Hello lovely readers,
Welcome to the second and final discussion of Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton. This autobiographical comic was Canada Reads (an annual "battle of the books") winner for 2023. You can read the first discussion here.
Summary
The story picks up one month after that horrible party. Kate sleeps with Mike. She continues to get weird sexual comments from the men she works with, but she has started to laugh the comments off. Many of the men seem to have problems with her giving them orders, and her superiors get pissy with her for minor things or for wanting ‘special treatment’. Joe, a fellow Nova Scotian, overhears her swearing in frustration and tells her that everyone at the mine is just yelling at the guy next to them for work they’re not doing themselves, but that people tend to be friendlier to people from their own region of Canada. Kate wonders aloud to Doug whether the oil sands make people better or worse.
The men at the mine have heard that Kate’s ‘little friends’ (her sister Becky and friend Lindsay) are going to be joining them, and she warns them to leave them alone. When Becky and Lindsay arrive, they are wearing skirts and they quickly notice the staring and weird behaviour from the men on site. Kate apologises for it, and they wonder why she is saying sorry.
Kate tells Becky and Lindsay that the other men have been leaving her alone since most people know about her and Mike, and they tell her it’s because in their eyes she’s ‘claimed’.
They take a trip to Gregoire Beach, but Kate doesn’t wear a swimsuit or go swimming. Becky asks her what’s up with her, as she’s noticed something is wrong. Kate talks about how everything at the beach seems so normal, but that she isn’t. However, she doesn’t explain further.
Kate looks for other jobs online, and sees a post for a job at the Maritime Museum of British Columbia in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia.
Not long afterwards, she sees the man who forced himself on her at that party. He and the group of men he’s with see her and they start laughing.
Kate hears a man playing Peter’s Dream on his guitar, and joins in singing the song.
She goes to Becky’s room and tells her that she needs to leave the oil sands for a while, even though she and Lindsay have just arrived. She asks her to promise that she and Lindsay will look out for each other, and finally tells her about the assaults. Becky tells her that it wasn’t her fault, and wishes she had been there sooner to protect her as that’s her job as the big sister. She tells Kate that it happened to her too, at her university dorm. She tells Kate she should go.
We leave the oil sands, for a year in Victoria. Kate gets the museum job but it’s no more than 21 hours per week, so she gets a second job. In a coffee shop, she hears the song An Innis Aigh playing, and tells a woman who was wondering aloud about the language that it’s Gaelic.
Victoria seems like a nicer place than the oil sands, but it isn’t perfect – the city big problems with homelessness and mental health, but none of the old, rich people living there care [read runner note – according to Victoria’s Wikipedia page, the city is known for its disproportionately large retiree population. Some 23.4% of the population of Victoria and its surrounding area are over 65 years of age, which is higher than the overall Canadian distribution of over 65 year-olds in the population (19%). A historically popular cliché refers to Victoria as the home of "the newly wed and nearly dead"]. Kate is fired from her job for not taking American money and not wanting to sell the merchandise badly enough. One of her colleagues (I think?) sees her drawing a comic, and suggests that she should make a website.
Kate tells her parents that on her days off she works at a grocery store, and her father wonders what her degree was for. Shortly afterwards, she is fired from the grocery store for yawning and ‘being surly’. She goes on a date, but panics when the guy tries to kiss her at the end.
Kate can’t get a reprieve from her student loan payments, even though she paid half of it off the previous year with her oil sands earnings. She decides to go back to the oil sands to pay the rest off, and says goodbye to the museum.
After that brief reprieve, we’re back in the oil sands, this time at Shell Albian Sands. Kate has taken a job in the warehouse office, and her living quarters are a bit fancier than at the previous sites. The site also has a Tim Hortons, Wi-Fi and a gym, even yoga classes. Lindsay tells her that a lot of the warehouse crew from Long Lake have moved up there too. One of her new colleagues is Hatim, who is creepy in a new way, plaguing her with messages despite having a wife and children.
The team get a congratulations message with a gif for achieving three million man hours without a lost time incident (LTI). Kate’s boss, Ryan, tells her that they don’t have LTIs at the site because they look bad for the company, I guess implying that they cover them up.
She sees Doug again, who seems to feel that she’s all high and mighty now with her office job, and struggles with her ‘bossing him’ since she’s younger than him (and presumably because she’s female). When she has to cover a warehouse shift, Doug laughs about how she’s down from on high and has gone soft. He tells her that he sang with The Men of the Deeps and even sang for the queen, which she doubts because he has a terrible voice. She sings a bit of Coal Town Road (which I’m kind of disappointed doesn’t sound like Old Town Road) and asks if she could be in the choir too, but he seems annoyed about her singing a mining song when she’s not a miner.
Kate’s sister Becky is still working at Long Lake, but lives in Fort McMurray, and Kate goes to meet her there; she says it’s much better than living in the camp. She tells Kate, that one time a guy jumped out of the closet in her room, but she was able to kick him out. She always locked her door, but often heard the handle jiggling at night. She even had a stalker, who managed to get into her room with a bottle of alcohol and suggested doing body shots – she didn’t report it, but when he got fired everyone thought she had.
Kate struggles to read some of the order sheets because many of the workers are bad spellers or have unclear handwriting; many of the older men at the mine left school in grade six. Lindsay tells her about one of the lead hands from Newfoundland, who can’t read, and was humiliated by the other workers when they tried to make him read the safety memo aloud so they could laugh at him. Lindsay says she’s never seen a grown man ashamed like that, and they discuss how he’s one of the nicest guys there.
A group from the Calgary office visits the mine site, and Kate has to find the nice hard hats and safety vests for the visitors, the ones the actual workers can’t have because they’re too fancy. Basically, they have to put on a show for the head office people – everyone has to look sharp, make things tidier than normal etc. One of the visitors takes a photo of Kate. After they leave, Damian asks if he can have one of the fancy new vests, but they were taken back to Calgary even though they don’t need them at head office.
Kate continues doing her comics, and her colleagues occasionally read them. Ryan finds some of them in the scanner, which she had used to upload them to her website, and tells her not to leave her stuff lying around at work.
Becky and Kate discuss what it would have been like if their father had gone out to the oil sands to work when they were children, as many people did. They wonder if he would have been like the other men they work with, and how they must all be normal at home. Kate says she tries to remember that there are a lot of men who don’t bother her, but she doesn’t remember them because they’re not the ones in her face.
Their safety lectures tell them basic information about how ice is slippery and is all over the ground, which presumably every Canadian already knows. One of the men remarks that it’s not about safety, but an arse-covering exercise so that a worker can’t sue them if they fall. Kate doodles a pony in her notebook (thank you u/Amanda39 for linking to this comic in last week’s discussion!).
Many of the staff have families that they don’t see very often. One of the men gets a phonecall from his wife’s phone, which he answers thinking it’s an emergency as she never calls during the day; it turns out to be his young son, who is calling to see when he’s coming home next.
Brian asks Kate if she heard about the ducks (TITLE DROP!!); three hundred of them got stuck in a tailings pond at another oil sands site [read runner note – two years later, Syncrude was actually found guilty of the death of 1,600 ducks]. The site begins installing anti-waterfowl devices, and the staff are reminded that they have to wear PPE at all times. They’re also told about the death Gerald Snopes, another worker; some of the men talking amongst themselves, and Ryan tells them to have some respect. He had a heart attack while operating a crane, and threw himself out of the cab so that he wouldn’t land on the controls and cause an accident.
Kate hears about a road accident involving some men from Cape Breton. She asks Davy about it to see if she knows them, but neither of them do. Kate finds the news articles and feels annoyed that they were misidentified as Calgary men.
Kate notices some welts on her back; Lindsay has them too but doesn’t know what it is. Kate mentions all the dust they have to wipe off everything, and how there’s so much crap in the air. Lindsay wonders what kind of cancer they’ll have in 20 years.
Kate finds Doug building a scarecrow for the tailings pond, which is meant to scare off the ducks. Probably another arse-covering exercise.
Activists from Greenpeace try to block an oil sands pipeline, and 11 people are arrested. One of the workers gets angry about it, asking who will put their life on the line to unclog the pipe Greenpeace has blocked, and that it sure as hell won’t be the president of Shell. Kate hears about another death – a contractor was in his trucks, and one of the heavy haulers drove over it, crushing him.
Lindsay writes an article for a grassroots paper, giving the inside perspective on working at the oil sands. Kate considers doing a comic about it for them. Lindsay later wonders if she made a mistake writing her article, as many of the comments are critical, including many from women which Lindsay did not expect.
Kate sees a video on YouTube of Celina Harpe, an elder in the Cree community of Fort McKay, talking about the effect of the oil sands on the First Nation. Kate had not realised when she arrived there that Fort McKay was a First Nation, nor that it was so close to Syncrude. She thinks about how she’s not the president of Shell, but she’s still working there, and she can’t extract herself from having come.
At another safety meeting, the staff are down the safety pyramid, which has different levels: at the base it has at-risk behaviours, then near misses, then minor incidents, and it all leads to a major incident or a fatality.
Kate receives a phone call from a reporter at the Globe and Mail who had seen her comics about the oil sands. She asks several leading questions about her experience as a woman at the remote sites and the harassment, but Kate feels uncomfortable giving her examples. She later tells Lindsay that she couldn’t talk to the reporter as she felt like she just wanted gossip, and that the story was already written before she called.
The leering of one of the other workers bothers Kate in the lunchroom, and she tells Lindsay about her assaults. Lindsay is horrified that Mike and Brian laughed at her when she told them about it. Lindsay tells her that it happened to her in university as well.
Kate calls her parents to tell them that she’s finally paid off her student loan, but she needs to keep working at the site because now she has no money. She’s going to try making it as a cartoonist, and her parents are unimpressed.
Kate notices that Ryan is acting strangely, being absent a lot and not doing his work, and it can’t fully be explained by his recent divorce. She hears about other workers who are taking cocaine and behaving strangely too. She asks Ryan if he’s ok and he brushes it off. Kate contemplates the safety pyramid again. She finds a piece of paper on Ryan’s desk with an appointment for the employee assistance program. Emily later tells her that Ryan has left suddenly, and that they need to figure things out until a replacement is found.
Kate wonders why there are so many safety meetings but none have ever talked about drugs or alcohol. Her coworkers say that everyone knows why there is so much of both, and that the company can’t have safety meetings about illegal activities anyway.
Kate finally gets to leave the oil sands and go home. Her colleague Norman gives her prints of some of his photos of the northern lights as a leaving present, including one of a rainbow. Before she leaves, the company organises a staff photograph with all the workers on the site. Kate sees the man who assaulted her the second time, and he recognises her but can’t remember her name or who she is, and asks her how it’s going.
Kate trains her replacement, and finds out that she’s earning more than her despite not having any experience in tools. She complains to John about it, and finally rants about all her shitty treatment in the oil sands. She goes to see Gary in the head office, and demands her full bonus, which was going to be docked because she was leaving. Gary tells her it’s company policy. She tells him about the harassment, and he claims she could have come to them about it, but she fires back that he knows she couldn’t have. Gary agrees to give her the bonus. Her colleagues organise a going-away barbecue, and even Mike attends.
Back in Nova Scotia, Kate is reunited with her family. While out enjoying the seaside air, she chats to a farmer who tells her he’s keeping a field for his son who is working out west in case he ever comes back and wants to build a house. A man called Lauchie visits the house before moving west himself, and tells them there’s something for everyone out there and that the young people have everything they want. Out in Halifax with friends, she and Becky see a man from one of the camps, who tells Becky that they had a bet on who would sleep with her first. Their friends who haven’t worked in the oil sands can’t believe they’d let a man talk to them like that.
In the book’s afterword, Kate talks about how the book chronicles her specific experience at a specific time. She is wary of sensationalism of her story, especially because sexual assault is so common that it’s not actually sensational. She notes that neither of the men who raped her probably consider it to have been rape. She is also critical of the treatment of Indigenous people, and says the YouTube video of Celina Harpe was a “sword that cut through my ignorance”. We also find out that Becky died of cancer, and that her former coworkers pooled money together to send to her.
Bookclub Bingo 2023 categories: Non-Fiction, Graphic Novel (grey), Mod Pick (grey)
Other links:

• The first discussion
• Canada Reads page about Ducks [I hadn’t realised that Station Eleven, another recent bookclub read, was the runner up]
• Kate Beaton on Wikipedia
• Hark! A Vagrant, the archive of Kate Beaton’s comics website
• The original Hark! A Vagrant sketch comic about the oil sands (links to all five parts; I’ve posted the parts individually below this in case that’s easier)
• Original Ducks Part 1
• Original Ducks Part 2
• Original Ducks Part 3
• Original Ducks Part 4
• Original Ducks Part 5
• Lindsay Bird was one of the people in the book whose name wasn’t changed, and in 2019 she published a poetry collection about working in the oil sands called Boom Time. There’s a CBC article about the book here.

The questions are in the comments below. Thank you for joining me and u/fixtheblue in reading this book!

For context, my partner has been no contact with most of her family besides her Aunt since basically she was 17. And for good reason. She was outed in high school, and ended up being kicked out of her home for about 6-7 months til her graduation couch hopping with friends and eventually her Aunt.
Fast forward to the last few weeks. Her Aunt calls my partner up and makes this huge plea on her Dad's behalf that "he's changed" and that she should "give him another chance". I'm strongly against this, but I also recognized it wasn't my call so I voiced my concerns and then just supported whatever my gf wanted to do.
Her Dad plans a trip to come and see her. And my gf asks me to come with her for moral support, so I do. The initial part is very awkward, but it's w/e. Her Dad legitimately seems to be trying. He even compliments and acknowledges me as her partner. Says we make a lovely couple.
Convo carries on for a bit, but then he makes a comment about how there's "accepting churches" now, and we need to save our souls by joining one.
I kinda freeze up because I have trauma from being forced through conversion therapy. My gf squeezes my hand and says that we're good. And I say something flippant about how I'd rather worship the devil, at least he never hurt me. Not an ideal thing to say to your future father in law who takes religions super seriously, I know. But I wasn't fully me when I said it. It was an automatic quip.
My gf laughed, and then her Dad got irate and started yelling. Things escalated and somewhere along the line he pulled a knife and stabbed me in the stomach. I also got socked in the face. And I distinctly remember hearing the words "dyke succubus".
One very expensive hospital visit and minor surgery later, we were "safe". We're handling the legal stuff + talking with police. And back to absolutely no contact with anyone in the family.
My gf is bereft, but she's also somewhat upset with me because she thinks I unfairly blame her Aunt for this. Tbf, I do. You don't say someone's changed when they've been a raging bigot for 45+ years and you know what they did to their own child. You especially don't be complicit in endangering someone who's already been irrevocably traumatized by the man.
She wants to reach out and stay in contact with Aunt. But she's respecting my wish right now for a complete black out on all communications with her family. We've heard one of the vms that Aunt has left, and she was super apologetic.
This is a pretty hard line for me. But I feel like an asshole. (And on a less important note, like a bad sub because I'm putting my foot down unconditionally here despite it being against her very clear wants).

I like to wonder what he is thinking, what he considers us to be aside from intruders to his realm, and what his experience of the world is given that he's so old and has seen so many ages come and go.

Hey /Tmobile.
For a few years now, I've maintained a second, disposable number via a third-party app (Hushed). This has been a great deal as I got a lifetime offer that renews yearly via StackSocial back in 2017. However, I find myself actually using the disposable number more than the credits I'm allotted for the year, so I need to either upgrade to a better package or find another solution. Digits seems like it would offer me unlimited talk/text through T-Mobile.
I've checked with Hushed and their FAQ says I can port the number out to another provider, so no issues there.
I figure I can either add the free "Proxy by DIGITS" line offered by the Scam Shield app to my account and port in there or port it in to one of the unused free lines on my account. I'm actually using a free voice line in a data-only device (yes it's working, no I don't understand how/why), so I could easily port in over that and use DIGITS to access it for voice/text.
Any regular (iOS) Digits app users here? Does the service/app work fairly reliably for you? I don't use this number for anything critical/important, but it's nice to have one to give to random services I don't want texting me or to someone new I don't fully trust with my real number yet.
Thanks!

I don’t want to say where i work cause I’ve been here awhile. But supposedly after “The gas guys came and messed with the gas lines” no one gets service in the building. This strangely happened after the owner was voicing his distaste for cell phone usage in the kitchen. Me and a few other staff think its something like a cell phone jammer. We aren’t a big building maybe 100ft x 100ft theres apartments above us too who also don’t get cell service now either. And it perfectly masks the building, you have to be 5ft out the back door to even get 1 bar of service. So with only landlines what do i do? Idk if i should contact the Fcc or something? Thanks in advance

Hi guys. First of all, I'm really sorry if I misspell something, english is not my first language.
Last night, I was sleeping and having a "normal" dream until something else invaded that dream. A door or portal (I'm not sure) started forming in the air right in front of me. I became very curious and as I approached, the door opened, revealing a huge, dark, and cold corridor. It was dark, and there was a spiritual aura in that corridor that frightened me. Just as I was about to give up on entering it, I felt a hand on my shoulder. When that hand touched my shoulder, I shrunk down and started crawling on the ground (I think I transformed into a snake), and that somehow made me feel safe enough to pass through the corridor.
Inside the corridor, there were many doors, and I could see glimpses of light and images through the cracks. These seemed like memories. I could hear various sounds coming from the doors, voices conversing, laughter... But I didn't want to enter any of those doors, despite my curiosity. I stopped at the end of the corridor when the last door in front of me opened, and I entered it, and then I started watching a new dream, and I'm pretty sure it was my past life - all of the sensations were TOO VIVID and I can even remember smells, writings on banners, and too many details that I wouldn't remember if it was just a weird dream.
After I entered the door, it seemed like I "returned" to being human and started witnessing several memories of a past life, but they were scrambled and out of order.
The first memory that came to mind was when I was wearing red lipstick, a long dress that didn't seem to belong to this era, and I was smoking a thing that looked like a thin stick, like, it wasn't a common cigarette. I appeared to be young but trying to portray a mature woman. I remember I was scared, not wanting to be recognized. I was on the rooftop of a condominium or hotel (I'm not sure) waiting for my mama, and a very confident, charming, and polite man with a mustache and a suit became interested in me, he was watching me from a distance. He started talking to me, I remember I was trying to be seductive and wanted to look like I was bored, but he made me smile and laugh, and that sensation was weird, it was like I haven't laughed in a while, it felt like relief. Even when I rejected him and tried to be rude, he didn't give up the interest in me, he laughed and seemed to like me even more.
The second memory was of when I was a little girl, wearing a standout red cardigan, living in a village with lots of snow. I would walk home following a train line that was still being constructed I guess, and the men in that village would fish in a large lake, that would freeze in the winter. The houses were small, there were no tall buildings, and the only vegetation was like a tundra. [When I talked to my best friend about this part of the dream, we researched similar places to this one that I dreamed, and after some time we found pictures of places in Russia that seemed veeeeeery similar to this place, specially a city called "Murmansk". I didn't even know this city even existed and never heard of that place in my life, I'M A BRAZILIAN].
​
The third memory I had was when I was a slightly older girl, but it was before the first memory, I think here I was what, 13? 16? I'm not sure. I had long, brown hair and wore a white dress with ruffled edges that went down to my calves, like girls would wear in ancient times, around 1910/1920. I lived in a house that looked like a mansion, with brick roofs and a large estate that included a grove and a fountain. I remember the memory starting with me arriving from the sky, perhaps by a small airplane or helicopter (??) or some other aerial vehicle (?? i really don't know). I was truly wealthy, with one or two servants waiting for me, and my father was a wealthy man who loved me dearly. I was his darling. He seemed to be a professor at a university or something similar, he was a man of knowledge. I remember hearing people calling me... "Masha," "Masha". I was really happy and lived a good life around that time, I remember feeling like everything was right. [When I told my best friend about that, she enlightened me that Masha is a Russian name and that it was actually a nickname for Maria. And I didn't even know Maria was a Russian name, since it's pretty common here in Latin America too. I was mesmerized. Still am.]
​
The fourth memory is precisely with my father. I remember being in some place underground, like a mine or a metro (I remember it had a train line and some trolleys) and oddly enough, that's where I studied, alongside other young people, some girls and mostly young men. I studied in a laboratory with my father's support, but what I was doing seemed to be illegal, I don't know. I think it was not allowed for me to study. I apparently had a fiancé, a blond, white man, and he was really wealthy. I loved him at first, but something involving sex happened, I'm not sure. It was after this "sexual encounter" that I completely lost interest in him, I felt disgusted by him and only wanted to know about studying, I didn't want to be his wife. I reall can't remember how, but in the end I avoided marrying him. That's when everything seemed to start going wrong, but I don't know how either.
​
The fifth memory is of my engagement party with the charming mustached man I met in the first memory. I truly loved him and was very, very happy, oh my god, I can't even describe. We were celebrating our engagement in a place that looked like a small dinebar and I remember the smell of strong perfum, food that involves garlic and sweat (but I didn't find it disgusting, it was hot inside while it was really cold outside, as always. I remember I was so happy I was ecstatic). I remember having diverse guests, some people who seemed to be on the margins of society, like black people, homosexual people, etc. They were all my friends, dear people to me. I remember reaching the back of the diner and seeing my mother wearing a fur coat and a pearl necklace, dressed in 1920s attire, all elegant compared to the rest of us, who were not simple but not so wealthy looking. She was crying because my father had already passed away and because she had no money for anything. She was devastated, and that saddened me deeply, cause I missed her and I missed the feeling of not being the mother to my own mother. I was a 100% certain she would use the money I gave her to buy alcohol since she had become an alcoholic by that point. She smiled at that moment (that was the only time she smiled the entire night) and left through the back with a friend. I remember that impacted me very much, and my fiancé comforted me.
The sixth memory is strange. I was much poorer, living in a very simple cottage with my mother and the man who had become my husband. I remember being in the bedroom with my husband, being... Y'know... intimate, and the sensations felt really real. And my mother was clueless and quite intrusive. She entered the room without knocking or giving any warning, and it was a very embarrassing moment, I remember losing my temper with her and almost yelling that she couldn't do that kind of thing. Then, I remember putting on my clothes, a long-sleeved dress that went down to my calves and was straight, and brown boots. I was skinny and lived in a village with some trees and wooden houses. I recall being a teacher at a school for homosexual boys, I was protecting them from the law, trying to teach tem how to survive while everybody thought they were there to be "reformed". My husband knew everything and was very supportive. Then there was this day when a really strict general entered the school, I already knew him from before. He was there again, wanting to see if the boys were "reformed," and I had to quickly warn the boys to maintain their composure. I remember the general wearing black leather clothes, an imposing hat/beret, and I was so afraid of him that my legs trembled and despite me being a rebel at that point of my life, I was scared like a chicken. I felt like he knew I was lying, like he caught me but acted cool, and I remember thinking that my life was in danger. [Later, when talking to my best friend, I realized that the way he dressed and his behavior reminded me a little too much of a nazi general/soldier. I'm not sure, but this could be it].
​
The last memory I recall is visiting my husband in prison during winter when there was A LOT of wind and snow. I was wearing a dress, boots, and a warm brown coat, with two pigtails on each side of my head, like "Mary Jane" style. I had a heavy heart as I entered a dark and gray corridor, searching for my husband in the cells until I found him. He was shirtless, barefoot, wearing only gray sweatpants, lying on a stone bench, and he was very strong. I remember being horrified and screaming in despair with all the strenght I had in my lungs, "They're going to kill him! He will die of cold! Cover him up right now!". It was truly horrifying to me, specially because the reason he was there wasn't fair, he didn't do anything wrong, in fact he was fighting for what was right (I don't know what it was, but I remember I kept repeating this inside my mind, like, talking to myself, so revolted for all of this situation, as if it all wasn't fair at all). I recall another man, I'm not sure if he was a corrupt prison guard or a fellow inmate who had been released, gave me the key, and I managed to open the cell where my husband was. It seems like it was planned but I didn't know, we escaped and started running. I remember running through the emergency exit, the fire stairs, and the alarm was triggered. Men in uniforms came running after us with weapons in their hands. I remember almost losing my husband of sight because he was trying to close the door so we could win time, but I waited for him until the end, and we were going downstairs, jumping the stairs. In the end, I only remember that by some miracle, we managed to escape and reached an abandoned wooden cottage where he got dressed, and there was hot soup prepared by his sister, who provided us shelter, but I don't think we had a 'plan B' to get out of there and move on. We had nowhere to go, I guess, but I'm not sure. I just remember being tired, running, the sensation of my heart pulsing so fast I could feel it in my head. I was determined to save my husband.
​
That's the last memory I have. After that, I don't remember anything else, but I woke up with a sense that our story ended badly. I remember I could'nt stop crying. And I know it all sounds too much of a fanfic but I swear I'm not lying, I swear to god - my boyfriend texted me that morning when I was talking to my best friend about this weird dream, and told me he dreamt that he was a doctor and lived in Russia with me. When I started talking to Erica (my best friend) about it, he was still sleeping. He's my bestfriend since we were little, we've been together for 5 years now and it's been a while since we started talking about marriage, which is something that we plan for the near future. I don't know if he was the man in my dreams, but what he said is stuck in my head. Could he be that man?
​
I'm certain it wasn't just some hallucination, it was a past life memory. I just don't understand, why would the universe/god/whatever's up there make me remember this life? Because it wasn't a hypnotherapy, I wasn't meditating, I was SLEEPING. It happend involuntarily. What do they want to tell me? Why couldn't I see how I died, was it too traumatizing? Who was Masha/Maria? Who was her father, what was the name of my husband? Will I ever know? I'm just so, so curious. I want to know more.
​
What do you guys think of this all? What should I do? I'd like to go to a hypnotherapy session but I'm so afraid of, Idk, feeling pain, or seeing how I died and ending up more terrified than I already am of death. I really don't know. But I want to know who Masha/Maria was, what was her last name, if she really existed... I just need to know it was real.

So I was playing 11 kids vs 1 Dad and the kids got soldier I used the "Merry Christmas" voice line and he sounds so cute It puts a huge lisp on the Christmas part and he really sounds like a little kid it's really funny

Hey everyone,
This happened somewhat recently but was difficult for me to deal with, so wanted to sit with it before posting about it, even if some of the details are now fuzzy. This is also an active campaign and while the problem player infuriated me to no end I think they had a lot of issues they needed to work through and I bear them no ill will, so please don't call them out or harass them or anything if you know them, I just needed to get this off my chest.
This campaign had a large number of players to start, but the most noteworthy ones in this story are myself, Dave, and the DM.
I've DMed more games than I've played, so when an interesting-looking 5e campaign in a homebrew world came up from a newer DM on Discord, I hopped at the chance to join. We had a good amount of time to socialize and work on our characters before our first game. I really wanted to do something unique and interesting, so I played a delusional kobold that thought they were a dragon. (We did some reflavoring but kept things mechanically the same. So for instance, burning hands came from my mouth) Everyone seemed pretty chill, but there was one person that was far more active on the server than everyone else, Dave. Dave had some kind of job (we never figured out what this was) where they weren't allowed to be on a computer but COULD talk and speak out loud, so would frequently ask people to go on voice chat or do calls with them. I know we were going to be speaking to everyone once the game started, but as all of my prior experience was in person it still made me a bit uncomfortable to do a voice call with someone 1 on 1. So while I didn't mind chatting with them solo, I kept making excuses for doing a call.
Session 1 seemed fine. They did things that kept drawing attention to their character and would push the DM to allow them to do certain things in their background/backstory that didn't make sense in the DM's homebrew setting. Nothing too major, but stuff like "It says I can sleep at the guard post in the city as part of my background. I'm a guard in this city and I can sleep there and bring some other people, right?" "Eh, there's not really any organized military/martial presence in this small town." "But it says right here in my background that I can do it" and that sort of repeated until the DM relented. This was the start of a pattern.
So after the first session, they message me saying "Hey, I have this great magic item I will be giving myself before the next session". I was a little confused that they were messaging me instead of the DM, but I figure they were just trying to brainstorm before approaching them.
Holy cow batman, the description of what this magic item could do was TWO WHOLE PAGES. I crunched some numbers and quickly realized that this magic item was not only capable of keeping the whole party consistently healed, **it could one shot a tarrasque**. I was a bit flabbergasted and pointed out that this was capable of killing *as a bonus action* the highest published CR monster in the game and they responded with "Yeah, I know, that was one of the things I wanted to do when I built it." Some brief background on the DM's world and the campaign, this was a very low magic setting and we all started at level 3. In terms of magic items, we've so far come across cantrip spell scrolls, a coin of delving, and a cloak of billowing. Still, I figured maybe they were just... unfamiliar or awkward and they were so eager, so I tried to help them. I thought about what they wanted to do conceptually with their item and created something that had some level-based scaling and was fairly effective, but far more balanced and in line with what someone might have at level 3 in a campaign and figured with DM approval and maybe some sort of quest it could be acquirable. I told them that their idea was pretty overpowered, especially for level three, and suggested the more balanced item to them (the description only took one paragraph). They responded that the item was totally useless, and I didn't hear about them until the next session.
This is where things went totally off the hook.
Since the DM allowed him to be a guard and bunk with a couple of other party members there, he used this as a quest hook. The head of the guards gave him a quest and he went to wake up the other party members who stayed with him. (Half of us had stayed behind at an inn). The group wanted to do some downtime/shopping/socializing this session, so they were off to the market.
The DM asked them "Are you going straight there or going to the inn first to get the rest of your party?" "No, we're going straight there." "Are you sure? The rest of the party is still there." "Yes, we're going to the market." They bought a gust spell scroll but didn't realize that as a fighter they weren't able to use it. He went to a blacksmith and asked them to make a set of tonfa. It didn't really make sense in the setting for the blacksmith to have any idea what they were referring to. But Dave kept pushing and eventually, the DM decided that if he can draw up the specifications really well, maybe the smith or another party member proficient in smithing could make it, but that it would be a difficult roll and would have to succeed on multiple checks. He eventually goes back to the tavern and draws up multiple specs with a string of 17+ rolls. He then engages in persuasion rolls (another string of 17+ rolls) to convince other party members to buy those specs and his cantrip scroll and changes the prices each time, but nobody wants to metagame so he just... scams the party. This takes hours. Some people got chances to interact and play dnd, but the camera was always following them, so to speak. After a skill challenge and an immense amount of 17+ rolls on Dave's end, they get their tonfa. They proceed to tell everyone all about the qualities and stats of it. It winds up being this wishlist of weapon traits, bonus damage dice, and bonus AC. The DM tries to stop him and tells him that he needs to figure out what its stats and properties are. But Dave insists that he already had this conversation with the DM and that they told him this weapon could have all these properties and that he should stand by his previous conversation.
I made up some reason to head directly to the market. Something I forgot to mention, another player complained that I was talking over them in the previous session. I felt bad about this, as this isn't something I want to do to another player. We figured that it was half that I spoke strongly and confidently (conditioned to as part of my job) and them having a quiet microphone. So I tried to be more careful about using my meeting voice and I turned everyone else's volume down and turned theirs to the max and it seemed resolved. The reason I mention this is because I still felt bad so I wanted to give gifts to all of the other party members. I had spent most of the week planning this out so I needed to get to the market before the end of the session. We essentially just had starting gold and equipment, so I had to get creative to make meaningful gifts for the rest of the party and it took up most of my starting equipment and all of my starting gold.
As Dave heard me doing this, Dave decided to say "Hey everyone, let's plan out how our party will handle finances. Let's leave out [OP] because they're selfish and greedy." They proceed to plan and vote on how to handle finances. Then proceeded with "Also, I have this quest. Let's discuss it and plan out how to proceed with it now before [OP] gets back."
I was pretty livid at this point. I had essentially sat out all session due to his decisions and deliberately excluded from roleplay moments/campaign decisions/etc. I realized that my character also had every reason to be pissed with the information they had available. So as I returned and Dave announced the decisions the party had already made, I challenged them on their behavior over the day. They responded with "Well, you're a greedy dragon so I *know* you're bad with money. I don't even need to guess, I just *know* that you spent all of your money at the market. That proves I'm right. In fact, on our next quest, I can just tell the quest giver that you didn't participate and just keep your reward."
Then things got weird.
I tried to just ignore him and went around to the rest of my party bestowing my gifts to them. They were mostly silly things. A kobold's best attempt to make a scented candle. Some tinkerer's tools for the warforged. A chess set for the scholar. Etc. Dave interrupted pretty frequently for rolls to *determine if I was good or evil*. It didn't make much sense to me at the time, but now I'm fairly certain they were trying to justify attacking me by proving I'm the opposite alignment of whatever they were. They kept persuading the DM until they finally let them do a series of rolls for it and lo and behold, more 17+ rolls culminating in a 19. The DM decided he succeeded and asked me to tell him about my backstory and alignment. Here's the thing... I didn't really flesh out their whole backstory yet. I figured I could develop it as the character develops through play. I tried to share what I had come up with so far, but kept being pressed for more, before I put my foot down and said "Look, I don't care how well you rolled, you can't read my backstory and my character's inner thoughts with a skill check." DM finally agreed with me and we ended the session, they took off but some of us stayed on the call to chat.
Then Dave says "You should never have tried to stand up to my character. Kobolds are cowardly, you're not playing your character correctly." I glanced at my character sheet and pointed out that I had the kobold legacy trait "Defiance" which gave me an advantage against being frightened so I don't think I needed to play them cowardly. Then they dropped their next line, "You know I could kill your character any time I wanted. You wouldn't be able to do anything to stop me." This wasn't one on one or anything either, this was in front of other party members. I laugh it off, but I'm a little uncomfortable. He wasn't very knowledgeable about the game and I was pretty confident in my tactics/character build so I wasn't too worried if they just attacked me out of the blue. But they always rolled exceptionally high and could go for my character in their sleep. I was getting worked up, so made an excuse and logged off.
As the week progressed, it looked more and more likely they were going to get an OP magic item and I kind of lost it. I went on a bit of a rant and told both him and the DM I really think it's bad to give him this item because it's very powerful and he *has already threatened to kill my character*. I realized something at the same time that I suspect is a surprise to zero of you out there, he rolled physical dice. It's not something I had even considered, but suddenly I was incredibly suspicious of him not rolling below a 17 that session. I started mentally planning contingencies of what preparations I'll be making to protect myself and messaging the DM in order for Dave not to metagame around them.
At this point, I had a reality check. What was I even doing? This wasn't fun anymore. I had decided I would probably quit, but also went back and just wrote a heartfelt message about what I felt was antagonistic from him, how it made me feel as a player and potential steps we could take towards a resolution. Then I muted the server for 24 hours and tried to mentally prepare myself for telling them that I was no longer interested in continuing.
I return and I'm shocked and surprised. A lot had transpired in those 24 hours. I had gotten a couple of messages of support from the DM and some other party members. Other party members had started sharing their own grievances regarding Dave and how uncomfortable they were feeling. Dave did not respond at all well to any of this and blamed everyone except for himself. My favorite justification he made (that nobody else seemed to buy) is that he already messaged me and that I was alright with everything (lol no). Things were getting heated and several people were really upset, and the DM decided to just pull the trigger and kick him. His character became an NPC and was later discovered dead in a ditch in a following session.
So that's my horror story! Thanks for reading it through to the end. Some of the problems and issues other party members had with Dave were pretty shocking and warrant a separate story all on their own, but this has gone on long enough and I'll leave it to them to tell their own stories if they choose to.

1. Relación manga y mitología
Primero habría que aclarar que las referencias del manga hacia el folclore nórdico no son simples coincidencias, sino que el propio autor claramente ha establecido dicha relación. Quizás el primer hecho flagrante que constata la influencia de esta mitología en el manga es la aparición de un personaje llamado Loki, pero hay más pistas sobre esta conexión manga-mitología.
Por poner algunos ejemplos menos conocidos, en One Piece existe una raza llamada wotan, un híbrido entre gyojin y gigante. Casualmente Wotan es la variante germánica del nombre que nosotros castellanizamos como Odín, siendo él la figura más importante de la mitología nórdica. Esta coincidencia tiene mayor relevancia si tenemos en cuenta que la raza de los gigantes es muy predominante en los mitos nórdicos. Por otro lado, el ataque con el que el gigante Hajrudin acaba con Machvise se llama Gungnir, el mismo nombre que recibe la lanza del dios Odín. Este tipo de curiosidades no evidencian necesariamente un paralelismo entre la mitología y el manga, pero constatan que Oda tiene cierto conocimiento de la cultura nórdica antigua y que la ha referenciado en su obra en varias ocasiones.
Como último aspecto más importante de esta influencia, sabemos que el país de Elbaf tiene una fuerte inspiración en la cultura nórdica. Desde su arquitectura y su cultura de la guerra hasta referencias mitológicas.
​
2. Cultura de la guerra
Por lo que hemos visto de los gigantes en One Piece y por lo que sabemos de la cultura nórdica, ambos coinciden en su devoción por la guerra, la lucha, y la importancia de ganarse el poder con la fuerza. En referencia a esto, Dorry y Brogy comenzaron una lucha a vida o muerte hace más de 100 años por una discusión sin resolver: quién había pescado el pez más grande. La verdad sobre quién había pescado el mayor trofeo no importa, pues esa verdad sería establecida por quien ganase ese duelo. Es decir, la fuerza como representación de poder. A pesar de su largo combate, estos personajes se respetan y son mejores amigos. Todo esto establece un marco de referencia sobre cómo es la cultura de los gigantes en el manga.
En la antigua civilización nórdica el máximo honor era morir en batalla, pues sólo así los hombres podían llegar al Valhalla. Por tanto, su sociedad estaba también estrechamente ligada a la lucha y la fuerza del hombre. Rehuir la lucha era el mayor acto de cobardía.
​
3. Mitología nórdica en One Piece
De lo que conocemos del reino de Elbaf hasta ahora existen varias referencias claras a la mitología nórdica. Las más importantes: el personaje de Loki como gobernante de la tierra de los gigantes y lo que parece ser un árbol colosal como una referencia a Yggdrasil.
Para entender estas similitudes asentaré algunos conocimientos sobre mitología. En los mitos nórdicos existen diferentes razas, pero las dos más importantes son los gigantes (llamados Jotuns) y los dioses. Desde que el mundo se creó estas dos razas se han encontrado enfrentadas. Con el tiempo se hicieron lazos de sangre y la realidad es que la mayor parte del panteón nórdico son dioses con algo de sangre jotun, pero la rivalidad entre estas razas parece que se mantuvo hasta el fin de los tiempos. Como referencia, algunos dioses como Thor se jactaban de ser poderosos mata-gigantes.
Como culmen de esta rivalidad se desencadenó el Ragnarok (o ‘’Destino de los dioses’’), que fue una guerra entre el reino de los gigantes y Asgard (el reino de los dioses nórdicos). Este sin duda fue el evento más importante de entre todos los mitos nórdicos, y de este mito y las figuras nórdicas que aparecen en él podemos destacar a Loki.
Loki en la mitología nórdica es hijo de gigantes y es considerado la figura representativa y motivadora de todo fraude y engaño. Él tuvo un papel importante en varias de las historias que se conservan de esta mitología, pero su aspecto más relevante es el de estar destinado a desencadenar el Ragnarok. Loki se encontraba enfrentado con el resto de dioses que en la mayor parte de los casos se traducía en un odio mutuo. Odín, el padre de todos los dioses, tenía miedo a la profecía del fin del mundo, que además profetizaba su muerte. Gran parte de la historia de Odín se basa en la búsqueda de conocimiento para intentar evitar su propia muerte. Finalmente fueron los enfrentamientos con Loki y las decisiones de Odín de desterrarlo y torturarlo las que desencadenaron la profecía a la que tanto temía.
En el Ragnarok los gigantes fueron comandados por Loki hacia Asgard, el reino de los dioses. Allí lucharon gigantes y dioses hasta que estos últimos fueron arrasados casi en su totalidad, acabando así con su dominancia. Esta guerra rompió el orden establecido y la soberanía de los dioses sobre el resto de reinos. Sólo se tiene constancia de un puñado de deidades que sobrevivieron a este evento y ellos fueron quienes se encargaron de reinstaurar la paz, establecer un nuevo orden y reconstruir los nueve reinos destruidos en esta gran guerra.
​
4. Trasladando la mitología al manga
En la mitología nórdica los mitos están contados desde la perspectiva de los dioses, por lo que es fácil identificarse con estas figuras e imaginarse a los gigantes como los villanos del mundo. Así es como estas deidades comenzaron a ser adoradas y se desarrolló un gran culto a su alrededor.
Sin embargo, en One Piece los gigantes distan de parecernos villanos. Por lo que hemos visto son figuras fieras pero amigables. Son más bien los tenryuubito, aquellos que se consideran dioses, los que gobiernan por encima de todo y de todos, los personajes más deleznables de One Piece. Por lo tanto en la obra de Oda los papeles entre gigantes y dioses parecerían estar invertidos con respecto a los mitos.
Pero si tuviésemos que hablar del Ragnarok en One Piece, ¿la batalla final que acabará con aquellos que se autoproclaman “dioses”? ¿Una profecía de guerra a la que hasta el mismo Odín, el dios supremo, teme y que pretende evitar a toda costa? ¿Una guerra que terminará con el orden establecido? ¿Un enfrentamiento que renovará el poder? Está claro que hablamos de la guerra contra el gobierno mundial. En esta guerra podemos suponer que intervendrán muchos personajes, razas y reinos que Luffy se ha encontrado a lo largo de la historia y con los que ha entablado relación. Entonces podemos deducir que en el manga será Loki, el soberano de los gigantes, el que dirija a los ejércitos de su raza en la guerra contra el gobierno… ¿o no?
​
5. El falso Loki de One Piece
Es curioso que Elbaf parece ser el país con mayor fuerza militar y de cultura bélica, pero de cara al lector no hay constancia de ningún conflicto de los gigantes con otras naciones o con la marina. Por si fuera poco, la isla en la que se encuentra el país se llama Warland (“Tierra de la guerra”).
Es posible que sepamos más de su pasado y guerras cuando los protagonistas lleguen a la isla, y es del todo probable que la marina y otros reinos no hayan buscado conflictos con los gigantes justamente debido a su gran poder. Aun así me resulta chocante, y creo que es posible que Loki sea parte de la razón por la que este reino no ha tenido conflictos militares en el manga hasta ahora.
Oda acostumbra a tomar referencias de diversas culturas, religiones y tradiciones a lo largo de los diferentes arcos del manga. Las referencias no suelen ser demasiado obvias porque podrían jugar en contra del desarrollo de la trama, pues una inspiración muy fuerte podría ser fácilmente identificada y funcionar a modo de spoiler. Por ejemplo, si un personaje de 33 años llamado Jesús multiplicase panes y peces en el manga, cualquiera lo identificaría como una referencia al cristianismo y sería de esperar que este personaje se sacrificase por el bien de la humanidad. Por el contrario, es común que estas referencias en el manga sean más discretas y pasen desapercibidas para la mayor parte del público de One Piece. Si el Loki del manga fuera el mismo que conocemos en la mitología nos resultaría algo previsible y poco original, pues hoy en día este dios se ha convertido en una figura bastante popular.
Hay quienes argumentan que este personaje podría ser un déspota que gobierna sobre el reino de Elbaf con malas intenciones. Es algo que ya hemos visto en la serie y que iría acorde al personaje de los mitos. Sin embargo, me parece poco creíble que Shanks, quien parece tener una estrecha relación con los gigantes, haya dejado que un tirano gobierne una tierra que conoce y aprecia. Si así fuera, no creo que Shanks hubiera tenido problemas enfrentándose a este gobernante para ayudar a sus amigos.
La identidad de Loki fue revelada en el manga hace mucho tiempo, pero ¿por qué anticipar tanto la aparición de un personaje si es para darnos aquello que ya nos esperábamos de él? ¿No sería más lógico que Oda no temiera darnos el nombre del rey de los gigantes porque no nos esperamos lo que nos encontraremos de él?
Me parece, por tanto, más probable que el rey de Elbaf no sea un bélico tirano con el que lidiar y que diste en cierta medida del Loki de la mitología, que era el dios más conflictivo. Este rey podría no ser exactamente un buen representante de los ideales de los gigantes, sino alguien que rehúye el conflicto. Esta idea se vería apoyada por lo poco que sabemos del Loki de Oda, que pidió la mano de una de las hijas de Big Mom, presumiblemente para evitar conflictos con la Yonkou y establecer una alianza. Pero, conociendo el pasado de Big Mom en Elbaf, ¿por qué iba a querer el gobernante de los gigantes casarse con su hija? Por el momento es difícil saber si Loki estaba realmente enamorado, lo que está claro es que estaba dispuesto a dejar de lado la enemistad con la yonkou en favor de otros intereses personales y probablemente en detrimento de todo su pueblo.
Entonces, si asumimos que el Loki de los mitos no es el mismo que el Loki del manga, puede que necesitemos otro personaje que lidere el Ragnarok. ¿Quién guiará a los gigantes en su participación en la guerra contra el gobierno mundial? Ya hemos establecido que los gigantes no son los “malos” de esta historia. Por tanto nuestro “Loki” tampoco debería ser un personaje malintencionado y perverso. No es alguien que busque luchar por venganza, sino por justicia. Un personaje relacionado con los gigantes, la representación bienintencionada del fraude y la mentira en One Piece.
​
6. Usopp, un líder para los gigantes
Si hay un personaje de One Piece que ha tenido que abrazar la mentira y el fraude es Usopp. Él es un fracaso como luchador, un fraude. Desde que lo conocimos vimos su faceta cobarde y mentirosa. Pero Usopp nunca ha tenido malas intenciones y su mayor defecto nunca fue su intento de engañar a los demás, sino sus miedos. En muchas ocasiones ha tenido que enfrentarse a sus temores y reunir el valor para luchar contra sus oponentes. Su fuerza no es física, como la de los gigantes, sino que se sirve de artimañas e ingenio para burlar, engañar y derrotar a sus oponentes. Se podría decir que es lo contrario a los ideales de los gigantes del manga, pero la relación con el Loki mitológico parece obvia.
Mi apuesta es que Usopp en Elbaf tendrá que demostrar a los gigantes su “fuerza” y valor, que los impresionará y servirá de nuevo guía. Quizás esto ocurra mediante un duelo contra el rey de los gigantes. Como nota, sabemos que muchas de las mentiras de Usopp se han hecho realidad, y una de las que todavía no se ha cumplido es que dijo en el arco de Jaya que había derrotado a 10 enemigos gigantes, al ver unas sombras enormes en el cielo. Esta también podría ser la mentira que se convertirá en hazaña y que impresionará a los gigantes.
En cualquier caso la figura del gobernante de los gigantes deberá ser contrapuesta por Usopp, pues como ya he dicho, creo que la pasividad militar de los gigantes se debe en parte a su rey, que será en mi opinión una contraposición al Loki mitológico, que era más belicoso.
Será Usopp quien convenza a los gigantes para que se unan a la lucha contra el Gobierno Mundial, que en principio no parecen tener verdaderos motivos para inmiscuirse en los problemas del resto del mundo. En ese sentido Usopp será el desencadenante de su “Ragnarok”, no necesariamente guiándolos en la batalla, sino haciendo que se unan al ejército de los Mugiwaras y a otras naciones contra el gobierno.
Esto no sólo ataría los cabos que relacionan a Usopp con Elbaf durante la serie (cabe recordar que los gigantes de Enies Lobby, Oimo y Kashi, querían que él se fuera con ellos a Elbaf), sino que cerraría el arco de personaje de Usopp, quien ha sido habitualmente representado como un pirata cobarde y débil, algo que deberá cambiar de cara al final de la serie si quiere formar parte de la tripulación del rey de los piratas. Quién mejor que él, que siempre ha rehuido de las batallas, para guiar a otros hacia la última gran guerra.
7. El final del Ragnarok
Ya he comentado brevemente que en la mitología tras el Ragnarok algunas deidades sobrevivieron y se encargaron de reestablecer y volver a dar forma al mundo, no sólo físicamente tras la destrucción de todo el universo, sino estructuralmente de cara al reinado de los dioses. Se estableció un nuevo orden de poder.
Entre el fandom de One Piece una teoría bastante extendida es la idea de que la Red Line posiblemente sea destruida durante la saga final. Esta sería la forma física de reestructurar el mundo en el manga, tal y como este nuevo resurgir fue necesario en la mitología. Cabe destacar que la guerra del Ragnarok se dio en el territorio de los dioses, en el propio Asgard, y fue allí donde se dio el zenit de la destrucción que acabó arrasando el resto de reinos. Del mismo modo, la destrucción de la Red Line en el reino de los dioses, Mariejoa, tendría consecuencias para el resto del mundo de One Piece. Una vez más el paralelismo parecería invertirse cuando en la mitología las consecuencias fueron la destrucción total, mientras que en el manga conllevaría la liberación del mundo.
Sin embargo, sabemos que también será necesaria la reestructuración social y gubernamental. Parece obvio asumir que el reinado de los dioses en One Piece, los tenryuubito, terminará al finalizar la guerra. Si algún tenryuubito sobreviviera a este fin de su hegemonía tendríamos que pensar en uno dispuesto a establecer un cambio. Entre los tenryuubito cabe destacar a San Donquixote Mjosgard, quien ayudó a Shirahoshi golpeando a San Charlos cuando intentaba capturarla. Esta podría ser uno de los tenryuubito que sobreviviera al cambio del orden establecido como uno de los pocos dioses dispuestos a renunciar a su poder en favor de un nuevo orden. Aunque existe la posibilidad de que estos supervivientes encargados de renovar el mundo fueran los integrantes de la marina en la división Sword. Cualquiera de estas interpretaciones, o quizá la comunión de ambas, encajaría con lo que conocemos de la mitología nórdica.
Probablemente Oda no pensó en estas relaciones entre la mitología y su historia mientras escribía el manga, pero estas coincidencias asientan un poco las ideas más fundamentales de la teoría sobre Usopp y su papel en Elbaf.
Creo que los puntos más relevantes serían:

1. Claras referencias por parte de Oda a la mitología y folclore nórdicos, que nos indican cierta intencionalidad a la hora de establecer pequeños paralelismos.
2. La aparición de un personaje llamado Loki que gobierna sobre los gigantes, pero cuya figura ha sido demasiado anticipada y resultaría predecible si coincidiera con el Loki de los mitos.
3. Usopp como un paralelismo al dios del engaño Loki, un fraude que deberá redimirse para cerrar su arco de personaje.
4. Indudables similitudes entre el Ragnarok y la guerra final. Un soberano condenado por una profecía contra la que no puede luchar, los gigantes como parte de la figura que derrocará el poder, la caída de los dioses y la destrucción física y jerárquica como algo necesario para la renovación.

It’s a slow song with male vocals, I’m pretty sure after every line there’s a chorus of male voices going “ah woah, ahhh ahhh”. It starts with a rough looking clown wiping off his makeup and singing, then someone comes up and shaves his longish hair off. It definitely wasn’t a happy song. I was listening to other indie music when I stumbled upon it on Youtube in the 2010s. It may be an Aussie band but it also may not be.

Hello! I'm in Houston Texas, I'm 24 and right now I'm practicing coding and watching TV. I'd love some to voice chat with for a while and maybe we can go on a date at some point :) Obviously, dating in person is much easier than being long distance soooo Houston people are at the front of the line. I made an r4r post if you wanna know a bit more about me 🤗 Hit me up!

Hello everyone! I was wondering if anyone had the unused voice files of Omid announcing himself before entering the truck stop restroom in All That Remains
InColdBlood never documented this piece of information and as a result it doesn’t seem to be anywhere on the internet, or it’s at least really hard to find online. I also can’t find it in the files of my game (maybe because I have the def edition and not the original on PC?) It would be great if someone could send me the voice files or link them somehow. Thanks in advanced!

Simple: it seems to have heart. Small attention to details like MJF cowering as a defensive move, Darby riding his skateboard, the wacky mini-games, and even the more cartoony art style feel like the best moments of AEW where there's a feeling of greater uniqueness and artistic freedom, and less of a feeling of polished homogeneity.
I'm fine if someone prefers the 2K games, but those games just feel so standardized; every iteration feels the same. They're McWrestling games to me. They feel generic like someone has used ChatGPT to spit out the design ideas.
If Fight Forever lacks the budget to have things like photorealistic character models or more voiced lines, the benefit of all of that is that this footage we're seeing is showing more and more of a product that seems to be emphasizing the eccentric charm of pro wrestling above all else - much like AEW itself when it's at its best.

For context, this isn’t my picture, it’s supposedly from a trail cam in 2010.
I, 23m, 6’5 and very strong boast to my wife all the time that “I’m the scariest thing in the dark” as I’m a Marine combat vet.
We smoke most nights after putting our kids to bed. We live in what you’d consider “country”, lots of trees, not very many houses or people, nearest neighbor is miles away.
Tonight we were smoking as usual, about 10:30 EST, when our daughter woke up, my wife went back inside to tend to her and I waited outside. About 30ft out the grassy overgrown back yard turns into thick bushes and tree lines. I scroll through my phone and wait for my wife to return. I then hear something walking.(I’d like to point out that with my training, hunter killer and combat, there’s a very distinct difference between the sound of a four legged animal and the sound of something walking like a human- on two legs, the “step step sound, rather than the shuffle of an animal). Hearing this I assume someone is just in our yard(the nearest town is on crime watch, you never know) and again knowing my training I didn’t feel scared. I turned my flashlight on on my phone and point it in the direction of the walking, no visual. The walking was slow and I could feel I was being watched. The walking went slowly over to the right side then left, then stopped. I went to speak to ask whoever was here to get off the property when in a shrill feminine voice I heard the words “help me” over to my left near where the walking stopped. I shined my light over expecting to see a female in need and instead locked eyes with this(pictured above-again not my picture). It’s head was sticking out under one of the bushes, eyes bright orange, skin pale gray, no nose, no ears, no hair, no expression. When I say I felt fear for the first time in a long time, I mean it, I immediately backed up and stepped inside. Googled “gray creature in woods says help me” and found that picture. Looking at it causes such and extreme anxiety. I don’t know what I saw. My wife asked if I imagined it. No. I wasn’t scared until I saw it, I’m not sleep deprived, I locked eyes with whatever this is.
Our cats stared at the door, hair raised as they both came in the room.
What is this?

Ragecraft is seeking new members for an adults-only (21+), factions-based, lightly modded realm on Bedrock edition. Many of us have been playing together for years from all over the world, and our community is very welcoming to new players.
Season 2 begins on June 9, 2023.
Server Details: The world spawn is roughly 0,0 and everything within 666 blocks is considered neutral territory and the site of our shopping district, entertainment district, and culture district.
The entire world is split into 4 “territories” corresponding to the 4 quadrants of the map (++,+-,—,-+); Each player will be assigned to a territory, some of which contain biomes that are basically exclusive to them (ex: 1 territory has a giant desert, 1 has mostly cold biomes, and only 2 territories have warm oceans). The idea is that players will need to make deals, sneak behind enemy lines, or visit the shopping district if they need something that’s not available in their territory.
It will be up to each territory to establish their own rules, such as imposing travel fees on outsiders, a kill on site policy for trespassers, or maybe taxing their citizens’ shops… anything is possible!
All territories must choose a name, a theme, and a flag within 2 weeks of the season starting. They must also come up with their own governments or leadership structure— they can be individualist or collectivist (every territory has private text and voice channels for these discussions). Players can defect from one territory to another at any time, but they’ll need to be strategic if they don’t want to create enemies.
PVP is allowed, but not with ill intent. Any player who causes another player to lose their items must help replace them. Griefing is not allowed, but pranking—harmless gags that don’t create too much stress— is tolerated (but know your audience, because any complaints about pranks will result in suspension).
This server uses Minecars, a robust mod that allows players to craft various types of minecart-based vehicles that have a vanilla feel; these include cars with drills, cars with cannons, flying cars (balloons), various wagons that can be attached to cars, and much more. You don’t have to mess with them if you don’t want to, but know that this mod slightly changes the vanilla recipes for levers, chains, lanterns, and minecarts.
The world seed will not be revealed to the players, but they are able to learn the locations of structures or biomes by redeeming in-game currency called Tributes. Tributes are earned by completing specific projects that benefit the whole realm, and they can be redeemed for teleportation systems, military grade weather control systems, zombie horses, and more. Some ways to earn Tributes include building mini games or attractions in the Entertainment District, building shops, decorating public spaces, organizing server events, and adding exhibits to museums in the Culture District.
Everyone is limited to opening 1 shop per month. Minecars are off limits until 2 weeks into the season. End busting and Minecar drills are not allowed until we all fight the dragon together (1 month into the season).
The final week of the season is Purge Week, where Ragecraft becomes an anarchy server.
We are LGBTQIA+ positive, 420 friendly, and provide a safe space for women. We welcome players from all over the world, but will give priority to players in Europe, Asia, and Australia because we need more players in those time zones. Players who are not active for more than 2 weeks may be kicked, so please don’t apply if you don’t think you would play that often.
Modifications: - Minecars - Player corpse (holds all your gear when you die, and gives you coordinates to where you died) - Ragecraft paintings (iconic album covers, movie posters, famous paintings, and more) - Invisible item frames - One player sleep - Mob clearing (unnamed creepers and wardens die every morning)
We’re also a tight-knit community and regularly have game nights (Among Us, Cards Against Humanity, and more), movie nights, and in-game events. If you’re 21+, play Minecraft a lot, have a sense of humor, and want to make some new friends, please come and join us!
To apply, click the “Join Ragecraft” link in my profile.

I have been doing a lot of meditation and spiritual exploration lately and yesterday while I was decluttering I found this pretty little orange and yellow silk pouch that was full of stuff I don't remember putting in it. When i opened the pouch there was a cup of efun/cascarilla and a small bag of kosher salt inside. It felt like a gift. I got this intense feeling like my stomach dropped out and a voice just popped into my head, "Oshun, this is for Oshun," it said.
Now I do not remember putting these items in this bag whatsoever but I did, I even poured the salt into the bag and I don't remember doing it. About 20 years ago my neighbor, a Santera from a long line of women healers, helped me through some really hard times, prescribed me spiritual baths and incense regiments and other things I can't talk about out of respect for her practice. But I remember her mentioning Oshun to me again and again and telling me about her specifically, calling upon her to help me stay healthy and rub an egg all over my body to protect me from fertility issues and sickness.
When I Google searched for Oshun my heart stopped when I learned that her festival day is the same day as my birthday....
So what do I do now? Is this a calling? Is it possible for non initiates to receive a calling? I do not feel I have a lot of traits in common with Oshun, though I admire her and have lots of love for her. If it is a calling I would be honored to work with her. I have a tremendous amount of reverence for this beautiful and powerful religion and the last thing I want to do is piss off an Orisha.

TLDR: I cannot be the only person who sees this.... Biden is too old and frail, a bit shady, and his VP is clueless and completely unqualified.... Trump is a criminal and also too old and unfit for office and totally corrupt.... Can we please please please get a couple of reasonable candidates to vote for... literally any regular ass American would be better.
Let's start out with my intention. I would love for this post to get 69 million 420 thousand upvotes... but seriously, I want as many people as possible to see this because the media is starting to make me feel like I am the only person who sees that this election cycle is nuts.
This Presidential election is looking to be a choice between two terrible options... I will outline all of my demographics followed by my thoughts and I would really like to hear some alternative opinions because as a regular ass voter, I see nothing but terrible options from the two parties and I am starting to feel like I am the only one who sees that the current political landscape is a total shit show.
Demographics: Ethnicity: Caucasian Gender: Male Age: 35 Occupation: Military Officer Education: BS (it was a bullshit degree but also a bachelor of science) Relationship: Married (divorced once but I deserved it. I was a total shithead the first time) ... happy to provide any other demographics but at the end of the day I am a regular American with a regular salary, a regular job, a regular everything else.
Biden Let me start off by admitting that I was wrong about this guy. I voted for him in the last election because I felt like President Trump was unstable as fuck and presidential policy should not be posted on social media or be based on how one man is feeling that particular day. Biden promised a lot, I didn't expect much from him, to be honest, but I had hoped that we would at least get a president who was able to fill the role at a basic level. I was not looking for Teddy Roosevelt or Abraham Lincoln. I was simply hoping for a President who would show up to work, have a reasonable foreign policy, who would put some pressure on the corporations and their CEOs making millions of dollars, and who would address the issues that the majority of Americans were dealing with like student loans, health care, unfair taxes, and loopholes that benefit the 1% and fuck the 99%. End of the day I was hoping that he would look out for the 99 and not the 1%. So far we have got some good and bad in terms of policy... he got us out of the war in the middle east even though that was completely fucked up... poor planning... total rush to failure. Thank God that more people were not killed or injured and God bless those service members who sacrificed all for this shitty plan, they were patriots and I am thankful every day that we have Americans like them willing to "stand the watch." He got some relief for parents who could use the help financially when times were tough during covid but he totally fucked it up when he fumbled the ball when it came to supporting the unions like the rail workers, amazon, etc, he fucked up student debt relief (we shouldn't ONLY forgive loans...we need to address the outrageous price tag on education in addition to the loans)... He appointed Mayer Pete who had one job as Transportation Secretary and totally fucked that up by prioritizing his image over actually dealing with airline travel (I am a pilot so a bit read in on this topic... he screwed the pooch on this one), trains, and the supply chain.... he also has been a bit short sided on Ukraine support.... (Ukraine deserves independence but there needs to be an explanation of what we are getting as taxpayers for our money... Please explain to me what the return on investment is for the billions we are spending. I do not have an issue with spending our tax dollars on helping make the world a better place but I need to know how my $50B+ is making a difference before you spend it.) Also his sons.... Beau was a naval officer who allegedly did a bunch of drugs.... should have been booted out of the military and Hunter absolutely took dirty money and it was all covered up. President Biden may not have been involved in any of that but at the end of the day, all of the sins of his sons were covered up for the benefit of their father.
Trump As a white male military officer, I thought I was definitely a Republican before this guy came into office. I mean come on, I was basically their prime demographic. At least that is what I was told my whole adult life. I was unsure when he was elected as I thought this was a publicity stunt. Then he put "Mad Dog" Mattis in office as the Sec Def and I thought "America, Fuck YEA!" he had a bunch of crazy ass tweets and I wrote most of them off because I trusted that General Mattis and the rest of the cabinet would keep the country on the right track. And then he fired Mattis. This was the point when I realized this dude is a sociopath who only cared about being "right". He gave no fucks about what the correct decision was... all he wanted was to be "right." The most respected military General since Colin Powel was fired/resigned from the office of Sec Def under President Trump.... This was shocking. But who knows what happened behind closed doors.... perhaps this was for the best. Then the election and Jan 06. And since then this dude has been the sorest loser I have ever seen. It has been 3 years and he is still talking about how the election was stolen and if you disagree with him he will blackmail you into agreeing with him or he will support your opposition candidate. Fuck this dude. That is not how democracy works..... I do not disagree with his foreign policy as a military officer... He made some solid decisions regarding China and his critique of NATO was not completely incorrect. He said things and made decisions that others were afraid to say and do and I was into it but he also said and did things that was I absolutely not into... if you want America's help then there has to be some benefit to the American taxpayer... if you want to fuck around and find out with OPEC and your pilot students shooting up an American Military Base... then enjoy fighting your wars with Iran on your own.... I full-heartedly believe that the American Tax Payer should see a return on investment for their taxes but President Trump seems to only actually give a shit about his own personal gain. Let's not be naive, his son-in-law totally got paid off by Mohammed bin Salman. He 100% had the support of the Putin regime. He gave himself and his buddies tax breaks that he did not afford the 99%. He said a lot of crazy shit. This guy is nuts and doesn't give two shits about the 99%. He will gladly give you a MAGA hat for your donation but when it comes to actual policy, he has shown that he will take your money, put some in his own pocket, some in the pockets of his friends, and then give you just a little bit back so that you feel like you got the good end of the deal.....The average American made much less than the 1%... he gave you some back in covid relief to make you forget that you were getting royally fucked.
I am not running for president but if I was this would be my platform... in other words, this would be the platform that I wish we could vote for!

• National policies
  • Politicians are public servants - Elected officials are elected to serve the American public, not themselves. Stop being greedy!
    • If you hold a political office, you are allowed to only buy the total US stock market index. -This would force politicians to be financially vested in the US economy and prevent them from insider trading with specific companies.... if you want to serve in public office you need to sacrifice some autonomy. No one should use political office to benefit themselves personally. You were elected to enrich the lives of your constituent, not your own personal net worth.
    • Term Limits - Congress and Senate should not be allowed to serve more than 10 years.
    • Lobbyists - Lobbyists serve a purpose or so am I told but they should not be allowed to contribute any money at all to any political agenda.... period. Nothing. They can voice their opinions like any other voter but that is it.
    • There should be a public fund to pay for political campaigns. That fund should be standard for each candidate. They all get the same amount. I am not certain what the right move here is but it is not currently an equal playing field. Someone from the lowest rungs of the socioeconomic ladder against someone from the top run should have the same chance. The candidate with the policies that best represent the people they stand for should win.
  • Abortion
    • This is a state issue. Allow states to vote on their own policy..... if California wants to allow abortion then let them. If Georgia wants to ban abortion then let them... If you live in a state that does not share your personal beliefs on this then you are welcome to move and become a resident of another state that does share those same principles. There is no reason why every state needs to be the same. Some can be conservative, others can be liberal. Use your vote to voice your opinion in your individual state elections. This should not be a federal decision.
  • Taxes
    • Taxes should be fair - There is no logical reason why Warren Buffet or the rest of the 1% should pay less than 99%. - Close the tax loopholes that allow the wealthy to pay less taxes than the average American. A consumption tax is the most practical policy here although it does unfairly tax lower income until you begin to factor in luxury taxes. I am cognizant that there is not an easy solution to this issue but that does not mean it is impossible. Cap taxes for basic necessities like food, utilities, housing (Under $1M for 1st house), and vehicle (under $100k) at 0%. Elevate taxes for luxury items (houses over $1M, second homes, Vehicles over 100K, personal jets, restaurants, etc) to 25%, and everything else at a flat 10% sales tax. Adjust income taxes to reflect average incomes and tax the lowest 50% at 0-15%, tax the top 25% of income at 15-20%, and tax the top 25% at 20-25%. Capital gains tax remains the same as that is an equal playing field... you hold the stock for 365 days or more and only pay 15%....This may or may not be the best tax policy but at least it is considerate of those who need the tax relief most. The more you spend on nonessentials the more taxes you pay. I am definitely open to some conversation/deviation here but this is a hell of a lot more fair than what we currently have and a consumption tax also generates some tax income for travelers and illegal migrants who currently do not pay any taxes but often receive free or reduced healthcare over tax-paying Americans (looking at you California).
  • Immigration
    • This is a core tenant of our nation. We need an immigration policy that protects our citizens but also allows others to come to this country to contribute to our success. There is a tough balance here to navigate but not impossible. Let's fund the applicable departments and ensure they have highly qualified agents to sort those who would add value to our nation and those who would cause problems. We have the most robust intelligence apparatus in the world. I am sure that if we focus our attention on external threats instead of internal threats we could figure out who to recruit to our team and who to pass on, all while making our country more productive and safe.
  • Education
    • This is a big one... Our children are our future... and we are failing them! Parents get 4 years with their kids before they head off to start school. That is the last time that we get 100% of their attention before they start receiving input from other adults and peers. We are doing them a disservice by not recruiting the best and brightest to mold them into tomorrow's workforce. Teaching is like every other career field. If we paid teachers the same as we paid CEOs, athletes, celebrities, etc. We would get more applicants than we would know what to do with. We could then choose the best and brightest to spend 8 hours a day teaching our children to invent the next best thing.... Obviously, we cannot as a nation afford to pay every teacher $25M a year but you get the point. Let's make a starting salary for a teacher $100k and choose the best applicants to teach our children. Teachers should be the best of society and should be regarded as such.....
    • Now let's talk about college. A college degree is overrated as fuck currently. A bachelor's degree from a state school should not cost you more than what you make for the first 5 years of working. There needs to be a cap on what colleges can charge. It's great that we are looking into student loan repayment and I absolutely think that we need to help even the scales there but first, we need to stop the bleeding. A college degree from a state school receiving federal funding should not cost a student more than $50k for a 4-year degree. If you want to go to a private school then you are all on your own but let's give everyone an option to go to school for a reasonable price. We should not have to spend our lives repaying a loan for education. This is only going to discourage young men and women from attending these storied institutions. It is criminal what these schools are charging.
  • Healthcare
    • First, let me start out by saying fuck all of these people at the top. I am looking at the corporate fat cats, the insurance companies, the Sacklers. Healthcare is out of control even worse than education. We need to put limits on what they can charge, limits on what medications cost, and very strong quality assurance in the FDA to make sure that these drug companies are not poisoning us. Healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. We all deserve quality healthcare. Make it happen POTUS.
  • Equal Opportunity
    • Everyone deserves equality of opportunity... not equality of result. We all deserve the ability to succeed but success should not be given just because of our race/gendeethnicity/sexual orientation/economic resources. I personally do not care what color you are, what gender you are, or what you like to do with your free time. I only care about what you contribute. Black, Brown, White, or any other color of the rainbow, gay, straight, or anything in between, none of it matters. All that does actually matter is results and we should all have the same opportunity to succeed regardless of the details because, at the end of the day, we are all people striving for a "more perfect union"!
  • Defense
    • Completely UNSATISFACTORY that the Pentagon cannot pass an audit. We talk about our defense spending like it's a badge of honor but there is no mention of the efficiency of our tax dollars. If we give the DOD $2T then we should know what our return on investment is! The budget should not increase for defense spending until the DOD can pass an audit. This is Ludacris! I see fraud, waste, and abuse daily but there is nothing that can be done about it. We do not need to spend millions of dollars on a base right next to another base because they are "historic." We do not neet do complete training exercises spending thousands of dollars per hour just to say that we have done the thing that we will never actually do in war. There is absolutely no reason we need to pay millions of dollars for program overruns just because have already contributed so much to that project. We need to hold the DOD and the defense contractors accountable and to be honest we need to account for every penny that is spent.... With that said, Veterans have sacrificed a lot and we owe it to them as a country to compensate them and ensure that they are taken care off after they have sacrificed their future for the good of the republic. Many of our veterans will live much shorter lives than their civilian counterparts due to their service and the least we can do is ensure that their sacrifice is noticed and compensated for. How much is a year of your life worth? Ask yourself that next time you think veterans shouldn't receive healthcare or disability after their service is complete.
    • Conscription..... this one is going to be controversial so buckle up.... I think every VOTING American should be required to contribute to the nation as a whole. This does not necessarily mean military service although this is inside of my "defense" bullet. But think about it for just a moment. If you first two years out of high school you were required to contribute to the public good, either through military service or through social service. You could be a bus driver, firefighter, work for public parks, or for your county. There are infinite ways to serve your local community. You serve your community, draw a reasonable paycheck, learn a skill, and earn the right to vote. You are giving back to the society that you are a member of and getting a skill and a couple of years to mature before being sent off into the world on your own. We could tie education benefits to this in a similar fashion to the way the military does. If you give two years to public service then you get two years of state college paid for....If you decide that you absolutely do not want to contribute to your nation then that is fine, we will not arrest you or revoke your citizenship, you just will not be afforded the opportunity to have an opinion on policy as you have no skin in the game. You don't get to vote until you contribute.
• Foreign policy
  • Russia - They are bullies.... We have been the world police since the end of WW2 and this needs to change. Every country needs to take some ownership of its own sovereignty, however, like the comics say "With great power, comes great responsibility." We, as the dominant world power, have an obligation to balance the scales. Russia needs to stop picking on the weak and if the weak cannot defend themselves then it is our obligation to assist them but that does not mean that we need to fight the battle for them. Ukraine has done a great job of standing up for itself but the rest of Europe needs to continue to provide support in this war if they care about the outcome. End of the day, Russia is a dying country and we only really need to wait them out. We should not buy their exports, we should not sell them our exports, and we should make it very clear that we will evaluate our relationship with any country that does not feel the same way we do.
  • China - They WERE a rising power. China is doing its best to continue to the illusion that they are rising to the top but at the end of the day they do not have the internal infrastructure or resources to become the dominant world power. They would like the world to view them as pacifists but in reality, they are antagonists. Their actions within the "9-dash line" make it very clear what they want. They want security. Once they have that security then they want influence. But they cannot possibly hold that security or influence for very long if they continue to be opposed in their values to the USA and our allies. USA, Japan, and Australia alone pose a significant challenge to China's power for as long as we remain united. That does not even factor in the other allies that the US has in the region like the Philippines, or India who both pose significant defense challenges to CCP. Our policy towards China should be "Play nice or you don't get to play at all." This policy will be painful for us as we may have to pay more for some of our consumer goods but it will be even more painful for them if they do not play along. We hold all the cards for as long as we are willing to sacrifice just a little. The POTUS should just be honest with us and we will as a nation, will understand. "We will have to pay more for some things but in the long run the world will be better off because we held strong to our ideals and the world will be a more fair place."
  • Ukraine - Happy to send them aid but that aid should have an audit. Let's make sure that the money and equipment we are sending them is going to the place we intend for it to be sent. Seems pretty reasonable to me.
  • NATO - NATO is necessary until the remnants of the USSR are completely destroyed... but the other members of NATO need to hold up their end of the bargain and POTUS needs to hold Europe's feet to the fire until they pony up what they agreed to. End of the day the USA's sovereignty does not need NATO to exist to remain whole. We have all the resources we need and are well-defended. There is no need for us to defend them for the sake of trade anymore. NATO needs us more than we need them so if they would like to continue to receive the benefits of our alliance then they need to make it worth our while and it's POTUS's job to ensure that happens.

There are a lot of other policies that we can go through here and no POTUS is going to have all the answers (that's why he or she needs a strong cabinet). I hope that there is some discussion started here... but at the end of the day.... the two candidates that we are likely looking at are both unfit. We deserve some quality candidates and not the old crazy reality TV star and the Old washed-up politician with a terrible VP. Give me someone reasonable to vote for, please!