schmeat

The strawpoll: https://strawpoll.com/x447fxk2y

The 32nd strawpoll ended. The 47th pick of this mock draft is Udoka Azubuike.

The mock draft up until now:

No 1 Minesota Timberwolves Anthony Edwards

No 2 Golden State Warriors James Wiseman

No 3 Charlotte Hornets Lamelo Ball

No 4 Chicago Bulls Deni Avdija

No 5 Cleveland Cavaliers Isaac Okoro

No 6 Atlanta Hawks Tyrese Haliburton

No 7 Detroit Pistons Killian Hayes

No 8 New York Knicks Devin Vassell

No 9 Washington Wizards Onyeka Okongwu

No 10 Phoenix Suns Obi Toppin

No 11 San Antonio Spurs Patrick Williams

No 12 Sacramento Kings Aaron Nesmith

No 13 New Orleans Pelicans Cole Anthony

No 14 Boston Celtics Aleksej Pokusevski

No 15 Orlando Magic Tyrese Maxey

No 16 Portland Trail Blazers Sadiq Bey

No 17 Minesota Timberwolves Precious Achiuwa

No 18 Dallas Mavericks Kira Lewis Jr

No 19 Brooklyn Nets Josh Green

No 20 Miami Heat RJ Hampton

No 21 Philadelphia 76ers Tyrell Terry

No 22 Denver Nuggets Jaden McDaniels

No 23 Utah Jazz Jalen Smith

No 24 Milwaukee Bucks Desmond Bane

No 25 Oklahoma City Thunder Theo Maledon

No 26 Boston Celtics Leandro Bolmaro

No 27 New York Knicks Grant Riller

No 28 Los Angeles Lakers Isaiah Joe

No 29 Toronto Raptors Xavier Tillman

No 30 Boston Celtics Tyler Bey

No 31 Dallas Mavericks Paul Reed

No 32 Charlotte Hornets Zeke Nnaji

No 33 Minesota Timberwolves Robert Woodard II

No 34 Philadelphia 76ers Killian Tillie

No 35 Sacramento Kings Jahmi'us Ramsey

No 36 Philadelphia 76ers Malachi Flynn

No 37 Washington Wizards Tre Jones

No 38 New York Knicks Nico Mannion

No 39 New Orleans Pelicans Vernon Carey Jr

No 40 Memphis Grizzlies Elijah Hughes

No 41 San Antonio Spurs Daniel Oturu

No 42 New Orleans Pelicans Cassius Stanley

No 43 Sacramento Kings Isaiah Stewart

No 44 Chicago Bulls Devon Dotson

No 45 Orlando Magic Cassius Winston

No 46 Portland Trail Blazers Ty-Shon Alexander

No 47 Boston Celtics Udoka Azubuike

Special thanks to IronM17 for allowing me full use of his DeviantArt gallery. We got a lot of great emotes out of it in this batch.

I felt huge need to write now.

Sun hasn't set yet, but I'm so close to evening of today that I can say, 16th day is done. I actually just wanted to share you a song I wrote. This song was very hard for me to write, and it made me cry a lot to write it. The subject is one of the most emotional ones for me and I haven't shared anything this personal with you so far.

The song is written for her. I have been talking about our complicated relationship. We are like best friends, we have been like that for nine years now. We have been through a lot and I (and she) feel like our friendship naturally has come closer by the time. Ever since from the start there has been a twist in it. She has told me that she loves me and so do I. Like soulmates do, right? Well I do love her in romantic way as well. I have always loved. And she knows it. In the beginning of our friendship she had a crush on me as well, which hasn't make this easier for me. But she figured out quickly her feelings weren't romantic. We have talked about it a lot during these years. We have talked about that our friendship is actually very weird. And I guess it is. We have just both decided to try to come along with this, because our friendship is so amazing and we both feel like we are the best persons ever to each others. I don't know it is so hard to put it down to words what I mean. I don't want you to tell me things like, maybe one she will feel it too, or that I shouldn't stay with her. It has been nine years and I know her better than anyone, she knows me better than anyone and we have discussed everything through.

It is so complicated to have your heart hurting so much and at the same time it heals from same person.

I wouldn't change anything. Of course my dream would be to call her my girlfriend as well, but uhm. I'm getting emotional again. I just know that it is not what I should focus on. I can't make anyone to love me like that. She loves me like a soulmate and I'm thankful for that. I want to just take a moment at the time. Maybe someday this all will be different and make sense. I just know that everything I have experienced with her has made me to believe in life and has made me a better person. We have so much fun together and we understand each like no one else. I'm very happy to call her my best friend. But I'm not denying my other feelings. I just needed to let it out. Maybe in time my heart heals. For now I wanna embrace what beautiful I have.

I have never felt this vulnerable

The year has begun. What are you going to do differently? Have you set any goals? Did you accomplish the goals you set last year? If you were here when this all began (this subreddit, that is), you can look back to your last year's new year essay and compare! (It's here.)

You can write about anything that excites you about the beginning year. :)

Post your essays as comments to this thread!

Length requirements:
Absolute beginner: ~50 words
Bit further along: 150 words
Intermediate: 150-300 words
So you think you can write?: 300-800
Masters of the Universe: over 800 words

Remember that you can also read other people's essays in langauges you know, and discussing the essays is greatly encouraged! However, try to refrain from pointing out mistakes if it's not explicitly asked for.

This is our weekly suggestion thread. This post will remain open until Friday when the voting thread goes up. The top 5 upvoted suggestions here by then will be taken and put into an official poll for voting on over the weekend. The winning rule goes into effect on Monday. Make sure to read the guidelines below and make sure your suggestion is as specific as possible. Suggestions are taken as written from here and interpreted literally.

Our next vote will be this weekend. Post your suggestions of what should be banned next here. Upvote the ones you think are a good idea.

Guidelines - Your suggestion MUST follow these

1. No banning of anything required for smooth operation of the subreddit (e.g. modposts, voting threads, etc)
2. No bans that would stifle people's voice in how this sub should be run (e.g. no banning suggestion threads)
3. Ban suggestions may only be to ban types of posts or certain topics (e.g. you cannot ban moderators or stop us from enforcing rules)
4. Whether a ban/new rule suggestion is valid is ultimately up to the mods. No complaining.
5. Be specific about what you're really trying to ban (e.g. don't suggest banning all images instead consider banning cat images). "Exploitables" are different than generic "memes". Image Macros are what most people are actually thinking of when they say "meme".
6. You don't have to suggest a ban. Your suggestion can be a new rule (e.g. marking NSFW posts as such) but new rules must not interfere with the operation of this subreddit or go against reddit site-wide rules.
7. No suggestions that remove old rules will be considered (this can be done with a referendum).
8. Suggestions in this thread are only for content-related rules. Procedural rules are created via referendums. The wiki also gives examples of each type of vote if you need further clarification.

Beyond these guidelines, you're free to choose any new rules you want to see in place. Do you want to ban Spiderman threads? Or do you want to ban all image macros? Suggestions should be as descriptive as possible so that once the rule goes into effect there's no guesswork on what should or shouldn't fall under said rule.

We'd like to suggest peo

##TL;DR: Vote here: http://www.kuilin.net/evex.

Welcome to our newest weekly rule addition vote. Hope you're all ready to go. Vote for one or more options. Anything you like and would be okay seeing win, go ahead and check it off. You also have the option to vote for no new rule changes.

Suggestion to everyone reading this: upvote the rule suggestion and voting threads for visibility - some people only see the subreddit through their front page so they miss the stickied posts.

###Top Rule Suggestions

Unfortunately, we only got 3 suggestions with positive karma this week. The rules say to go back up to two weeks to pull positives from there in this instance, but there aren't enough from those weeks either that haven't already been on a ballot. So here are your 3 options plus the one that came in 2nd last week:

4. Ban suggestions banning referendums.

5. Rule 24 is optional.

6. Ban suggestions banning suggestions.

Carried over from last week: Ban links to Facebook.

###Referendums

No referendums made the 19 votes required to make it on the ballot this week.

###Anthem Vote

1. Super Mario Bros
2. UP DOWN ALBUM
3. Offenbach's Galop Infernal
4. Vesuvius
5. Liberation by MB Sak
6. Karma by Kamelot

###Rule Removal

We have a vote to remove a rule per Referendum 19 that was passed recently. Please vote all the rules you would be okay with removing. Only rules with over 50% voters checking the box will be removed.

Thanks to everyone who suggested rule changes this week. I've created a vote based on these top 5 choices and "No new vote". You can take that

Details. "10 Man league" standard scoring, non PPR

Vote on the player you would select with this pick in a fantasy football draft. Please be honest.

TAKEN:

Team 1:

Round 1: Adrian Peterson, RB, Vikings

Round 2: Jimmy Graham, TE, Saints

Round 3: Frank Gore, RB, 49ers

Round 4: Reggie Wayne, WR, Colts

Round 5: Darren McFadden, RB, Raiders

Team 2:

Round 1: Arian Foster, RB, Texans

Round 2: Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, Jaguars

Round 3: Julio Jones, WR, Falcons

Round 4: Dwayne Bowe, WR, Chiefs

Round 5: Darren Sproles, RB, Saints

Team 3:

Round 1: Jamaal Charles, RB, Chiefs

Round 2: Dez Bryant, WR, Cowboys

Round 3: Reggie Bush, RB, Lions

Round 4: Peyton Manning, QB, Broncos

Round 5: Danny Amendola, WR, Patriots

Team 4:

Round 1: Doug Martin, RB, Buccaneers

Round 2: Brandon Marshall, WR, Bears

Round 3: Aaron Rodgers, QB, Packers

Round 4: Leveon Bell, RB, Steelers

Round 5: Pierre Garçon, WR, Redskins

Team5:

Round 1: Marshawn Lynch, RB, Seahawks

Round 2: Chris Johnson, RB, Titans

Round 3: Demaryius Thomas, WR, Broncos

Round 4: Marques Colston, WR, Saints

Round 5: Cam Newton, QB, Panthers

Team 6:

Round 1: CJ Spiller, RB, Bills

Round 2: Steven Ridley, RB, Patriots

Round 3: Drew Brees, QB, Saints

Round 4: Victor Cruz, WR, Giants

Round 5: Wes Welker, WR, Broncos

Team 7:

Round 1: Ray Rice, RB, Ravens

Round 2: A.J. Green, WR, Bengals

Round 3: DeMarco Murray, RB, Cowboys

Round 4: David Wilson, RB, Giants

Round 5: Jordy Nelson, WR, Packers

Team 8:

Round 1: Lesean McCoy, RB, Eagles

Round 2: Matt Forte, RB, Bears

Round 3: Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Cardinals

Round 4: Vincent Jackson, WR, Buccaneers

Round 5: Currently taking votes

Team 9:

Round 1: Calvin Johnson, WR, Lions

Round 2: Steven Jackson, RB, Falcons

Round 3: Andre Johnson, WR, Texans

Round 4: Lamar Miller, RB, Dolphins

Team 10:

*Round 1:*Trent Richardson, RB, Browns

Round 2: Alfred Morris, RB, Redskins

Round 3: Roddy White, WR, Falcons

Round 4: Randall Cobb, WR, Packers

Comment yourselves and discuss!!!

KEEP IN MIND THIS TEAM ALREADY HAS

• Lesean McCoy, RB

• Matt Forte, RB

• Larry Fitzgerald, WR

• Vincent Jackson, WR

PLEASE DRAFT ACCORDINGLY

Please upvote for visibility (I get no karma for this because its a self-post)

Hey everyone. Your vote results are in. The winner is...

Ban links to Facebook.

###Weekly Rule Vote Results

• Ban suggestions banning referendums - 14 votes (45.16%)
• Rule 24 is optional - 16 votes (51.61%)
• Ban suggestions banning suggestions - 12 votes (38.71%)
• Ban links to Facebook - 19 votes (61.29%)
• No new rule this week - 9 votes (29.03%)

Total: 70 votes among 31 voters.

###Rule Removal Vote Results

We have weekly votes on almost all the rules in place to see if any should be removed due to a previous referendum. You can read the text of that referendum here.

• Clickbait articles are banned - 3 votes (12.00%)
• NSFW posts must be marked as such - 2 votes (8.00%)
• Posts related to My Little Pony are banned - 3 votes (12.00%)
• The Pokemon Eevee is the subreddits official mascot - 5 votes (20.00%)
• Cross-posts (links that have been posted to another sub within the last week) must be marked as such in the submission title - 1 votes (4.00%)
• If a posts title is written in a non-English language, all comments must be in that language - 5 votes (20.00%)
• Debates/arguments must be done in CAPS ONLY - 8 votes (32.00%)
• Racist posts and comments are banned - 4 votes (16.00%)
• Procedural rules will be processed as referendums - 2 votes (8.00%)
• At the end of every month, a mod must post a haiku summarising the highlights of the subreddits month - 8 votes (32.00%)
• Comments in threads tagged with [Serious] must contain serious, on-topic answers - 2 votes (8.00%)
• SJW Feminism and Mens Rights Activism content is banned - 3 votes (12.00%)
• An OC Contest will take place weekly - 3 votes (12.00%)
• NSFW or NSFL posts must describe their content in the title or comments - 2 votes (8.00%)
• Comments containing the word "Ayy" must be followed with only comments containing the word "Lmao" - 10 votes (40.00%)
• Posts about current media must contain spoiler tags - 2 votes (8.00%)
• Image macros are banned (via Schrödingers rule) - 3 votes (12.00%)
• Content discriminating against religious belief, nationality, sexual orientation, or gender is banned - 3 votes (12.00%)
• Reposts from the last month are banned - 2 votes (8.00%)
• Links to subreddits must be preceded by the phrase "that strange place known as" - 7 votes (28.00%)
• Reddit usernames must be followed by a Jap

Congrats to the top movie guessers this week!

In first place is potatogrids with 5!

Tied for second is luckipucki, CHOICECOD and Fintann with 3!

The scores were very close this week with honorable mentions going to:

OhAreThey - 2

fivestarfivesubject - 2

Not_Steve - 2

Lynda73 - 2

Vindice - 2

TheCatAndSgtBaker - 2

SaluteYourShorts - 2

ranoutofnames - 2

DrFriedGold - 2

Thanks to all who participated, we hope to see you next week!

[first] [prev] [next]

Ru'udamo'o was a former Executor covert action specialist. He was a shadow in the system, the suggestion of a shadow, a hint of an existence and he was fine with that. He had served the Unified Civilized Council's peoples for three thousand years. When the C3 and it's collateral damage started he had sought out the forbidden to consult. The Herd Stallion. The Herd Matron. He did not fear their power, he sought their wisdom to understand where they intended on guiding the Great Herd.

He, more than anyone, understood that the Civilized Council was nothing more than a brackish swamp slowly drying away to salt plains. That in a hundred million years his people had managed to do little more than destroy star systems to feed an overwhelming appetite they didn't even understand.

He had watched the C3 War with interest. For the first time in the Council's history they weren't facing off against a species that had barely developed space travel and stellar class combat weapons with only a few systems for resources and manufacturing. Every scrap of information he could gather on the Confederacy pointed to thousands of systems, multiple species, heavy industrial capacity and capability, massive shipyards, research programs, and the infrastructure to prosecute interstellar wars.

While his peers and superiors (or those who saw themselves as his superior) just hand-waved away the eight thousand years of interstellar travel for the lemurs, Ru'udamo'o examined it closely.

It was doing a deep data dive on the Confederacy that he discovered a simple fact that the lemurs and their allies ignored.

The longest period of peace the Confederacy had enjoyed was an astounding 63 days.

The Confederacy was made up of aligned systems, not a single system under the rulership of the Senate.

Ru'udamo'o had found out that there were nearly 58 human stellar organizations withing the Confederacy. The Mantids had three. The Treana'ad only one. The Rigellian Suarian Compact covered over a dozen species, many with their own stellar governments owning multiple stellar systems.

Even during the C3 War, the Confederacy was actively fighting in their own territory against 'Rogue Nation States"

Update - you can find a more readable version of this in my post history

Reposted - Removed all names associated with the case besides the missing person.

Podcast version https://unsettledtruecrime.podbean.com/

This is an update on Episode 1, Deanie Peters, which had its first major break since 1981. This episode will not only cover the arrest of JF, but will include additional and clarifying information mostly from the WZZM13 Investigates Facebook page. I will be covering all of the original information again in this episode.

INTRO

The year is 1981. Ronald Reagan takes office, the first test tube baby is born, and MTV hits the airwaves.

That’s how long ago Deanie Peters disappeared.

THE DISAPPEARANCE

Deanie was a 14 year old eighth grader attending her 6 year old brother W’s wrestling practice with her mom, M. M’s good friend A saw Deanie coming down the stairs at about 4:45 p.m as she arrived to pick up her son P, who had ridden to wrestling practice with the Peters family. Deanie waved to A and said she was going to the restroom and would be right back.

That’s where this forty year old mystery begins.

The disappearance took place on February 5th 1981, at Forest Hill Central Middle School, which is in one of if not the safest neighborhood in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I previously said elementary school, but that was not accurate. Even today people let their kids wander on bikes throughout the suburb. It’s a desirable area. This area is referred to in the news by many names, the general area of the city is called Forest Hills. Cascade is a prime street running through Forest Hills. The middle school is not far from Cascade.

The day of the disappearance, campus was busy. One facebook comment says they were there that day, and whatever happened must have been quick with all the activity.

There were about 75 people in total in the two level gym. The upper level held the wrestling meet. Photos of the wrestling team cannot be found in yearbooks because it was not a Forest Hills Public School System event. Their wrestling program wasn’t large enough, so children from any district were allowed to join. Matches were random rather than by school.

The lower level of the gym had an aerobics class taking place.

The highschool, which shares a campus with the middle school, had a ‘donkey basketball game’ about two hours after the disappearance, which is where you actually dress up as donkeys and play

These are probably gonna get ruled on in the next 5 hours but here we go for a quick summary because these are brief and because I had a meeting canceled so I have a free hour.

Disclaimer: This is NOT legal advice. I am not a licensed attorney nor should you take anything I’m saying here as the final word on things. I am a 3L law student. I’m happy to hear your disagreements with my analysis if you have them.

Also trigger warning here. Some descriptions of the molestation that I don’t think have been made publicly known before.

UNITED STATES’ SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEF

• Prosecution on Nov 15 noted they were going to have JB and Holt testify to Pest’s conduct
• “Forty-five minutes before the hearing” the Defense raised via email the issue of clergy privilege regarding Holt’s testimony (*cue that “is this allowed???” Vine*)
• Holt at the hearing yesterday stated that Pest had told her that he had “been touching the breasts and vaginal areas of Jane Does 1 through 3, both over and under their clothes, for years.”
• Holt says the courtship with their daughter ended in 2003 but that they brought Pest to live with them in Little Rock because they wanted to see if they could repair the relationship with their daughter. Uh.
• Pest confessed to Holt (after her husband was asleep one night) that he had digitally penetrated Jane Doe 4’s vagina “while she sat on his lap and he read her bible stories.”
• This rape occurred on March 30, 2003.
• That was the sraw that broke the camel's back and caused the Duggars to contact the Holts.
• Defense objected to this testimony under clergy privilege.
• “The defendant is asking the Court to adopt an interpretation of the clergy-penitent privilege that is so unprecedently overbroad as to render it unenforceable.”
• Footnote 1 is great: “The defendant’s father also testified at the hearing. While he provided garbled answers about the leadership of his church and repeatedly claimed not to recall whether the defendant admitted to touching the vaginas of Jane Does 1 through 4 despite recalling other very specific details from this timeframe.”
• Government notes that Holt was not a church leader, nor could any woman such as herself served as leader. She was speaking with Pest in her capacity as a family friend, and the fact that they prayed together at some points shouldn’t be dispositive that this was a clergy-penitent relatio

10. Boomer Esiason, Super Bowl XXIII (Cincinnati Bengals)

Boomer Esiason was a native of the town of East Islip on Long Island, and he played college football at Maryland, leading them to an ACC title his senior year. The Bengals made him a second round pick in the 1984 draft. Esiason started four games his rookie year behind Ken Anderson and went 3-1. His strong performance left the Bengals confident that he was the man who could replace Anderson, the aging former MVP, and they made Esiason their primary starter in 1985. The Bengals missed the playoffs in each of Esiason’s first four seasons in the league. However, despite the fact that the Bengals missed the playoffs, Esiason was still named to the 1986 Pro Bowl after throwing for 3959 yards and 24 touchdowns.

Esiason’s career turned a corner in 1988. The Bengals suddenly became the best team in the league. Rookie running back Ickie Woods rushed for 1000 yards and 15 touchdowns, while wide receiver Eddie Brown caught 1200 yards. For his part, Esiason threw for 3500 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. The Bengals stormed to a 12-4 record and took the top seed in the AFC. For leading the best offense in the NFL that year, Esiason was named the 1988 league MVP. They scored wins over the Seahawks and Jim Kelly’s Bills to reach Super Bowl XXIII, where they faced Joe Montana and the 49ers for a rematch of Super Bowl XVI. Despite being the most electric team in the league that year, the Bengals would not be able to topple the dynasty, although they almost pulled it off. Esiason had the Bengals clinging to a 16-13 lead with 3:10 to go, but Montana executed a 92 yard drive that ended with a 10 yard touchdown pass to John Taylor with 34 seconds left, launching the 49ers to a 20-16 win and leaving the Bengals disappointed yet again.

Esiason would play 4 more seasons with the Bengals following his Super Bowl appearance, but never experienced the same success he had in 1988. He was named to a third Pro Bowl in 1989 after posting stats similar to his MVP season, but the Bengals only finished 8-8. Esiason helped them reach the playoffs one final time in 1990 after a season where he threw for 3000 yards and 24 touchdowns, but also led the league in interceptions with 22. This would be the Bengals’ last playoff appearance until 2005, and to date is still their final playoff win. Esiason’s play fell off in the following two seasons. In 1991, he failed to pass for 3000 yards and threw more

The Beginning | Wiki Page | Sixth Part | Eighth Part

Ah the Shimmerlands, the one place I have been repeatedly, religiously, indisputably told not to go, and, coincidentally, the very place I happened to be riding through. Everyone gets so hung up on magic blowing up when used, but I—clutching a semi-auto shotgun—didn’t mind that quite so much. Gods can ban guns, but they can’t take them from me here! (As a… [former?] American, I am obligated to say some variation of that phrase. Cold, dead hands, etc.)

Magic going splodey is still quite an inconvenience, however. The frustrating thing is… it’s inconsistent, kinda. If a spell works once, it will work every time, if cast in the same way. Unfortunately, the only way to test this is to put your hide on the line and cast it your damn self. If you roll a 99 or 100, congratulations! You have a spell you can use. If not, then it’s nuke-meet-face. (I am told the explosion is enough to reduce a log cabin to splinters...)

This leaves a disappointingly small list of magic that is available in non-splodey form. Vitally to me, this includes featherweight, if cast outside the Shimmerlands. This spell—while not applied to myself due to prohibitive duration—is enchanted onto every piece of equipment I’m carrying, reducing several hundred pounds of kit to about forty. Other spells relevant to me are beacon-stones and their connected compasses, which are my guides to the Tomb of Instability; and placebo-grade healing potions, which, arguably, aren’t actually magical.

The rest of the spells I either don’t know and cannot learn fast enough or can’t use outright. Next, some (1/3 or so) creatures with innate—'organic' magic as hippiemancers put it—can use their abilities. The rule of thumb on that is: If it's in the Shimmerlands, it hasn't exploded, therefore it's good. Dormant magic is all but guaranteed to last until used, then you roll the dice on whether it's splodey. And, finally, any magic item looted in the Shimmerlands works as it should… until removed from the Shimmerlands, at which point you can’t take it back in without risking you-know-what. On top of that, magic items of meaningful

Big Finish Releases 2

Big Finish Releases 2022 (and Beyond!)

#The First Doctor Adventures

Whilst we don't know the details, we know Lauren Cornelius has been recording more First Doctor Adventures. Assumably the AAISAT crew have been as well, and potentially Carole Ann Ford. And one assumes Peter Purves. Sadly, I doubt William Russell has, Jean Marsh even less so. Maureen O'Brien has possibly done recording, but it's difficult to say as she's someone who can't really travel far, and obviously pandemics makes things worse.

#The Second Doctor Adventures

After being delayed many times, with still no confirmed release date, the fact that remote recording has occurred seems that whatever issues that plagued the release have potentially been solved, and we may get news soon. Otherwise we do know there's a George Mann penned Dalek story, read by Frazer Hines, that at this point logically couldn't be anything but a Companion Chronicle.

#The Third Doctor Adventures

#The Fourth Doctor Adventures

The Beginning | Wiki Page | Fifth Part | Seventh Part

“And Isilda can cover the Prairieton call… again… she’s got the skills for it,” I said to Pokle as I pointed around our scheduling book. “That’s three weeks open, should be enough to account for assorted disasters and stuff. Are you sure you can take care of Varia and Grif while managing the place?”

“No problem,” Pokle answered with a telling lack of confidence. She looked at my equally evocative face. “Hey, cheer up! You’re knocking out the biggest favor on the ledger!”

I let the change of subject slide as I pursed my lips further. “It only counts if I come back alive to strike it off the page. Going off what I know so far, it’s something nasty.”

“Oh come on, boss, you’ve dealt with some tough stuff in your time. How bad could it be?”

My eyes bulged. “Don’t fucking say it out loud dummy! That phrase never helped anybody!”

“Right, sorry. I forget you’re superstitious like that.” Her tone was apologetic solely out of obligation.

I repressed the urge to strangle her, considering I have a LITERAL GHOST IN MY HOUSE, and there are ACTUAL GODS LISTENING IN SOMETIMES and those gods are BORED! Instead, I wandered over to my office and finished the latest version of my will, just in case. After throwing it in my drawer, I sighed and decided that I wanted a drink. I got my dusty bottle of sweet rum and poured a glass.

That particular mood didn’t last. I’d stopped at one drink by the time Greesly leaned into my office. “Someone wants to talk to you,” he said.

“Alright, make it quick. I’m expecting a call.”

To my surprise, it wasn’t someone I despised walking through that door. It was Cameron!

“Whoa hey, Cam. What’s up?” I stood to shake his hand.

He gripped my palm with some major muscle. “Not much, man, I thought I’d swing by to catch up.”

“Oh, it’s a terrible time for that. You’ll have to make it quick, I’m about to get real busy.”

He stopped to mull over his next words. “Alright, umm. The gist is… adventuring sucks. I’ve almost died three times and only leveled up twice! I want a job—from you—that pays bills and grinds XP like you said it does.”

At that moment, Pokle rounded th

why does the wiki say "Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 11 is the forty-eighth compilation album on the record label, Monstercat, and the eleventh and final Monstercat: Uncaged album."

Out there - Patreon (for all those curious or wanting to support :))

At the Beginning

Adventure Arc - Arc 2

Previously on Leveling up the World…

 

Leaving the sword’s real wasn’t immediate. Following Nil’s advice, Dallion spent half a day in a room, picturing the real world at the exact moment he had left. Only after that did he exit the realm. The shock was noticeably less, although Dallion still required a few seconds of adjustment. That done, he quickly left the room and returned to the basement for his training. However, how could one train after learning so much?

For hours Dallion remained sitting in the empty room, staring at the training item without the will to go inside. Now and again, he’d stand up and pace around before sitting back down.

After spending hours both in the realm and in the real world procrastinating, Dallion finally got a sarcastic nudge from Nil, putting things pack in perspective. With the next arena fight hours away, it was best to take Eury’s advice and increase his level once more. Before that, though, there was something else Dallion wanted to try out.

PERSONAL AWAKENING

Things were considerably livelier once Dallion returned to his realm. The starting room was full of echoes and familiars. To no surprise, the dryad wasn’t there.

“Where’s Vihrogon?” Dallion asked.

“He’s locked himself in his domain, contemplating the past,” Gleam fluttered. “Now you see why I dislike dryads? They think it’s their role to tame the wilderness. At least everyone else knows better.”

“You know I might become a hunter one day?” Dallion asked, more in jest than anything else. “You’re different. For one thing you’re a dope now.”

Hearing her use the word was unusual, to say the least. Clearly, Dallion’s personality was starting to affect the shardfly.

“The Green path? Seriously? It’ll be amusing seeing a hunter with that.”

“You’re saying it’s impossible?”

“Not impossible. I’ve seen empath hunters, and they’re the scariest of the bunch. It’s rare, though. Most of them are just assistants, carrying stuff, cooking, cleaning…”

That sounded remarkably like being a p

'Twas the night before Christmas, and out on the ramp
Not an airplane was stirring, not even a Champ.
The aircraft were fastened to tie-downs with care,
In hopes that, come morning, they all would be there.

The fuel trucks were nestled all snug in their spots
With gusts from two-forty at 39 knots.
I slumped at the fuel desk, now finally caught up,
And settled down comfortably, resting my butt.

When the radio lit up with such noise and such chatter
I turned up the scanner to see what was the matter.
A voice clearly heard over static and snow
Called for clearance to land at the airport below.

He barked his transmission so lively and quick
I'd have sworn that the call sign he used was "St. Nick."
I ran to the panel to turn up the lights,
The better to welcome this magical flight.

He called his position, no room for denial,
"St. Nicholas One, turnin' left onto final."
And what to my wondering eyes should appear
But a Rutan-built sleigh, with eight Rotax Reindeer!

With vectors to final, down the glideslope he came,
As he passed all fixes he called them by name:
"Now Ringo! Now Tolga! Now Trini and Bacun!
On Comet! On Cupid!" What pills was he takin'?

While controllers were sittin' and scratchin' their heads
They phoned to my office, and I heard it with dread,
The message they left was both urgent and dour:
"When Santa pulls in, have him please call the tower."

He landed like silk, with the sled runners sparking,
Then I heard "Left at Charlie" and "Taxi to parking."
He slowed to a taxi, turned off of three-oh,
And stopped on the ramp with a "Ho-ho-ho-ho..."

He stepped out of the sleigh, but before he could talk,
I ran out to meet him with my best set of chocks.
His helmet and goggles were covered with frost,
And his beard was all blackened from Reindeer exhaust.

His breath smelled like peppermint gone slightly stale
And he puffed on a pipe, but he didn't inhale.
His cheeks were all rosy and jiggled like jelly,
His boots were as black as a cropduster's belly.

He was chubby and plump in his suit of bright red
And he asked me to "fill it, with hundred low-lead."
He came dashing in from the snow-covered pump
And I knew he was anxious for drainin' the sump.

I spoke not a word, but went straight to my work,
And I filled up the sleigh, but I spilled like a jerk.
He came out of the restroom and sighed in relief
Then he picked up a phone for a Flight Service brief.

And I thought, as he

I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.

Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.

*Posters Preface*: I recently was given memoirs that were written by my Great Grandfather, Stanley Dalbec. I am working on transitioning this to a word document and wanted to share the stories with this group as I found them highly interesting and gives the reader a good understanding of what life was like for an officer in the Navy during WW2. Please enjoy.*

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10

Scotland

We had left the Scylla at Scapa Flow, been ferried across to Thurso, on the northern tip of Scotland, and sent by train down to Glasgow, arriving on September 25, a little less than two weeks after we had been sunk.

HMS Scylla

Arriving in Glasgow, we were once again under the direction of the U.S. Navy Port Liaison Office, Gourock, The Clyde. We U.S. Navy survivors numbered six officers and 107 enlisted men. It turned out that, through the small differences in dates of rank, I was the senior survivor, so I was given written orders to take charge of them. This made things orderly on the Liaison Officer’s books, but was essentially meaningless. We stayed and went where the shore establishment directed.

At the square in Glasgow, known as Charing Cross, the hotel there had been taken over by the American Red Cross. Servicemen on leave in Glasgow could stay there for seventy-five cents a night.

They set up cots in the ballroom of the hotel

INTRO

The year is 1981. Ronald Reagan takes office, the first test tube baby is born, and MTV hits the airwaves.

That’s how long ago Deanie Peters disappeared.

THE DISAPPEARANCE

Deanie was a 14 year old eighth grader attending her 6 year old brother William’s wrestling practice with her mom, Mary. Mary’s good friend Ariadyne saw Deanie coming down the stairs at about 4:45 p.m as she arrived to pick up her son Paul, who had ridden to wrestling practice with the Peters family. Deanie waved to Ariadyne and said she was going to the restroom and would be right back.

That’s where this forty year old mystery begins.

The disappearance took place on February 5th 1981, at Forest Hill Central Middle School, which is in one of if not the safest neighborhood in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I previously said elementary school, but that was not accurate. Even today people let their kids wander on bikes throughout the suburb. It’s a desirable area. This area is referred to in the news by many names, the general area of the city is called Forest Hills. Cascade is a primary street running through Forest Hills. The middle school is not far from Cascade.

The day of the disappearance, campus was busy. One facebook comment says they were there that day, and whatever happened must have been quick with all the activity.

There were about 75 people in total in the two level gym. The upper level held the wrestling meet. Photos of the wrestling team cannot be found in yearbooks because it was not a Forest Hills Public School System event. Their wrestling program wasn’t large enough, so children from any district were allowed to join. Matches were random rather than by school.

The lower level of the gym had an aerobics class taking place.

The highschool, which shares a campus with the middle school, had a ‘donkey basketball game’ about two hours after the disappearance, which is where you actually dress up as donkeys and play basketball. There is no solid record of who participated in the game.

THE INITIAL INVESTIGATION

RUNAWAY

Initially when Deanie did not return, not too much alarm was raised. It was thought she might have stopped to view another school event. The school was thoroughly searched.

Police were called at 6:42p.m. This would have been roughly when the donkey basketball game was beginning at the high school. Police, though, thought Deanie might have run away to go live with her father and four siblings in California, despite her leaving pr

I cannot for the life of me get to this post anywhere. Trying again here!

INTRO

The year is 1981. Ronald Reagan takes office, the first test tube baby is born, and MTV hits the airwaves.

That’s how long ago Deanie Peters disappeared.

THE DISAPPEARANCE

Deanie was a 14 year old eighth grader attending her 6 year old brother William’s wrestling practice with her mom, Mary. Mary’s good friend Ariadyne saw Deanie coming down the stairs at about 4:45 p.m as she arrived to pick up her son Paul, who had ridden to wrestling practice with the Peters family. Deanie waved to Ariadyne and said she was going to the restroom and would be right back.

That’s where this forty year old mystery begins.

The disappearance took place on February 5th 1981, at Forest Hill Central Middle School, which is in one of if not the safest neighborhood in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I previously said elementary school, but that was not accurate. Even today people let their kids wander on bikes throughout the suburb. It’s a desirable area. This area is referred to in the news by many names, the general area of the city is called Forest Hills. Cascade is a primary street running through Forest Hills. The middle school is not far from Cascade.

The day of the disappearance, campus was busy. One facebook comment says they were there that day, and whatever happened must have been quick with all the activity.

There were about 75 people in total in the two level gym. The upper level held the wrestling meet. Photos of the wrestling team cannot be found in yearbooks because it was not a Forest Hills Public School System event. Their wrestling program wasn’t large enough, so children from any district were allowed to join. Matches were random rather than by school.

The lower level of the gym had an aerobics class taking place.

The highschool, which shares a campus with the middle school, had a ‘donkey basketball game’ about two hours after the disappearance, which is where you actually dress up as donkeys and play basketball. There is no solid record of who participated in the game.

THE INITIAL INVESTIGATION

RUNAWAY

Initially when Deanie did not return, not too much alarm was raised. It was thought she might have stopped to view another school event. The school was thoroughly searched.

Police were called at 6:42p.m. This would have been roughly when the donkey basketball game was beginning at the high school. Police, though, thought Deanie might have run away to go li