry to schooling, workshops, and different skill-constructing events. This 12 months, 25 Black digital media specialists will speak on the Blogger Week 2017 UnConference. Blogger Week is held in Washington, D.C. Every 12 months, drawing over 2 hundred bloggers from across u. S .. The unconference is hosted yearly by means of global blogger community, Black Bloggers Connect, an entity of Culture The Web.kerry Washington
Blogger Week starts with a chain of online occasions scheduled for Monday, August seventh thru Thursday, August 10th. In man or woman events are scheduled for Friday, August 11th thru Sunday, August 13th.unconference topics
The Blogger Week Networking Mixer can be held on Friday
August eleventh at Mulebone in downtown Washington, D.C. By using the Black Public Relations Society of D.C. The Blogger Week 2017 UnConference might be hung on Saturday, August twelfth at Trinity Washington University. The last Blogger Week event, an UnStructured Fashion Show by means of Celebrity Stylist Geneva and DJ DRex, can be hosted on the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown on Sunday, August thirteenth. A complete time table of occasions is to be had at BloggerWeek.Com.unconference rules
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Black Bloggers Connect became based by way of Jessica Ann Mitchell Aiwuyor in 2011. Aiwuyor, a D.C. Based author and multicultural communications specialist, created the social network whilst earning her Master of Science in Public Relations on the prestigious S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Today, over 14,000 bloggers and digital media professionals get hold of assist and training from Black Bloggers Connect.google blogosphere.how to facilitate an unconference
Key sponsors and partners encompass Urban Movie Channel, Media.The Internet, EDEN BodyWorks, Truth Initiative, The Black Public Relations Society of D.C., Gotham City Esq., Truth Public Relations, Mulebone, BV Mobile Apps, The Hive 2.0, and Go Anacostia.
How to Have a Focus for Bloggers
There is much stuff that is frustrating whilst you first attempt to blog. Coming up with ideas, locating time to do it are one of the top ones. Keeping the ardor going when matters get difficult and having your eyes constant on your cause is any other.
Whatever the case is probably, I desire you take running a blog severely due to the fact your lifestyles could be very precious and time is short.
The component that bloggers war lots is clearly having a force, so to mention, a focus. A focus of thoughts while considering running a blog in their days. Not simplest they get distracted, however in the course of the difficult times, throughout the night time, so to mention, basically, they’re having a difficult time in keeping it going, pushing it through the demanding situations. Basically while not having the drive no blogger can succeed. So where do you find this pressure so as to assist you clearly discover and to make time for running a blog itself?blogosphere search
The force to me comes from my first notion within the morning when I wake up with the idea of who can I assist nowadays. This is my force. I actually think about that hobby and I deliver this idea of assisting humans at some point of my day and I hope you’ll also do this together with your blogging activities because having this initial power to assist human beings in whatever manner you can’t handiest will make the mission of locating the time for running a blog and making the time for blogging easier, but it surely will help you produce a lot useful content material, so much helpful training for people which you genuinely may not be capable of preserve up with this.
Math twitter blogosphere
You become a concept device, as James Altucher says, so you have to no longer best locate your reason, your better calling so to mention, but additionally, find this internal drive to help humans. That’s what I want to you these days, and that’s what helped me in finding time for my blogging activities. That’s I believe might be relatively treasured to you too.
Don’t think about blogging as an interest, at the least on your thoughts. Act like an expert, commit to it regardless of what. Complete your responsibilities you have for each day regardless the way you sense about it.
You are probably worn-out or careworn out, however, know this: if you’re operating in your running a blog business with the aid of taking small steps each day, the day will come whilst you will face fulfillment. But for this to manifest you have to have pressure and laser-sharp awareness.
Gross National Happiness on the Balance Sheet?
Happiness is a tangible outcome!
Because of my dedication to high-quality humans control and engagement, I turned into heartened to discover that the UN conference on happiness and well being which started out in New York City on second April came to the realization that desirable overall performance on GNP (Gross National Product) failed to automatically mean that GNH (Gross National Happiness) multiplied at a similar rate.
Yes, surely, Gross National Happiness! For folks who continually idea soft abilities were the gentle option, then the advent of the dimension of Gross National Happiness would possibly mean they have to assume again.
The convention pronounced that even as the economic boom was crucial, 4 other factors were independent reasons for happiness. These are; network agree with; intellectual and physical fitness; quality of governance and ultimately rule of law.
The conference pointed to the premise which you and I realize only too well, that “money is not the foundation of all evil, it’s far the love of money which is”. Or in different phrases, whilst financial wealth is proper, it due to what it brings to our lives, not the objective.
The conference that’s a primary of its type can be an exceptionally crucial landmark inside the force to change the way we do commercial enterprise.
If you haven’t but heard of “The World Happiness Report”
By means of Jeffrey Sachs et al; upon which the summit referred to of their discussions, then you could want to get yourself a copy of this. The record makes the hyperlink among economic growth and the effect on happiness and wellness, that is speedy (it seems) turning into a measurable commodity.
The subject of the record centers on the premise that happiness is a derivative of growing wealth is now not sustainable. From a global perspective, in phrases of sustainable improvement, we want to pay attention to ending poverty, environmental sustainability, social inclusion and proper governance.
Most leaders recognize and understand that monetary reward isn’t generally pinnacle of the list to assist encourage personnel. The usual message from the convention and file is that the following elements are essential to people in the international of labor and as a size of happiness.
“Working hours, top possibilities for development, process security, interesting job, permits to work independently, lets in to help other human beings, and beneficial to society: A experience of ordinary reason for the activity, a diploma of autonomy in discharging it, and the competence to do the task – a right match among employee and activity. Allied to this human beings needs support and popularity for his or her efforts. In addition, extra non-public elements include mental and physical fitness, education and family revel in”.
As a people manager for many years, I usually knew thru enjoy that satisfied employees were productive employees. But it is extra than that. As people, if you smash down any motivation for any motion we take, it’s also to assist ourselves grow to be happier. We have an inner pressure in the direction of happiness and health. That is due to the fact happiness and well being are our herbal country.
While I suppose the convention is merely a starting, and it’s going to remain to be seen whether the situation of happiness is taken significantly or no longer with the aid of international leaders; as a minimum, it’s for a beginner. So at the side of me, watch this space!
Do you consider happiness is essential? What would possibly this recognition on happiness mean for leaders, managers and HR specialists within the destiny? What are your views? I’d love to listen from you.
Debunking Three Myths About George Washington
George Washington, our kingdom’s first president is one of the most distinguished figures in American history. For many Americans, he is called the “Father of our Nation” because he has become the finest American legend worried in the freedom and development of our united states of America in several approaches: navy hero, first president, a signer of the American Declaration of Independence, simply to call a few. What passed off to such men like Washington is that myths had been created that more desirable fame and honor. However, most myths come to be such tall tales they turn out to be exaggerations or lies. Such is the case with 3 of the most popular myths approximately Washington’s life.
1. The Cherry Tree: Young George Washington used his new hatchet and chopped down his father’s prized cherry tree. When his father found his tree were reduced down, he asked his son if he becomes the culprit. George stated that he did certainly chop it down and his father embraced him as an act of forgiveness. This tale is probably the maximum popular delusion approximately Washington, but it is a fantasy. This tale originated in a book written via a minister named Mason Locke Weems, or “Parson” Weems who turned into an American writer who wrote numerous biographies of historic figures. His most famous biography changed into The Life of Washington, written in 1800. Weems also wrote about different lesser-acknowledged myths about Washington. Most who read the e book idea they had been absurd.
2. False Teeth Made of Wood: Washington’s false enamel have been now not made from timber.
Our first president seemed to be cursed with chronic troubles together with his enamel maximum of his existence. He wore dentures manufactured from human, and probably cow and horse enamel, ivory, lead-tin alloy, copper alloy (possibly brass), and silver alloy. So, it seems he wore pretty much every opportunity kind of detail that might be made into a tooth. At his home in Mount Vernon, site visitors can see a show of his closing set of dentures, apparently product of ivory. Interestingly, those dentures are the most prominently displayed objects there.
Three. The Silver Dollar Thrown Across the Potomac River: Did Washington throw a silver dollar across the Potomac River? The width of the river runs from 1,300 ft to eleven miles. It is humanly not possible to throw a coin from one aspect to another. Also, the colonial government did no longer mint silver “dollars” till 1794. Before that date, the Spanish dollar, or “Piece of Eight” had circulated in the original colonies. Besides Washington became 67 years old whilst he died in 1799. So he could have been a reasonably antique guy, at 63, while the primary dollar changed into launch.
Myths about well-known women and men are invented to make their lives seem more and greater exciting than they already are. Whether myths start as stories written in books or are created amongst drunken men in taverns, it is useless gossip. Washington was such a well-known American parent, growing myths did little to enhance the deeds that made him this sort of mythical American hero. These three myths unfold about him truly faded in assessment to his full-size listing of accomplishments.
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The Advent of Ardor: Post-Mortem/Epiphany
So! I meant to do this in the short days after my 12 days of Hannigram fic wrapped up, but then, y'know. Life! Here are some additional thoughts, and more on the thematic gifts and meals for each day. There are many spoilers ahoy.
I had the idea for a 12 days of Christmas fic in November, because I'd bitten off way more than I could chew trying to do Kinktober in my first year writing. 12 days seemed more reasonable, especially when I discovered that the 12 days actually start ON Christmas, and it became even more doable. So I went and did it.
I had planned from the beginning for each of the 12 gifts to reflect the number of the day, in some ways obvious and others more abstract. The gifts were:
A single book on Scandinavian woodworking (which also shows up in another fic of mine, a fictionalized nod to Mads' Danish heritage and also that my friend is obsessed with a book she has on Scandinavian woodworking)
A pair of cufflinks - the classic, simple sterling silver wrapped around wood felt so right for the two of them. You get it.
Triple-casked whisky (I wanted some of his earlier gifts to feel obvious, as if Hannibal intentionally is throwing him off the scent of how much thought he put into them)
A four-aging knife. I know. I hated myself for that one, too.
A pair of gloves. Will's comment about how it would've better suited the tenth day, on account of the five fingers x two, was me realizing that after I'd already written it. It felt suitable - Hannibal had noticed Will's hands were getting cold. He wouldn't want to wait five days. Maybe he'd had another gift planned originally and bumped up the gloves for practicality's sake. Also, glove kink had featured prominently in my first Hannigram fic Who Will I Be Tonight, and it felt right. In my head, Will Graham canonically has a thing for leather gloves.
A six-pack of New Orleans' classic beer Abita. I've never tried it. I'd like to.
A song. This one, I was giddy to get to. There are seven notes on a traditional musical scale. Of course Hannibal would have a secret baroque music room at his Canadian safehouse.
A chess set. I was cheating the 8 of it a bit, but a chess board is 8x8 squares, combined to make 64. Listen. 8 was tricky to do without it just being a pun on ate.
This one came to me as I was falling asleep and I said "oh, shut up" out loud to myself. I knew I wanted to incorporate Dante's Inferno and the nine circles of hell, but how? I considered some sort of woodcut print or early edition of the book, but Will already had a book and Hannibal would never repeat himself. Then, I considered how that particular interpretation of Hell has frozen over, and it all came together. Fun fact that I kept waiting for someone to notice but I'm impatient: all the names of the circles of hell are hidden within the text of the chapter. Find them all!
For the life of me, I could not think of something for 10. Probably because I'd messed up with the gloves and my brain was stuck on it. So I went for a classic - Will's fly-tying. What an utterly twisted gift.
What comes in elevens? Nothing. I had to resort to googling and when I discovered that the Canadian maple leaf has 11 points, it all came together in a snap. The coin toss wrote itself.
The dozen roses I knew before I started writing. Disgustingly romantic. How would you get a dozen roses in January in the Canadian wilderness? The answer is magic, because Hannibal is the devil.
Some inspirations for the gifts in question:
And then, there's the foods. I, somehow, hadn't even considered also theming them to the 12 days of Christmas. Then, after the 3rd day had already been posted, I started goofing on the idea with a friend and she laid out, in like 20 minutes, perfectly appropriate recipes for each day. I went back and edited, and then continued with them. I tried to make some of them subtle, so Will's late realization wasn't TOO embarrassing. I mean, it took him 'til season 2 to figure out Hannibal was the Chesapeake Ripper. There's some leeway with his observational skills. ANYWAY.
Partridge in a Pear Tree: Poached pears. Simple enough.
Turtle doves: Squab! Usually a baby pigeon, but sometimes a dove or chicken. Bit of a stretch, but the other option was Turtles chocolates and that felt a bit beneath Hannibal.
French Hens: Croque Madame! A twist on the classic French Croque Monsieur, with the difference being an egg on top. This one I came up with, and I was rather pleased with myself.
Calling Birds: Lotta birds up top in this song. Real bird-heavy, so we got creative - four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie became blackberry pie.
Golden Rings: He made onion rings. My friend said I could do better than that but I liked it too much. So stupid.
Geese A-Laying: Foie gras, which was especially funny because I had already written a joke about Hannibal not wanting to overwhelm Will with foie gras too soon in an early chapter.
Swans A-Swimming: I'll give it to my friend on this, she's a genius. She suggested Pavlova, a meringue dish named after Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. Ballet = Swan Lake. A stretch, but one Hannibal would surely delight in making.
Maids A-Milking: Here, Will finally puts it together. I'm lactose intolerant, this chapter was a horror story for me. Hannibal makes Panna Cotta, a sweet cream custard. 8 kinds of dairy in one day. I'd rather a knife to the gut.
Ladies Dancing: Tiramisu, which is made with cookies/biscuits traditionally known as Lady Fingers.
Lords A-Leaping: Frog's legs. I had a lot of ideas for this one, but then frog's legs came up and they went in the trash.
Pipers Piping: Eclairs, a piped pastry. Someone commented that this was an appropriately filthy dish to follow their consummation, and though I hadn't intended it, I absolutely agree. Perverts.
Drummers Drumming: This one was pretty straightforward, but my friend came up with the giant raviolo and asparagus drumsticks. Obviously, chicken drumsticks were considered, but raviolo felt so much more Hannibal.
I think that's all. I'm sure this is of interest to maybe one person, but I wanted to write it down for posterity.
Thanks for reading!! xoxo.
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