Looking for a place to eat dinner and watch some sweet 16 action tomorrow night, but want something more to the menu than fried food and burgers/tacos. Cover 3 on Anderson has been my go to in the past, but I'm looking to go somewhere different. Central/North preferred.

Hello bangtan!
This thread is a compilation of FACE Achievements! – all the records broken, charts topped, and achievements that were earned by 'FACE' and 'Like Crazy'. This includes milestones for all charting for digitals and/or physicals, YouTube views and other special milestones as they happen.
Please reply to this thread with links to reliable sources that document the achievements submitted.
Comments will be sorted by new, so please check the comments to avoid repeat posts.

WORLDWIDE

iTUNES

• TBA

APPLE MUSIC

• TBA

SPOTIFY

• TBA

YOUTUBE

• TBA

BILLBOARD

• TBA

ASIAN DIGITALS / PHYSICALS

South Korea

• TBA

Japan

• TBA

AMERICA DIGITALS/PHYSICALS

North America

• TBA

Central America

• TBA

South America

• TBA

EUROPEAN DIGITALS/PHYSICALS

• TBA

OCEANIA DIGITALS/PHYSICALS

• TBA

AFRICA

• TBA

OTHER

SNS

• TBA

Trending

• TBA

Shazam

• TBA

Amazon Music

• TBA

To be updated as it happens!

LOST YELLOW LAB NEAR i-35/Airport/45th
Yellow lab with red collar
Running along i-35 service road headed north
Ran after it on foot along service road - think it turned into the neighborhood

As the subject says tomorrow I road trip down to Texas for the weekend and will be heading home on Monday. While I have plenty of audiobooks and podcasts that I could fill my ears with I really enjoy voice chatting with folks and making new friends! I'm open to voice memos back and forth since tomorrow is a workday for most, or if you are available for a full-on phone call I'm open to that as well. If you want to chat a bit tonight I will be around this evening just reading and then we can jump into things tomorrow. I live in the Central Time Zone and should be on the road for most of tomorrow. If you can only chat for an hour or if you want to try to make it my entire road trip lets do it!
Some of my interests include science, video games, writing, reading, faith, getting out of our comfort zones, camping, cuddling, and more! In terms of what I'm "into": Marvel, Doctor Who, Ted Lasso, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, LEGOs, collecting things. Basically I'm a nerd! Haha. Don't want to jump into too much so that we can have a lot to talk about on the phone! I am also one who really likes deep conversations, so if you have something deep you've been pondering, or want to get some stuff off your chest to a complete stranger I'm up for that as well!

As the subject says tomorrow I road trip down to Texas for the weekend and will be heading home on Monday. While I have plenty of audiobooks and podcasts that I could fill my ears with I really enjoy voice chatting with folks and making new friends! I'm open to voice memos back and forth since tomorrow is a workday for most, or if you are available for a full-on phone call I'm open to that as well. If you want to chat a bit tonight I will be around this evening just reading and then we can jump into things tomorrow. I live in the Central Time Zone and should be on the road for most of tomorrow. If you can only chat for an hour or if you want to try to make it my entire road trip lets do it!
Some of my interests include science, video games, writing, reading, faith, getting out of our comfort zones, camping, cuddling, and more! In terms of what I'm "into": Marvel, Doctor Who, Ted Lasso, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, LEGOs, collecting things. Basically I'm a nerd! Haha. Don't want to jump into too much so that we can have a lot to talk about on the phone! I am also one who really likes deep conversations, so if you have something deep you've been pondering, or want to get some stuff off your chest to a complete stranger I'm up for that as well!

As the subject says tomorrow I road trip down to Texas for the weekend and will be heading home on Monday. While I have plenty of audiobooks and podcasts that I could fill my ears with I really enjoy voice chatting with folks and making new friends! I'm open to voice memos back and forth since tomorrow is a workday for most, or if you are available for a full-on phone call I'm open to that as well. If you want to chat a bit tonight I will be around this evening just reading and then we can jump into things tomorrow. I live in the Central Time Zone and should be on the road for most of tomorrow. If you can only chat for an hour or if you want to try to make it my entire road trip lets do it!
Some of my interests include science, video games, writing, reading, faith, getting out of our comfort zones, camping, cuddling, and more! In terms of what I'm "into": Marvel, Doctor Who, Ted Lasso, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, LEGOs, collecting things. Basically I'm a nerd! Haha. Don't want to jump into too much so that we can have a lot to talk about on the phone! I am also one who really likes deep conversations, so if you have something deep you've been pondering, or want to get some stuff off your chest to a complete stranger I'm up for that as well!

As the subject says tomorrow I road trip down to Texas for the weekend and will be heading home on Monday. While I have plenty of audiobooks and podcasts that I could fill my ears with I really enjoy voice chatting with folks and making new friends! I'm open to voice memos back and forth since tomorrow is a workday for most, or if you are available for a full-on phone call I'm open to that as well. If you want to chat a bit tonight I will be around this evening just reading and then we can jump into things tomorrow. I live in the Central Time Zone and should be on the road for most of tomorrow. If you can only chat for an hour or if you want to try to make it my entire road trip lets do it!
Some of my interests include science, video games, writing, reading, faith, getting out of our comfort zones, camping, cuddling, and more! In terms of what I'm "into": Marvel, Doctor Who, Ted Lasso, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, LEGOs, collecting things. Basically I'm a nerd! Haha. Don't want to jump into too much so that we can have a lot to talk about on the phone! I am also one who really likes deep conversations, so if you have something deep you've been pondering, or want to get some stuff off your chest to a complete stranger I'm up for that as well!

As the subject says tomorrow I road trip down to Texas for the weekend and will be heading home on Monday. While I have plenty of audiobooks and podcasts that I could fill my ears with I really enjoy voice chatting with folks and making new friends! I'm open to voice memos back and forth since tomorrow is a workday for most, or if you are available for a full-on phone call I'm open to that as well. If you want to chat a bit tonight I will be around this evening just reading and then we can jump into things tomorrow. I live in the Central Time Zone and should be on the road for most of tomorrow. If you can only chat for an hour or if you want to try to make it my entire road trip lets do it!
Some of my interests include science, video games, writing, reading, faith, getting out of our comfort zones, camping, cuddling, and more! In terms of what I'm "into": Marvel, Doctor Who, Ted Lasso, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, LEGOs, collecting things. Basically I'm a nerd! Haha. Don't want to jump into too much so that we can have a lot to talk about on the phone! I am also one who really likes deep conversations, so if you have something deep you've been pondering, or want to get some stuff off your chest to a complete stranger I'm up for that as well!

As the subject says tomorrow I road trip down to Texas for the weekend and will be heading home on Monday. While I have plenty of audiobooks and podcasts that I could fill my ears with I really enjoy voice chatting with folks and making new friends! I'm open to voice memos back and forth since tomorrow is a workday for most, or if you are available for a full-on phone call I'm open to that as well. If you want to chat a bit tonight I will be around this evening just reading and then we can jump into things tomorrow. I live in the Central Time Zone and should be on the road for most of tomorrow. If you can only chat for an hour or if you want to try to make it my entire road trip lets do it!
Some of my interests include science, video games, writing, reading, faith, getting out of our comfort zones, camping, cuddling, and more! In terms of what I'm "into": Marvel, Doctor Who, Ted Lasso, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, LEGOs, collecting things. Basically I'm a nerd! Haha. Don't want to jump into too much so that we can have a lot to talk about on the phone! I am also one who really likes deep conversations, so if you have something deep you've been pondering, or want to get some stuff off your chest to a complete stranger I'm up for that as well!

Yellow lab with red collar
Running along i-35 service road headed north
Ran after it on foot along service road - think it turned into the neighborhood

In 1982, fifteen year old Margaret Carabetta was living in Tucson, Arizona, with her mother Judy, after her parent’s recent divorce. Margaret was a sophomore at Saguaro High School, which she very much enjoyed- while Margaret and her mother’s home was outside of Saguaro High School’s district, she kept her father’s address as a way of staying enrolled there. Margaret’s friends said that the divorce of her parents deeply affected her, and that she was a private and reserved person as a result. Though quiet, and lacking truly close friendships, she was considered very friendly and well known by the peers at her school. Her mother, Judy, described Margaret as someone who was just discovering her self worth and beauty, and enjoying where life was taking her, saying:

”She really liked herself. She didn’t like anything more than she liked being alive.”

Her mother stated that she was just beginning to make closer friends, dipping her toes into dating, and that she was your average teenager in the 1980’s. Judy claims she was indifferent towards school itself- she had good courses and bad courses, but she attended regularly and had a good attitude about it. She was simply enjoying her teenage years, as she should have been.
The Murder
On April 8, 1982, Judy was heading to work a shift at her job at a local bar, when she asked Margaret for help putting the top up on her convertible before leaving. Judy recalled that Margaret was a bit grumpy about being asked to help, and as she walked back inside, Judy yelled to her “Hey! Give me one more look,” a line from the movie A Star Is Born. Margaret smiled and laughed, and that is Judy’s very last image of her only daughter.
Later in the evening, during Judy’s shift, she wanted to check in on Margaret, who was at home alone. She called Margaret sometime between 10:40- 11:00 p.m., and the two chatted for a bit before Judy told her she would see Margaret when she gets home. One source stated that Margaret made a phone call to a friend around 11 p.m. that evening, as well.
Judy would arrive at her home located in the 2800 of North Woodland Avenue somewhere between the time of 1:15 a.m., and 1:30 a.m., where she discovered her front door wide open, and their dog outside on the front lawn. When entering the home, Judy would discover her daughter missing. Extremely concerned, Judy called the local Tucson police to report Margaret as missing, but sadly, police told her she can either wait 24 hours to report her as missing, or, report her as a runaway. Judy knew Margaret would never up and leave, so she decided to wait the 24 hours- but, while doing so, she would search for her daughter herself.
The next morning, two elderly women were taking a morning hike around the Catalina foothills, near North Pinchot Road and Craycroft Road, in an area well known as a “lover’s lane.” At 8 a.m., the two stumbled upon the body of a teenage girl. The girl had been lying face down, with her hands tied behind her back with rope, and had suffered a blow to the head. She was wearing a red print t-shirt and a pair of underwear. During the autopsy, it was determined that the blow to the head was from a rock, and that there was no evidence of any sexual assault- two days later, the body was identified as missing Margaret Carabetta, through dental records. When learning about her daughter’s murder, Judy recalled:

”I wasn’t watching the TV news when they reported finding a body. I guess that was good; they would have had to scrape me off the walls.”

Investigators were quick to piece together a timeline of the murder- a couple came forward during the investigation to claim that they had seen the body lying at the lover’s lane at 12:30 a.m. on the same morning Margaret was killed, but they did not report the body out of fear. It was also determined that the friend that Margaret had called at 11 p.m. the evening of April 8th, later reported as Margaret’s boyfriend, had come to the Carabetta home that evening, as well. The boyfriend claimed that he had been picked up by another friend and left, when Margaret had gotten ready for bed. This led police to believe that Margaret had gotten ready for bed wearing her t-shirt and underwear, when someone she knew had come to the door, and Margaret had left with them willingly. (Note: I find this detail strange, as, if Margaret left willingly, why would she leave the door wide open?) Police are unsure if Margaret was killed where her body was found, or elsewhere, but they do believe that she was murdered due to rejecting the killer’s sexual advances.
The next month, in May of 1982, a Tucson woman reported being raped at her home near North Alvernon Way and East Fort Lowell Road. The man responsible for her rape, twenty one year old William Fred Garrison, said to the woman during the attack “Be quiet, or you’ll end up like that girl at the end of Craycroft,” while holding a knife to her throat. Due to his statements during the attack, Garrison was looked at as a potential suspect for the murder of Margaret, but due to lack of evidence, he was never charged with her death. He was however arrested and charged with two counts of rape.
The last publicly known move in the investigation was in January of 2007, when investigators had sent the rope, t-shirt and underwear in for DNA testing, in hopes of finding a link to a potential suspect. Sadly, no reports were ever made after they submitted the evidence, so there is no telling what was discovered. The case is still unsolved, and now, very cold, one month shy of the 41st anniversary of Margaret’s death. Margaret’s family, including a brother Benjamin who lives in Mesa, are still holding out hope that the murder of Margaret will be solved one day, and her killer brought to justice.
In April of 1982, a classmate of Margaret’s, Lori Clover, wrote into a local newspaper with a plea, stating:

”A plea for justice: I am a student at the Saguaro High School. I was a friend of Margaret Carabetta. Margaret was a sweet girl who often wore a smile on her face. She was always willing to give a helping hand to a friend, even when she had problems of her own. It’s a shame that such a beautiful person, inside and out, was killed in such a tragic and violent way. What is this world coming to that we must live in constant fear even in our own homes? Crime has become so terrible that even daylight brings no safety. All I am praying for is to see justice done, to find the killer who killed my friend in such a cruel, inhumane way. I ask for your cooperation to help fight crime, to make our streets safe to walk on again, and to make our world a little more perfect, not a living hell, wondering what will happen tomorrow, or the day after.”

Links
Newspaper clippings
Arizona Daily Star

Hello, I have never ridden th KC street car or any streetcar for that matter. I use an E-Bike as my only transportation. The farthest I have ridden is Union Station from the Westwood area where I now live. I was curious how the spacing is, I know it says that the middle car can be used for people on bikes but an e-bike is a bit bigger than a thin road bike so don't want to be that guy. Does anyone know if it would be feasible to do that way I could ride to Union Station and take the car North.

Hello! I’m a bit surprised there’s no sticky for this but I agree if we are to have only one sticky it should be about being good to the ocean. Anyways- I’m building a food itinerary for my week on the island and so far I have secured a reservation at Mama’s. I have browsed the threads and there’s a lot of information scattered around. I think it would be very helpful to get a food guide going that’s diced into regions of the island. I’ll go first: 1. Central North- Kahului area:
grilled cheese at the food truck court
geste shrimp truck
tin roof

1. Upcountry:

kula lodge restaurant

1. Hana Region:

huli huli chicken
Poke Bob- backup for Huli Huli

1. Wailea:

Monkey pod

1. Lahaina:

Hula Grill
Star Noodles- needs reservations 4 weeks
Sunrise Cafe- locally owned
Kihei Caffe- breakfast

1. Multiple locations:

ululani Hawaiian shaved ice.
Paia fish market
Apparently Foodland has the best poke

1. Kihei:

Miso phat sushi
Isana sushi- relaxed atmosphere
There’s Bar- pricey, go during happy hour

1. Kapalua/Northwest

Sansei Sushi- this location better than one in Kihei
Merrimans- need reservations, get a 4pm seating for good table.
It’s a pretty sparse list, and I really need help filling my week with awesome food. Thank you so much in advance!! I’m going to edit the post to include everyone’s suggestions from below! So keep bringing them on!

Is a trip to Vice City in your near future? There have been many Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6) leaks over the last few years, but the most recent suggests that players will return to a classic GTA location. Rumor has it that Grand Theft Auto VI may take place in Vice City.
This particular rumor started through the usual sources -- Twitter and Reddit. Twitter user Vector Hold, also known as Peter Brian Rice, claimed that Rockstar Games’ music rights representatives have been contacting Synthwave artists. Rice is a synthwave artist himself and has reportedly heard this information from fellow musicians. Rockstar Games hopes that the artists will contribute music for a radio station in the upcoming game. The tweet was posted earlier this week, but Rice has since deleted it.
There was also a reddit post that was created several months ago by user “markothemexicam.” The user claimed that their information was from their roommate. The roommate supposedly formerly worked for Rockstar North. They contended that GTA 6 will be set during an “unspecified” time in Vice City. This post has also been deleted, but has been saved elsewhere on the internet.
It would be tempting to discredit this reddit post as these kinds of claims are a dime a dozen on the Internet. However, another GTA leaker also recently suggested that GTA 6 would be set in a location familiar to players. Both markothemexicam and the GTA leaker have a fairly decent track record with regards to GTA predictions.
Other information on the internet suggests that the storyline of GTA 6 will be focused on drug smuggling. Players will reportedly travel between Vice City and Central or South America. This theory was originally suggested by YouTube channel “The Know” and has since gained quite a bit of popularity.
grand theft auto vice city 2
It is important to keep in mind that all of this information is simply speculation. There have been plenty of fake GTA 6 rumors in the past. For example, a Twitch channel called "GTAVI" appeared this past spring. The channel promised it would provide information about the game during a livestream on April 1st. However, this channel turned out to be an elaborate April Fools’ prank.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC. It was the best-selling game of 2002 and received a number of awards. 17.5 million copies of the game have been sold and it has now been ported to several other platforms. It is easy to see why so many players would be thrilled to return to Vice City. Unfortunately, we will know nothing for certain until Rockstar Games decides to make a formal announcement.

Guide available! Go here.
Series beginning is here.
[First] Prev/ Next
After the younger Haarthuu had left, Elizabet and I simply sat a while, discussing the decidedly odd interaction.
“I mean, she certainly seems nice, but I worry that she may try to come between us. I know you say that she won’t, but the fear is still there,” Elizabet said, hugging her arms.
“Hey, now,” I said softly. “The word is can’t. She can’t come between us. I love you, Elizabet. Not anyone else. Don’t forget that,” I said, gently stroking her arm.
She smiled and leaned into my chest, and I lay down, holding her to me. “There’s no force here that will keep me from loving you. Nobody could possibly come between us. That’s not a worry you should ever have,” I said, running my fingers through her auburn hair.
She sighed softly and snuggled close to me. “I will trust your word. I still think we will have to tread carefully when it comes to her. I don’t want us to unintentionally hurt her,” she said softly.
“Neither do I. Let’s get some sleep, okay?” I asked.
Elizabet sat up, removing her habit. I gazed longingly at her beautiful body, and undressed. We curled up in the bed, and she pressed my face into her warm cleavage. Sighing contentedly, I snuggled in, and let my exhaustion take me into dreams.
*********
The next morning, I was so stiff and sore that I could barely move. My back hurt intensely from pulling my new bow as much as I had, and my shoulders creaked and protested loudly every time I tried to move them. Ullr was correct. I was extremely sore.
“Well, that’s the last time I do that,” I said.
“Do what? “Elizabet asked as she bent over to retrieve her habit. I tried unsuccessfully to grab her ass, my arms seemingly being several hundred pounds of dead weight.
“Shoot like that. I can barely move. I’ll be alright in a bit, I just need to get myself up and moving,” I said, standing slowly.
Several joints in my body protested, creaking loudly and popping even louder as I stood beside the bed. I slowly dressed myself, planning to accompany Elizabet to breakfast. As I stomped my feet into my boots, we heard a knock at both doors.
Elizabet and I looked at each other, shrugged and we each opened a door.
“Hi Mr. Ivor! We brought you some breakfast,” Ahte-tan said.
“Hi, Elizabet. I brought you guys some breakfast. Would you mind if we all ate together?” Liss-ran said.
I started laughing and Elizabet covered her mouth in an attempt to stifle her mirth. Ahte-tan looked confused until he peered around me to see Liss-ran at the other door.
“Hi, Liss-ran! Have you come to have breakfast, too?” the child said happily, a broad smile on his face.
“Hello, Ahte-tan,” Liss-ran said sweetly. It looks like we all had the same idea, huh?” She looked up at Elizabet, smiling. “I say we should all have breakfast together. What does everyone think?” she asked.
“All of us, Liss-ran?” I asked.
“Sure! I’ve not had much chance to even get to know Talah-ma’at, much less the boys, so why not?” she said happily. “Also… I’ve not gotten to know much about you or Miss Elizabet. I think that would be a smart thing for family to do, right?” she added, somewhat embarrassed as her skin flushed.
“Absolutely, Liss-ran. Where would be the best place for seven people to eat?” Elizabet asked.
“With any kind of privacy? Outside. Unless one of you knows of somewhere more secluded?” Liss-ran posed.
“Well, it’s kind of cold out right now. I’d be fine, but the rest of you might not be.” I said, thinking. “How about my workshop? It’s not very far, and it’s more than big enough. What do you think, Elizabet?” I asked.
After a moment, she nodded. “Talah-ma’at?” she called, “We’re all going to Ivor’s workshop for breakfast with Liss-ran. Are you coming?”
“Absolutely! I’ll pick up a bit more food, and meet you there,” Talah-ma’at answered.
With that settled, I grabbed my bow, using the stave as a staff and we slowly made our way towards my workshop, my muscles and joints protesting every step of the way. My boys kept up a veritable torrent of chatter with us as we slowly walked.
After a few minutes, I opened the door to my workshop, pausing to remove the shield from the lamps I had installed. Liss-ran set the food she had brought on the central table that Loki had made, and looked around.
“So this is your workshop? What do you do here?” she asked as she walked around, inspecting each station, pausing to look at what would become my new Bag.
“Well, as you can see, I’m making a new bag there. It’s taken me a couple weeks to get this far. It will replace the one I have here” -I set my smaller red Bag down next to it- “as it will be several times the size of this one,” I said.
“This one is big enough that I could fit in it. Why is it taking so long to make? I don’t understand,” she said.
Elizabet chuckled lightly and watched. “It’s taking so long to make because I’m trying to figure out how much energy it’s going to take to replicate this,” I said as I reached into my Bag and pulled out the Dire Bear pelt.
“How did… Where did that come from? What is that bag?” Liss-ran asked, her eyes wide.
“This is a Bag of Holding, and I made it the same day I arrived on Chaia. It’s about full, and I need to replace it. It currently holds three of these” -I stuffed the pelt back into the Bag- “pelts, a full set of camp gear, several bundles of firewood, a bunch of stones, about my bodyweight in raw and dried meat, a couple of knives, both of my guns, and some fingers,” I said, and Elizabet recoiled from the Bag.
“Fingers? Fingers, Ivor? Why do you have fingers in the Bag?” she asked, horrified.
“Remember the idiots in Nogogard? The one that wanted to eat my boys? I took his third and fourth fingers from both hands. Stuffed them in the Bag, and kind of forgot about them,” I said sheepishly. “I should probably send those back to him,” I mused aloud.
“Ugh. No, just… just forget they’re there, okay? That’s morbid,” she said, holding her hand to her stomach.
Liss-ran had paled at the mention of the fingers, and stared at me in shock. “You… why did you take his fingers?” she asked.
“To put it bluntly, he wanted to eat Ahte-naah. I threatened him and warned him off, but he decided to press his luck. Along with a fellow Guard, they broke into the room we were sleeping in, and I beat them back, shredding my right arm in the process, when I punched through the floor. They got in a few good hits, though. I was extremely lucky that night. I took the one man’s fingers, making good on the promise I’d made earlier that day. I was going to take his hands, but I decided to be kind. He can still feed himself,” I said.
Liss-ran stared in shock and horror. “People do that?”
“Some do, yes. It’s something I had heard of while I was in the Guild underneath Gnok. I thought it was disgusting even then,” Elizabet said, barely repressing a shudder.
“Yeah. I was pretty incensed that it was even a thought in his head. I nearly killed him on the spot, but I was trying to be a bit more calm. We see how well that worked out,” I said wryly. “Anyway, let’s see about making some more space for my family, yeah?” I said, looking around.
Since the workshop was more or less a rectangular affair, I had some room to work with. I looked at the table and decided it would be best if I simply expanded it. I Shaped the table to be a bit lower in order to better accommodate the kids, then added another four feet to its length. I Duplicated the wooden chair several times over, and set them around the table. As an added flourish, I decided to Shape a lamp in the center of the table, complete with little designs in the shade, depicting a large, happy blended family sitting around a table for a meal. I walked outside, picking up one of the rounded waste stones, made a Light that was about as intense as a pair of candles, and made it flicker like fire. Setting it in the holder, and placing the shade over it, the designs were backlit to great effect. It almost looked like they were laughing and talking in the light.
“There we are. A table and chairs for my entire family. There’s room for Blainaut, Thaddeus and any partner they may decide to take, as well. Maybe we can make this our dining area for larger, more private, family meals?” I asked.
The kids were in awe of what I’d done, as was Liss-ran. Elizabet simply smiled as she watched me work, as she’d seen me do things like the before. The others hadn’t.
I was looking around, deep in thought, when Talah-ma’at came in, accompanied by Blainaut and Thaddeus, each carrying a tray of different foods.
“Oh! I see you’ve expanded the table. Good move, Ivor,” the lithe Lizardfolk woman remarked as she came in.
“Welcome! Blainaut, Thaddeus, this is my workshop. And, if everyone agrees, how about we make this our family dining area? I can find a way to cover or hide my work, if needed,” I said proudly.
Nodding appreciatively, Blainaut said, “Well! I’d no idea you were this industrious, my friend. Or that you had interests and skills this broad. I think this might be an excellent place for us to have meetings and family gatherings. What do you think, Thaddeus?”
Thaddeus looked around and smiled. “Ah say t’would be a right nice place. We should do this more,” the younger man said.
“I’ve a few more touches, and it’ll be done. Don’t worry, it won’t take much out of me to do,” I said excitedly.
I picked up the few sconces I had abandoned in my search to make the blacklight solution. Since they were made of mostly clear crystal, I figured they’d make decent windows. I took them and some waste stone to my open window, and Shaped window panes out of the sconces, and fittings out of the stone, and set them in the wide window I’d made previously, Fusing them in place. I figured I’d make a sign while I was at it, and across the top of the window panes I Shaped the words “Ivor's Workshop”, and in two of the side panes I put the words “Open” and “Closed”, respectively. Hollowing out a small recess above each letter on the top, I placed a low-intensity blacklight stone in each that would illuminate just the letters, and did the same for the “Open” and “Closed” panes, as well, but only making one stone that I could switch to the correct pane as needed. I set the stone in the “Closed” position.
“There! Now I’ve got a proper shop and can take orders. What do we think?” I said, turning to my family.
They all stood or sat there, in open-mouthed shock.
“What? What’d I do?” I asked in confusion.
“You know, he never ceases to amaze me?” Blainaut said to Elizabet.
“I know. Me too,” she replied. “Ivor, just how did you come up with this? I would never have even thought about using the crystals here in such a manner, let alone with the blacklights. Just…how?”
“I dunno. I guess I wanted a taste of Earth here. It isn’t the same, not quite, but it’s similar” -I sat down in one of the chairs- “to almost any storefront you’d find in most cities in my world. I always wanted my own shop. Now I have one,” I said simply.
“So, you mean to tell me that stores on Earth have crystal windows that are lit by these blacklights?” Blainaut asked.
“No, the windows are glass, and they’ll have lights made of neon tubes or something similar,” I replied.
“All the windows are glass on Earth. Most signage that is meant to be seen at night is neon or lit up in some way. Here. If it still works, I’ll show you,” I said, reaching into my Bag, removing an old backpack.
I sighed. I’d not thought about my phone or headset or anything technological from Earth since I’d arrived. Hopefully, it still had some charge to it. Or my backup power pack did, at least. I walked over to one of the workstations, setting the backpack down. Digging through the bag, I pulled out my kilt, and unrolled it, revealing my phone and power pack. I pulled a power cable out of a pocket of my kilt, and turned on my phone.
While it booted, I walked back to the table and sat down. I laid the phone down, screen up, on the table, and waited. The screen went magenta, and I heard the familiar T-Mobile jingle, which startled everyone around me. I smiled, and the phone completed its cycle, coming up to my home screen. I still had almost a full charge after a couple months of not being used. That would change in a few minutes, but it was good to see.
I waited a couple seconds, seeing that no service was found. My heart sank in my chest as the last hope I had of telling my mom and sisters, friends and relations, that I was okay evaporated like smoke in the wind.
“Well, I don’t know why I expected any different, but here we go,” I murmured as the entire group crowded around me.
I opened my pictures, finding a series I had taken of a cousin’s business shortly after he had set it up.
“This is Louisville. A city in my home state. This is my cousin’s storefront on the day he opened. The windows are glass, and that sign there is a neon sign. When electricity -or caged lightning, don’t ask- is fed into that sign, it excites a very specific gas inside those glass tubes, and they glow.” I swiped to another picture, “And this is that same sign at night, lit up,” I explained, sniffling.
Elizabet laid her head on my shoulder, and hugged me gently. She pointed at a car, and asked, “What’s that? It looks…mean.”
“That’s a car. My car, specifically. Blainaut, do you remember when I told you I had things that could travel forty leagues in a couple of hours? This is one of them. My world doesn’t have magic of any kind. We rely on technology, such as this object in my hand, to help us in our daily life,” I said, tears flowing down my cheeks, getting lost in my beard.
“Ivor, you didn’t have to show us this. It’s okay. I believed you, you know,” Elizabet said softly.
“I know,” I sniffled, “I guess I wanted to see my home world again. Even if only in a picture,” I said, smiling.
“A picture? You mean, like a portrait?” Blainaut asked. I nodded. “Can that device make a portrait?” he asked, his hand rubbing his chin in thought.
“Yeah. I can take a picture or a video -a moving picture with sound. Why?” I asked.
“Make one of us. We’re your family, right? Take a picture of us all. That way you have both worlds,” he said softly.
“Heh. I’d never even considered that. Part of me wasn’t going to ever get my phone out again, but I guess that part got overridden. Let me make a stand for it. This time I’ll be in the picture,” I said, rising.
I explained how the picture taking worked to my family, warning them that they may have a bright light in their eyes, then shaped a stand to hold my phone at the perfect angle, set it up to take a picture on a delay, and pushed the button. I raced back to my seat, put my arm around Elizabet, and told everyone to smile at the light.
CLICK
The flash momentarily blinded everyone at the table, and I got up to see my picture. There we all were, one big, happy, smiling family. Sitting at the table, about to have a good meal. I sighed, and brought it back, showing everyone the photo.
The Lizardfolk were almost terrified at how real it looked. They were intensely curious, however, and got over their fear quickly. The Humans at the table were in awe at the technology, and said as much.
“Ivor, this is incredible. Something like this would revolutionize our world. Do you know that?” Blainaut exclaimed in wonder.
“Yeah, I know. Which is precisely why I’ll never let it be Duplicated. Chaia isn’t ready for this. Chaia may never be ready for this. It would require a special network of towers and machinery just to make it work. I can’t, in good conscience, let it loose upon this world,” I said somberly.
“You told me when we arrived in the Lizardfolk territory that you had music on this device. Could we hear some?” asked Elizabet.
“Music? On that thing? I’d like to hear that, actually,” Blainaut said.
“Really? Well, I guess so. Would you guys please set out the food while I see if I have something that would be okay?” I asked.
The others nodded, and I sifted through my vast library to find something that would be pleasant, and not angry-sounding, like the majority of my music. In the end, I settled on a selection of classical guitar pieces to play. No lyrics, just pleasant guitar in various styles.
“Here we are. Some calm breakfast music for my family,” I said as I pushed play.
Immediately, the room was filled with beautiful music coming from my phone, and I began getting myself a decent helping of breakfast. The rest of the group were too busy staring at my phone. I smiled, waiting for the first song to finish, then paused it.
“Well?”
“Ivor… That was simply beautiful. What was that?” Elizabet asked, her voice soft and emotional.
“Old ballads from a country called Ireland. I had a friend that played guitar, and he gifted me a copy of some of his music. He couldn’t sing worth a damn, but he could play a guitar as easily as ringing a bell. Would you like to hear more?” I asked.
A chorus of affirmations later, and I had pressed play again. I began to eat, and the rest of the group did the same.
We ate and I told stories from my home, in good spirits and even better company.
[First] Prev/ Next
Hey! I’m also uploading my work on RoyalRoad! Here is my profile IvorFreyrsson
Join me over at Words_From_Ivor for more!

There was a question here yesterday I think about Gil-galad's names. I looked into it a little myself out of curiosity though it was quite the Gordian knot. Just for fun, I decided to find the relevant quotes about his names and his parentage that I could find and set them all roughly chronologically for my own satisfaction, to see it all from start to finish. I figured some person or persons here might find it interesting to look at too.
The roman numerals are for History of Middle-earth volumes:
V-The Lost Road and Other Writings; VI-The Return of the Shadow, VII-The Treason of Isengard, XI-The War of the Jewels, XII-The Peoples of Middle-earth
The Fall of Númenor c. 1936-7 (V 29):

And it is said that in Beleriand there arose a king, who was of Númenórean race, and he was named Elendil, that is Elf-friend. And he took counsel with tht Elves that remained in Middle-earth (and these abode then mostly in Beleriand); and he made a league with Gil-galad the Elf-king who was descended from Fëanor.

Draft of “The Council of Elrond” c. 1938 (VI 215)

There was a king in Beleriand of Númenórean race and he was called Elendil, that is Elf-friend. And he made an alliance with the Elf-king of those lands, whose name is Gilgalad (Starlight), a descendant of Fëanor the renowned. I remember well their council – for it reminded me of the great days of the ancient war, so many fair princes and captains were there, yet not so many or so fair as once had been.

Revisions to The Fall of Númenor c. 1940 (V 33 and VII 122-3)

But in that land that was left north and south of the gulf the Elves remained, and Gil-galad son of Felagund son of Finrod was their king.

Emendation to Quenta Silmarillion (1937) c. 1950, not taken up into Later Quenta 1 typescript 1951 (XI 242-3)

But fearing now that all strong places were doomed to fall at last before the might of Morgoth, he [Felagund] sent away his wife Meril to her own folk in Eglorest, and with her went their son, yet an elvenchild, and Gilgalad Starlight he was called for the brightness of his eye.

Grey Annals 1951 (XI 56)

Then in great sorrow Fingon took the lordship of the house of Fingolfin and the kingdom of the Noldor. [Late pencilled addition: But his young son (?Findor) [sic] Gilgalad he sent to the Havens.]

Aldarion and Erendis 1960 (Unfinished Tales 199 emended with Christopher’s comments XII 351)

[Finlachen>Finhenlach>] Finellach Gil-galad of the House of Finarfin to Tar-Meneldur of the line of Eärendil greeting: the Valar keep you and may no shadow fall upon the Isle of Kings.

A Description of the Island of Númenor 1960 (Unfinished Tales 168 emended with Christopher’s comments XII 351)

Its fruit was a nut with a silver shale; and some were given as a gift by Tar-Aldarion, the sixth King of Númenor, to King Finellach Gil-galad of Lindon.

Isolated scribbled note August 1965 (XII 350)

Angrod’s son was Artaresto, who was beloved by Finrod and escaped when Angrod was slain, and dwelt with Finrod. Finrod mad ehim his ‘steward’ and he succeeded him in Nargothrond. His Sindarin name was Rodreth (altered to Orodreth because of his love of the mountains.. ….. His children were Finduilas and Artanáro = Rodnor later called Gil-galad. (Their mother was a Sindarin lady of the North. She called her son Gil-galad). Rodnor Gil-galad escaped and eventually came to Sirion’s Mouth and was King of the Ñoldor there.

The Shibboleth of Fëanor c. 1968-9 (XII 347, 364)

Galad occurs also in the epessë of Ereinion (‘scion of kings’) by which he was chiefly remembered in legend, Gil-galad ‘star of radiance’: he was the last king of the Eldar in Middle-earth, and the last male descendant of Finwë except Elrond the Half-elven [Author’s note: He was the son of Arothir, nephew of Finrod.]

Not about parentage, but a new name, typescript note 1969 (The Nature of Middle-earth 186)

Base √ÑAL ‘shine, glitter’, always with reference to reflected radiance from a bright surface. As in the name Gil-galad ‘star of radiance’ given to Finwain, last High-king of the Eldar, because of the radiance of his silver hair, armour, and shield that, it is said, could even in the moonlight be seen from many leagues afar. The same word occurs in the name Galadriel (kinswoman of Finwain), ‘lady of the radiant crown’, referring to the shining of her golden hair.

I wonder if this came before or after Shibboleth, so if Finwain was supposed to be the replacement for Ereinion or the other way around.
I say his name should just be Findor Finellach Rodnor Ereinion Finwain Gil-galad the descendant of Fëanor, Fingolfin, and Finarfin. In seriousness though this was pretty fun to do. Christopher called the son of Fingon idea "ephemeral" in his final analysis of the subject, and looking at it all together it seems it really was just that one penciled note. He was merely temporarily of the line of Fingolfin while moving branches of the house of Finarfin.

Is a trip to Vice City in your near future? There have been many Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6) leaks over the last few years, but the most recent suggests that players will return to a classic GTA location. Rumor has it that Grand Theft Auto VI may take place in Vice City.
This particular rumor started through the usual sources -- Twitter and Reddit. Twitter user Vector Hold, also known as Peter Brian Rice, claimed that Rockstar Games’ music rights representatives have been contacting Synthwave artists. Rice is a synthwave artist himself and has reportedly heard this information from fellow musicians. Rockstar Games hopes that the artists will contribute music for a radio station in the upcoming game. The tweet was posted earlier this week, but Rice has since deleted it.
There was also a reddit post that was created several months ago by user “markothemexicam.” The user claimed that their information was from their roommate. The roommate supposedly formerly worked for Rockstar North. They contended that GTA 6 will be set during an “unspecified” time in Vice City. This post has also been deleted, but has been saved elsewhere on the internet.
It would be tempting to discredit this reddit post as these kinds of claims are a dime a dozen on the Internet. However, another GTA leaker also recently suggested that GTA 6 would be set in a location familiar to players. Both markothemexicam and the GTA leaker have a fairly decent track record with regards to GTA predictions.
Other information on the internet suggests that the storyline of GTA 6 will be focused on drug smuggling. Players will reportedly travel between Vice City and Central or South America. This theory was originally suggested by YouTube channel “The Know” and has since gained quite a bit of popularity.
grand theft auto vice city 2
It is important to keep in mind that all of this information is simply speculation. There have been plenty of fake GTA 6 rumors in the past. For example, a Twitch channel called "GTAVI" appeared this past spring. The channel promised it would provide information about the game during a livestream on April 1st. However, this channel turned out to be an elaborate April Fools’ prank.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC. It was the best-selling game of 2002 and received a number of awards. 17.5 million copies of the game have been sold and it has now been ported to several other platforms. It is easy to see why so many players would be thrilled to return to Vice City. Unfortunately, we will know nothing for certain until Rockstar Games decides to make a formal announcement.

so the fucking truth...
I originally was born in New England, but my father brought me to Florida when I was a child... cause you know... drugs.
I lived there for 25-30 years, met my wife there, got married, and we were sick and tired of the financial nightmare living in SoFla was. I was literally 10 minutes from Mar-A-Lago, hell, for years I drove past it on my way to work as a gardener on Palm Beach making 10$/hour. I got pulled over at least once a week by the same cop. We'd just sit on the side of the road and chat, because he said to me, he HAS to pull me over. Keep up the show that he's doing his job keeping riff-raff like me off the island.
Despite that I worked there. But us laborers don't exist to them. That bridge that separate WPB from Palm Beach is a fucking portal to NOWHERE to them. And when we're on the island we're invisible. Hell if they could have a tunnel under the intercoastal they'd probably prefer it. My employers had secret paths all over their property... we were not allowed to use the standard paths. Instead we had to navigate the property on these secret paths. And if we were working in a specific area of the property when they happen to show up we were meant to leave immediately! We had to be on point and listening for doors opening so that we exited before they even saw us because they didn't want to see the person who cleaned their pool, or trimmed their bushes.
Anyways... my wife and I moved back to New England a couple years ago. Love it up here. I sold my 900 square foot house with an 1/8th acre lot for 205K just at the beginning of the pandemic (now it's worth 340K... inflation woo!) I bought my house up here for 185K at the same time, 1600 square foot, 2000 square foot barn, and 5 acres. We actually also bought the neighbouring 5 acres for another 40K, giving us 10 acres. Our mortgage is basically the same as my Florida house was and I have like... 10 times the home.
A home my wife and I could afford even if we had to go work minimum wage since min wage is so high up here!
Sure... Florida has raised its min wage since I left. But it's still only 10$, and it was 8 and change when I left. You could not afford the house I lived in on that. It was a struggle to afford my house there... I don't even know what rent would have been like since my mortgage was easily 6-800$ < per month than the average rent in the area I lived. It's probably why my best friend who rented on my same street lived with 5 roommates.
My wife and I meet people up here and they quickly recognize we're not from here because of our slang and way we speak. I mean sure... I'm originally from here, but I don't sound like I'm from here (I moved a lot growing up and most places I lived literally beat my accent out of me... it now only comes out when I'm drunk or very excited).
We will tell them we're from Florida.
And immediately they're like "WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE FLORIDA!????"
Now like... I know here on the internet Florida is the butt of every joke. We're all meth heads and blah blah blah (we actually aren't meth heads... check the numbers... the west coast beats us hands down. We are heroin addicts!) But here in New England Florida is like... THE place to go. It's where you retire. It's where you go for Disney. It's...
PARADISE!
I try to explain to them how expensive it is down there. And they incredulously deny it and tell me how they KNOW its cheaper there because there's no income tax, and the property tax is like half what it is here. Cause you know... Taxachusettes! New England is just tax you til you have nothing!
... My effective state income tax is like 3.5%. And the minimum wage here is 33% hire than Florida (15 vs 10). The median individual income is 25% higher (39K vs 29K). Household is similarily higher.
So yeah... I think that more than makes up for the 3.5%!
Also... the schools are nice here. They take care of the roads! They have state sponsored healthcare that includes denstistry and eyes! My brother was recently hurt on the job, not only did the state help him while he had no income... but they also offered to train him in new employment since his leg likely will never recover from the accident!
He was homeless in Florida... I have LOTS of homeless friends in Florida. I have a friend in Florida who couldn't get foodstamps because he wasn't considered poor enough (he had a job technically working 20 hours a week holding a sign).
And don't even get me on the schools down there... my graduating class of 2001 had a 45% drop out rate. I am the only kid in my family of 7 kids to graduate highschool.
But the people up here all they see is those taxes! But they don't realize... oh yeah, sure, the property tax is higher. But you don't have 300$ a month HOA dues! Cause that's how Florida works... no property tax... so you have to hire a company to perform the tasks that town/taxes do up north. It's not CALLED a tax... but it's the same damn thing. The road I lived on in Florida was NOT maintained by the city of WPB. It was maintained by me and my neighbours. If there was a pothole... well... we had an HOA meeting and argued about how we were going to raise the money to pay for it. The most the city did was if the road got bad enough they'd show up at tell us if we don't fix it then they'd fine us. That's taxes people... just in a round about way. Oh sure, we got a community pool. But hey... the town I live in up here in New England ALSO has a community pool paid for with taxes!
But nope, I'm wrong, I don't know what I'm talking about. New England is expensive and Florida is cheap!
"Oh... I'm wrong? So then why do you live here and no in Florida? If Florida is so great. Why don't you move there???"
"Well... I am. When I retire!"
"Yeah... after you've fatted yourself on the economy of the northeast, built yourself a big giant nest egg, can move to a retirement community in Florida where the rent is cheaper (because they restrict it only 65+), you have medicare, and you don't have to fend for your life on a pittance of an income. Oh and your IRA/401K payouts aren't taxed as much because Florida."
There's a reason Florida has a shitty education system... it's because the economy is designed for wealthy old people. They don't have kids. They live in their resort towns, ride around in their golf-carts, and live a sheltered life of palm trees... while the rest of us get paid nothing to wait on them hand on foot... all while having to hide in the showers because no one wants to see the faces of the meek/poor.
The problem with Florida isn't Floridians. Sure... we're a little crazy. But that's just cause we're struggling to get by. The real problem in Florida are the rich fucks and retirees from the northeast, from the mid west, from the rest of the country moving down there and voting against the interests of the locals because fuck the people from there!