#Acclamator Class | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

darthkote · 7 months ago

Note

Here's my longass request we talked about! ---

Characters: tech x transgender male bounty hunter reader (he/him)

Tropes: battlefield lust, uniform (helmet) fetish, unresolved sexual tension, alternate universe (small changes)

Setting and timeline: hours after order 66. Tech is on a solo mission away from the squad.

Plot details: Reader is a rugged, capable bounty hunter that was collecting on a job. When order 66 goes out, they barely make it, clandestine, into a small ship. Reader is being attacked because he is helping Tech survive. Reader uses a blaster and a knife to fight. Unfortunately the ship is on a weeks long mission into space.

They manage to hide in a small maintenance room, the sexual tension between them rising from being in such a small space for so long, until they are discovered by a droid and all hell breaks loose. They fight but are outnumbered. At this point, it’s been days of stress. With Tech’s planning expertise, they manage to make it. Covered in blood and adrenaline spiking because of the battle, Tech can’t handle it anymore and makes a move on reader. Tech does not remove his armor, especially his helmet :).

Please make it a balance of dialogue and action.

Relationships: Feel free to make their relationship purely physical or maybe more romantic, it’s up to you!

Visuals and atmosphere: gritty, violent and realistic. Think of the feeling you got when watching those last 4 episodes of Clone Wars. That feeling of dread and that everything is going wrong and there’s barely any hope.

Dialogue or scenes: the scene when Tech finally makes a move. Reader is fighting the last clone, the clone is on top of him choking him out about to kill him. Tech just barely kills his own attacker and dashes, knife in hand, to the clone attacking reader. He throws himself at the clone, they roll a few feet away. They fight for Tech’s knife and Tech gets a superficial slash on his arm. He wins by shoving the knife under the clone’s helmet and twisting. There’s blood all over his hand and he’s not only bleeding from his arm, but also covered in blood from the fight.

The shot I have stuck in my head is what happens here. Tech’s side is to the reader but he is facing away. Tech stabs and twists up, the clone loses his grip on him and his hands fall on the floor. Tech removed the knife violently, it is dripping blood. Suddenly he turns to the reader with an absolute feral look. He doesn’t waste time, gets up and walks with purpose towards the reader, who is still on the floor. He doesn’t ditch the knife, instead he uses it to slash open the reader’s clothes. At the same time, the reader is getting Tech’s codpiece out and stuff. What happens next is up to you!

Avoidances: please no mention of daddy or pregnancy kink. Please no cutesy pet names (baby, honey, etc).

---

Thank you!

Title: Licking up the blood, I made this decision

Pairing: Tech x Reader

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: lots of death, blood, and violence. Consent is not explicitly asked for.

Tags: Somnophilia, Knife kink, armor/helmet kink, Mandalorian bounty hunter reader, slow start, eventual smut, top tech, bottom reader, Tech is autistic so sometimes cues etc are mistaken on both ends, mutual pining, arguing, confined in a small space for a prolonged amount of time, hair pulling, hands jobs, anal sex, b l o o d - more info in the link below.

Excerpt: It's been well over three rotations now since you first set foot into the Acclamator-class Republic craft and many things are becoming more and more apparent: your patience is wearing thin like the grip on your knife, you are rapidly dehydrating, and you are beginning to see things in the corners of your vision that don't bode well for your mental state. Tech, although a thorough planner and a competent fighter, is not one to offer company or reassurance - not that you need either of those things. But.. of course, you do. It's only human to start feeling trapped when you haven't been out of one spot for days.

#tbb tech #tbb x reader #tech x reader #tbb tech x reader #the bad batch #tbb fanfiction #the bad batch fandom #the bad batch fanfiction #star wars fanfiction #star wars fandom #star wars #the clone wars #clone troopers #read the tags #keep yourself sane #minors dni

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noperopesaredope · 8 months ago

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Clones Post War AU (An Order 66 Didn't Happen AU)

(I made a sideblog for this)

At the end of the Umbara Arc in Clone Wars, Rex said “We’re clones. If the war is over, what then?” I thought this was interesting, and I love me a good “Order 66 Never Happens AU” where the clones get a happy ending. So this is my take on not just what the clones might do after the war if it didn’t go the way it did, but also a speculative AU focused on what a potential post-war clone culture and society would look like. Might also add a bit of an overarching plot, but this is mainly focused on worldbuilding. Still, I did make an underlying plot, so I’ll share it at some point during the write outs.

It kind of became a bit of a beast and I’ll likely be adding new stuff all the time, so it might explore a lot more than what I initially planned and have a lot more plot/story stuff under the surface.

Part 1 (this post) will be covering the main plot of the AU/set-up the premise.

(This Post is Long, Ya'll)

Set-Up

The Discovery of Retteyo (or New Kamino)

So basically, at a certain point in the war, possibly a year or 2 in, an Acclamator-class assault ship with 15,000 clone troopers, a Jedi Master, their padawan, and 170 regular personnel crashed on a small, remote and unpopulated planet that was rarely visited: Retteyo. The Jedi Master perished in the crash, alongside 2,500 clone troopers and 150 of the regular personnel. This left the padawan, 12,500 clone troopers, and 20 regular personnel completely stranded on an unfamiliar planet. The vast majority of those on board may have survived, but most of the ship (or at least the most important parts) did not. They had no way of communicating with the Republic, no way of calling for help, nothing. It was a somewhat bleak situation with little hope for escape.

Still, they were all determined to survive, and so the padawan and a few of the higher ranking clones held an emergency “meeting” together and decided to prepare for a long term encampment. Retteyo was far from safe, with 17 of the regular personnel and 45 clone troopers all perishing in the first few weeks, but it wasn’t completely uninhabitable. In fact, it was quite habitable, just about as dangerous as some of the less safe locations on Earth. There weren’t a huge amount of dangerous animals or extreme climate/weather, unlike most other planets we see in canon.

Most of those who perished died of either infected wounds that hadn’t gotten treated soon enough, and others died while exploring unfamiliar and more dangerous terrain on foot. The group did not make the same mistakes twice, and eventually began to figure which areas were safe and which weren’t. The battalion managed to organize themselves enough to make plans for what they were going to do, and got to work on making a good liveable environment.

While a lot of the flying vehicles were unusable, many of the ground terrain vehicles still worked well enough, they just needed a bit of fixing up, which happened over the course of about a month or so as they gathered materials from the ship’s remains. This really helped them better navigate and settle on Retteyo, and they made a pretty well functioning camp, all things considered.

After the first year, the leaders of the group realized that this might be a permanent situation that could last years, and they started planning out a permanent settlement. They began taking apart the ship properly, and used both it and some of Retteyo’s natural resources to construct buildings.

A Plot Device

Due to the nature of this AU, I wanted to create a reason that clones would keep getting made even after the end of the war, since I want to make them a proper society and their own species in a way. So, here comes the big, dumb “this is purely for the plot and not important right now” thing. One day, during Year 2 of being on Retteyo, two clone trooper scouts ended up in some unfamiliar territory and discovered a field of strange, giant flowers about the size of a basket.

One of the clones ended up cutting himself on something, and the blood dropped into the center of one of the flowers. It closed, and began to glow, pulsing with energy, before opening up again, and a small baby was inside. It looked exactly like the clone trooper when they were a baby, and they showed it to their fellow trooper, who was shocked and amazed by this. They marked the field down on a map, and went back to base, where they showed everyone the baby and privately explained the situation to their commander.

Fast forward 3 years, and the war is nearing a close. Recently, the Republic has been having a bit of a problem. Well, a few problems. And all of them are centered around the clone troopers.

To explain the biggest problem, let’s talk numbers for a bit (I spent way too long on this).

Mama Mia, That’s a Lot of Clones!

It’s highly debated how many clones were created during the war, as they stated at the start of the war there were about 3 million units. This at first appears to be the amount of clone troopers, but then you realize it said units, not soldiers. We don’t know how big a unit is. Some say that it refers to a single squad, which is 5 soldiers. Others say that a “unit” is equivalent to the size of a company (US military), so about 250 soldiers or so. If it refers to the first option, the war would start with 15 million. If it refers to the second option, it would be 750 million, which is far too much in my opinion, so the first option is more likely.

3 million is still on the table, since perhaps units could honestly just refer to individual clones, but they did say that 200,000 units were ready when Obi Wan arrived, and that’s not nearly enough for this particular war. So I’m going with 15 million.

We also know that the Senate ends up paying for 5 million more units, which is apparently extremely expensive and could push them into debt (then again, 5 million is a lot more than 3 million when you really think about it). If we go with the idea that a unit is 5 soldiers, then that’s 25 million soldiers.

It’s likely that they have also ordered more clones before, so let’s go on the lower end and say they’ve already ordered about 2 million units in total (1 million to 5 million would be too big of a jump). They probably wouldn’t order that many more clones after the 5 million units, or at least would order very few compared to that.

If we go with the idea that a unit is one soldier, that means that about 10 million clones were made during the course of the war (still feels like too few for me). If we go with the idea that a unit was 5 clones, that is 50 million clones in total, which feels a little big, but considering that the Republic controlled more than 1 million planets, I think that’s actually a pretty reasonable amount. If every planet had an equal number of clone troopers on it to protect it, they would only have about 50 soldiers for the entire goddamn planet. Taking into consideration that there would be plenty of planets that had no clone troopers due to not needing them, and other planets who had thousands of clone troopers, as well as the clones not guarding planets and actually just fighting the war, 50 million is pretty reasonable.

In many wars, less than 1% of soldiers die. One of the deadliest wars killed about 2% of soldiers. However, I will be EXTREMELY generous and say that 3% died in combat since this was such a crazy war and the clones were seen as very expendable. I’ll continue to be generous by saying 3% died of causes outside of combat, like disease or getting eaten by a giant worm, since we tend to see a lot of clones die in really weird/random ways and I feel like a lot of them died that way. This means that 5% of clone troopers died during the war. This isn’t even considering how many clones were still too young to be in combat. I’ll still count all of them as soldiers, which will still prove my point.

5% of 10 million is 500,000, so that would be 500,000 clone casualties (which feels WAY too small despite being on the bigger end of the spectrum) and 9.5 million clone survivors by the end of the war. 5% of 50 million is 2.5 million, so that would be 2.5 million clone casualties (feels about right) and 47.5 million clone survivors by the end of the war. I believe it’s the latter.

That is a fuck ton of people. Like, that is bigger than the population of Argentina. That is almost the population of the world in 1000 BCE. That is 14% of the population of the USA, which might not seem like much, but it’s still a lot. If you replaced 47.5 million people with clones, then 1 in every 168 people on Earth would be a clone. 47.5 million is probably bigger than the population of some planets in the Republic. It’s big.

And in this AU, since the Republic wasn’t exactly sure when the war would end, they ordered 500,000 more units a few months ago, so there are about 2.5 million more clones on the way, making the population of clones 50 million again, almost the size of Sudan and bigger than Spain. Again, a massive population. Also, since this is an AU, I could make it so the war lasted for a lot longer and a lot more clones were made, but I’m still going with the idea of the war lasting for 3 years (unless I want to change that up a little bit).

So now, the Republic has millions of clones who will have basically nowhere to go/nothing to do when the war ends. Some suggested they keep the clones as the official Republic army and spread them out to do stuff for the Republic, but that’s still not the best solution, and the biggest problem is that these mf will grow old at some point and not be able to fight anymore. And since they aren’t even dying in battle anymore (even when they were, it still kept their population pretty big), most of them will grow old. And they still have all these younger clones who might not get to fight in the war at all.

So they basically have a ton of clone troopers who they will have no use or place for unless they figure something out soon before the war ends.

The Whole Clone Thing is Weird

But this isn’t their only issue. I saw a post a while back wondering why nobody in the entire Senate questioned the ethics behind the existence/use of clone troopers and how they are essentially property of the Republic. I thought that was interesting, so I decided to implement that into the AU. While not many questioned the concept of clone troopers early on in the war, overtime, some civilians began raising concerns.

One civilization (an original creation of mine) whose people were considered non-sentient only a couple of decades ago and used to be enslaved was deeply disturbed by the concept of creating living beings in order to force them to fight, conditioning them into serving the Republic and even altering their DNA to make them loyal.

A few other civilizations (also original creations) who are hiveminds (based on bees and ants and whatnot) ended up fighting alongside some clones, and quickly realized that they were individuals who saw each other as family and shared a deep connection with their fellow clones as a whole. Many of the bee and ant people saw themselves in the clones, and became almost offended at the way clones were talked about and treated as mindless robots just because they had the same DNA and looked the same.

There were also at least 2 civilizations who were disturbed on principle and disliked the use of clones not for personal reasons, but for general philosophical reasons and the basic fact that they think slavery is weird and gross, especially this kind.

These civilizations all ended up having multiple meetings together discussing the issue and their reservations, with a few even somewhat wanting to back out of the Republic out of disgust with the Republic’s actions and okay-ness with this. This was an underlying point of contention that could get extremely problematic soon.

Overtime, a movement around the rights of clone troopers began to pop up, and while it wasn't a huge problem for the Republic, it was becoming one, and they wouldn't be able to ignore it forever.

Clones Are Dissatisfied

On a related note, some clones have begun questioning their place in the Republic, especially after many heard about the Umbara incident. While it wasn't a conversation that was had out loud, some clones were becoming concerned and secretly wanted more autonomy. They weren't questioning their loyalty to the Republic by any means. Almost all of them, including the ones who were dissatisfied with things, were willing to fight and die for the Republic. They simply felt that perhaps they would like to be treated like people whose lives matter.

After all, while they were protected by most of the same laws as other sentient beings, they were still the legal property of the Republic. It’s also hard to say if they really had a choice to leave. While one might point to the episode The Deserter as proof they couldn’t leave, Rex did say that they took an oath, and real world militaries do hold similar standards once you’ve joined. However, it’s unclear whether this oath was truly voluntary, or just out of formality.

Did any of the clones truly volunteer to join, or were they signed up at birth? While it would be extremely unlikely due to their programming, if a clone was in training and wanted to leave, could he? When is this oath taken? They start training from childhood, after all. They likely took it then, because when else would they? Can you really hold an oath like that against someone when they were essentially manipulated into taking it as a young child who probably didn’t know any better?

While the clone troopers appear to be held to the same standards as US military members, which isn’t quite as big of an issue, they are still property, and are essentially enslaved. They aren’t even paid for their work, merely provided for, and being given basic essentials is literally the bare minimum. We basically all know just how messed up the treatment of clone troopers is, and the clones agree. This is a problem for the Republic.

So, as a whole, the Republic is having some clone problems.

Retteyo Becomes a Thing

Around this point, a fleet of Republic ships end up going to Retteyo, and there, they discover the blossoming civilization of (mostly) clones. They are all shocked, the fleet admiral quickly contacts the important Republic people, explaining the situation. At first, this doesn't seem great. But the Senate realizes that this could solve their issues regarding the remaining clones. So they decide to let the formerly-stranded group remain there and prepare the planet for a bigger colonization. While the main focus right now is the war, they shall be making plans to turn the planet into a new home for the clones once the war ends.

Eventually, as the war comes to a close, the Senate announces the new plan with Retteyo to the whole Republic. It’s a bit controversial, but I’ll get into all that in another post. Because the Jedi were once peacekeepers/ambassadors and they worked closely with the clones, they were designated to help with this operation. They would help this new society develop/prepare it for the arrival of new clones while also helping all the rest of the clones transition to this new planet.

Due to pressure from the clone rights planets, the Senate eventually decided to give the clones rights and declared them no longer property of the Republic. Now, they were free sentients and citizens of the Republic.

At a certain point in the process, as many of the clones arrived on Retteyo and settled in, certain discussions were had amongst the clones as a whole, and the major clones in charge created a proposal: Retteyo becoming a sovereign nation. This was a bit controversial, but after a lot of tense discussion and complications and political BS, the Republic Senate agreed.

It would be a pretty big process and the Retteyans would need to start actually forming a government and their own society. It was a pretty big task in the grand scheme, but the clones eventually became more self-sufficient at creating their society. They did need help with creating new buildings and having everyone settle in, but the clones didn't actually need much help with developing things like systems of government and bureaucracy. Not every clone was good at that stuff, but some clones managed to put something together everyone could agree on.

Overtime, this society flourished, gaining its own spot in the Senate after a few years and becoming a fully recognized society.

As younger generations of clones grew older (basically while some of this stuff was going on), they began to realize that one day, all the clones might die out, especially since Kamino kind of cut them off and Retteyo probably could afford it anyway. The idea of losing their entire civilization was horrifying, and the whole Prox Flower was revealed. While it wasn't the same as Kaminoan cloning stuff, it would be able to keep their population afloat. So a massive program/government branch was started to continue populating Retteyo and keeping their culture/civilization alive.

Underlying Plot

While this AU mainly focuses on just describing the evolving culture of the clones and their new planet, I think there is definitely an underlying plot within it that I mention in subtle ways. I may even use OCs to tell more about this plot as a whole, especially in case I want to make a fanfic for it all. It’s hard to leave out this plotline, so I decided to write it out as part of all this.

One of the major underlying conflicts in this AU is the generational gap between clones. In a way, there are sub-generations, but there are 3 primary generations covered in this AU.

Gen Vet

Gen 1, also known as the “Gen Vet”, is the generation of clones who were actually able to fight in the war and see the conflict, or were at least old enough to do so. This generation is split into two primary parts: The oldest gen, who were made and trained before the war even began, and the younger gen, who received training from the Jedi and thus have a slightly different perspective on personhood. It’s like that post where

Gen Trainee

Gen 2, also known as “Gen Trainee”, is the generation of clones born on Kamino who never got the chance to participate in the war. There’s also a slight split in the generation as a whole. 3 splits, in fact. For example, the older Gen 2 are slightly more likely to side with Gen 1 and relate to younger Gen 1, since they were almost a part of Gen 1.

The middle Gen 2 are more rebellious and have unique opinions on the whole situation, and while they grew up with Kamino training and were raised under that type of environment, they are able to stray from the mindset more and have opinions slightly similar to that of Fives, where they hold certain loyalties and a militant mindset, but also believe in standing up for themselves and being their own people.

The youngest Gen 2 are those who were toddlers/babies when the war ended and don’t remember much of anything about Kamino or have that particular militant mindset, but are aware that they were the last clones created by Kamino, and thus have a small superiority complex over Gen 3. Most of Gen 3 does not care, though.

Gen 2 is probably the most diverse and unique of the 3 primary generations, having a variety of different perspectives on things, but many are more progressive.

Gen Rebirth

Gen 3, aka “Gen Rebirth”, is the generation of clones born on Retteyo. Some are technically the same age as the youngest clones of Gen 2, but are considered different as a generation. They are the older of Gen 3. The younger of Gen 3 are all born after Retteyo becomes independent.

Gen 3 is the most distant from the war era of the Retteyans, and thus may not have the same values and beliefs as them, but various values have been passed down nonetheless.

~~~~~

I may add more details on the plot later, particularly the underlying plot, but that's all I have for now. Next post will be out some point soon!

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pudgy-planets · 1 month ago

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“Nonononononononononononono… NoNoNoNoNoNONONONONONONONONO!!”

Darumi gripped the sides of her sink, drool cascading down her chin and neck, rivulets plopping into the porcelain rectangle at a steady rate. She looked at herself in the mirror and screeched once more, unable to recognize herself, unable to cope, unable to grasp the flurry of images rushing through her head.

Death, so, so, so much death. Not just herself, but her friends. The carnage, the destruction, the loss, everything came in a nuclear bombardment of her mind and she struggled to understand.

Why…?

Why were these thoughts going through her head?!

WHY?! DAMN IT!

“HURRRK… HHOUUURRRLLKkkk…”

Darumi dipped her head into the sink and retched the colorful, acidic contents of her stomach out. Her anemic knuckles turned even paler as she gripped the sides. As soon as she believed it was finished, the sickening feeling of bile accumulating at the well of her throat forced her back down.

“Huff… Huff… Huff…”

She stared at herself reflection once more, blinking slowly as if it would change the malformed visage in the stainless glass. To her disappointment: it didn’t.

But why her? Why did all these visceral images and sounds come rushing to her mind? She’d never even lived a single one of these… memories?

“…?!”

Darumi grit her teeth with enough force her gums threatened to bleed. They couldn’t be memories. Yet they felt so distinct, so palpable. She had lived these before. Not now, but in some far off world or place… one that was separate, but interconnected.

How was she even able to deduce that?! She was 20 Percent! Never had she made a good grade in her classes, let alone had the necessary gumption and critical thinking skills to formulate complex ideas together.

So why now?! Of all times?! Why was she suffering even more?!

Suffering, dread, despair, sadness, anger, frustration… These emotions, all of which Darumi was intimately familiar with razed her soul. Set it ablaze with a fervor for anything that wasn’t death ideation she’d been robbed off for so long.

She didn’t know why. She didn’t know how. All she knew was…

“NYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!! GGRRRRAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHH!!”

————————————————————————

Darumi Amemiya’s Hemoanima was boosted!

“You’ll Get What You Deserve…” -> “Mania’s Acclamation!”

New Specialist Skill: Special Tribulations. - Gain +2 when Allies are afflicted by status effects.

#temp!muse: darumi amemiya

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meraki-yao · 7 months ago

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Personal Vent

The performing arts society that I'm theatre department head in is putting up our biannual showcase on December 1st.

This is my first showcase since I've become part of the committee, and I'm executing two passion projects for this. I'm working really hard for this because I fucking love theatre, I love creating and I love performing. This is my passion. I want this showcase to be good, I want my performances to be good.

Tickets just went on sale and while talking to my sister about getting her a ticket, our parents overheards us and kinda forbid my sister from going because it's a Sunday night, she has to get up at 6am the next day for school, plus she's in the preparation stage for college entrance exams.

And that's reasonable. Logically I understand that. She does need to focus on college prep.

But that means no one's gonna come see me.

Ever since I started doing theatre my sister has been my sole supporter. She was the only one who consistently came to my shows and cheered me on.

My parents won't come, they're not interested, and while they're pretty conservative the society is really open and liberal. It's not gonna be a good time for them and subsequently, it won't be a good time for me because I'll have to face their disapproval over this.

My irl friends are either my castmates who are performing with me anyway, studying overseas or are not interested in coming. Last time I performed I made an effort to ask my high school friends, only three answered and one cancelled on me the morning of the performance. I'm too scared of rejection at this point.

And I just... feel so fucking lonely?

Because I want someone to see my work and passion and be proud of me. I want to be acknowledged. I want some degree of attention and acclamation when it comes to this thing that I'm working so hard on.

But I'm not gonna get it.

And last time, all the committee members, their family and friends cames and brought them bouquets. Cheering for them so loudly when they were in the spotlight.

I'm just imagining this picture of all the other committee members being celebrated by their family and friends with applause and flowers and then I'm all alone in a corner. When I was in primary, we did a class play. My dad came to watch because the teachers request parents come support us. I remember after the curtain call everyone's parents went on stage to take a group photo and my dad just stayed where he was taking photos with his camera despite my beckoning. In that photo I was the only one without a parent, and I remember feeling so lonely. God I don't want to feel like that again but here we are.

I don't fucking know. Maybe I'm exaggerating. Maybe I should try and ask again.

But holy shit, right now I'm trying so hard not to fucking sob.

I'm working so fucking hard on this.

#meraki rambles #personal

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flurglhinge · 5 months ago

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President Dragon wants more gold, by Tom Scocca https://www.indignity.net/president-dragon-wants-more-gold/ Pratchett's slapstick British satire is not the stuff that somber dragons-and-sex prestige television, or swoony dragons-and-sex romantic-fantasy bestseller franchises, are built on. But Guards! Guards! was prescient in other ways. It's the story of how the threadbare, drunken Night Watch of the city of Ankh-Morpork responds to an attempt to overthrow the government. The scheme is to replace the city's existing corrupt, dictatorial yet pluralistic administrator with an outright monarch by manufacturing a crisis: the Supreme Grand Master of a secret mystical society plots to magically summon a dragon, plague the city with it, and then stage the dragon's defeat at the hands of an assigned hero, who will then by acclamation become a puppet king.

Early on, the Secret Grand Master contemplates his complaining, bumbling underlings:

What a shower, he told himself. A bunch of incompetents no other secret society would touch with a ten-foot Sceptre of Authority. The sort to dislocate their fingers with even the simplest secret handshake.

But incompetents with possibilities, nevertheless. Let the other societies take the skilled, the hopefuls, the ambitious, the self-confident. He'd take the whining resentful ones, the ones with a bellyful of spite and bile, the ones who knew they could make it big if only they'd been given the chance. Give him the ones in which the floods of venom and vindictiveness were dammed up behind thin walls of ineptitude and low-grade paranoia.

This book was published the year Stephen Miller turned 4 years old. Elise Stefanik was 5. Steven Cheung was 7. Kash Patel and Pete Hegseth were 9.

The summoning magic, powered by the rage of embittered mediocrities, works. The crisis unfolds as planned, the government falls—and then the dragon reappears, turns on its summoners, incinerates the would-be king, and seizes the crown itself. At this point, the public, prepared for a coronation anyway, embraces the dragon as its new ruler:

"The way I see it," said one of the revellers, halfway through a huge greasy lump of half-raw meat, "a dragon as a king mightn't be a bad idea. When you think it through, is what I mean."

"It definitely looked very gracious," said the woman to his right, as if testing the idea. "Sort of, well, sleek. Nice and smart. Not scruffy. Takes a bit of a pride in itself." She glared at some of the younger revellers further down the table. "The trouble with people today is they don't take pride in themselves."

"And there's foreign policy of course," said a third, helping himself to a rib. "When you come to think about it."

"What d'you mean?"

"Diplomacy," said the rib-eater, flatly...

"I mean let's say the ambassador from Klatch comes along, you know how arrogant that lot are, suppose he says, we want this, we want that, we want the other thing. Well," he said, beaming at them, "what we say is, shut your face unless you want to go home in a jar."

They tried out this idea for mental fit. It had that certain something.

Here is a clip of a Fox News panelist explaining that demanding to buy Greenland is actually a longstanding American tradition—"Back in 1867, Democratic President Harry Truman tried to buy Greenland"—and that the autonomous territory of the sovereign nation of Denmark, a founding member of NATO, "has a lot of minerals, very important for our country."

As the dragon king settles in, the human official forced to speak for the monarch summons civic leaders to the palace to inform them of their responsibility to bring treasure to their new ruler's hoard, and to discuss with them "the matter of...the king's...diet." ("The age is immaterial. Marital status is, of course, of importance. And social class. Something to do with flavor, I believe.")

They avoided one another's faces, for fear of what they might see mirrored there. Each man thought: one of the others is bound to say something soon, some protest, and then I'll murmur agreement, not actually say anything, I'm not as stupid as that, but definitely murmur very firmly, so the others will be in no doubt that I thoroughly disapprove, because at a time like this it behooves all decent men to nearly stand up and be almost heard...

But no one said anything. The cowards, each man thought.

#discworld #us politics #politics #in general

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roman-catholic-mass-readings · 10 months ago

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8th September >> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

(Liturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II))

First Reading Isaiah 35:4-7 The blind shall see, the deaf hear, the dumb sing for joy.

Say to all faint hearts, ‘Courage! Do not be afraid. Look, your God is coming, vengeance is coming, the retribution of God; he is coming to save you.’

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed, then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy;

for water gushes in the desert, streams in the wasteland, the scorched earth becomes a lake, the parched land springs of water.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 145(146):7-10

R/ My soul, give praise to the Lord. or R/ Alleluia!

It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever, who is just to those who are oppressed. It is he who gives bread to the hungry, the Lord, who sets prisoners free.

R/ My soul, give praise to the Lord. or R/ Alleluia!

It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind, who raises up those who are bowed down. It is the Lord who loves the just, the Lord, who protects the stranger.

R/ My soul, give praise to the Lord. or R/ Alleluia!

The Lord upholds the widow and orphan but thwarts the path of the wicked. The Lord will reign for ever, Zion’s God, from age to age.

R/ My soul, give praise to the Lord. or R/ Alleluia!

Second Reading James 2:1-5 God chose the poor according to the world to be rich in faith.

My brothers, do not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the making of distinctions between classes of people. Now suppose a man comes into your synagogue, beautifully dressed and with a gold ring on, and at the same time a poor man comes in, in shabby clothes, and you take notice of the well-dressed man, and say, ‘Come this way to the best seats’; then you tell the poor man, ‘Stand over there’ or ‘You can sit on the floor by my foot-rest.’ Can’t you see that you have used two different standards in your mind, and turned yourselves into judges, and corrupt judges at that? Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who are poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation 1 Samuel 3:9, John 6:68

Alleluia, alleluia! Speak, Lord, your servant is listening: you have the message of eternal life. Alleluia!

Or: cf. Matthew 4:23

Alleluia, alleluia! Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom and cured all kinds of sickness among the people. Alleluia!

Gospel Mark 7:31-37 'He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak'.

Returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right through the Decapolis region. And they brought him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. And Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely they published it. Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well,’ they said ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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bllsbailey · 4 months ago

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Presidents Day Is a Fraud!

Today is Presidents Day. It shouldn’t be.

It’s yet another example of Washington politicians screwing around with important, organic commemorations that celebrate key national figures in our country’s history for superficial contemporary priorities.

Most recently, in 1968 a Democrat Senate, a Democrat House, and a Democrat president eliminated the national celebration of George Washington’s birthday on Feb. 22. The first president was dead, so he couldn’t object.

Pretty much everyone knows by now that Democrats think they can declare people’s genders simply by recognizing them with signs and executive orders. As he has with many silly things already, President Trump officially eliminated any confusion by officially declaring our government now recognizes only the two biological sexes, male and female.

I’ve grown increasingly suspicious over the years that this persistent federal holiday re-engineering by Democrats was the precursor of DEI. They seem to believe government can order or do anything according to their transient social-engineering bucket lists.

You know, that nothing American is exceptional; it simply can’t be, you understand. That no one is special above others, not even if they work extra for it. Just by being alive, we’re all contributing equally, and equally mediocre is good enough. Anyone who's ever held a real job knows not all work equally hard.

The Declaration of Independence declares everyone is born equal and that everyone has certain inalienable rights, including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Everyone can chase their own happiness. Go for it! But you get no guaranteed outcomes, not even plastic trophies from China just for showing up.

Our government even got away with changing the birth dates of historical figures, which tarnishes the long-lived tradition of celebrating heroes. It dumps everyone into an amorphous blah.

Without George Washington there would be no United States. He was the key element in a magical alignment of people, events, places, and history that spawned an exceptional, enduring experiment in self-governance that will mark its own 250th birthday next year.

Washington had no children, but he became the father of a new country. He organized, held together, inspired, and commanded a ragtag army in the Revolutionary War to defeat the world’s most powerful military.

And then to get things started right, he reluctantly served two terms by acclamation as the first commander in chief, setting important norms and standards for that office. No. 1 also wisely kept the new country out of foreign entanglements.

News Flash! George Washington was not born today, on Feb. 17. No president was. He was born on Feb. 22, 1732, in Virginia just in time for his historical calling. He reportedly paid little attention to his birthday. No bouncy tent, no clowns and balloon tricks.

But in 1789, a grateful new nation began celebrating Feb. 22 as a government holiday in Washington, along with July 4th. In 1879, that became the official national holiday.

After that date millions of schoolchildren, including me, from scores of generations, including mine, got the day off after class projects learning about his life, accomplishments, crossing the Delaware River, favorite food (bread in warm milk), powdered white wigs, and inability to tell a lie.

If Feb. 22 came on a weekend, tough luck for no classes, but we still did the learning beforehand. And reminded our parents of the important day at dinner that evening.

The same was true for No. 16, Abraham Lincoln, who was born on Feb. 12, 1809, the first president born outside the 13 original colonies (Ky).

Lincoln had little school learning growing up in Indiana and Illinois. But he had an abundance of common sense, worked hard on the home farm, was self-educated, and walked many country miles to return a library book. Only recently did I learn he was an accomplished amateur wrestler in the militia and at county fairs.

I remember one crayoned diorama in seventh grade about his life that covered three whole blackboards, which were actually black in those days.

We did not learn much about the president’s four sons. I suspect because three of them died as children. That and the Civil War would explain their father’s sad face shortly before his murder in 1865 (on the right above).

I remember reading out loud with classmates the 272 words of the Gettysburg Address(I had to look up what "four score" was)and thinking there must have been more to the speech for something so famous.

As someone who’s written many speeches, mainly for others, I shall forever marvel at the eloquence and economy of the words Lincoln himself wrote.

For many decades then, we separately honored the two greatest presidents -- the one who made the country and the one who kept it a country.

That all seemed appropriate and provided regular reasons like the Pledge of Allegiance each morning to think about things beyond the school room that were important as citizens.

But that all ended in 1968.

That’s when Congress turned the third Monday in February into Presidents Day.

Who cares about actual history if you can wrangle another three-day weekend by ignoring it.

The invention of "Presidents Day" from whole cloth has sapped most of the meaning from its observance. Smartly, a few states, mainly Midwestern, still mark Feb. 12.

Now, more than ever, Americans bitterly divided over passing modern issues could use genuine and enduring historic role models to share beliefs in and unite around, beyond just mega-rich pro athletes or celebrities who change spouses like jewelry.

Plus, let’s be honest. In the real world, every player does not deserve a trophy and every president does not deserve a holiday. Some U.S. presidents were good, others adequate. And some were real turkeys.

So, the historic days and teaching tools marking our two greatest leaders in 249 years were perversely turned into a time for stores to combat dreary winter sales by providing incredible deals on mattresses and pillows.

That’s not worth a holiday either.

Memorial Day originally was called Decoration Day. That’s because even before the Civil War ended, beginning in the South and moving North, mothers on both sides began decorating the graves of the fallen from both sides. President Lincoln proclaimed that annual honor as May 30, which would be a Friday this year.

Once again, in 1968 the urge to change the news from the Vietnam War infected Congress. Members noticed we’ve had numerous wars since the 1860s. So, Decoration Day was changed to Memorial Day to honor all the fallen. That’s fine.

But in reality, that was simply cover for changing the date to the last Monday in May because -- you guessed it -- three-day weekend. This year a May 30th Memorial Day would fall on a Friday; instead, it’s Monday the 26th.

It would be hard to change the date of Armistice Day. That was when World War I ended at precisely 11 a.m. on Nov. 11th in 1918. It was supposed to be the war to end all wars.

It wasn’t.

An estimated nine million troops died in that conflict, seven million civilians, and eight million horses, mules, and donkeys. The biggest killer was artillery fire, second was poison gas; 2,738 men made it through the war only to die during the last morning’s unnecessary bombardments.

Britain’s Imperial War Museum has constructed a haunting sound-ranging audio recording of the last minute of fighting from the American front on the Moselle River, using primitive battlefield microphones deployed to trace artillery fire.

Since it was not the last war, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans’ Day.

Thanksgiving is another holiday government officials have tinkered with. The Pilgrims had the first Thanksgiving the fall of 1621, sometime between Sept. 21 and Nov. 9. Three days of eating and drinking, so exact memories after were a little foggy.

President Lincoln set Thanksgiving Day nationally as the last Thursday in November, which is where it stood for decades.

Then in 1931, another Democrat, President Franklin Roosevelt, changed it to the third Thursday. He felt the need to lengthen the holiday-shopping season.

Eight years later, Congress restored the holiday to Lincoln’s choice.

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alphamecha-mkii · 2 months ago

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Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (FFG) - Collapse of the Republic - Acclamator-Class Assault Ship by Lukasz Jaskolski

#Star Wars #Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game #Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (FFG)#Collapse of the Republic #Grand Army of the Republic #Galactic Republic #Acclamator Class #Assault Ship #Sci-Fi #Mecha #Spaceship #Lukasz Jaskolski #FFG #Fantasy Flight Games

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knick-nudiex · 5 months ago

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In boxing, the undisputed champion of a weight class is the boxer who simultaneously holds world titles from all major organizations recognized by each other and the International Boxing Hall of Fame. There are currently four major sanctioning bodies: WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF. There were many undisputed champions before the number of major sanctioning bodies recognizing each other increased to four in 2007, but there have been only 21 boxers (10 male and 11 female) to hold all four titles simultaneously.

History

Main article: List of undisputed world boxing champions

Prior to the 1960s, most champions were "undisputed", although the term was rarely used (it does not appear in one 1970 Boxing Dictionary). Early boxing champions at various weight divisions were established by acclamation between 1880 and 1920. Once a consensus champion had been awarded the title, the championship could usually be taken only by beating the reigning holder, establishing a lineal championship.

The New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) recognized champions from its foundation in 1920. The National Boxing Association (NBA) was founded by other U.S. state bodies in 1921, and began recognising champions in 1927. Until the 1960s, both usually recognised the same lineal champion. However, disputes could arise if the champion retired or moved to a different weight class. Occasionally, the International Boxing Union (renamed the European Boxing Union in 1946) recognised a different champion. The disputes were usually short-lived as a lucrative fight would be organised between the rival champions. The longest split was ten years, of the middleweight title, between Mickey Walker's move up to heavyweight in 1931 and NBA champion Tony Zale's defeat of NYSAC contender Georgie Abrams in 1941. An early use of "undisputed" appears in a New York Times preview of the 1941 fight.

The growing popularity of boxing outside of the U.S. led to creation of various boxing organizations, each strengthening their influence – most notably the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) – and having their own champion. This resulted in a growing number of boxers claiming to be legitimate champions. The disruption in boxing was solved after World War II when the World Championship Committee (WCC) was created with NBA as its unanimous authority. The committee, however, was disbanded in 1955 when NBA, along with its new members (which included the Orient, Mexican and South American federations and boxing commissions of the Philippines and Thailand) left WCC citing lack of control over the organisation. The NBA's voting scheme guaranteed one vote for each state commission as well as one vote for each foreign country. On August 23, 1962, the NBA officially became the World Boxing Association and moved their headquarters to Panama City, Panama.

A year later NYSAC along with European Boxing Union and BBBofC supported creation of the World Boxing Council. WBC was officially established on February 14, 1963, in Mexico City, Mexico by 11 countries (the U.S., Argentina, U.K., France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil) that were invited by the President of Mexico Adolfo López Mateos to form an international organization to unify all commissions of the world to control the expansion of boxing. The reason for the move were concerns about WBA's alleged lack of desire to support professional boxing outside of the U.S..

In April 1983, members of United States Boxing Association along with Robert W. Lee (a former WBA vice-president) voted to expand the organisation and form the USBA-International. The organization later changed the name to International Boxing Federation. The inaugural IBF heavyweight champion was Larry Holmes, who relinquished the WBC title to accept IBF's recognition, thus helping the newly formed organization to establish its legitimacy. The fragmentation of titles was thus increased. After some negotiations, the heavyweight title was unified in the heavyweight unification series, a series of coordinated bouts in 1986 and 1987, with Mike Tyson emerging as the first undisputed champion (WBA, WBC, and IBF) since Leon Spinks in 1978. The title was split again in 1992 when Riddick Bowe forfeited the WBC title.

Another major sanctioning body, the World Boxing Organization, was established in 1988 in San Juan, Puerto Rico by a group of local businessmen. At the beginnings, when most of the challengers for WBA, WBC, and IBF titles were Americans, WBO had a wider variety of countries, mainly European, represented in title bouts. Before the Klitschko Era, the United Kingdom tied the United States for most wins in WBO heavyweight title fights with eight. In 1997, WBO titlist Naseem Hamed was allowed to unify titles for the first time in WBO history; on February 8, he defeated Tom Johnson to become unified WBO and IBF featherweight champion. By 2001, the WBA was giving the same recognition to WBO champions as to WBA, WBC, and IBF champions. In 2004, the WBC began naming WBO champions on its ranking listings.The IBF did not recognise the WBO in May 2006, but was doing so by February 2007. Conversely, the WBO has been explicitly recognizing the other three sanctioning bodies since at least October 1, 2008.

Until at least 2008, many considered it sufficient to hold the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles. Other bodies such as the IBO, IBU, and World Boxing Foundation are disregarded.

Four title undisputed champions

Only ten men have held all four versions of the belts at the same time, three of whom have been the only male boxers to have done so in two divisions.

Bernard Hopkins unified all four middleweight titles in September 2004.[*]

Jermain Taylor won all four middleweight titles from Hopkins in July 2005.[*]

Terence Crawford unified all four titles in two weight classes—light welterweight in August 2017 and welterweight in July 2023.

Oleksandr Usyk unified all four titles in two weight classes—cruiserweight in July 2018 and heavyweight in May 2024.

Josh Taylor unified all four light welterweight titles in May 2021.

Canelo Álvarez unified all four super middleweight titles in November 2021.

Jermell Charlo unified all four light middleweight titles in May 2022.

Devin Haney unified all four lightweight titles in June 2022.

Naoya Inoue unified all four titles in two weight classes—bantamweight in December 2022 and super bantamweight in December 2023.

Artur Beterbiev unified all four light heavyweight titles in October 2024.

Only eleven women have held all four versions of the belts at the same time, two have done so in two divisions.

Cecilia Brækhus unified all four welterweight titles in September 2014.

Claressa Shields unified all four titles in two weight classes—middleweight in April 2019 and light middleweight in May 2021.

Katie Taylor unified all four lightweight titles in June 2019 and won all four light welterweight titles from Chantelle Cameron in November 2023.

Jessica McCaskill won all four welterweight titles from Brækhus in August 2020.

Franchón Crews-Dezurn unified all four super middleweight titles in April 2022.

Chantelle Cameron unified all four light welterweight titles in November 2022.

Amanda Serrano unified all four featherweight titles in February 2023.

Alycia Baumgardner unified all four super featherweight titles in February 2023.

Savannah Marshall won all four super middleweight titles from Crews-Dezurn in July 2023.

Seniesa Estrada unified all four minimumweight titles in March 2024.

Gabriela Fundora unified all four flyweight titles in November 2024.

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bhanvii · 5 months ago

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5 Killer Habits: Become the Architect of Your Life

A Gen-Z Perspective

Life, as we had seemed to know it before the mammoth overturning of events during COVID-19, has transformed into a shrouded, elusive version of what it once was. With social and digital media taking over even the outdoor facets of life, a post-Covid era has emerged in 2025. From the perspective of a young adult born smack-dab in the middle of Generation Z, I find myself constantly trapped in the undertow of distractions and self-doubt. In the grand chase of sweeping goals and ambitions we haven't even begun setting, we often omit a key ingredient of long-term, healthy success—the beautiful alchemy of consistent habits. This is where Sreejan Krishna Seelam's "5 KILLER HABITS" comes in to heal and transform you with a subtle revolution that can change your inner landscape from one of just existing to one that is full of meaning.

The book presents a marvellous concoction of the author’s anecdotes, blended in parallel with interviews of elderly citizens, taken by a thousand volunteers and a hundred and sixty interns of the nonprofit WeDidIt, spread across India. Incorporating the voice of elders and their intuitive judgements about the necessity of diverse experiences and the urge to learn and educate oneself ties the entire crux of the book together masterfully.

Sleep: A Catbird Seat To Success

The world has witnessed a steep increase in the veneration of “hustle culture” and sleepless nights, and though burning the midnight oil is idolised as a form of action only geniuses partake in, it is indeed in the bright dawns that one makes the freshest of decisions with the soundest minds. As the sun seeps into the evening sky, moral discrepancies creep into one’s deeds.

A galvanizing anecdote spoke about the author’s close friend, who was blessed with a tryst of fate during the power cuts of sweltering Indian summers. Forcing her to hop out of her boiling sheets first thing in the morning, the girl developed a habit of reading and went on to become a doctor in California!

A minimum of 8 hours of sleep is needed for every adult to go about their professional and interpersonal lives with a fully functioning mind and body. Waking up at 5 in the morning and being in bed by 8 at night may seem like the most gargantuan obstacle for the common night owl. But worry not, for even nocturnal humans have a loophole around the night snooping. From the author’s personal experience, the customary teenage policy of being a voluntary noctumbalist can be broken down with a few days of sleeplessness. Soon the circadian rhythm will knock your body clock into place, and fatigue will make you hit your pillow before your nightly Instagram doom-scroll. Sheer visualization of your goals gives way to powerful, irresistible manifestations, and soon you’ll find yourselves tumbling down your to-do lists.

Volunteering: The Ripple Effect

The absolute dearth of true, selfless volunteers, sometimes gloriously hailed as “heroes,” is scathingly visible. Heroism and the innate desire for public acclamations course through the veins of even the average Joe. But it takes a certain degree of detachment from an internal world of self-satisfaction to make headway towards a larger purpose—to give back to the universe through deeds of gratitude. In fact, this gratitude extends beyond the realms of your mortal existence through the noble cause of organ donation. By simply allowing your body to have a purpose post-mortem, one can touch and transform the lives of countless many. The art of volunteering is learnt best through baby steps, and one's childhood is the ideal place to start. Through the author’s personal school experiences, the provision of moral classes eventually led to developing a sound, secure value system. As adulthood thwacks you in the face, this watchdog-esque system provides you sweet relief from the worldly rat race.

Beyond the superficial arches of the benefits of altruism, those being mainly a sense of interconnectedness and ambiguous optimism, a longer working span has biological evidence backing its claims of lengthening the longevity of life. A stellar survey based on the concentration of centenarians living on the tiny island of Okinawa, Japan, revealed some compelling links between an individual's retirement age and their lifespan. With a purpose to live came the desire for it as well. Volunteering is the best-advised pastime for our senior adults because nothing can match its rejuvenating power!

In the harrowing face of the environmental challenges we encounter, there is an urgent call to shed our coats of contentment and proudly put on those that herald us as “planeteers.” To snap out of the cocoon you live in, you must ask yourself a simple question: Would you rather spend life in a materialistic hamster cage, hurtling towards an unknown future in a world that may or may not exist, or actually align your values to protect your home for the generations to come?

Becoming The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

A proclivity for travel opens the doors to psychological and physical journeys that help push the bounds of human limits. At the end of your comfort zone lies an overarching, unexplored universe of memories and experiences more precious than any worldly treasure. A vivid memoir from the chapter encapsulates Seelam’s bold adventures across the beautiful Jammu and Kashmir, scattered with personal chronicles of building close-knit relations even in the remotest areas of the country. A travel mishap landed the author in a small village. What unfolded further was the unfurling of a life-altering domino effect, leading him from the quaint job of a tea-seller assistant to the midst of conflict-torn Srinagar.

This insatiable and visceral hunger for self-discovery fuels the true heroes of the world—those who cast off their egos and attain liberty from the dreaded “what-ifs” one reminisces as life’s end draws closer. As for the expense aspect of adventures, you'll find yourself having a tough time weighing the pure delight of time well spent against the expenditures underneath the surface. Time and time again, the author would find himself in the lap of the Himalayas, seeking respite and revival from the cutthroat corporate industry. Yet, with each break, his morale fortitude made unbridled strides. Through the interviews with our elderly citizens, we gained insightful counsel about expanding our physical horizons.

Wisdom Betwixt the Lines

An inescapable step towards becoming the best version of yourself and unlocking your ultimate cognitive potential is to inculcate the habit of reading into one’s daily schedule. One too many of us can heavily relate to the regret and guilt we feel due to the global phenomenon of adult-onset reading block. The unadulterated giddiness of a child during library hours in school is captured beautifully in this particular half of the book, but there are forces that have extinguished this literary yearning.

Governments across the world fill academic books with propagandist filth, contaminating the minds of the youth with bias that protects their personal agenda instead of the holistic well-being of the backbones of the country. Book bans are the absolute bane of a despotic, apocalyptic future that looms not so far ahead. It is the consequence of such dire conditions that all must now be irrevocably pushed towards books, now more than ever. Parents who ditch their electronic devices and turn to books set an ideal precedent for their offspring. In addition to increasing the average IQ of the world's population, reading has been demonstrated to significantly reduce violent tendencies, enhance empathy and the ability to deal with interpersonal highs and lows, postpone instant gratification, and foster patience—not to mention masterfully handle sensationalism and propaganda!

Curiosity: A Modern Renaissance

As we near the end of the book, we must learn how to challenge the norms, particularly in the context of religious bigotry. The sheer influence of God-men and alluring cultish organizations has stifled the innovative, curious minds of this country for centuries. The youth have, from time immemorial, emerged frustrated against the cast-iron, more often than not outdated, and, frankly, classist principles their elders proudly uphold. What had been the moral code for a bygone eon is no longer applicable to the current century.

The blind endorsement of antique beliefs across centuries has distorted the original content to an unrecognizable mush of bigotry. It is essential to ignite our engines of curiosity now more than ever to debunk such nonsensical theorems and question whom we read and why we do so. It is time for a much-needed upheaval of rebels, who must charge, with or without arms, to attack the institutes of the orthodox and take a giant leap towards universal brotherhood.

#selfhelp #book #wedidit

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gharexpo · 5 months ago

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Find Jubilee Walk: beauty combined with utility in Mohali

Mohali is one of the fastest-developing cities in the world with modern infrastructure, and this city has emerged as the hottest destination for both residential and commercial projects. In this great growing city, the developments are awesome, and the Jubilee Walk is one of the finest commercial and retail destinations catering to businesses as well as the consumers. Now, let's see what makes Jubilee Walk one of the best projects and also one great investment opportunity.

What is Jubilee Walk?

Jubilee Walk is a luxury mixed-use development, claimed to be at Mohali. Strategically located at Sector 70, it enjoys excellent connectivity to most city landmarks and the nearest regions that make it ideal for businesses and shoppers in general. Such has been the acclamation received by the project owing to innovative design features alongside the luxury amenities and diversified offerings.

Jubilee Walk Strategically located in the heart of Mohali

The most relevant advantage of Jubilee Walk is that it is located. The complex lies in Sector 70, which is in full possession of the well-established residential areas, schools, hospitals, and all such other facilities that are available there. It is also not far away from Chandigarh and from the major transport network. Therefore, it gives an easy approach towards it, thereby ensuring a constant flow of footfalls for the business houses accommodated in the complex.

This would make Jubilee Walk more valuable in terms of value as Mohali is gradually emerging as an IT and educational hub. The reason that a young and dynamic population resides in the locality is that this project would aptly attract the lively crowd.

Architectural Brilliance

The architecture of Jubilee Walk is beautiful because it is a well-planned and developed spot, with very minute attention being given to the details that can give the place a sense of sophistication and modernity. The outer look becomes warm and welcoming yet practical for one and all to use due to contemporary aesthetics along with functional elements.

Excellent retail spaces have been planned along with adequate visibility and easy access to the visitors. Ample parking and a smooth layout of corridors make it ideal for shopping, dining, and unwinding.

Various Business Spaces

Jubilee Walk caters to all the needs of business, whether it is a retail shop or an office, restaurant, or entertainment zone. The project offers various spaces that can be carved according to different industries. Be it a start-up seeking a trendy office or the brand seeking a high-end retail outlet, Jubilee Walk is sure to provide the right platform for growth and success.

A Shopper's Paradise

For customers, Jubilee Walk is an experience destination offering shopping on a wide spectrum of retailing, from luxury to day-to-day products available to suit the budget and tastes of its customers. The entire place delights with beautiful landscaping areas and lively interiors complemented by world-class amenities.

From casual cafes to fine dining restaurants, the scope for foodies is quite high. A perfect blend of shopping, dining, and entertainment, every visit to the Jubilee Walk brings delight.

Amenities That Redefine Luxury

The developers of this project, Jubilee Walk, did not leave any stone unturned in ensuring that the project offers the best-in-class amenities. The prime features are as under:

Ample Parking Area: A multi-story parking complex allows easy access to the visitors as well as business owners.

24/7 Security: The advanced security systems consist of CCTV surveillance and alert personnel to ensure safety.

Power Backup: Ensures continuous supply to ensure the operations of the business are uninterrupted.

High-Speed Elevators: The elevators make access convenient across all the floors.

Lush Surroundings: Landscaped and well-designed exteriors provide a serene environment.

Investment Opportunities

This is a promising investment opportunity for people who wish to invest in the gain that comes with emerging commercial real estate in Mohali. The design, premium in options, with ideal locations, makes it promising, as it will definitely provide huge returns in investments. Therefore, the steady developments that came into being with the economy of Mohali also made it one of the most reliable and rewarding options.

The demand for quality commercial spaces in this city ensures the continuous increase of the value of all properties in the Jubilee Walk through time. Haven for Entertainment and Socializing:

Another reason is that Jubilee Walk is an entertainment and socialization hotspot. Within the complex, there is a space set aside for events and cultural performances, even recreational activities; hence it's a happening place where individuals may come and celebrate and create their memories.

Inside the complex, from movie shows and live music, one can attend them with families, friends, or professionals. Indeed, Jubilee Walk is far from being a mere shopping center, as it has now become a lifestyle hub.

Ecological Design End

Sustainability is any development in modern society. A good amount of development that has resulted from the Jubilee Walk project would feature green practices, reducing negativity from the negative effects of the building to the natural world. One such measure is energy-efficient light bulbs; another is the harvesting systems, and there are proper waste systems.

Conclusion

The destination at Jubilee Walk, Mohali, is a hub that combines business, lifestyle, and leisure under one roof. Strategically located with world-class facilities and versatile spaces, it has emerged as the first choice for businesses and visitors alike. It has everything—the place will never let anything short. Be it investment, shopping, or spending quality time. Originally Published Here:-https://gharexpo.com/blog-detail/15/find-jubilee-walk-beauty-combined-with-utility-in-mohali

#india #real estate

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areixyn-en · 10 months ago

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Despair

“Next up is…” The teacher looks at the documents in hand, “The class treasurer. Does anyone want to be the class treasurer?”

Arashi raises her hand. She’s always been good at calculating, to the point where her friends call her a “human calculator” as a joke. She’s the perfect fit for a class treasurer.

The teacher looks at the class. “Only two? If there’s no one else, then these two shall be the class treasurers.”

Arashi turns to see who she’s going to be partnered with. She sees a raised hand —

It's Krishna.

Now, she’s not familiar with Krishna or anything, but her sheer demeanor gives her the shivers. Her cold gaze, the eyepatch on her right eye, and her almost entirely black outfit, everything about her screams “stay away.”

Arashi has the sudden urge to put her hand down. But it's too late. Backing out now will surely seem weird, right? All she can do now is pray that someone else raises their hand so that Arashi can lose the round of rock-paper-scissors that follows.

“Is there no one else?”

Please, anyone is fine, someone raise their hand, please-

“Then, these two shall be chosen by acclamation!”

Thunderous applause sounded.

Arashi now understands what they call despair.

Art - Areixyn

The tiny Arashi on the top left corner (?) - Y

#noxeris #summermist academy #krishna tinta sma #arashi hanazawa sma #archival records #.txt #.png #oc

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collymore · 1 year ago

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The ludicrous facade that's royalty!

By Stanley Collymore

In actuality there is no such thing as royalty or simply being royal truthfully, other than allowing one's self to be taken in by this delusional concept contrived by those who've either self- servingly or else subordinately and fawningly fashioned, in their rather sick and puerile minds, a quite euphemistic and sycophantic construct for actually being entitled, undoubtedly elitist, and intransigently superior but in actuality discernibly highly subjective personal acclamations not really based on any distinctively-outstanding; specifically and crucially, objectively demarcated or basically verifiable capabilities: as clearly, very invariably they're always none - attendant elaborately, with an exaggeratedly absolutely misplaced notion, of that very specific person's haughtily perceived, and inalienable entitlement to a simply significantly overprivileged lifestyle undoubtedly without any obstacles or permitted complaints regarding such actually imprudent but worthless existence, from those literally unquestionably designated by these same exalted beneficiaries, as obviously inferior; and, at best, quite benign subjects, but quite customarily all the same, as disposable serfs and plebeians.

Author's Remarks: I’ve purposely rather decided, not to write any remarks on this poem, although there are obviously plenty of them I could have appropriately employed; but there’s an old Barbadian saying, that when endemically ingrained idiots with evidently no likely or possible intention, even remotely on their part obviously, of ever inculcating reason, and regrettably also are discernibly in the majority, there’s nothing sensibly really to gain, by effectively distinctively espousing commonsense or reason to any of them.

And with Britain literally disastrously and similarly increasingly inundated with the dregs of numerous European pogroms and, of course, its now asininely sanctified European holocaust lot, but simply only for one set of supposedly worthwhile victims and their kind, actually firmly coupled with a most unbelievably rather wholeheartedly and obviously financially induced welcome into Britain of the very discernibly odiously evil lowlifes who’re directly the offspring of the Ukrainian Waffen SS mass murderers, killers and devotees extraordinaire of the Third Reich and others that vaingloriously and rather crucially, evidently fuelled that European internecine war, narcissistically classed as World War II, when it really had bugger all to do with the rest of the world actually, and now vaingloriously obviously but pathetically proselytize themselves as genuinely authentic British, which none of these odious, very toxically verminous and clearly malignantly egregious, quite blatant mother fuckers – of all genders are – why the hell should then, should I very crucially waste time on them, or essentially seek to intelligently espouse discernible common sense and evidently sound reason to them when they quite perceptibly simply haven’t got the capacity, or intellectual acumen, to absorb, let alone inculcate what I would be saying?

#Farce

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dukeofriven · 1 year ago

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Gonna need to explain why since, as I understand it, Senator Sheev Palpatine conspired to create a a fake invasion crisis over the planet Naboo in order to depose the Chancellor and be elected in his place, and then further used the power of that position to manipulate the Galactic Republic into inflaming tensions within a group of disgruntled systems whose leader was secretly his protege Count Dooku and whose primary financial backers and military actors (eg General Grevious, Trade Federation et al) already turned to his alter-ego Darth Sideous for orders. Sheev used this entirely manufactured war of which he was the controlling leader on both sides to destabilize the security of the Republic so that the fear and uncertainty he fomented could be used to goad the Senate of the Galactic Republic to give him unprecedented emergency powers that culminated in his acclamation as a permanent imperator, an emperor with no term limits, no electoral accountability, and a supreme commander's total control over every organ of the sate, at which point he had the Separatist leaders killed (they came like lambs to the slaughter because they also followed his commands), and ended the war at a stroke because, again, he was in control the entire time. Millions and billions of people died over a war that had its origins and its ends in a single man's whims, a man playing both sides of a chess game. The deaths are real, the conflict is artificial. That's the plot of the Star Wars prequels. The whole thematic point Lucas was trying to make—well or otherwise—was a deeply cynical one about how a galaxy's political class could be manipulated into a war for the sole purpose of achieving one man's desire for power. Something that Clone-Wars-the-show has as its frequent theme, highlighting especially that while the Separatists' grievances with the Republic were genuine and born of a real frustration with the rot and bureaucratic ineptitude of the Republic as a system, those genuine concerns blinded everyone to the way their fears and frustrations were so easily pushed into a war footing—especially given the scale of the Republic and the resources that could be brought against them. Sideous sold a lie to the Separatists about their own capacity to win a conflict they could only ever fight a rearguard action against, as equally he sold a lie to the loyalist systems about the existential threat of the Separatists, as well as the jingoism over the 'unity' of the Republic. This from a man who knew the troop movements of both sides and from behind the scenes burned worlds and slaughtered civilizations according to whatever he thought would best serve his cause that day: upset a Republican system here, terrify a Separatist system there. That's, again, the overarching plot from a political standpoint. Within you've got Jedi and clones and bad Jar Jar episodes, but that's the overarching plot: everybody in the story fights in a war whose origins, inciting incident, political and military leadership, and ultimate outcomes are all under the control of Sheev Palpatine. The Clone Wars were not only hell: they were also a con.

I feel like people miss the point of the "war is bad" message

What it's supposed to mean is that war is terrible, it's destructive, it ruins lives, it leaves scars, and you should only partake in it when there are no other options, because even if you win, even if you survive, you will not be the same, which is why the phrase used to be more commonly known as "war is hell"

But "war is bad" seems to have been construed by people in fandom into "any fighting is bad, if you fight you're morally terrible and impure, you should not fight at all, no matter what", this is annoying in fandom, as it often misses the point fiction is trying to make, but what's worrisome is when people apply this to real life, as I have seen people do regarding russia's invasion of Ukraine

And that's almost never the point of "War is Bad" works

Works like lotr, atla, transformers, the clone wars, etc all have themes on how horrible war is, but they categorically do not say it is wrong to fight, what they say is usually along the lines of "war is terrible, and what makes it so terrible is that we have no choice but to fight, it would be ideal if we didn't have to fight at all, but we must fight, because not fighting is not an option, because not fighting, not opposing tyranny, conquest, and evil only allows those things to exist unimpeded"

#star wars #clone wars #Sheev Palpatine #Luke even points this out in TLJ when he notes that at the height of their power the Jedi were completely blindsided by one guy

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