The unforeseen guest
The Joe Rogan Experience
2010.10.03 22:20 summer_of_rage The Joe Rogan Experience
A portal to discuss Joe Rogan, JRE, comedy, cars, MMA, music, food, psychedelics, mind-expanding revelations, conspiracies, insights, and fitness & health. The only topic off limits is politics.
2016.06.22 07:12 Apocalympics2016
A subreddit to document happenings surrounding the Olympics - and to take note of any disasters, foreseen or unforeseen - surrounding the event.
2010.12.09 08:05 talan123 r/Target: A place for Team Members to do stuff that kind of matters.
The subreddit by Target team members for Target team members. This subreddit is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by the Target Corporation.
2023.06.01 17:13 chinacat1977 For Buff's Eyes Only!!!
A little, fun treat for the guests at your next movie party:
https://preview.redd.it/plvm9igtk23b1.jpg?width=320&crop=smart&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=cad7ce7d919a18a6ed18d904303e55b5708f5877
submitted by chinacat1977 to OnCinemaAtTheCinema [link] [comments]
https://preview.redd.it/plvm9igtk23b1.jpg?width=320&crop=smart&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=cad7ce7d919a18a6ed18d904303e55b5708f5877
2023.06.01 17:12 zeug666 Computex 2023 coverage
There's a lot of neat stuff at this year's Computex, the first in-person, full-on version of the event since 2019.
Below I've gathered some of the tech-tuber coverage. I'll try to update this occasionally with new videos.
These are just the channels I watch more regularly that have coverage, so if there's others to check out, let me know in the comments below.
Note: titles were simplified, let me know if you prefer the mostly unhelpful original titles instead.
Acer
submitted by zeug666 to pcmasterrace [link] [comments]
Below I've gathered some of the tech-tuber coverage. I'll try to update this occasionally with new videos.
These are just the channels I watch more regularly that have coverage, so if there's others to check out, let me know in the comments below.
Note: titles were simplified, let me know if you prefer the mostly unhelpful original titles instead.
Acer
- Mini-ITX Orion X case & pre-built PC - GamersNexus
- 3-Slot water-cooled GPU - GamersNexus
- Motherboards - Hardware Unboxed
- New cases & der8auer - GamersNexus
- Cases, cooling, and PSUs - Paul's Hardware
- Coolers and a color changing coating - Hardware Canucks
- Morpheus Case and Assassin IV cooler - GamersNexus
- Terra case - GamersNexus
- Memory - Paul's Hardware
- Cooling - GamersNexus
- Design studio tour and new cases - GamersNexus
- Cooling and cases - GamersNexus (and featuring a special colab starting at 12:14)
- Cases - Gear Seekers (with a super special guest appearance)
- MSI x AMG laptop colab - Hardware Canucks
- Rear cable motherboard - GamersNexus
- RTX 4060, 12VHPWR, and a variety of stuff that MSI makes - Hardware Unboxed
- Updated fans - GamersNexus
- NV5, NV7, and NV9 cases - Hardware Canucks
- PSU without cables - Hardware Canucks (SPOILER: cables sold separately)
- FUMA 3 cooler and new fans - GamersNexus
- Cases - GamersNexus
- Case as a passive heatsink - GamersNexus
- Cases, cooling, and rear cables - Hardware Canucks
- Cases, cooling, and rear cables - Paul's Hardware
- Coolers - Hardware Canucks
- CTE case design and layout - Hardware Canucks
2023.06.01 17:12 StalemateAssociate_ Expectations of an AirBnB vs. a hotel
So I’ve been hosting around five years, only around 15-20 guests a year (which allows flexible check-in times) with max 5 days per stay, from a city center-apartment that’s cheaper than hotels but not motels. Lately I’ve been thinking about the shift in norms since I started in regards to the kinds of questions as well as the number I get asked.
“How do you get to xyz?”, “Can you research where I can find this very particular item?”, “Can you rent bikes for us?” etc. Now, I have a new Lonely Planet guide they can take with them and a 7-page document with my own recs. I’m happy to spend some time answering questions when they get here, but eight questions per day on a weekday is a bit much. I try to be shorten responses or explain that I’m unavailable at certain times but it’s hard to just ignore people altogether.
My question is... am I just out of touch? I’ve never in my life been that demanding at a hotel. I honestly find it incredibly rude - I’m not a live-in tour guide - but I’ve read about hosts on here who’ll drive their guests to and from the train station or w/e. Are these normal expectations to have when you’re in the hospitality business?
submitted by StalemateAssociate_ to AirBnB [link] [comments]
“How do you get to xyz?”, “Can you research where I can find this very particular item?”, “Can you rent bikes for us?” etc. Now, I have a new Lonely Planet guide they can take with them and a 7-page document with my own recs. I’m happy to spend some time answering questions when they get here, but eight questions per day on a weekday is a bit much. I try to be shorten responses or explain that I’m unavailable at certain times but it’s hard to just ignore people altogether.
My question is... am I just out of touch? I’ve never in my life been that demanding at a hotel. I honestly find it incredibly rude - I’m not a live-in tour guide - but I’ve read about hosts on here who’ll drive their guests to and from the train station or w/e. Are these normal expectations to have when you’re in the hospitality business?
2023.06.01 17:03 A_Vespertine Souls & Scarabs at Mathom-Meister's Flea Market
“I’m sorry; we’re going to astral travel to a flea market?” Charlotte asked incredulously as she watched Genevieve and I set up a meditation circle under the shade of a towering old willow tree in my cemetery. “What if we want to buy something? How will we bring it back?”
“We’re not going there to shop, Lottie. Samantha’s finally had a vision about Emrys,” Genevieve explained.
The Veil between the Physical and Astral Planes is exceptionally weak in my cemetery, especially at night and on hallowed days. When I sleep there, my subconscious mind is highly receptive to all manner of revelations from the Spirit World. When I saw a Blood Moon rise on the night of May fifth, the same night as a penumbral eclipse, I knew that my dreams would be prophetic.
“I had a dream about him last Friday,” I expounded. “He’s at some sort of otherworldly marketplace, one that’s not connected to the Crypto Chthonic Cuniculi, so it’s mostly inaccessible to the Ophion Occult Order. In my dream, Emrys invited us to come and speak with him while we were lucid. He drew a sigil for me, the same one I’ve drawn in the middle of the mediation circle. He said that all I’d have to do is toss an Undying Rose – the earthly effigy of the rose Persephone used to steal a drop of his blood – into the sigil and it will become an astral portal to where he is.”
I held up the deep purple rose that I had cut from its bush earlier that day. I don’t know for certain where the roses came from, but my best guess is that they were made by the same Occultist who hallowed my cemetery to Persephone; Artaxerxes Crow. They have some connection to Emrys as well, since the only other time I saw someone else use one was when his avatar was summoned into the Physical Plane on Halloween 2020.
Knowing that Emrys wouldn’t dare to set foot in a place that was sacred to the Goddess who was ultimately responsible for his cosmic defeat, I gently tossed the rose into the middle of the sigil.
“He invited all of us?” Charlotte asked with an incredulous raising of her eyebrow.
“He said me and my coven. If he had just meant me or me and Genevieve he would have said that,” I replied. “You and Elam are coming too. I want as many eyes on this place as possible so that we don’t miss anything. We may not get an opportunity like this again.”
“And this is safe? Visiting some random flea market between worlds?” Charlotte asked.
“Samantha and I have visited the Underworld and come back no problem,” Genevieve reminded her. “So long as we’re bound to our bodies and Elam is bound to Samantha, we can come back anytime. Don’t worry; this is going to be a blast! Adventures like these are the best part of being a Witch.”
“The only reason you were able to go to the Underworld is because Samantha’s cemetery came with an astral portal in the back,” Charlotte countered, gesticulating in the general direction of the archway that was still partially visible behind the light spring foliage. “Other than that, when have any of us ever done anything useful with our astral projection? This is still a physical place, right? We don’t have any of our physical senses available to us when we astral project, and I get extremely disoriented trying to navigate the mortal plane with clairvoyance alone.”
“It is a physical place, but one saturated with astral energy and full of occultists and occult artifacts. It will be extremely illuminated to our clairvoyance,” I assured her. “Elam will also be there to guide us. As a ghost, he’s much more practiced at traversing the mortal plane in an astral form.”
Charlotte folded her arms over her chest and turned to look at Elam, who was leaning up against the willow tree as he waited for us.
“I don’t suppose you could go and scout the place out for us ahead of time?” she asked.
“I can’t go too far from Samantha, and definitely not across planes,” he said with a shake of his head. “But Eve’s right. Your astral bodies will be in no danger, and you can return here in an instant whenever you want.”
“But what about Emrys? Didn’t that book Leon gave you say that he’s some sort of soul-flayer?” Charlotte asked me.
“It did,” I admitted. “Keep in mind though, that book was written by his enemies. I want to hear his side of things before this conflict of theirs spirals out of control.”
“Any update from Chamberlin about that?” Elam asked.
“Yeah, he said that after he failed to purify the Sigil Sand, Ivy’s onboard with negotiating some kind of truce with Emrys,” I replied. “The Grand Adderman’s still reticent, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s running out of options. I need to find out if Emrys will agree to peace talks.”
“Um, I get that, but I’m still kind of hung up on him potentially flaying our souls,” Charlotte reiterated.
“If Emrys and the Ophion Occult Order go to all-out war, there’ll be a lot of collateral damage and innocent souls caught in the crossfire,” Genevieve told her, gently grabbing hold of her and looking her straight in the eye. “Samantha, Elam, and I are doing this because if there’s any chance we can put an end to this before it starts, then it’s our responsibility to try. You don’t have to come with us, Lottie, but you’re still a member of our coven. Samantha and I would both feel a lot better with you there to help us.”
“Arghhh! All right, fine! I’ll come with you,” Charlotte gave in, plopping her butt down on the edge of the meditation circle. “If we’re holding hands, that will help keep our astral bodies together too, right?”
“I believe it should, yes,” I smiled at her, sitting down and reaching out for her hand.
Genevieve lit the incense and her bong filled with the entheogenic Delphi Dream, before sitting down to join us. She took a hit from the bong before passing it to me, and then to Charlotte before setting it aside out of the circle.
“Start with taking a deep breath, completely filling the lungs, and holding it for five heartbeats,” she guided us as she took hold of each of our hands. “Exhale completely, and wait five more heartbeats before breathing in again. Eyes closed, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Focus on the astral energies flowing through you with each breath, gently aligning each chakra until those energies are enough to lift you up and out of your body.”
In unison with one another, the three of us slowly breathed in and out, ignoring the material world around us and focusing upon the task at hand. Eve was first, as usual, and because we were all holding hands, Charlotte and I felt her eagerly tugging us up to speed us along.
I opened my eyes, and beheld the dull and muted Physical Plane through my clairvoyance, everything outshined by the radiant forms of my coven mates. I noted that Genevieve had eschewed her normal skyclad form when astral projecting and instead wore a cloak like Charlotte and I.
“Are you worried this place might have a no shirt, no shoes, no souls, no service policy?” I teased her.
“I just don’t want to risk a confrontation over it. I realize how important this is,” she answered. “Though I’m not actually wearing shoes, now that you mention it.”
“Christ, look at the sigil Samantha drew!” Charlotte said, pointing down at the meditation circle beneath us. The sigil wasn’t just glowing but flowing as well, churning the Aether around it in a misty, spectral vortex. “It’s an astral portal, isn’t it?”
“Oh yeah. It’s not stable, though. Good for one trip only,” Genevieve said with a delighted smile. “And Lottie, since we’re Neopagan Witches, try not to swear by Christ, okay?”
“Jesus!” she swore, both in defiance and in genuine annoyance.
“Elam! Elam, come join the circle! I don’t want to take any chances of severing our bond,” I instructed, letting go of Charlotte’s hand and waving him in between us.
Faithful Familiar that he was, he obeyed without hesitation. Despite my concerns, I think that he probably could have stayed behind if he had wanted. The fact that he was willing to follow me to an unknown otherworld without complaint really made me appreciate how devoted he was to me.
“We step in together on the count of three, got it?” I instructed, each of them nodding clearly in response. “One. Two. Three!”
We all extended our right feet into the vortex together, and the instant we did we were swept away, falling out of our own world and tumbling between the cracks of countless others. They weren’t real, I don’t think. At least, not as real as our world. They were potential realities, or realities that could have been once but now can never be, or fantasies that are so persistent in the minds of real people that in some sense or another, they become real themselves. I only saw glimmers of them, glimmers in nebulas made of primeval chaos and uttermost void.
It was outside of time, that place we travelled through, or at least we had no sense of it there. Our souls were haphazardly spat out upon a surreal landscape of earth, sea, and fire. Hilly plains of volcanic ash, incandescent calderas of lava and bubbling hot springs all intermeshed in a chaotic mosaic that didn’t seem to abide by any laws of geology or geography that I was familiar with. A strong but slow wind pushed fractal formations of dark silver clouds through a pale silver sky, illuminated by a single white orb which could have been either a bright moon or a faint sun.
While our spectral feet left no trace upon the ash we now stood upon, our presence nonetheless elicited a response from some of the local fauna. We were just able to catch a glimpse of some kind of shimmering scarabs burrowing themselves into the ash to escape the four otherworldly ghosts that had invaded their territory.
“Holy shit,” Charlotte murmured as we all gazed out upon the strange world we had found ourselves on. “This really isn’t on the Astral Plane. This is a real planet. This a real, alien planet! This is unbelievable!”
Genevieve glided over to one of the bubbling pools and peered into it, looking for any more signs of life.
“There’s some kind of bluish-grey algae growing on the rocks down there, and I think I can make out some small arthropods too. This planet’s alive!” she announced with glee, smiling and looking up at the alien sky.
Conjuring an astral approximation of my staff, I plunged it into a small mound of ash beside me. I watched curiously as the scarabs shot out in all directions, moving too quickly for me to get a good look at them, before scurrying back into the surrounding ash.
“These bugs can sense our presence,” I remarked. “How and why would clairvoyance evolve in insects on this world, and why would their first instinct be to flee?”
“Samantha!” Elam called out. “I think I found the Flea Market.”
We all gathered around him and looked where he was pointing. On a distant dune, we beheld the moulted carapace of a colossal insect, gleaming a brilliant, lustrous gold in the broken white light.
“That’s impossible!” Charlotte claimed. “That thing must be hundreds of meters long! No insect, no animal period could ever get that big on the Physical Plane!”
“It could be the Incarnation of some kind of Titan,” Genevieve suggested. “But… it’s dead. I can tell that even from here. It’s dead. It’s the corpse of a dead god, and now it’s being used as a swap meet with a punny name. Either whatever killed it just abandoned it, or…”
“Or is running the place,” I finished for her. “Well, we should see if we can find Emrys.”
In an instant, the world moved around us until we were at the entrance to the Flea Market. The colossal carapace was hollow inside, of course, and had been filled with a bustling city that looked like it had been created in the most ad hoc manner possible. There wasn’t a single straight street to be seen, and they converged with one another at random intervals. Stalls and buildings varied wildly in both design and materials, all imported from a plethora of different cultures across the planes.
Enormous shards of luminous glass levitated above the throng like a thousand Swords of Damocles, any or all of them seeming capable of succumbing to gravity at any moment. In the very center of the moulted husk dangled a great spiralling chrysalis or hive woven of iridescent silk, its function not being immediately apparent to me.
There must have been thousands of people there, and hundreds of merchants hawking their wares. Most of those who looked human still seemed a little off, like they were members of ethnicities that didn’t exist in our world. Some of the beings were near-human in appearance, many seemingly some kind of Fey or Seelie folk. There was even a small handful of people that weren’t remotely human at all.
The only thing they all had in common was that none were native to this world.
“Most of these people are here in person, aren’t they?” Charlotte asked.
“It would’ve been quite a feat for them to have built all of this while astral projecting,” Genevieve agreed.
“But if this place isn’t connected to the Cuniculi, then how did they get here?” Charlotte asked. “We’re on another planet, maybe even in another dimension. If getting here is beyond the Ooo’s abilities, then what sort of ungodly reality benders decided to turn it into a Flea Market?”
“Ladies, gentlemen, and any beings either too ancient and alien or too modern and alienated to settle on one or the other, come bear witness to one of the most astounding and atrocious abominations on this or any other world!” a fast-paced male voice rang out over the din of the crowd.
We turned to see a short, skinny, old-timey sort of carnival barker standing on a literal soap box, placed next to a large object draped in a black tarp.
“For the paltry price of a single three-headed coin, you can peer beneath the veil and behold with your own unbelieving eyes the mangled and mutilated monstrosity that lurks beneath!” the carnival barker continued. “But I must warn you, it is not possible to truly understand what dwells underneath without seeing it first! I cannot guarantee that you will still retain your sanity or will to live after witnessing the proverbial Mountains of Madness, for this low creature is truly like no other and serves only as a grim testament to the cruel sadism of the Lord Above! Anyone plagued by even the faintest lingering doubt as to their spiritual fortitude should not dare to even contemplate what might lie before me! But, for those brave, noble few who are truly dauntless of heart and incorrigible of spirit, I am proud to share with you this rare, unfathomable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness sublime –”
The carnival barker was interrupted by a man yanking the sheet off the object beside him, revealing it to be a mirror.
“Whelp, that was a hell of an Im14andthisisdeep post, eh?” Charlotte mused.
Genevieve and I, however, were far too stunned to be amused; not by the mirror, but by the man who had unveiled it.
“It’s him, Lottie. That’s Emrys,” Genevieve whispered.
We had only seen him briefly once before, more than two-and-a-half years ago, but he was far from what anyone would call forgettable. He was tall and gaunt, with literal blue blood flowing beneath translucent skin. His long, receding hair and regal beard were pitch black, and dark miasma wafted from his eyes, nose, and mouth. He was dressed in dark sable robes with three overlapping Ouroboros’s tattooed on his forehead, with a pair of ophidian pupils lying in the spaces between them.
What stood out the most to us were the six silver Ouroboros chains bound around his wrists, ankles, waist, and neck. These were the chains the Ophion Occult Order had made to limit the power of his physical avatar, and it seemed he had not yet found a way to free himself from them.
“Are you still here?” Emrys asked in exasperation, tossing the veil back at the carnival barker in disdain.
“…Possibly,” the strange man replied evasively. “But not definitively, for purely legalistic reasons.”
“I believe Mathom-meister was quite clear when he said that your rather pitiful chicanery wasn’t welcomed here,” Emrys reminded him.
“And who is he to judge chicanery from cutthroat, capitalistic competition? Should not the Flea Market be a free market?” the charlatan demanded. “And while we’re on the topic of commerce, I don’t suppose you have enough three-headed coins to pay for all the poor souls you have so discourteously exposed to my exhibit against their will? I’d hate to have to start shaking people down to get my due.”
“Hard to believe your own circus threw you out,” Emrys said with a sardonic eye roll as he tossed him a small medallion. “You get one coin. Take it and get out of my sight.”
The charlatan flipped the coin in the air thrice, presumably to confirm it actually had three heads. Satisfied with its impossible dimensions, he shoved it into his pocket.
“It will cover the trolley ride home, at least,” he acquiesced, stepping off his soap box and turning to face his looking glass. “A shame though you can’t see the genius in my little avant-garde performance piece here, Emmy. Even I know that the monster in the mirror is often the hardest to recognize.”
As the man reached to pick up his mirror, his reflection’s arms shot through the glass and grabbed him by the wrists, pulling him in. Emrys immediately tried to chase after him, but bounced off the glass as if there was nothing supernatural about it at all.
“Bastard!” he cursed under his breath, before turning towards us and giving us a small apologetic smile. “I’m sorry you had to see that rather pathetic display. Unfortunately, the few meeting places I know of that are relatively safe from any Ophionic incursion also attract their fair share of other annoying miscreants.”
“If it didn’t attract a little bit of everything, it wouldn’t be a Flea Market, would it?” I asked rhetorically. “Thank you, Emrys, for inviting us. I’ve never been anywhere like this before.”
“And thank you for accepting. Samantha, Genevieve, it’s a pleasure to see you again, and a relief that you have not fallen under the auspices of the Ophion Occult Order,” he said with a gentle bow. “Elam, I remember you as well. Valiant but not reckless, you remained atop Pendragon Hill during my battle with the Darlings until your mistress was well out of harm’s way, and then you got the hell out of dodge yourself. Samantha couldn’t hope for a better Familiar. And Charlotte, any Witch that Samantha deemed worthy to induct into her coven is obviously someone whose acquaintance I am pleased to make. Welcome, all of you, to Mathom-meister’s Flea Market!”
“So this is where you’ve been hiding out the past two years?” Genevieve asked.
“Oh no. Far too Cosmopolitan for my tastes,” Emrys replied. “No, this is just a friendly place to meet those I consider friends – or potential friends, at least. I’d offer to show you around, but I know it’s difficult for you to astral travel for prolonged periods. Come with me to Mathom-meister’s house where we can talk freely, and we’ll discuss the situation with the Order.”
I gave him a small, single nod in response, and gestured with my staff that he should lead the way. He responded by pointing upwards, then vanished into his shadow form. When we looked up, we saw him waving at us from a balcony atop the great silken chrysalis.
We exchanged hesitant glances with one another, but ultimately followed him into the strange structure, moving from the ground to the balcony in an instant by will alone.
“How would an incarnate being get up here if they couldn’t fly or teleport?” Charlotte asked as she peered over the balcony’s teetering edge.
As though answering a summons, a humanoid creature apparated beside her in a flash of dark vapours. The hunched-back entity stood over six-and-a-half feet tall, and was clad in golden-brown erudite robes. Its squid-like skin was of a similar colour, and its entire face was a single gaping orifice that held a wispy, glowing orb in the center of its skull which I immediately recognized as its soul. A pair of long, fanged tentacles lined with pores and tendrils hung down from its head like a long, forked beard, and the seven digits shared by its two hands all bore wicked-looking talons, as did its two-toed, digitigrade feet.
“Not fly or teleport? What sort of pedestrian house guests do you think I entertain here?” the being asked wryly, its voice seeming to come from nowhere in particular.
Charlotte instinctively backed away from the creature and into the protective fold of our coven, but Emrys was quick to hold up his hand to plead for calm.
“Please, there’s no need for alarm. This is our host, Mathom-meister. He’s the only reason any of this is here in the first place,” Emrys informed us. “A year or two ago a companion of his unfortunately became one of the Darling Twin’s victims, and when he heard of my vendetta with them, he tracked me down; which is no small feat, I assure you.”
“It is for us. My people are a race of Planeswalkers. Traversing the many worlds of Creation is second nature to us,” Mathom-meister explained.
“I’ve… I’ve heard of your people, I think,” I said, softly and unsurely. “A friend of mine had an encounter with an artifact that gave her a vision of a race of strange and powerful sorcerers slaying their own god. I take it you’re the ones who slayed this Scarab Titan as well? That’s, that’s…”
“Horrifying, yes. That’s the idea,” he nodded. “You have nothing to worry about, young Witch. My people have no special interest in your world. This is purely personal. My friend is dead, and I want his murderers brought to justice; a goal which Emrys and I happen to have in common.”
“Feel free to share this information with the Ophion Occult Order, Samantha,” Emrys said. “I’d very much like for the Darling Twins to know what’s hunting them. Mathom-meister, please excuse me while I take my guests inside. We do have pressing business to discuss and their time is limited.”
The squid-cyclopes bowed gracefully, and my coven and I quickly scurried after Emrys as he led us inside through a towering hallway and into a large chamber that had been appointed as a living space.
I had thought that Emrys would want to speak with us alone, which was why I was surprised to see a young woman sitting cross-legged on a spongey yet chitinous object that I will for the sake of my sanity call a bean bag chair. Like Emrys, she was pale and blue-blooded, her choppy hair as black as coal. She wore a black robe and heavy black eyeliner, but these could not conceal the fact that she too had thin wisps of miasma emanating from her eyes.
“Is that your… daughter?” Charlotte asked, as baffled by her presence as any of us. The woman smiled warmly at the question.
“In a way. I was dead, and Emrys gave me new life. Now a part of the Outer Primordial Darkness he represents lives in me too,” she said serenely.
Hovering above her left palm were three small bluish-green orbs, lazily going around in a circle. They were translucent and held something inside them that I couldn’t make out, but the orbs themselves appeared to be melting and solidifying by the woman’s will.
“You’re Petra, aren’t you?” I asked as I cautiously approached her. “Chamberlin had mentioned that Emrys had taken an acolyte. I’m Samantha, and this is Genevieve, Elam, and Charlotte.”
“I know. The whole reason we’re here is to speak with you,” she nodded.
“The Ophion Occult Order calls me a soul-flayer, and I’m sure you were all wondering exactly what that meant before you came here,” Emrys said, standing proudly behind his acolyte. “Well, this is it. The Darkness Beyond is now a part of her, and a part of her now lives within the Darkness Beyond. She is not unchanged from what she was before, but neither has what she was been lost.”
“My interpretation of the term ‘soul-flaying’ was the complete removal of a person’s consciousness from their astral and physical bodies to be subsumed by your Darkness,” I countered. “They told me that what you’ve done with Petra here is just the limit of your power while you’re bound in their chains. Are you telling me that if your chains were broken, you wouldn’t be able to do any worse than this?”
“On my physical avatar? No. So long as my astral form remains chained and bound with the World Serpent, I cannot cleave a conscious mind from its astral substrate,” Emrys assured me.
“But that is your ultimate goal, isn’t it? Breaking the chains the Ophion Occult Order put on you is just a stepping stone to breaking the ones the gods bound you with?” Genevieve asked. “You’ve allied yourself with a literal god slayer. Do you expect us to believe that his people’s abilities aren’t something you intend to put to your own ends?”
“I don’t have an ultimate goal so much as I have a fundamental principle of opposing tyranny,” he claimed. “When I was a mere man, thousands of years ago, I was a tyrant. I believed that might made right so unquestionably that when my might began to fail me, the only thing I could think to do was to try everything in my power to restore it. This quest eventually led to me becoming one with the Darkness Beyond, which gave me not only the might I coveted but the wisdom I didn’t know I needed. It gave me perspective. It made me stronger than any human alive at that point but still let me realize how insignificant I was. It was humbling, and enlightening, and filled me both with remorse over my past actions and an impetus to use my newfound gifts to rectify them. I tried to overthrow the gods themselves which, in hindsight, was overly ambitious. I not only failed but had my soul devoured by the World Serpent, where it still resides to this day.
“I am not eager to bring the wrath of the gods down upon me once again. No, for now, I will be content to end the tyranny of the Ophion Occult Order. This is the message I’d like you to relay to them. If the Grand Adderman agrees to unbind my chains and step down from his post, I will spare his life. If he declines, I want the rest of the Order to know that I will show mercy to any who sides with me over him. I am willing to allow the Order to exist so long as it agrees to become more decentralized, democratic, and accountable. They will have to forfeit certain artifacts and individuals in their possession over to me, chief among them the Darling Twins, but I am willing to negotiate. If they aren’t, then I will overthrow the Grand Adderman by whatever means necessary and see the Order scattered to the four winds. It is entirely up to them whether or not the conflict between us escalates to full-on war. Have I made myself clear, Samantha?”
“I think so,” I said as I pensively considered everything he had said. “Why should they trust you to keep your word once your chains are broken? For that matter, why should we?”
He took a moment to consider his response, eyeing me over as though he was trying to divine something that would win over my trust.
“Samantha, you made a pact with Persephone to get your Spirit Familiar there; one where she swore by the River Styx. Is that correct?” he asked.
“It is,” I nodded.
“And in the years since, has Persephone ever broken that pact she swore to?” he asked.
“No, she hasn’t,” I replied.
“I may not be an Old God, but so long as my astral form remains bound by their chains, they have power over me,” he said. “Samantha Sumner, Hedge Witch of Harrowick Woods, I swear on the River Styx that I have spoken no lies to you today. I swear by the River Styx that I will abide by any Covenant that I and the Ophion Occult Order agree to in good faith and fair dealing that they do not break first. I swear by the River Styx that when my chains are broken, I will give you no cause to fear me or regret your trust in me.”
I gave a questioning glance to Genevieve, and then Elam, both of whom nodded in the affirmative.
“All right. An oath sworn on the River Styx is good enough for me. I’ll deliver your terms to Seneca Chamberlin,” I agreed. “I’m very grateful for the trust and respect you’ve shown for me and my coven, Emrys, though I can’t say I quite understand it. Out of all the guests that were there on the Hallow’s Eve you were summoned, why did Evie and I stand out to you?”
“The Ophion Occult Order deemed you worthy of inclusion in their cult, an offer you rejected on principle. You cheated Persephone, but you did it not to gain immortality for yourself but to save your friend from hell. You came here, thinking I could very well tear your souls asunder, but did so because you believed it was your duty to prevent needless suffering,” Emrys answered. “You are extraordinary in your craft, courage, and conscience, the latter of which especially stood out among the degenerates at that party. I do apologize if I frightened you at that event. I was a bit… irritable, given the circumstances. I’m glad we were able to meet again under more pleasant conditions.”
“So am I, Emrys,” I nodded. “I’m not sure exactly what this means or how relevant it is, but Seneca wanted me to tell you that he’s able to offer you the Dream Demon Red Ruck as a sacrifice.”
“Pffft. Tell him it’s hardly a sacrifice if I’m getting rid of a boogie man for him,” he scoffed. “In fact, now that you mention it, Ruck’s one egregore that might be of more use to me alive.”
I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but we were suddenly interrupted by the rapid pounding of a gong somewhere down below. It seemed to be an alarm of some kind, as we could hear the panicked shouting and frantic racing of people either battening down or forsaking the Flea Market altogether.
Mathom-meister apparated into the middle of the room, his facial tentacles reflexively raised in a defensive position.
“Were you outside the market?” he demanded of us.
“The portal we came through deposited us a few miles outside of the market, yes,” I admitted.
“Damn,” Emrys cursed softly, though he sounded more frustrated than angry. “Meister, it’s not their fault. I knew they weren’t experienced Planeswalkers, I could have – ”
“It doesn’t matter!” Mathom-meister interjected. “They need to leave, now!”
“Why, what’s going on?” Genevieve demanded.
“The scarabs are swarming,” Petra explained. “Don’t feel bad; it happens often enough that they’re prepared for it.”
I wanted to press for more details, but I could hear the humming of a vast winged swarm steadily encroaching upon us.
“Don’t worry. Once you leave the swarm will disperse… eventually,” Emrys told us. “We’ve said all that need be said for now. Return home, and I’ll reach out to you again shortly, Samantha.”
Again, I wanted to object, but the swarm outside was growing louder and louder, and it occurred to me that we might not be completely safe from a biblical swarm of insects that could not only sense but evidently sought out souls.
This occurred to Charlotte as well, as she was the first of us to vanish and awaken back in her body. We could all feel the weight of her reembodied soul tugging on us to return with her. Genevieve immediately grabbed hold of my right hand and Elam my left, both of them refusing to leave before I did.
I spared one final glance at Emrys, lamenting that we couldn’t have had more time.
“I’ll relay everything you said to the Order. I’ll make sure they know you’re willing to negotiate a truce,” I vowed.
He gave me a gracious nod, and just as we heard the swarm start to pelt the exterior of the market, I forced my physical eyes open and was back in my body, still safely under a willow tree in my cemetery.
I immediately looked beside me to Genevieve, and saw that she was awake as well, and then around me for Elam, who seemed to be suffering a bit of spectral whiplash from being pulled back with me so suddenly, but was otherwise all right. Sighing with relief, I turned lastly to Charlotte, and saw that she was looking down at the mediation circle in dreaded horror.
Following her gaze, I saw that the Undying Rose was gone – spent, perhaps, in exchange for our passage – and in its place was the inert, and hopefully dead, body of one of the shimmering scarabs.
submitted by A_Vespertine to TheVespersBell [link] [comments]
“We’re not going there to shop, Lottie. Samantha’s finally had a vision about Emrys,” Genevieve explained.
The Veil between the Physical and Astral Planes is exceptionally weak in my cemetery, especially at night and on hallowed days. When I sleep there, my subconscious mind is highly receptive to all manner of revelations from the Spirit World. When I saw a Blood Moon rise on the night of May fifth, the same night as a penumbral eclipse, I knew that my dreams would be prophetic.
“I had a dream about him last Friday,” I expounded. “He’s at some sort of otherworldly marketplace, one that’s not connected to the Crypto Chthonic Cuniculi, so it’s mostly inaccessible to the Ophion Occult Order. In my dream, Emrys invited us to come and speak with him while we were lucid. He drew a sigil for me, the same one I’ve drawn in the middle of the mediation circle. He said that all I’d have to do is toss an Undying Rose – the earthly effigy of the rose Persephone used to steal a drop of his blood – into the sigil and it will become an astral portal to where he is.”
I held up the deep purple rose that I had cut from its bush earlier that day. I don’t know for certain where the roses came from, but my best guess is that they were made by the same Occultist who hallowed my cemetery to Persephone; Artaxerxes Crow. They have some connection to Emrys as well, since the only other time I saw someone else use one was when his avatar was summoned into the Physical Plane on Halloween 2020.
Knowing that Emrys wouldn’t dare to set foot in a place that was sacred to the Goddess who was ultimately responsible for his cosmic defeat, I gently tossed the rose into the middle of the sigil.
“He invited all of us?” Charlotte asked with an incredulous raising of her eyebrow.
“He said me and my coven. If he had just meant me or me and Genevieve he would have said that,” I replied. “You and Elam are coming too. I want as many eyes on this place as possible so that we don’t miss anything. We may not get an opportunity like this again.”
“And this is safe? Visiting some random flea market between worlds?” Charlotte asked.
“Samantha and I have visited the Underworld and come back no problem,” Genevieve reminded her. “So long as we’re bound to our bodies and Elam is bound to Samantha, we can come back anytime. Don’t worry; this is going to be a blast! Adventures like these are the best part of being a Witch.”
“The only reason you were able to go to the Underworld is because Samantha’s cemetery came with an astral portal in the back,” Charlotte countered, gesticulating in the general direction of the archway that was still partially visible behind the light spring foliage. “Other than that, when have any of us ever done anything useful with our astral projection? This is still a physical place, right? We don’t have any of our physical senses available to us when we astral project, and I get extremely disoriented trying to navigate the mortal plane with clairvoyance alone.”
“It is a physical place, but one saturated with astral energy and full of occultists and occult artifacts. It will be extremely illuminated to our clairvoyance,” I assured her. “Elam will also be there to guide us. As a ghost, he’s much more practiced at traversing the mortal plane in an astral form.”
Charlotte folded her arms over her chest and turned to look at Elam, who was leaning up against the willow tree as he waited for us.
“I don’t suppose you could go and scout the place out for us ahead of time?” she asked.
“I can’t go too far from Samantha, and definitely not across planes,” he said with a shake of his head. “But Eve’s right. Your astral bodies will be in no danger, and you can return here in an instant whenever you want.”
“But what about Emrys? Didn’t that book Leon gave you say that he’s some sort of soul-flayer?” Charlotte asked me.
“It did,” I admitted. “Keep in mind though, that book was written by his enemies. I want to hear his side of things before this conflict of theirs spirals out of control.”
“Any update from Chamberlin about that?” Elam asked.
“Yeah, he said that after he failed to purify the Sigil Sand, Ivy’s onboard with negotiating some kind of truce with Emrys,” I replied. “The Grand Adderman’s still reticent, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s running out of options. I need to find out if Emrys will agree to peace talks.”
“Um, I get that, but I’m still kind of hung up on him potentially flaying our souls,” Charlotte reiterated.
“If Emrys and the Ophion Occult Order go to all-out war, there’ll be a lot of collateral damage and innocent souls caught in the crossfire,” Genevieve told her, gently grabbing hold of her and looking her straight in the eye. “Samantha, Elam, and I are doing this because if there’s any chance we can put an end to this before it starts, then it’s our responsibility to try. You don’t have to come with us, Lottie, but you’re still a member of our coven. Samantha and I would both feel a lot better with you there to help us.”
“Arghhh! All right, fine! I’ll come with you,” Charlotte gave in, plopping her butt down on the edge of the meditation circle. “If we’re holding hands, that will help keep our astral bodies together too, right?”
“I believe it should, yes,” I smiled at her, sitting down and reaching out for her hand.
Genevieve lit the incense and her bong filled with the entheogenic Delphi Dream, before sitting down to join us. She took a hit from the bong before passing it to me, and then to Charlotte before setting it aside out of the circle.
“Start with taking a deep breath, completely filling the lungs, and holding it for five heartbeats,” she guided us as she took hold of each of our hands. “Exhale completely, and wait five more heartbeats before breathing in again. Eyes closed, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Focus on the astral energies flowing through you with each breath, gently aligning each chakra until those energies are enough to lift you up and out of your body.”
In unison with one another, the three of us slowly breathed in and out, ignoring the material world around us and focusing upon the task at hand. Eve was first, as usual, and because we were all holding hands, Charlotte and I felt her eagerly tugging us up to speed us along.
I opened my eyes, and beheld the dull and muted Physical Plane through my clairvoyance, everything outshined by the radiant forms of my coven mates. I noted that Genevieve had eschewed her normal skyclad form when astral projecting and instead wore a cloak like Charlotte and I.
“Are you worried this place might have a no shirt, no shoes, no souls, no service policy?” I teased her.
“I just don’t want to risk a confrontation over it. I realize how important this is,” she answered. “Though I’m not actually wearing shoes, now that you mention it.”
“Christ, look at the sigil Samantha drew!” Charlotte said, pointing down at the meditation circle beneath us. The sigil wasn’t just glowing but flowing as well, churning the Aether around it in a misty, spectral vortex. “It’s an astral portal, isn’t it?”
“Oh yeah. It’s not stable, though. Good for one trip only,” Genevieve said with a delighted smile. “And Lottie, since we’re Neopagan Witches, try not to swear by Christ, okay?”
“Jesus!” she swore, both in defiance and in genuine annoyance.
“Elam! Elam, come join the circle! I don’t want to take any chances of severing our bond,” I instructed, letting go of Charlotte’s hand and waving him in between us.
Faithful Familiar that he was, he obeyed without hesitation. Despite my concerns, I think that he probably could have stayed behind if he had wanted. The fact that he was willing to follow me to an unknown otherworld without complaint really made me appreciate how devoted he was to me.
“We step in together on the count of three, got it?” I instructed, each of them nodding clearly in response. “One. Two. Three!”
We all extended our right feet into the vortex together, and the instant we did we were swept away, falling out of our own world and tumbling between the cracks of countless others. They weren’t real, I don’t think. At least, not as real as our world. They were potential realities, or realities that could have been once but now can never be, or fantasies that are so persistent in the minds of real people that in some sense or another, they become real themselves. I only saw glimmers of them, glimmers in nebulas made of primeval chaos and uttermost void.
It was outside of time, that place we travelled through, or at least we had no sense of it there. Our souls were haphazardly spat out upon a surreal landscape of earth, sea, and fire. Hilly plains of volcanic ash, incandescent calderas of lava and bubbling hot springs all intermeshed in a chaotic mosaic that didn’t seem to abide by any laws of geology or geography that I was familiar with. A strong but slow wind pushed fractal formations of dark silver clouds through a pale silver sky, illuminated by a single white orb which could have been either a bright moon or a faint sun.
While our spectral feet left no trace upon the ash we now stood upon, our presence nonetheless elicited a response from some of the local fauna. We were just able to catch a glimpse of some kind of shimmering scarabs burrowing themselves into the ash to escape the four otherworldly ghosts that had invaded their territory.
“Holy shit,” Charlotte murmured as we all gazed out upon the strange world we had found ourselves on. “This really isn’t on the Astral Plane. This is a real planet. This a real, alien planet! This is unbelievable!”
Genevieve glided over to one of the bubbling pools and peered into it, looking for any more signs of life.
“There’s some kind of bluish-grey algae growing on the rocks down there, and I think I can make out some small arthropods too. This planet’s alive!” she announced with glee, smiling and looking up at the alien sky.
Conjuring an astral approximation of my staff, I plunged it into a small mound of ash beside me. I watched curiously as the scarabs shot out in all directions, moving too quickly for me to get a good look at them, before scurrying back into the surrounding ash.
“These bugs can sense our presence,” I remarked. “How and why would clairvoyance evolve in insects on this world, and why would their first instinct be to flee?”
“Samantha!” Elam called out. “I think I found the Flea Market.”
We all gathered around him and looked where he was pointing. On a distant dune, we beheld the moulted carapace of a colossal insect, gleaming a brilliant, lustrous gold in the broken white light.
“That’s impossible!” Charlotte claimed. “That thing must be hundreds of meters long! No insect, no animal period could ever get that big on the Physical Plane!”
“It could be the Incarnation of some kind of Titan,” Genevieve suggested. “But… it’s dead. I can tell that even from here. It’s dead. It’s the corpse of a dead god, and now it’s being used as a swap meet with a punny name. Either whatever killed it just abandoned it, or…”
“Or is running the place,” I finished for her. “Well, we should see if we can find Emrys.”
In an instant, the world moved around us until we were at the entrance to the Flea Market. The colossal carapace was hollow inside, of course, and had been filled with a bustling city that looked like it had been created in the most ad hoc manner possible. There wasn’t a single straight street to be seen, and they converged with one another at random intervals. Stalls and buildings varied wildly in both design and materials, all imported from a plethora of different cultures across the planes.
Enormous shards of luminous glass levitated above the throng like a thousand Swords of Damocles, any or all of them seeming capable of succumbing to gravity at any moment. In the very center of the moulted husk dangled a great spiralling chrysalis or hive woven of iridescent silk, its function not being immediately apparent to me.
There must have been thousands of people there, and hundreds of merchants hawking their wares. Most of those who looked human still seemed a little off, like they were members of ethnicities that didn’t exist in our world. Some of the beings were near-human in appearance, many seemingly some kind of Fey or Seelie folk. There was even a small handful of people that weren’t remotely human at all.
The only thing they all had in common was that none were native to this world.
“Most of these people are here in person, aren’t they?” Charlotte asked.
“It would’ve been quite a feat for them to have built all of this while astral projecting,” Genevieve agreed.
“But if this place isn’t connected to the Cuniculi, then how did they get here?” Charlotte asked. “We’re on another planet, maybe even in another dimension. If getting here is beyond the Ooo’s abilities, then what sort of ungodly reality benders decided to turn it into a Flea Market?”
“Ladies, gentlemen, and any beings either too ancient and alien or too modern and alienated to settle on one or the other, come bear witness to one of the most astounding and atrocious abominations on this or any other world!” a fast-paced male voice rang out over the din of the crowd.
We turned to see a short, skinny, old-timey sort of carnival barker standing on a literal soap box, placed next to a large object draped in a black tarp.
“For the paltry price of a single three-headed coin, you can peer beneath the veil and behold with your own unbelieving eyes the mangled and mutilated monstrosity that lurks beneath!” the carnival barker continued. “But I must warn you, it is not possible to truly understand what dwells underneath without seeing it first! I cannot guarantee that you will still retain your sanity or will to live after witnessing the proverbial Mountains of Madness, for this low creature is truly like no other and serves only as a grim testament to the cruel sadism of the Lord Above! Anyone plagued by even the faintest lingering doubt as to their spiritual fortitude should not dare to even contemplate what might lie before me! But, for those brave, noble few who are truly dauntless of heart and incorrigible of spirit, I am proud to share with you this rare, unfathomable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness sublime –”
The carnival barker was interrupted by a man yanking the sheet off the object beside him, revealing it to be a mirror.
“Whelp, that was a hell of an Im14andthisisdeep post, eh?” Charlotte mused.
Genevieve and I, however, were far too stunned to be amused; not by the mirror, but by the man who had unveiled it.
“It’s him, Lottie. That’s Emrys,” Genevieve whispered.
We had only seen him briefly once before, more than two-and-a-half years ago, but he was far from what anyone would call forgettable. He was tall and gaunt, with literal blue blood flowing beneath translucent skin. His long, receding hair and regal beard were pitch black, and dark miasma wafted from his eyes, nose, and mouth. He was dressed in dark sable robes with three overlapping Ouroboros’s tattooed on his forehead, with a pair of ophidian pupils lying in the spaces between them.
What stood out the most to us were the six silver Ouroboros chains bound around his wrists, ankles, waist, and neck. These were the chains the Ophion Occult Order had made to limit the power of his physical avatar, and it seemed he had not yet found a way to free himself from them.
“Are you still here?” Emrys asked in exasperation, tossing the veil back at the carnival barker in disdain.
“…Possibly,” the strange man replied evasively. “But not definitively, for purely legalistic reasons.”
“I believe Mathom-meister was quite clear when he said that your rather pitiful chicanery wasn’t welcomed here,” Emrys reminded him.
“And who is he to judge chicanery from cutthroat, capitalistic competition? Should not the Flea Market be a free market?” the charlatan demanded. “And while we’re on the topic of commerce, I don’t suppose you have enough three-headed coins to pay for all the poor souls you have so discourteously exposed to my exhibit against their will? I’d hate to have to start shaking people down to get my due.”
“Hard to believe your own circus threw you out,” Emrys said with a sardonic eye roll as he tossed him a small medallion. “You get one coin. Take it and get out of my sight.”
The charlatan flipped the coin in the air thrice, presumably to confirm it actually had three heads. Satisfied with its impossible dimensions, he shoved it into his pocket.
“It will cover the trolley ride home, at least,” he acquiesced, stepping off his soap box and turning to face his looking glass. “A shame though you can’t see the genius in my little avant-garde performance piece here, Emmy. Even I know that the monster in the mirror is often the hardest to recognize.”
As the man reached to pick up his mirror, his reflection’s arms shot through the glass and grabbed him by the wrists, pulling him in. Emrys immediately tried to chase after him, but bounced off the glass as if there was nothing supernatural about it at all.
“Bastard!” he cursed under his breath, before turning towards us and giving us a small apologetic smile. “I’m sorry you had to see that rather pathetic display. Unfortunately, the few meeting places I know of that are relatively safe from any Ophionic incursion also attract their fair share of other annoying miscreants.”
“If it didn’t attract a little bit of everything, it wouldn’t be a Flea Market, would it?” I asked rhetorically. “Thank you, Emrys, for inviting us. I’ve never been anywhere like this before.”
“And thank you for accepting. Samantha, Genevieve, it’s a pleasure to see you again, and a relief that you have not fallen under the auspices of the Ophion Occult Order,” he said with a gentle bow. “Elam, I remember you as well. Valiant but not reckless, you remained atop Pendragon Hill during my battle with the Darlings until your mistress was well out of harm’s way, and then you got the hell out of dodge yourself. Samantha couldn’t hope for a better Familiar. And Charlotte, any Witch that Samantha deemed worthy to induct into her coven is obviously someone whose acquaintance I am pleased to make. Welcome, all of you, to Mathom-meister’s Flea Market!”
“So this is where you’ve been hiding out the past two years?” Genevieve asked.
“Oh no. Far too Cosmopolitan for my tastes,” Emrys replied. “No, this is just a friendly place to meet those I consider friends – or potential friends, at least. I’d offer to show you around, but I know it’s difficult for you to astral travel for prolonged periods. Come with me to Mathom-meister’s house where we can talk freely, and we’ll discuss the situation with the Order.”
I gave him a small, single nod in response, and gestured with my staff that he should lead the way. He responded by pointing upwards, then vanished into his shadow form. When we looked up, we saw him waving at us from a balcony atop the great silken chrysalis.
We exchanged hesitant glances with one another, but ultimately followed him into the strange structure, moving from the ground to the balcony in an instant by will alone.
“How would an incarnate being get up here if they couldn’t fly or teleport?” Charlotte asked as she peered over the balcony’s teetering edge.
As though answering a summons, a humanoid creature apparated beside her in a flash of dark vapours. The hunched-back entity stood over six-and-a-half feet tall, and was clad in golden-brown erudite robes. Its squid-like skin was of a similar colour, and its entire face was a single gaping orifice that held a wispy, glowing orb in the center of its skull which I immediately recognized as its soul. A pair of long, fanged tentacles lined with pores and tendrils hung down from its head like a long, forked beard, and the seven digits shared by its two hands all bore wicked-looking talons, as did its two-toed, digitigrade feet.
“Not fly or teleport? What sort of pedestrian house guests do you think I entertain here?” the being asked wryly, its voice seeming to come from nowhere in particular.
Charlotte instinctively backed away from the creature and into the protective fold of our coven, but Emrys was quick to hold up his hand to plead for calm.
“Please, there’s no need for alarm. This is our host, Mathom-meister. He’s the only reason any of this is here in the first place,” Emrys informed us. “A year or two ago a companion of his unfortunately became one of the Darling Twin’s victims, and when he heard of my vendetta with them, he tracked me down; which is no small feat, I assure you.”
“It is for us. My people are a race of Planeswalkers. Traversing the many worlds of Creation is second nature to us,” Mathom-meister explained.
“I’ve… I’ve heard of your people, I think,” I said, softly and unsurely. “A friend of mine had an encounter with an artifact that gave her a vision of a race of strange and powerful sorcerers slaying their own god. I take it you’re the ones who slayed this Scarab Titan as well? That’s, that’s…”
“Horrifying, yes. That’s the idea,” he nodded. “You have nothing to worry about, young Witch. My people have no special interest in your world. This is purely personal. My friend is dead, and I want his murderers brought to justice; a goal which Emrys and I happen to have in common.”
“Feel free to share this information with the Ophion Occult Order, Samantha,” Emrys said. “I’d very much like for the Darling Twins to know what’s hunting them. Mathom-meister, please excuse me while I take my guests inside. We do have pressing business to discuss and their time is limited.”
The squid-cyclopes bowed gracefully, and my coven and I quickly scurried after Emrys as he led us inside through a towering hallway and into a large chamber that had been appointed as a living space.
I had thought that Emrys would want to speak with us alone, which was why I was surprised to see a young woman sitting cross-legged on a spongey yet chitinous object that I will for the sake of my sanity call a bean bag chair. Like Emrys, she was pale and blue-blooded, her choppy hair as black as coal. She wore a black robe and heavy black eyeliner, but these could not conceal the fact that she too had thin wisps of miasma emanating from her eyes.
“Is that your… daughter?” Charlotte asked, as baffled by her presence as any of us. The woman smiled warmly at the question.
“In a way. I was dead, and Emrys gave me new life. Now a part of the Outer Primordial Darkness he represents lives in me too,” she said serenely.
Hovering above her left palm were three small bluish-green orbs, lazily going around in a circle. They were translucent and held something inside them that I couldn’t make out, but the orbs themselves appeared to be melting and solidifying by the woman’s will.
“You’re Petra, aren’t you?” I asked as I cautiously approached her. “Chamberlin had mentioned that Emrys had taken an acolyte. I’m Samantha, and this is Genevieve, Elam, and Charlotte.”
“I know. The whole reason we’re here is to speak with you,” she nodded.
“The Ophion Occult Order calls me a soul-flayer, and I’m sure you were all wondering exactly what that meant before you came here,” Emrys said, standing proudly behind his acolyte. “Well, this is it. The Darkness Beyond is now a part of her, and a part of her now lives within the Darkness Beyond. She is not unchanged from what she was before, but neither has what she was been lost.”
“My interpretation of the term ‘soul-flaying’ was the complete removal of a person’s consciousness from their astral and physical bodies to be subsumed by your Darkness,” I countered. “They told me that what you’ve done with Petra here is just the limit of your power while you’re bound in their chains. Are you telling me that if your chains were broken, you wouldn’t be able to do any worse than this?”
“On my physical avatar? No. So long as my astral form remains chained and bound with the World Serpent, I cannot cleave a conscious mind from its astral substrate,” Emrys assured me.
“But that is your ultimate goal, isn’t it? Breaking the chains the Ophion Occult Order put on you is just a stepping stone to breaking the ones the gods bound you with?” Genevieve asked. “You’ve allied yourself with a literal god slayer. Do you expect us to believe that his people’s abilities aren’t something you intend to put to your own ends?”
“I don’t have an ultimate goal so much as I have a fundamental principle of opposing tyranny,” he claimed. “When I was a mere man, thousands of years ago, I was a tyrant. I believed that might made right so unquestionably that when my might began to fail me, the only thing I could think to do was to try everything in my power to restore it. This quest eventually led to me becoming one with the Darkness Beyond, which gave me not only the might I coveted but the wisdom I didn’t know I needed. It gave me perspective. It made me stronger than any human alive at that point but still let me realize how insignificant I was. It was humbling, and enlightening, and filled me both with remorse over my past actions and an impetus to use my newfound gifts to rectify them. I tried to overthrow the gods themselves which, in hindsight, was overly ambitious. I not only failed but had my soul devoured by the World Serpent, where it still resides to this day.
“I am not eager to bring the wrath of the gods down upon me once again. No, for now, I will be content to end the tyranny of the Ophion Occult Order. This is the message I’d like you to relay to them. If the Grand Adderman agrees to unbind my chains and step down from his post, I will spare his life. If he declines, I want the rest of the Order to know that I will show mercy to any who sides with me over him. I am willing to allow the Order to exist so long as it agrees to become more decentralized, democratic, and accountable. They will have to forfeit certain artifacts and individuals in their possession over to me, chief among them the Darling Twins, but I am willing to negotiate. If they aren’t, then I will overthrow the Grand Adderman by whatever means necessary and see the Order scattered to the four winds. It is entirely up to them whether or not the conflict between us escalates to full-on war. Have I made myself clear, Samantha?”
“I think so,” I said as I pensively considered everything he had said. “Why should they trust you to keep your word once your chains are broken? For that matter, why should we?”
He took a moment to consider his response, eyeing me over as though he was trying to divine something that would win over my trust.
“Samantha, you made a pact with Persephone to get your Spirit Familiar there; one where she swore by the River Styx. Is that correct?” he asked.
“It is,” I nodded.
“And in the years since, has Persephone ever broken that pact she swore to?” he asked.
“No, she hasn’t,” I replied.
“I may not be an Old God, but so long as my astral form remains bound by their chains, they have power over me,” he said. “Samantha Sumner, Hedge Witch of Harrowick Woods, I swear on the River Styx that I have spoken no lies to you today. I swear by the River Styx that I will abide by any Covenant that I and the Ophion Occult Order agree to in good faith and fair dealing that they do not break first. I swear by the River Styx that when my chains are broken, I will give you no cause to fear me or regret your trust in me.”
I gave a questioning glance to Genevieve, and then Elam, both of whom nodded in the affirmative.
“All right. An oath sworn on the River Styx is good enough for me. I’ll deliver your terms to Seneca Chamberlin,” I agreed. “I’m very grateful for the trust and respect you’ve shown for me and my coven, Emrys, though I can’t say I quite understand it. Out of all the guests that were there on the Hallow’s Eve you were summoned, why did Evie and I stand out to you?”
“The Ophion Occult Order deemed you worthy of inclusion in their cult, an offer you rejected on principle. You cheated Persephone, but you did it not to gain immortality for yourself but to save your friend from hell. You came here, thinking I could very well tear your souls asunder, but did so because you believed it was your duty to prevent needless suffering,” Emrys answered. “You are extraordinary in your craft, courage, and conscience, the latter of which especially stood out among the degenerates at that party. I do apologize if I frightened you at that event. I was a bit… irritable, given the circumstances. I’m glad we were able to meet again under more pleasant conditions.”
“So am I, Emrys,” I nodded. “I’m not sure exactly what this means or how relevant it is, but Seneca wanted me to tell you that he’s able to offer you the Dream Demon Red Ruck as a sacrifice.”
“Pffft. Tell him it’s hardly a sacrifice if I’m getting rid of a boogie man for him,” he scoffed. “In fact, now that you mention it, Ruck’s one egregore that might be of more use to me alive.”
I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but we were suddenly interrupted by the rapid pounding of a gong somewhere down below. It seemed to be an alarm of some kind, as we could hear the panicked shouting and frantic racing of people either battening down or forsaking the Flea Market altogether.
Mathom-meister apparated into the middle of the room, his facial tentacles reflexively raised in a defensive position.
“Were you outside the market?” he demanded of us.
“The portal we came through deposited us a few miles outside of the market, yes,” I admitted.
“Damn,” Emrys cursed softly, though he sounded more frustrated than angry. “Meister, it’s not their fault. I knew they weren’t experienced Planeswalkers, I could have – ”
“It doesn’t matter!” Mathom-meister interjected. “They need to leave, now!”
“Why, what’s going on?” Genevieve demanded.
“The scarabs are swarming,” Petra explained. “Don’t feel bad; it happens often enough that they’re prepared for it.”
I wanted to press for more details, but I could hear the humming of a vast winged swarm steadily encroaching upon us.
“Don’t worry. Once you leave the swarm will disperse… eventually,” Emrys told us. “We’ve said all that need be said for now. Return home, and I’ll reach out to you again shortly, Samantha.”
Again, I wanted to object, but the swarm outside was growing louder and louder, and it occurred to me that we might not be completely safe from a biblical swarm of insects that could not only sense but evidently sought out souls.
This occurred to Charlotte as well, as she was the first of us to vanish and awaken back in her body. We could all feel the weight of her reembodied soul tugging on us to return with her. Genevieve immediately grabbed hold of my right hand and Elam my left, both of them refusing to leave before I did.
I spared one final glance at Emrys, lamenting that we couldn’t have had more time.
“I’ll relay everything you said to the Order. I’ll make sure they know you’re willing to negotiate a truce,” I vowed.
He gave me a gracious nod, and just as we heard the swarm start to pelt the exterior of the market, I forced my physical eyes open and was back in my body, still safely under a willow tree in my cemetery.
I immediately looked beside me to Genevieve, and saw that she was awake as well, and then around me for Elam, who seemed to be suffering a bit of spectral whiplash from being pulled back with me so suddenly, but was otherwise all right. Sighing with relief, I turned lastly to Charlotte, and saw that she was looking down at the mediation circle in dreaded horror.
Following her gaze, I saw that the Undying Rose was gone – spent, perhaps, in exchange for our passage – and in its place was the inert, and hopefully dead, body of one of the shimmering scarabs.
2023.06.01 17:03 Mindless_Pudding_723 So Close…
FNF was so close to becoming something more than RP rage and seeming like they hate women, but this Zherka arc is ruining it. Before they started bringing Zherka on they had kinda chilled out and were becoming more monetize-able. They’ve did a complete 180. Zherka comes on with the RP rage mentality which is good for views but not for sustainability. He doesn’t have any serious conversations on the pod. He just rages and talk shit for view. If FNF ever wants to get sponsorship and become a household name they should watch the direction they’re letting him take them in. No brand or business would want to be attached to the pods he’s been on. Everyone will continue to not take what they say seriously with this kind of energy. If they really wanna spread there message and save men they need to not let guests like him drag them down for fleeting funny moments and views.
submitted by Mindless_Pudding_723 to LengfOrGirf [link] [comments]
2023.06.01 17:02 AllesMeins Experiences/recommedations for mouse/keyboard-switch
Hi, I'm running a Linux host system with a Windows guest and I'm looking for a better way to pass my mouse/keyboard to the guest. Currently I'm using barrier but this comes with various problems. So I've been thinking if a hardware switch that just sends the same device into two different USB-Ports could be the answer. Than I could just do a native passthru of the device and wouldn't need barrier anymore. Does anybody have experiences with that?
I can think of two possible problems.
submitted by AllesMeins to kvm [link] [comments]
I can think of two possible problems.
- The moment I startup the guest, the switch would still be set to the host machine. Can I passthru a device that isn't "connected" yet?
- With a setup like this "both mice" would have the same identifiers because its the same physical device. And I know that USB-Port-IDs might change at a system restart. So how would I properly address the devices?
2023.06.01 17:01 winningwriters [POETRY COLLECTION] [THEME: DREAMS AND THE SUBCONSCIOUS] Jun 30, 2023: Codhill Press Guest Editor Series (No fee; awards publication)
From the organization website:
This contest has been vetted and approved by Winning Writers
submitted by winningwriters to literarycontests [link] [comments]
The press is excited to announce a new series designed to both honor its past and expand its poetry offerings into the future. Beginning this year, the press will name a Guest Editor who will select two poetry manuscripts for publication during a two-year appointment period (one per year). This new poetry series will join the long-running Codhill Press Pauline Uchmanowicz Poetry Award to produce new books.Contest details
- Sponsor: Codhill Press
- Category: Poetry
- Submission length: Between 48-80 pages
- Entry fee: No fee
- Awards: Publication
This contest has been vetted and approved by Winning Writers
2023.06.01 16:58 weddedthrow So much anxiety and pressure to make sure it goes well
Everyone is telling me that they’re so excited for the wedding and can’t wait. I smile in response and respond appropriately but inside, I’m screaming. I am so stressed about what people are going to think. Is the venue too cramped? Are the decorations not personalized enough? Will the food be cold? Will they hate dessert? Will the DJ do a good job?
At this point, I just want to get this done. This is the most stressful thing I have ever planned in my life. Our guest list is like ~30 people more than we originally planned for. Everyone is RSVPing yes. People are traveling from other countries.
The pressure to give them a good time after they do all this…it’s so much. I would have much preferred a low-key celebration with a small handful of people. But in my culture, it doesn’t work that way.
SIGH. I just feel drained.
submitted by weddedthrow to weddingplanning [link] [comments]
At this point, I just want to get this done. This is the most stressful thing I have ever planned in my life. Our guest list is like ~30 people more than we originally planned for. Everyone is RSVPing yes. People are traveling from other countries.
The pressure to give them a good time after they do all this…it’s so much. I would have much preferred a low-key celebration with a small handful of people. But in my culture, it doesn’t work that way.
SIGH. I just feel drained.
2023.06.01 16:58 SignificanceNo6097 Help with an inappropriate visitor at reception
I work as a receptionist/paralegal at a small private law firm. After Memorial Day weekend we had someone come in requesting to speak with the attorney. A much older gentlemen who demanded to see the attorney. His issue was tangent to our areas of practice and something our firm rarely does. So I scheduled him in later that day.
The front lobby of our firm offers refreshments like coffee and candy which our guests can access while they wait. I saw him stuffing k-cups & tea bags into his pockets while fixing himself a cup. He left, came back a few hours to “ask a question”, made himself ANOTHER cup, and then left. Then he came for his appointment, fixed himself a third cup and filled his pockets again. He met briefly with the attorney and the attorney determined we couldn’t assist him with the case. As he was leaving he stopped by the reception and made in appropriate comments, said he would bring me flowers, helped himself to another cup and left.
He came the next day to ask us about pricing for another service, helped himself to another cup, pocketed more stuff and, again, made a bunch of inappropriate comments and asked me what time I get off (which I of course did not tell him). He took his goodies and left.
Today I come into work and there were roses on my desk. Thankfully my shift starts a little later cause I close the office but it’s really starting to get out of hand. I feel anxious about him coming. I’m anxious about running into him out of work as he lives in the area my office is located. His comments make me uncomfortable & the fact he just helps himself despite not even being a client is just angering me too.
I could use some advice. I am still at work so I have to maintain some level of professionalism. But if he continues this behavior I may just lose it. If he had approached me outside of my working hours I would have just told him to go fuck himself. But obviously I can’t do that when we have clients as well as potential clients around.
submitted by SignificanceNo6097 to CustomerService [link] [comments]
The front lobby of our firm offers refreshments like coffee and candy which our guests can access while they wait. I saw him stuffing k-cups & tea bags into his pockets while fixing himself a cup. He left, came back a few hours to “ask a question”, made himself ANOTHER cup, and then left. Then he came for his appointment, fixed himself a third cup and filled his pockets again. He met briefly with the attorney and the attorney determined we couldn’t assist him with the case. As he was leaving he stopped by the reception and made in appropriate comments, said he would bring me flowers, helped himself to another cup and left.
He came the next day to ask us about pricing for another service, helped himself to another cup, pocketed more stuff and, again, made a bunch of inappropriate comments and asked me what time I get off (which I of course did not tell him). He took his goodies and left.
Today I come into work and there were roses on my desk. Thankfully my shift starts a little later cause I close the office but it’s really starting to get out of hand. I feel anxious about him coming. I’m anxious about running into him out of work as he lives in the area my office is located. His comments make me uncomfortable & the fact he just helps himself despite not even being a client is just angering me too.
I could use some advice. I am still at work so I have to maintain some level of professionalism. But if he continues this behavior I may just lose it. If he had approached me outside of my working hours I would have just told him to go fuck himself. But obviously I can’t do that when we have clients as well as potential clients around.
2023.06.01 16:54 EnvironmentalTaro994 Stroller Recommendations
We will be taking my 4 (almost 5) year old nephew on his first Disney trip end of June. We anticipate him getting tired of walking in the Florida sun all day. Any recommendations for lightweight strollers? Looking for inexpensive and something that won’t be too much in the way of other guests
submitted by EnvironmentalTaro994 to WaltDisneyWorld [link] [comments]
2023.06.01 16:54 Oh_No_Industries The most important thing on the new roadmap
 | submitted by Oh_No_Industries to WoWsBlitz [link] [comments] |
2023.06.01 16:53 Pristine-Sprinkles-2 Cash management best practices - running a restaurant remotely
Due to a few different circumstances I am going to need to run a couple of restaurants remotely for a couple of years. There's obviously going to be a number of challenges with this but one of the ones that I foresee having to deal with on a daily/weekly basis is how to deal with cash/receipts. We don't get a lot of cash these days from our guests but we currently use petty cash to pay for little things that we need to get on a weekly basis. I find myself having to top off our petty cash every few weeks and that's going to be a little difficult if I'm out of town. I've thought about different ways to handle this (corporate credit / debit card) but I'm a little unsure as to the best way to handle cash management and reimbursement on a weekly basis. I was wondering if anyone in this forum had any ideas or best practices that might be helpful for me to implement or look at as I think about how to solve this problem. Thanks!
submitted by Pristine-Sprinkles-2 to smallbusiness [link] [comments]
2023.06.01 16:52 Slaughter4Fun Looking for a bloxburg builder for my house (will need a MM)
My budget is 140k and I will pay 4K to 16K depending on how well the job is done
What I am looking for is as follows
Colors: Baby Pink, White, & Gold
Kitchen must haves:
submitted by Slaughter4Fun to crosstradingroblox [link] [comments]
What I am looking for is as follows
Colors: Baby Pink, White, & Gold
- Realistic
- Five story
- 2 car garage
- Whole house is stone or brick
- Numerous wall trim details especially white wood panels
- Numerous interior locations for stone & brick (an entire wall, a hallway, cased openings, etc.)
- Exotic tile like white marble
- Specialty landscape items like water features, dry creek beds, etc.
- Many trees (preferably palm ones)
- Wrap around Porch
- Porch Swing
- Patio
- Gas Lanterns
- Large Entertaining Area with tv
- Outdoor Kitchen with Oven
- Sustainable Food/Herb Garden With lots of planters and a hose
- Good Lighting
- Security Cameras all around the house
- Courtyard with fountain
- Governor’s Driveway/ circle driveway
- Lots of Natural Lights
- Large Windows
- Window Seat/ Bay window
- Arched Doorways
- French Doors
- Wide Doors
- Wide Hallways
- Large Family Room, Kitchen, Dining Room for Family Gatherings
Kitchen must haves:
- Large Island
- Double Island
- Marble Countertops
- Waterfall Countertop
- White Cabinets
- Gold Hardware
- Huge Dish Cabinet with Glass Doors
- Kitchen Linens Closet
- Farm style sink
- Window above Sink
- Hidden baby pink Microwave
- 2 pink baby pink Dishwashers
- Custom Baby pink hood
- Oven
- Coffee Machine
- Refrigerator
- Blender
- 2 trash cans
- Door from Pantry to Garage
- Sink
- Second Fridge
- Fireplace
- Closet for guest Linens and Dishes
- Large for Family Gatherings
- Laundry Shoot
- Folding Counter or Island
- Ironing board
- Washing machines and dryer etc
- Storage Shelves for Shoes
- Fireplace
- Balcony
- TV at Foot of the Bed
- Private Sitting Room Attached
- Shoe Wall (made with pictures or a bunch of slippers)
- Dressing Room
- Sunglass Drawer
- Jewelry holders
- Luxurious Carpet
- Chandelier
- Bidet
- Steam ShoweSauna
- Shower Head
- Gold Faucets
- Seat in shower
- Makeup Counter or Vanity
- 2 Sinks
- 2 Car Garage
- Extra Tall Garage Doors
- Cabinets for Storage
- Door to Backyard
- Room for indoor pool and jet pool
- Fitness room/home gym
- Game room with Billard table
- Home library
- Mud room
- Spa room
- Home Theater
- Office/Study Room
- Nursery
2023.06.01 16:50 Gullible_Caramel6189 🤞🏿
 | submitted by Gullible_Caramel6189 to WirelessFestival [link] [comments] |
2023.06.01 16:50 PageStunning6265 Youngest keeps being invited (but not really?)
So, my oldest (8) has a friend who has been inviting him over a lot lately. This is wonderful, and I’m happy to let him visit any time he’s invited and there’s no conflict. I’ve been trying to get our place guest-ready so that he can invite her here, too.
My youngest (6) has been sad that he doesn’t get to go. Ordinarily, this would be a case of sorry, bud, you weren’t invited, but the friend keeps inviting him, or telling him he can come next time, etc, when (I assume) the invitation hasn’t been ok’d by her parents (I usually hear from her mom to confirm plans, youngest has never been mentioned). I went to drop oldest off a few days ago and his friend invited youngest to join them on the trampoline, so I said a couple of jumps, and we’d go, then she told him/asked me if he could stay, and I told her that’s something to clear with her mom (mom said no - which is completely fair, who wants an extra kid, who’ll likely fight with the one they invited, coming over?) So it was mom said maybe next time
Tuesday the friend invited both kids over, I was feeling godawful and my oldest had homework, so I’d already told them it would have to be another time, but then I never from her mom anyway.
Last night the friend texted me from her mom’s phone to ask if oldest was free to come today (I didn’t realize it was her right away). I’m totally fine with this, (and confirmed this is something that had been ok’d with her parents) but I know my youngest is going to be heartbroken.
I know this friend is trying to be nice to my youngest. She either genuinely wants him there, or is trying to placate him in the moment by telling him next time, but it’s making it 10x harder to explain to him why he can’t go. “It’s your brother’s friend and you weren’t invited” would be so much easier to explain.
How would you handle this? I’m honestly at a loss.
submitted by PageStunning6265 to Parenting [link] [comments]
My youngest (6) has been sad that he doesn’t get to go. Ordinarily, this would be a case of sorry, bud, you weren’t invited, but the friend keeps inviting him, or telling him he can come next time, etc, when (I assume) the invitation hasn’t been ok’d by her parents (I usually hear from her mom to confirm plans, youngest has never been mentioned). I went to drop oldest off a few days ago and his friend invited youngest to join them on the trampoline, so I said a couple of jumps, and we’d go, then she told him/asked me if he could stay, and I told her that’s something to clear with her mom (mom said no - which is completely fair, who wants an extra kid, who’ll likely fight with the one they invited, coming over?) So it was mom said maybe next time
Tuesday the friend invited both kids over, I was feeling godawful and my oldest had homework, so I’d already told them it would have to be another time, but then I never from her mom anyway.
Last night the friend texted me from her mom’s phone to ask if oldest was free to come today (I didn’t realize it was her right away). I’m totally fine with this, (and confirmed this is something that had been ok’d with her parents) but I know my youngest is going to be heartbroken.
I know this friend is trying to be nice to my youngest. She either genuinely wants him there, or is trying to placate him in the moment by telling him next time, but it’s making it 10x harder to explain to him why he can’t go. “It’s your brother’s friend and you weren’t invited” would be so much easier to explain.
How would you handle this? I’m honestly at a loss.
2023.06.01 16:50 AutoModerator [Download Course] Ryan Deiss – Agency Scale Accelerator (2022) (Genkicourses.com)
![[Download Course] Ryan Deiss – Agency Scale Accelerator (2022) (Genkicourses.com)](https://external-preview.redd.it/2wsYuftVoayu3STgxiWDl85X9jrFhiVhg749bff0NuQ.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=a69ddee4fbf28b86c27fb2bf5413ba3d5232cc67 "[Download Course] Ryan Deiss – Agency Scale Accelerator (2022) (Genkicourses.com)") | submitted by AutoModerator to QualityCourses2k23 [link] [comments] Get the course here: [Download Course] Ryan Deiss – Agency Scale Accelerator (2022) Our website: https://www.genkicourses.site/product/ryan-deiss-agency-scale-accelerator-2022/ What You Get: Join our comprehensive 5-week program for expert coaching from successful agency owners. We’ll help you stay motivated and consistent throughout your journey. Gain access to DigitalMarketer’s Agency Scale Plan, a customized business plan designed to achieve your specific “Exit-Able” Agency goals. Benefit from 10+ live sessions, including Q&A, bonus trainings, and more, as well as insights from special guest “Exit-Able” Agency Owners who will share their stories, strategies, and best tips. Lastly, enjoy the ‘Exit-Able Agency Owner’ suite of templates and tools, including fill-in-the-blank worksheets and strategy guides. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ If you're wondering why our courses are priced lower than the original prices and are feeling a bit suspicious (which is understandable), we can provide proof of the course's contents. We can provide a screenshot of the course's contents or send you a freebie, such as an introduction video or another video from the course, to prove that we do have the course. Should you wish to request proof, we kindly ask you to reach out to us. Please be aware that our courses do not include community access. This is due to the fact that we do not have the authority to manage this feature. Despite our desire to incorporate this aspect, it is, unfortunately, unfeasible. Explore affordable learning at Genkicourses.site 🎓! Dive into a world of quality courses handpicked just for you. Download, watch, and achieve more without breaking your budget. |
2023.06.01 16:49 Potter97Harry Wedding venue
Assalamualaikum!
Does anyone have some good wedding marquee recs for under 5-6 lac (without food). I looked at ones like Sadabahar, The Mansion & Courtyard but all are outside budget and are too big for my guest count (150-200).
I want something which looks good on the outside as well and on the modern side. Hopefully not too far from Gulistan e Jauhar
Thank you!!
submitted by Potter97Harry to karachi [link] [comments]
Does anyone have some good wedding marquee recs for under 5-6 lac (without food). I looked at ones like Sadabahar, The Mansion & Courtyard but all are outside budget and are too big for my guest count (150-200).
I want something which looks good on the outside as well and on the modern side. Hopefully not too far from Gulistan e Jauhar
Thank you!!
2023.06.01 16:49 spoilingba Multiple SSDs on Flint?
May just be being stupid but really can't see any settings anywhere in latest firmware for Flint (GL-AX1800, Openwrt VersionOpenWrt 21.02-SNAPSHOT r16399+159-c67509efd7, Kernel Version4.4.60) to create more SSDs beyond the 2.4/5ghz + guest splits?
I ideally want to end up with three different networks - 1) home, 2) work, 3) IoT devices - if any suggestions for how / in what way to set those up!
submitted by spoilingba to GlInet [link] [comments]
I ideally want to end up with three different networks - 1) home, 2) work, 3) IoT devices - if any suggestions for how / in what way to set those up!
2023.06.01 16:49 McDuckfart easyRide for guests
Hi,
it is a bit cumbersome to buy tickets for my guests as I am used to the comfort of easyRide. I was wondering, is it maybe possible to use it without a Swisspass somehow?
submitted by McDuckfart to askswitzerland [link] [comments]
it is a bit cumbersome to buy tickets for my guests as I am used to the comfort of easyRide. I was wondering, is it maybe possible to use it without a Swisspass somehow?
2023.06.01 16:49 800Pergola-company Hosting Outdoor Parties: Why a Pergola is the Perfect Addition to Your Home ?
 | https://preview.redd.it/hp38782b6f3b1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=e7ae21d179b0a5e684bdbda8b1321a9bd6ccbf1f submitted by 800Pergola-company to u/800Pergola-company [link] [comments] Imagine a warm summer evening, the laughter of friends mingling in the air, and the enticing aroma of delicious food sizzling on the grill. Hosting outdoor parties is a delightful way to bring people together and enjoy the beauty of nature. If you’re looking to take your outdoor entertaining to the next level, consider adding a pergola from the best Pergola company in Dubai to your home. In this article, we’ll explore why a pergola is the perfect addition for hosting unforgettable outdoor parties. Table of Contents
To create a welcoming environment for your guests, it’s essential to establish a dedicated area for gatherings. A pergola serves as an architectural anchor, defining an outdoor space where friends and family can gather comfortably. With its open structure and elegant design, a pergola adds a touch of sophistication and sets the stage for memorable parties. By incorporating comfortable seating arrangements, vibrant plants, and decorative elements, you can transform your pergola into an enchanting oasis that entices guests to relax and unwind. Shelter and Protection One of the key advantages of a pergola is its ability to provide shade and protection from the elements. The slatted roof design of a pergola allows dappled sunlight to filter through, creating a pleasant and cool space. It shields you and your guests from the harsh rays of the sun, reducing the risk of sunburn and ensuring everyone can enjoy the outdoors without discomfort. Additionally, a pergola offers a respite during light rain showers, allowing your party to continue outdoors even when Mother Nature has other plans. Versatility and Customization A pergola is a versatile structure that can adapt to various occasions and themes. Whether you’re hosting a lively summer barbecue, an intimate cocktail party, or a cozy autumn gathering, a pergola provides a flexible space that can be transformed to suit your needs. You can enhance its appeal by adding curtains, drapes, or retractable shades to create privacy or shield against strong winds. Furthermore, the open framework of a pergola lends itself well to creative decorations such as hanging lanterns, string lights, or cascading vines, adding a touch of magic and personal style to your outdoor parties. Enhancing Social Interactions One of the greatest joys of hosting outdoor parties is the opportunity to connect and interact with friends and family. A pergola helps foster meaningful conversations and social interactions by providing a designated space that encourages people to gather and engage with one another. The relaxed and open-air ambiance of a pergola creates a welcoming atmosphere, allowing guests to feel at ease and promoting a sense of camaraderie. The seamless flow between indoor and outdoor spaces, facilitated by the presence of a pergola, ensures that guests can move freely and comfortably, blurring the boundaries between the two areas. This encourages a natural and effortless transition from indoor conversations to outdoor festivities, creating a harmonious and inclusive atmosphere where connections can flourish. Increasing Property Value Beyond the immediate benefits of hosting outdoor parties, a pergola can also have a positive impact on the value of your property. The addition of a pergola enhances the overall aesthetic appeal of your home, creating an inviting outdoor entertainment area that potential buyers or renters find highly desirable. It showcases your property as a place where memorable gatherings and enjoyable moments can take place. By investing in a pergola, you not only elevate your hosting capabilities but also add a unique selling point to your home that sets it apart from others in the market. Low Maintenance and Longevity While a pergola may seem like a significant addition, it actually requires minimal maintenance in the long run. By choosing durable materials such as cedar, redwood, or metal alloys, you ensure that your pergola can withstand the test of time and the elements. These materials are known for their resilience and longevity, meaning you won’t have to worry about frequent repairs or replacements. Periodic cleaning, occasional staining or sealing, and basic upkeep of plants or decorative elements are typically all that’s needed to keep your pergola looking stunning and in excellent condition. Conclusion: In conclusion, 800Pergola Company’s Custom Pergola is the perfect addition to your home for hosting outdoor parties in Dubai. Our expertise in crafting customized and stunning pergolas ensures that your entertainment area will be elevated to new heights. Our pergolas provide sun shelter and rain protection, ensuring uninterrupted parties regardless of the weather. At 800PERGOLA – Leading Pergola Developers in Dubai, we prioritize versatility and customization. A offering various design options to match your unique style. Our pergolas not only enhance your hosting capabilities but also increase the value of your property, attracting potential buyers or renters. With durable materials and minimal maintenance requirements, our pergolas are built to last. Choose 800Pergola to transform your outdoor space into a captivating haven for unforgettable parties. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and let our expert team bring your vision to life. Elevate your outdoor entertainment with a pergola from 800Pergola Company. 800 PERGOLA – OFFICE Address – RATW, DY 21, Al Jadaf, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Toll Free No: 800-737-4652 Mobile: 055 380 5148 Email: [email protected] Website - https://800pergola.com/ Our Social Media Presence – Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/800pergola Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/800pergola/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/800pergola |
2023.06.01 16:43 reason82 Got a Charity event this weekend in Manchester where you pay in with food for local Foodbanks. Our designer aptly channelled his inner Warhol for this one.
 | submitted by reason82 to DesignPorn [link] [comments] |
2023.06.01 16:43 szoze Myron doesn't allow girl guest to use the bathroom on F&F, tells her "kitchen too hot? Get the fuck out"
It baffles me how Destiny has been on many F&F shows and has seen "live" the insecure, butthurt Myron banter of the girl guests and he's been ok with the format of the show. Myron has fucking sounds ready to play like on the radio for calling the girls stupid, emotional or mocking them. He calls them retards, ignores it when they make good points, makes stupid faces at the camera when they present an argument and so on. The entire recipe of the show is to shit on them, make them angry/frustrated and kick them out to make views. (Also he said Pixie is a stupid bitch [i'm not her biggest fan but she's anything but stupid]).
This was obvious from the first time Destiny went on the show. Yet he has been all over Myron's dick from day one (recently he slowed down a bit).
The show is pathetic and in my opinion does more harm than all the redpillers combined because it makes it entertaining to hate women.
Personally I subscribe to many points which would be considered redpill but Myron and his show are disgusting and they must be called out.
submitted by szoze to Destiny [link] [comments]
This was obvious from the first time Destiny went on the show. Yet he has been all over Myron's dick from day one (recently he slowed down a bit).
The show is pathetic and in my opinion does more harm than all the redpillers combined because it makes it entertaining to hate women.
Personally I subscribe to many points which would be considered redpill but Myron and his show are disgusting and they must be called out.