Wristwatch quotes

[All] Respect

2024.04.30 01:05 kaleviko [All] Respect

In Return's opening episode, there was a little riddle around Otis Redding. First, the Horne brothers quoted his song Respect.

Jerry: "Are you banging her yet?"
Ben: "Oh, Jerry! R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Respect. She's a beautiful soul. And she's married."
Jerry: "That never stopped you before. Sock it to me. Sock it to me. Sock it to me. Sock it to me."

Later in the episode, Mr C parked his 2015 Mercedes-Benz S 550 Coupé and forced himself past Buella's doorman Robby by socking it to him. Inside, there was a man sitting by the door.

Otis: "Well, lookee here."

Mr C showed him some respect.

Mr C: "Otis."

A moment later, Robby got back in for some more, and Mr C socked it to him again. Robby fell unconscious on the floor. Upon leaving with Ray and Darya, Mr C turned to acknowledge Otis once more, ignoring everyone else.

Mr C: "See ya, Otis."

Lookee here at these flayed jackrabbits.
Otis urged to "lookee here". He was framed together with what looked like jackrabbit skins hanging on the wall. Regarding how there later in P14 was a rotten tree stump named by Bobby as the Jackrabbit's Palace, we probably needed to make something out of jackrabbit skins, guided by Lynch's Rabbits that had a humanoid rabbit called as Jack, literally a man inside a rabbit suit.
To get a jackrabbit skin, the animal needs to be flayed first. Later in P5, Steven Burnett got another kind of flaying when Mike Nelson asked him to his office for some very harsh feedback.

Mike: "You think you're some sort of hotshot?"
Steven: "Excuse me?"
Mike: "This resume is one of the worst written I've ever seen, and you didn't even fill out this form properly. Not even close. It's incomplete. It's worse than sloppy. I wanted to see you to tell you that if you ever want to find work anyplace, then you better get your act together, do things properly, and start showing some respect for a possible future employer, because based on this shit, you'd never get hired here, and I would never recommend you for any work, anyplace. Now, you can get up and get your ass out of here."

Mike's demand for respect hinted the connection from one flaying to another may have been recognized as intended. Steven got his resume, walked out of the room and slammed the door closed. A man waiting in the lobby turned to look at him.
There was a cut to Mike who was looking towards the entrance. We heard another slamming sound but we didn't actually see Steven leave. Mike gave a comment that felt out of place.

Mike: "What an asshole."

Steven might have been incompetent and but he wasn't behaving like an "asshole". But perhaps that wasn't about Steven but about the uncredited man who was standing in the lobby, also in the line of Mike's sight.
Going back to Buella's place, when Mr C approached her house, Robby was just coming out of it. Through the open door, we could see Otis sitting inside. When Robby went back in and got it socked to himself again, his rifle remained theatrically across his unconscious body. A quick closer shot of him and his rifle was a bit dark but the firearm very much looked like a Stevens 311.
A jackrabbit can also be called as just jack. To jack means to rob, connecting jackrabbits and Robby and thus also Robby and Steven, flayed like the rabbits.
The \"asshole\" (3) has arrived.
These seem to add up to a typically outrageous twist that the scene between Mike and Steven continued in P1, with Mike now as Otis and Steven as Robby who had just got flayed, hence the jackrabbit skins next to Otis. Steven would have got smacked in the face by the man with the suitcase in Mike's lobby, the assumed "asshole", Mr C's equivalent in that scene.
This would connect Mr C to another man with another kind of Mercedes-Benz, the Polish Accountant, who started a conflict with Hutch and Chantal about his blocked driveway in P16.

Chantal: "We're not even close to your fucking driveway, asshole. Go fuck yourself!

It should have been on the way already.
These two German cars would also be narratively linked through Andy's Rolex seen in P7. The wristwatch fit the Log Lady's riddle about a star turning and the time presenting itself, the star being the three-pointed Mercedes-Benz logo that matched the hands on Andy's watch when turned a bit clockwise.
An option for a high-school graduate.
On Mike's desk, there was what looked like the word "OXFORD" on a document over which he threw Steven's resume, with only its last two characters "RD" fully visible. After a cut, the resume had jumped to a different place, the usual inconsistency suggesting we needed to pay attention.
We got these same letters also in the previous scene when Jerry was having his "Respect" talk with Ben.

Jerry: "R&D, brother Ben. It puts me in a groove, and where it stops, nobody knows."

"RD" were the initials for Ray and Darya that Mr C was getting from Buella, them being "back there somewhere", which was also where Mike's office was.
He got R&D back there somewhere.
Another word for the kind of flaying that Mike gave to Steven is flogging whereas "RD" is also the common abbreviation for a road. This would suggest the place - whether it appeared as Mike's office or Buella's lair - was linked to the logging road on which Andy went to wait for Farmer to get the "whole story" in P7.
He had to clear his driveway first.
All kind of things seem to have happened on that logging road. Arriving there, Andy was probably taken by Farmer's alter ego, the Fireman, for the session seen in P14 whereas an entirely different person took Andy's place on the road. This person was possibly the Polish Accountant from P16 whose Mercedes-Benz connected to Andy's Rolex and whose last whereabouts in Lancelot Court appeared similar to the logging road. When this Andy then walked to his car and started driving along the logging road, it seems fitting that his Rolex eventually became another kind of Mercedes-Benz while the man himself changed into Mr C. There would probably have been a few detours on the way before that happened, but eventually he would have reached Buella's house.
This may have been where the Polish Accountant was actually headed. To get there, he would need to have passed through the magical roadside jump point that was blocked by Hutch and Chantal's van, that being the "driveway" he meant. These two may also have jumped there from another part of the story, using that same magical gateway that took them to Lancelot Court.
Since the Polish Accountant seems to have been Agent Phillip Jeffries, this would suggest that the Mr C who got Ray and Darya was also Jeffries, explaining how these two got involved with him. At this point, Jeffries would have been in control of Cooper's doppelganger, but he'd lose the doppelganger at a later point to someone else.
If these were the conclusions we needed to make, Steven would have been back to Mike's office sooner than he expected, this told to us as him now lying unconscious on the floor in front of Otis - that is, Mike Nelson.
From the Rabbit City, after flaying and socking.
Socked twice, Steven might have learnt some respect that Mike demanded. The story being true to the absurdity of forces of existence, it seems that what happened next was Mike agreeing to give the younger man a job and these two turning into Buckhorn police Chief Mike Boyd and Detective Don Harrison from Rapid City, the word "rapid" sounding the same as rabbit, in reference to Otis's rabbit skins. The name Don would have been in reference to what looked like the word "OXFORD" on Mike's desk since a college head in Oxford is called a don. On his way out, Steven was taking his tie off, and Harrison didn't wear one. When Harrison and the other Mike first appeared in P1, they walked next to a window between two rooms, just like Mike's office had.
Hotshots.
Harrison may have become more respectful, but he still behaved like a hotshot. Another kind of hotshot is a nighttime freight train that was shown before a scene in a diner in P2, with a car passing by the motel's exterior shot continuing the train's movement. Mr C, Ray and Darya had been joined by some Jack who wasn't otherwise introduced, unless then the shot of the hotshot was his intended introduction, suggesting he was Steven.
If the Jack in the diner was meant to be Steven, then the scene would have taken place before his "flaying" - that is, he still had his "jackrabbit" skin on since he was Jack. This would have been some time before Mr C went to Buella's to get Ray and Darya who awkwardly and obediently joined him without any personal items at all.
That man hadn't eaten for days.
In the diner, now a much more talkative Ray had a brown leather jacket that he wore this one time only. He didn't seem to have touched his already small meal. Then, Mr C gave him an ominous reminder.

Mr C: "If there's one thing you should know about me, Ray, it's that I don't need anything."

This would link to the later scene in the same episode when Mr C started kneading Jack's face like it was dough, implying that Jack was "nothing" because he wouldn't knead anything, the pronoun used as a meta reference to Phillip Jeffries who didn't really exist any more, like Cole put it in P17.
After Jack got kneaded, it seems he lost his head and turned into the decapitated well-risen body found in Ruth Davenport's apartment: the coroner named the corpse as John Doe, connecting it to John's diminutive Jack whose face Mr C kneaded like he was dough. Yet, in the diner, it was pointed out Jack had eaten a lot whereas the coroner said the headless man had not eaten for days.
Earlier in the story, he got more hair.
Ray's leather jacket connected him to the Polish accountant who also wore a similar jacket. The Accountant's grey tie and purple shirt were also reflected in Ray's purple-grey striped shirt.
Because this Ray didn't eat and because Mr C warned specifically him about what he later did to Jack hinted there were further switch-ups in this wild conga line of surreal twists so that the Jack by the garage was actually the Ray from the diner. By then, Jack would have got flayed, and Ray had put Jack's "skin" on himself.
If this winding path had indeed been followed as intended, this Ray would also have been Jeffries while the Mr C in the diner was someone else.
Ray revealed he had a secret "contact" that he was going to follow to get the information Mr C wanted from Hastings's secretary. Finding that contact would help us figure out what happened next.

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2024.04.09 17:13 twoshovels Clock making in New Haven

Clockmaking in Connecticut
It is hard to believe during this, the current era, that there was a time when the extravagance of owning a clock was the sole province of the wealthy: Farmers scheduled their work around the rising and setting of the sun. Every household had an almanac, which specified the sunrise and sunset times for any particular date. An hourglass could help one divide the day into one-hour increments. Townspeople who toiled in the workshops were called to work by the tolling of the bells in nearby church steeples. And that was the way that it was. Back in 1800, one day’s wages for a farmer or laborer amounted to about one dollar, and a hand-made wooden clock movement—even without the case--would therefore cost about one month’s pay; therefore, ownership of a clock was out of the reach of most. Eli Terry was born in 1772, in South Windsor, Connecticut. As a young man, he served a seven-year apprenticeship with a master clockmaker, and learned how to carve the wooden movements and the dials for the only type of clock then made: It was a grandfather clock, built into a tall case, and operated by means of gravity-driven weights, a pendulum, and a system of gears. But Eli Terry was an imaginative, enterprising soul, one of an extraordinary number of such individuals raised after the Revolution, who would develop new and better ways of doing so very many things. Terry developed a brass clock mechanism—superior in quality and cheaper to make than one with hand-carved wooden parts--and devised the necessary methods of harnessing water power to operate some of the clockmaking machinery at his factory in Plymouth, Connecticut. Like gunmaker Eli Whitney in New Haven, Terry made his clocks with interchangeable parts. In this way, both men, in vastly different industries, were giving birth to the concept and practice of mass production. In 1806, Terry signed a contract to produce four thousand grandfather clock mechanisms (without case) in the space of three years. Understandably he quickly became a laughing stock around Connecticut—until he successfully completed the contract--and made his deliveries on time. His factory was to become known as the first clock factory in America, and his products were quickly sold for four dollars each. Now, ownership of a clock was within the reach of almost anyone who wanted one. By 1819, the Terry family enterprise—by now a father and two sons—was turning out six thousand quality shelf clocks per year, complete with decorative case, for fifteen dollars each. In the business world, success typically breeds competition, and by 1836, the Bristol, Connecticut area boasted sixteen clock factories--which turned out a total of one hundred thousand clocks annually—and all this at a time when the U.S. population was only thirteen million souls. By the outbreak of the Civil War, Connecticut was producing half a million clocks a year, and nearly every American home now had its own time piece, thanks to the genius of Eli Terry. Bringing Clockmaking to New Haven Chauncey Jerome, founder of the Jerome Manufacturing Company, started his career in 1816, working in Plymouth, Connecticut for Eli Terry. At this time, Terry was just beginning mass production of his famous thirty hour wooden-movement clock. Two years later, Jerome went into business for himself, making clock cases that he traded with Eli Terry in exchange for wooden movements. His first shop was located in Bristol, Connecticut; there he produced clocks with both wooden and brass movements, created with interchangeable parts and mass-production techniques. By 1837, Jerome’s company was the leader in the clockmaking industry. In 1844, with overseas sales increasing, he bought a bankrupt carriage factory on St. John Street in New Haven, so as to be conveniently close to shipping and the nascent railroad transportation which would become the New Haven Railroad. There he would draw upon an abundant and growing labor pool to produce and finish clock cases, while the clock movements continued to be built in Bristol. Soon thereafter, Jerome’s Bristol works were completely destroyed by fire; subsequently all production was moved to the New Haven location. By now, he employed 250 workers, and produced 150,000 clocks annually. There’s a sucker born every minute,” is a quote that is widely credited to the cynical circus mogul P.T. Barnum. Jerome's future should have been secure but in 1855 he bought out a failed Bridgeport clock company controlled by P.T. Barnum, which wiped him out financially, leaving the Jerome Manufacturing Co. bankrupt. Jerome never recovered from the loss. By his own admission, he was a better inventor than businessman. The New Haven Clock Company was founded in 1850 by Hiram Camp and a few other watchmakers in the New Haven, Connecticut, area. The company’s plan was to mass produce brass clock movements for Camp’s uncle, Chauncy Jerome, who owned the nearby Jerome Manufacturing Company, which at that time was still thriving. When the New Haven Clock Company bought Jerome’s bankrupt company for $40,000 a few years later, they continued the work of building great clocks. In fact, by the 1880s, New Haven’s clocks and non-jeweled pocket watches became widely known for their high-quality. They were now the largest clock manufactory in Connecticut, and one of the largest in the world. Into the Twentieth Century went the New Haven Clock Company. During the 1920s, they introduced the nickel-plated alarm clock, the dollar watch and the wristwatch, and the synchronous electric clock. It was because of the development of the last item that time switches were incorporated into stoves, radios and refrigerators; this also led to dashboard clocks for automobiles. By the 1930s, the New Haven Clock Company plant covered two city blocks and employed a work force of 1500 producing three million timepieces per year. With the advent of World War II, their whole company of two thousand employees was solely devoted to the design and production of timing devices for anti-aircraft shells, bombs, and naval mines. This was profitable work, but it heralded the departure of people whose skills centered upon the building of clocks and watches. Those workers would not return. Came 1946, and in the wake of World War II, the company reorganized and attempted to restore themselves as New Haven Clock and Watch Company. The company’s finances, always shaky, worsened almost immediately when the new management attempted to expand total sales from $6 million to $9 million without adequate bank credit. There began a slide into Chapter X bankruptcy, from which the company could not recover. Its eighteen buildings, now occupying four acres of industrial land, and all of its machinery were sold at auction for $250,000. During the 1960s, development of Interstate 91 necessitated the demolition of the former clock movement works on the west side of Hamilton Street, to facilitate construction of the right-of-way. The east plant, known as Clock Square survives to this day, in a somewhat reduced and shabby form.

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2024.04.09 15:50 verrache What quote (funny, absurd, wise, or smth else) would you engrave on your own wristwatch?

submitted by verrache to AskReddit [link] [comments]

2024.03.21 03:34 FullGuide5069 Another example why some business owners just love fucking up their employees with their decisions.

Was reading a random news article (https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/sydney-company-in-construction-industry-collapses-owing-7m/news-story/2d61d85579642bfb405eb393d0a4c00a?amp) and I think it fits this sub.
I quote this part from the article: “Rubbing salt in the wound is that some staff have been left thousands of dollars out of pocket including from unpaid superannuation while their boss, Mr Bancs, drove to work in a McLaren and also wore designer brand clothing like Fendi, and sported a Rolex wristwatch”
I felt hurt reading it.

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2024.02.18 05:51 255_Lambent_Regret Crashing to desktop from epilepsy warning screen

Edit: Windows 10 in-place repair install via media creation tool seems to have fixed it. -_-
So like all of us, I'm used to the game deciding to just freeze up pre-Resolve. Since then I was pleasantly surprised to see that dramatically reduced. But now, after working just fine last night, the game reliably crashes out moments after launching, when the progress bar under the epilepsy warning text is mostly gone. The screen flashes back, then I'm dropped back to the desktop and see Ubisoft's "syncing your achievements with the cloud" popup briefly.
I've tried (along with plenty of googling):

Verifying files
Full cold start shutdown and reboot
Disabling in-game overlay (both ubisoft and discord)
Uninstalling and reinstalling (including carving out game and settings folders)
Uninstalling and reinstalling Ubisoft Connect and then reinstalling div
Updating GPU drivers, including with DDU nuke and pave
Running EAC's rather uninformative "repair" button
adding dx11 and -dx11 to the launch arguments
switching the game to windowed mode on launch with alt-enter
reinstalling it to a different SSD
Windows Memory Diagnostic, came back clean
Dropping RAM speed from 3600 to 2666
Disabling ISLC
I haven't changed anything about my setup recently - in fact, I have Windows Updates paused for the week, so I know for sure one didn't sneak in.

Desperately hoping someone can suggesting things I haven't thought of yet.
Quote Manny.. "Piece of shit wristwatch..."
Edit -- after fucking around toggling full screen optimization, and the clock ticking past midnight, and turning off the handful of exploit protection options still not disabled for division2.exe in Windows, it's staying open *longer*... sometimes long enough to get to the character select screen and then pull up video settings... but then crashes again. -_-

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2024.02.15 01:27 Neil_Live-strong As a podcast community that hates dogs, we need to denounce these sick dog lovers!

My favorite quote from the story: “The shocking footage reportedly showed the professor wearing nothing but a ski mask, boots with socks, and a wristwatch, and carrying a North Face backpack.”

submitted by Neil_Live-strong to lemonpartypodcast [link] [comments]

2024.01.29 06:56 ApprehensiveLaugh723 Panda Policy Says I'm Able To Wear My Apple Watch

My manager has been complaining about my Apple Watch and how I can't wear it. I told her I already called HR multiple times before and they allowed it and said it's fine, as long as I am working in the FOH (front of house, counter help, etc) and not BOH (back of house, kitchen, cook, etc). She then responded saying it's still not allowed, only a plain band ring is, and that smart watches are considered violations. I then did some digging on my own and voila, I found the dress code policy for Panda, which clearly states and I quote "Watches - One (1) wristwatch may be worn. Watches are not permitted for Back of House associates due to sanitary reasons." I work FOH so I'm fine.
UPDATE: i got ahold of the Field HR, who is the boss of the ACO (ACO is the boss of the GM), and we talked and had a pretty good conversation. I explained to him my situation and my reasonings, and he listened to me and supported my decision! I had a feeling that once I clocked in later that shift, that my manager would want to talk to me, and try to threaten me or force me to remove my watch or else, so I asked the Field HR with his permission, if he could write me his answer. He happily obliged and we ended the call.

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2024.01.28 16:33 kill_shock Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1: Underground Review

Hello everyone my name is Kill_Shock, and today, I gonna review the Fortnite battle pass Chapter 5 Season 1 Underground, it's been a year since I did one mainly due to my mind being too foggy and getting too distracted as well as having other things I had in my life, so now I tried but no promises to do more Fortnite reviews in the Fortnite

Hope

The first skin you get in the battle pass, Hope has a blue mix with a black and bronze design, with bubbles on her upper turtle neck ripped apart, and jacket that loosened for some reason, maybe trying to be more of a rebel with no taste, a skirt with a blue in the middle right thigh which I think looks good, and one high waist leggings that are a bit ripping apart, for uhh rebel reasons yes, and two blue shoes and knee high woven socks, she can wear both items (Hat) cat ears beanine with a broken headset, and (Glasses) that subtle is a "Cat Eye Fashion Sunglasses" with broken glass on the left, again is she homeless? does she can't steal a new pair from her sister? Is she stupid?(Underground Chic Hope) A bubble gum theme style, I dig love how pretty it looks and has heart shapes around her jacket, would use this style a bit more if I have pink combos items(Rebel Runway Hope) now this is looking good, I love the red jacket with the flames around her arms, and the checkmarks mix with the kitty cat damn looks spicy, also her has a bit of flame like the style to it, maybe adding to the fact she's a sister to Valera but otherwise solid style
Backbling (Ratacat) It's too bulky first off, but do like the cat theme backbling, and the design is good, it's too big for my liking, and I won't use it for Hope or any combos in the future
Pickaxe (Secret Scimitars) It's good, I love the bubble knife engraving and the carves on the blades are a nice touch, I maybe use it for Carbide, but otherwise, I may only use every now and then
warp (Sophisticat) eh not digging it, love the blues dip in black, but the cat logo, not liking it, as well as the odd circles around the warp, I think it is supposed to be what Emote Hope set has, so I'm can't fault it that much, but I won't be ever using it this warp in my lifetime
emote (I'm a mystery) is great, love how energetic the moves are, as well as having the blue effects anytime she moves her hands and legs It's great, I want more fast-paced emotes and too slow ones like icon series emote can be for some extend, love it would use more skins combos, overall 2nd best emote in the battle pass
Glider (Ratacat Roamer) hmm, it's good like the blimp cat theme, and love how it functions as well, but a shame the backing doesn't transform if you equip both, a miss detail, because it makes the backbling more worthless in comparison
Something to note bout the gilder, the backbling, and the pickaxe is neither don't have the third style (Rebel Runway Hope) I have no clue why, since red and black is the easiest one to do, but I'm guessing it's a last-minute style before they put her in the battle pass
Overall I don't care for Hope that much, like she's good if it's ya first time getting the battle pass, but personally think it's a bit of a samey rebel step like Kiea K.O was but worse since I don't enjoy the rebel skins that much, like I get but you gotta do more then that to impress me and wanna use her, but one DUD is okay since the rest of skins are damn fire speaking of hottie

Oscar

~~Oh god he's hot~~ Oscar the skin skin you can get early on is a Panthera Tigris or tigar for anyone else, he also Irish with is name meaning Champion Warrior or Deer Lover I don't even wanna know why for the second one, his first style is also another Irish nod being a mobster attire his ears are pointy instead of round like real life another thing and this just one thing I don't like is his knifes he has a total six knfies that you can never used, like I don't get it, they look perfectly model but it's a shame you can't use them and only have his back bling one instead, and noticeable thing his bod, unlike much of the skins models his one is bulky, which is a thing where if you eat a lot you can bulk up muscles meaning unlike Meowscles being a showman look, Oscar can rip a men's head off with nothing but his bear hands, another thing to note but he has only 4 fingers instead of five like other skins has including the furry ones as well another unique factor to this ~~stud~~ tigar his pant however doesn't have tail hole like (Fennix) or Meow Skulls it's a shame they didn't add it since it makes super sense for any furries skins but still looks good enough at far glances, ~~He also wears a Greca Border Jockstrap underwear~~
The second style (Champion Oscar another nod to his name meaning, as his fur and attire are now white and his eyes are bright blue, you can also see the scars around his body a bit more clearly now, I like this style a lot
The third style (Shocked Brawler Oscar) is a bit iffy, since I don't like the lighting sparks around his body, but love his color tone, like damn, neon blue and navy blue I'm guessing guess super hard with him, as well his gold turn to sliver upon choosing his style love his looks but mostly chose his other two styles instead
Backbling (ClawBox) it's bad, there are no styles other than the first one, it's only used for the pickaxe you can equip and that's it, I've never seen myself wearing it
Pickaxe (Pocher's Regrets) is two large bowie knives. with tiger stripes on both sides, the name is an oddity unlike the rest of the name this suggests Oscar's Hatred for hunters Poaching tigers or any wildlife for that, and by heading to his boss fight arena even hinting this, since when he spawns in Lavish Lair mansion, he be at a garden more a kin where he feels natural at, I could be digging in too much, after all, a window with blue curtains is still a window after all
Warp (Victory Brawl) is good tiger stripes with I think supposed to be his suit theme, mixed with gold, again just like Jonsey warp, won't be using it, though saying that, it's a good choice warp, for the wacky combos at least
Emote (Knife Sharpener) is a fine emote/pickaxe, while it's odd it's going to his hips once the animation is done with, maybe originally the knives were supposed to be there when you equip the pickaxe but maybe change it to a backbling instead a shame since it does feel odd seeing both knives being visible while doing the emote
Glider (Victory Vaunter) is a great Gilder and the best one in the battle pass since it's one of a few car gliders so far this one is a muscle car of sorts with details of the car interior as well the door being a Gull-wing door as what the wiki stated, I ain't a car expert like I said but damn great gilder but doesn't fit Oscar that well, since it doesn't feel like it his gilder more like a society gilder instead, a shame they couldn't do much for Oscar theme, but what they did do is great
Overall Oscar is my 2 fave skin in the battle and one that I use once this season is over, again the ones Epic used in the survey are great, I think it has a good room wiggle to be an item but for what they redesign is far superior, like goddamn I let him pounce.........Error

Vengeance Jones

The fourth Jonsey skin in the battle pass so far, this one having three styles, the first one being the default (Vengeance Jones) with its attire being both winter theme for the colder temperate on the upper right side of the island, his bear having a five O-clock shadow as well looking more "tired expression" I also like his pale jacket design and combat shoulders mixing the pale with dark green, and the bright red standing out for his attire, you can also take his sunglasses on or off if you just don't like his sunnies, while I should there's also two more styles being cartoony for mine liking
(Duotone Jones) being a noir approach with its cell-shaded white, black, and red it is pretty cool, but I don't like it like I said, I don't like the cell skins that much unless it's Ips like Rick and Morty or Dragon Ball series, but man there doing well with how good looking it was and speaking how good
(Underground Jones) Holy fuck it's great, has this borderland and a bit of thirteen PS2 version vibes to it, again wished there's like a Midas touch to these cell-shaded skins so it doesn't look odd if they had their weapons auto-cell-shaded since they look way too detailed and mix batch of realism and cartoonist, a not so well combo for me to be honest like please just give me cell shaded weapons more
Back bling (Legend's Modkit) is pretty okay I do like is Arsnal is a good nod to what the new weapons bench and mods, with a suppressor, a magazine, a crap ton of bullets, a flashbang, and a knife all ft for a man who fights for the living
Pickaxe (The Takedown) pretty good, like the light when you inspect the pickaxe but it's perfectly fits Jones for this season there is not much to say
Emote (Card Drop) Tt's cool like the banner you put on the card felt more like sly cooper style but I don't like how quickly it disappears it should stay there until you spawn another one in, but for now, it's good to emote for Jones fits for smart ass who does the heavy lifting
Warp (Legend's Retribution) is pretty okay, I love the cream-white and dark green tone mix with red and yellow, but the logo killed it for me since it either looks good with the pump shotgun or cuts off halfway near the butt stock of the mp5, don't see myself using this warp
while at first there's is no glider for Vengnce Jones, however, once you get a win for the season then you unlock his glider Rebel Brella, while it doesn't have a set name it does fit Jones like the glove on his hands, the theme and color tone, with a small parachute in the middle the logo being the underground rebels it's perfect for Jones, glad Epic gave Jones his gilder this way, a shame he can't have one, but this is a comprise for those trying to get a win best of luck
Overall another banger of Jonsey, while not great like Agent Jones, this is still a great skin to wear, I also love the variety of styles he has worn over the six years from a long bread maybe going insane Bunker Jones to a MGS inspire Scuba Jonesy to the defaults themselves Jones is always adapting to the island itself every time we see him, and I hope we get more Jonesy for the next six years

Nisha

the fourth skin of the battle passes and most stand out, with her outfit based on fencing with her default outfit being white slim attire, but her right having a puffed on her shoulders, and her hands being gloves less with fingernails with no nail polish, odd detail, but I love how natural it looks, she also have this wried shoes unlike sportswear in the modern time, it's more out there with Warframe of all games, and spurs like behind her as well, she also have a pickaxe support item, whenever you equip (Duelist's Foil) I love the sheath elegance while stylish with chains supporting it while she uses any weapons that's good keen eye detail she also has three unique mask
(Duelist Mask) a kin to the fencing with holes around her facial area(Heiress Mask) I have no clue what inspiration this one has but have the human structure like her lips and mouth with something unearthly like her upper eyes being disjointed and crown-like, I love this, it's creepy in so many ways(Tactician mask) more human-like with his eyes being like a balaclava, I like the approach since they wanna have a somewhat normal mask, but I like the other two more(Maskless) where you can forfeit the mask options and just use her normal face instead, with having a nose piercing, she looks great with either theses four options, I personally like her maskless one myself

(Midnight Duelist Nisha) being all black and gold while cliche again, but still a good option, loved the difference between blackness with leather around her jacket and glove and flat black cloth with black markings around her shirt and pants, it's subtle enough standout while engulfed the darkness, I adore this design the most
(Dawn Duelist Nisha) now this is a bombastic style with bright pink and gold, as well as having straps be pure gold instead, except for her sheath, no idea but miss detail, but goddamn, you gonna be spotted easily but you gonna be flaming when you pick this option

Backbling (Sociert Shield) while good, does have a bit floating behind her back, as well as the shield being a bit too small, I do love the engravings and the cape, but a missed since it doesn't support (Dawn Duelist Nisha) again just like Hope style, I don't get it why they didn't go further for these two, it's a damn shame, since pink can be a good combo
Pickaxe (Duelist's Foil) fucking good shit, with the pickaxe alone having new animations trying to be an actual foil sword and a bit of fencing with a mix of swinging the foil around, this is a good pickaxe for any skin and best for (Ezio Auditore) a must have pickaxe
Warp (Sunrise Duel) Now this is great, I love the pink and gold, royale meaning like Pegan from Far Cry 4 design, which makes sense from her status, but damn, I'm happy for more design-wise like this, and (Unbreakable needs more clean ones instead overy detail ones, would use theses for any brightly color skins
Emote (Foil Flex) This is a good kill counter while (Tabulator) and (E.L.I.M) are fine it looks so out of place with any skins besides the main ones, this is one is a good balance of the two, which reminded me of a bit of Zorro or Puss in boots kind of way, I also dig the way, she places her foil on her chest like she's honoring and flexing on the amounts of kills she's getting, I like it
Glider (High Society Glider) This is fine, it's looks a bit too spaceship-like, as well as being the default gilder of the season, I like the second version, but that's just with black and gilder a meh for me
Overall I love Nisha En Grade besides the gilder, it's unique in being something traditional as well as still standing from the battle passes from the past, she's old era mix skins I yearn for instead of trying to be trendy, I want more historical skins like this, since we have centuries worth of reference and historical fashion styles

Montague

The Midas skin of the chapter Montague has a unique eye being two tones one having blue on the right and hazel on the left, he also has a large cut diamond as a necklace, his first style being a dark navy jacket, his vest having diamonds buttons wearing a golden wristwatch while having diamonds knuckles? I think that's how you say it but I ain't got a clue.
(Brillant Cut Montague style) is too flashy for my taste while I get it is supposed to be a mirror to Midas instead of gold it has diamonds and sharp cuts around his shoulders, arms, and thighs, as well as having a mask is cool but it doesn't have the Midas touch turning weapons into gold, instead does nothing, which is a missed opportunity to bring out a diamond warp I don't see myself using this style at all
And (Rough cut Montague) is the best of both worlds it's flashy but not too crazy like brilliant style while standing out with its light gray jacket and sliver-like jeans and his watch is now sliver as well which is a shame since it does ruin the vibes with his necklace still being gold
Warp (Unbreakable) is by far the best warp in the Battle Pass it's not only perfectly bland with Navy blue and black meaning it will look great with any non-anime skins but it also appears to be practical unlike the rest of the warps trying to stand out with its extra details but due how it works it always misaligning meaning it will just ruin the vibes of the weapon but not this one I need more warps like this Boogyman, Roguge Archaeology, and Digital Grayscale, sometimes being boring can be the best warp out there
Emote (Diamond Throne) is also another great sitting-down emote with him being smug fuck when he sits down while the SFX is on point, it's a shame his coat cuts through the chair so it's a bit unperfect but for any other skins looks great and Epic need to do more resting emotes, listen I just wanna have somewhere I sit down and take quick rest okay there's like 5 to 6 emotes at best
Glider (overall Montague is a pretty fine skin, with another batch of Tumbler sexy man of Fortnite but I like this one a bit more maybe I wear time to time but I personally maybe roll with Oscar for obvious reasons

Peter Griffin

HOLY CRAP I'M IN FORTNITE!
Peter Griffin, the man I have been waiting for two years is finally here, and my god he's so fucking good, first off, he's way more buffer than his original design as well as having pair of gloves, but other than that, the clothing is the same, I think it supposed to based on the season 2 episode 17 idea, but without his head getting thin as well he has four styles
(Gold Plated Peter Griffin) based on the Season 10, Episode 01 where he had gotten rich from a lottery ticket he bought this same outfit while a bit slim, it doesn't have the clunk noise effects anytime he moves like the episode which is again a missed on the details
(Fancy Peter Griffin) In season 10, Episode 2 where Meg states "You guys act like you better than me" as Peter wears a tuxedo suit with a top hat, or no top hat at all with his fourth style, gonna be real this is super slick, I love his fancy attire mix with the cell shaded skin, it standout while looking drop-dead, great versions either way
Now onto the elephant of the room, his fat unlike the game he was big in the overweight range, and because of it many fans expected Peter to be like his show, but for whatever reason went for more muscle build, and while for a good few weeks we had no clue why, but we do know and still speculating as of why
During one of the interviews Seth Macfarlane stated "They didn't have the budget to create his actual body" As one of the users by @AlphaKnightz stated "They didn’t have the budget to reanimate all the game’s animations (including emotes) to work with Peter’s wider build. It would just clip through the model all the time if they made him as he is without doing the work to redo all the game’s animations to work with him, one skin" now I know this sounds like an excuse for some but I agree with this since we do have a good compression with rigging Lego Fortnite, while the new models do have minifigs and great ones at that, some for past chapters don't have proper models as well taking time and resource to build a new or original one, as well adding emotes to the mix, for reference for a someone who played 5 years and only have chapter 1 season 4 battle pass as well having some emotes in the item shop, that's bout 269, only 56 emotes are available right now, like Jesus christ you get why they chosen a more muscle peter, it's easier working with that model compere doing a new one, since this might be far different then constructed models from Save the world or any models like Penny or Burtus, it's still a shame we can't have a fat Peter but this one, is far understandable
Hey post writing Kill_Shock here, but Ernie the Giant Chicken is in Fortnie now, and he's fucking huge, and kinda does throw this part section a bit, and mainly I think because doesn't want any disadvantages for the battle pass or just wanna have slim Peter for the funnies but still wished they kept or trim Peters fat instead making him a muscular build

Backbling (Piñatas Brian) is a mix of the lamas found in the game and Brian Griffin, won't lie this is cursed, god his deadeyes scare me, and his head is close to the actual cartoon, but I refused to wear it, it's creeping me out
And second Backbling (Clip Show Carry-all) Aka the first time we have seen and heard Family Guy was doing a collab sort off, again it might be a mistake at the time, but I will be lying if I say, that I was waiting for him, since the day, there were snippets, since 2 years, I've been waiting to be the man himself, two years some friends saying I was wrong, but two years, now seeing the tv screen, makes me happy, content on my life, this is my heaven, and I will be damn smug for a long while, it's a great btw, I love seeing the screen, as my attention span, gets shorter now due to this, would wear it.
Pickaxe (The Scratcher) appeared in Season 6, Episode 5 with Peter selling Butt/Back scratcher in a football arena, larger then Tv one, but I do gig it, it's a good joke item
Warp (Rabbit Ears) is the Family Guy TV intro logo, it's good, love the shade of blue, as well as another cell-shaded skin, again begging Epic for an official Cell-shaded warp that is just normal and not wacky like any other cel warps, because damn the outer rims of the barrel and foregrip for the Scar-L look so clean you guys, gals, and 101s
Emote (Surfin' Bird) it's a fast-paced emote from Season 7 Episode 2 I love the huge grin on Peter or any skins for that matter, as well as getting the original song and voice lines from Seth Macfarlane, overall best emote from the battle pass
Glider (Petercopter) my god I love this thing, it's a reference to the episode Season 4, episode 5 where Peter gets in and crashed lands on Joe's house, it has Peter giggling whenever you glide, and I am happy they include this ionic helicopter into Fortnite
Overall Peter Griffin is the skin I've been waiting for, and you have no idea how much I screamed when I saw the leak he was actually real, and I be happy to the ends of this mortal realm

Valeria

The final skin that you can get, Valeria's (Society Scarlet) design-wise is a bit of a 70s disco with her lower slack jeans and pointy high heels shoes that due to the said jeans make it look like normal smart shoes at first glance gun holster carrying 4 bullets and I think a huntsman gun? don't quote me on that weapon it has a bayonet of sorts but the trigger has a long grove so I have even no clue what's up with this weapon, she also has a few skins with nails this one being near the edge of her finger short and clean, unlike her sister hope which slightly longer with a blue scheme instead, she also what it appears to be a crop top fur coat with feathers around her arms as well the upper around making it puffer then and richer she has necklace style around her neck gold before ending it black on the upper one, she also what appears to be a bustier top with a slick covering her upper body and wears white glasses with red shades, her theme while I don't like it is never ending flames around her body and while cool, I wished there's a way to stop this vxf and choose to turn it on or off, understandable why, but I don't know sucks you can't for whatever reason, but do love her base version.
her built-in emote (Everborn is a transition to her second style as she uses her small ball of flams to combust her new style, while it does have a charge up, meaning if you let it out in the open trying to change styles you will either get ambushed or get one spied so keep that in mind whenever you do it but overall good, wished it does it quicker
now onto her second style (Burning Ambition Valeria) is great I love her darker fur coat mixed with red cliche as it is but damn does it results when you execute it, her holster has the Society logo but now appears to be a Smith and Wesson Revlor far easier gun then her original one, and her belt buckle is now a V instead of society logo, and her glasses outer rims are black, I swear I have no idea if those sunnies are bigger or not, they Robert De Niro wears looks normal compare whatever size Valeria is wearing, her pants are now low waist leather jeans, as well her heels are now more visible now blacken as well, her lower end coat is now burning red, as her hair as well, again not a fan of flames them since I wanted a more fancy attire what Valeria is wearing without any crazy gimmicks since I a firm lover of mundane to fancy skins or casual attire, or just soldier like skins since those what appeal to me.
Her second style (Stygain Green Valeria) is good at least, I do love the emerald, yellow/gold, and black look, it's the opposite then her red version while stylish like the original, while her (Burning Ambition Valeria) is baller, I love the white fur coat mix with the black, as well hair hair now blonde with hair dye mix in, for whatever reason, I dig this style a bit, as well he shades now darker green
And final part for the main skin is (Glasses) it's whether you wanna Valeria to have some sunglasses or not either way, but it shows us her eyes at least with the base version, and (Burning Ambition) has red eyes, while (Stygian green) have green eyes and (Burning Ambition) having yellow eyes odd choice but nice detail for what's considered
Blackbling (Ruby Relic) is meh again, never gonna wear it an odd choice for it, as well as having (Stygian Ruby Relic) for the green version of Valeria, not great for her but good for any skins if you can do one at best
Warp well this one is bigger than anyone we had for one skin so far but makes sense to give them for Valeria (The Flame) (The Burn) Is great, don't like the flame near the end, but love the feather theme warp, as well the red, baller as well able to change both warps once you equip the skin, so this is by far the most utile warp by far, and Epic needs to more of theses since it adds personality to the character and (Stygian Flame) and (Stygian Burn) are also good like Burn a lot more since the flame stripes are pretty hot, as well the green is a nice color
She doesn't have a gilder sadly, an odd choice since you might think she has a bird or jem theme but nope, the only good gilder you can put for her is Victory Hunter, since it's a more Soicty theme gilder for any skins having the symbol
Overall I like Valriea but not by much, I won't use her as much like Oscar or Peter Griffen, Racist Jonsey, or the next one, since this one man, I wasn't expecting but also so goddamn shocked seeing him there, you know who I'm talking about, he's been keeping me waiting for so long for 50 days alone

Solid Snake

Solid Snake is the bonus skin of the battle pass and the 38th gaming skin if it includes Winkalker Echo, the failed Battle Breakers, and uncharted, first appeared in (1987) Metal Gear, and appeared in (2001) Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, the most iconic Solid Snake design in the franchise, with it's a gray sneaking suit, pouches from the upper and lower belly, and gun holster, which supposed to be either USP or M9 he uses for the tanker section of the game, he also not so dummy thick, which is unrealistic since spec ops like him, need to squat for couching or proning every day again, his bandana is slightly changed from the source material, now cleaner then the ripped tear near the lower end of the bandana.
His second style is him wearing I assume to be Night Vision Goggles, an odd choice to give him, and not his tuxedo or sunglasses he can wear, but oh well I guess it's more tactical
Snake's beard is hairier in the 2001 version since that one is a bit of five o clock shadow like, with his upper lips being lighter than his lower beard but I chalk it to the model artist having a rough time trying to capture Solid Snake's beard design since it's one of Epics biggest struggle for any models so far, either they can get it perfect like Chris Redfield RE5 (2009) his version looks one to one from the games while Village (2021) is way too puffed up, but again, it's a hard balance to walk on, as Nathan Drake from uncharted 4 a thief's end (2016) is a prime example because you can spot the grays Stubbs on facial alone that's way too good, holy fuck praise for that model artist doing Drake justice, I should write gaming reviews someday but hey maybe later, when it hits 50th gaming skins I do it, but overall I love Solid Snake, and being an unexpect character unlike Peter I generally thought I would never see Snake in Fortnite but the man did Epic beside his rear did him justice
You might noticed I only talk bout Solid Snake skin alone well, because the rest of his snake is something to a akin of fanfare, while I don't know the behind-scenes of how Epic does their collabs and choices of skins and appearance from the games and media, but I do think this one artist adores on game Metal Gear Solid then the MGS2 and that's...

Old Snake

This style and set are from Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008) and holy shit I need to talk bout Old Snake first his design is spot on as it was from 2008, his stealth suit can't blend into its environment for obvious reasons and choose his default look when he takes off his disguise in the minutes of the game, his BIG BUSHY MOUSTUCE, and his solid eye like fuck this is by far the most love I've seen for a gaming skin for a good while, I adore Old Snake a bit, being a good metaphor of our gaming characters aging with the time, and while some rebooted their titles for this reason alone like the tomb raider franchises always upping the date of Lara with each decade so she doesn't hit 40 mark, or some hitting 40s like Resident Evil cast born from the 70s, Old Snake is a reminder how short our lives are, and we have to make every second count even the minor things can make a sudden impact later on with our lives.
Back Bling (Metal Gear Mk2) Octacon's latest innovation and a nod to Kojima's work on (Snatcher 1988) it's a cute little fella, I won't wear it mainly looks a bit off for my liking, but man isn't the most adorable robot you've laid ya eyes on? though shame there's no Mk3 version that's all orange but hey I can't complain
Pickaxe: (Stun Knife) a carbon lethal/stun knife from Mgs4 that is slightly larger than the original game knife as well as not having the small detail for (Old Snake) where the knife is gone from his backside but still a pretty good pickaxe from all things considered good for modern to cyberpunk skins
Gilder (Slider) used by Raging Raven from the Beauty and Beast unit and the second boss fight you fight in the game, makes sense why this one is a gilder since it's the only one that can fly or glide in the game, I like its design looks clean with any cyberpunk skins, and pretty much it
Warp (Snake Skin) Just don't like that Japanese name on the lower end of the warp, will ruin some of the weapons with it, but do love its color tone so there's that
Emote: (!) From any time you get spotted in any MGS games as well having the sound effect, it's quick and I like the shocked expression once you use it, but felt a bit disappointed it's not the handshake and hug from MGS2 with Octacon and Solid Snake gave the best and greatest handshake you have ever seen in media and giving an honest to good, the best hug as well, that felt more perfect for a emote then this one, to be honest
Overall I adore this set alone, as you can tell how lengthy Old Sanke, was Metal Gear Solid collab was one of those things I just thought it will never happen, with Kojima and Konami shit feast back in 2015 and the only time we saw Snake again was (Smash bros ultimate 2018 ) I certain that will never happen, but instead it did, and besides how flatness Snakes checks are with his younger self, but somehow still give him the dough with Old Snake, is a perfect recreation of Solid Snake, I generally can't believe how good the models are, and will use them to the end of my days, I know it's a darn shame they didn't add MGS 1 Snake, but with how the battle pass is handled I'm a bit happy they didn't since the model is slowly getting discourse with FOMO while working is not good practice for their attempts for a metaverse is gonna leave some sour taste for years on end, but I leave the subject another day

Bonus Styles

honesty this one is somewhat short, but the first one (Expressionist) is by far the best one so far in this chapter with its blue Cosmo glow is great with any skin, but mainly (Brillant Cut Montague) which is wried since I complain how sparky he was is now nullified with this style, it looks way better then his base version as well just what I wished had again like Chapter 2, season 1 and 2 making the entire model like this, it's way more flexing then some random color of the chapter as well sometimes looks great like this and I would grind again in the future if they do more like this
(Prismatic Terazzo) while not as good as the first one, I think it's good enough for (Shocked Brawler Oscar) since the dark blue with lighting is perfect for him, and I might use this one for a match or two
(Glasswork) this one at least is unique since it's one of few times where Epic never used gold as the final tier instead uses multiple changing colours, the lines are too pixelated however, but still a good pace, and of course Montague cut wins out, since he looks like a monster when you equip it, I love it, will use it

Conclusion

Chapter 5 season 1 is the best one so far in this chapter however due to how time goes, as well as if the leaks are true for the next season, then I will say either second or third for the time being with skins focusing on the theme of the underground for the most part, I think Peter is the only oddball compare to Solid Snake, but it can somewhat work since he's mega-rich with his attire when do you fight him, but other then that, I mainly using 5 out of 8 skins, but for now that should wrap things up, for now, I hope everyone will have a nice day or night take care, and I see you next time

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2024.01.23 20:13 secondhandhorology We are SECOND HAND HOROLOGY!

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2024.01.02 22:41 Nerazzurro9 Bob Menendez, Hall of Fame chuffer

“How about one of these?” is the part that gets me, for some reason.

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2023.12.09 03:36 Saturdead The 72-Hour Sleep Ban

I’ve always associated my birthday with that depressing time of year where a cozy autumn turns into an early winter decay. Where colorful leaves die, leaving a withered brown shell behind. Still, people are expected to celebrate their birthdays. It’s strange if one doesn’t. I don’t.
My fiancée recently asked me why I never celebrate my birthday, and it’s a hard one to explain. When you’ve been through something traumatic, everything sort of brings you back to that moment, one way or the other. And while I’d love to tell her about it, I don’t think I can without sounding like a maniac. I thought I’d start by just telling my story anonymously, and sort of go from there.

It was the year I turned 13. “Since U been gone” was blasting on the radio every hour of the day. My friends and I were quoting “How I met your mother” religiously. It was a good time to be a kid.
Since my birthday was in the middle of the school week, my big birthday plans were postponed until the upcoming weekend. Still, I couldn’t complain. Birthday cake on a Tuesday didn’t sound all that bad. I got home, had a small celebration with my parents, an opened a few presents. Two new games for my PlayStation 2 – score!
I finished up my homework and browsed the net for a few hours ahead of my scheduled bedtime when there was a knock at the door. We rarely had visitors, so to have someone knocking at our door at 10pm was unusual, to say the least.

My parents had already opened the door by the time I was halfway down the stairs. There was a man in a fancy jacket with a clipboard standing outside, along with two armed guards. I sort of fell into the middle of the conversation.
“…so we need you to sign the consent form, and we’ll get started,” the clipboard man said. “Any questions?”
“This can’t be legal,” my mom said. “On what kind of authority are you-“
“Ma’am, this is an emergency. We have been authorized to bring anyone and everyone, if need be, but I promise you it’ll be a less pleasant experience than what you could achieve here in the comfort of your own home.”
As the discussion continued, the armed men pushed into the house. They had a sort of checklist they were going through, asking questions as they poked and prodded. Someone mentioned a satellite phone, which we didn’t have. I hurried back upstairs.

From my window, I could see them putting wheel locks on our car. They were testing some sort of electrical equipment too, and as they did, I could see the internet connection on my computer disappear. My cellphone lost all bars, and while I didn’t check, I suspected they’d done something to our landline as well. They were isolating us; putting us under some sort of lockdown. I still didn’t have the slightest idea of who these people were. There were no patches, badges, ranks, or symbols. Just a bunch of serious-looking men in windbreakers, with visible gun holsters.
After a few minutes, one of the men entered my room. My parents were worried sick, but were told to wait outside. The man was about 6’4 and had the look of someone who could kill me with his bare teeth if need be. Without a word, he started to go through my things.
“You got any walkie-talkies?” he asked. “Any radio science projects, something like that?”
“Nope,” I said, shaking my head. “I got a PlayStation 2?”
“That can go online, right?”
I never got the chance to answer before my mom added;
“We don’t let him play online games,” she said. “It can’t do that.”
As if to make sure, he pulled the power cable and dropped it in a sealed bag along with various knick-knacks and keys they’d collected. They weren’t taking any chances, and I wasn’t playing my new games anytime soon, it seemed.

As they finished up their impromptu house inspection, we were asked to gather downstairs. The fancy man with the clipboard cleared his throat, and the room fell deathly silent. Even my dad, who was usually a very assertive man, didn’t have much to add to the conversation. That’s how you knew it was serious.
“For 72 hours, this and surrounding neighborhoods are under lockdown,” the man explained. “There is a localized problem related to a recent geological event which has caused some unexpected issues. I’m sure you’ve noticed some minor oddities as of late.”
“Like what?” my dad added.
“Milk turning sour. House plants getting a strange color tint. Swarms of frogs cluttering the roads.”
My parents said nothing, but they nodded. Perhaps they’d seen something I hadn’t.

The man put down his clipboard as he explained, calmly.
“You have been exposed to something akin to a chemical. It reacts violently to the release of certain hormones which are associated with deep REM-sleep. To ensure your safety, we are currently enforcing a temporary 72-hour ban on sleep.”
“Excuse me?”
My dad took a step forward, but one of the armed men responded in kind. They both stopped before it had the chance to escalate.
“Exposure was approximately 9 hours ago, meaning you have about 63 hours left to go. That’ll be approximately 1 pm on Friday.”
“There is no way we can-“
“This is non-negotiable. This is a matter of your security, sir. We have an emergency health service site, but I can promise you that it won’t be pleasant. You will be chemically induced into sleeplessness for the full duration of exposure until the event has passed. It can cause long-lasting brain damage.”

We were handed a folder each, explaining our responsibilities and rights. An unmarked red folder with three papers; one explaining their right to force this upon us, another explaining that we’d already signed the consent papers, and a third one was a form explaining exactly when we could go to sleep. There was also an inventory form explaining the items we were to have returned at the end of the containment.
They left a box of 50 glass vials; some kind of 4-hour booster shots. The man explained how underage children were not to take more than one every 7 hours, and that my mother, if pregnant, shouldn’t take any at all. Luckily, my mom wasn’t pregnant. I’m an only child.
We were also given fiber bars with some kind of hormone supplement. Unmarked and unbranded, but warm. Maybe they were made recently. The packaging was sloppy at best.

The fancy man was trying his best to explain, and I could see my parents were eager to listen, but I barely understood half of it. Instead, I looked at the armed guards. They looked exhausted. Maybe they, too, weren’t allowed to sleep. One of them had his mouth open and almost drooled, blinking one eye at a time. I could’ve sworn he nodded off for a second, which prompted him to take a walk outside.
“I don’t know if we can do this,” my mother complained. “It’s… it’s a lot to ask, we’ve only just-“
“If at any point you can’t do this, you need to call this number. It’s the only number that works,” the man said, pointing to the final line on the final page of the folder. “If someone falls asleep and can’t be awakened within a few minutes, they’re in terrible danger. If that happens, try to keep them awake by any means until we can get here to pick them up.”
“And then they’ll be-“
“Taken to our site in Mankato, where they’ll be chemically induced to stay awake.”
“So what exactly happens if… if someone doesn’t make it?” my mom asked. “If we all just… fall asleep?”
The man shook his head, tapping the clipboard with his pen.
“They will most probably die. Others might too.”

While they went into the kitchen to explain the details, the angry-looking guard approached me with the sealed bag – handing me back my PlayStation 2 power cable. He gave me a pat on the shoulder.
“I checked with the tech team,” he said. “You’re good to go. And, uh… happy birthday.”
I’d almost forgotten that it was my birthday. I appreciated the gesture, but I just couldn’t bring myself to smile. I had too many questions bubbling in the back of my head, and I was too afraid to speak.

They probably talked for another 20 minutes or so before the men left; leaving my parents and I alone in the kitchen. My mother was smoking under the kitchen fan. I’d only seen her smoke two times; once when she lost her job, and another time when her father got sick. Smoking in the kitchen was a surefire way to tell something was wrong. Dad was sitting with his arms crossed, looking at the box of booster shots.
“This is not a joke,” my dad finally said. “This is very serious. We’re all gonna need to help each other to get through this.”
Mom said nothing, but I could see her hands trembling. She’d been crying. She was shaking so much that the ash from her cigarette didn’t reach the ashtray – it just plopped down on the stove.
“We can’t be alone,” dad continued. “We’re gonna do our best to keep busy. You can play as many games as you want, but you can’t fall asleep.”
“They gave back my power cable,” I said. “Does that mean it’s okay for me to use the PlayStation?”
“It’s okay,” mom coughed. “It’s okay, honey. Play your games.”

For those first few hours, I didn’t understand what the big deal was. No more school for the rest of the week, no bedtime, and unlimited screen time? That didn’t sound too bad.
I gamed late into the night. Sly 2 and Ratchet & Clank were on the menu, and I had a blast. I got some snacks, along with one of those fiber bars. They tasted like twigs and raisins, but it made my brain calm. Not tired, but it made it easier to focus. It also made it harder to shut my eyes, making my eyelids itch.
All lights in the house were kept on all throughout the night. Mom and dad kept playing music on the downstairs stereo, and they desperately tried to keep me engaged. I was engaged enough just playing games, so I think it was more for their benefit rather than mine.
At 5 am, dad took his first booster shot. I could hear it all the way from upstairs, he was cussing pretty hard. Apparently, those things tasted like a mix of stale rice and death. Mom took her first boost about half an hour later, but she mixed it with orange juice. Apparently that helped.

By 7 am, even I was feeling it. I’d never been up all night playing games like that on a school day before. Sure, I’d pulled all-nighters with my friends, but it was usually something we prepared for. So by early morning, I could feel myself nodding off. My parents were checking in on me every now and then and decided to act. We were having family breakfast, pretending as if we’d already slept.
“You’re always cranky in the morning,” mom said. “Try to imagine… this is just that. Another cranky morning.”
I knew for a fact that they’d slipped one of the boosters into my cereal. I saw three empty vials on the counter, and I knew none of them had taken a second one yet. Still, I had little choice but to try. We weren’t even halfway through the containment yet.

As we finished our breakfast, we could hear commotion outside. I was upstairs brushing my teeth, watching through the hallway window. It was our neighbors. Larry Peterson, the 55-year-old man who worked the fishing supplies at the local mini-mall, crawled out his front door. He was throwing up something black and blue onto the pavement. I’d never seen this man do anything more physically straining than trying to start a lawnmower, and now he was crawling on all fours like his life depended on it.
I could hear his wife calling out from inside. She was screaming at him, but I couldn’t hear what. Larry got up and almost leapt into the back of his pickup truck in a show of athleticism I’d never seen from him before. It wasn’t until his wife got out of the house that I could hear what she was saying.
“Larry!” she cried. “Larry, wake up!”

I saw Larry Peterson grab a wrench, get out of the truck, and grab his wife by the hair. Suddenly, a hand covered my eyes, as my father dragged me away from the window. I could hear a scream turn into a gargle, followed by a hearty laugh – one I’d heard a thousand times before. The same kind of laugh Larry Peterson would chuckle up whenever my dad tried to pull off a bad pun. My mind painted me a picture of what’d happened, and it wasn’t pretty.
My dad spun me around and stared into my eyes. I could tell he wasn’t himself – there were lines across his face that I hadn’t seen before.
“Stay with me and mom,” he said. “Don’t look outside. People are getting sick.”
“Are we getting sick, dad?” I asked, a yawn escaping me.
He shook me a little, as if to make sure I was paying attention.
“We’ll be fine,” he said. “It’s just a matter of time. But I don’t want you to see people getting hurt. Larry isn’t feeling well.”

There was a knock on the front door. Dad took point as mom hid in the bedroom. I remember standing on the top of the stairs, looking over the railing to the floor below. There was a violent, angry pounding on the door. Larry Peterson’s soft chuckle, coming from the other side. He didn’t say anything; he just pounded on the door with his wrench, laughing as he tried to get in.
He went around the house, rattling our windows. He didn’t get far before we could hear a car roll up. There was a popping sound, but not like a gunshot. I think they tased him. By the time I could hear Larry Peterson get dragged off, my mom had come upstairs with a smile taped to her face, asking me to show her how far I’d gotten in my fancy new video games. She was clearly trying to keep me distracted, but I didn’t mind. At that point, I wanted desperately to be distracted.
I could imagine Larry Peterson on the other side of the front door, his white t-shirt stained with that strange black and blue goo he’d thrown up, wielding that wrench with a manic grip. The thing was as large as my arm, and solid metal. I’d never considered it a weapon, but thinking about it made my blood run cold.
Had he really killed Mrs. Peterson?
Why?

Mom and I spent the next few hours playing video games. We also made a plan. We went through our old DVDs and decided on a watching schedule. She’d originally planned a walk, but now we weren’t to leave the house. She didn’t want to say why, but I had the feeling that there was something outside the Peterson’s house that she didn’t want me to see. Bloodstains, maybe. I was too afraid to find out.
My parents tried their best to keep the mood up, but I could tell it was getting to them. My dad was mostly just standing there, leaning against the door, staring straight ahead like in a trance. Mom tried to occupy herself by playing games and watching DVDs with me, but she was counting the minutes until she could get her next booster shot. I wasn’t eager to take one, they made my stomach all queasy.
We made it all the way until noon. Dad was having trouble staying up and kept washing his head with cold water. He tried to keep busy doing housework that he’d kept for a rainy day, but there were constant distractions. We could hear sirens in the distance, and at one point there was someone spraying our front door and windows with a high-pressure water hose; possibly to wash away the last traces of Larry Peterson. There were dog patrols going up and down the street, along with the occasional phone call. The one number that still worked, where someone called to make sure we were all awake and accounted for.

By dinner time, mom was having stomach troubles. Her shaking had gotten worse, and she was having trouble with sudden change of smells. Dad kept rubbing his eyes and checking his watch, getting up every ten minutes or so just to move around. We had decided that we were going to play board games after dinner, but mom was having trouble keeping herself from throwing up.
We ended up just re-heating a lasagna from a few days back. I didn’t mind, mom made amazing lasagna, but my appetite was quickly lost when I saw my mother barely keeping it together. She kept drooling and making this weird chugging sound. She was blinking slower and slower. Dad tried to get her to eat one of the fiber bars, but she just ran out of the kitchen – locking herself in the bathroom.
It was touch-and-go for a while. I could feel my heart racing as dad tried to convince her to unlock the door, but she just couldn’t do it. After a while, she stopped responding. Dad had to break the handle with a hammer, but it was too late – she was already sleeping. I could hear it through the door.

As the door burst open, mom had only been asleep for a couple of seconds. A minute at most. But she was sitting on the toilet, her head leaning back, and something was coming out of her mouth. Black and blue fingertips, poking out over the edge of her lips. Her throat undulated.
The moment dad grabbed her, she tipped her head forward, coughing. Dad washed her face in the sink, while yelling at me to wait in the other room.
For a few minutes, I was just sitting there – ready to run or hide. It might’ve been too late, I figured. She could’ve already been affected, like Larry Peterson. I could hear them arguing in the other room, and as their voices went from angry to desperate to sad, I didn’t know what to do.

When they finally returned, they sat me down to explain that we were going to be fine. That we were almost halfway through, and that we were in the home stretch. They were so kind, warm, and careful in the way the explained it – but my mind was a thousand miles away. I had trouble focusing, and all I could think about was that strange noise I kept hearing in the background. Something outside.
Dad was halfway through explaining how we weren’t going to lock our bathroom doors anymore when something in me screamed at me to react. It was just a slight click, but it was clear as day. Maybe it was those booster shots, but I kept hyper-focusing on little details rather than big-picture stuff, like an actual conversation taking place in front of me.
I closed my eyes, and no less than a second later, there was a loud bang.
Someone was shooting at us.

It was only a couple of shots, but we dropped to the ground. One shot got lodged in the front door, while the other cracked the kitchen window. There were loud voices outside, laughing hysterically. They were talking, but barely making any sense. One of them sounded like she was trying to talk with food in her mouth.
Mom and dad kept quiet as two more shots popped off; one of them hitting the kitchen light. With an electric spark, it gave out; blacking out most of the kitchen. I could hear someone running and laughing as they continued down the street. In the distance, there was more gunfire – maybe someone responding in kind.
“We can’t stay here,” mom whispered. “We gotta call them.”
“You wanna go to where they put Larry?” dad answered. “To be in a whole hospital full of these people?”
“They’re shooting at us. We can’t just-“
Mom quieted down and looked at me. She and dad excused themselves to talk in private while I was asked to move upstairs. I was to stay away from windows, and I couldn’t sit or lie down. They’d be up to check on me in a bit.

But of course, I was too curious. While still hearing them argue downstairs, I checked an upstairs window. I could see pretty far down the street, and in the distance I could make out a car stalling on the side of the road. The headlights were still on, but it was surrounded by at least six people. Two of them were dressed like the armed guards we’d seen earlier.
It took me a while to realize there was an old man sitting in that car. I’d seen him around a couple of times, but I didn’t know his name.
The surrounding people were trying to crack the car windows with various weapons. Tire irons, bricks, hammers, lead pipes… whatever they could get their hands on. It didn’t take them long to break through. They reached in to pull the man out. It was too far off for me to hear his screams, but I could vaguely see what they were doing. They held him down and covered his face with their hands. His eyes, his mouth, his ears; leaving only his nose to breathe through.
Then they just sat there.
It took me a moment to realize what they were doing; they were forcing him to sleep.

After a few minutes, they let go of him. The old man slowly stood up, leaned against his car, and started to dry heave. After a while, the same blue and black goo that I’d seen from Larry Peterson started pouring out of his mouth; stopping only as he coughed up some kind of clot that could barely fit in his mouth. A clot that moved.
As he straightened his back, he looked at the strange group, and they walked down the street together. Some jogged. Some sprinted. One of them crawled, but it looked like he held onto something with his teeth. Either that, or something was coming out of his mouth. Something long.
As they hurried down the street, I could hear more gunfire. In the distance, coming from another way, I could see another group of people. At least a dozen but heading in another direction. Roaming gangs of sleep-deprived sick people. God knows how this thing affected them long-term.

When my parents were done discussing, they sat me down to explain that we were going to stay indoors and keep away from the windows; just in case. We were locking all doors and windows, closing all curtains, and not playing anything louder than necessary. We were to draw as little attention as possible. Of course, I agreed. What choice did I have?
That night, I could tell things were deteriorating. Dad almost took a double dose of booster shots as he forgot he’d taken the first one, but mom stopped him. There were no phone calls coming in; they’d stopped checking in on us. Mom even tried calling, but the line had been disconnected. The gunfire outside was further away, but more frequent. We could hear cars honking, but no sirens.
Then there were fires. At least two, somewhere downtown. We could see the smokestacks from afar.

Mom wasn’t doing well. She couldn’t eat, and at times she could barely stay on her feet. She kept talking out loud even if no one was in the room with her, and she had to lean against things to stay upright. She couldn’t keep the fiber bars down, and she walked around with her head bobbing back and forth. Dad tried his best to keep her active, but he was having trouble as well. No matter how many cold splashes he took to the face, he just couldn’t stay attentive.
I wasn’t doing well either, but nowhere near as bad. I still had my appetite, and I took my booster shots, but I could feel the side effects. My hands kept shaking, and I had a nasty headache. There were these pinches down my neck like someone was shocking me with a wet battery. I’d imagine things moving just outside of my vision. I kept turning around to look at the windows as I’d started to hallucinate that they were screens.
By morning, there was a new problem. Both the power and the water had been cut.

There was a small lake a short walk from the house, and we had no choice but to try and get some water by hand. We had some drinking water stocked in the kitchen, but we needed some for the bathroom. Mom volunteered to go, but that was out of the question; she could barely stand or make a coherent sentence. There was no discussion; dad had to do it.
We watched him from one of the upstairs windows. The sun had just risen, bathing the withering landscape in long, sharp shadows and a sickly bright glow. Mom was just staring blankly ahead, as if trying to remember what was so important.
“Isn’t… isn’t it your birthday soon?” she said out loud.
“That was Tuesday,” I responded.
“Did… did you wish for you to get older?” she asked. “I wish… I wish for that. I want you to be… be able to get older.”
She looked at me and laughed maniacally. She blinked one eye at a time; her left eye lingering a little longer than her right. Her eyes were sunken and dark, and she kept going cross-eyed. I think she meant well, but that look she gave me was nothing short of terrifying. It was like she’d been reduced to her most basic self. My mom was still in there somewhere, but most of it was just… gone.

After about an hour, I spotted dad coming back. Mom and I were both relieved, but it didn’t last long. I noticed he wasn’t carrying any water. Moments later, I could see he wasn’t alone. There were about two dozen more people coming with him. Mom didn’t seem to react. She just looked out the window and nodded to herself. For a moment, she was almost falling asleep standing up; her mouth moving up and down on its own like a bass out of water. I could see something moving in her throat.
I shook her, and in a moment of clarity, she looked out the window again. As I heard something pound against the door downstairs, mom pushed me into the closet. She ran downstairs to get the remaining booster shots and dropped it all on me along with her wristwatch and a couple of fiber bars.
“Someone… someone will come get you,” she said. “Just wait. Just wait and… and stay awake. I’ll… I’ll try to think of something.”
I didn’t have the time to protest before she slammed the closet shut. I could hear a key slide into the lock downstairs. Dad may have forgotten something about who he was; but he hadn’t forgotten how to use the house keys.

I just sat there in the dark, listening. I curled up into a ball, but I didn’t want to get too comfortable. I could hear furniture being turned over. Unfamiliar voices yelling obscenities or incoherent nonsense. A fight broke out, and I could hear someone throwing something. Another person ran up the stairs and into the bathroom, repeatedly kicking the bathtub.
A woman screamed, then a man. There was a gunshot, followed by windows being broken. I could hear a muffled scream as if someone was held down; maybe like they did with the old man outside, the night before.

I must’ve sat there for hours. In the dark, it was hard to tell if my eyes were open or not. I couldn’t tell if I was really hearing something outside, or if I was just imagining it. I could hear voices and whispers, but they didn’t seem to make sense. Sometimes I imagined them standing just outside my door, asking me for the cheat codes for the games I’d played. All I had to keep my waning sanity company was my mom’s wristwatch, and I could barely make it out.
Time passed so strangely. I could be wrapped in a thought for what felt like hours, but only minutes passed. Then I’d catch myself staring straight ahead, and two hours could disappear. I kept repeating the next scheduled hour for the booster shot like a mantra.
But things were getting stranger. The clock would go backwards. I’d imagine someone sitting across from me; a pair of white eyes staring back at me from the dark. There were little voices telling me to go to sleep, and I found myself nodding off. I could feel something moving in me, like a hand trying to fit into a glove.

I finally gave up and got out of the closet. I could barely stand as I dragged the booster shots and fiber bars along in a plastic bag. I didn’t care if there was anyone downstairs, I needed to see something. I needed light, or some kind of stimuli.
The whole house was trashed. Every piece of furniture broken. Every light smashed. There was blood spatter on the walls, and the front door was hanging on a single hinge. Every window was smashed, and our picture frames had been thrown across the room like ninja stars. But the strangest thing was an acrid smell coming from the kitchen.
At first, I didn’t understand what it was. It looked like a person, but there was the wrong number of limbs. After a few seconds of adjustment and trying to force myself to clarity, I realized it was a dead body. A young man with a knife sticking out of his chest, splayed out on the kitchen floor. His jaw was extended and broken on one side.
There was a black and blue arm reaching out of his throat, reaching upwards to grab his own head.

Something in me stirred. Something in me didn’t like what I was looking at, and I wasn’t sure if it was me or something else. I tried to push it down with a fiber bar, which, strangely, worked.
I made my way outside in a daze. I didn’t know what to do. Part of me wanted to find my parents, another part of me wanted to get out of town. I wanted to look for a bike, or just start walking, or catch a bus. Of course, there were no busses to catch, but my sleep-deprived mind couldn’t separate fact from fiction anymore.

That entire night was one long living nightmare. I kept imagining things coming out from the dark. I could hear voices telling me to turn around, to stop, to run; all at once, and none at all. I could barely keep my balance, and stopping even for a moment would send me straight to sleep. I had to keep going. I even took an extra booster shot, which just gave me this sharp joint pain and made me sweat. I could tell I’d done something stupid.
I took a shortcut through the park. I could see faces coming out of the trees. I saw a man lying face down on the gravel path, being pulled forward by an arm coming out of his mouth. I saw a man out by the lake, repeatedly slapping his arms against the cold-water surface, like a manic child trying to get as high a splash as possible.
Some of it was real. Some of it wasn’t. I couldn’t tell which was which. Not anymore.

When I finally reached downtown, I saw at least two dozen people gathered outside a burning building. All of them with black and blue arms reaching out of their mouths, stretching towards the flames, as if slowly wafting air towards them. Like human kelp moving against an invisible current, they leaned back and forth in unison, praising whatever chaos they’d caused without a word, or sound. And yet, I could hear them. Welcoming me. Beckoning me. All voices unique, carried to me by an unfelt wind.
“Come closer,” it begged. “You belong here.”

I turned away, and the voices grew louder. Desperate. Screeching. Demanding my attention, my devotion. Some of them coming from outside; some of them coming from the rumble of my stomach.
“It’s already here,” it laughed. “It’ll never go away. It’ll never sleep. It’ll never stop.”
Hands reached for me. A face in every window. Voices reaching from beneath the concrete.
Gunfire. Broken windows. Glass cracking under my rubber boots as I shuffled past burnt-out cars.
It was dark, then bright, then dark again.
And at some point, I succumbed. I felt concrete against my cheek, but I couldn’t bring myself to get up. My legs wouldn’t move. My eyes wouldn’t open.

“Yes!” the voices laughed. “Come! Come to us! Come burn with us!”
And then, darkness.

I don’t know how long I was out. Hours. Maybe half a day. I woke up to see a man running towards me, asking me if I was okay. A car had pulled over, bathing me in a warm light. By the side of the road, a colony of frogs looked at me. In the distance, my eyes landed on a discolored sunflower. It’d turned blue. Strange how you don’t notice the most obvious changes until they stare at you in the face.
Turns out, exposure had happened at least 6 hours earlier than the man with the clipboard had predicted, and I’d been awake long enough for most of the effect to pass through my system. I was found unconscious by the side of the highway, about 9 miles from my house. While I did have an uncomfortable dreamless sleep, the effects it had on me were nowhere near as bad as what’d happened to most of the neighborhood.
I’m sure you’ve heard of it. “Riots” they called it. Just another mess-up in a low-income area. I don’t even think it reached national news.
Some of the people who succumbed to it early got permanent brain damage. Larry Peterson was never the same, but it was hard to tell if it was because of the emotional trauma or the sleep thing. Either way, he had to have a nurse come look after him a few times a week for the rest of his life.

Mom and dad weren’t completely unharmed either. Mom developed some kind of narcolepsy after that night, spontaneously nodding off at the most inopportune times. Dad lost his sense of taste and smell. To this day, they’re having a hard time explaining what exactly they experienced. To them, it was just like going to sleep and having the most horrible nightmare; only to wake up in a hospital bed.
Sometimes, I wonder if I did fall asleep. Some of the things I saw were so strange that there was no way to tell if they were real or not. I vividly remember that scene of hands waving back and forth outside that burning building downtown. It had to be real. That building really did burn.

As you might imagine, I have a hard time looking back at this. Thinking too much about it gives me this icy feeling in the pit of my stomach, like a small part of me believes that this is all just a big nightmare. That I’m still just a clock’s tick away from waking up in that closet, with someone standing just outside, waiting for me.

Or maybe it’s something inside of me, still waiting to grab the reins.
Maybe it’s just a night away.

submitted by Saturdead to nosleep [link] [comments]

2023.11.15 23:27 Objective_Campaign82 Sins of the Father Ch54 (Hellworlder pirates 2)

Karega checked his watch. It was a tasteful silver wristwatch, it functioned purely off of clockwork gears and springs, and had three hands and only ten number to match Union time keeping instead of Terran.
Most people preferred gaudy electronic watches, but Karega enjoyed the aesthetics of a real watch. It took a great deal of precision and finesse to make something like this, whereas a digital watch only need a bit of wire, a piece of quartz, and a digital display. Where was the fun in that?
Astarte and Rachel had been gone a while. And the dinner portion of the evening was starting to wrap up.
Tonight had been an intensely unpleasant affair. The two Gin brothers, one of whom might be Astarte father, spent the whole night snipping and japing at each other. While Alexandra and her boorish husband continued to try and wrangle some information out of Karega.
Really, how a brutish pig like Richard landed a wife as cunning of Alexandra was a mystery. Karega had only spent a few minutes alone with the man, and in that time Karega had learned that he was banging every maid and cook in the house, and had needed to discreetly turn down his offer for Karega to enjoy his wife one on one.
Blegh!
Karega was starting to see how Rachel had turned out so touched in the head, if his parents were like this Karega would hate himself as well.
He looked around the room, still no sign of them.
“Goddammit Star, if you left me alone with these sycophants and psychopaths to get your rocks off with Rachel in the garden I swear I’m going to-“
At that moment a figure was thrown through one of the glass doors. They crashed through and flew across half the room and landed hard on one of the dining tables. Unlike in a movie the table, which was made of some alien hardwood, didn’t collapse.
A second figure dashed through the hole where a glass door had been and made a stab for the first figure with some sort of wrist mounted blade.
Rachel ran in after the two figures, hefted up the oversized shovel and swung it overhead towards the second figure before they could stab the first.
There was a ringing sound. But the second figure, a short human woman with a bug eyed mask, turned to Rachel and buried a fist into the girls gut and folded her like lawn chair. Rachel coughed on the ground as the bug eyed woman turned back to the first figure who had crawled off the table and was now gripping her bleeding shoulder.
Astarte faced off against the Reaper Mantis Zera.
The room was still for a moment before someone let out a shriek of terror and everyone began to panic.
Karega sighed, “well at least they’re clothed” he muttered as he pulled a knife from his chest pocket.
~~~*~~~
They were losing the fight. Losing bad.
Aster had received burns to her forearm and calf, and had been stabbed through the shoulder.
Anytime Rachel tried to hurt Zera she got bitch slapped back a dozen meters, or was simply ignored. Zera had almost finished Astarte when Rachel had found a shovel from the family gardeners. It had stunned Zera enough the first time to allow Astarte to slip away. but it was less effective the second time. And the third had earned Rachel of rib crunching punch to the gut.
Astarte glanced at the room around her. The party goers had began a stampede, and she couldn’t find Karega.
The xeno guards who were supposed to be protecting the party took one look at Zera before chucking their guns and joining the stampede. Though they were quickly shoved out of the way or straight up trampled to death.
Cowards. If this had been one of Astarte’s parties then not only would she have hired better guards, but the guests themselves would have turned to mob Zera.
And she would have been armored. Fuck, if she got out of this alive she was never going to go to a party unarmored again. Danm the dress code!
The only thing that had kept her alive was the fact that Astarte was better than Zera. Not stronger or faster, but better in every other metric. That seemed to always be the difference between them.
“Looks like you’ve caused a scene” Astarte quipped as she tried to get her breathing under control.
Zera looked around, and despite the mask Astarte could see the sadistic grin she would have made. “Yes, it seems I have.” She said with a self-satisfied purr.
“Don’t suppose I could convince you to surrender?” Astarte said, grasping at straws to give her time to think.
“And why would I ever do that? I have you right where I want you.” With that Zera crouched down and rushed in.
The moment she started running a knife was thrown from their side and intercept Zera’s charge. For the third time that night a knife found its way into her neck. Astarte saw Karega out of the corner of her eye, his arm still extended outwards from his perfect throw.
Astarte didn’t waste the opportunity. As Zera stumbled and reached for the knife in her neck Astarte took the chance the dash forward. She bolted right in front of Zera, leapt up, a scissored her between her thighs.
Zera thrashed and attempted to throw Astarte off, but Astarte crossed her legs and locked her heels. She grabbed the assassin’s head by the ears and jerked it violently to the side. She heard metal tear and something inside her crack as Astarte broke the assassin’s neck.
Leaving nothing to chance she jerked her head the other way, breaking her neck a second time.
Zera went limp and Astarte’s weight made her fall forwards.
Astarte leapt off mid fall and turned to Karega. “Were you actually aiming for her neck, or was that just luck?”
“Believe it not, I actually was.” He said with a million-credit smile.
“Danm, drinks are on me then.”
She started walking over to her business partner when she heard the whine of an electrical discharge. Aster turned and saw Zera’s body jerk. Another whine of charging electricity, and it jerked again. Her fingers twitched, and her legs kicked out. Then Zera’s arms pressed against the floor and began to push herself back up.
Goddammit, what did it take to kill this woman?
“What do we do?” Karega asked, panic creeping in.
“Fuckin run!” Astarte roared.
He turned on his heels and began to run out of the room. Astarte was about to follow when she saw Rachel still crumpled on the floor. Without any hesitation Astarte lifted the girl up by her shoulders and legs and ran after Karega.
~~~*~~~
Her head was swimming, bright colors blurred in and out of her vision. Her stomach hurt, and breathing was hard.
Rachel groaned.
“Ooh, did I wake you. Sorry I’m tried to be as gentle as I could, but its not easy when you’re fleeing for your life.” A voice crooned from above her.
Rachel tried to focus her vision, and saw, saw, an angle. “Am I in heaven?” she asked groggily.
Astarte laughed “Not the first time I’ve gotten that response, though usually under much better circumstances.” She quipped with a devilish grin.
The grin was what broke the illusion, the night’s events came back to her, and she realized where she was. She tried to squirm out of the pirates grip, but the pirates hands were like a vise grip holding her in place.
“You’re in no shape to run, and leaving you behind would just be giving Zera a hostage on a silver platter. Bear with it a little longer.” Astarte said, then she jerked to the side as a head sized paving stone shot past where they had been. “Ha, nice aim bitch!” she called back.
“Please! Stop! Antagonizing! The psychopath Star!” a male voice screamed in frustration.
“Make me!” Astarte called back.
Rachel turned her head to see Karega, stripped to his waist, slightly burned, and panting hard.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“Close to the edge of the core. We tried to hijack a car, but that didn’t work out, now we’re working on a different escape plan.” Astarte explained.
The edge of the core, how had they come that far on foot? How long had she been out.
Her parents weren’t important enough to earn a place close to the center, but they were still wealthy enough to be a couple kilometers away from the edge.
“That reminds me” Astarte said casually. “Could you reach into my bra.”
“What?” she and Karega shouted at the same time.
“Now is really not the time Star!” Karega chastised.
“Not for that. I need her to grab my phone. I can’t do that while holding her.”
“Then dump her!” he roared.
“I already told you that’s not happening.”
“Are you two really bickering right now?" Rachel asked incredulously.
“YES!” they both shouted.
Rachel was stunned into silence.
Astarte cleared her throat. “So, about that phone?”
Rachel flinched, “Um, right,” she reached in before she could really think about what she was doing. She realized what she was doing thew moment her had slipped in and felt something soft and smooth. Her hand stopped as soon as she realize ‘what’ she had just touched.
“Ehem” Astarte said, breaking her out of her stupor. Her face was tinged red, and she wasn’t sure if that was just from the running. “Other side, that’s where the dagger was.”
Rachel gulped and moved her hand to the other boo-… the other side of her chest. There she found the phone and pulled it out. But as she was pulling it out she noticed an odd-looking brand between the pirates cleavage. An upside-down star in a circle with letters around the outside.
“The passcode is zero, six, six, six.” The pirate explained as the lock screen appeared.
The phone was one of the newer Terran devices that were starting to outcompete their Union counterparts. It was a small plane of flexible glass that fit easily in a human hand, and even had nano technology to grow or shrink to better fit a different species hand.
Rachel punched in the code, and the phone had the same strange pentagram as a background. “You really revel in this whole devil thing don’t you.” Rachel murmured.
“I never do things halfway.” Astarte shot back. “The icon with an E on it, no not that one, next to the big red button icon, please for the love of god don’t press the red button.”
“What does the big red button do?”
“It arms the Astaroth’s self-destruct protocols.”
“And you just… have an app for that?”
“Of course, what if I need to arm it remotely?” she said it like that was a perfectly reasonable thing to say. “Just tap the E please.”
Rachel tapped it, and she heard a ringing noise.
“THIS IS FAN, STATE YOUR NAME AND INTENTIONS” a men’s voice said.
“Captain Astarte, clearance code ‘Awake, Arise, or be forever fall’n’”
Rachel raised an eyebrow. “Really, quoting Milton?”
“You’ve read paradise lost?” Astarte asked, sounding surprised.

“CLEANCE CODE CHECKS OUT CAPTAIN, WE HEAR AND WE OBEY.” The man said.
“Ping my location and send one of the dropships, HALO scenario.”
“RIGHT. HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU HAVE ?”
Another rock flew past their head.
“Maybe a minute.” Astarte answered.
The man on the phone was silent. “WE CAN’T GET EITHER DROPSHIP THERE IN THAT TIME.”
“THIS IS JOHN OF THE LUCIFER.” Another male voice broke in. “WE CAN HAVE HUGIN THERE IN UNDER THIRTY”
Astarte looked surprised. “When did the Lucifer get here?”
“WE’RE TRANISTTING THE STATIONS ENTRANCE RIGHT NOW. DO YOU WANT IT OR NOT?” a stern female voice broke in.
“Shit!” Karega cursed at their side.
Another block flew over their head, this one crashed right in front and Astarte had to jump over it to keep from tripping. “FUCK, YES. JUST GET HERE!” she shouted.
“ROGER, HALO SENARIO IS AUTHORIZED.” The stern female voice said. “COME BACK ALIVE DUAGHTER”
The phone screen went blank as the connection was cut.
“She didn’t have to cut the line” Astarte grumbled “What if I need to change the location?”
“You know Lucile, let’s just be glad she’s here.” Karega said.
“What the hell is going on?” Rachel asked.
Astarte glanced down at her. “We’re running from Zera, I broke her neck, twice, and the bitch still got up. Without some heavy munitions I doubt we can put her down. We’ve been able to keep ahead of her, but we’ll tire out eventually. So we’re going to be extracted by one of our dropships.”
Rachel blinked, “and these dropships will be able to land and take off before Zera gets to us?”
Astarte grinned her devilish grin, “nope.”
A chill went down her spine. “Then how are we-?” she was cut off as Astarte came to a grinding stop.
They were at the edge of the core sector, a railing prevented them from skidding over, but now their backs were to the rail and Zera had caught up and cornered them.
“No where left to run” the assassin taunted. “You can either come quietly, or jump to escape what I’m about to do to you.”
Rachel heard the low roar of an engine, and Astarte’s grip tightened around Rachel. “For once your completely right.” Astarte said.
Then she leaned back. No, not lean, she fell back. Rachel fell off the side of the core with Astarte.
Rachel screamed.
Zera roared in fury.
Astarte, laughed.
Previous/Patreon/Next

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2023.11.15 23:23 Objective_Campaign82 Sins of the Father Ch54 (Hellworlder pirates 2)

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2023.11.15 23:23 Objective_Campaign82 Sins of the Father Ch54 (Hellworlder pirates 2)

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2023.10.29 15:01 dreftzg [Weekly Roundup] A. Lange & Söhne Introduces Stunning Honeygold Zeitwerk Minute Repeater, New Omega PO Dark Grey Goes Light And Expensive, Laco's Beautiful New Pilot Watches, Christopher Ward' Stunning Aventurine Moon Phase, Raymond Weil Pays Tribute To Basquiat, Ming Shocks With Lightest Watch Ever

[Weekly Roundup] A. Lange & Söhne Introduces Stunning Honeygold Zeitwerk Minute Repeater, New Omega PO Dark Grey Goes Light And Expensive, Laco's Beautiful New Pilot Watches, Christopher Ward' Stunning Aventurine Moon Phase, Raymond Weil Pays Tribute To Basquiat, Ming Shocks With Lightest Watch Ever

You might know me as the guy that writes the daily news updates here and the Monday to Friday newsletter. Here's something I'm experimenting with - a list of all the most read news and reviews of the week. Let me know in the comments if I should continue posting these on Sunday as a sort of longread for the weekend, something that will catch you up on all the news you might have missed during the week.
If you like these updates, read on through to the end and see if you would like to subscribe to the newsletter, I appreciate all of you!

Most read news of the week

1/
A. Lange & Söhne Introduces A Stunning Honeygold Version Of The Zeitwerk Minute Repeater

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If you have been reading these updates for a while, you might have noticed I try to have a pattern to the five pieces of watch news I publish every day. I strive to open the newsletter with a release from a major watch brand, one that would appeal to a wide range of readers. These can sometimes be quite expensive, but more often than not they are approachable and affordable watches. I follow that up with two or three cheaper watches, as this is the most desired category from the readers (although, to be honest, cheaper watches are consistently the least read about 😄) and I end with an expensive watch that is out of most reaches. But this edition will be something different. It’s not every day that A. Lange & Söhne comes out with a new watch. Especially not one as beautiful and jaw dropping as the new Zeitwerk Minute Repeater in stunning Honeygold. I know it’s insane to open up with a €500.000+ watch. But just look at it.
The A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Minute Repeater is a watch we have seen before. It was introduced in 2015 in platinum, as the only mechanical wristwatch to combine a jumping numerals display with a decimal minute repeater, followed by a white gold model in 2020. Now it’s time for a new version in an incredible shade of yellow gold that Lange calls Honeygold. Nobody really knows what the alloy is made up of because Lange is mum on it’s makeup and nobody is up to melting one down, but what we do know is that it is much harder than platinum and regular gold alloys and that it looks like actual liquid honey. Lange uses it only for it’s most exclusive models.
The watch comes in at 44.2mm wide and 14.1mm thick, with polished and brushed finishes. Another benefit of the gold case is that it gives a clear and rich tone to the chimes. Since the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater gets the power for the striking mechanism from the twin mainspring barrel it uses a single button to trigger the repeater instead of a slide that tensions a separate spring and there is a gold crown at the 3 o’clock position.
Set on a gray dial plate, you get the signature rhodium-plated German silver time bridge, bevelled apertures for the hours and minutes that made the Zeitwerk famous, and a small seconds counter in the middle. At the 12 o’clock position you get a recessed semi-circular power reserve indicator and a small red dot at the 12 hour mark on the power reserve. If power drops below 12 hours, you can’t use the striking mechanism.
I mentioned that this was the only mechanical wristwatch to combine a jumping numerals display with a decimal minute repeater. So what is a decimal minute repeater? It’s an incredibly rare complication that chimes the time as it’s displayed - if the time is 7:52 you will hear seven low-pitched tones, five double tones and two high-pitched tones.
This is possible thanks to the incredibly complicated in-house movement that’s made out of 771 parts called the L043.5. It has a constant force escapement between the barrel and the balance, the ability to block the mechanism to protect the movement, it beats at 18,000 vph and has a power reserve of 36 hours. It is, of course, incredibly beautiful to look at with hand-engraved motifs on the balance cock and escape-wheel cock and hallmark Glashütte ribbing on the untreated German silver three-quarter plate. The watch comes on a hand-stitched dark brown leather strap and an 18k Honeygold and white gold deployant buckle.
Like it’s predecessor, the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater Honeygold is limited to 30 pieces. Price is on request, but reports say that the white gold version sold for €449.000. This one can only be higher. See more on the brand website.
2/
New Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Dark Grey Goes Super Light With Titanium And Ceramic With A Mind Blowing Price

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For years, I didn’t like titanium watches. They were weirdly light and their lack of coolness to the touch first thing in the morning made them feel like plastic. Since then I’ve come around to understand how great titanium can be. The past five or six years have seen an introduction of titanium watches at all price ranges and has turned it from an exotic material into one that lightened up a ton of watches. While perhaps a bit pedestrian now, a brand like Omega has found a way to use titanium in a new and innovative way that uses even more high-end materials in their new light, robust, bold and monochromatic Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Dark Grey GMT.
This new watch is all about being light. Omega is expanding their utilitarian Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M with the use of a new type of ceramic called silicon nitride ceramic. It’s light and tough, in fact it’s 50% lighter than traditional zircon ceramic and to keep things even lighter pretty much all the steel has been exchanged for titanium, which is 40% lighter. All of this has made a super-light watch that weighs only 107 grams. Compare that to the slightly older black ceramic version at 140 grams and a steel Planet Ocean 600M GMT on a steel bracelet that weight 226 grams.
While being light is very cool, this might have had an adverse effect in other areas. The Seamaster Planet Ocean Dark Grey GMT is huge. It measures 45.5mm wide, a whopping 17mm thick and has a lug-to-lug of 51.5mm. It would be hard to pull this size off with a heavier watch, so you decide for yourself if this is a worthwhile tradeoff. This is, in essence, a classic Planet Ocean 600m, meaning you get lyre lugs, a unidirectional bezel with a 60-minute scale, sapphire crystals front and back, a helium valve at 10 o’clock, a screw-down crown and, of course, a water resistance of 600 meters.
Back to the materials. The silicon nitride ceramic is used on the case, the NAIAD LOCK caseback and the bezel insert. In this version it gets a fully monochromatic grey look and the grey continues in the grade 5 titanium in the bezel body, the crown, the helium valve, the clasp and dial. Yeah, the dial is made out of solid titanium with a sandblasted finish, with the same grey tone as the rest of the watch, and the color is seen on the hands and indexes. The only splashes of color are the orange accents on the dial and the arrow on the GMT hand. The GMT hand points to a 24-hour inner bezel.
Inside the watch is the familiar calibre 8906, a traveller style GMT, which has the same Master Chronometer certification, its antimagnetic properties, its co-axial escapement and a dual-barrel architecture for 60h of power reserve. However, you might notice it looks completely different than previous versions and has been lightened with bridges and plates made from matte-treated grade 5 titanium. The watch comes on an integrated rubber strap with grey textile inlay and a titanium folding clasp.
So, there’s no denying that the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Dark Grey GMT is an incredibly cool looking watch that’s unbelievably light. However, will those two things be enough to justify it’s almost unmanageable size and a truly eye-watering price of €24,500. Keep in mind that the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Deep Black, which is made out of ceramic but lacks the few titanium bits, is priced at €13.400 in Germany. See more on the Omega website.
3/
Laco Reveals New, Great Looking, Hamburg DIN 8330 and Hamburg GMT DIN 8330 Pilot Watches

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While the German watchmaker Laco is primarily known for their solid pilot’s watches, whose production dates all the way back to the 1940s when they made watches for the German military, every time I mentioned them in this newsletter it was for watches that were not related to flying. First it was the amazing Atacama Quartz UTC tool and then recently for marine-themed Cuxhaven and Bremerhaven watches. All three of these looked like great watches, but I’m so glad they’re back to releasing new watches, seeing as how their new GMT might be one of the best looking pilot’s watches out there. These are the new Laco Hamburg DIN 8330 and Hamburg GMT DIN 8330 watches.
Before I get into what the watch is, let’s look at that name briefly. It says pretty openly that the watches were made to the German DIN 8330 standard, established in March 2016 as a contemporary benchmark for aviator watches. The standard necessitates clear readability, the ability to be operated with gloves, accuracy in temperature variations, resilience to pressure changes, resistance to liquids found in aircraft, and durability against vibrations, impact, centrifugal forces and magnetic fields. So, one tough watch.
The two new Laco pilot’s watches both come in the same 43.5mm wide case that is made out of 904L stainless steel which is highly resistant to corrosion and saltwater. Unfortunately, their website doesn’t really say what they have done to treat it steel, but it has obviously got some kind of blasting that turned the watch a very dark grey. This is likely to conform to the DIN 8330 standard which says that a watch can’t reflect light that will be distracting. Both watches have a bidirectional rotating bezel with a ceramic insert that has Super-LumiNova C1 on the minute markers and indices. Water resistance is set at 200 meters.
Both modesl also share pretty much the same dial, a matte black one that has large numerals at 3, 6 and 9, while a triangle sits at 12 o’clock. The indexes and hands are stark white and have a bunch of lume on it. The GMT model has an additional inner 24-hour scale with numerals in dark orange Super-LumiNova and a GMT hand with an orange arrowhead. There’s a date window opening on both watches at 4 o’clock with a color matched date wheel inside it.
The time only version uses a premium grade Sellita SW200, a familiar watch that’s easy to repair, robust and offers 38 hours of power reserve. The GMT version features the Sellita SW330, a caller GMT that has 50 hours of power reserve. Both watches com on a water-repellent black Nytech strap
The Hamburg DIN 8330 and Hamburg GMT DIN 8330 are on pre-sale now until October 30th and they should be available in December The price is set at €1,790 for the time only and €2,390 for the GMT version. Pricing on watches is subjective thing, so it might be fine for you, but I would love for them to be €400 lower, so that the GMT could drop below €2,000. See more on the Laco website.
4/
Christopher Ward Introduces Stunning Aventurine Dial Perpetual Moon Phase At An Incredible Price

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Getting ready to write this piece, I read something that truly blew my mind. Despite all the super-popular sports watches like the Sealander and the Triden diver, the fan-favorite brand Christopher Ward’s best selling single model, and by a wide margin, is the C1 Moonglow. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great watch, but so incredibly far from what I would expect would be their bestseller… Seeing as how this is their biggest success, it’s no wonder they’re releasing a new moonphase watch. This is the incredible Christopher Ward C1 Moonphase.
At the same time, not much has changed and everything has changed. The new Moonphase has the same form as the Moonglow, but with slightly different measurements. The case remains the same mix of brushed and polished surfaces with a width of 40.5mm. However, it’s a bit thicker at 13.3mm and has a slightly lower lug-to-lug measurement of 47.9mm, making it a bit more elegant. There’s a box sapphire on top and 30 meters of water resistance.
The dial on the new Moonphase might be one of the best use of aventurine, as it gives you a beautiful starry sky, with no indices or numerals, with just a huge cutout for the moon phase complication. And the moon is huge. Christopher Ward claims it’s 25% bigger than the one on the Moonglow and it’s made out of luminescent Globolight overlayed with a print of the moon and sits on a rotating plate of aventurine. The high-polished, faceted hands either contrast the dial or blend in with it depending on how the light hits them.
To keep costs low, the C1 Moonphase uses an elaboré grade Sellita SW200-1. This is a solid and affordable movement, but it’s a time only operation. To get the perpetual moon phase function that will accurately display the phases of our Moon for 128 years, CW uses an in-house JJ04 moonphase module. The base movement beats at 28,800 vph and has a 38 hour power reserve and CW quotes accuracy to be -20/+20 seconds per day. Having had several SW200 movements, accuracy should be much, much better than that.
The watch comes on either a deep blue leather strap with a quick release or on CW’s 7-link Consort bracelet with a butterfly clasp. While their bracelet is fine, the leather strap makes the watch look just incredible, so I believe this will be the choice for most.
The Christopher Ward C1 Moonphase is priced the same as the C1 Moonglow, meaning you will have to pay €2,655 on the bracelet or €2,495 on the leather strap, which are incredible prices for a perpetual moon phase with such a stunning dial. See more on the Christopher Ward Website.
5/
Raymond Weil Pays Tribute To Basquiat With A Freelancer Special Edition

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Watches made in collaboration with pop-cultural icons can at best be a cool watch, but more often than not they are a quick cashgrab with very little respect paid to the original or care given to the integration of motifs. However, it seems that Raymond Weil has managed to walk that tightrope and come out on the other end as a brand that makes great tribute watches. They have done special editions honoring Buddy Holly, Bob Marley and David Bowie, and they are all pretty amazing pieces. Now they’re moving away from musicians and are paying tribute to one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, Basquiat, with the Raymond Weil x Basquiat Freelancer Special Edition.
The watch comes as a 43.5mm wide and 13.7mm thick titanium case with a ceramic tachymeter bezel and a pulsometer scale around the flange. Basquiat was an incredible artist who died at the age of 27, having defined the New York street art transition into fine art of the 1980s. And his style is incredibly recognizable. So one look at the watch instantly tells you who it’s tributing. The crown of the watch has a yellow crown symbol, one of Basquiat’s defining motifs. There’s more references to his art - a Copyright symbol on the Cancel/Reset pusher and $ symbol atop the Start/Stop chronograph pusher.
Then the chronograph is engaged, the minutes disk turns, emblazoned with the themes of Life, Death, and Humanity. The endlessly turning seconds disk positioned at nine o'clock is also intended to connect to the artist's concern for life's complexity. The crown, again, finds its place at the 12 o’clock position and coated in Super-LumiNova. At the center of the black dial is a recreation of the T-Rex symbol from his iconic painting Pez Dispenser.
Inside the watch is Raymond Weil’s Caliber RW5030 Bi-Compax movement that can be seen through the transparent caseback that’s engraved with Basquiat’s signature. The self-winding movement has a power reserve of 56 hours with a W-shaped oscillating weight and blued gasket.
is on full display, complete with Raymond Weil's signature W-shaped oscillating weight and blued gasket. This mechanical chronograph movement is self-winding and has a power reserve of 56 hours. As a final touch, the caseback is finished with a reproduction of Basquiat's own signature. The watch comes on a black leather strap.
Raymond Weil says that the Basquiat Freelancer Special Edition will have limited availability worldwide, without specifying how many will be made. It’s priced at CHF 4,995 and you can refer to the Raymond Weil website to see where they are available.
6/
The New Ming LW.01 Is Not Only Jaw-Droppingly Beautiful, It Claims To Be The Lightest Watch In The World At 8.8 Grams

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Watchmakers love to go for records. They will invest incredible time and money to prove that they can make the most precise, the thinnest, the lightest, the most complicated or whatever else they please watch in the world. These attempts usually come from the most prestigious of brands, those who can invest untold amounts of money to achieve a moment of prestige. You don’t, however, often expect such an achievement to come from what is essentially a micro brand. And yet, Ming Thein, the founder of Ming watches, has just releases a new watch from the Special Projects Cave called the Ming LW.01, quite possibly the lightest watch ever made. And they did it while not compromising their signature style, which means a lot in this race for lightness.
Ming is actually releasing two watches, the Ming LW.01 Manual and the LW.01 Automatic. The manual weighs in at 8.8 grams while the auto is 10.8 grams, both without a strap. However, seeing as how the strap and buckle weigh in at just 1.8 grams, you can see how this whole package is mind blowing.
While a brand like Richard Mille had to completely redefine their design language to get a different record, that of the thinnest watch in the world, I love that Ming didn’t have to compromise here to get lightness. You still get the traditional Ming case and lugs, markings printed on the crystal and what looks like a dark sapphire dial. Except there is no dial, since Ming has opted to just print a gradient on the crystal to hide the movement and eliminate the need for a dial all together. Which is just brilliant. That printing has an "interference pattern," a positive pattern on the top of a disc and a negative pattern on the bottom of the crystal. The result is a central display that pulses like a star to show that the movement is running.
The case measures 38mm wide and 6.5mm thick, so in addition to lightness you get great thinness as well. The construction of this watch is completely new - it fuses a hat-shaped dial ring and movement holder, supported from the rear by a cage with 3D struts to avoid damage to the dial and movement. The entire assembly is capped and sealed to the bezel, which is very narrow and internally hollowed to save weight.
Ming also decided against using carbon, as they found that the AZ31 Magnesium-Aluminium-Zinc-Manganese alloy was lighter than carbon and more consistent than hollow 3D printing. And it felt more like metal. The alloy is further treated with plasma-electrolytic oxidation (PEO) to enhance corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. They also don’t use sapphire crystal, as that is too heavy, but rather Corning Gorilla Glass 6.
The LW.01M and LW.01A are powered by a ETA 2000.M1 modified by Schwarz-Etienne for MING. Both the LW.01A automatic and the LW.01M manual-winding have a 36h power reserve and a 4Hz frequency. The watch comes on a choice of straps, but if you’re buying the lightest watch in the world, you might as well go for the lightest strap. And that would be the 1.2 gram single-layer Alcantara strap by Jean Rousseau Paris, with a signed AZ31 Magnesium buckle.
200 pieces will be made in either manually-wound or automatic options, which does seem like a lot for such an experimental watch, but I love it! Price is set at CHF 19,500. A lot of money, but come on. Look at it. Sales started today, October 27, at 1PM GMT and you will be expected to make a 50% deposit on order. Deliveries are expected in Q4 of 2024. See more on the Ming website.
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Most read reviews of the week

1/
Louis Vuitton’s new Tambour is a show of the brand’s watchmaking know-how
2/
Hands on with the Hamilton Khaki Field Expedition
3/
Hands-On With The Nostalgic Casio CA-500 Calculator Watches
4/
Hands on with the Victorinox Swiss Army I.N.O.X. Chrono in black carbon
5/
A Hands-On Introduction To The Christopher Ward C1 Moonphase
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The most watch worthy watches of the week

The Ollech & Wajs OW M-110 AS is a nice looking military watch with diving chops and a compass bezel
I mentioned that a skin diver needs to bring unique looks to the party to stand out from the ever-growing crowd. I think the OW M-110 AS does that well and continues the company’s pattern of blending very different colors. Here, the dial is light gray with brushed steel, light green, and white detailing. The date window is nicely integrated at 6 o’clock to look like an hour marker. It’s all very smooth and calming. I don’t think I’ve seen a watch with this palette, yet it works really well. It certainly isn’t garish, too sporty, or boring. Read the whole review on Fratello.
Marnaut Safe Harbour and Dark Surge – the everyday warrior and the diving explorer
Marnaut’s look is by no means conventional, which can be both a blessing and a curse for smaller brands. In my view, the refinement that the brand has shown since launching their first watch is commendable, as is the decision to stick to a distinct look. The new Dark Surge is a great example of this, with a reworked case that wears well despite its large dimensions, and the switch to more premium movements. Read the whole article on Time+Tide.
The New Vario Empire GMT — A 1920s-Inspired Travel Watch
What set the Empire collection apart from the brand’s other ones was how thoroughly developed it was. Besides the watches having modest dimensions and solid movements, buyers could choose from many colors and dial textures, including salmon dials, green dials, mother-of-pearl options, and more. So it’s rather exciting to see Vario expand the collection further by adding a GMT variant. And it’s not just any GMT. It is a so-called (perhaps erroneously) “true” GMT with an independently adjustable 12-hour hand. This is what we at Fratello often call a “flyer GMT,” akin to a Rolex GMT-Master II or Tudor Black Bay GMT. Anyway, the Empire collection looks different from what I generally write about, and it stands out for a few reasons. Read the whole story on Fratello.
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If you would like to receive some additional watch-adjacent content, as well as this news overview, every morning Monday-Friday in the form of a newsletter feel free to subscribe. However, there is absolutely no need for you to subscribe, as all the news from the newsletter is posted here. It is only if you want to receive a couple of daily links that are not strictly watch-related and want to get this news overview in your inbox.

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2023.10.20 00:42 PaperEmperor007 Bifora 910/1 AUTO CAL Mainspring Alternative + Service Guidance

Greetings,
I hope this message finds you all in good health. I am new here, and to watchmaking. So, as a passionate student delving into the fascinating world of watchmaking as a hobby, I've recently come into possession of a vintage Bifora 910/1 AUTO CAL, handed down through my family. I'm eager to embark on a journey to service and restore this timepiece myself. In doing so, I've carefully assessed both the external and internal aspects of the watch, revealing several issues:

Servicing: The watch is in dire need of a complete service. There are noticeable signs of corrosion on the ratchet wheel's teeth and the upper wheel in the automatic mechanism. The stem also displays corrosion, causing a grinding noise when adjusting the crown. It's worth noting that the corrosion appears limited to the thread of the stem, while the male part seems intact. Additionally, some of the top screws exhibit surface rust.

Back of Watch
Visible Rust on Wheel and Stem

Crystal Replacement Maybe

Watch Crystal Replacement: The watch's crystal requires replacement.
Rubber Gasket Replacement: The current rubber gasket has deteriorated and is in need of replacement.
Rotor Play and Missing Screw: I've identified that the rotor has excessive play, resulting in a clicking noise against the case. This issue stems from a missing screw, which should secure the rotor. Unfortunately, the missing screw is unaccounted for.

An internet picture showing the missing screw for the 910/1 AUTO Movement

Hairspring Malfunction? : Initially, the watch displayed excellent timekeeping, lasting over 18 hours. However, its performance has dramatically declined, failing to function reliably for even five minutes. When the watch is lightly moved or tapped, it restarts, but the hairspring continues to operate slowly, despite being fully wound (20-30 times clockwise).

To address these concerns, I've consulted with the most reputable watchmaker in my city, who boasts the largest stock of watch parts in our country. They've provided a quote for the required services, which includes crystal replacement, a new stem with a crown, a missing screw, and a fresh gasket, all for a total of $30 (converted). It's essential to note that, due to the watch's age, they cannot provide a guarantee on the repair. Payment is required upfront, as past experiences have shown that customers often fail to collect their watches after repairs, leaving the shop with unsellable second-hand timepieces. Cost may increase due to the watch stopping issue.
It's worth mentioning that the watchmaker has declined to service the watch owing to its brand and age, citing limited parts availability. However, they've shown me an old catalogue with Bifora 91/1 movement specifications, which may assist in locating a suitable stem.
Considering the circumstances and driven by my background as an engineering student with some experience in micro-soldering, I've decided to explore the possibility of servicing and repairing the watch myself. My research suggests that, due to the sudden sluggishness of the watch, it requires cleaning and likely a new mainspring. The correct Ronda 1520 stem is also needed, although I am uncertain about the appropriate crown size, as this information has proven elusive.
For the mainspring, I've identified the following specifications: Height (H): 1.2mm, Thickness (T): 0.095mm, Total Length (TL): 265mm, Barrel Diameter (BD): 8.5mm, and End Type: Auto. However, I've noticed that on Cousins UK, the 8.5mm barrel diameter mainspring is discontinued, and I am uncertain about the significance of the difference compared to the 8mm version (GR2896X).
My dilemma lies in whether to proceed with the watchmaker's quote or acquire the necessary tools and parts independently, with the exception of the missing screw and crown replacement. There's a local watch tool and part supplier in my city that stocks an AS 1783 mainspring with similar specifications to the 910/1 AUTO CAL, although the height is 1.15mm, thickness is 0.093mm, TL is 280mm, and the barrel diameter is 8mm. An online calculation suggests it could be compatible, but I seek guidance on this matter.
At present, my toolkit comprises an assortment of tweezers, an iFixit Pro Tech Tool Kit, a silicone mat, containers, a magnifying lamp, a basic ultrasonic cleaner (no temp or timer control), and a digital microscope with HDMI output.
I then therefore require precision screwdrivers, and the supplier offers a kit from Anchor with blade sizes ranging from 0.60mm to 1.35mm, excluding the 0.5mm size. Dust covers are also unavailable, although a plastic pill box should serve as a substitute. The watch crystal remover is priced at $25, while a new crystal costs $2. The only wristwatch oil available is from Anchor, as Bergeon options are out of stock, along with gaskets.
When calculating the costs, it becomes apparent that servicing the watch myself may exceed the watch's current value when restored. However, it's worth considering that I would acquire a valuable set of tools for future use. A logistical option is to request permission from the supplier to borrow their display watch crystal remover for the crystal replacement. Yet, I am uncertain about the feasibility of this arrangement.
In summary, I am at a crossroads, torn between availing the services of the watchmaker and their bundled offer, or pursuing an independent route to acquire the necessary tools and parts. I appreciate everyone's insights, especially regarding the compatibility of the AS 1783 mainspring. The remaining concern is the quality of Anchor oil, as well as the limited availability of small oiling hands. While I reside in Africa and anticipate suitable temperatures, any advice on these matters would be greatly appreciated.
Oh, I also replaced the old metal strap with a faux leather strap.
Warm regards,
PaperEmperor007

submitted by PaperEmperor007 to watchrepair [link] [comments]

2023.09.30 17:27 I_love_lucja_1738 This article is so bad

https://screenrant.com/james-bond-26-franchise-traditions-tropes-drop/#bond-26-can-properly-drop-the-quot-bond-girl-quot-trope
I read it and most things are just stupid. Let's go over each point.
Number 10. It doesn't really matter whether they have deformities or not.
Number 9. Why? Why should Bond not hookup with women? That's one of his things.
Number 8. An actual lie. Moneypenny changed for both Dalton and Brosnan. M also changed for Brosnan. Also M and Q have been replaced albeit not with the arrival of a new Bond.
Number 7. Fair tbh. I like the Bond movies that are balanced like the John Glen movies.
Number 6. Yeah that's true. Blofeld's done.
Number 5. Of course not. Bond must always be contemporary In order to survive. Bond going back to the 60s would be pointless. It would be the 2020s 1960s if you get me.
Number 4. "because a wristwatch bomb doesn’t fit in the same fictional universe as Vesper Lynd’s tragic death." A watch with a bomb in it doesn't fit in a world where a woman killed herself? The watch wasn't a nuke or anything. Bond should have gadgets! They shouldn't be x-ray glasses or invisible cars but he should have them at least.
Number 3. While I agree this has only happened in casino royale. Which is a book adaptation. I wouldn't count sacrificial lamb characters as love interests btw.
Number 2. I guess. But it kinda has been toned down. Le Chiffre and Greene didn't do a monologue. Silva did a monologue but not about his plan. Yes Blofeld and safin did but those villilans are bad.
Number 1. This really isn't that common. It's also not even bad. Everyone likes a good twist right?

submitted by I_love_lucja_1738 to JamesBond [link] [comments]

2023.09.21 00:21 emu314159 [Opinion] Possibly not popular opinion, but tourbillons should be valued for aesthetics (And they ARE pretty) and demonstration of watchmaking chops only.

I've read far too many breathless articles describing the tourbillon as the apotheosis of horology, the ne plus ultra, etc. Assuming you can see them via cutout, they are very arresting, I would never deny. They are not trivial to cram into a wristwatch, by any means. I would just argue that unless you love the looks, there are much more interesting, and challenging, complications out there.

I understand the original point of the thing when Breguet invented it over two centuries ago, to smooth out the effects of gravity on the regulating components by running them through all vertical positions. As these were all pocket watches, that was the only concern, as the time not spent vertical was negligible. How well that might have worked at the time is not what we're here for, nor is the very good point that this doesn't translate to wristwatches.
To quote the Sotheby's article linked below:
"The question then is why are tourbillons – a mechanical feature first created more than two centuries ago and long-since made technologically obsolete – still relevant today, and so coveted?"

Although they agree that with modern manufacturing, any questionable value the complication may have had is long since past, the article goes on to chronicle all the Quixotes who have tilted at this particular windmill over the decades.

So for them, the answer seems to be, because it's there ( or not there, however you want to put it.) Myself, I feel there are far more interesting and useful complications, and more difficult (the repeater, perpetual calendar, the grande sonnerie, the latter of which is almost unheard of, very limited, and if you even could get on the list, at least six figures.)

Yes, you could argue that quartz makes mechanical obsolete, but the mechanical still fulfills its function. A perpetual calendar on a watch can actually be a pain if you don't keep it wound, as setting it is complicated, but it serves a function, and is also visually interesting. A repeater makes a lovely chime on command. A visually impaired person would find it quite useful.

One could go on, but the tourbillon alone has no function other than to indicate difficulty and expense, and to otherwise look pretty. These are not trivial things, and if you get one with that in mind, we concur.

I just wish they'd picked something else to fawn over.
https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/from-practical-to-prestigious-the-story-of-the-tourbillon#:~:text=While%20today%20garnering%20renown%20around,a%20regulator%20by%20the%20same

In case you're still in the camp of, well it can't actually HURT accuracy/cause any issues:

https://www.firstclasswatches.co.uk/blog/2018/08/tourbillon-useless-wristwatch/I

submitted by emu314159 to Watches [link] [comments]

2023.07.27 16:48 HeysScientic Heys Scientific Mikros One - Update

In the last 9 months, in our spare time between day jobs, moving house and family we’ve continued to develop the Mikros One hand grinder based on feedback we received at last year’s Manchester Coffee Festival and a small group of coffee loving friends and made some improvements to the design. (First picture)
The prototype (2nd picture) was simply costing too much to build. The prototypes obviously being just three, cost close to £4,000 by the time all the shipping, duties, tax etc were paid. Our quote for a small run 250 came in at nearly £70,000.
The challenge therefore was how do we engineer out costs, whilst simultaneously making it easier to use, easier to maintain and even better quality. Hence 9 months.
To give you a bit of an idea about new product development, we did the concept design over a single weekend. Then about a year to get it to get it to prototype stage and another 3 month to get the prototypes manufactured.
So, what have we changed to make it better?
Originally the scale was part of the catch cup. People just didn’t like taking the scale off and having to align it back up when replacing it. So we separated the scale/adjuster from the grounds cup, hence the second ring of knurls higher up. The cup base is still removable from the cup body for adding sieves, of porta filter funnels.
Whilst we were at it, some commentators said they didn’t lie the idea of factory calibration and factory maintenance. They said they wanted control over that themselves. So we redesigned the internal parts to facilitate this. This has provided the additional benefit that the calibration function can also by used to assist with dial in as you can set the grinder to say 425um, then zero the scale and use it to plus or minus say 25um in say 5um steps. The whole thing can then be returned to absolute zero if you wish.
We also added a “knock block” to the back of the handle to help shift stubborn grounds from the burrs. This also protects the body from being scratched by the handle. The handle is also prevented from flopping around with the addition of a small magnet.
The knob has been made removable as some people liked the idea that they could swap out the knob to match a change in kitchen decor.
The window atop of the grinder has been changed from a bonded in plastic disc, to a asphalt crystal wristwatch window. This is now held in place with a frame by eight small screws.
We’re now awaiting quotes from factories to find out if we have been able to reduce the cost of manufacturing. We have been able to reduce already by £20 per grinder just through buying our ball bearings directly from the bearing factory.
We will once again be exhibiting at the Manchester Coffee Festival, November 18th - 19th and we will also be exhibiting our Open Source Smart Scales concept too.
Best Regards, Lloyd, Oliver, Lucy and Chris

submitted by HeysScientic to pourover [link] [comments]

2023.07.25 14:03 dreftzg [Daily News] Ball Pays Homage To Railroad Past With Roadmaster Chrono No. 999, G-Shock Gives 5600 A Stunning Amber Case, Lorier Hydra and Hyperion Get Flyer GMTs And New Watches from Cuervo Y Sobrinos And Nicolas Commergnat

It's Tuesday and I'm squeezing these new releases like lemons for my spiked lemonade

What's new

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https://preview.redd.it/06s4w4qwp3eb1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b9f067968f9d8f144abeb1d2e6cae8638041ca3c
Ball Pays Homage To Their Railroad Past With New Roadmaster Chronograph No. 999
Ball is a bit of a weird company these days. They have immense heritage. It was founded in 1891 by Webb C. Ball in Cleveland, Ohio after Ball was designated Chief Time Inspector and tasked with making sure that all train conductors had watches that ran perfectly on time, after a stopped watch of one conductor caused a fatal collision. Webb C. Ball set up “RR Standard” (“RR” for Rail Road) to assure a high accuracy and perfect reading to all railroad employees. He also created the BALL Time Service, an after-sale service to which every employee of the rails had to bring his watch every two weeks to make sure the accuracy and reliability of the watch was maximal. To obtain the “RR Standard” certification, the watches had to follow certain criteria, which later inspired others like the Swiss Official Testing Institute.
The company remained in his family's hands until the1990s. After that the rights to the name were sold, and this is where the weird story starts. The company is owned by a Hong Kong company Asia Commercial Holdings Ltd. and it’s headquartered in a tiny office building in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland. Those who know much more than me about watches also find it quite telling that Ball does large pre-order windows, suggesting that they pawn of Chinese made watches as Swiss.
Whatever the truth about Ball is, they make good looking, well made and often not badly priced watches that are dripping in heritage and always ahve a great story to tell. It’s no different with their latest watch - the limited edition Roadmaster Chronograph No. 999 wristwatch, named after the legendary No. 999 land speed record-holding steam locomotive which used the Ball RR Standard to adjust its running time.
The historical nod comes in the form of a diving watch chronograph in a 42mm titanium case. It’s as technical in appearance as we’ve come to expect from Ball, with their signature gas tubes in place of lumed indexes, a solid diving bezel and water resistance of 200m. There’s also a subtle constant operation indicator at nine o’clock, simply to check that the watch is working at all times.
Inside the watch is the automatic Ball calibre RR1409, which is based on the ETA 7750 and offers 62 hour reserve. But more bizarrely, you can get it in COSC-certified and non-COSC-certified versions at two different price points. The final flourish is the writing on the rotor: 112.5 MPH RECORD BREAKER. It’s the only reference to the No. 999 on the watch other than its name.
Like most Ball watches, this one is limited to 1,000 pieces and you have to preorder it. The Roadmaster Chronograph No. 999 with the non-COSC-certified movement is priced at CHF 4,063, while the COSC-certified version is CHF 4,813. See more on the Ball website.
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https://preview.redd.it/c3apq52wp3eb1.jpg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c1176d37792d4fcc1feb5144ab263804d99c8a5
The Classic Casio G-Shock 5600 Gets A Very Smooth Burbon-Themed Limited Edition
An alcohol themed watch sounds pretty much like a bad idea. It a recipe for disaster that can only end up in a tacky booze company logo on a face of an otherwise cool watch. At least, that’s what I thought. It still has a logo slapped on it, despite it not being one for a booze company, but I really like the new G-Shock x Oneness DW5600ONS234. This collaboration is, in fact, not with an alcohol company, but rather with the Kentucky-based sneaker and streetwear boutique Oneness, but it does get it’s fantastic aesthetic inspiration from the world of Kentucky bourbon.
Just like all entry-level versions of the iconic 5600 series, the new G-Shock x Oneness DW5600ONS234 is constructed out of resin with a mineral glass crystal and a stainless steel caseback. Similarly, the caseback is secured by four small screws, and the DW5600ONS234 measures the standard 43.8mm in diameter by 13.5mm-thick, with an overall lug-to-lug profile of 48.9mm and it still has 200 meters of water resistance.
This is where the similarities stop. the Oneness version gets a stunning case made out of transparent orange resin which really does look like it could disappear if you dipped it into a glass of bourbon. The same color is on the strap, but instead of being uniform it features a gradient that changes from golden amber to deep reddish brown. Further complement the warm colorway of this watch, the stainless steel buttons and pin buckle are given a gold ion-plated finish. As a final nod to the collaboration, the dial plate surrounding the inverted red LCD screen features the Oneness logo, along with the quote “What Are You Waiting On” printed on the lower portion of its gold-colored surface
Powering this G-Shock is Module No. 3229, which is one of the brand’s entry-level digital movements that can be found inside a number of different 5600 series watches. Running on a single CR2016 battery cell, it offers all of the standard G-Shock features such as a stopwatch, countdown timer, alarm, automatic calendar, and an electro-luminescent backlight. Accuracy for this module is rated at +/-15 seconds per month.
Sold as a collector’s set that includes a Oneness-branded display stand, along with a fabric bag and box that looks the packaging of premium bottles of Kentucky bourbon, the G-Shock x Oneness DW5600ONS234 sells for $130. Casio says this will be a limited edition, but they don’t say how much they will make. So, maybe, get one while you can because it is the best looking 5600 I’ve seen in a long while. See more on the G-Shock website.
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https://preview.redd.it/6x154nhvp3eb1.jpg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bdbed4d39a15f9ac1aa18ebaf2e51effde11f81a
Lorier Updates Hydra and Hyperion Lines With That Cool New Miyota 9075 “Flyer” GMT Movement
These past few years have been marked by the resurgance of GMT watches. Everyone is coming out with them, from the cheapest of microbrands, to Patek Philippe. And while the more advanced brands could develop their own movements or purchase more expensive industrial-made GMT movements that offered the “flyer” GMT functionality, cheaper watches had to opt for cheaper movements that only offered the “office” GMT functions - with flyer GMTs allowing you to jump set the local time zone and office GMTs only moving the GMT hand (for a more in-depth look at the differences between the two, check out this great article from Monochrome Watches).
Then along came Miyota, with their 9075 movement. With their mass production scales, Miyota is able to produce a “flyer” GMT for a price low enough it can be used in sub-$1,000 watches, including those from indie and micro brands. It’s showing up in more and more brands, and Lorier is the latest to use it - updating their pair of GMT watches, the Hydra and Hyperion, with this very wanted movement.
The Hyperion is what Lorier describes as “the archetypal GMT,” fitting a well established mold of classic travel watches by Rolex and others. It has deep vintage vibes, with a red and blue 24 hour bezel, gilt accents, and even a roulette date wheel. It’s 39mm wide and 10.7mm thick, without the domed acrylic crystal. This is a slight increase over the previous Hyperion because the 9075 movement is a bit thicker than a regular GMT.
The other watch with a Miyota 9075 inside is the all new Hydra III. The Hydra has always been Lorier’s all purpose sports watch, dive capable and much more, and in the last iteration featured a compressor style case. But this changes for the third iteration of the watch, with now takes the form of an all out diver-GMT, in what for Lorier is a supersized case measuring 41mm in diameter. We get a fixed 24 hour ring at the dial’s perimeter, and a rotating dive bezel to track elapsed time, along with the oversized lume plots and hands you’d expect and want in a dive watch.
The Hydra Series III is available now from Lorier’s website, while the Hyperion is listed as “coming soon” and both are priced fantastically at $599. See more on their site.
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https://preview.redd.it/m3d7nxxup3eb1.jpg?width=2100&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9a7331231f98f4f4a1235671a3d2ed627717247d
The Swiss-Cuban Brand Cuervo Y Sobrinos Introduces Three Ernest Hemingway-Inspired New Watches
I recently wrote about Cuervo y Sobrinos, a Swiss watch brand that was started as a watch repair shop in Havana, Cuba, where it later imported and sold watches like Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Rolex to people like Caruso, Gary Cooper, Hemingway and Einstein. In the 1990s, the brand was revived and it’s now based in Capolago, Switzerland and has carved a niche with models that lean heavily on vintage design cues and a touch of Cuban flamboyance.
Now, they are capitalizing on their connection with Hemingway, Cuba’s famous citizen. Cuervo y Sobrinos has become the first watch brand that has developed a new model in collaboration with Hemingway Limited, the organisation overseeing Hemingway’s estate. Three new models from the Historiador collection – two with pointer date and one GMT – join the existing 3-hand model in the Hemingway sub-collection. These limited-edition watches will be launched during the annual Hemingway Days event held in Key West, Florida, from 18-23 July.
The three Hemingway models belong to the Historiador family and can be recognised by their flamboyant lugs and vintage vibe. Made out of stainless steel and polished, the 100m water-resistant cases measure 40mm wide, 11.75mm thick and feature a plaque on the case flank indicating them as limited editions. .
Offered with cream or tobacco-coloured dials, the Icónico models are limited to 882 pieces in each colour and feature a pointer date function. The date, printed on the periphery of the dial, is blue on the cream dial and indicated by a blue-tipped hand and white on the tobacco dial and indicated by a red hand. As the brand points out, the tip of the pointer date is meant to evoke the shape of a marlin’s tail. An allusion to Hemingway’s writing can be seen on the flange with a quote from the author “In order to write about life, first you must live it,” inscribed in English and Spanish. A second reference to the writer can be found on the sealed caseback bearing the Hemingway logo of the letter ‘H’ traversed by a marlin. The two Icónico models are powered by an automatic Sellita SW221-1 with a frequency of 28,800vph and a limited power reserve of 38 hours.
Then there’s the Historiador Hemingway Fisherman which pays homage to Hemingway’s novella, The Old Man and the Sea, written in Cuba. It’s limited to 288 pieces and it’s a GMT with a 24-hour scale on the bezel. Slightly less retro in spirit than the Icónicos, the Fisherman comes on a metal bracelet and reveals its movement through a sapphire crystal on the caseback. Again, references to Hemingway’s literary career appear on the flange with the inscription “Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky“, also in Spanish and English, and the Hemingway ‘H’ logo with a marlin. Powered by calibre CYS 8122, using a Soprod C125 base, the automatic movement features a bespoke rotor and delivers a power reserve of 42 hours.
Cuervo y Sobrinos has designed a special leather watch box that looks like a book to house these limited editions, the idea being that it can be placed on a bookshelf for storage. The box seems to be lined with cedar, just like cigar boxes. The Hemingway Icònico models with either cream or tobacco dials are priced at $3,100, while the 288-piece Historiador Hemingway GMT “The Fisherman” is $3,850. See more on the brand website.
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https://preview.redd.it/itmwoicup3eb1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=297366bc0873c080d3018e072efa517ab60eb150
Indie Watchmaker Nicolas Commergnat Launches His First Watch, The Level One
Nicolas Commergnat is an indie watchmaker who graduated from the École d’Horlogerie de Genève, where he’d interned at Patek Philippe and started his career next to AHCI co-founder and master watchmaker Sven Andersen and worked as a restaurateur of antique pocket watches for Christie’s. You might, perhaps, known him better for his partnership with Sébastien Billières of Genus Watches, as the two founded Alliance Genève Sarl and GMTI SA, specialised in movement assembly for various Geneva-based high-end watchmaking companies and the restoration of complex vintage watches.
Now he’s coming out with a new brand that carries his name and it’s beautiful. Simple and timeless, Commergnat uses classic techniques and traditional materials to create a Art Deco-inspired time-only hand-wound watch called the Level One
Made of steel, the 3-part case measures 38.5mm in diameter, with a reasonable height of 10mm. Combining brushed and polished surfaces, it reminds one of a Calatrava and elegant watches from the mid-20th century. It has a snap-on bezel and back and a dial that is protected by a hesalite crystal. The dial gets a lacquer coated glossy, milky surface with several layers of polished varnish. The numerals are Art Deco pad-printed and has a machine minutes track with pearls.
Inside is a manufacture movement, with an ébauche made by Jean-Marc Fleury Suisse Précision Composants and Fleury Manufacture. Nicolas Commergnat applies himself to the decoration with polished bevels, large Geneva stripes, perlage and polished countersinks.
Available exclusively from the brand’s website, the watch can be pre-ordered now. However, no price has been given yet. See more on their website.
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On hand - a selection of reviews

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The first review for Longines Flagship Heritage Moonphase is here
2/
Head to Head with two vintage-inspired watches from Brew
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Hands on with the true surprise of Only Watch 2023 - the Furlan Marri Secular Perpetual Calendar
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Watch Worthy - A look at an offbeat, less known watch you might actually like

The Beaucroft Bespoke allows you to design your own watch for an affordable price
When Beaucroft use the word bespoke, they truly mean it. Certain aspects of the case and dial are locked in, however the experience of creating your own unique watch is usually reserved for the super-wealthy or influential. The first stage involves discovering your preferences, ideas and aesthetics for what your watch could eventually look like. With guided steps, Beaucroft will help to distill your personality and ensure that the finished product speaks directly to your heart. You’ll be asked to describe the story that the watch could tell, and it could be anything from a favourite memory to a certain feeling. Whether that sparks an emotional connection or simply an entertaining one, the story could be laid out overtly or planted in subtle details. Once all that is established, the choice of colours, case finishing, printing and straps should fall into place naturally.
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People loved the Hamilton Khaki giveaway! That's why I'm doing a new one. This time, we're giving away four Seiko 5 Sports SKX ‘Midi’ in a color of your choice. Head on over to the newsletter if you would like to enter.
If you would like to receive some additional watch-adjacent content, as well as this news overview, every morning Monday-Friday in the form of a newsletter feel free to subscribe. However, there is absolutely no need for you to subscribe, as all the news from the newsletter is posted here. It is only if you want to receive a couple of daily links that are not strictly watch-related and want to get this news overview in your inbox.

submitted by dreftzg to Watches [link] [comments]

2023.07.18 05:33 Iaintrightthislife When I was a child, the ship arrived. Chapter 4

When I was a child, the ship arrived. Chapter 4
“Do you know what the Veda Samhitas are?” Dr. Dupre asked Scott. We were all gathered around the living room coffee table, and Dr. Dupre had opened his laptop for the folks to see. “Uh, no. What are those?” Scott replied. Dr. Dupre turned to me “and what would you know about Elder Futhark?” “Who’s he?” I asked. Dr. Dupre sighed, nodded and continued. “These are ancient alphabets, Sanskrit from India is one of them, and Elder Futhark is another from Scandinavia. The cultures that spawned those languages and alphabets are separated by millennia and thousands of miles.” He replied simply.
“And” Grandma Clark added, “I hear an And”.
“And” Dr. Dupre went on, “This young man wrote what resembles a call to study the Veda Samhitas, written in an ancient Sanskrit form. And this young man,” as he pointed to me, “wrote what resembles ‘Yggdrasil is a Mage’, or ‘The Tree of Life is a Teacher.’ would be another translation.”
It was quiet in the room. I could hear a grandfather clock ticking in a corner. Grampa cleared his throat, “What?”
“Unless these boys are playing a colossal joke on everyone, they wrote out a direction to study some very old religious practices from two different cultures. Well, at least the Vedas, the Norse didn’t really have a codified ‘religion’” as he did the quote fingers.
Dr. Dupre turned his laptop so everyone could see. “This is, uh, I’m sorry what’s your name?” “Scott Roberts” “And yours?” Dr. Dupre turned to me. “Dudley Goldson.” “Just call him Dude” Scott interjected. “Uh, sure.” He went on, “This is what Scott drew” He displayed Scott’s drawing, showing curving and straight lines that looked like they could be letters from that Lord of the Rings movie. Dr. Dupre turned the picture sideways, then pulled up another photo from the internet, “This is some of the oldest Sanskrit text found.” Some of the letters looked close to the same shape. “This text doesn’t say the same thing, obviously” He said as he pushed his glasses back up his nose, “But the similarity is striking.” He switched photos to show what I wrote, “And this one is clearly from the Elder Futhark” he said as he again showed another picture of a stone with letters carved on it. I thought they were definitely Lord of the Rings letters.
“So,” he said, “Some relevant questions are necessary.” He turned to us, looking like an upset teacher “are you boys telling us the truth? Because if this is a lie it could lead to huge embarrassment to your families and yourselves.” He pulled off his glasses and started cleaning them on a corner of his untucked shirt. “And it would waste resources dedicated to discovering the mysteries of these artifacts.” My heart was starting to beat faster, and I was getting pretty nervous. “So if this is a lie. A, , joke. I would rather it end right here right now. I’ll laugh it off and have no hard feelings. Heck I’ll even give you props for the excitement you gave everyone at the shack today.” He sighed once again “So?”
“I drew what I saw, sir.” I replied quietly. “I don’t even know there was an old Thufark, or even a young one.”
“And I don’t know what Sandscript is either.” Scott added.
Dr. Dupre looked at us for a few seconds, then stood up and offered his hand to Grampa who shook it. “It’s getting late, and I want to check on some things before calling it a night.” He shook Grandma Clark’s hand lightly, “Thank you for your time. If I find anything else of note, would it be ok for me to come back?” He asked Scott’s mom and dad. “We’ll be heading back to Dallas Sunday. So, , ,” Scott’s dad said. Dr. Dupre pulled a card out of his shirt pocket and handed it to him. “Please,” Dr. Dupre said “let’s keep this quiet for now. If anything gets out it could lead to a media nightmare, and nobody wants that. If I do find something I’ll contact you, Mr. Clark, and you can contact your family and the boys?” “Fair enough.” Scott’s dad said.
“Oh, since you’ll still be here tomorrow, please stop by the shack with the boys? We might as well follow the only break we’ve had since this landed.”
He looked down at Scott and me. “Boys? Please.” He paused, “Please, please, please, please! Don’t mention this to anyone outside your family. I really do want to protect everyone from ridicule and embarrassment.”
“Yessir!” we both said simultaneously.
“Well!” Scott’s dad said, “This has been enough excitement for one day. Thank you for coming over, and we’ll come by tomorrow?”
“Yes, please do.” Said Dr. Dupre. “We’re probably going to be surviving on coffee, but yes please stop by.” He looked at Grampa “It’s YOUR ranch, after all, can’t be trespassing on your own property, can you?” Everyone laughed and goodnights were said as they headed to the front door while Scott and I looked at each other. “You know Sandscript?” I said. “You know Thrufart?” Scott returned. We both started laughing. I whispered, “We’ll be going back tomorrow, still going there tonight?” “Heck yeah!” Scott said a little too loudly, then hushed down and added “What if it looks different at night? I mean, if it spells something different?” “Do you even remember what you drew, Scott? I don’t.” He thought for a moment as the grown-ups walked by, “nope.”
“Nope what?” Grampa said behind us as we jumped and spun around.
“Oh, uh, we’ve never seen that type of writing before.” Scott said.
“I’ve seen both of those on TV, in National Geographics, in books and magazines. You kids might have soaked up some of that in the same way, and just didn’t realize it.” Grampa said. “But being able to write it out in a way that’s understandable is a whole ‘nother story.” He paused for a moment and looked down at us. “I want you both to be careful.” Then turned and went into the kitchen leaving Scott and me standing there.
“What was that about?” I asked. Scott just shrugged.
We didn’t sleep, or at least I don’t think we slept. The alarm beeped on Scott’s watch and he quickly shut it off. “You up, Dude?” “Duh.” We both quietly slipped into our black karate Gi. Scott pushed the window open slowly, and we both slipped outside as quietly as we could. The outside lights on the ranch buildings gave a slight glow to the night, Scott pointed in a direction, and we snuck over to one of the fences and crawled between the boards. “This is Gramma’s garden,” he whispered, “we go through here to the other side and that’s the fence that pulled out of the ground at the creek.” “I’ll follow you, don’t get lost!” I said back softly. I swear I could hear him roll his eyes, but whatever. We started jogging down one of the garden rows with tall corn around us. At the end of that there was a patch of some plant I couldn’t tell, and we sort of squatted down to make our way around it. In a few minutes we were by the creek, and we kept it to one side as we walked along to the damaged part of the fence. We were able to crawl under the barbed wire without snagging anything and popped our heads up above the creek bank. The pyramid was visible because there were spotlights shining on it. We stayed along the edge of the creek until we were at the closest we could get to the pyramid. There was a shadow streak from a tree near the base, that stretched almost to the ditch. Scott pointed, I nodded, and we sprinted quickly to the dark shadow. I don’t know about Scott, but I was doing my best not to breathe to loudly. We stayed hidden in the shadow of the tree until we both calmed down and our breathing was almost normal. We were on the next side over from the shacks and parking area, and couldn’t see anyone guarding or walking around. “We were about halfway in the middle yesterday.” Scott whispered. I looked over to where we would have to go, it was mostly clear of brush and trees. “OK” I said. We crouch walked quickly to that location and ducked down into some scraggly brush there. “Man, I didn’t think we’d get this close!” Scott said. “What?!” I whispered loudly “What happens if they catch us snooping?!”
“I don’t think we’ll toss you in jail or anything like that.”
“AAAHHHH!!!” Scott and I both yelled as we spun around. A form slowly stood up from the full shadow at the base of a cedar tree. Scott and I were frozen in our tracks, holding each other’s arms. The Army guard who Grampa had spoken to yesterday stepped out of the shadow. He was wearing all his gear and had night vision goggles on. “I’ll hand it to you guys,” He said. “Ya’ll did pretty good getting up here mostly unseen.” I slowly let Scott’s arms go, and he slowly did the same to mine. “But holy crap you guys are noisy!” He laughed. “Ya’ll sounded like a herd of cattle running through a field of bubble-wrap!” He sighed, “Ah well, no matter. Come with me.”
“W-w-what you gonna do?” He looked at us, shook his head and rolled his eyes “Nothin. Still, come with.” He started walking down the base of the pyramid on the way back to the sheds.
“Dude we are SO SCREWED!”
“You made too much noise.” I said.
“Nuh-UH! You were breathing so hard you probably woke up Gramma!”
The guard was in front of us, and he clicked the microphone clipped to his shoulder, “Perimeter this is Sgt. Burgess, I have them, return to standard procedure.” Looking over his shoulder he said to us “Come on, Delta Farce.”
We walked in silence the rest of the distance, which was far because did I mention this thing was HUGE? We got to the sheds, and he walked up to a door and pushed some numbers on a keypad. The door clicked open and he ushered us inside. He clicked on the light switch and Grampa startled awake from a recliner in a corner.
“Wha? Oh! Oohh.” Gramps yawned and stretched. “What time did they make it?” He asked.
Sgt. Burgess looked at his wristwatch “It took them about an hour, not bad considering.” Grampa stood up and moved over to Sgt. Burgess. “Thanks for watching over them.” He looked directly at us “There are boar that travel along that creek, and one or two of them would have made short work of these boys.” We both swallowed loudly. “No worries, Mr. Clark, the lights tonight probably kept them sticking to the dark.”
Scott said, “You knew we’d come here?” Grampa laughed “Two eleven year old boys not sneaking out to explore the greatest mystery in the whole world parked in my back yard? That’s not guessing, that’s wisdom.”
Sgt. Burgess laughed and they both shook hands. “I must have forgotten to fill out my logbook. Lack of sleep can make you make mistakes.” He looked out the window to the fence line. “I’ll have those camera feeds figured out by the time you reach that fence, I suppose. You know how sometimes technology can crash at the best of times.”
“You’re a good man, Sergeant.” Grampa said. “Nah, just kids doing kid stuff. It was no problem.” Sgt. Burgess replied. "Have a Good Morning, Sir.” He led us outside and we walked silently back to the big house. Grampa held his finger to his lips to shush us and led us back to the window that was still open. He picked up Scott and sat him on the windowsill. “Shoes.” Scott kicked his shoes off and slipped inside. Grampa repeated the procedure, and I kicked my shoes off too. We looked at him standing outside the window, he sternly told us “Not. A. Word.” He didn’t wait for a reply, just walked towards the kitchen door with our shoes in his grip.
Chapter 3: https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/151zohq/when_i_was_a_child_the_ship_arrived_chapter_3/
Chapter 5: https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/158s3mn/when_i_was_a_child_the_ship_arrived_chapter_5/

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2023.07.02 16:59 RingoCross99 File 184: John Henry (Section 2)

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Chapter 3
Interregnum
Two deputies ushered John Henry into the interrogation room with us. His handcuffs were chained to the restraining bar on the table. They left his shackles on, along with the spit mask, which concealed the lower half of his face. The sheriff thanked his terrified deputies and told them they could wait outside the room.
Before we could begin, I informed the sheriff that I would need his mask removed. Otherwise, it would hamper our communication. He agreed but warned me that it was for our own good. I browsed over the suspect’s file while waiting for him to undo the straps. The process took much longer than usual. When he did finally finish, I thanked the sheriff and then addressed Mr. Henry:
“Greetings. I’m Special Agent Harris, and this is my partner, Special Agent Adams.”
He said nothing. Instead, he stared into my eyes with a vacant expression. Seeing that I wasn’t about to back down, he finally spoke. His voice was heavy and steady. It matched his burly lumberjack frame:
“Your first name?”
“Michelle. Anything else?”
“There’s always more.”
“Oh really? Like what?”
“(13) Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: (14) But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” (James. 1:13-14 KJV).
“What are you getting at?” I asked.
“Be careful of the company you keep.”
“Humph. Why’s that, Mr. Henry?”
“Let me pray for you?”
“Beg your pardon?”
“You are in the serpent’s den,” he said as his eyes wondered over to my partner, Agent Adams. Then he added, “I know an evil spirit when I see one.”
“Sure. You can pray for me.”
“What! No!” Agent Adams blurted.
“Why not? If it’ll make him feel more comfortable. And besides, maybe he’s right. Maybe I am in the serpent’s den,” I told my partner with a keen eye.
“(34) You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. (35) A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” (Matthew. 12:34-35 NIV).
Agent Adams got up from the table in disgust. He flailed his arms around and said, “What the hell? Where’s my freaking vape pen? Every time I try to quit, somebody does something stupid to tick me off.”
“Try to ignore him,” I told Mr. Henry.
“With pleasure,” he nodded before bowing his head and beginning his prayer. “Father God. Keep Michelle safe during these tumultuous times. Her faith will be tested, but only through you will she find the peace and salvation she so desperately seeks. Better to be blind and of faith, than see and be ignorant of faith. Those serpents who walk amongst you. Do not be fooled by their slithering lies. Walk with the Word of God. Let his divine Word carry you in stride to the gates of the promised land. Let the light of commandment and judgement overcome the darkness and wickedness that surrounds you.”
“That was quite an interesting prayer, Mr. Henry.”
“Good. I was afraid I may be getting rusty.”
“Once a man of the cloth always a man of the cloth. I’m sure your flock misses you.”
“I’m sure they do. Now. What do you really want?” he asked with a suspicious eye.
“I’m glad you asked. Before we can formally begin the interrogation, I must state for the record to any individual suspected, detained, or in your case, arrested and charged with a crime, that we do not use recorders due to the classified nature and sensitivity of our work. We rely solely on pen and paper to assess the merits of each case under review. How we choose to classify yours will determine what course of action is taken in any future criminal litigation against you.
The Department of Paranormal Investigation is an autonomous division within DHS. We fall under the Protocol 7 Initiative, which was signed into existence via Secret Executive Order 1300P7 under the American Governmental Observation and Assistance Program. Even though we are part of DHS we are not subject to any DHS laws or operational procedures due to this initiative.
Anything said by you or anyone else in this room is considered classified and cannot leave this room. You do not have the right to an attorney. Anything you say will be used to properly classify your case. You may end the interview at any time, but we reserve the right to proceed with the investigation using emergency countermeasures. The violation of UDHR is part of NWGO Action Code 11: per world order agreement and a separate arrangement: the Treaty of Concord, which is signed by the acting president of the United States every year. This treaty allows us to void the civil rights of any citizen, noncitizen, or unidentified entity upon US soil.
Now, if you were indeed contacted by the Devil, we’ll get to the bottom of it. As a DPI agent, I will do my utmost to see that it is done, and that your case is classified properly. We hope that you will fully cooperate with our investigation. It is in your best interest to do so and will help expedite our decision. The information I just shared with you was a mandatory reading of the Treatise on Discourse and Disclosure. This is a diplomatic ex parte that denies legal counsel to anyone we investigate. Do you understand, Mr. Henry?”
“I’m not quite sure I do.”
Agent Adams blew a large cloud of mist into his face after taking a hit from his vape pen. “I’ll tell you what it all means. It means you have the right to remain silent, but it will be held against you.”
“What agency is this again?”
“DPI,” he grumbled gruffly.
“And you’ve seen this before?”
“Tch. What do you think?”
“Wouldn’t have asked if I knew.”
I quickly chimed in, “Don’t worry, Mr. Henry. We’re the good guys. You have nothing to fear. Just tell us the truth about what happened. If your story checks out, you’ll be free and clear. You have my word.”
The Sheriff gave him a pat on the back before telling him, “See. Told ya I’d bring in some folks who could help with this. And I kept my word. Don’t worry, John, you’ll be cleared of this mess in no time.”
“Let’s not get too hasty, not until we finish our investigation,” I told him.
“He might not look it, but old Henry here wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’s been a solid pillar of our community for as long as I been buck hunting.”
I put on my reading glasses. A few things in his file stood out. Not wanting to start questioning him just yet, I made more small talk. I wanted to gage his temperament, so I said, “You know my dad used to be a pastor.”
“Used to?”
“That’s right, ‘used to.’”
“Did he lose faith?”
“Something like that.”
“Very unfortunate.”
“His first name is also John,” I mentioned before turning my attention to the crime scene photos. I had to admit they were stomach turning. I placed a finger to his arrest photo and said: “John Lucas Henry. Age 47. Of African American descent. Two kids: Moe and Lauren Henry. Husband of Suzette Henry. Pastor of the Second Flint River Missionary Baptist Church. Veteran, farmer, coal miner, railroad worker, faith healer. Not one person in town has a bad thing to say about you.”
Sheriff Giles butted in, “He’s a good man, I tell ya. Ain’t no way he did this.”
“Humph. I wonder now. How did a good man wind up murdering his entire family?”
He stared silently into my eyes for a moment before speaking, “(29) If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown to hell. (30) And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Matthew. 5:29-30 NIV).
Agent Adams let out a very audile groan. He had been standing in the corner, vaping away up until that point. After Mr. Henry had quoted yet another bible verse, he began to impatiently pace back and forth, checking his wristwatch periodically.
When I looked over at him, to see if he had anything to add, he gave me an annoyed expression. The one he always gave when he wasn’t getting his way. Then he turned his attention to Mr. Henry and grunted, “Ugh. Looks like we’re not going anywhere for a while. Should I grab a Snickers while we’re at it? Huh, Mr. Henry?”
He simply shrugged and said, “Do as you will, evildoer.”
“Wow. Isn’t that grand, the pot just called the kettle black,” Agent Adams muttered.
“Don’t mind him, he’s always this fussy,” I informed Mr. Henry and the sheriff.
The sheriff seemed surprised by Agent Adams’ conduct. After computing it in his head for a while, he had what he thought was an “ah-ha” moment. He thought we were using the tried and true “good cop bad cop” routine. I let him believe it. Even though I knew our tactics weren’t a ruse, it was better this way. Knowing that Agent Adams was always this indecorous would’ve just made the investigation that much harder. So, with that in mind, I began reading from the report, adding a decorous touch as I did so, to really drive home my role as the good cop.
“You seem like a good guy. But these crimes... I don’t know... Says here you savagely murdered your wife and children with a sledgehammer. That true? I mean, I’m sure a big-strong guy like you had no problem swinging that thing around like a broomstick.”
Mr. Henry growled but said nothing. He just stared at me as if I had no clue.
Agent Adams chuckled. “He did what?”
“You didn’t read the report?”
“No. I only glanced over it. Did he really kill his family with a sledgehammer?”
“That’s what the report says.”
Agent Adams stopped pacing and vaping long enough to glance over at Mr. Henry. He just shook his head and smiled derisively at him. “Tsk, tsk, Mr. Henry. You’re the demonic version of the legendary John Henry.”
This was how the interview pretty much went. With me trying to pry valuable information out of the suspect while my partner did nothing but make snide remarks. His antics aside, the gist of what I was able to gather from his story went a little something like this:
John Lucas Henry was born in 1972 in Savanah Georgia. He is the youngest of seven. Their family grew up impoverished by all metrics, or what he likes to call, and I quote, “poorer than a poor man’s rainy day.” He did share a few stories about his childhood but claims not to remember much about his formative years. He didn’t speak too highly of his late father but loves his mother dearly. He shone with pride when he told me that she was still hanging around in the “swamps of the living,” as he called it. His fondest memories from childhood stem from helping the local church. He recalled going there almost every day to help keep “God’s temple” pristine. Later, when he was a fair bit older, he told me about his fondness for bible study, and about the first time he got to lead the opening prayer for Thursday evening church service.
His parents worked as sharecroppers all the way up until the practice was phased out of Georgia sometime in the mid to late fifties. He smiled when recalling the day his family packed up everything they owned and threw it in the back of the rusty old-beat-up Forrester Green truck his dad had owned for as long as he could remember the sun shining. They wanted better for their children and traded in a hard life of sharecropping for a one room shack in the bucolic town of Mauk when he was a young boy.
He is an avid hunter and fisherman and misses doing both with his four brothers. The only trouble prior to this incident came when he was sixteen. He got caught by the sheriff illegally scrapping metal and junk parts to help put food on the table. He told me this is why he enlisted in the army, so he could help feed his family.
He joined when he was seventeen. Served with honor and distinct for four years, before returning home to Georgia to help bury his father who died after a long battle with lung cancer.
He’s spent time as a drifter, coal miner, and railroad worker. He settled back in Mauk when he was twenty-nine, married his childhood sweetheart, and rebuilt the same old church he grew up attending. The place is a glorified shack, but his ministry and faith healing bring in enough to carve out a modest living.
The only noteworthy thing to come out of the interview happened at the end when I asked him “Why did he do it? Why did he take a hammer to his loved ones?”
He replied with “the devil made me.”
Mr. Henry never denied killing his family just that it wasn’t his fault. He swore up and down that he loved them and would never hurt them. He was thoroughly convinced that it was the voice inside his head that had compelled him to commit his vile deeds.
Agent Adams got a good snicker out of his assertion and repeated, “The devil made me do it,” loud and grand enough to get under everyone’s skin.
That was pretty much it. I thanked the sheriff for his hospitality and Mr. Henry for giving me the information I needed to finish my report.
The drive back to our hotel wasn’t too bad. We did stop to pick up some Chinese from the eatery the sheriff mentioned. My partner was livid for most of the ride. He cursed the resource department for assigning us to a bogus case and claimed that they were amateurs. I held my opinion in reserve. The last thing I wanted to do was listen to him double down on his crude remarks with even cruder ones.
We stopped at the local shop to pick up supplies. Adams’ foul mood changed for the better almost as soon as we walked in. He immediately gravitated towards the sweets and grabbed a pack of candy cigarettes. “Wow. I haven’t seen these since I was a kid.”
His comment intrigued me. I asked him to elaborate, and he told me, “Jacob and Rosalyn would get me these all the time. Every time we’d go fishing, we’d stop by the general store, grab some bait, and I would ask Jacob to buy me a box of these. Oh man. They’re the exact same ones. I have to buy some,” he expressed a bit exasperated and stupefied by the delightful coincidence.
I never heard someone refer to their real parents by their first names, but when I asked, he confirmed that they were indeed his biological parents. He wasn’t surprised by my question. I wanted to dig deeper, but the moment had already passed. All it took was for the clerk to politely mention that they did not carry any vaping products for him to be back to his glum old self.
When we left the store, he offered to drive the rest of the way. He told me he needed something to do to keep his mind off the thought of nicotine. I didn’t mind. In fact, I gave him a few words of encouragement along with the keys. I told him that he did right by not giving in to his vice and jokingly suggested that the candy cigarettes could act as a temporary replacement if he closed his eyes and tried hard enough. He scoffed at my attempt at humor but thanked me halfheartedly for the kind words in the same scoff. Then he grumbled obscenities to himself about the summer heat and how unfair it was that he would have to dip into his vaping reserves.
I tried to review my notes during the car ride, but his singing was awful. He kept asking if I enjoyed this or that song, and I kept saying no. When he asked if I liked the Wallflowers, I told him they stunk, which nearly drove him off the ledge, which I found moderately amusing. Much more amusing than his dreadful singing.
When we made it back to our hotel, before getting out the vehicle, he coldly looked over at me and said, “Look, Michelle, I know you. Just hear me out. You don’t have to say anything. Ok? You think there’s more to the case, but there isn’t. You’re not going to find anything if you dig deeper. What I need from you, right now, is for you to go to your room and enjoy your Chinese. Listen to some good music while you finish your report and pack. You’re for sure going to classify this as a nonparanormal event and forward your findings over to that gullible sheriff, so we can hop on the next plane out here, first thing in the morning. Got it?”
“Shouldn’t we at least get our field coordinator to sign off on my report? You know, before we hand the case over all willy-nilly?
“Willy-nilly,” he chuckled and groaned incredulously before saying, “Just do it, Michelle. I’ll deal with him when we get back.”
I told him I would consider it. And if he didn’t like my response, I was more than happy to forward over my notes so he could share in the task. He of course declined and quickly changed the subject.
As soon as I made it to my room. I jumped into my work. After reviewing all the evidence, I concluded that John Henry’s case was indeed a severe case of dissociative identity disorder. It was once called multiple personality disorder, but we do not use this name anymore, given its negative and distorted connotation.
What I concluded was that a part of Mr. Henry was completely unaware of what the other part was doing. This was suspected from the beginning, but it wasn’t made evident to me until the interview. I say this because Mr. Henry demonstrated traits typical of the disorder, such as dissociation and deep depersonalization. He barely spoke or responded to questioning. And when he did, his remarks were often unfitting. His bizarre unsocialization may have spawned shortly before or after murdering his entire family. This is atypical but can be triggered during one of the three phases of psychosis.
In my opinion, Mr. Henry should be transferred to a mental facility for proper treatment. His inability to control his behavior in certain mental states, combined with his difficulty understanding that what he thinks and feels effects how he behaves and acts, is extremely concerning, making him, in my professional opinion, an extreme danger to the public at large.
I took a deep sigh after finishing my report. Not because I was relieved that it was over, but because I didn’t receive that usual sense of fulfillment I got whenever rapping up a case.
A thought lingered in my head as I ate what was now cold cuisine. Something wasn’t right. And whenever I had a gut feeling that was this strong, I was never wrong. I closed my laptop and asked myself, “What am I missing? Come on, Michelle, think.”
I knew it wasn’t a case of possession because this wasn’t how possession worked. I found this out when my sister passed away. Possession is a very haphazard affair that needs an object, which in turn, works as a conduit between the possessor (spirit) and possessed (person). In my sister’s case, it was an antique mirror from the Victorian era that did the trick.
I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. The televangelist on the television screen caught my attention with his evangelizing. The image drove me crazy. What were my instincts trying to tell me. “Come on, think, Michelle. Think! This isn’t right and you know it.”
That’s when it hit me. As I sat there twirling cold noodles with my fork, pondering something Mr. Henry said. I didn’t think it was anything of note at the time, but when he talked about the voice in his head, he claimed that it was, and I quote, “That tricky old serpent loves to play. Disguising his voice as a woman’s so I wouldn’t think it was him. Once a trickster always a trickster.”
This innocuous detail almost went right over my head. The memory and moment when it all clicked still haunts me to this day. Because if I would’ve caught it sooner, maybe the case would’ve had a different outcome.
Sadly, it all makes sense now. Ok. What am I talking about? I want you to picture “the Devil.” Whatever you’re thinking is probably wrong. Forget the banal images of a jester, jokester, or horned demon.
Not even my partner knows much about him, and he always has a beat or two on the occult. I think he’s met just about all the heavy hitters except for him. He wasn’t the type you wanted to meet. The last thing he’d do is be the voice inside your head. He simply wasn’t the type to play charades. He preferred to get his hands dirty. But, alas, his story is one for another day.
I called Agent Adams and asked him to hear me out. I said this because I already knew he wasn’t expecting to hear from me until tomorrow. He reluctantly agreed and I reluctantly shared my theory. When I told him everything I mentioned prior, he agreed that it was odd. And then, to my surprise, he mumbled a few expletives before insisting that he had to make a few phone calls. He refused to explain anything further and said that he’d call me back.
I paced up and down my cramped room while waiting for his return call. Even though I would never do it, I could see why he vaped. Times like this really wreaked havoc on my nerves. I’d say about fifteen minutes later, he was at my door, banging on it like a madman. He was still putting on his suit jacket when I opened it. He didn’t even wait, he just blurted out that we had to leave. When I asked where, he said back to the jailhouse.

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