Podcasts about Valkyrie

Deep in the forests of Poland lies the crumbling remains of one of World War II's most secretive and sinister locations—Wolfsschanze, or the Wolf's Lair—Adolf Hitler's heavily fortified military headquarters. But beyond the concrete bunkers and iron history, whispers of something far darker still echo through the trees. In this chilling episode, we explore the hauntings, curses, and unexplained phenomena surrounding the Wolf's Lair.From eerie sounds in the dead of night to reports of ghostly apparitions of Nazi officers, could the residual energy of war, betrayal, and death have left a permanent mark on this place? We also examine the failed Valkyrie assassination attempt and its lingering psychic imprint, said to stir unrest in the shadows of the ruins.Join us as we peel back the layers of history and the paranormal in a place where evil may have left more than just a legacy—it may have left a presence.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/truth-be-told-paranormal--3589860/support.

Previously on the Seventh Valkyrie, the Edaran ultimatum spreads in the aftermath of their attack on the festival. The terms? They'll accept the surrender of the Old City peacefully, or claim it by force.  What do the Four Families have to say about that? Find out now! Meridia, The 21st Day of Winter, Nightfall —--------------------- Want more 7th Valkyrie? Check out our Patreon to become a Hero of Edara, where you can shape the future of the series, decide on merch drops and incentives, get early access to new episodes, enjoy bonus features and content, and help us hit the major checkpoints on the Path of Heroes!  https://www.patreon.com/7thvalkyrie For 7th Valkyrie Gear and Apparel: https://store.7thvalkyrie.com/ For 7th Valkyrie Artwork: https://www.instagram.com/7thvalkyrie/  

Deep in the forests of Poland lies the crumbling remains of one of World War II's most secretive and sinister locations—Wolfsschanze, or the Wolf's Lair—Adolf Hitler's heavily fortified military headquarters. But beyond the concrete bunkers and iron history, whispers of something far darker still echo through the trees.In this chilling episode, we explore the hauntings, curses, and unexplained phenomena surrounding the Wolf's Lair. From eerie sounds in the dead of night to reports of ghostly apparitions of Nazi officers, could the residual energy of war, betrayal, and death have left a permanent mark on this place? We also examine the failed Valkyrie assassination attempt and its lingering psychic imprint, said to stir unrest in the shadows of the ruins.Join us as we peel back the layers of history and the paranormal in a place where evil may have left more than just a legacy—it may have left a presence.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/truth-be-told-paranormal--3589860/support.

Inside the episode, Cyrus deals with both his lasting trauma and May's compelling offer, while outside the episode we talk about the Path of Heroes! Bonus for Heroes of Edara: a story of the haunting calls of howler monkeys in the mountains at twilight. —--------------------- Want more 7th Valkyrie? Check out our Patreon to become a Hero of Edara, where you can shape the future of the series, decide on merch drops and incentives, get early access to new episodes, enjoy bonus features and content, and help us hit the major checkpoints on the Path of Heroes!  https://www.patreon.com/7thvalkyrie For 7th Valkyrie Gear and Apparel: https://store.7thvalkyrie.com/ For 7th Valkyrie Artwork: https://www.instagram.com/7thvalkyrie/  

Previously on the Seventh Valkyrie, Cyrus finally collapses under the weight of his experiences and expectations, but he's not alone. What message does the still-scarred yet ever-elegant matriarch of Velvet have to share? Find out next, on the Seventh Valkyrie. —--------------------- Want more 7th Valkyrie? Check out our Patreon to become a Hero of Edara, where you can shape the future of the series, decide on merch drops and incentives, get early access to new episodes, enjoy bonus features and content, and help us hit the major checkpoints on the Path of Heroes!  https://www.patreon.com/7thvalkyrie For 7th Valkyrie Gear and Apparel: https://store.7thvalkyrie.com/ For 7th Valkyrie Artwork: https://www.instagram.com/7thvalkyrie/    

JOIN THE DISCORD BIG DOBS BEARD BALM USE PROMO CODE METAL FOR 20% OFFMERCH Join Lucian and Dustin as review The NEW Cradle of Filth Album " The Screaming of The Valkyrie's". Afterward they sit down with Cradle of Filth's Zoe Federoff to discuss this New Era of Cradle and what it was like being thrusted into the Dark world of Black Metal. Such a great time overall on this one!

Step into the beating heart of British obstacle course racing with the Nuts Challenge 3K – a course that has defined the essence of OCR in the United Kingdom since 2010. Unlike any ordinary race, this woodland technical masterpiece delivers approximately 35 obstacles within just 3 kilometers, creating what seasoned racers describe as "relentless" – a perfect descriptor for this iconic event at Camelot Events.What makes the Nuts 3K extraordinary is its remarkable balance of challenge and accessibility. The course winds through technical forest trails where you'll encounter everything from suspension obstacles and hanging rigs to water crossings and natural terrain challenges. Your heart rate will spike within minutes as you tackle the infamous Monty's hurdles, Valkyrie rings, and various technical rigs, with barely enough recovery time between obstacles to catch your breath.Team Nuts member Khani, who has trained at this venue for eight years and earned numerous international podiums, reveals that success here doesn't necessarily come from outright speed. Rather, it rewards consistent energy management and technical efficiency – knowing when to conserve and when to push. The course's unique layout forces racers to utilize every OCR skill: upper body strength, agility, push strength, compromise running, and the mental fortitude to maintain focus when fatigue sets in.For first-timers, the Nuts 3K offers a comprehensive introduction to what makes obstacle course racing special – the perfect venue to experience the sport's original spirit. For veterans, it's a technical playground that tests your ability to execute obstacles efficiently while managing your energy through varied terrain. Either way, you'll leave with muddy trainers, possibly bruised arms from chicken-winging through obstacles, and the satisfaction of conquering one of Britain's most authentic OCR experiences.Don't miss this opportunity to race at the spiritual home of UK obstacle course racing on April 27th. Sign up now and discover why the Nuts Challenge continues to set the standard for technical obstacle racing excellence in the 3K Series.Support the show

Megtalálták a pillanatot, amikor felkapcsolták a lámpát Mínuszos     2025-03-28 13:33:14     Tudomány James Webb Tudósok a James Webb űrteleszkóppal egy ősi galaxist azonosítottak, ami bizonyítékot szolgáltat arra, hogy az univerzum „sötét kora” utáni fontos átmeneti időszak hamarabb következett be, mint korábban gondolták. A Webb teleszkóp a hatalmas kozmikus távolságok átvizsgálásával visszatekint az időben, és megfigyelte a JADES-GS-z13-1 nevű galaxist, am A véletlenszerűséghez kapcsolódó új kvantumprotokoll született ITBusiness     2025-03-28 05:12:45     Infotech Egy nemzetközi kutatócsoport áttörést ért el a kvantumszámítás területén: sikeresen megvalósították a "hitelesített kvantum véletlenségszerűséget", amivel korábban csak elméletileg létező kísérletek váltak valósággá. A Nature folyóiratban 2025. március 26-án közzétett tanulmány szerint a JPMorganChase, a Quantinuum, az Argonne és az Oak Ridge Nemze Hazánkban sem utópia a tömeges megfigyelés ICT Global     2025-03-28 05:03:22     Infotech A Magyarországon működő térfigyelő kamerákról nincs pontos - nyilvános - adat, de számukat már évekkel ezelőtt 30 ezer körülire becsülték szakértők. Emellett egy központosított, több tízezer kamerából álló hálózat - a megfigyelő eszközök mellett - biometrikus adatbázisokat is kezel. Mesterséges intelligenciával és kétnapos üzemidővel hódít az év egyik legolcsóbb csúcsmobilja Rakéta     2025-03-28 12:18:07     Mobiltech Telefon Mesterséges intelligencia Olcsó Xiaomi A Xiaomi 15 idén is az egyik legolcsóbban elérhető csúcskategóriás telefon lett, ami hardverben ugyan nem sokat változott az elődjéhez képest, az AI szolgáltatások terén viszont annál nagyobb ugrást mutat be. 122 év után igazolták a háromszög négyszögesítéséről szóló feladvány megfejtését Telex     2025-03-28 13:48:14     Tudomány Anglia Egy angol matematikus 1902-ben adott fel egy puzzle-rejtvényt, de csak nemrég sikerült igazolni, hogy nincs jobb megoldás, mint amit egy akkori olvasó adott. Új érintőkijelzős vezérlők a Schneider Electrictől az energiahatékonyságért és a kényelemért Digital Hungary     2025-03-28 12:11:00     Infotech Energia Schneider Electric Akár 30 százalékos energiamegtakarítás és az üzemeltető-, valamint karbantartó személyzet munkájának nagy mértékű egyszerűsítése – többek között ilyen előnyöket kínál a felhasználók számára a Schneider Electric új "SpaceLogic™ Touchscreen Room Controller" érintőkijelzős kezelőjét is magában foglaló épületautomatizálási vezérlőrendszere. A megoldás Az élet korábban ismeretlen formáját azonosíthatták 24.hu     2025-03-28 09:51:48     Tudomány Az ősi organizmusok Prototaxites nevű csoportja régóta fejtörést okoz a kutatóknak. Egy sportautó is kijön a luxusszimulátor árából First Class     2025-03-28 10:03:21     Gaming Luxus Aston Martin Az Aston Martin kínálatának csúcsát, a Valkyrie-t idézi az a szimulátor, melyet a márka egy profi szimulátorépítővel rakott össze. Ennek megfelelő az ára is. Gelsinger: porhintés a TSMC amerikai beruházása HWSW     2025-03-28 12:53:31     Infotech USA Beruházás Intel TSMC Az Intel ex-vezérigazgatója szerint Amerika sosem lesz újra félvezetőipari világelső pusztán a gyárépítésektől. A TCL elhozza OLED gyilkosnak szánt tévéjét Magyarországa is TechWorld     2025-03-28 07:47:10     Infotech LED A TCL C9K fényereje állítólag eszméletlen, és több ezer egyedileg vezérelhető LED zónát kapott. A mostanra a világ egyik legnagyobb tévégyártójává váló TCL hazai képviseletétől kaptuk az infót, hogy a vállalat hamarosan Magyarországon is csatába küldi egyik friss csúcstévéjét. Ez a TCL C9K, amely a tervek szerint 55, 65 és 75 hüvelykes méretben vás Az MI a fizikai világba költözik ITBusiness     2025-03-28 09:33:35     Infotech Mesterséges intelligencia Robot Az utóbbi években a mesterséges intelligencia, különösen a generatív MI fejlesztése annyira felpörgött, hogy a robotika nem tudja követni ezt a tempót, pedig a két terület hagyományosan sok szállal kapcsolódik egymáshoz. Hamarosan azonban ezen a téren is eljöhet az áttörés a fizikai világot leképező és újrateremtő modellek révén, ami nagy lökést ad "Akkor fordulnak a ChatGPT-hez segítségért, amikor elfogyott minden bizalmuk az emberek iránt" Képmás     2025-03-28 08:31:30     Infotech Spanyolország Belgium Mesterséges intelligencia Finnország Segély ChatGPT Erasmus Chat Három kutató és egy újságíró ült össze arról a nemzetközi kutatásról beszélgetni, amely azt fürkészi, hogy a fiataloknak mennyire van szüksége chates felületekre, amikor lelki segélyre szorulnak, működnek-e ilyen szolgáltatások, mennyire hatékonyak, keresettek. Az Erasmus égisze alatt futó kutatásban finn, belga, spanyol és magyar szakemberek is ré Az emberi érintést is felülmúlja az új kínai robotkéz hirado.hu     2025-03-28 11:58:19     Tudomány Kína Robot A kutatók szerint a fejlett tenyértapintás és a rugalmas, ügyes ujjak kombinációja új lehetőségeket nyit az interaktív robotika területén. A további adásainkat keresd a podcast.hirstart.hu oldalunkon.

Megtalálták a pillanatot, amikor felkapcsolták a lámpát Mínuszos     2025-03-28 13:33:14     Tudomány James Webb Tudósok a James Webb űrteleszkóppal egy ősi galaxist azonosítottak, ami bizonyítékot szolgáltat arra, hogy az univerzum „sötét kora” utáni fontos átmeneti időszak hamarabb következett be, mint korábban gondolták. A Webb teleszkóp a hatalmas kozmikus távolságok átvizsgálásával visszatekint az időben, és megfigyelte a JADES-GS-z13-1 nevű galaxist, am A véletlenszerűséghez kapcsolódó új kvantumprotokoll született ITBusiness     2025-03-28 05:12:45     Infotech Egy nemzetközi kutatócsoport áttörést ért el a kvantumszámítás területén: sikeresen megvalósították a "hitelesített kvantum véletlenségszerűséget", amivel korábban csak elméletileg létező kísérletek váltak valósággá. A Nature folyóiratban 2025. március 26-án közzétett tanulmány szerint a JPMorganChase, a Quantinuum, az Argonne és az Oak Ridge Nemze Hazánkban sem utópia a tömeges megfigyelés ICT Global     2025-03-28 05:03:22     Infotech A Magyarországon működő térfigyelő kamerákról nincs pontos - nyilvános - adat, de számukat már évekkel ezelőtt 30 ezer körülire becsülték szakértők. Emellett egy központosított, több tízezer kamerából álló hálózat - a megfigyelő eszközök mellett - biometrikus adatbázisokat is kezel. Mesterséges intelligenciával és kétnapos üzemidővel hódít az év egyik legolcsóbb csúcsmobilja Rakéta     2025-03-28 12:18:07     Mobiltech Telefon Mesterséges intelligencia Olcsó Xiaomi A Xiaomi 15 idén is az egyik legolcsóbban elérhető csúcskategóriás telefon lett, ami hardverben ugyan nem sokat változott az elődjéhez képest, az AI szolgáltatások terén viszont annál nagyobb ugrást mutat be. 122 év után igazolták a háromszög négyszögesítéséről szóló feladvány megfejtését Telex     2025-03-28 13:48:14     Tudomány Anglia Egy angol matematikus 1902-ben adott fel egy puzzle-rejtvényt, de csak nemrég sikerült igazolni, hogy nincs jobb megoldás, mint amit egy akkori olvasó adott. Új érintőkijelzős vezérlők a Schneider Electrictől az energiahatékonyságért és a kényelemért Digital Hungary     2025-03-28 12:11:00     Infotech Energia Schneider Electric Akár 30 százalékos energiamegtakarítás és az üzemeltető-, valamint karbantartó személyzet munkájának nagy mértékű egyszerűsítése – többek között ilyen előnyöket kínál a felhasználók számára a Schneider Electric új "SpaceLogic™ Touchscreen Room Controller" érintőkijelzős kezelőjét is magában foglaló épületautomatizálási vezérlőrendszere. A megoldás Az élet korábban ismeretlen formáját azonosíthatták 24.hu     2025-03-28 09:51:48     Tudomány Az ősi organizmusok Prototaxites nevű csoportja régóta fejtörést okoz a kutatóknak. Egy sportautó is kijön a luxusszimulátor árából First Class     2025-03-28 10:03:21     Gaming Luxus Aston Martin Az Aston Martin kínálatának csúcsát, a Valkyrie-t idézi az a szimulátor, melyet a márka egy profi szimulátorépítővel rakott össze. Ennek megfelelő az ára is. Gelsinger: porhintés a TSMC amerikai beruházása HWSW     2025-03-28 12:53:31     Infotech USA Beruházás Intel TSMC Az Intel ex-vezérigazgatója szerint Amerika sosem lesz újra félvezetőipari világelső pusztán a gyárépítésektől. A TCL elhozza OLED gyilkosnak szánt tévéjét Magyarországa is TechWorld     2025-03-28 07:47:10     Infotech LED A TCL C9K fényereje állítólag eszméletlen, és több ezer egyedileg vezérelhető LED zónát kapott. A mostanra a világ egyik legnagyobb tévégyártójává váló TCL hazai képviseletétől kaptuk az infót, hogy a vállalat hamarosan Magyarországon is csatába küldi egyik friss csúcstévéjét. Ez a TCL C9K, amely a tervek szerint 55, 65 és 75 hüvelykes méretben vás Az MI a fizikai világba költözik ITBusiness     2025-03-28 09:33:35     Infotech Mesterséges intelligencia Robot Az utóbbi években a mesterséges intelligencia, különösen a generatív MI fejlesztése annyira felpörgött, hogy a robotika nem tudja követni ezt a tempót, pedig a két terület hagyományosan sok szállal kapcsolódik egymáshoz. Hamarosan azonban ezen a téren is eljöhet az áttörés a fizikai világot leképező és újrateremtő modellek révén, ami nagy lökést ad "Akkor fordulnak a ChatGPT-hez segítségért, amikor elfogyott minden bizalmuk az emberek iránt" Képmás     2025-03-28 08:31:30     Infotech Spanyolország Belgium Mesterséges intelligencia Finnország Segély ChatGPT Erasmus Chat Három kutató és egy újságíró ült össze arról a nemzetközi kutatásról beszélgetni, amely azt fürkészi, hogy a fiataloknak mennyire van szüksége chates felületekre, amikor lelki segélyre szorulnak, működnek-e ilyen szolgáltatások, mennyire hatékonyak, keresettek. Az Erasmus égisze alatt futó kutatásban finn, belga, spanyol és magyar szakemberek is ré Az emberi érintést is felülmúlja az új kínai robotkéz hirado.hu     2025-03-28 11:58:19     Tudomány Kína Robot A kutatók szerint a fejlett tenyértapintás és a rugalmas, ügyes ujjak kombinációja új lehetőségeket nyit az interaktív robotika területén. A további adásainkat keresd a podcast.hirstart.hu oldalunkon.

Phil and Emily continue their Tom Cruise Mini-Series with the 2008 historical thriller Valkyrie, and they're joined by writer David Iserson (Mr. Robot, Mad Men, New Girl) to dig into one of the most unexpected and serious turns in Cruise's 2000s filmography.Directed by Bryan Singer, Valkyrie dramatizes the real-life plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, with Cruise portraying German officer Claus von Stauffenberg. Together, they unpack the film's tonal tightrope, its ambitious historical scope, and the curious creative choices—like Cruise playing a German colonel with an American accent.Is Valkyrie a misunderstood thriller or just a strange blip in Cruise's action-packed decade? Tune in for a thoughtful—and fun—conversation that revisits this fascinating film.Follow David Iserson:Instagram: @davidisersonTwitter: @davidiserson#Valkyrie #TomCruise #PodcastLikeIts2000s #DavidIserson #BryanSinger #HistoricalThrillers #ClausVonStauffenberg #2000sCinema #FilmDiscussion #TomCruiseMiniSeries #PopCulturePodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hell Rains Down.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels. Would you choose ephemeral beauty, or rugged determination? Brief Segway :Senator Susan Collins of Maine, JIKIT's Congressional mentor, at our urging had proposed an amendment to the Taiwan Relations Act Affirmation and Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2014 which would allow 'Turkey' to purchase six 'Oliver Perry class frigates for $10 million each. The same act already proposed four such vessels to be sold to Taiwan for the same amount as well as giving two to Thailand (and two to Mexico) free of charge.Things had immediately bogged down in the 113th US Congress. It was too easy for Democrats in both Houses to take the President's position that any additional weapons into the South China Sea area would further destabilize the region. The pro-PRC lobby was equally opposed to the bill. Under normal conditions, that would have been good enough to send the measure off to the procedural graveyard.Except in the current contrary nature of the US's chief legislative body, this meant Republicans found themselves drawn to the anything the White House opposed. They could claim they found the anti-Communist, anti-Islamic Extremists stance of the Khanate to be attractive to them though none of them felt the need to actually talk to anyone in the Khanate to find out what they were really all about.We were happy with that policy because true congressional oversight was the last thing we needed. They might start asking uncomfortable questions like...'Who gave you the authority to do any of the crap you pulled?'(No one. We lied like big dogs, purloined resources and cloaked ourselves in 'National Security'. Plus we let our elite personnel have a crack at doing what they had so dedicatedly trained to do, wreck things.)'Wasn't that, that, and that an act of war against the People's Republic of China?'('No comment'. If that didn't work, we would try 'they will never find out'.)'Why are 90% of all the names on these documents redacted? We are the freaking Congress! You work for us.'(Work for them? Not to our way of thinking. We earned our paychecks without any slavish devotion to corporate campaign contributions. We were working so that the lives of Americans and Brits abroad would be that much safer, the world more orderly and for the US and UK to have an ally they could really rely on. We couldn't tell them that. They'd throw us in jail. We'd redacted the records because the names were for people that did not officially exist, or existed in a capacity that didn't imply they were elite warriors, spies and assassins.)Besides,('Those are private citizens not in the employ of this group, or any other government agency we are aware of'.)'We don't care if they are private citizens. We want to know.'('You don't want to know' followed by some major gobbledygook with the term 'deniable assets' interspersed relatively often.)'What do you mean ~ you don't want to know? We asked you a question.'(We meant you people leak information like a sieve and the people we are protecting aren't going to be afraid of getting revealed. They are going to murder people to ensure they are not ~ basically you don't know what is going on and we don't want to tell you, for both our safety's sake.)So,('Trust us. There are factors we are taking into account that you are unaware of because you don't know what's going on'.)'Of course we don't know what's going on. That's why we are asking you.'('You really don't want to know.' We are your highly trained and underpaid experts on this, we aren't raging assholes and we are telling you that bad shit will happen if you force this, thus 'you really don't want to know'.)'What do you mean ~ you really don't want to know?? Yes, we do. We are warning you,'(Okay. Execute Plan B. 'Excuse us for a moment, {create a plausible lie.}'.){Pregnant pause,}Congressman-type: 'It is rather odd that they all had to go into another room to take that phone call.'{Minutes pass}'Go see what is taking them so long.''What do you mean they are all gone? Find them!''What do you mean they seem have left the building? Find them!''Who do I call about this? The FBI, Homeland Security, or the CIA?And finally,'What do you mean they appear to have fled the country? Find them, damn it!'(Hey, I worked with some real shady characters.)Then would come the international manhunts, the flight to avoid prosecution and then resurrecting my life under a different ID in another country which hopefully had a dim view of handing me over to the FBI, or the Navy SEALs.Now back to our regularly scheduled diversion :'It has to do with giving something to the Khanate if you expect them to do anything for you.'Tony: 'You can't appreciate how that is going to look. Besides, that is a political decision, way above your pay-grade.'(Not a good time to remind him that he didn't pay me.)'What precisely do you want us to do? Please be specific.'Tony: 'How is the Khanate going to react to an intervention on the part of the United States?''They will ignore you.'Tony: 'What if the President makes public statement.''What is he going to say?'Tony: 'That the US is dedicated to a peaceful resolution of the unrest in Thailand.''They won't care. They truly believe that actions speak louder than words. If Thailand requested our intervention, or was a client state,'Tony: 'A what?''Client state, a country beholding to the US, or UK for their external security.'Tony: 'I know what client state is. That is 20th Century Imperialist thinking. No one does stuff like that anymore. Besides, the UN is responsible for the external security of its member states, which Thailand is.''The Khanate doesn't see it that way. We won't let them into the UN, so they see no reason to play by the UN's rules. The President can evoke the UN Charter all he wants. Unless he makes UN acceptance dependent on their cooperation, they will see no reason to cooperate.'Tony: 'That's not going to happen.''What part of that won't happen?'Tony: 'The President is not going on international television and endorsing the Khanate as a prospective UN member. What happens if we imply through back channels that the President will support such an action at a later date?''You want us to lie to them? Do you have any idea how badly that will compromise our working relationship with the Khanate?'Tony: 'We will deal with that later. Would they accept such a bargain?''So you are going to lie to them, Mr. Blinken, they will never forgive this act of treachery.'Tony: 'No, you are going to lie to them.'Addison: 'I will resign. I suspect that the rest of the team will quit as well.'Tony: 'What is wrong with your team, Ms. Stuart (Addison)? Can't anyone over there do their damn jobs?''We are doing our damn jobs, Mr. Blinken. We are telling you this is a diplomatically fatal move that will not only reduce this taskforce to uselessness, it will have long term consequences for all future Khanate-American relations.'Tony: 'That is a ridiculous assessment.''That is our experienced assessment. They believe treachery is only forgiven by death. They do believe in loyalty and keeping one's word. In our country, perjury is an unfortunate side effect of the judicial progress. To the Great Khan, it is reason enough to cut your head off.'Tony: 'Fine. I am ordering you to open back-channel talks with the Khanate concerning their admittance to the UN contingent on them taking a reasonable course of action.''Even if we were to do such a moronic thing, the Great Khan will ask Cáel directly to verify this. It is that important to him and his state.'Tony: 'Okay.''Perhaps you could suggest to me what form of coercion I should employ to make Cáel to commit such a blasphemous act?'Tony: 'Tell him to do it. That is what we pay him for.''Mr. Blinken, Mr. Nyilas is an unpaid consultant. At the job he is on sabbatical from, he makes more money than I do. He has an Irish diplomatic passport, been nominated to be the Prince of Albania, Georgia and Armenia, been proclaimed a warrior-prince of Transylvania and is a hero in both Hungary and Romania. He has no brothers, or sisters. His parents are both dead. His only surviving kin are people he is not particularly close to. Since economic and social blackmail are off the table, I am asking you if you are ordering me to use enhanced interrogation techniques to exacting his cooperation in this foolhardy endeavor.'Tony: 'You mean torture him?''I would never go on the record using that word. I don't advise you to use it either.'Tony: 'What kind of people are you?''The kind you engage to take on a mission of this delicate nature. You honestly don't want to know what we've done in the name of our constituent national bodies. You employ us so that you don't have to know. As you said, we 'get it done'. Until now, you have never asked us 'how' we got things done. You wanted the intelligence so we got it for you.'Tony: 'No member of this administration ever asked you to violate US, or International Law.''Which is precisely why the government employs me, so that you can keep your hands clean while mine are steeped in blood. Nothing our team has done will ever blow back on you, so don't worry about that. Why don't we get back to our current dilemma?'(I think until that moment Tony had convinced himself that Addison was another civil servant drone and people like her only existed in the 'black bag' fantasies of conspiracy theorists, hackneyed movie scripts and questionable 'true' spy novels. People like Addison and Lady Fathom weren't standard issue intelligence officers by any stretch of the imagination. They were almost unique in that they did what they did for the very beliefs they had sworn an oath to uphold, to serve their countries.There were no personal vendettas going on. No slush funds were vanishing into Cayman Island accounts. Neither had a God Complex. There was no desire for personal power, career advancement, or fame. I was beginning to think that was why Temujin used them, and me, because we could be counted on to do the right thing when required and only when required. Addison and Fathom had damned themselves forever because someone had to pay the price and get the job done. I imagined they really felt blessed for the opportunity. I worked with maniacs.)Tony: 'Thailand, yes. What if we put troops on the ground in Thailand?''How many?'Tony hummed and hawed so we had to guess.'A Marine Expeditionary Unit? If that is all, they better have an exit plan. Sir, if you want to impress the Khanate with the White House's resolve, you need to start landing troops from the Rapid Deployment Force starting tomorrow. Base aircraft out of Thai air bases. Threaten to ram any Indian Naval vessels that get in your way.'Tony: 'Is that what it would take?'('Yes. It would take the US to growing some balls, damn it!' was not the diplomatic reply though it desperately needed to be said. Hey, I could be a bit of a jingoist when I feel the lives of my loved ones are in danger.)'That is our current assessment of the situation. The Khanate has no reason to take any American threat of force seriously. They won't see anything short of a full-court press as nothing more than posturing for the home audience and what allies we have left.'Tony: 'What does that mean?''It means you are taking the cooperation of Taiwan and Philippines for granted. Our people tell us they see American influence in the region waning and we have been letting the Chinese push them around. Now the Khanate appears and knocks the Chinese back three decades on the World Stage. The Khanate is trying to create a ring of allies around the PRC and a few of them are curious why the US is dragging its heel about such a critical regional issue.'Tony: 'You don't dictate US foreign policy.'(No, we simply enacted foreign policy without your knowledge.)There were probably a large number of Special Forces operators who would be shaking their heads in bewilderment when they found out the US was trying to face down the Khanate over, of all places, Thailand. Hadn't they just busted their humps trying to make the Great Khan see their nations (the US and UK) as potential worthy allies?Working with the Khanate had been 'interesting'. If you asked them for anything, they got it for you, danger and consequences be damned. They'd try anything for the men they considered 'brothers in the struggle'. If you were pinned down by fire from a hillside and asked for fire support, they would napalm the whole damn mountain if that was what it took. The man/woman on the other end of that radio cared for your life, not the human rights of the scumbag shooting at you, or any of the people they might be hiding behind.You also know if they couldn't get it done, it was only because the resources didn't exist. The Khanate Special Forces hadn't acted like co-belligerents, or allies. They treated you like their own kin. They would and had died to make sure some of them got home to their families. If ordered to, they would definitely take the fight to the Khanate. I believed many of them would be asking what had it all been for.'We wouldn't dream of it,' Addison lied.'Good. You have your marching orders. Now get to it,' and Tony hung up on us. Everyone in the room was looking around. What exactly were our marching orders? Had I'd missed that part of our conversation?"Well," Fathom sighed, "there is only one thing we can do." I seriously prayed she would ask me to lie to Temujin."Understood," Mehmet nodded. "Somehow we get the Khanate to launch their offensive into Thailand in three days.""Can they do that?" I blurted out."They do it, or everyone in this room is in a shitload of trouble when they get around to it next week," Addison grinned. "The Khanate high command isn't going to back down just because we ask them to. I wouldn't if I were them.""What happens if they can't make the three day window?" I asked."Then you call up your blood-brother and ask him to fuck over his nation to save us from lengthy prison sentences, or outright assassination," Fathom smirked."If he says 'no'," I looked into her eyes."That's the real tragedy in all this, he won't," she gave me a comforting look. "He isn't going to leave you hanging in the wind. He'll call off his attack dogs because he isn't the kind of man to fuck you over because it is politically expedient. I'm staking all our lives on that. I always have."The Black Lotus? We'd explain to them the ugly reality that neither of us could afford to be painted into a corner over this Thailand issue. We were doing our best, but our political masters were dead set on making a colossal error and we had to follow through with those directives. The Khanate would do everything in their extensive power to support the Black Lotus and if they could invade in three days with some nebulous chance at success, they would go.The Black Lotus, the entire 9 Clans knew JIKIT had no power except what we finagled from the US and the UK. We had borrowed their resources to accomplish what we'd done. The Black Lotus had profited from some of those operations and both the Khanate and JIKIT would owe them big, but we were good for it. That truism was why they worked with us.My personal problem was that I knew the Great Khan would not forgive, or forget this interference by the US. It wasn't in his nature. Worse, the politicians and bureaucrats in Washington would see this as a victory and an expression that the US remained the globe's premier super power. Too few would remember the price of this sense of superiority would be born on the back of Thailand's masses. The revolution would fail after a short, brutal civil war. The tyrant would remain in power and the voice of the Thai people would be stilled.The end result of that late night phone call? We weren't told.What follows is pure conjecture on my part, fueled by intelligence information provided by other JIKIT resources and knowledge about how much the political landscape of Southeast Asia had been transformed by the PCR being driven back to their own coastline, leaving a power vacuum India, Vietnam and the Khanate were eager to fill.The Republic of China/Taiwan --'Aren't you the same people who said only a week ago that sending more weapons into the region would only escalate tensions? And now you want to use our airbases against our latest ally in the region? Do you understand how much internal political turmoil this will cause? Half of us are jumping for joy that someone big and fierce embraces our independence. The other half think it is time to retake China.Yes, we mean the territory currently under the oppressive yoke of the People's Republic of China. Yes, the China the Khanate just kicked the crap out of. The nation that might not be able to protect say, Zhusanjiao. That would be the Pearl River Delta to you Westerners, that huge area on the mainland adjacent to Hong Kong. Hainan is looking pretty ripe for conquest as well. That would be that big island off the coast of, yes, we have indeed suspected you could read a map.At the moment we are expecting the permission of the Khanate to use Woody Island as a forward staging area and logistic base to help us do just that. Take Hainan, yes, that large island currently, and temporarily, under the illegal occupation by those illegitimate bastards in Beijing.What do you mean 'don't declare war on them'? We've been at war with the People's Republic since 1945. No, we are pretty sure we would recall signing a Peace Treaty with them. No, we can't 'get over it' either. Why are you even asking us that? Don't you know our history?Anyway, if we help you, can we expect the same level of cooperation from you as we are getting from the Khanate? In case things go sour, Yes, a shooting war would qualify. See, your people at JIKIT have been helping the Khanate and us, your people, at JIKIT, we are pretty sure it is made up of Americans and British personnel. Why would we think that? Are you serious? Because that's what your governments told us, that's why. Besides, why are you asking us what your people have been doing? Don't they work for you?Speaking of the US government helping us out, what progress is there on the Taiwan Relations Act Affirmation and Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2014 ? We sure could use those vessels. While we are at it, how about sharing some of the technology used in the F-35. We'll build our own, or a model vaguely similar to it. We value your friendship and know you will help us out in a pinch.Right?'The Philippines --'Sigh. If you really think this will help. By the way, aren't your fighters going to need some in-air refueling? What are you going to do if the Khanate engages them over Philippine airspace? What are you going to do if you get into a shooting war with the Khanate? Will you defend us from their ballistic missile threat? We have a long history as your allies, but the Khanate is totally ruthless, and they scare us. Can you hold our hand, say for the next twenty years?'(The Philippines rolls out their Wish List)Maybe you could give us some advanced fighters?We are a poor country and can't afford to buy any before 2018.We are not greedy, 72 F-16s will do and you are upgrading to the F-35 anyway so we know you have some lying around. Could you also help us with the maintenance cost? We are a poor country, but very large.Some of your decommissioned naval vessels would go a long way in showing us some love. One of those Tarawa-class amphibious assault ships would be really nice and you've got the USS Peleliu decommissioned and about to be scrapped. We have hundreds of islands in our Republic so moving stuff around is pretty tough. Can you help us out?If you could toss in the ship's complement of 20 AV-8B Harrier 2 and 12 V-22 Ospreys with a fifteen year maintenance package that would be even better!We are a poor country. We could never afford to buy any of that stuff.Maybe a frigate, or three? You have a dozen Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates sitting around. We can finally retire some of our World War 2 relics and make one our new flagship.We know you aren't going to give us one of those powerful nuclear submarines, but maybe you could secure a few loans so we could buy some of those nifty German-made, diesel-powered Type 214's. We hear they are pretty cool, very silent and practically a steal at $330 million per boat! We love you guys! And, we are poor.Oh, and some helicopters!We were going to refurbish some Vietnam-era Iroquois, but since your Marine Corp is retiring the far superior Bell AH-1 SuperCobra, can we have a dozen of those instead?We were going to fix up some of our aging Sikorsky S-76s as air ambulances. Getting new ones would be far superior, don't you think?You also have those cool Blackhawks. You have so many. Could you spare us, say twenty? You're the best!And some guns. And artillery. And some APC's.Did we mention we are a poor country going through an expensive force modernization program?Got any amphibious vehicles lying around? We could use a few of more of those small unit riverine craft (SURC)'s we bought from you recently. They are excellent counter-insurgency tools. You want us doing well fighting the War on Terror, don't you?Did we mention that we are a poor country? And we love you guys!The Federation of Malaysia --We like this idea. Give us say a week to ten days and we can jump right in.You want to go in four days? With what precisely? Compared to the force projections you have been providing us, Who? JIKIT, of course. Who else would you send us to when we requested intelligence on Khanate activities from you? Did we believe them? Why wouldn't we? They are your people,When do you think Thailand will let us intervene? We've asked the Prime Minister if he needs our assistance and he politely declined. Apparently he thinks he's got things well in hand. He does retain command of over 200,000 troops and the opposition is much smaller. I hope you have better luck than we did in convincing him he's in serious trouble.Also, what do you plan to do about the Indian Navy's South China Sea taskforce? It is pretty big, not something we can tackle on our own.Yes, we kind of need to know what you are doing before we decide what we are doing. You do realize that the Gulf of Thailand is currently under the complete domination of the Indian/Khanate/Vietnamese Axis, right?48 combat aircraft? What gave you that idea? The Vietnamese have been refurbishing their Mig-21's like crazy, using Khanate stockpiles, plus there are nearly a 150 Su-22's. Sure, they are both older than manned flights to the Moon, but they can drop bombs, fire rockets and launch ground attack missiles with the best of them. They are still jet aircraft.Worried? You are aware that those antiquated pieces of crap can bomb the northern part of my country, aren't you? So 'yes', we are worried about those 300 flying deathtraps being more than a 'manageable' nuisance.What about our air force? I imagine it will be doing what we trained it to do, defend Federation air space because I doubt those relics will be coming at us unescorted. We can already tell you that the Mig-29's and Su-30's the Khanate and Vietnamese will be flying are excellent aircraft. We fly them too, just not as many.Of course you can base your F-22's out of Sultan Ismail Petra Airport as long as you supply the logistical support. How many? A lot? Could you please be more specific? Two squadrons? My, that's going to get pretty dicey. I believe you when you say the F-22 is a highly advanced stealthy fighter. I also believe that they are a lot less stealthy when they are sitting on the ground re-arming and refueling.Do we think they will really threaten us? They are threatening us, over our Spratly Island claims, are you sure you know what you are getting into? By the way, when this blows over, do you think you can pressure the Khanate into giving us their Spratly island airbase? It is rapidly approaching completion and is over 3000 meters long.How did they do that? They are dredging the ocean floor, it is a man-made island. Didn't your government protest the environmental damage they were causing?No, not the Khanate, the Chinese.Yes, the Khanate currently controls it. They stole it from the PRC hours before the ceasefire. So, can we have it?Yes, we know it belonged to the People's Republic, but it doesn't anymore. Besides, we both opposed it when the Chinese were dredging it up the island from the sea floor, so giving it to us isn't all that egregious, or unexpected, action. It would also go a long way in supporting our just and worthy claims to the Spratly Islands. We really don't want those greedy Chinese, yes, both the People's Republic and the 'Republic of', or, those incompetent Filipinos to steal them from us.Both of us knocking the Vietnamese back on their heels will be going a long way to getting those Communist knuckle draggers to back off as well. Hey, if they do get antsy, can we also take the Vietnamese base in the Spratly's? It isn't as big as the one the Khanate stole, but it is finished, and closer to us. We are sure that if we help you out, you will do the right thing when the time comes. Right?The President of the United States --'They want what? Have they lost their fucking minds?The Philippines is talking about a billion dollar aid package and guaranteed loans we doubt they can ever repay. We only want to use their air bases for a month, maybe two, not deflower their teenage daughters. It isn't as if we are really going to go to war with the Khanate over Thailand. Besides, the last time we 'got involved' like that, George Bush ran up a trillion dollar deficit, and his party was thrown out of office. Doesn't anyone care we are facing a difficult mid-term election in November?So, the Taiwanese think this is the appropriate moment to invade mainland China? And they want our help? Do they know how expensive that can get? Do they understand how much that will unbalance the already shake state of Asian affairs? It is another land war in Asia for the love of God!'And, the Malaysians are going to help us, but not actually help us and they want tens of billions square miles of ocean for the measly concessions they are making? What do they expect us to do with all the Filipinos, Chinese and Vietnamese who already live there?What do you mean none of those islands are actually inhabited? They are just military bases, some of them nothing more than rusting iron hulks on submerged reefs? OH, God damn it! Why don't we take the God damn Spratly Islands for ourselves if they are that fucking important? We have a Marine Corp. Aren't they good at taking islands? I read about it somewhere.No, I'm not changing the damn mission. I'm venting because the world seems to be inhabited with greedy assholes who can't appreciate peaceful discourse without trying to lift my wallet.Okay, okay, I've got this. We are going to form a new international commission to resolve this Spratly Island's nightmare. Have the French chair it. They love that kind of stuff. Makes sure the Germans are on the commission too. They need to look less like money-grubbing douchebags after that fiasco over the Greek economic collapse. Then invite Russia, India and Pakistan. That will pretty much guarantee nothing gets accomplished.That will allow us to keep our promises to those three leeches without having to deliver anything and, when it fails, it won't be seen as my fault. (Groan) What we really need is new videos of Khanate soldiers bayoneting babies, another ISIS atrocity, or more indisputable evidence the Russian Army's involvement in the Ukraine. The Great Khan really screwed us over Tibet (you know, by allowing them to become a free and democratic society), Putin is an evil cuck (who most likely laughs at me behind my back) and another round of Islamophobia-bashing to remind everyone how this is all Bush's fault.No wonder George spent so much time at Crawford Ranch. Navigating international relations is totally thankless and no matter how rosy we paint the latest economic numbers, someone still finds a way to make me look bad. Oh well, if this blows up in my face, I only have two more years in this shooting gallery. Maybe then I might change my mind and decided I really was born in Kenya, or Indonesia. I really wish Hawaii was an independent country. I'd like to retire there if there weren't so many of those damn contentious Americans.The US President wanted to run this operation on a shoestring, not engage in 'nation-building', much less backing an invasion of anybody. In fact, he was trying to stop an invasion.The Philippines was a poor country. So what? It wasn't his fault. He had poor people in the US too and they cast votes.Taiwan suddenly thought it could take on China? They were insane. Of course he would be ignoring a major stated political goal of the ROC for the past 65 years ~ reunification on their terms. Any high-level technological transfer wasn't going to happen because if the Republic ran off the reservation, the President would bloody well be sure no one could trace that decision back to anything he'd done.At least Malaysia was on board, sorta/kinda. They wouldn't actually be able to help until day ten, or fourteen and, unlike the Republic of China, they had a small air force that might not be able to protect forwardly deployed troops. If he ended getting of those National Guard yahoos killed his party would be murdered in November.For a split second, he wondered if he should attempt to make a personal call to the Great Khan, potentate to potentate, except he had this sinking feeling that a winning smile and a handshake would be worse than useless. The man would look him straight in his eyes and start making demands. He would demand action and when the Leader of the Free World prevaricated, he knew the Khanate would call his bluff.And they would fight. The alternative was a grand spectacle of public humiliation and that he could not accept. The US military machine would fight and they would win. They would win because he needed them to win, fast and clean and home for Christmas. Maybe he would authorize the mobilization of those California airmen. Just in case.In the end, Secretary Kerry gave POTUS what he asked for.The Philippines would let them use their country's bases for logistics and strategic assets (aka bombers).The ROC would extend their air umbrella out 200 km to the east, south and west, acting like a shield between the Khanate and US Pacific assets moving through the tight Formosan Straits.Malaysia gave them an airbase from which they could strike into Thailand, or Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The US Air Force would have the opportunity to be lethally effective.Had they known the sum total of the US commitment, they would have been appalled. The Khanate did not fuck around.One Carrier Strike Group,Forty (maybe sixty) Air Force fighters,Lumbering B-52's flying half way around the globe,Hadn't they been watching the dogfights over China for the past month? Maybe they would like to dive down and examine the wreckage of the PLAN carrier Liaoning and see just how it met its grisly fate?Apparently not.(I live, love and have loved)"What are you doing here?" she got the preliminary nonsense out of the way. With the way she was dressed, I was an expected visitor. She was expecting some make-up sex. I was thinking 'paying for my past mistakes' sex because I was already seeing way too many women who required me to do things outside the bedroom, non-sexual things. I had my dress jacket swung over my shoulder. It would only get in the way later."I brought you motorcycle over. You left it parked by my place," I kept any appearance of lust, or glee off my face."It is one o'clock in the morning," she glowered."I was called into work. I'm on call 24/7.""Let me guess, you can't talk about it.""You wouldn't believe me if I did, so suffice it to say I was doing things I didn't want to do instead of coming over here, waking you up from a sound sleep.""I wasn't asleep. I was angry," I pointed out."I apologize. Maybe I should have waited until morning." She didn't think I should have waited as long as I had. Keeping her waiting until morning would have left her volcanic."I wasn't asleep.""Your bike is in the parking lot across the street," I handed her the lot ticket."How did you find it?""There are only two places in my neighborhood that allows parking and the second one is poorly lit," I replied."And the attendant let you steal it?" she frowned."He knows me. I do a ton of business with him and it wasn't as if I was dressed like your average carjacker.""How did you start it?""Chaz showed me how to spoof the lock. He's got this spiffy lock-pick set on him.""That he carries with him for such contingencies?""Hey, he's the spycraft professional. I'm the amateur who tags along because karma is a bitch," I grinned."Did you ruin the ignition?""No. He's got this skeleton key thingy. I need to get me one of those," I added. See, I was drifting down the path to becoming a hardened criminal and she had to save me. Girls love saving bad boys from themselves. There is an entire literary genre devoted to the topic."Get in here," Anais barked. She emphasized that command by grabbing my tie and dragging me into her room. Now I could ogle her in her bra, panties and dress shirt left open. As I said moments ago, she was expecting me. Anais had thick, light-brown, just-past-the-shoulders hair with blonde highlights. Her dusky skin tone suggested some ancestral link to the South of France while her deep green eyes suggested Celtic ties.She was definitely someone I would describe as possessing an hourglass figure. She worked out just enough to stay fit, practiced judo (in and outside of the bedroom) and ate right. Her ass was the correct mix of firm and fleshy, her breasts were pleasant without too much bounce and she sported broad, but short, nipples that liked to get bitten.With her bare foot, she kicked the door shut, spun me around by my tie until I slammed, back first, into the wall in the short hallway that led to her bedroom."I repeat, what are you doing here?""I never actually apologized for how things ended up," I sodomized the truth. "Anais, I am truly sorry for how badly I fucked up our affair. I acted without a thought for the possible consequences, or thinking about how betrayed you would feel. Can you accept my apology?""You came here to have sex," she declared. She stepped up tightly against my body, her eyes boring into mine. I had around six inches on her so she had to tilt up her chin to do so."That too," I shrugged."I ought to throw you out the window," she growled. We were on the seventh floor. The window didn't open and the safety glass looked alright."I'll go then," I nodded. Now to make her beg for/demand sex."You are not going anywhere," she snarled. Then she kissed me, a tongue-grapple ensued and she finished things by biting my lower lip so much I tasted blood afterwards. I dropped my jacket. I was about to need both my hands."I think us having sex would be a mistake," I pushed her buttons. I wasn't some wimp acquiescing to her demands. I was a free-willed being; a strong man who needed to be wrestled down and forced to perform.She pulled me down into a second kiss. This was an 'I will leave you incapable of thinking about anything but me' kiss. Yes, I had names for kisses too. They were similar to naming the ingredients of a choice meal. I propelled her back until we slammed into the opposite wall. Anais was a tough chick and a bit of banging around was par for the course.I cupped each ass cheek and pulled her up. She responded by wrapping her legs around my hips. We were still kissing. Anais slipped her hands along my sides before linking them up at the small of my back. She pulled me hard against her while she ground her crotch against mine."Clothes," she rumbled from deep within. As in 'why was I still dressed?'"Been a while," I taunted her. Since she was glommed on to me, I used my freed up hands to rip off my tie."Yes. I bet it hasn't 'been a while' for you," she sizzled."Long as in 5:30 this morning," I teased back. At this point in the foreplay that revelation was akin to throwing gasoline on a fire. I was being an unrepentant dog and she was taking me to confessional, between her thighs."Bastard," she condemned me as well as the entire male side of the species."It doesn't mean I haven't missed you, this, us," I riposted. She retaliated by turning her humping motion into to more of a grind. Bad kitty. Bad kitty wanted to be spanked. Woot!"You are never going to change," she dug her fingernails into my flesh. I yanked my shirt off."If I hadn't changed, you wouldn't be here," I reminded her while nipping at her nose and lips."You are still an egocentric bastard," she growled."Hey, I always took care of your needs," I countered. I had. She knew I had and since she currently wanted me to take her to that higher erotic plane, she wasn't going to contest that fact. Instead, she began working her shirt off and in doing so, squishing her boobs against my chest.Holding her tight, my left hand under her right buttock and my right hand on her mid-back, pressing her torso into mine. We dance through two slow circles before crashing, side by side, on the bed. Anais rolled us over so that she was on top. I didn't let her get in a totally dominant pose, oh no. I had a kitty to take care off. I grabbed her firm ass and propelled her up until I was face first with her gusset.I might not remember to check my bank balance, or the atomic number of Technetium (I once had a girlfriend who would rate my performance on the periodic table in the midst of our fucking, I never made it higher than Copernicium before she passed out), but I can recall the precise taste, texture and topography of every cunt I've had face to face contact with. I knew right where to tongue-fuck Anais to twist her up inside.Control-orgasm, control-orgasm, Anais was pig-headed and wanted to keep dictating our reunion. She also wanted to return to the level of sexual bliss we had shared so often before. Her compromise was to hump my face; really grind it in. Black silk underwear is an excellent medium for transferring force and wetness between partners.She rubbed her love-nub against my upper lip/teeth while I did tongue-ups into her cunt. She was wetter than Bangladesh in the rainy season. That was an indicator of some serious masturbatory sessions stopping just short of orgasm before I arrived. I had some aching sensations to play with and I wasn't cruel. I maneuvered a hand between her thighs, underneath the band of her underwear and exposed her vaginal opening to my fingers and tongue while keeping that silky feel for her clitoris."Rurr," she began growling from the depths of her diaphragm. That was how she always was, thundering like a female grizzly bear in heat. It was an expression with deep subharmonic components that caused the heart to flutter and her flesh to shimmer with the vibrations mixed with her bodily sweat."Come on, Baby," I urged her on.That pissed her off. She was trying to hold off her orgasm for a few more seconds. My 'baby' crack shifted her resolve into anger allowing her climax to overwhelm her."Rah," she howled. It didn't sound like a female coming to fruition. It was more akin to the sound European soccer hooligans made when their team scored a goal. The muscles in Anais' thighs were strumming along like the cords of a piano, her belly was undulating in and out, and her head had rolled back so that she was screaming to the ceiling.The countdown was on. The people next door/across the hall/above or below us would be waking up, think that someone had unleashed a wild animal in the hotel, figure out they were not immediately on the menu, then call the front desk, stating their fears as justifiable fact. Anais and I had been down that road before.I gave Anais' flank a light smack to get her attention. Sure she looked back at me with simmering anger, yet she also knew the score. That had been round #1 in a nightlong bout of sexual conquest, rebellion and re-conquest. She drew her knees to her chest so she could pull off her damp panties in one swift motion. I worked off my shoes, pants, socks and underwear. While she soaked up my naked flesh (muscles, scars and all), she retrieved the phone from the side table and placed it beside her. She wouldn't want to break up our rhythm when the phone rang.No romantic small talk interrupted our shared lust. She wanted that cock and I wanted to give it to her. I moved between her inviting thighs while she examined me, her upper body uplifted by her arms resting on her elbows. Bite-kissing-biting resumed. I slowly pushed her head to the bed with the force of my kisses and strength of my upper body pushing down on her. Somewhere along the way, I slipped into her.Condom? Crap. I was slipping. I would have to pull out, because stopping to put a condom on would earn me some serious ferocity on her part. I plunged in. Anais placed her hands on my hips, claws beneath my kidneys, guiding my pace and power. I may have been on top, but she wasn't giving up on one ounce of control."Damn you," she hissed."Yes?" I leered."Fuck you.""I'm working on it. Is there anything," I teased."Bastard," she looked away, "You remember how I like it.""Whatever made you think I would forget?" I kept at it."Don't look so smug.""I'm working on it," I looked smug. Anais dug her fingernails in. I had to be punished, just ask her."When do you have to go back to work?" she huffed."Six a.m. When do you have to go back?""I have two days off.""Good to know," I stole a kiss from her lips painlessly. Good to know.(Painful dreams)I edged back into consciousness realizing that I was not alone. The muffled sense of my surroundings informed me that I wasn't really awake. She sat on my side of the bed, feet on the floor, side to me."Good evening, Dot," I yawned."Good morning, Cáel," the Goddess Ishara let her melodic voice float over me."Hold on," I interrupted her. I weaved as I leaned over, pawed at my pants (still trapped in the real world) and finally drew forth my offering."A fortune cookie," she chuckled. "I admire your dedication.""It is a simple enough request and I aim to please." I hesitated. "We don't have much time, do we?""You are dreaming, not concussed, so we will be alright if we tread carefully," she told me. "This time, I have no cryptic warnings, or specious pieces of information. I am giving you a gift. Take my hand."I did, not that I had much choice. We 'went', where to, I wasn't sure yet I suspected we were skirting the Weave itself where concepts like Time and Distance had little meaning.The Goddess released my hand and I stepped out of the fog brought about by the abrupt nature of our progress to see a woman sitting beside a pool, no, a sunken bath. She looked up at our approach. Oh shit, it was,"Cáel? You are Cáel, aren't you," she smiled. She stared at me with her blind eyes while waiting for my response with deaf ears."Yes, Tad fi, I'm Cáel. How did you know?""I bear our shared life inside me," she graced me with her serene presence."Ah, I was warned," I stopped myself. I was going to add 'this might happen'. That would be unfair as she appeared pleased with this alteration of her life path. "I was warned by the Goddess that she had something to show me. How are you feeling? Is there anything I can do for you?"She put her hand over her lower abdomen and rubbed the spot with her palm."Seeing you and giving you the news in person is enough," she glowed with happiness."Have you picked out a name yet?" seemed weak."I will leave that up to you.""Oh, come on," I relaxed slightly. "This is something we are doing together.""No, it is not, kind Cáel.""Just because she will most likely end up an Isharan doesn't,""No, Cáel. This birth will cost me my life. I am not destined to ever see my daughter draw her first breath," she confided in me."No!" I recoiled. "That's unfair." What else could I say? 'I take it back. I shouldn't have listened to my Goddess and screwed you out of what little life you had left.'"I am content with my fate, Cáel Nyilas Wakko Ishara. Our daughter will be the first female of the Isharan line in nearly 1600 years. Rejoice that we have been confronted by Destiny and triumphed. The light of the Peacemakers will shine once more among our sisters.""It is not worth the cost of your life," I responded bitterly. This was colossally unfair to all three of us."That you grieve for the short time I have left gives me strength, knowing our daughter will grow up with a strong, caring father. I,"I could sense Ishara close by my side."You must go, my Cáel. We will next see each other in the Halls of our Ancestors. Take our daughter and raise her well. I have faith in you," she sighed pleasantly, as if I had sheltered her from the rainstorm with my umbrella."We must go," Ishara whispered in my ear and then we left. I was back in the hotel room, looking down at the tears on my sleeping face and it hurt so much."You gave me that command knowing what it would cost her," I sounded so hollow, chin on my chest, eyes closed instead of looking at my feet."We are not an easy people to love, Cáel. We are harsh. Endless centuries of suffering, pain and mistrust have made us this way. Please understand that what you see as one life passing is really one life coming into being. It is a life Fate would have denied the line of Ishara. I took you to meet Tad fi because I wanted you to greet your daughter with understanding, not sorrow. I owed you.""Steal my anger why don't you?" I chuckled bitterly. "Can I even blame myself for this tragedy? It isn't like you made me do anything. I did it because I wanted to and never gave much thought to the frail health Tad fi was hanging on to. This is so wrong and I don't know what to do.""Wake up. Keep living. If this news turns your heart, or fills your mind with doubt, then both of us have failed you. Tad fi didn't have to tell you. I didn't have to bring you to her. I believed you were owed the chance to say good-bye.""I didn't say that," I exhaled sadly."You openly grieved and let her comfort you. That is more of a 'goodbye' than most people are able to convey. She knows your heart. You were honest in your sorrow. She saw that and that eased her suffering knowing that you are a person who is free with their heart. For a woman who expected nothing but wickedness from men for so long, that was the ultimate gift. You did help her. You truly did.""I," I woke up. Anais was looking down at me, concerned."You've been crying," she noted by touching my cheek with a finger then showing me the dampness."Do you believe a person's soul can fracture?" I murmured. That sort of talk was unlike the 'me' she once knew."Do you believe that another can help you put your soul back together if that happens?" I continued."You are not talking about us, are you?" she studied me."No. I'm thinking about being a parent, not just a father. Can I fuck that up as much as I've screwed up so many of the other women I've cared for, am I going to be worthy of being a Dad?""Oh, I don't know. You are not the man I knew two years ago. I think you have changed for the better. You are still far from perfect yet, you seem to be trying so much harder than previously.""You think I'm going to screw things up, don't you?""Yes. Yes, I do, but I also think you will only make the same mistake once. That is better than most men can hope for," she let her gaze soften."This is us breaking up,""Yes. I think if I stayed, you would break my heart; and I am starting to believe neither one of us wants that," she nodded. "One more time?""I'd love to," I smiled at her. I still hurt. I was using sex to bandage my pain. Anais knew that and was giving me this unlooked for piece of kindness. It was the best break up I'd ever had, or could ever hope for.{5:45 am, Saturday, August 30th ~ 9 Days to go}"You look like someone strangled your kitten," Pamela told me as I exited Anais' hotel room. She was leaning against the wall across the hall. I had the feeling she had been there a while. Of course I hadn't been allowed to wander off alone; most likely, Chaz had kept an eye on me until Pamela relieved him."I, I got Tadifi killed," I unloaded on her.Pamela immediately dropped her casual fa

「iFi audio、“マスタリング”クオリティのDAC/ヘッドホンアンプ「iDSD Valkyrie」。K2HD搭載」　エミライは、同社が取り扱うイギリス・iFi audioよりポータブルDAC/ヘッドホンアンプのフラグシップモデル「iDSD Valkyrie」（ヴァルキリー）を発売する。価格は現時点では公開されていない。

In celebration of Women's Appreciation Month, we bring you the 7th installment of our series championing the gender with the most attitude and pure ferocity. Piss off a man; you can fight it out and then go have a pint at the pub. Piss off a woman, and you will pay for it 10-fold. In this episode we focus on women that truly rock; including several that will be attending this year's Rock n Pod Expo in Nashville, TN April 11-13! These are Ladies that play loud and heavy with attitude and… balls? What's this InObscuria thing? We're a podcast that exhumes obscure Rock n' Punk n' Metal and puts them in one of 3 categories: the Lost, the Forgotten, or the Should Have Beens. These ladies bring it, and you owe to yourself to check them out! We hope we turn you on to something new!Songs this week include:Jane And The Killer Queens – “Out For Blood” from Fuck, Marry, Kill - EP (2025)Fetchin' Bones – “Love Crushing” from Monster (1989)Year Of The Cobra – “War Drop” from Year Of The Cobra (2025)Drain STH – “Crucified” from Horror Wrestling (1998)Gentry Blue – “I Think I Might Be Crazy” from Fragments (2024)Goodness – “These Days” from 1995-1998 (2004)Valkyrie's Fire – “Ride Of The Valkyrie” from Ascension - EP (2024)Visit us: https://inobscuria.com/https://www.facebook.com/InObscuriahttps://x.com/inobscuriahttps://www.instagram.com/inobscuria/Buy cool stuff with our logo on it!: https://www.redbubble.com/people/InObscuria?asc=uCheck out Robert's amazing fire sculptures and metal workings here: http://flamewerx.com/If you'd like to check out Kevin's band THE SWEAR, take a listen on all streaming services or pick up a digital copy of their latest release here: https://theswear.bandcamp.com/If you want to hear Robert and Kevin's band from the late 90s – early 00s BIG JACK PNEUMATIC, check it out here: https://bigjackpnuematic.bandcamp.com/

Rescue and patchwork relationship.B Book 3 in 18 parts, y FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.Loving your enemy is easy, you know precisely where both of you stand(Right where we left off)The closest Marine had been waiting for me to finish my bonding moment with Menner before speaking. He walked and talked like an officer."You are certainly Mr. Cáel Nyilas," he nodded. "I'm Lt. Robeson, United States Marine Corps. I would like to take you and your party home. What is the situation?""Lieutenant, this young lady is Aya Ruger. She was kidnapped along-side me and managed to kill over twenty of our enemies, so be careful around her." I was deadly serious about what I said. Aya should get proper credit for all the people she sedated then drowned. Dead was dead, even if it was accidental."These two," I pointed to Zhen and Mu, "are Lúsìla ninda and Amar, Taiwanese nationals suffering some shock from the abrupt crash landing of the aircraft. They don't seem to know why they were kidnapped, but they were instrumental in aiding Aya and me making it to shore during the typhoon.""If you say so, Sir," he nodded. He did believe me, yet a soldier was taught to be skeptical of anything a civilian told him about a military situation. "The bodies?""Those are the corpses we found after the storm. I decided we should attempt to place them in your custody so you can figure out who they are," I suggested."Sir, I don't think we can let civilians keep their weapons aboard the flight," the Marine Lt. stated since I had both a pistol and submachine gun, Aya had her pistol and Zhen had her and Mu's blades. A Marine NCO sent a party to gather the dead."Marine, I am Cáel Nyilas, Irish diplomat, freebooter and Champion of the worst possible causes," I began my spiel."You probably have some orders concerning bringing me in alive. I am not so constrained and am more than willing to steal this aircraft and fly back to Hawaii without you. My team keeps their weapons, or you give me your best shot, right now," I met his gaze. He mulled over his options. Two Romanians and two Marines were starting to load the ad hoc body bags aboard the C-37B."Normally I don't take that kind of crap from a civilian and I don't want you to think I'm making an exception because of your Security Clearance. I'll let your people keep your weapons, but if something goes wrong, I'm shooting you first," he assured me."Done deal," I offered my hand and he shook it."Oh and Happy Tibetan Independence Day," he congratulated me."What?" I gasped. Rescue and patchwork relationships{6 pm, Sunday, August 17th ~ 22 Days to go}{11 pm Sunday, Aug. 17th (Havenstone Time)}{And just this once, 11am Monday, Aug. 18th Beijing Time}"Oh and Happy Tibetan Independence Day;, nice work.," the Marine congratulated me."What?""How is that possible?" muttered Mu."Yippee!! No more burning monks," Aya fist-pumped. Personally, I think she did that for the enjoyment of our guardians and to piss off Zhen and Mu just a tiny bit more.(Mandarin) "Brother," Zhen studied her brother's pained expression. "What has gone wrong?"(Mandarin) "The province of Tibet apparently has broken away," he groused. In English, to the Marine Lieutenant he repeated, "How is this possible?""I take it you didn't know Peace Talks had broken out?" he grinned. I doubted the Lt. bought my 'these are my two Taiwanese cobelligerents' story, but belief was above his pay grade, so he didn't give a shit."Yes," Mu mumbled, "we knew of the proposed cease-fire.""Yes, you mean both sides actually honored it?" I added. I really had been out things for a while."Nearly two days ago, noon, Peking Time, the People's Republic of China and the Khanate put a six month cease-fire into effect which has remained intact for forty-one," he looked at his watch, "forty-one and a half hours." He was being a cock to the petulant Mu. No one called Beijing 'Peking' anymore. I had even ordered Beijing Duck on several menus. Peking was the height of Western Imperialist thinking, or so it looked to Mu.(Mandarin) "He is yanking your chain, Mu," I explained. "You are looking pissed off at being rescued, which isn't doing my alibi for you much good.""My apology," Mu nodded to the lieutenant. "Is there any news from the Republic of China? Are they free as well?" That was nice of Mu to call Taiwan by its pet name, the ROC."Not yet," he patted Mu's unwounded leg, "but with the utter shellacking the Khanate put on the People's Navy (really the People's Liberation Army Navy, but the Marine was getting his shots in) it is only a matter of time."I had been translating in a low voice to the V nători de munte in order for them to keep up with the conversation. They all started laughing. The Marines joined in. There was a huge joke here that we had missed out on while stranded.(Romanian) "So, ask them if they know where their aircraft carrier is," Menner chuckled. Most Romanians had grown up knowing of only one China.Me: (Romanian) "What!"A Naval Corpsman who didn't know Romanian, but knew 'aircraft carrier' just fine jumped in: "Oh yeah, the missing Chinese Aircraft carrier," she chortled.Mu: "What!"I'd only been gone two and a half days. What the hell had been going on?(What had transpired in my absence and the subsequent consequences)(Notes:P R C = People's Republic of China; PLA = People's Liberation Army;P L A N = People's Liberation Army Navy;P L A A F = People's Liberation Army Air Force;R O C = the Republic of China {aka Taiwan, aka Chinese Taipei, aka the "other China"};The First Unification War {aka what the Khanate did to China in 2014};Truce lasts from August 16th 2014 until February 15th, 2015 = 183 days)There are several classic blunders grownups should know to avoid: never fight a land war in Asia, never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line, and, if you are going to cross a master thief, first make sure you have nothing of value. For the land war in Asia, check with my partner, the Khanate. Substituting Black Hand for Sicilian ~ check with Ajax, use an Ouija board. So far, destiny was batting .500.The last blunder I created entirely on my own, but I felt it was the true and right response for the circumstances. So witness the Six Families of the Ninja and the greatest theft in all of recorded history.In the closing hours of the First Unification War, as in many wars, some serious theft was going on; mainly it was the People's Republic getting fleeced.The most obvious and immediate blows came in the Spratlys and Parcel Islands where Khanate forces (actually, elements from all the JIKIT players) seized the key island in the Parcel chain, Woody Island, and secured the P L A N base the Chinese had created there, including the 2,700 meter runway built there in the 1990's. The 1,443 Chinese civilians and 600 military inhabitants in the area were incidental complications and the survivors were about to be 'repatriated' to the mainland anyway; the Khanate didn't want them hanging around as they prepared for the inevitable end of the six-month truce.Yes, the Khanate had stolen the most important island airfield ~ an unsinkable carrier really ~ in the South China Sea. It was also the northern end of the potential People's Republic of China's stranglehold on the east-west sea lanes between East Asia and the rest of the World, i.e., roughly 25% of all global trade.The southern end? That would be the Spratlys. There are few 'real' islands in that 'island group' and only two worth having: the artificial one the P L A N was building and the one the ROC has a 1200 meter airfield on. That artificial island and every other PRC/P L A N outpost in the region was also stolen by the Khanate between 4 a.m. and noon of that final day of active conflict.Every geological feature that had been the basis for the PRC's claims to all of the South China Sea was now in Khanate hands. Considering how much the P L A N had bullied everyone else in that portion of the globe, the Khanate taking over their geopolitical position was incredibly awkward. It was going to get worse.Technically, the Khanate hadn't stolen the P L A N 'South Sea Fleet' (SSF); they'd blown the fuck out of it, including sinking the sole fully-functioning P L A N carrier Liaoning as well as five of the nine destroyers and six of the nineteen frigates in her battle group. The Liaoning and one destroyer had died in those last few hours as the SSF was racing for the relative safety of Philippine waters ~ so close, but no cigar.So the Khanate had stolen the ability of the P L A N to project power in the South China Sea until February 15th, 2015 when the U N brokered truce ended. But that was not the epic theft, though. That distinction went to the Ninja. What did they steal? A semi-functional Chinese nuclear powered super-aircraft carrier still under construction.The beast had no official name yet, but she was a 75,000 ton engine of Global Domination laid down in 2011 and clearly complete enough to float and to be steered under her own power. (To be on the safe side, the Ninja included stealing four tugboats to help in their getaway.) So, you may be asking yourself, how does one 'steal' a nuclear-powered, 1000 foot long, 275 foot wide and ten-story tall vessel?For starters, you need a plan to get on board the sucker. We had begun with the Black Lotus. They wanted to sneak onboard, exit the dockyard the ship was being built in, then sink it off the coast so it couldn't be easily salvaged. That was plan A.Enter the Khanate and their plans; they too wanted to sink this vessel, and destroy the dry docks while they were at it. That was plan B. Actually, the Khanate desire was to contaminate that whole section of the port city with fallout from shattered reactors. They knew they would have to apply overkill when they smashed that bitch of a ship because the PLAN had hurriedly put on board its defensive weaponry ~ ensuring that the Khanate couldn't easily destroy it. For their approach, Temujin's people wanted the Black Lotus' help with the on-the-ground intelligence work. But the Black Lotus didn't want to help anyone irradiate Chinese soil.Enter JIKIT as referee. All those islands the 'Khanate' was busy stealing were actually part of a larger JIKIT mission called Operation Prism. Another object that was a part of the overall plan was Operation Wo Fat, the sinking of the Liaoning ~ again GPS direction and distance to be courtesy of the Black Lotus.JIKIT absolutely needed the Black Lotus. The Black Lotus wouldn't help anyone planning on poisoning any part of China for the next thousand years. Sinking the unnamed and incomplete vessel off the coast in deep waters meant no nuclear leakage and plenty of post-war time to salvage the wreck before it did start to hemorrhage. The Khanate wanted to kill this potential strategic nightmare no matter what it cost the Chinese ecology.JIKIT went to the Ninja to help them adjudicate the issue. All the lights flared brightly in Ninja-Town when they heard of that delicate dilemma. They could make everybody happy and send a clear message to the Seven Pillars expressing how unhappy the six surviving families were about the 7P's trying to annihilate them when all of this 'unpleasantness' began.The Khanate was already going to blast the shipyards and docks, the Black Lotus was already going to sail the ship into deep waters, so why not take it one step further, sail the ship into Japanese waters and declare it Khanate property as a colossal Fuck You! to the PRC, PLAN and specifically the Seven Pillars, all at the same time?Now normally, you can't steal a ship that big. The owners will notice it is missing and come looking for it. And you can't sell or hide the damn thing. So, you steal it at the tail end of a war before the players can capture, or sink it. It just so happened the Ninja had access to a war and such a time table.The next problem: where do you put it? The Khanate's closest safe haven was 8,000 km away at the Eastern Mediterranean Seaport of Izmir.But wait!The Khanate was about to steal an island airbase with its own (albeit small) harbor. The Khanate was confident that a few weeks after the truce, an alternate port, or two, would become available for the two-to-three year process it would require to prepare the vessel so it could be commissioned as the true warship it was meant to be.So, how do you steal a well-guarded, humongous ship with its skeleton crew of 500? You need a distraction ~ a big one. Remember those Khanate airstrikes? They intended to destroy the dockyards anyway. Now all they had to do was 'miss' the carrier.They could do that. If you recall, to dissuade the Khanate from sinking the ship in the final days of the war, the PLAN had hastily put teeth on the thing by giving it all its pre-designed defensive weaponry and added jury-rigged radar and sonar systems. The carrier could defend itself if needed. With the new plan (C), the airstrikes could avoid those teeth, thus reducing the risk of losing their precious planes and pilots.A series of bombing runs and missile hits near the carrier would convince the PLAN admiral in charge to hurriedly put some distance between the ship and shore, Not out to sea. That would be stupid. Within the harbor, his weaponry could adequately defend his ship. And if she took serious damage, he could run her aground, so the vessel wouldn't really sink.The only problem was that out in the harbor, with everything exploding, he was away from the only ground security support available. That was when the Amazons, Black Lotus, Ninja and JIKIT mercenaries would make their move. How could they sneak up on such a big, important ship? By using the submarines the US Navy, the British Royal Navy and Japanese Defense Force were providing, of course.Note: As I stated earlier, Lady Fathom, Addison and Riki had wandered way off the reservation . By this time, if you were a Japanese, British, or American submarine commander in the Yellow Sea and you weren't part of this madness, you were insanely jealous of those who were.The missions JIKIT was sending them on were:-definitely Acts of War if they were ever discovered,-far more dangerous than any war game exercise they'd ever been part of, and-the ultimate test of their crews and equipment.These people weren't suicidal. They believed they were the best sneaks under the Seven Seas and now they could prove it ~ in 50 years when this stuff was declassified (if it ever was).For the one American, two British and four Japanese submarines inserting the assault teams, this whole mission had a surreal feel to it. They were transporting a packed assortment of women of Indian, Malaysian and Indonesian descent along with some very lithe Japanese ladies and gents, none of who talked a whole lot.There was a third group with the spooky women and spookier Japanese teams, and that group was scared shitless about the sudden turn their lives had taken. They were all former American and British servicewomen (to not tick off the Amazons too much) with carrier and/or nuclear reactor experience who had been RIFed (Reduction in Force, aka fired) in the past five years from their respective national navies.Around a week ago, they had all answered an advertisement by a logistics support corporation that was going to do a 'force modernization' in an unnamed country. They all knew that mean the Khanate. The job had been laid out as 'basically your old job with the addition of training the natives' and it included the promise of no combat.It was a guaranteed five year contract with an option for a year-to-year extensions for another five years if you desired to stick around. For that, you received your 'pay grade upon retirement + 20%', free room and board, private security, judicial protections and a $10,000 to $10,900 signing bonus. For many struggling military families, it was manna from Heaven and thousands were signing up.Then 72 hours ago, a different group from the same company came knocking on the women's doors. If you could come with them right then and there, they had a satchel of money, $100,000 to $109,000, tax free, and a Non-disclosure Agreement for you to sign. Sure, the deal sounded shady, but the money was very real.Twenty-four hours later those who accepted the money found themselves in a small fishing village on Ko Island, Japan. There some rather fiercely intense people outlined the job they were needed for. From a submarine, the assault teams would sneak aboard the carrier, neutralize the crew and then the new crew (them) would sail it to Jeju, Jeju Island, South Korea.At that point they would be allowed to stay with the vessel (preferred), or depart for a non-war zone of their choice. Both options came with another $100,000 to $109,000 payment. Anyone who declined this particular job would remain incognito on Ko Island for another 48 hours then be allowed to leave without the need to return their initial payment.Of the 312 job applicants, 293 volunteered for both the first and second parts of the assignment. With the technical and linguistic expertise of the Amazons and 9 Clan members that would be enough to get their prize to Jeju Island's temporary safety and then make the last leg to Woody Island and a more permanent anchorage.Besides the airstrikes to goad the carrier away from the wharves, all the Khanate had to do with the carrier was put three or four clearly Mongolian faces onboard when the various nations of the world came calling. After all, what was the public going to believe:, the Khanate had pulled off yet another daring (i.e., mostly JIKIT) Special Forces coup, just as they'd managed to do throughout this short war, or that 'Ninjas stole my Battleship, umm, carrier' stuff some PRC leaders were claiming? Forty-eight hours later the whole globe was able to watch the newly named Khanate supercarrier, the  z Beg Khan, passing through Japanese territorial waters while being escorted by South Korean and Japanese warships.The PRC did complain to the United Nations over the 'theft' of both the carrier and 'their' islands, but the Security Council, led by the UK, could and would do nothing about the 'latest round of injustices heaped upon the People of China'. By the time the UN got around to doing nothing, the next round of JIKIT diplomacy was causing the PRC even greater headaches.That greatest theft, while remarkable in its own right, was really a sideshow to the reordering of the political order in Southeast Asia. The big winner wasn't the Khanate. And it certainly wasn't the mainland Chinese. No, the nations to immediately prosper were an unlikely pair, the Republic of India and the People's Republic of Vietnam (PRV). The Republic of China (R O C) was also getting its own small boost as well.By gambling their precious navy, India had become the largest power broker in the South China Sea's resource bonanza. She went from a minimal presence to being the critical ally of the Khanate and the 'big stick' (naval-wise) of Asia's new dynamic duo. The Indians had the only two functional aircraft carriers in the region and the Khanate had Woody Island with a mega-carrier number of planes sitting on it.Their combined naval aviation was not something any of the others powers wanted to mess with. The duo then sealed their supremacy by making the duo a trio. That third member was the PRV. Vietnam was the land-based logistical anchor of the three regional powers.Not only did Vietnam gain the prestige denied it for over two centuries, it redressed the P L A N humiliating treatment of their own navy for the past thirty years. The Khanate's naval aviation would shield Vietnam's economic exploitation of the Parcel Islands. The Indian Navy could counter anything the P L A N South China fleet could come at them with.Yes, the P L A N had two other fleets, the Northern and Eastern, but both had been put through their own 1001 levels of Hell by the Khanate's air power, plus they had to protect the Chinese heartland from Russia and North Korean ambitions. The South Koreans and Japanese were suddenly a very real threat from the East too. But for the time being, the Indians had the decisive edge.The final location for the  z Beg Khan was an old familiar haunt for some Americans, Da Nang, PRV. It had the facilities, courtesy of the US military from the 1960's and 70's, to be the new base for the Khanate's Eastern Fleet and logistical hub for their naval aviation forces in the Parcel Islands.The Vietnamese were thinking with more than their testicles, as were the Indians. Sure, geopolitical clout was nice, yet that was only the icing on the economic cake that was the Parcel Island Accords. That hasty bit of JIKIT backroom dealings gave a 50% stake in the Parcels to the PRV.India got 20% of something she had 0% in a month ago. The Khanate gained a 20% stake for their audacity and the ROC gained 10% because the other three would protect its share from the PRC. Something was better than nothing and the three legitimate powers agreed to the deal because in less than six months, the PRC would be back in the game.The Indians and Vietnamese wanted the Khanate to stay interested in the region and the Taiwanese wanted to forge closer ties to the Khanate. That treaty was a 'no-brainer'. Within one week, the Vietnamese were strutting like peacocks and internal political opposition to the Indian intervention into the South China Sea in the Indian parliament was silent.The Spratly Islands was a tougher deal to work out within the six month timetable. There were more players ~ the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Thailand (who had a non-functional carrier). The JIKIT deal gave everyone but the Indians a 10% piece of the huge natural gas, oil and fisheries pie and the Indians got 20% once more.The Philippines and Malaysia were both very opposed to this treaty; they believed they deserved a far larger portion of those regional resources. Indonesia and Thailand also felt they could hold out for a bigger slice and weren't happy with India getting so much for basically having a double handful of ships (34 actually) sailing about.That 'handful of ships' was the point JIKIT was trying to make. If the PRC beat the Khanate next year, did any of the players think the PRC would give them anything, even if they promised them more right now? Really? When the PLAN had the biggest guns, they hadn't respected any other claims to the region. Why would that change in the future?The reality was this: India would only stick around if they had the economic incentive to remain. Vietnam, the Khanate and the ROC were watching the clock and realized this was the best deal they would get. Brunei and the Philippines were also coming to that understanding. Brunei was tiny (thus easy to defend), very rich already and a good ally of the British.The Philippines had a very weak navy and a non-existent naval air force. They couldn't even enforce their current claims versus Brunei, much less confront the PLAN, or any other nation's current military. The Philippines was, sadly, relatively big and very poor. Its big traditional ally was the United States, and the US was currently busy doing 'not much' about the South China Sea situation.The world's biggest navy was partially taking up its traditional (and treaty bound) role of interposing itself between the North Koreans, PLAN/PLAAF and Russians arrayed near Japan and South Korea, or busily not 'ratcheting up tensions' in the region by sending more forces into the front lines.President Obama was urging dialogue and 'stepping back from the brink' even though every country in Southeast Asia felt the brink had already dissipated the moment the PRC was forced to accept the cease-fire. In this context, the Philippines had good reason to be feeling lonely at the moment.Bizarrely, both New Delhi and Hanoi were singing the praises of US Secretary of State John Kerry and the Rt. Honorable Phillip Hammond, Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for the UK, for their deft handling of the crisis, thank you, Riki Martin and Lady Yum-Yum.Riki wasn't expecting any thanks. She was certain she'd be fired and imprisoned for the rest of her life. Lady Fathom Worthington-Burke was sure she'd get two additional knighthoods out of the deal, which would look very nice engraved on her tombstone. Javiera had long ago decided to face the music and go down with the ship, so to speak.The CIA's Addison Stuart already had her exit strategy. She was going to go work for the Khanate, building up their clandestine service when this whole mad scheme collapsed into recriminations and 'extreme sanctions'. Mehmet, Air Force Sr. Master Sgt. Billings and Agent-86 had all decided to go with her. Katrina had their escape plane on standby. Mehmet's family was already 'vacationing' in Canada.Anyway, the Republic of India, the Khanate, the Republic of China, the People's Republic of Vietnam (the Vietnamese were happy to already be getting half of the Parcel Island windfall), the Sultanate Brunei (Lady Fathom 'knew' some people and the Sultan was an autocratic Muslim ruler, just like the Great Khan) and the Philippines (because they had no other true choice) were all coming around to signing the Spratly Accords.Indonesia and Thailand were kind of waiting for a better deal. Malaysia was downright hostile, having gravitated toward the PRC over the past decade and been assured by the PRC a better apportionment would be their reward for upsetting the treaty process.The Great Khan's answer was simple. He publically threatened the Malaysian Federation in general and both the King (Sultan Abdul Halim of Kedah) and Prime Minister of Malay (Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak) in particular with military action if they kept dragging their feet.He even told them how he'd do it. He'd butcher or expel every living thing in the states of Perlis and Kedah (~ 2.1 million people) and give those empty lands to Thailand to settle along with the added sweetener of Malaysia's 10% of the Spratlys. He would also invade Eastern Malaysia, taking the island state of Labuan for himself while giving Sarawak to Indonesia and Sabah to the Philippines if those to states agreed to the split.He'd also decimate their navy & air force before devastating every port city, just like he'd done to China. He'd already killed more than two million Chinese. What was another two million Malays to him? Also, Indonesia wanted Sarawak and the Philippines had claims on Sabah. While they were openly and publically defying the Great Khan's plan, could Malaysia really take the chance?What would India and Thailand do while this was going on? Thailand stated that it would protect its territorial integrity, whatever that meant. India wasn't returning Malaysia's phone calls while showing their populace re-runs of Malaysian violence against their Hindu minority, the bastards!To the world, the Indian Navy proclaimed it would 'defend itself and its supply lines' which was a subtle hint that they would shepherd any Khanate invasion force to their destination. Why would the Indians be so insensitive? The Malaysians were screwing up their deal to get 20% of both the Parcel and Spratlys wealth, that's why.If the Khanate went down, there was no way India could defend their claims (which they'd won by doing nothing up until now). Oh yeah, Vietnam began gathering up warplanes, warships, transport ships and troops for the quick (710 km) jaunt across the Gulf of Thailand to north-eastern Malaysia to kill Malaysians because Vietnam needed the Khanate to ensure their own economic future as well.That military prospect had a cascade effect, especially among the Indonesian military. If the Indian Navy remained active, the vastly more populous Western Malaysia couldn't reinforce the state of Sarawak. Sure, the Philippines was unlikely to conquer Sabah on their own, but all the Indonesians needed was for Sabah to be kept pre-occupied while their army took their promised territory, fulfilling a fifty year old dream of conquest/unification.The United Nations blustered. It wasn't that they didn't care, they did. They also cared about the deteriorating situations in Libya, Nigeria, Syria and Ukraine. The situation was complicated by the unwillingness of the permanent members of the Security Council, namely the PRC and Russia, to recognize the Khanate.In reverse, when those two tried to stick it to the Khanate, the UK stoically vetoed them. Why? Well, more on that later. Let's just say the Khanate was good for business in the European Union in general and the United Kingdom in particular because the Khanate was prepared to economically befriend the British. Ireland was being treated in a promising manner too. The United States,the United Nations?Let's just say that in the two months following the cease-fire, the Khanate bloodily and brutally solved the ISIS conundrum and the Donbass Crisis. When the smoke cleared, the Khanate had reintroduced the practice of impalement to the modern battlefield, driven the separatists from the Ukraine and was on the border with Israel and Jordan.Sure, the Ukrainians were stun-fucked by the Khanate's 'peace-keepers' going on a bloody rampage through the eastern rebellious regions, but they had delivered up peace by mid-September. Yes, the Russians were in an uproar about the impalements.As the Khanate spokesperson said, 'if they aren't your people, then it is not your problem' and 'there are no more Russians left alive in the Ukraine'. In fact, fewer than a thousand people, all armed insurgents, were executed in such a manner, but the terror created by the highly publicized killings had the effect of sending a hundred thousand people stampeding over the frontier into Russia proper.Next, the Khanate said it wanted to 'reexamine' the Crimean situation. There were Turcoman in that area and they weren't being treated well, or so it was claimed.Even as Russia and the Khanate were posturing in the Donbass, the Khanate struck in the Middle East. By the end of September, Syria and Lebanon had ceased to exist as organized entities. Most of those two countries as well as portions of western Iraq became Turkish provinces in the Khanate infrastructure. Northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq became the Khanate state of Kurdistan.It was a campaign reminiscent of the 13th century Mongol conquest, not a modern military struggle. Whole villages were eradicated. The entire Arab population of Mosul was exiled to the new territories in the East. The city was repopulated with Kurds from Turkey. Back in Turkey, those Kurds were replaced by Armenians from Azerbaijan, cauterizing another internal issue within the Khanate.Jordan was cautiously hopeful. Israel? "We don't seem to be having problems with Hezbollah anymore," with a shrug and "it could be worse." As for ISIS; there really was an Islamic State controlling more than half of Iraq and all of Syria now and it allowed no other pretenders to that distinction. By the time the world woke up to that reality though, the Great Hunt had happened and I was dealing with the consequences of that.A larger ideological and political matter was occurring in the United States, the United Kingdom (and to a limited extent Australia and Canada). The Ramshackle Empire (aka the Khanate) was just that ~ a Frankenstein nation fueled more by nationalistic pride and nostalgia for a Super-State (that only two living people had firsthand experience with) than an integrated armed forces and infrastructure.It may have been built upon more than a 13th century creation and two hundred years of real and imagined oppression. It did have long term planning and real genius driving it forward. Having throttled the PRC into giving them six precious months of peace to 'tidy up the backyard' (aka the Middle East and Russia) and forge a true nation, the Khanate was now hiring experts to aid them in the task.First and foremost, Temujin and the Earth & Sky had envisioned an armed state built upon military principles and discipline. Fate had delivered to them the means of their own salvation in the form of NATO's policy of disarmament and 'Reduction-In-Force' levels (RIFed).The US and UK had trained tens of thousands of male and female volunteers in their Armed Forces in infrastructure creation and management for the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns. From 2010, those militaries had informed those experts that their services were no longer required. Unlike the shrinking militaries of the 1990's, there was no private sector to 'soak up' the majority of those personnel.The Earth & Sky had been working on the problem of nation-building on a time table and they kept coming up short. They had to fight to create their state first, so the all-important after-battle had been something their leaders dreaded. Temujin had been understanding about not everything being 100% ready. Few wars were fought that way.Then a young male Amazon of mixed Magyar ancestry talked history with the Earth & Sky representative to a seemingly inconsequential personage's funeral. A few critical E&S leaders (a minority, to be sure) immediately sought ways to cultivate this man into what was a ten year plan to open doors to the Amazons. Then that man saved the Great Khan's life and everything changed.Before the E&S had even remotely considered directly approaching the Amazons for help, the Amazons came knocking on their door. The Seven Pillars of Heaven had tried to kidnap a camp full of Amazon children ~ an assault on their future. The two secret societies were bound by one unique, fortunate idiot and a mutual thirst for vengeance.They were also directed by two incredibly foresighted, ambitious and brilliant people. In Katrina of Epona, the E&S elders found someone who equaled their hope to see the Seven Pillars humbled and humbled immediately. Moreover, these were the Amazons they were dealing with. Amazons always sought both lightning decisions and long term solutions.From the moment Iskender left his third meeting with Cáel Nyilas, Katrina put the fruits of the First Directive (the Amazons efforts to recruit militant outsider women) into overdrive. Havenstone had the apparatus in place to screen potential inductees. All they had to do was add a "can you suggest any other people who might be interested in this line of work" box to their employment forms.That brought men into the process in surprising numbers. The market was flush with military veterans having trouble readjusting to the civilian community. The Khanate wasn't hiring killers. They wanted ex-military and civilian police officers to create a national police force.They also wanted engineers and builders, cadres for their cadet corps and a whole range of specialist in jobs most of the Western World took for granted. The money came from off-shore accounts funded by Havenstone International. The employment opportunities came from Earth & Sky front companies operating in the UK and the US (and Israel, but that was another matter).They had already started hiring scores of civilian English-speaking experts to help build their newborn nation's infrastructure before the first blow landed. English hadn't been chosen out of any cultural bias. Relying on Russian and Chinese sources wasn't feasible, the Khanate wasn't overly linguistically gifted where distant tongues were concerned and, as pointed out, the English-speaking world had a glut of applicants.Now to the problem, there were people in the US and UK who weren't happy with their citizenry going to the Khanate and helping them to survive and thrive. These power groups wanted the Mongol-Turkish Empire to keep the resources flowing to the West, without any reciprocal commitment on their part.Imagine their surprise when some wonks at the State Department and Foreign Ministries found bundles of expedited passport requests to the (former) nations of Turkmenistan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Mongolia (and later Afghanistan and Iraq). The Department of Defense  Ministry of Defense were discovering their former military personnel and civilian contractors with Security Clearances were heading the same way.Of all those destinations, only Mongolia and Kazakhstan were under any kind of 'Restricted Travel' advisories. Barring any coherent anti-Khanate strategy from their administrations, the bureaucracies were doing their jobs, with Havenstone exerting just enough influence to get the job done while flying beneath the radar.After JIKIT was created, the group had a US Senator greasing the wheels to get the requests expedited. In England, Lady Worthington-Burke shamelessly used the people at the other end of the O'Shea hotline to get the job done overseas. She did have to sell out a teammate, but that was what good boys were for ~ taking one for the team. (That would be me, if there was any misunderstanding.)When Cáel Nyilas was kidnapped under the watchful eye of the FBI (I wasn't sure how they got that bum-wrap), the whole situation exploded. The PRC didn't have me, yet promised they might produce me if certain concessions were made. According to Addison, I was worth 5,000 barrels a day of refined fuel oil and 50 tons of coal a month, and the Great Khan agreed to pay! Woot! I was loved by somebody who was a somebody.All that attention drove home some salient points. I was a noble scion of Ireland, Romania, Georgia and Armenia (in no particular order) and they all wanted to know why the US had let me be kidnapped. Didn't my president know I was a sacred national treasure? After JIKIT tracked down the bribes and clandestine activities to Chinese shell corporations, those powers wanted to know what sanctions would be applied.'But wait, wasn't I a private citizen?' my national leaders pleaded. Then the PRC made a case which boiled down to 'I had it coming for being a fiancé to Hana Sulkanen and a brother to the Great Khan', while ignoring me being snatched in the territorial US of A. Of course, they didn't claim to have actually done the kidnapping.Javiera was waiting on that one; 'What was their excuse for kidnapping a little US girl to force my compliance?' The furious Federal authorities even found two dead adult bodies and two digits from said child to add to the media frenzy. To prove I had migrated to fantasy land, the CNN journalist got it right ~ they had tortured the girl and I had killed two of them for it. Just ask the Romanian Army how lethal I could be.In a rare comment, Temujin informed the international press that he believed I was still alive. Why did he believe that? If I wasn't, they would have been able to spot the pile of dead enemy around me and my 'boon companion' (go Aya!) from orbit. Until they discovered this carnal pit from Hell, I was surely still alive.Just at the cusp of turning publically against the Mongol barbarians, the world suddenly got angry with their enemy, the PRC. The principal two Western regimes were paralyzed with indecision until my miraculous cry for help from the middle of the Pacific showed the world I was alive, had punished my enemies and rescued others from under the opponent's cruel thumb.Clearly if I started ranting against the People's Republic of China, my government would be rather peeved with me. I hadn't screwed a dozen poli-sci majors to miss out on that obvious situation. I behaved and hoped they wouldn't make me die from an embolism, or some other equally implausible cause.(DC is a marvel. 9 pm, Monday, August 18th. 21 days)I'd been dragged to DC, to honor promises made in Rome a week ago. I had another choice; I could have justifiably said I was still getting over my kidnapping ordeal. But that choice fucked over Javiera Castello, my boss at JIKIT (Joint International Khanate Interim Task force).That was how I ended up in a 'secret and secure' meeting with Tony Blinken, Deputy National Security Advisor (DNSA) and his experts. He was someone I didn't know. The rest, I'd had a verbal run-in with them after the Romanian bloodbath. I'd been cranky. I would hardly consider us to be on good terms now.All four experts were from the US State Department. They were foregoing their usual group of flunkies because this meeting wasn't really happening. All the participants were officially somewhere else, mostly not even in D.C. Had this soiree 'really happened', the Congressional sub-committees would have been able to request the minutes of Tony's meeting with members of JIKIT and:·         Victoria Nuland, Ass. Sec. of State for European & Eurasian Affairs (ASSEEA)·         Robert O. Blake Jr., Ass. Sec. of State for S & C Asian Affairs (ASSCAA)·         Daniel R. Russel, Ass. Sec. of State for E. Asian and Pacific Affairs (ASSEAP)·         Bill A. Miller, Director of the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) (aka Big Willy)We made stiff, formal introductions (which signaled the utter lack of trust in the room.) Javiera hadn't wanted to put me through an interrogation this soon after my near-death experience, considering my snarky nature when stressed. The White House was putting the squeeze on her. The main player was Tony, who talked with the Leader of the Free World on a weekly, if not daily, basis.The Diplomatic Security Service people had successfully peeled off Pamela and my SD Amazons only after they agreed I could keep Aya. They tolerated me keeping the nine-year old girl despite the obvious fact she had gone through worse hardships than I had endured and was still packing her Chinese QSW-06 suppressed pistol.I had already fabricated and submitted my report on how I'd overcome a plane-full of rogue delinquents from the Forumi i Rinis  Eurosocialiste t  Shqip ris  (Euro-socialist Youth Forum of Albania) bent on recruiting impressionable European socialites by accessing my Twitter account.That's right, the Albanians had it out for me. I reiterated that critical bit of data to the Department of Homeland Security when they questioned me on the veracity of my memories. The two ethnic Chinese I was found with? I thought they were from Taiwan, and they both appeared to be suffering from amnesia.I was already suffering repercussions from my pathological refusal to take life seriously. Javiera believed I was about to get a formal apology from Ferit Hoxha, Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations. Damn it! Now I had to do something nice for the Albanians. Maybe I'd offer them membership in the Khanate, full-statehood with an economic package to sweeten the deal.Yes, that was how Albania and Kosovo joined the Khanate, a product of my love for exaggeration and a little post-Ottoman solidarity over Tarator (cold soup made of yoghurt, garlic, parsley, cucumber, salt and olive oil with a side of fried squids), Tav  Kosi (lamb meatballs) and Flia & Kaymak (a dessert I highly recommend).We had toasted the Pillars of Kanun (Albanian oral law and tradition): ~ Nderi (honor), Mikpritja (hospitality), Sjellja (Right Conduct) and Fis (Kin Loyalty), ~ and he promised to tell his people that I had Besa which was an Albanian-ism for being a man who would honor his word of honor (despite us being brought together by my lie). The shit-ton of financial and military aid I asked the Great Khan to sweeten the pot with might have helped as well.Later, Lady Yum-Yum told me that the military leaders of NATO called it a 'master-stroke' in neutralizing Comrade Putin's Russian-backed 'Greek threat

Welcome to our motorsports podcast where we discuss F1, IndyCar, IMSA, NASCAR, our own racing adventures, and some other adventures!Formula One has kicked off their season with a wet and wild opening race in Melbourne, Australia. Lando Norris and McLaren take the victory and make it known that their car is the car to beat this year. We'll see if other teams can catch up in development. Max Verstappen and Red Bull continue to show a strong performance despite the 2nd Red Bull being once again off the pace and nowhere. With that said, there were some mechanical gremlins that hindered Liam Lawson's track time in FP3 so it's not just the driver to blame for this performance.IMSA had another edition of the Sebring 12 Hours with Porsche standing on top of the podium in both GTP and GTD Pro! They continue to show why they are the team to beat in these longer endurance races especially in GTP. BMW and Acura were quick as well this weekend in GTP and were giving the Porsches a good battle all race. Aston Martin made its GTP debut with its highly anticipated Valkyrie! Although finishing the race 2 laps down to the leader it did finish the race which means plenty of data to sift through and the car is robust enough to handle Sebring's bumps!In NASCAR, Josh Berry takes the win at Las Vegas.F1 is back to back with race weekends as they head to China next. NASCAR heads to Homestead, FL and IndyCar is back for round 2 at Thermal Club in California.Coming up this weekend: NASCAR at Homestead, F1 in China, and IndyCar at Thermal.

The guys returned to Minneapolis/St Paul for the annual Valkyrie’s Horn mead competition this weekend and spend about an hour chatting over the events and things they liked, sharing some of their favorite experiences and some of the goals they have moving forward. The Mead House Podcast is sponsored by Bacchus & Barleycorn! Use our discount … Continue reading "Episode 264 – Valkyrie’s Horn 2025 Recap"

Defenders #45 (1977)It's a Defenders Gender Battle as the Red Rajah saga comes to close! Doctor Strange, all red-gemmed up as the Red Rajah, wants mankind as his universal think tank and he's starting with Manhattan. He's got the boy Defenders under his control so its up to the girl Defenders to save NYC (and humanity pretty much).Also, Red Guardian goes full Gwen Stefani with her outfit, Hellcat and Valkyrie dish about communism, the Hulk rocks out to Pearl Jam and the Marvel editors shout out 2112-era Rush!All this plus Jen and Shawn chat haphazardly about the Oscars and review the 1986 sleepy monkey thriller LINK.*** PROPER COMIC BOOK DISCUSSION STARTS AT 00:10:21 ***Promo: #JSAPRIL (https://fireandwaterpodcast.com/podcast/jsapril/)Continue the conversation with Shawn and Jen on Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / Threads / Bluesky or email the show at worstcollectionever@gmail.comAlso, get hip to all of our episodes on YouTube in its own playlist! https://bit.ly/WorstCollectionEverYTDownload the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and wherever you get your favorite shows. Please rate, review, subscribe and tell a friend!

Aunque el plato fuerte de la semana es la pretemporada de Fórmula 1, hay más cosas en el menú del Podcast Técnica Fórmula 1: comenzaron la Indy y el WEC, con victoria de españoles, lo que, unido a los resultados en MotoGP, hacen del fin de semana pasado un auténtico sueño para el motorsport español. Último repaso a la Pretemporada. En este segundo episodio de la semana del Podcast Técnica Fórmula 1 también hay tiempo para la pretemporada que acaba de finalizar en Bahrein: ¿qué aspectos técnicos son los que más han llamado la atención? Además, hay anuncio: vuelve el Fantasy F1 del programa, la semana próxima. Comienza la Indy en St. Petersburg. Y de qué manera comienza: Palou ganó una carrera que corrió con gran inteligencia, ayudado por la brutal estrategia del Chip Ganassi, que hizo doblete con Dixon 2º. Dixon contaría después que no tuvo radio de comunicación con el equipo en las 100 vueltas que duró la carrera. Tremendo espectáculo. Tremenda estrategia la del equipo Ganassi y excelente trabajo de Palou, que nos dejó a todos con la boca abierta. Lo más lamentable: que Newgarden fuera pasado por Dixon en las últimas vueltas, después de haber destruido las gomas persiguiendo a Palou: no le falta valentía pero sí, quizás, algo más de inteligencia. WEC: espectáculo del bueno (y del malo). En el WEC, que corría en Catar, victoria absoluta de Miguel Molina con el Ferrari y de Juncadella en la categoría de GT. Aunque el espectáculo “malo” lo dieron los Cadillacs, que chocaron entre ellos tras el coche de seguridad. Además, debutó el Valkyrie de Aston Martin, algo precioso de ver. Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals

In this episode ofThe Women in the Arena, we sit down with Meg Tucker, an Army veteran and the Founder of The Valkyrie Project, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering and supporting American servicewomen.With 15 years in uniform, Meg began her military journey as a Kiowa Warrior pilot before transitioning into special operations as a Psychological Operations officer. Now, in her post-military career, she is committed to ensuring women in service receive the training, support, and advocacy they need to thrive.We explore everything from hormonal health to sleep optimization, the unique challenges women face in military and tactical professions, and how they can optimize their training and nutrition for peak performance. Meg also shares howThe Valkyrie Project is pioneering a future where servicewomen are equipped to excel both physically and professionally.Meg's passion, leadership, and dedication to mentorship are truly inspiring—don't miss this powerful conversation!

Defenders #44 (1977)Man, the Incredible Hulk can be an incredible pain in the ass sometimes. Presently apoplectic that Doctor Strange, the only solution is for the rest of the Defenders to track him down. Unbeknownst to them, Doctor Strange is now the Red Rajah, an entity focused on bringing Manhattan together as one big think tank whether they want to or not!We also got Valkyrie's ex-husband stumbling into the Sanctorum, Russia telling Red Guardian to get her ass back home and Patsy Walker aka Hellcat interjecting herself into the team dynamic after a peyote quest on Titan.All this plus Jen and Shawn visit a 90's museum exhibit and feel really ancient afterwards.*** PROPER COMIC BOOK DISCUSSION STARTS AT 00:09:44 ***Promo: #JSAPRIL (https://fireandwaterpodcast.com/podcast/jsapril/)Continue the conversation with Shawn and Jen on Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / Threads / Bluesky or email the show at worstcollectionever@gmail.comAlso, get hip to all of our episodes on YouTube in its own playlist! https://bit.ly/WorstCollectionEverYTDownload the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and wherever you get your favorite shows. Please rate, review, subscribe and tell a friend!

#valkyrie #history #germany #tomcruise #conservative #right #threat #fiction Discord https://discord.gg/kfDggBh5YgContact me at cmplotlines@gmail.comProselyTieshttps://proselyties.com?sca_ref=7626108.H0eVF8RBJkJdTMCode: plotlinesSubstack https://palantirshope.substack.com/publish/home

VettaFi's Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth discussed the CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI) on this week's “ETF of the Week” podcast with Chuck Jaffe of “Money Life.” Invest in your greatest asset—yourself. Exchange is a financial services conference for advisors to strengthen their skills and develop across core dimensions of their professional portfolio. To learn more, visit https://www.exchangeetf.com/registration/

Kevin Turner sits down with Gary Watkins to preview the 2025 World Endurance Championship. Gary reports live from the Lusail International Circuit for the opening round this weekend, the 1812km of Qatar. The pair discuss the big questions - Can anyone breach the elite class of the Hypercar category, dominated by Porsche, Toyota and Ferrari in 2024? There's an extended look at the outside contenders - Aston Martin making their WEC debut this weekend with their Valkyrie, the first Road Car to be adapted for the Hypercar category, whether BMW can maintain their momentum from the end of last season, and is 2025 the make or break year for Peugeot? There's also a discussion on the controversial new weight limit rules for qualifying and how they might affect the running of the field, and Kev and Gaz's picks for the season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Lowest Moral Denominator.By FinalStand. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.Those who declare war are willing to kill as many as it takes to reach their goal.(The Lowest Moral Denominator)My first week at Havenstone, I'd biked to work alone on most days and I'd enjoyed that. I'd have treasure it more if I had glimpsed my future. I loved people, not crowds. I knew about violence, yet I had no affection for it. I was a confirmed bachelor. Now I was staring down both barrels of marriage. I had had also become a walking arsenal with a lethal omnipresent entourage.This situation was so fucked up that I had to stop by Caitlin's place just to see Aya. My favorite sprite gave me a hug and reminded me that I had to do what I could, not worry about what I couldn't do. She was my 9 year old Svengali. She was my little Valkyrie. In truth, she was the only woman knew I loved and that was the love of a father for his daughter.On the elevator ride up to the penthouse suite of the Midtown Hilton, I thought about Dad. What would Ferko Nyilas do in my shoes? It would be easy for someone who didn't know him to imagine my dad getting up on his high moral horse and telling me to just do the right thing, except that wasn't him. What he'd tell me was to not pass the buck. I had to deal with this, unless I knew someone else who could and would do it better.It wasn't about 'being a man'; it was being a member of the Human Race. We all pitched in and got the job done, or it didn't get done, and millions died because we refused to accept any responsibility for what was going on. That was my Dad, 'do what you can' and 'never be afraid to ask for help if you need it'. After the age of ten, he never told me I had to do anything. He'd tell me what needed to be done and leave it at that.So I wouldn't forget the pictures I knew I'd be seeing before too long, the innocent dead. If the sorrow broke me, it broke me. Until it did, I could not turn away. I had to 'do what I could'. That put me heading to a meeting at three o'clock in the afternoon in the penthouse suite.After my non-breakfast with Iskender, we had driven straight to Havenstone, where I demanded an immediate, private meeting with Katrina. This wasn't an info-dump and then out the door. No, I was part of the process now, one of those fools who were responsible for the lives of others. Katrina and I had argued about compartmentalizing my terrifying news.Her reasoning was clear. We were at war with the Seven Pillars. The basis of the 7P strength was China, so anything bad that happened to China was good for the Amazon Host. I nixed that. It was Katrina's job to think about our security. It was mine to juggle how we related to the rest of the planet. Absent the Golden Mare's opposition, Katrina couldn't stop me from doing my job as I saw fit.The Golden Mare was out of immediate contact, so we moved forward on my proposal. Katrina called Javiera, validated Vincent's call, and then suggested she bring in someone from the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Ft. Detrick. Katrina wouldn't tell her why.I dispatched Delilah to talk to her MI-6 guy while I made my way to Nicole Lawless's law offices. I need to talk to my Aunts. An hour later, I dismissed a somewhat piqued Nicole from the room, then laid out the upcoming crisis to my Mom's clones. I hesitated a minute before dropping the other bomb, Grandpa Cáel was back.Was I sure? I countered with, "Do you know who Shammuramat was?"Why, yes they did; Grandpa had a bust of her in his main office."Well, she's back, in the flesh and that spells all kinds of problems".The six aunts present agreed. They invited me to fly to Europe with five of them. Much to their surprise and joy, I agreed. I told them I would be a party of twelve with plenty of firepower. They were less pleased about that.I exited that scene, only to engage in another, somewhat unrelated, bit of diplomacy. I met with Brooke and Libra for lunch. They brought Casper, who was seeing a specialist in New York and had expressed an interest in seeing me again. Into that volatile mix, I placed my request: 'Could Brooke put up a friend for a couple of weeks while I made other arrangements?'Yes, this was a 'bizarre' friend. Yes, this was a violently bizarre friend. Yes, she walked around with enough weaponry to scare a seasoned SWAT officer. And yes, she was a mass murderer. Cool,, if I agreed to stop by and see how this 'friend' was doing, and gave Libra advance notice too, then they were fine with it.Thus Shammuramat, Sakuniyas, Saku became Brooke's roommate. Insane? Not really. Putting Saku inside Havenstone on a regular basis was going to result in a blood bath. Saku was abrasive and she was a criminal in the minds of her 'sisters'. This gave her an 'out', some space and time with a civilized person who she couldn't emotionally bowl over.If Saku got physical with Brooke, we both understood that House Ishara was going to cancel her return performance. Amazons could defend themselves, so we were fair game for her rude behavior. Brooke couldn't, so she was hopefully out of bounds. Saku had agreed to the arrangement without comment.She'd already figured out that no other Amazons wanted her around and there simply wasn't room at my place. With that chore done, I was able to see Miyako off before her flight to Tokyo by way of Seattle. Selena was with her, but not going. Miyako did have three Amazons in case things got rough.The Marda House guard woman looked mature and humorless. Her age wasn't a problem. She was a grandmother, yet if she thought she couldn't keep up, she'd have taken herself to the cliffs before now. It turned out she had been in Executive Services before returning to House Marda. My diplomat, I didn't know her, but she seemed eager enough. The member of House Ishara was a brand new recruit named Jenna.She was from Acquisitions and spoke seven Asian languages, including Japanese. She looked absolutely thrilled to be heading off into danger. I instructed the younger two to obey the Mardan. In private, I 'advised' the Mardan that our main mission was to be of aid to the ninja. Information gathering would be secondary. More Amazons were on the way. She gave me a nod.For this critical mid-afternoon meeting at the Midtown Hilton, Wiesława lead the way off the elevator. Buffy went next, then me and finally Saku. Delilah and Vincent had already arrived with their appropriate factions. Katrina took a separate elevator, with Elsa and Desiree. Pamela was, somewhere. After she'd pointed out a half-dozen people from four different agencies in the lobby, she told me to not wait while she went to the bathroom.At the door of the Penthouse were two familiar faces from the NYPD, Nikita Kutuzov and her partner, Skylar Montero. When Javiera's investigation followed me to New York, they had been drafted into the taskforce."Hey ladies," I smiled. My last meeting with Nikita hadn't gone well."Cáel," Nikita smiled back. "How have you been?""More trouble than normal," I shook her hand."We can tell," Skylar relaxed somewhat. As Nikita's partner, she had to know that our relationship had soured when she started investigating me. Katrina's group came up."I think you are the last to arrive," Nikita informed us. This time, Desiree was the first one through the door. I could hear the conversation trail off. Wiesława went next, then Katrina, me, Buffy, Saku and finally Elsa. I decided to toss 'civilized' behavior out the window seconds after entering. Virginia Maddox of the FBI, the initiator of the Amazon children's airlift, was here.I hugged her and after a moment, she hugged me back."Priya says hey and," she blushed slightly, "she's counting the days, all forty-five of them.""Don't forget, I owe you," I grinned then patted her shoulder. Javiera was next."Cáel," she headed my familiarity off. She was a Federal Prosecutor after all."This is the head of this taskforce, Jonas Baker (deep breath) Associate Deputy Undersecretary of Analysis for Homeland Security {ADUAHS} (deep breath)." I extended my hand, so he shook it. He looked somewhat annoyed by this whole encounter. Javiera was duly nervous because of his poor initial attitude. The introductions went around.Half way through it, Pamela showed up, from where, I didn't know. Delilah, her MI-6 boss and the British professional killer Chaz were there, much to the chagrin of the Americans. Vincent was there with Javiera. Cresky was representing the CIA plus there was ATF, ICE, Riki Martin (?) from the State Department and a man in a civil servant's salary suit and a military demeanor, Captain Moe Mistriano."Fine," Mr. Baker began. "I hope you aren't wasting our time." His gaze flicked between Katrina and me."May the Blessed Isis bring understanding to our meeting," I intoned, in old Egyptian."What was that?" Baker turned on me."Praying for guidance," I replied. Isis wasn't in the Amazon pantheon, but I could sure use her help at this point. Baker was going from put-out to pissed-off. If that is how they wanted to play it, their choice. "Are you the specialist from Ft. Detrick?" I asked the Captain."Yes, I am and I hope this is worth my time as well," he gave me a steady gaze. Oh, I really needed that."Anthrax, China," I stated and weighed his response. Oh yeah, I had his attention now, which meant his bio-warfare unit had some idea about what was happening in China."Care to enlighten me?" Baker inquired. He had gauged his medical expert's reactions as well and he didn't like what the biological warfare specialist was not saying."Mr. Baker," the Captain decided to go first. "Roughly fifty-five hours ago, we got wind that there was a massive Anthrax outbreak in Western China. Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia and Nei Mongol administrative regions have all reported outbreaks."Holy Shit!" Riki Martin gasped. Her dark, whip-like, Hispanic features noticeably paled."That sounds suspiciously like bio-terrorism," Jonas Baker turned on me."You'd be right about that," I refused to evade. "It is and it is about to get a whole lot worse.""The PRC has a robust vaccine program," the Captain stated. "That is why they aren't making a public stink about it. They have the problem well under control.""Damn, " I closed my eyes and lowered my head. In some deep section of my mind, I had fanned the feeble flames of hope that somehow, the Earth  and  Sky program had derailed. "That is the 'whole lot worse' I was talking about. The terrorists aren't terrorists. They, ""What do you mean they are not terrorists," Baker snapped. "They, ""Shut up and let the man speak," Katrina said calmly."Who are you again?" he glared at Katrina. "If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem and I'm here to make sure this problem is dealt with. I am not here to play footsie with you. I am going to be asking some tough questions and you had better answer them.""I'm Cáel's boss," Katrina smiled. "Since we came here to help you and you don't want to let us speak, we are leaving. Cáel."The Amazons didn't turn and leave. No, we backed up toward the door."You can't start talking about an ongoing terrorist threat and then walk out the door," Baker argued."Javiera, I apologize," I looked her way. "Mr. Baker, Javiera's a smart cookie. I'm sure she's given you every bit of information that has come across her desk. That means you know we consider ourselves an independent nation-state without borders. You can't intimidate us. We feel no obligation to obey your legal system and we operate internationally," I kept going."Now, as we are trying to repay Javiera's kindness in our time of need, you are treating us like criminals currying favors. Blow it out your ass, you pompous bureaucrat" I concluded. "We aren't the problem here.""If that's the way you want it," he shrugged. "Javiera, arrest them." Pause."Sir, you do realize that if I give that order, there is a good likelihood they will resist with force?" Javiera replied calmly. Baker looked around the room."We outnumber them and these are law enforcement officers," he insisted. "Now, ""I wouldn't count on that 'outnumbered' thing," Delilah chimed in.Chaz and MI-6 dude didn't seem to be onboard with his plan. "I have reason to believe Cáel has information on a highly virulent weaponized Anthrax program. If our US allies aren't interested, Her Majesty's government certainly will be." That did interest the MI-6 senior officer."That is all the more reason to put these people into federal custody," Baker stated."Then what, Mr. Associate Deputy?" Chaz said. "Are you going to torture them for time sensitive data? In my military service, I've met some truly hard characters. Some people you can put a gun to their child's head and they'll tell you what you want to know. Not this group. They'll memorize your face and wait for a chance to make you pay, whether you kill the kid, or not.""That's my read on them as well," Agent Vincent Loire added."Mr. Baker, I worked under you when we were both in Counter-terrorism," Virginia spoke up. "I think you are mishandling this. Invoke the Patriot Act and all we get is a roomful of statues. I've fought beside these, Amazons and I'm reaffirming my report to Ms. Castello (Javiera), they do not believe their behavior is wrong.At some point in their fifties, they commit ritual suicide. They make their twelve year old daughters fight for their lives. They murder their male infants. Sir, they are an alien society, indoctrinated at birth to believe they are spiritual inheritors of the ancient Amazons mentioned by Homer during the time of the Iliad.They fanatically believe in a pantheon of goddesses and possess very little inclination for integration. They think they are superior to everyone in this room, except for Cáel, he's an oddity," Virginia pleaded."That legion of crimes is yet another reason to arrest them," Baker just wouldn't give up."What you have described, Agent Maddox is a right wing nut cult, like the Branch-Davidians at Waco. Arrest them.""What are the charges?" Javiera's face blanked out."Conspiracy to commit terrorist acts; aiding and abetting an international terrorist organization," Baker snapped."Everyone, put down your firearms and blades," Katrina ordered. I didn't have the status to give that order except to my own. For that matter,"Team, disarm," Elsa commanded her Security Detail people. Technically, Katrina couldn't order those girls to forego their primary mission, defend the Host. Out came the guns.The group of us went over to one wall, put our backs to it and sat down. Pro forma, Virginia, Vincent and the ATF guy drew their firearms. By this time, both Riki and the Captain looked ready to explode."Tell us what you know about this terrorist conspiracy and, " Baker said."We invoke our Right to Council," I raised my hand."You are being charged under the Patriot Act, smart-ass," Baker sneered. "We can hold you indefinitely if we can show a risk to National Security, such as a terrorist attack in China.""I apologize for dragging you into this," I turned to Katrina. "You too, Saku." Saku shrugged."I told you there is no benefit in helping 'these people'," Katrina comforted me. She meant non-Amazons and it was rather sad that it was looking like she was right and I was wrong."Unless you want to grow old and grey in Guantanamo, I suggest you start talking now," Baker threatened.There was no bravado on our part. We didn't zone out, or ignore him. We looked at him the same way we would a yappy dog while continuing to scan the room. Being disarmed didn't make us defenseless. It merely limited our options."Sir," Riki tapped Baker."If the People's Republic of China finds out we withheld details of a terrorist attack on their soil, that would be BAD, with a capital 'B'.""I have to call this in," the Captain shook his head."Wait until we have active intelligence," Baker said. The Captain completed his call."I don't work for you, Sir. I work for the Department of Defense and that man," the Captain pointed at me, "strung two words together he shouldn't have. Now, I don't know any of you people. I was told to come here, so here I am. I do know, Sir, that you are ignoring the advice from your experts about the expected results of standard interrogation techniques.You are acting on two assumptions which I find to be fictitious," the Captain was clearly furious. "First, you seem to think this won't get out, and you are wrong. Why? We have no idea who these people have talked with. We can only believe that any person outside of their organization can use that revelation for their own ends. Secondly, you haven't grasped the extent of the emergency.Chinese citizens are already starting to drop dead as we speak. This variant of Anthrax is highly contagious, fast-acting, and appears to be incredibly fatal. No nation on Earth has enough Anthrax vaccine on hand to protect their entire population, and that still implies that the vaccines we currently have will work on this new bacteria. Need I go on?"Then Captain Mistriano went back to talking softly with his companions back at Ft. Detrick. The MI-6 chief made his own call. This was his job after all. Before Baker could even start to threaten the Brit, Delilah and Chaz had their guns out, though pointed down. The US law enforcement operatives were far more leery of challenging agents of a friendly foreign power."I will make sure to tack on charges for all those deaths you are facilitating," Baker piled it on. "The US government might find it necessary to send you to the People's Republic of China to face charges there. After all, you claim to not be US citizens." None of us responded verbally. We looked at him. We certainly heard him speak, but his '

How do you embody a fallen Valkyrie? Why is invoking poetry so similar to calling magical names and summoning spirits? Jack Grayle (magician, author and playwright) and Klara Wolfe (occult writer, professional embalmer and model) go deep into Jack's new, fantastic verse-play set 1,200 years ago in heathen Norway, entitled Sigrun & The Mist. ⇓ ⇓ ⇓► ✅ Get your copy of Sigrun & The Mist  - https://www.miskatonicbooks.com/product/sigrun-the-mist-by-jack-grayle-with-commentary-by-shani-oates-limited-edition-hardcover/ ► ✅Sign up for Jack's class PGM PRAXIS 2: THE KINGDOM (UPDATE: starts March 17) - https://www.theblackthorneschool.com/courses/pgmpraxis2 ► ✅Sign up for Jack's class GODSONG (Iliad & Odyssey): https://www.miskatonicbooks.com/product/godsong-by-jack-grayle-online-course/ ► ✅Klara's Website - https://hexencvlt.com/ ► ✅Klara's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hexencvlt/ ► ✅Photographer of Sigrun &The Mist - Nicola Huffstickler - https://www.instagram.com/oldblackkettle/ ✦

In this episode we sit down with owner and founder of Valkyrie Tactical Solutions, Thomas Tardo. Their company offers a variety of classes and training to local and out of state agencies to include: active shooter training, tactical emergency casualty care, cpr, basic life support, tactical breacher series, and their famous SC swat challenge! We discuss Thomas's military background, what to do in an active shooter scenario incident, being familiar with your surroundings and state laws, basic skills to stop the bleeding if necessary, and what agencies can do better with communication. If you want to sharpen your skills and become a better LEO or become a more proficient and cognizant citizen, you don't want to miss this episode! https://www.upstatevalkyrie.com/

This week on Good Follow: Ros & Logan recap round one of the 1v1 Unrivaled tournament, highlight Allisha Gray's dominance, and discuss what sets Athlete's Unlimited apart. Then, Monique Billings joins the show to talk college hoops and tell us what fans can expect from the Valkyrie in year one. Later, Ros sits down with WNBA and Unrivaled forward Satou Sabally as she explains why she chose Phoenix over New York, her level of enthusiasm heading into a new season, and so much more. Finally, Ros shares her Unrivaled pick of the week presented by DraftKings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In today's episode we have Meagan Craigo also known as ValkyrieUntamed. Maegan's journey is truly remarkable, and her ability to articulate her experiences with such vulnerability and insight is inspiring. From her time in the military to her spiritual awakening, her struggles with identity, and her exploration of the intersection between artificial intelligence and spirituality, Maegan's story is a testament to the power of self-discovery and transformation.The Power of Authenticity: Maegan's willingness to share her darkest moments, including her struggles with self-hatred, trauma, and addiction, highlights the importance of authenticity in healing and connecting with others. Her story reminds us that embracing our imperfections and vulnerabilities can lead to profound growth and self-acceptance.The Duality of AI: Megan's perspective on artificial intelligence as both a tool for connection and a potential trap is fascinating. She emphasizes the need for balance—using technology mindfully while staying grounded in human connection and nature. Her insights into how AI impacts our nervous systems and spiritual well-being are thought-provoking.Spiritual Awakening and Healing: Maegan's shamanic initiation and her journey through spiritual psychosis underscore the transformative power of facing our shadows. Her ability to alchemize pain into creativity and wisdom is a powerful reminder that healing often requires us to confront our deepest fears and traumas.The Divine Feminine and Masculine: Maegan's exploration of the divine feminine and the importance of reconnecting with the womb and moon cycles offers a fresh perspective on gender dynamics and spirituality. Her emphasis on the need for women to embrace their power and for men to step into their masculine energy is a call for balance and harmony in relationships and society.The Role of Art and Creativity: Maegan's use of art as a tool for healing and self-expression is inspiring. Her ability to channel her experiences into poetry, painting, and other creative outlets demonstrates the transformative power of creativity in processing emotions and connecting with others.The Importance of Human Connection: At the core of Megan's message is the idea that human connection is what truly matters. In a world increasingly dominated by screens and algorithms, her call to disconnect from technology and reconnect with nature and each other is a powerful reminder of what it means to be truly alive.Maegan's story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative power of self-awareness, creativity, and connection. Her journey serves as an inspiration for anyone seeking to navigate the complexities of modern life while staying true to their authentic self.If you're interested in learning more about Megan's work, her book, or her healing practices, be sure to check out her content and support her journey. And remember, as Maegan says, the only thing that truly matters is human connection. So, take a moment to disconnect from your devices, step into nature, and connect with the people and world around you.

Defenders #42 (1976)Oh man….the Defenders are back on WCE, baby! This is a wacky arc (as most Defenders books tend to feature) where Doctor Strange gets transfixed by a mystical ruby like he's Kevin Garnett in UNCUT GEMS. He also gets super ageist towards his friend's courier and skips out on the Defenders while they fend off Cobalt Man.We also got Egghead stealing an ENTIRE NASA space station, Nighthawk spontaneously combusting like he's Brad Dourif or something and Hulk dressing up as an incognito Ninja Turtle.All this plus we chat about the 2025 WWE Royal Rumble, picture puzzles and the dog from MARRIED WITH CHILDREN.*** PROPER COMIC BOOK DISCUSSION STARTS AT 00:18:45 ***Promo: MOVING KRYPTONIAN IMAGES (https://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/) Continue the conversation with Shawn and Jen on Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / Threads / Bluesky or email the show at worstcollectionever@gmail.comAlso, get hip to all of our episodes on YouTube in its own playlist! https://bit.ly/WorstCollectionEverYTDownload the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and wherever you get your favorite shows. Please rate, review, subscribe and tell a friend!

In this week's episode, of Dungeons & Dragons adventure, the Bucs unearth more secrets of the mysterious archway before turning their attention to a ghostly vessel with sinister surprises. As they confront a ship that seems alive, reality warps around them, separating the crew and leaving their fates uncertain. A risky plan begins to form, but the stakes are higher than ever. What is the true nature of the Valkyrie? Can the Bucs outmanoeuvre its eerie hold? And how far will they go to save each other? There's only one way to find out, grab your Dnd Dice, join Tom (Keth), Paul (Milo), Alex (Derek), Chip (Jeff), and Sophie (River), led by James (the Dungeon Master) and Roll Britannia. SUPPORT THE SHOW AND JOIN OUR PATREON - http://www.patreon.com/rollbritannia | BUY TICKETS TO ROLL BRITANNIA LIVE SHOW - aegp.uk/rollbritannia | NEW STOCK AVAILABLE IN OUR MERCH STORE - https://www.rollbritannia.co.uk/shop | UK GAMES EXPO 2025 - DND IMPROV COMEDY SHOW - https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/events/2216-your-adventure-awaits/ | UK GAMES EXPO 2025 - HOW TO NOT SUCK AT DND - https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/events/2224-how-to-not-suck-at-dd/ | CHECK OUT OUR OFFICIAL WEBSITE - https://www.rollbritannia.co.uk/ | SUPPORT OUR BACKERKIT PROJECT - https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/8da7d3c3-55f1-4403-9ef7-f98377691789/landing | Feedspot Best 100 Dungeons & Dragons Podcast - https://blog.feedspot.com/dnd_podcasts/ | Feedspot 10 Best DND Comedy podcasts - https://blog.feedspot.com/dnd_comedy_podcasts/ Feedspot 50 Best Role Playing Games (RPG) Podcasts - https://podcasts.feedspot.com/role_playing_games_podcasts/ | Feedspot 100 Best Tabletop RPG Podcasts - https://podcasts.feedspot.com/tabletop_rpg_podcasts/ | Fiction Horizon 50 Best D&D Podcasts To Listen In 2022 - https://fictionhorizon.com/best-dd-podcasts-to-listen/ | Find us on BestPodcasts.co.uk - https://www.bestpodcasts.co.uk/podcast/roll-britannia-a-british-dungeons-dragons-5e-podcast/ | DungeonMasterUK TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/dungeonmasteruk | Sound & music by Syrinscape www.syrinscape.com Because Epic Games Need Epic Sound Complete list of credits here: https://syrinscape.com/attributions/?id=142440 | Roll Britannia is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. | Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this week's episode, of Dungeons & Dragons adventure, the Bucs unearth more secrets of the mysterious archway before turning their attention to a ghostly vessel with sinister surprises. As they confront a ship that seems alive, reality warps around them, separating the crew and leaving their fates uncertain. A risky plan begins to form, but the stakes are higher than ever. What is the true nature of the Valkyrie? Can the Bucs outmanoeuvre its eerie hold? And how far will they go to save each other? There's only one way to find out, grab your Dnd Dice, join Tom (Keth), Paul (Milo), Alex (Derek), Chip (Jeff), and Sophie (River), led by James (the Dungeon Master) and Roll Britannia. SUPPORT THE SHOW AND JOIN OUR PATREON - http://www.patreon.com/rollbritannia | BUY TICKETS TO ROLL BRITANNIA LIVE SHOW - aegp.uk/rollbritannia | NEW STOCK AVAILABLE IN OUR MERCH STORE - https://www.rollbritannia.co.uk/shop | UK GAMES EXPO 2025 - DND IMPROV COMEDY SHOW - https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/events/2216-your-adventure-awaits/ | UK GAMES EXPO 2025 - HOW TO NOT SUCK AT DND - https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/events/2224-how-to-not-suck-at-dd/ | CHECK OUT OUR OFFICIAL WEBSITE - https://www.rollbritannia.co.uk/ | SUPPORT OUR BACKERKIT PROJECT - https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/8da7d3c3-55f1-4403-9ef7-f98377691789/landing | Feedspot Best 100 Dungeons & Dragons Podcast - https://blog.feedspot.com/dnd_podcasts/ | Feedspot 10 Best DND Comedy podcasts - https://blog.feedspot.com/dnd_comedy_podcasts/ Feedspot 50 Best Role Playing Games (RPG) Podcasts - https://podcasts.feedspot.com/role_playing_games_podcasts/ | Feedspot 100 Best Tabletop RPG Podcasts - https://podcasts.feedspot.com/tabletop_rpg_podcasts/ | Fiction Horizon 50 Best D&D Podcasts To Listen In 2022 - https://fictionhorizon.com/best-dd-podcasts-to-listen/ | Find us on BestPodcasts.co.uk - https://www.bestpodcasts.co.uk/podcast/roll-britannia-a-british-dungeons-dragons-5e-podcast/ | DungeonMasterUK TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/dungeonmasteruk | Sound & music by Syrinscape www.syrinscape.com Because Epic Games Need Epic Sound Complete list of credits here: https://syrinscape.com/attributions/?id=142440 | Roll Britannia is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. | Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dan Prosser and Andrew Frankel are joined by professional racing driver Darren Turner. A three-time Le Mans class winner with Aston Martin, Darren recently broke the production car lap record at Silverstone in a Valkyrie hypercar, lowering the bar by 10 whole seconds. Darren explains how the attempt compared to a GT3 qualifying lap, reveals how much quicker the track-only Valkyrie AMR Pro would be and talks about F1 star Nico Hulkenberg's remarkable day in that car. Darren also reflects on a long and very successful professional racing career that probably should never have happened.Use coupon code pod15 at checkout to get 15% off a subscription to The Intercooler's online car magazine! With a 30-day free trial, you can try it risk-free – https://www.the-intercooler.com/subscribe/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're covering the 2008 Tom Cruise movie...."VALKYRIE"    Inspired by the events of July 20th, 1944 where German soldiers conspired to overthrow and assassinate Adolf Hitler.    Underrated movie and under talked about event.  Check it out. As always follow us on the stuff Merch Store- http://tee.pub/lic/doEoXMI_oPI Patreon- https://www.patreon.com/Artandjacobdoamerica Website- https://artandjacobdoamerica.com/ Network- https://podbelly.com/ Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/artandjacobdoamerica YouTube Channel- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0rT6h3N2pWtlkxaqgIvaZw?view_as=subscriber Twitter- https://twitter.com/ArtandJacobDoA1 Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/artandjacobdoamerica/   ALSO! Make sure you're checking out our sponsor https://cavemancoffeeco.com  

Find the 9 Points Review here: https://www.alostplot.com/9-points/ Find Thor: The Dark World Review here: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/maverick51411/episodes/2025-01-15T17_37_21-08_00In this episode, Maverick and Andrew delve into a detailed review of 'Thor Ragnarok,' exploring its characters, themes, and overall cinematic experience.The conversation highlights the film's pacing issues and the lack of compelling stakes for the protagonist, while also appreciating its visual appeal and entertaining moments.  The conversation also touches on the film's handling of themes such as responsibility, power, and the impact of side quests on the main storyline. ----------Highlights:0:00 'Thor: Ragnarok' Introduction4:39 Opening Scene7:10 Thor's Lack of Struggles and Stakes15:04 Odin's Death18:49 Hela and Themes23:49 The Grand Master32:05 Loki Turns Good37:14 Is Valkyrie Compelling?47:39 Messages of Thor Ragnarok52:12 Lasting Impact#thor #thorragnarok #ragnarok #mcu #marvelstudios #marvelcinematicuniverse #odin #loki #hela #warriors3 #valkyrie #warriormaidens #alostplot #filmthoughts #characterarc #characterdevelopment #norsegods #norse #asgard #sultur #fire #hulk #comedy #grandmaster #themes #taikawaititi #superhero #superheroes #superherofilm

We're getting gory with killer clowns and watching Terrifier 2 (2022) because you demanded it! Art the Clown continues his blood soaked rampage, aided and abetted by a supernatural Pale Little Girl, and the only person who stands in his way is a teen Valkyrie! Listen as we explore the appeal of Damien Leone's splatter saga on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Anthony Thomas and Joe Numbers dive into the latest WWE Raw episode. They discuss the increased references to the trade table, the return to a 'business as usual' show, and their thoughts on match lengths for television. The duo addresses the debut of Penta, Sammy Zane's ongoing storyline, and Gunther's interaction with Jey Uso. Additionally, they critique the promo styles of female wrestlers, particularly Lyra Valkyria, and debate the effectiveness of the women's intercontinental championship match. The show is rounded off with analysis of the main event featuring Damien Priest and Finn Balor, as well as the internal drama within Judgment Day. Tune in for a deep dive into the latest WWE developments with a touch of humor and sharp commentary.01:07 Wrestling Soup Hosts Discuss WWE Criticism01:56 WWE Drone and Production Quality03:36 SmackDown's Lack of Changes07:34 CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Drew McIntyre Promo12:15 Chad Gable vs. Penta Match Analysis20:31 Judgment Day Drama and Character Development24:49 Seamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser: Hard-Hitting Action30:48 Sammy Zane and Seth Rollins Backstage Interaction34:32 Gunther's Champion Presentation38:38 Corey Graves: Commentary Side Piece45:49 Gunther vs. Jey Uso: A Heated Exchange51:12 Bird Woman59:57 Nia Jax and Bailey's Feud01:09:55 Main Event: Damien Priest vs. Finn Balor01:13:55 Wrestling News and Updates01:17:45 Closing Remarks and Upcoming EventsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wrestling-soup--1425249/support.

PWTorch editor Wade Keller is joined by PWTorch's Javier Machado to discuss the second episode of WWE Raw on Netflix. They begin with thoughts on the C.M. Punk-Seth Rollins-Drew McIntyre interactions and Royal Rumble news. Then some big picture talk about whether this episode was too much of a drop-off from last week's loaded line-up. Then they interact with callers, the chat, and emails from listeners on many other topics from Raw and new speculation on top matches and outcomes at the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wade-keller-pro-wrestling-post-shows--3275545/support.

S5E13 Volsung Poems: The Poems of Brynhild and Gudrun (Part 4) David continues his series of not so short solo episodes, deep diving into the Poems of the Poetic Edda which inspired the Saga of the Volsungs.This is the story of the meeting of the hero with the beloved. The Valkyrie. I had to analyze the tragedy of Tristan and Iseult to find the archetypes which may be at play with the meeting of the hero with the beloved, and the meaning of the love triangle where the hero betrays his first love, in order to attempt to make an earthly love work. Is Sigurd "heartless" in his betrayal? Powerless to the dark agreements of others? Or does he have an acceptance of fate that is difficult for us to fathom?This episode explores the poems focusing on the meeting of Sigurd with his beloved and the tragedy when he finds himself with both Brynhild and Gudrun in love with him.Gripir's prophecyThe "short" poem of SigurdA fragment about Sigurd The First Poem of GudrunBrynhild's Ride to HellThe Saga of Volsung gives a convoluted meeting of Sigurd with Brynhild. Gripir's Prophecy gives what I find to be an oversimplified version. The other poems give multiple possible meetings as we attempt to sort out what was the most likely meeting and what did the earliest authors intend to be the meeting.I also contrast the Norse Version of the archetypal meeting of the hero and the beloved, which is filled with Shadow, Cursed Fate, and Insecurities, with the ideal meeting from Shahname, the Persian Book of Kings.Writing this episode has helped me a great deal to understand a relatively coherent and tragic story of Sigurd following his fate and playing out the curse of Andvari and Fafnir's gold. And I have gained a great deal of respect and understanding for Gudrun. I hope you enjoy coming along on the journey and I will return to the poems of Gudrun and Atli in the near future.Ways to support us:If you have been enjoying our show, please write a 5 star review on itunes to help spread our podcast to a wider audience:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/between-two-ravens-a-norse-mythology-podcast/id1604263830Buy Shawn and David a Beer or Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/tworavenpodcastFollow us for updates or send us a message on Instagram:Instagram: (@TwoRavensPodcast): https://www.instagram.com/tworavenspodcast/Check out David's writing: Walled Garden (https://thewalledgarden.com/davidalexander)Our podcast is part of The Walled Garden Podcast Network. The Walled Garden is committed to the pursuit of Truth, Wisdom, Virtue, and the Divine, wherever it might be found. Visit thewalledgarden.com to learn more.This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5910787/advertisement

What if the X-Men traded Cerebro for Mjolnir? This week, we're tackling one of the wildest "What If?" scenarios ever: What if the X-Men had stayed in Asgard? When Rahne Sinclair decides she belongs with her wolf prince boyfriend, Cyclops takes a vote that splits the team—literally! Loki, never one to miss a chaotic opportunity, rewrites the rules and sends the losers back to Earth. Meanwhile, Storm is out here living her full goddess fantasy, Mirage embraces her destiny as a literal Valkyrie, and Nightcrawler? Oh, he's swashbuckling his way through the Nine Realms with a grin. This story is a Shakespearean mess of loyalty, betrayal, and mutant drama (just the way we like it).Oh, and did we mention What If...? Season 3 just dropped? We're serving up unfiltered takes on the first episodes, including Agatha Goes to Hollywood. Does it enchant or hex our expectations?Mutants, gods, Loki-level chaos—this episode has it all. Ready to answer the ultimate question: Asgard or Earth?Find us on the AIPT Podcast Network. Follow our show to be alerted when new episodes appear the first and third Wednesday of the month. Check us out on social media @xreadspodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. For business inquiries, email xreadspodcast@gmail.com. Learn more at https://aiptcomics.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/x-reads-an-x-men-experience--3616281/support.

All Hands on Decks is a series featuring Andyr that discusses community decks that we think deserve to be seen. We will discuss the decks, and categorize them into the Johnny-Timmy-Spike archetypes so that others can find decks they might enjoy, depending on the type of player they are.  Link to Spike, Johnny, and Timmy: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/timmy-johnny-and-spike-2013-12-03 In this episode of All Hands on Decks, Boomguy and Andyr explore community decks centered around the leadership ally Beta Ray Bill. They discuss various deck-building strategies, player archetypes, and analyze specific decks, including one from The Masked Hero and another featuring Valkyrie. The conversation emphasizes the importance of community engagement and the creativity of deck builders, encouraging listeners to share their own decks and thoughts. Going Down Swinging: https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/44216/going-down-swinging-1.0 Valkyrie's Black Knight: https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/42221/valkyrie-s-black-knight-1.0 Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the series 03:07 Deck Building Themes and Player Archetypes 09:46 Exploring the Beta Ray Bill Deck 16:40 Valkyrie Deck Analysis 28:53 Community Engagement and Closing Thoughts    

MYSTERIO AS A SUPERVILLAIN?! What If...? Season 3 Full Reaction Watch Along:  https://www.patreon.com/thereelrejects Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/thereelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ What If...? Season 3 Episode 5 Reaction, Recap, Commentary, & Spoiler Review w/ Greg Alba & Coy Jandreau (DC Studios Comics Correspondent)! Greg and Coy delve into Marvel Studios' What If...? Season 3, Episode 5, titled "What If... The Emergence Destroyed the Earth?" In this apocalyptic alternate universe, Mysterio (Spider-Man Far From Home) seizes control of White Vision (Wandavision), plunging the world into chaos. Riri Williams (Ironheart) finds herself entangled in a deal gone awry with the Power Broker, leading her to join forces with Ying Nan (portrayed by Michelle Yeoh), Wong, and Valkyrie. Together, they engineer an epic assembly suit to confront the escalating threat. Greg and Coy provide in-depth analysis and engaging commentary on the episode's unique storyline, character dynamics, and its implications for the Marvel multiverse. Follow Coy Jandreau:  Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@coyjandreau?l... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coyjandreau/?hl=en Twitter:  https://twitter.com/CoyJandreau YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwYH2szDTuU9ImFZ9gBRH8w Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Music Used In Manscaped Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the Winsidr show, Rachel and Aryeh dive into the highly anticipated expansion draft, marking the first of its kind in 16 years, as the Valkyrie unveil their new roster. The hosts analyze the selected players, discussing their potential impact on the league and the strategies that may unfold in the coming weeks. With plenty of insights and reactions, they unpack the implications of this significant event, exploring how it shapes the future of the franchise and the competitive landscape of the sport. Tune in for an in-depth look at what it means for the Valkyrie and beyond.(Sound design by Mike Goodrick)Affiliate Links:Homage: http://homage.sjv.io/Winsidr23BreakingT: http://breakingt.com/winsidrFanatics: http://fanatics.93n6tx.net/winsidr ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Ciara, Alex and Ashtyn, are SHAKING UP the basketball podcasting industry by talking about WHATEVER WE WANT. We cover the Valkyrie's roster/potential free agency moves, Jokic NOT being a Nick, the weather, and more! Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.

Send us a textEpisode 508 "The Penguin" Actor: Louis Cancelmi One of my favorite actors working today. He was terrific in #ThePenguin #KillersOfTheFlowerMoon and #TheIrishman not to mention #Billions and so much more. He is very much like John Carroll Lynch, low key, usually fuels and steals the show or the projects he's in. Terrific talent. Old school look.Louis Cancelmi.You can currently find Louis in "The Penguin" as Rex Calabrese. He has an amazing filmography highlighted by Killers of the Flower Moon and The Irishman. Louis and I cover serious ground about life, acting, his roles and more. Louis also played undercover agent Mike D'Angelo on "Boardwalk Empire" (HBO, 2010-14), Louis also enjoyed recurring roles on "Blue Bloods" (CBS, 2010-), "Billions" (Showtime, 2016-) and "The Looming Tower" (Hulu, 2018-). Born in Anchorage, AK, Cancelmi studied Theater at Yale College before making his screen debut in dark workplace comedy "New Guy" (2003). He went on to play Balkanin in pre-WW1 drama "Si Laraby" (2003) and guest on "Third Watch" (NBC, 1999-2005) but initially focused on the stage, performing in productions of "Death of a Salesman," "A View from the Bridge" and "Love Lies Bleeding." But he eventually returned to the film world when he appeared alongside actress sister Annie Parisse in indie "First Person Singular" (2009). Roles in family dramedy "Gabi on the Roof in July" (2010), romantic comedy "The Ride of Tom and Valkyrie" (2011), love triangle tale "Green" (2011) and LGBT movie "Gayby" (2012) then followed, as did a brief spot in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" (2014). Cancelmi then appeared alongside his real-life wife Katherine Waterston and father-in-law Sam Waterston as a theatre director struggling with impending fatherhood in "Please Be Normal" (2014), and then again in his brother-in-law Graham's short film "And It Was Good" (2015). Cancelmi's profile grew considerably when he was cast as undercover agent Mike D'Angelo in Emmy-winning crime drama "Boardwalk Empire" (HBO, 2010-14). A year later he enjoyed a three-episode stint as serial killer Thomas Wilder on police procedural "Blue Bloods" (CBS, 2010-), played a thieving zoo worker on "Elementary" (CBS, 2012-) and added indie movies "Funny Bunny" (2015) and "Manhattan Romance" (2015) to his filmography. After showing up in Doug Liman's virtual reality drama "Invisible" (2016), Cancelmi played violent criminal Jimmy in NYC drama "Tramps" (2016), eco-criminal Owen in "The Blacklist" (NBC, 2013-) and successful trader Victor Mateo in three episodes of "Billions" (Showtime, 2016-). Cancelmi then landed supporting roles in art world satire "Fits and Starts" (2017) and comedy thriller "Green Olds" (2018), shared the screen with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in hitman biopic "The Irishman" (2018). Welcome, Louis Cancelmi www.mmcpodcast.com https://linktr.ee/mondaymorningcritic #thepenguin  #killersoftheflowermoon  #billions  #theirishman

Hannah and Cameron talk Bryan Singer, German history, accents, British thesbians, and more in this episode. 

We are back to a normal reviews episode, going over some albums (and a couple singles) of some varied styles, but mainly the two sides of the power coin: Fellowship and Demon Bitch. For the Impatient:00:00:00 Pre-roll00:01:18 Sup Nerds00:02:55 Fellowship00:13:47 Edit Point00:20:37 Slam Dunk Tangent00:23:06 More Fellowship00:26:56 Demon Bitch00:32:21 Edit Point00:38:39 Stilverlight00:41:38 Edit Point00:44:00 Edit Point00:44:28 Edit Point00:44:48 Brothers of Metal00:47:20 Edit Point00:50:18 Edit Point00:50:20 Valkyrie's Fire00:50:30 Edit Point00:53:36 Eons Enthroned00:57:43 Gloryhammer00:58:00 Edit Point01:00:43 Edit point01:01:25 Edit Point01:02:06 More Eons01:02:55 Edit Point01:03:06 Super Monster Party01:10:10 Edit Point01:12:48 Edit Point01:12:50 Wrapping Up Support us on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/powerfulpodcast Follow us! Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc - powerful. a power metal podcastFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/powerfulpodcastInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/powerfulpodcastTwitter - https://twitter.com/powerfulpm Music by Fernando ReyEdited by Fernando Rey

Cousins Síle and Teamhair cover Part III, "Valkyrie," of A Court of Silver Flames (ACOSF), book 5 of Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series. Will Síle perfectly remember the colors that symbolize Emerie, Gwyn and Nesta? Do you remember? Safe if you've read this far in the series, and no cross Sarah J. Maas universe spoilers! Make sure to send your voice memos and emails to sandtfaemail@gmail.com by Dec 11, 2024 to be included in the book club wrap of the book!

"This is a fun card." - VillainTheory In this episode of Winning Hand, Boomguy and Villain Theory discuss their experiences with various Marvel Champions heroes, including Fantomex, Nightcrawler, and Iceman. They delve into the mechanics and design of these characters, sharing their thoughts on what works and what doesn't. The conversation also touches on the challenges of card design, particularly for characters like Rogue and Valkyrie, and the evolution of multi-villain scenarios in the game. The episode culminates in a detailed discussion of the new card 'Come Get Me, Bub,' highlighting its thematic elements and artwork. In this conversation, the hosts delve into the intricacies of card design in Marvel Champions. They discuss its thematic consistency, mechanics involving minions, and how it synergizes with various characters, particularly in the protection aspect. The conversation also touches on the challenges of using certain characters like Valkyrie and evaluates the overall fun factor and gameplay experience provided by the card. The hosts conclude with their final thoughts and ratings, expressing high praise for the card's design and utility in gameplay. Here is a link to VT's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@VillainTheory We are looking for feedback from the community that listens to this show, so please get in touch to let us know what you think of the podcast, and please take time to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, it really makes a difference! Email: winninghandpodcast@gmail.com IG: @winninghandpodcast  Discord: Boomguy / Leethus / LazyTitan421 Facebook: Winning Hand Podcast

#13: Tis the season of spooky reboots! A classic historical horror.