If you are curious or Catholic, you can go here everyday and pray the Rosary with others online at the same time. https://www.comepraytherosary.org/
Here's a history [ https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13184b.htm ]of using strings of knots or beads as an aid to meditation and prayer in both Apostolic Rites - Roman and Eastern Orthodox. I like this: "Our everyday name of beads for it is simply the Old Saxon word bede (a prayer)"
Classically, the Rosary is a certain form of praying where we recall successively in the mystery of the Incarnation and our Redemption. The prayers are all Scripturally based and appealing to Mary to pray for us is, too. (See the wedding at Cana).
NOW - you don't have to pray the classic prayers. I often pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet, essentially:
On a large beads:

Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
On the ten smaller beads For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

There are opening and closing prayers and such. Catholics often add between the sets of 10 beads,

"Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of Your mercy."

Or the Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel at the end:

"Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen."

Here are the Mysteries. Originally, the Rosary was popularized by those who could not read, afford Bibles if they could, or get to a church more than once or twice a year to remember and worship Jesus Christ every single day.
​

Joyful Mystery of the Rosary Monday & Saturday

The Annunciation of the Lord to Mary
(Mary is chosen to be the mother of Jesus.)
The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth
Elizabeth recognizes Mary as the mother of our Lord.
The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ
Jesus is born and laid in a manger.
The Presentation of our Lord
Jesus is presented in the Temple of Jerusalem.
Finding Jesus in the Temple at age 12
Jesus is found discussing God's laws in the temple.
​

Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary Tuesday & Friday

The Agony of Jesus in the Garden
Jesus prays when confronted with the sins of the world.
The Scourging at the Pillar
Jesus is whipped before His execution.
Jesus is Crowned with Thorns
Jesus is mocked with a painful crown of thorns.
Jesus Carried the Cross
Jesus carries the weight of our sins to His crucifixion.
The Crucifixion of our Lord
Jesus Christ dies to save all mankind.
​

Glorious Mystery of the Rosary Wednesday & Sunday

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Jesus rises triumphant over death.
The Ascension of Jesus to Heaven
As Jesus ascends, He gives us a special task.
The Descent of the Holy Ghost
At Pentecost the Church is born.
The Assumption of Mary into Heaven
The Virgin Mary is gloriously assumed into heaven.
Mary is Crowned as Queen of Heaven and Earth
Mary is honored above all creatures.
​

Luminous Mystery of the Rosary Thursday

The Baptism in the Jordan
God proclaims Jesus is His Son.
The Wedding at Cana
Jesus performs a surprising miracle at a wedding.
The Proclamation of the Kingdom
Jesus calls us to do something important.
The Transfiguration
Jesus is gloriously transformed.
The Institution of the Eucharist
Jesus shares His Body and Blood for our salvation.
------------
Now the Big One!!! What we pray to Mary on the smaller beads:
Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our deaths.
Anyone can pray the Rosary. Add your own prayers. The point is, you devote a certain time every day to devotion to God and Jesus Christ. You think of Him and your relationship to Him and His love and sacrifice for you every day.
Lastly: the Orthodox use prayer knotted ropes differently and I hope one of the Orthodox will post a thread about that and the prayers they say. I would very much like to have a prayer rope. I don't think Jesus would mind.

I am a Roman Catholic who is exploring the faith to encounter Christ. I discovered the Easter rite of the church and I will be attending Vespers this Saturday. What is the protocol for entering a church, what should I expect? What is the structure/order of Vespers? Are there responses that I should know? I would love to hear any tips and advice you guys would have for me. Sorry if these questions come on this sub a lot, I couldn't find any duplicates. Thank you and God bless.

Holy Cow , IDK if I'll ever be able to shake the image of Mykelti spread eagle turning towards Christine hollering "Mommy!". Wow. Lord bless her for sharing so much.

I'm on my PS5 looking at the auto download screen where you can select the content to download.
So, they say expected auto download date: 5/31/2023.
There's:
Street Fighter 6 (image missing for anyone else?)
Street Fighter 6 fighting ground
Street Fighter 6 World tour
So..."Street Fighter 6 releases worldwide June 2" is on the description of the game page. How nice would it be if we get blessed with a technicality and fighting ground and/or world tour is up on the 31st or the 1st? It IS separate from "Street Fighter 6" in the menu... I know someone's gonna say it's just like that so we can select what to download but in my copium huffing mind this would still stand regardless, okay?
...Yeah, I'm an addict. Anyone else? I'm allergic to grass.

Hi everyone! I'm Ron Bautista, County Commissioner candidate for the Democratic Primary on June 6. The way I’m running for office is by going directly to the neighbors, without selling out to political bosses, so that we can focus on the needs of everyday people. I would love to hear from you on the issues you're passionate about and answer any questions you may have about this upcoming election.
Why should you care?

• At one point or another, you may have thought these roads are unsafe: 14th Street and the intersection by Trader Joe's, 15th Street, Willow Ave, Clinton St, Park Ave, Paterson Ave, or Paterson Plank Road. Because they connect us to other cities, they are managed by the county government.
• We should have a county government that is more active in tenant legal representation for excessive rent hikes, and a holistic approach to addressing homelessness. So far, the county is only doing the bare minimum.

What is a County Commissioner?
If you don't know, you're not alone (and that's part of the problem). Hudson County Commissioners are legislators that decide on projects and approve a $634 million annual budget at the county level of government. The representatives are split into districts, and Hoboken voters are part of District 5.
Who can vote?

• If you're a registered Democrat, you can vote in the primary. If you're a registered voter but not with a particular political party, you can ask for a Democratic ballot at the polling location and vote. Just FYI, everyone on the Democratic ballot is a Democrat, just that column A candidates don't answer to a political boss :)
• You can vote early (June 2 to June 4) at Hoboken City Hall lobby: Friday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. Sunday, 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
• For June 6, you can find out where to vote here.

Hello everyone, I posted 3 of these over on Saturday, and the Wookie Attack is being carried over from my first post. Everything else is newly added!
Payment through Paypal 'Goods and Services', users must comment first in this thread before PMing.
Shipping is estimated based on your location which I will ask about in PMs. Shipping labels will only be printed once I receive payment. Tracking number provided at that time too.
Images can be found here:
PART 1: https://imgur.com/a/Zvv42Ef
PART 2: https://imgur.com/a/dd5yW79
What I have PART 1:
Bionicle 8943 Axalara T9 (2008) – Used, 100% Complete, with all 3 Instruction booklets (starting to fall apart but still good to use). The box is NOT included. The set has been disassembled into one bag; rubber bands bagged separately. PRICE: $110 + SHIPPING
Ideas 21313 Ship In A Bottle (2018) – Used, 100% Complete, with instructions and Box. Some golden pieces may be off-color due to age (darker). The set has been disassembled by color where the translucent clear parts, translucent blue studs, and printed pieces get their own bag.PRICE: $70 + SHIPPING
Star Wars 7258 Wookiee Attack (2005) - Used, 100% Complete, with instructions (cover starting to fall off), and Box (minor shelfware). Minifigures, and printed dish pieces, and the track pieces have been individually bagged. PRICE: $100 + SHIPPING
Star Wars 75227 Darth Vader Bust (2019) – Used, 100% Complete, with Instructions and box (taped on one side). The set has been disassembled into two bags, one with all of the black pieces, another with all of the other colors. Parts in great condition. PRICE: $75 + SHIPPING
What I have PART 2
Indiana Jones 7627 Temple of the Crystal Skull (2008) - Used, missing (6X) Dark Bluish Gray 30137, and Minifigures Indiana Jones (with accessories), Mutt Williams, Irina Spalko, and Russian Guard 1 - Everything else is included, build is 100% complete with stickers applied, includes both instructions and original sticker sheet. PRICE: $90 + SHIPPING
*Star Wars 6207 A-Wing (2006) – Used, 100% Complete with minifigures, some parts may have minor scratches, Stickers have been applied to parts that have them (starting to fade and or peel) with instructions. PRICE: $20 + SHIPPING
*Star Wars 9497 Republic Striker-Class Starfighter (2012) - Used, missing (1X) Dark Red 30356, Includes everything else, minifigures in great condition, includes Instructions. PRICE: $50 + SHIPPING
*Star Wars 75007 Republic Assault Ship & Planet Coruscant (2013) - Used, Missing Clone Trooper Minifigure, Planet and build only, No Instructions. PRICE: $8 + SHIPPING
*Star Wars 75148 Encounter on Jakku (2016) – Used, 100% Complete, Minifigures in great condition, with Instructions. PRICE: $40 + SHIPPING
*Star Wars 75209 Han Solo's Landspeeder (2018) - Used, Missing Minifigures and Corellian Hound Piece, includes vehicle build and Instructions only. PRICE: $20 + SHIPPING
*Star Wars 75246 Death Star Cannon (2019) - Used, missing minifigures & their accessories, build and Instructions only. PRICE: $12 + SHIPPING
*Star Wars 75299 Trouble On Tatooine (2021) - Used, missing minifigures & their accessories, build and Instructions only. PRICE: $10 + SHIPPING
*Star Wars 75315 Imperial Light Cruiser (2021) – Used, missing minifigures & their accessories, build and Instructions only. Set has been disassembled into two bags, one with the grey parts and one with all of the other colored pieces. Stickered pieces have also been bagged separately.PRICE: $100 + SHIPPING
*Star Wars 75325 The Mandalorian's N-1 Starfighter (2022) - Used, missing minifigures & their accessories, build and Instructions only. PRICE: $25 + SHIPPING
*Star Wars 75334 Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Vader (2022) - Used, missing minifigures & their accessories, build and Instructions only. PRICE: $30 + SHIPPING
Special offer: Buy all TEN (10) sets with the * symbol before the name for just $250 ($65 off when bundled) - This offer only lasts while all the sets are available.
Please view pictures in the LINKS above, thank-you for your time :)

so,
me and my friends, Sad and Creeper have been working on Find the Buttons. I believe world 1 should be finished today and if we keep up this i should be able to get a trailer by Thursday and a release by Saturday, oh also here's a image of the progress on the lobby so far!
​
yes, I did make the trees and bushes. if you do see any good models its made by me (Ashypaul9)
I will make another progress report tomorrow maybe, but for now that's all. Cya for now!

Hello Everyone,
Please bear with me as I lay out some background about me to give further clarity about my concern. The main thing I'm struggling with is lustful thoughts and images invading my mind - very vividly and almost out of my control, and with that comes bodily arousal. I do my best to extinguish these thoughts however.
I used to be heavily sexually promiscuous. It's gone as far as me entering into prostitution - as a client as well as a worker. On top of that I've gone through periods of time that involve consuming heavy drugs combined with the consumption of pornographic material for hours and hours. A lot of information, I know!
Ok. So now I'm a year removed from that lifestyle and I've been heavily working on repentance and staying close to Christ through prayer, the Church, and the Sacraments. A lot of progress! But at least once a day, I get that aforementioned bombardment of images into my head. I believe that because of the damage that I've done to myself through that sin, it's deeply ingrained in my psychology. That leads me to believe that I'm not fully culpable when it happens, although the imagery drags out and does lead to an arousal of the body. However in my estimation, it's a venial sin - because I don't will it and it's so volatile.
With that being said; I'm worried because I've been receiving communion - today when I went to confession, I told my confessor that I've been having these thoughts although I didn't tell him my background about the matter like I've mentioned on here, and specifically for that sin he asked me how many times I've had those thoughts. I tell him the amount of times, and then confession is done; I go on my way to the pew and prepare for mass. However my scrupulosity starts to kick in because.... he viewed that as a mortal sin hence why he asked me the amount of times I've had those lustful thoughts. Now, there's a battle going on my head during mass because on the one hand, I'm not fully culpable therefore they were only venial and I've been ok to receiving communion --- and on the other hand, how can I trust that I'm not culpable and what if I've been lying to myself, I've been receiving sacrilegiously this whole time, etc., and I need to go back and confess that.
I want to know what thoughts or advice I can receive on this matter, it would be much appreciated. God bless!!!!

First Previous
Chapter 14: A Pleasant Game of Skirmish
Due to the distance between Earth and Cradle, multiple jumps were required. As such, major worlds in between the two points were designated and added to the jump list. While it extended the time it would take to get there, it would be worth it to gather more information on humanity. When jumping into a system, the Into the Black would do a detailed scan on every major planet, circling them if need be. Each system would take hours to record, but the new potential discoveries more than made up for it.
Meanwhile, life on the ship continued. Vigil in particular found himself wandering the upper decks, as Glevar had forbidden him from “escorting” Irudo while he was at work. Hesitant at first, Vigil left, believing he was in capable hands. Now, with no purpose, he was left to his own devices.
Thoughts of the garden kept popping up in his mind. Wishing to sate his curiosity, he gradually made his way over to it. Passing through the checkpoint, he was greeted with a wall of greenery. Small paths meandered through the small forest, while larger paths ringed the exterior.
Picking one of the smaller paths at random, Vigil walked down it, surrounded by life and serenity. The vegetation was both alien and yet familiar at the same time. Large trees with rough brown bark stretched upwards, topped by green leaves. Some were not completely the same as Earth vegetation, however.
Some of the tree trunks had a much darker, reddish hue, and wicked looking spikes lining them. While others had red or even purple leaves. Those with spikes had signs with foreign words set in the ground beside them, adorned by artwork depicting a mouth eating the tree with a large X. Going by this, Vigil assumed they were not edible. Why anyone wanted to eat the trees, he could not fathom. Apparently, though, the signs did not pertain to the wildlife transplanted onto the ship. A small creature with eyes nearly as large as its head, a jet black body covered in fur, and a long bushy tail, sat munching on the leaves of the tree. All the while staring at Vigil, curious as to who was intruding on its lunch.
Another oddity was the “grass”, if one could call it that. The plant in question blanketed the forest floor. It was bluish green with razor thin blades, more filament than proper leaf. Though it was extremely thin, it grew so dense that fallen debris, such as leaves and twigs, seemed to float above it.
Possibly deadly tree’s and strange grass aside… it was… enjoyable. It was nice to be so far away from war, yet confusing at the same time. He had no purpose here, no reason. Was it truly fine for him to stop? To lie down his sword, so to speak?
A beautiful flower off the path caught his eye. It had yet to unfurl its white petals for the day. Wanting to observe the flower in greater detail, Vigil stepped off the path and walked over. He kneeled down before it, taking in every aspect of its design. He reached out and stroked a petal. He did so agonizingly slow and gentle, yet even that was not enough to prevent harm to the frail life before him.
His finger ripped away one of the pure white petals, revealing a crimson red interior. Liquid, whether nectar or something else, leaked from the injury. It too was red, blood red. Surprised, he stood quickly. He did not want to harm the small flower further. Turning away, he paused. He saw his tracks, deep and obtrusive to the natural scenery. Wherever he walked, he had brought death to the surrounding life. Crushing the small filament like vegetation that covered the ground, killing it with each step.
He was reminded then, what his purpose was. He was a weapon, nothing more, nothing less. His purpose was to stand ready, so when the Nemesis came, these new people could wield him. Until he met his end, his purpose was to fight and kill. Forgetting this only brought harm to the world around him, and those existing peacefully within it. He walked back to the path, retracing his steps so to no bring further harm to those undeserving of it. He went back down the path to where he had come and left the garden and all the life within. Lest he bring death to them as well.
-
Elsewhere on the ship, Hran was forbidden from strenuous activity, being injured as he was. Which meant that he was practically useless in the engineering department. Thus, he was given a few of the data banks to work on.
He normally wasn’t able to pick up anything heavy as is, but now he wasn’t even allowed to so much as think of lifting anything that weighed more than him. Since he usually tinkered on things, he had created a sort of nest in the back of the large engineering bay. So, secluded in his little hideaway, he rummaged around in the data banks. Hoping for something useful.
While technically every scrap of information was crucial, he was finding fairly basic things. Knowledge that even the average denizen of the GU knew. Skipping this data bank, he moved on to another, and struck gold. Well, gold to him anyway. The importance of his finding would be graded by his superiors at a later date.
When he had opened the data bank, he had found hundreds of thousands of hours of footage. Not like communicator footage someone would record when something exciting happened, but of combat footage! Combat footage with the Nemesis! If they wanted to learn about the Nemesis and their tactics, this was the best way, aside from Vigil.
Opening the first file, Hran was immediately met with the sounds of gunfire and explosions. He quickly turned down the volume, afraid someone had heard. When no one came snooping, he relaxed and resumed the video.
The gunfire resumed, and a human male barked out some strange words and the wearer of the camera looked to the side. Hran’s eyes widened. He saw only men, dozens of battle-hardened and experienced soldiers. They were in some kind of natural depression in the dirt. Lines of men were running hunched over, keeping their heads low. All around them was dust and smoke, obscuring their view of the battlefield, but they fought regardless. Peeking from above the clouds of dust, were burned and blasted out buildings.
Then, suddenly, a man in armor ravaged by battle pointed behind the soldier with the camera and raised his weapon. The camera whipped around to see several terrifying four armed creatures dashing out of the smoke. Though the human men were already taller than him by several centias, the Nemesis towered over them. They did not hesitate though. They did not run or shirk their duty; they met the charging aliens head on.
Soldiers before the cameraman fired and were cut down by both blade and gun. The Nemesis seemed to favor holding a firearm in their upper two arms and blades in their lower two. Given the close proximity, Hran could see the advantage.
But the humans did not back away, they held their ground. Every bullet or bolt of energy caused the Nemesis to shine at the impact site. Hran ogled the works of engineering. They had personal energy shields! A man directly in front of the cameraman ducked under the blades of one attacker, and shoved the barrel of his weapon into the Nemesis’ side, and pulled the trigger. Circumventing the shield.
The Nemesis roared in pain and outrage, and cut the man in half. Hran choked back vomit. The viscera and gore were not censored of course, giving him a front-row seat to the brutality of war.
The unknown soldier’s death would not be in vain. The cameraman and another soldier rushed the wounded alien and tackled it. The man with the helmet cam straddled the creature and pressed his weapon directly into the underside of the Nemesis’ four eyed helmet.
Hran looked away as brain matter and yellowish alien blood explode from the now dead Nemesis. He felt sick to his stomach watching the battle. This wasn’t some make believe fantasy, some fictional war movie. This was real footage from real people struggling to survive just one more day. Yet… he couldn’t stop watching.
The soldier was back up, and continued to fight, but his time did not last. Another Nemesis took the place of the first, and now it was the cameraman’s turn to be cut down. Hran watched as the world turned sideways, and crimson blood painted the soil. The soldier did not stir. And all the while, the Nemesis and human warriors continued to battle eachother, staining the sandy colored soil with their blood. The video ended soon after the soldier’s death.
Hran was stunned. He had never seen anyone die. And now he had just witnessed the death of dozens. He was lightheaded, and his stomach ached. He gulped down the bile which threatened to pour from his mouth. Humanity had given their lives in defense of an undeserving galaxy. It was because of them he and his people were alive today.
He would bear witness to their final moments and learn all he could. So that if the Nemesis came, they would be ready. Steeling himself, Hran clicked on the next file. Great cannons the size of skyscrapers fired, parting the clouds in waves. As the clouds split, an endless sea of ships were revealed descending from the skies. Hran prepared himself to witness even more death and carnage than before.
-
Kitern was fuming. She understood Tentzonta’s worries, because she herself was wary of Vigil when they first let him wander as he pleased. But after he had literally carried her to safety, that opinion had changed drastically. Vigil was a soldier, just like her. She had killed people in the line of duty, yet no one feared her. Well, maybe a little, but it wasn’t because she had spilled blood. More because of her charming personality.
To top it all off, her damn arm was aching from not being moved in so long. Some might say she was overreacting, but having her arm in a sling felt more like she was being caged, like she was being tied down. It was unnatural to have her body hindered like this.
Of course, it was for her own health. Klofaa had scanned her arm and made certain nothing was broken. The blow had simply dislocated her shoulder and pressed it against the main nerve in her arm, preventing her from being able to move it. Once her shoulder had been re-set, she was able to move it like normal. But that wasn’t enough for Klofaa. She wanted to make absolutely certain Kitern was in no danger, so forced this stupid sling on her.
The feeling in her chest, of being confined and restricted, kept increasing. It was irritating, to say the least. She wanted to blow off some steam, but there wasn’t much she could do with one hand. Kitern paused. She did like watching sports. She could try to start a game of bailok between the crew?
She shook her head and continued walking. No, that required too much work for her to only sit on the sidelines. Besides, most of the crew wouldn’t bother participating. She wondered if Vigil knew any sports? She was sure plenty of people would be interested in playing a human sport.
“Hmmm,” she hummed and scratched her jaw. She couldn’t imagine Vigil playing anything. Even if he did, he would have to play against other mega bipeds, otherwise, he would absolutely destroy the average biped like her. She laughed suddenly. ‘Imagine their faces when they realize the person who whooped their asses is a guy! They would never be able to live that down!’ she thought. The image of a bunch of whiney bailok players came to mind. They already fell over at the slightest touch. If Vigil ran into one of them, armor or not, he would pulverize them.
She stopped again, an idea coming to her. Forget sports like bailok, what about skirmish? It was a simple game, but a blast to play and watch. Easy to set up, too. All you needed was an energy rifle with a dampener on the end to lower its power and a sensor to ping whenever the laser hit. They had all the ingredients they just needed to put them together.
She knew Asteli would jump at the opportunity to play. The spunky Venanian absolutely loved the game. Gre’Namra would follow along with her, and she could always order Onsa and Dentala if they didn’t want to join. She could even play with one arm if she wanted, skirmish laser dampeners worked on nearly all energy weapons after all. The only hard part would be finding everyone.
Grinning, she got to work scouring the ship.
-
Vigil was peacefully watching the blackness of space, his mind set at ease by the void. Something that many found unsettling. The Into the Black was scanning another system, on its way to Cradle. He didn’t recognize it, which was a small blessing. He kept recalling the past and his purpose as of late. Looking at the dead husk of a world he and his brethren had spilled their blood over would do no good.
“FOUND HIM!” a familiar voice screamed, loud enough to scare some of the nearby crew. The observation deck had, well, observation windows to look out into space. In this case, Vigil was at the very end of the large main corridor which ran the length of the ship. As Deck One held numerous amenities for the crew, it was frequented by many. Thus, there were more than a few startled faces.
Vigil turned as Asteli came bounding up to him with Gre’Namra following close behind. “Hey big guy! Captain wants you!”
Vigil looked down at her, “I will report to the bridge immediately,” he replied.
“Not that captain. Commander Kitern,” Gre’Namra clarified, stepping in front of him.
Vigil tilted his head. “Understood. Where am I needed?”
“In the hangar bay! Come on, you’re going to love this!” Asteli practically sang, as she went behind him and attempted to push him along. Her efforts were futile. She simply walked in place, feet slipping on the deck plates. She grunted in excretion. “Come on!”
“Affirmative. I will report to commander Kitern at once.” He stepped forward, causing Asteli to lose her balance and almost fall. Gre’Namra reached out to help stabilize her, before they began following Vigil to the lift.
As soon as the lift doors opened, Asteli rushed out screaming, “I found him!” Before she and Gre’Namra ran into the locker room. Vigil marched orderly to the hanger bay, to find the rest of the marines idly standing around in their armor on the edge of a symmetrical field of crates and containors. Strange black devices decorated their armor. One side was flat to adhere to their armor, while the other had a slight bulge. They were stuck at intervals, correlating with vital areas.
Vigil walked up to Kitern. “Has there been an emergency?”
She shook her head. “If me being pissed as hell counts, then yes. Otherwise, no, there hasn’t been. We’re setting up for a game of skirmish. That’s what the sensors are for,” she said, pointing a claw at a device on Dentala’s helmet, nestled between her horns.
“What is skirmish?” Vigil asked.
“It’s a game you play to simulate a firefight. You put the sensors on your chest, back, head, arms, and legs.” She lifted a laser pistol with a bright blue block on the end of the barrel. “Then you put a dampener on an energy weapon of your choice and shoot eachother. The dampener lowers the power of the beam so that it can’t kill you, just trigger the sensors. It takes five shots to ‘kill’ someone, two if you shoot them in the head. Forgot how many you need if the species has more than one head, though.” She returned her sidearm to its holster and waved a hand dismissively. “Doesn’t matter. Point is, you want to play?”
He thought for a second. While labeled as a game, it would be an efficient tool to maintain combat readiness and test his new allies’ capabilities. They would need to be an efficient fighting force to have a chance against the Nemesis. “Affirmative,” he finally replied.
Kitern chuffed. “Good. Onsa, get this man a gun! Never thought I’d say those words.” She shrugged. “Oh well. If you need me, I’ll be with Shavan putting bets on the winners.”
“Hello down there!” the ship’s quartermaster said upon hearing her name. She waved down at them from a platform being held aloft by a crane which ran along the tracks embedded in the ceiling. She began lowering the platform via a linked data pad.
“Don’t tell the captain about that. It breaks several safety regulations,” Onsa said from the side, handing him a pack of sensors and an energy rifle with a dampener already attached. Vigil looked at them curiously and began putting them on various parts of his body. Meanwhile, Asteli and Gre’Namra returned, now fully armored, and grabbed two more rifles and packets of sensors.
Now high above the “battlefield”, Kitern announced. “If the contestants are ready, you may take your positions!” she said in a haughty voice. She leaned over and elbowed Shavan in the side. “Make sure you record this.”
Shavan chuffed and drawled, “Already ahead of ya.” Then linked her data pad to the hangar’s cameras, pointing them so they covered every inch of the field.
Asteli ran off to one side of the makeshift arena while Onsa and Dentala went to the other. Gre’Namra walked up to Vigil and said, “You’re on our team to help balance things out.” He nodded and followed the two privates to their designated starting point.
Kitern leaned over the hastily assembled railing of her platform, observing the playing field. It was a simple rectangle marked by lines of crates. Each side’s base was ringed by a wall of boxes and containers with gaps to get in and out. Cover was scattered periodically, with head height walls spread around the arena to break line of sight.
Seeing that everyone was at their bases, she called down, “If everyone is ready!” She paused, looking between the two opposing sides. “Begin the slaughter!” There was no bell, shot, or buzzer. Just a simple shout and the two sides were off.
All except for Vigil, who was still standing there while Asteli and Gre’Namra split and ran in opposite directions around a wall that defended the front of their base. Vigil looked back and forth between the two before randomly choosing to go to the right.
Turning the corner, he saw Gre’Namra hunkered behind cover. She was pressing a hand to the deck, concentrating on something. She looked back and saw him and made a hand motion, telling him to get down. Distracted by Gre’Namra, he did not see the two quick flashes from between a stack of crates, which spelled his doom.
The sensor on Vigil’s helmet flashed blue twice in quick succession, and all the sensors lit up. Indicating he was out.
“You’re dead Vigil, go sit on the side,” Kitern called down from her perch. Confused, Vigil did as ordered and observed the brief firefight. Gre’Namra, now revealed, had a small shootout with Onsa who had taken out Vigil. Gre’Namra returned fire, attempting to suppress Onsa.
When Onsa stopped shooting, Gre’Namra attempted to pull back get behind taller cover. The moment she left her stack of boxes, Onsa resumed firing and tagged her back three times. Though she was hit, she was not out. Cursing and slapping her tail on the deck in agitation, she elected to pull back and meet up with Asteli on the opposite side of the battlefield from her, rather than continue fighting Onsa. Gre’Namra fired blindly over cover, causing Onsa to duck down and give her a chance to escape.
Meanwhile, Asteli had pushed far forward, quickly being pinned down by Dentala. Already hit twice, she was reluctant to return fire. Until Gre’Namra appeared, she kneeled and leaned around cover, hitting Dentala and forcing her back. Now relieved, Asteli advanced with Gre’Namra’s over watch.
However, in their haste, they failed to ensure their flank was secure. As out of nowhere, Asteli was gunned down by Onsa firing diagonally from across the field.
Asteli stomped her foot and cursed, before trudging over to the side. Gre’Namra, now alone, pulled back to her base. She wanted to use the tight confines to her advantage, forcing her enemies to come to her. However, Dentala had other plans for her. Using Asteli’s tactics, she pushed hard, going down the center of the field where Gre’Namra had no sightlines.
As Dentala was advancing, she lept over low cover, set in between two walls. Waiting on the other side of the walls, was Gre’Namra. Gre’Namra had stopped retreating, when she realized she would only be trapping herself. Guessing that her seniors would assume she was running with her tail between her legs, she decided to lay a trap of her own. Using her species’ advanced sensory organs to track Dentala, even without line of sight, and set up where she would least expect.
Dentala was mid jump, when Gre’Namra opened fire. She was ‘dead’, before she even landed. “Tsk. That was smart, too bad you’re dead,” Dentala said with a bitter undertone.
Gre’Namra scoffed. “What? Look who talking!” As soon as the words left her mouth, her sensors flashed and stayed lit, indication she was dead.
Someone tapped the barrel of an energy rifle on the back of her helmet. “Remember your opponents. Lioranians have excellent speed and agility. If you aren’t paying attention, we can run up on you before you have time to react,” Onsa bragged from behind her.
Gre’Namra thumped her tail on the ground. “I could have sensed you anyway if I wasn’t wearing this armor! It reduces my sight time too much!”
“True,” Onsa nodded. “But without that armor, you would have been dead already.”
Kitern suddenly began clapping a hand on a section of railing, drawing everyone’s attention. “You did good privates. Better than I had thought. Vigil, you did about what I expected for your first time,” she said, looking down at everyone. Asteli was busy punching Vigil in the arm, blaming him for their loss. Vigil barely even registered the blows, let alone was harmed by them.
“Everyone, go back to your bases and get ready for round two. I’m hoping to see some improvement,” she said merrily, enjoying the show.
Taking up the same position as last time, Kitern began counting down. Asteli punched Vigil’s arm again. “Use some of that ass kicking energy you showed us on that Nemesis ship this tim-”
Kitern had finished counting down. The moment she did, Vigil practically disappeared. Startling Asteli and Gre’Namra, even Kitern and Shavan were wide eyed when Vigil darted around the container walls, making up their base.
They grew even wider, and their jaws appeared to hit the floor as they watched Vigil dash across the battlefield. He was a blur, rushing over and around cover. Already nearing the enemy base. He jumped on top of a waist high stack of crates and used both of his powerful legs to jump straight up and over Dentala’s and Onsa’s front wall.
The two marines hadn’t even left the confines of their base, when the light was blocked out by Vigil sailing above them. In an instant, the sensors on their heads flashed twice, then remained on, signaling their demise.
Vigil landed on both feet and went into a squat to help transfer some of the energy from his impact. He cleared the entire base and ended up on the outside of the arena. The deck reverberated from the force of his body slamming into it and created a mini avalanche of poorly stacked boxes. As the various boxes and crates fell away, Onsa and Dentala were graced with a view of Vigil’s back, as he slowly rose to an upright position.
They stared at him, flabbergasted. “How?” Dentala whispered in disbelief.
Kitern watched, just as stunned. “Uhhh… the match is… over,” she said slowly.
“What?!” Asteli shouted from her side of the field. She stuck her head out from behind cover, making sure it wasn’t a trap, before approaching the other base. Seeing that Dentala and Onsa were really out, she walked up to them and chuckled. “Remember your opponents. Humans have excellent speed and agility,” she mimicked Onsa’s earlier statement mockingly.
Onsa scowled at her. She then rotated her rifle with one arm and shot Asteli. Asteli returned the gesture by blowing her species’ equivalent of a raspberry. “Alright, alright. Settle down children,” Kitern announced as her platform lowered. “Normally you would be tied one for one, but now that Vigil seems to be trying. I doubt you’ll be getting any more points.” She directed the tail end of her sentence to Onsa and Dentala.
Dentala protested and gestured to the large imposing man who was now gathered with the others. “We can take him. Now that we know what he can do, we can beat him.”
Kitern waved her off. “I love the enthusiasm, but we couldn’t take him when we had actual guns. And he was literally dying. You can’t take him on now. Not the two of you atleast.” She then did something not characteristic of her species. Kitern grinned, barring her teeth. To a Lioranian, showing one’s teeth was a declaration of war, that you wanted to fight, that blood would soon be spilled. They also did it subconsciously when faced with a foe or extreme challenge. And right now, Vigil was both.
Kitern reached over and took off her sling. She rolled her left arm, causing it to pop. “You aren’t supposed to move your arm!” Onsa nagged.
“Yeah, yeah. What the doc don’t know won’t hurt her.” She picked up a pack of sensors and began putting them on. The sensor for her head looked stupid sitting on top of her head, like a little hat. “I’m joining in now, kiddos.”
“Um, captain. You aren’t wearing armor,” Gre’Namra pointed out.
“And?” Kitern scoffed. “Unless you take that dampener off, I can be as naked as the day I was born and not get hurt. At most it’ll singe my fur.”
Asteli spoke up, a nervous undertone in her voice. “Even with Vigil, ma’am, we can’t beat you.”
“You two won’t, but Vigil could. So it’s a good thing you won’t be fighting me,” she replied cryptically. The other four marines looked at her confused. Seeing their reactions, she chuffed and laughed. “Watching you all go at it made me excited. And since we’re still O for one against big boy over there. I think it’s time we evened the score.”
“You mean…” Dentala said, catching on.
Kitern nodded. “Yep. It’s going to be a five versus one. We’re going to have a grudge match.”
All eyes turned to Vigil. He simply tilted his head, not sure why everyone was looking at him.
First Previous
Hello, I am back! For how long? I have no idea, but until I have to leave again, I'll be uploading as normal. Also, after this point, you may occasionally see stories called Orphan: Tales of the Past, where I give a bit more backstory or just write "bolter porn", (I hope I'm using that correctly) essentially just action packed wabattle scenes from the Human Nemesis war. To be honest, 99% of it is bolter porn. I have backstory chapters for several characters set up, but haven't actually written any yet.

Amid a galaxy of brutal chaos there are stories to be told, tales of valor and justice, of fear and despair. But amid these stories are the guttering flames of adventures untold, the potential for a universe of entertainment and savage joyous fun. The Oblivion Cycle embodies just this kind of crafted chaos, creating the potential for creative exploits and raucous tales. If you are new to the TOC setting feel free to join the community at TheOblivionCycle to check out some of the background lore or to discuss themes with other readers. I thank you all for your support and continued willingness to read, as always, Please Enjoy!
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Chapter 27
Max-imum Surprise
He stood atop a wooden platform in the branches of the highest tree in the jungle. His heart beating fast in his chest as he looked out into that endless blue expanse of sky above. He blinked, suddenly there was no jungle. In front and below him was only more of that same endless sky.
He should have been afraid, should have cowered from that endless void in terror, but he found that he felt none of these things. Instead he smiled and spread his arms wide. He felt free, freer than he could ever remember feeling before.
He looked down at his bare feet, the polished red wood of the platform solid beneath his toes. Taking a deep breath he began to run. The edge of the platform seemed to stretch away from him, the harder he ran the faster it seemed to pull away.
He yelled at it to stop, to wait for him. But it did not. Instead it expanded outwards from him at the speed of light, encompassing him in a giant sphere of darkness that then seemed to press in on all sides. He felt a terrible pressure on his chest and cried out for someone to save him.
Suddenly he stopped as a profound sense of love and warmth seemed to wrap around him. It wasn't the same crushing weight as before. Before the pressure had been malicious, cruel and painful. Now the pressure was soft and tender, he embraced the feeling with his mind and smiled again. He suddenly realized that he was floating once more in that endless blue sky. Or was he falling? It made little difference, he spread his arms experimentally and found he could fly.
He laughed in childlike wonder as he began to soar through the endless clouds, doing loops and tricks to his heart's content. He had thought himself free before. He had been a slave, shackled to the ground and forever denied the truth.
He growled in anger at the thought, twisting dark branches reaching out like fingers to ensnare him as his mood darkened once more. He flitted and dodged through them with an agility that surprised even himself.
Then suddenly in the distance he heard a wailing sound, almost like that of a storm siren, but deeper in tone and altogether more sinister. In the sky overhead a darkness formed, taking a strange and terrifying form that he was unable to describe. It was as if the tendrils of darkness continued on forever, though he could not see them he knew they were there. Burrowing through reality as a worm would an apple.
He frowned, intrigued by the spectacle and unafraid. It seemed familiar, like an old acquaintance many years forgotten. It struck him as neutral, not evil or good, but somewhere in the middle. A mix of the two. He shook like a leaf in a storm as a hot wind began to blow over him and the sky split open to reveal a burning orange eye the size of eternity. He felt fear now, a terrible bone wrenching fear that spoke of primordial terrors and cosmic threats beyond mortal comprehension. But still he remained, no longer flying as he stood upon a tower of dark basalt stone blocks.
He looked at the eye and it looked at him, it seemed to look deeper than his skin. It felt as if it were peeling back the layers of his flesh and looking to his very soul, the gestalt of his core.
He jerked as a voice seemed to echo through his mind “You are not the one.”
He shook his head in confusion and shouted up to the burning sky “I’m not what one? What do you mean?”
The eye didn't reply, instead began to close. Leon raised his fists and shouted to the sky “One what? Answer me! I need to know.”
Again the voice spoke in his mind, this time quieter and growing more faint by the second till it trailed off into silence. “It is not yet time, you are not the one.”
As the eye closed the sky went dark, so did everything else. He felt himself falling again, looking down he saw a bright light far below. Squinting he saw it looked like a hospital room. The scene grew closer and more defined as he approached it at rapid speed. He looked at the bed and gasped in surprise, for in the bed he saw himself. But not as he remembered himself, but pale and seemingly without life. To his side he saw Dr. Kimathi and Joice frantically messing with something next to the bed his body lay in. It was a defibrillator.
He watched in growing fascination as he fell towards himself at incredible speeds. Joice lifted his body’s shirt and applied the paddles while Dr. Kimathi shouted something. He didn't have a chance to hear it as he slammed into his body.
He grunted in pain and convulsed as his eyes shot open. Coughing violently he tried to sit up and found he could not. Laying back in bed a bit dazed he tried to remember what had just happened.
He stopped, his mind a whirl of impossible images and sensations, and over it all a voice like thunder echoed in his mind. “You are not the one.”
“I am not the one.” He muttered to himself.
“Leon, Leon can you hear me? What did you just say? Nevermind it's not important, Leon I need you to tell me if you can hear me.” A female voice said from close to his ear.
He looked around blearily, was he Leon? ‘I am.’ he decided to himself. With his newfound identity chosen he decided to move onto his next issue.
He tried to sit up but found he couldn't. Flailing around weakly he heard a voice shout for assistance and then felt multiple hands holding him still.
“He is seizing.” Someone said, his mind assigned the voice a name. Dr. Kimathi.
Another voice, this one male, spoke up saying “I think he’s okay now. He stopped struggling.” This time his mind said the name Taylor.
He blinked a few times, trying to clear his mind. What had happened? Why couldn't he remember anything? He thought hard, his face screwing up from the stress. He remembered mud and a loud noise. But that was it.
Dr. Kimathi stood next to him and shined a penlight into his eyes while saying “Pupil response is normal, no intracranial swelling then. Leon, Leon look at me.” she said sternly.
He looked at her, his vision focusing on the dark skinned woman’s eyes. She nodded and then put up a single finger. “I want you to follow my finger, okay Leon?”
He tried to speak but all that came out was a half strangled croak. She frowned but moved her finger. He did his best to keep locked onto it. Maybe if he did what she asked she would tell him what happened to him. She moved it a few more times, first slowly and then more rapidly. He followed along and she nodded before marking something on the small datapad she was holding.
He coughed as he tried again to speak and he heard Taylor say “I'll go get Natalia. She will want to know he’s awake.”
Dr. Kimathi raised a hand. Glancing at him she hissed quietly. “I don't know if that’s a good idea. He seems to be suffering from acute memory loss. I can’t explain it, no head injury, not cranial trauma of any kind. It’s like something reached in there and scrambled his brains around, resonance scans are all over the place. It's like there was some kind of interference.”
Leon frowned at her words, again the dim memory of a powerful voice echoed through the corner’s of his mind and the vague impression of a nebulous darkness crossed his mind. But he quickly suppressed it.
“Where am I?” he croaked.
Dr. Kimathi's head whipped towards him and she rushed to his side. “Leon, you are in the infirmary. What do you remember?”
Leon frowned again, hadn't she already asked him that? He couldn't remember. Instead of asking he said “I remember mud, lots of mud. And then, trees? That makes no sense, I'm sorry.” he apologised quickly. They would think he was insane if he kept talking. Then he would end up in the loony pen with Aden.
He sat bolt upright as things started rushing back into place. The planetary landing, the attack on Oliver, the strange dream he had experienced. It all came back in a rush that made his vision swim and his head pound. Clutching his head he groaned “I remember everything… Ough, why does it hurt so much?”
Taylor looked at Dr. Kimathi and asked “What about now?” to which the woman just nodded. Taylor rushed off, presumably to grab Natalia, Leon speculated.
Leon knew that he only had a few moments before everyone else came rushing back and so clutched at Dr. Kimathi’s arm.
“Wait, I have to tell you something.” He said urgently.
Dr. Kimathi looked around the room quickly before nodding and asking “Ok then Leon, what is it?”
He held the long sleeve of her white lab coat and began determinedly. He told her of his dream and the voice, of the eye and the darkness. After he had finished he released her arm and sat back with a wince. Only now did he notice his bare chest was wrapped, an ugly yellow and blue bruise peeking from beneath the bandage.
Dr. Kimathi shook her head slowly and said “You are starting to sound like Aden. Are you sure you are alright Leon? I have some antipsychotics I can prescribe if you…”
Leon cut her off with a right handed wave, his left arm hurting too much to move it about. “No, please, no more medication. I take enough of that shit to sink a battleship already. Some painkillers wouldn't be bad though, please?” He asked her.
She smiled slightly and handed him three small pills from her pocket and a bottle of water with a straw. “Careful on the water.” She warned him as he started to suck it down.
He coughed a few times as her warning did not come fast enough and some slipped down the wrong pipe, Dr. Kimathi leaned over to pat his back as he tried to expel the excess liquid. He was still coughing lightly as a familiar and very welcome face walked around the corner.
Natalia rushed to his side and hugged him as he was still trying to settle his lungs. The result was another coughing fit followed by her rapidly apologizing for hurting him.
Leon waved a hand weakly and said “No it’s fine Nat, I was just drinking water too fast. It is really good to see you.” he said softly.
She smiled sadly and nodded, a few tears welling in her eyes. “When you stopped breathing I thought…” She started to say but he shushed her and extended an arm.
Natalia sat by his side and leaned on his shoulder gently as he put his arm around her waist. “Don’t talk like that. I’m not going anywhere. I'm way too stubborn to do anything like that, much less the effect I know it would have on you.” he said, wiping a tear from her cheek.
Dr. Kimathi spoke “Well, I am glad to see you feeling better Leon. And she’s right, we nearly lost you there a few times.”
Leon nodded and pulled Natalia’s head down before planting a tender kiss on the top of her head. “I’m sorry Nat, I won’t let my pride get in the way of my common sense again.” He turned to Dr. Kimathi as she tapped on her datapad. “How is Oliver? Is he alright?”
She finally smiled, a small tight lipped thing. “Thanks for asking Leon, I was hoping you would. Oliver is going to be physically fine, he woke up from the antivenom treatment a few days ago.”
Leon jerked up before the pain in his side dragged him back down to the dismay of both women. “A few days!” he shouted.
Natalia pushed him back down gingerly while Dr. Kimathi shot him a pointed look. She lowered her datapad and explained “Yes, a few days. You were in a medically induced coma Leon, severe lack of oxygen almost killed you before we could get you out of your suit. You had a collapsed lung and multiple fractures, not to mention a partially dislocated collarbone. It was kind of touch and go for a while.” she finished with a gesture to his bandages.
Leon winced again and asked “What happened after I blacked out?”
Dr. Kimathi shook her head and said “A whole hell of a lot. Natalia can fill you in on the details, I need to go check on something. Don’t do anything stupid while I'm gone Leon, okay?” She told him. Leon just nodded and watched the stern woman exit the examination room.
Natalia answered his question “Well, you passed out on the way up to the ship. By the time they got you out of your environmental suit you were already in full respiratory arrest. Your heart was beating but your lungs were not working.” she said emotionally.
Leon hugged her close again and whispered to her softly “It’s okay now though. I’m better. Please, tell me what happened next?”
Natalia sucked in a shuddering breath and nodded jerkily. With a slight tremble in her voice she continued speaking “We had to rush you and Oliver to the infirmary. Blessing hooked you up to a portable respirator after applying the chest tube to help drain the built up fluid. But even then you were barely breathing, she said she had to drain the excess fluid from your lungs, something she couldn't do in the microgravity core. So we used one of the lift rigs and lowered you down the access shaft to the medical ring. By that point Oliver had been rendered unconscious as well and Blessing had enlisted both Taylor and Myung to help.” she paused for breath and Leon reached for the water bottle on his bedside.
She smiled at him as he handed it to her and she took a drink. Replacing it on the table he bade her to continue. The horrid fascination making it impossible for him to ignore the terrible events.
She took another deep breath before she spoke, this one steadier as she got further into the story. “Well, after some struggling we finally got you and Oliver into the intensive suite. While Blessing worked on synthesizing an antivenom from Max, Myung and Taylor monitored your condition. Did you know Taylor had medical training? Apparently he had been a volunteer responder before he moved into military signal analysis.”
She was about to continue when he waved his arms. “Wait a minute, hold on. Who the hell is Max? What did…” he stopped. He crossed his arms again and apologised as she gave him a disapproving look.
“I was getting to that, fasten up those horses buster.” She chastised him. Her annoyance was short lived however as she shook her head and continued. “Well, when you captured that creature on the planet's surface, you placed it into a bag. The bag seemed to have calmed the thing down because as they finally got to unpacking it the little thing was as timid as a mouse. I don’t know why, but it seemed to respond in a non-hostile manner to both the venom extraction and continued observation.” she said.
Leon shook his head in disbelief. “That still doesn't explain who Max is, wait. Don’t tell me.” he said as he saw her smile widely.
She nodded her head and said “Yeah, Oliver responded to the antivenom and woke up, madder than hell. He wanted to chop the little beast up till he saw it. He looked into its little puppy dog eyes and immediately forgave them. He named her Max and almost immediately tried to feed it.”
Leon again shook his head in disbelief. Only the crazy Australian could want to adopt something that had nearly killed him as a pet. “He named it Max? What, is it a dog now?” he asked her jokingly.
She just smiled harder and replied “She might as well be. The two are nearly inseparable now.” He shot her a surprised look and opened his mouth to comment but she cut him off. “Yes he keeps a close eye on her, and no Max hasn’t attacked anyone else. Not even tried. Oliver said that the only reason that she bit him was because he stepped on her. She was just lashing out in self defense, same as when you grabbed her. Once Max realized that we were not trying to kill her she seemed to mellow right out.”
Leon still couldn't hardly believe it. The same murderous creature that had nearly cost both his and Oliver's lives, was now the ship's mascot? He couldn't take it and chuckled “Okay, I see what’s going on here. Ha ha ha, very good. I will admit you had me going with that story, Max.” he said, another slightly wheezing laugh escaping him.
She just gave him that same serious stare from earlier. He opened his mouth and threw his arms out to the side. “Oh come on, you really expect me to believe that the same murder rope that I nearly died to grab is now everyone’s favorite little cuddle buddy?”
She shook her head and said in an exasperated tone “Well I never, have I ever been untruthful with you Leon?”
He cocked his head and raised a finger. “Well, if we are counting, then… There was that time with the bean patty you told me was a hamburger that had been preserved in the cold storage for the whole trip. Had me excited as a pig in shit for that one. Then there was that other time when you called me to the observation deck for an emergency but in reality it was just you wearing that skimpy little…” She cut him off by putting her hand over his mouth and looking around to see if anyone had overheard.
She hissed “Okay I get it. And you told me you wouldn't hold that over me.” she pouted.
He chuckled lightly and shook his head “I’m sorry, but this is just too incredible. Please, humor me and skip the Max related stuff for the moment. What happened after oliver woke up, not the thing.” he pleaded.
Natialia gave him an unreadable look but continued on saying “Ok, Oliver woke up. He was a bit weak from the venom but took it well. He and Blessing took some samples of… The creature.” she paused to gauge his reaction. Leon just blinked, waiting for her to proceed. “Well, they took some samples and found something remarkable. The lifeforms on the planet have a disturbingly similar chemical and molecular makeup to Earthly animals.”
“How similar?” he asked her, interrupting her train of thought. “Sorry, continue.” he muttered as she waved a hand in the air annoyedly.
She returned to her tale “Well, they did some tests and found that the lifeforms of the world, which we named Terrelia while you were out by the way sorry.” she shrugged as he frowned. “Well, Ma… The creature is able to not only digest Earth proteins, but seems able to metabolize them as well. It has red, iron based blood with a protein ominously similar to hemoglobin as its oxygen carrier. That’s why the venom worked on Oliver so fast, it was like he had been bitten by a cobra from back on Earth. Joice and Myung couldn't make heads or tales of it, but that's the truth. I guess life in the universe isn't so alien after all.” she said with a casual shrug.
Leon just sat back in his bed, the bruises on his chest and arm smarting despite the painkillers he had taken earlier. It all seemed rather baseless to him, though he couldn't in good faith call her a liar. She would never have made up something so fantastic and then claimed it was true that vehemently. No, it must be truth. The only other option was mass hysteria in which case he had a lot more to worry about than a pet alien snake.
He wrung his hands together and looked around the small room. The walls and ceiling were white, a few cabinets above clinical countertops and a single LED light fixture completed the display. He thought about what she had said. That alien life might not be so alien afterall.
He nodded and said “I think I want to get up.”
Natalia gave him a concerned look and placed a single hand on his bandaged chest. “I’m not sure that is a great idea yet Leon. You are still recovering.”
“Yes I am. But a little walking does the body good. How many days was I out?” He asked her as he gingerly sat up on the edge of the bed. He slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed towards the floor. He winced as his leg twinged and his side smarted, but it wasn't enough to deter him from his current course of action.
Natalia stood in front of him and bounced slightly in nervousness. “Oh man, Blessing isn’t going to like this.”
Leon waved a hand in a dismissive way and asked “And since when have I let her opinion on my health keep me down? How many days Nat?”
She looked him in the eyes and said “Four days. You were gone for four days Leon. Four days in which I was lost, almost completely.” She took a deep breath as the emotions she was suppressing threatened to tear their way free. “I can’t tell you how bad it felt seeing you like that Leon. I thought I had lost you.” She said in a wavering tone.
Leon stood shakily and embraced her. He ran a hand through her hair as she buried her face in his chest. “I do know. I have felt lost too, but I have you now. And nothing is going to make me let you go.”
She looked up at him and asked suddenly “Well, you are up. It's too late to turn back now. Want to go meet Max? She really is swe…”
Leon groaned and she stopped talking. He saw her frown slightly and caved “Okay. But don't get upset if the little bastard bites you or someone else.”
He saw her roll her eyes before she led him slowly and deliberately out of the room.
Leon walked slowly, not really hurting but more sore than he had felt in years. Every step was a chore but he continued on determinedly. It was better to be up and smarting than stagnating in bed.
As they walked down the corridor that led to the main hallway Leon asked her “Are we still in orbit of the planet?”
She shook her head. “No, Joice made the call while you were incapacitated. The planet was dangerous, there might be another incident if we had decided to make another surface run.”
Leon shrugged. That seemed like the best course of action he could think of too. The planet's surface was a swamp which made it impossible to see where one was truly stepping. Oliver wouldn't have stepped on the creature if he had known it was there. The entire stupid situation might have been avoided entirely.
“Yea, that sounds fair.” Was all he said in response though. He was curious about what she thought but didn't ask. He could tell by the way she frowned that she hadn't been a fan of the situation.
Letting it go he said “We need different protocols for this kind of situation. I think the crew should have more of a say in what happens from now on.” Leon mused out loud. Natalia just patted his shoulder silently.
The kept walking a little farther till they reached the medical labs portion of the ring. Leon slowed as he heard voices emanating from the rooms ahead. Turning a corner through a doorway he stopped.
In the room were three people, Oliver, Joice and Dr. Kimathi. Joice and Dr. Kimathi were sitting at a table looking at a computer and discussing its data. What really captured his attention however was Oliver sitting across from the two women. Or rather, the long creature wrapped around the man's neck and upper torso.
Leon cocked his head, it was indeed the same creature from the planet. He looked at it again and was a bit taken aback by its appearance.
While he had not had much chance to grasp its true form on the planet he still had gotten a decent look at it. It was indeed long and snake-like in appearance, its body tubelike and covered in thousands of tiny mosaic scales in a blueish green pattern, but that's where the similarities ended.
It’s head was long and almost had a canine look to it with pronounced jaw muscles and what looked like small horns. The body was long and had a small fin-like frill moving down its center similar to an eel. All along its sides it had much larger scale looking structures that seemed to be raised off its surface. As he tried to guess as to their function he noticed some of them move. Looking closer he realized they were rows of fins all along its sides, just tucked close to the body in the absence of water. That would explain how it was able to wriggle free from him on the planet.
Joice saw them and glanced at Dr. Kimathi, saying something. Dr. Kimathi looked at him sharply and demanded “Leon, why are you out of bed? Natalia, I told you to keep him in bed.”
Natalia hung her head sheepishly and said “It’s hard to make Leon do something he doesn't want to do.”
Leon glanced at her and then said “It was my fault, I didn't listen to her. I needed to move, to get active. I’m sorry Dr. Kimathi.”
Natalia squeezed his hand and he gave her a slight nod. Joiced motioned for them and said “Well as long as you are here, come take a look at these readings. Myung and I took some samples of Max’s blood and the results are both remarkable and confusing in equal measure.” The blond woman finished excitedly.
Leon nodded and made a pointed effort not to look at the thing Oliver was holding. He took the seat that Joice had just vacated and looked at the results she had posted to the computer. After a moment he asked “Well, what does it all mean?”
Joice shook her head and motioned at a few bits of randomly squirming data points. To him they looked like so much gibberish but Joice spoke animatedly while gesturing to the readouts “If you look here you can see a partially decoded splice of their DNA. That was the first thing that struck me as odd, I expected something similar to our DNA system to give the cells guidance, but not this similar. Look, four base pairs just like us, and whats more the base pairs are astonishingly similar as well. If i didn’t know any better I would be tempted to say that this creature evolved from a common ancestor to Earthly creatures.” she paused to let the bombshell sink in.
Leon just shook his head “What is so remarkable about that. Isnt there a word for this kind of thing. Convergent evolution right?”
Joice shook her head and pointed at Oliver’s new friend. “No, not like this. Convergent evolution is more about the form and function, not the composition. This is too close to be accidental, this is… This is wrong is what it is. Its not possible, and yet here I am telling you that its not only possible, but that its happened.”
She threw her arms up in the air while giving a small groan of frustration. Leon heard a quiet quacking noise and looked at Oliver. The man grinned and reached his hand towards the creature's powerful wedge shaped head. Leon tensed, ready for the thing to snap his fingers off or worse, but instead it met his hand for pets. Emitting a soft gurgling purr it stroked the man’s hand with its head lovingly and closed its eyes in what looked like pleasure to him.
“Aww, you are the cutest little terror in the whole galaxy aren't you Max.” he heard Oliver mutter. Looking around his mouth opened. Everyone else in the room was smiling, a look of endearment on their faces.
Leon was once more incredulous. What on Earth had he missed for the thing to go from being a murderous pest to being a beloved part of the ship's small crew.
Oliver saw him staring and smiled. “Oh hey Leon, you just woke up right?” Leon nodded a little unsure of the man’s point. Oliver continued “Well, then you haven't met Max, well, not politely at least. Here, want to hold her?” he asked, extending an inviting arm out towards Leon.
Leon shook his head “No, I don't think that's a good idea.”
Joice spoke up “Oh come’on Leon, the creature is perfectly safe. Its venom is no longer a hazard, Dr. Kimathi made more antivenom. She doesn't bite, well at least she hasn't yet.”
Leon was about to say no again when he felt another hard hand squeeze from Natalia. Looking at her she gave him an encouraging smile and said “Watch.” Before Leon could stop her she strode right up to Leon and reached out towards Max. He watched in silent dread as Natalia's hand approached that razor fang filled maw.
“Nat, wait!” he said, taking a step forward then stopped in his tracks. Max was nuzzling her just as they had Oliver, apparently completely at peace with its environment. ‘What the hell?’ he thought to himself.
Natalia scritched the alien under the chin and laughed happily as it lolled its tongue out in happiness while emitting that same gurgling purr. He frowned at the sight. It seemed that his fears might be unfounded after all.
Approaching cautiously he looked at Oliver and said “How should I do it, should I let it sniff me first?” He had no idea how people were supposed to handle snakes, well, alien serpents at least.
Oliver shrugged “If you like. She is pretty docile.”
Swallowing in nervousness he reached out his right hand towards the creature. Almost as soon as he started Max hissed angrily and flared all her fins in a threatening way, trying to puff up like an angry cat.
Leon snatched his hand back while taking a few steps in the opposite direction of the creature. Oliver jerked back in alarm as Natalia shouted. Max drew back into the protection of Oliver’s body and gave Leon the most acidic glare he had ever seen from an animal.
“Oliver. What the actual fuck was that? I thought you said that thing was safe.” He said loudly, stepping back even further.
The Australian stroked his charge calmly, whispering soothing words to her and then said more loudly “Well, she never did that before. She must remember you grabbing her on the planet.”
Leon shook his head “Remember what? It’s a fucking animal Oliver.”
Joice raised her hand at his comment and said “Yes she is, but an animal with the intelligence capability of a dog at the very minimum. Im suspecting she is much smarter than that though, maybe even as smart as a corvid. My preliminary scans show that her species' neural pathways are much larger than they have any right to be. It's as if she has a brain that runs the length of her spine.”
Leon just waved and said “Alright, maybe she holds a grudge then. I've seen stranger things on this trip than a vengeful snake.”
“She isnt a snake, Leon. I have decided to name her species Terrelian Swamp Gliders.” Oliver said in response to Leon’s comment.
Leon just shook his head silently, beyond words at the moment.
Natalia walked over to his side and said “I think we have taken a long enough walk, I will see you all in a bit. Bye Oliver.” she said as she began to guide him back into the hall.
“Why me…” Leon bemoaned quietly to himself.
Natalia must have heard his cry as she tutted and said “You are in charge of what is possibly the greatest experiment in all of human history Leon. It makes sense that things would not always go according to plan. Don't fret though, I will always be here for you.” she told him with a kiss to his grizzled cheek.
Leon looked at her as they reentered the room he had been in before. “I know I do. And I respect that you see the world differently than I do. That's one of the reasons I love you so much.”
She smiled and leaned in for a kiss. He sighed as she helped him back onto the bed. “Leon, I’m worried.” she said suddenly as she sat down by his side.
Looking up at the ceiling he asked her “What are you worried about?”
She paused and then shifted her position, laying down on top of the covers next to him she said “I’m worried about us, the ship. Everyone else. What’s going to happen if we get into trouble and can’t fix it like we have managed every time so far? We don't have anyone to help us, we would be totally alone.”
Leon shook his head and pulled her close, lifting the covers so she could scoot right to his side. Wrapping his arms around her he held her tight as he said “No, we won't. As long as we have each other we will never be alone.” he closed his eyes, the slow beat of her heart and rhythmic breathing bringing him a profound sense of peace and comfort. He felt himself drifting off into sleep, the pains and worries of the day floating up and away from his mind as he entered the realm of unconsciousness.
==End of Transmission==

God bless you all, I got a question,
So I'm using AncestryDNA.
So I'm creating a family genealogy tree.
So I uploaded a family photo to my ancestry to a particular family memebr; however, I deleted it because there were things I've noticed that was a little uncomfortable.
Uploaded it on October 2022 and it's now May 2023.
So I deleted it, but then, I used my Phone to search that family member and notice that the same image is in the "search records", and it's now in the "Public Member Photos and Scanned Documents." and now I'm a little panicked because I don't know how to remove it from the public search records.
But then I searched it using the PC search, but the photo is not there.
So is it fully deleted or there in the public? Because I deleted it from my family tree and the specifically the person in the tree. Please let me know, I'm kind of getting nervous.
God bless you all.

God bless you all, I got a question,
So I'm creating a family genealogy tree.
So I uploaded a family photo to my ancestry to a particular family memebr; however, I deleted it because there were things I've noticed that was a little uncomfortable.
Uploaded it on October 2022 to May 2023.
So I deleted it, but then, I used my Phone to search that family member and notice that the same image is in the "search records", and it's now in the "Public Member Photos and Scanned Documents." and now I'm a little panicked because I don't know how to remove it from the public search records.
But then I searched it using the PC search, but the photo is not there.
So is it fully deleted or there in the public? Because I deleted it from my family tree and the specifically the person in the tree. Please let me know, I'm kind of getting nervous.
God bless you all.

King Ageel has married Queen Lamia, the grand daughter of King Abdulaziz al Saud in a private ceremony attended by some Arab royals and family friends.
Queen Lamia looked breathtaking in her gorgeous white wedding dress. She styled her hair into a beautiful bun and finished off her look with a sparkling tiara and a sweeping, embroidered veil adorned with intricate flowers. King Ageel meanwhile, looked particularly dashing in a Royal Traditional Yemeni attire, boasting a Khanjar made of Gold strings and Ivory.
To commemorate the occasion, the Queen uploaded a photo of the engaged couple on Instagram along with the caption, “Grateful to my dear family for their heartfelt support and kind wishes. I didn’t think it was possible to hold so much joy in my heart! We pray that Allah grants us with his blessings."
In honor of the occasion, the Minister of Religious Endowments & Guidance in collaboration with tribal sheikhs, under auspices of the Crown Prince, over the months of February and March, have arranged mass weddings in every district of the Kingdom in an effort to help young couples with the cost of weddings.
The aim of this group wedding is to ease the cost that comes with organising a wedding and encouragement of younger couples that struggle to find the necessary funds to afford the marital ceremonies. and ,” said Sharaf Ali al Kulaisi, Minister of religious endowments & guidance and the head of the organising committee, "We are also hoping that organising such events will bring Yemenis closer together."
As per the registration conditions, the groom & bride must be Yemeni citizens over the age of 16 and the groom must fill the condition of not having another wife, and a deposit of $100 must be paid to guarantee a spot.
"The deposit has been returned back to the grooms, as this event is free of charge, in fact we have be provided them with gifts worth more than $200,” al Kulaisi said. The marriage ceremony will take place on the first day, followed by the wedding reception on the next day, “We will be providing all the sweets, and dinner for the both days and will cover all the costs,” Al Kulaisi added. “Many donors have shown their support for the national events, as funds for this event comes from local Yemeni businessmen and other Arabs in the region.” Al Kulaisi added.
The initiative, a first of its kind on a grand scale, encompasses all districts of Yemen, from bustling cities to remote rural areas, reflecting the King's commitment to inclusivity and the well-being of all citizens. It has been reported that over 50 thousand grooms have now been given the chance to kick start their marital life. Mood all over Yemen, South of Oman and Southwest of Saudi Arabia for the month of February and March has been festive as the Arabs celebrated the Wedding Season.

I'm 20 days out from DDay. Some background info on the situation. Married since September 2015.We have had our share of struggles with closeness, intimacy, and affection over the years. This came to a head in September of 2022, and we were seeking help in MC. Some life events happened, and we backslid on our progress. I knew it was a problem, but I couldn't get a foothold in the situation. The last week of April this year things came back to a head.
My wife approached our MC to express the backsliding. He came to me, and we met to discuss this privately. My wife did not know we were meeting. Later that night, as I wrestled with some of the things discussed, my wife said some things that hurt. I got defensive, and we had a raw emotional conversation that took place over the next two days. On the 3rd day (Friday), my wife was even more off. We continued the conversation and she expressed a desire to leave that night. After a long conversation, she agreed to stay and it seemed to her that I had really shown a desire for change and R.
The next morning something still wasn't right. She was hiding things from me. Her alarm went off very early, unusual for a Saturday. I asked why and was able to coax out of her that she had made arrangements for a group of friends to be at the house bright and early to move her out. I became scared and desperate. How did it get so bad? We continued the conversation, and I expressed a desire to reconcile, and she admitted my demeanor felt far different than it ever had. She called the friends off, burning some bridges with them as she did (some had driven very far from states away to come help.)
The next week and a half were full of highs and lows, but overall felt like progress. We sought the advice of some trusted friends and a new MC with the blessing of the former to try a different approach. Then I got hit with DDay on May 10th. 20 days ago. One evening, my wife expressed that she hadn't felt the same possible progress as I did. I was hurt and crushed, but knew she was struggling. I had been putting 100% of my focus on her and trying the be the husband I had failed at for a while. I had been wearing the blame and she had been doling it out to me. I was also trying to express how I had felt too, and that I thought we both needed to own our faults and put the effort in. Her response was, "You don't want a wife like me."
What happened next will change me forever. She proceeded to painfully confess a PA. AP was an ex-boyfriend and someone I knew, her BF from before we dated. My wife and I met at a mutual hobby activity, and he was part of it too and they had met there previously. Shortly after my wife and I started dating, she found out he had done something during their relationship that left her hurt and betrayed. Last I knew, she was very upset and hurt by him and didn't want anything to do with him.
She confessed that about 3 years into our marriage (now almost 8, so 4+ years ago) she was struggling with a lack of nurturing and intimacy from me. She reached out to him by text/chat and went looking for attention. They send flirty texts and pictures back and forth. This turned into him driving down to see her. We had relocated to a neighboring state when we married, so he drove a significant distance, multiple hours round trip. They spent the day together in a similar flirty fashion. She says he made a move on her, she didn't say no and let it develop into a sexual encounter in his car. Over the next few months, they continued this pattern. She states she thinks it was a total of 4 times, though originally she thought it was more. She states that he told her his only regret was that it was in his car and not more intimate. The remainder of the PA took place at his house, my wife was uncomfortable driving to his location so he arranged and paid for suitable public transportation to get her there. I would go to work in the AM, she would disable her location services on her phone ( we had shared location at the time, but she has since disabled that), drive to the public transportation, visit for the day, and return home before I got back from work.
Since that day, things have ridden many lows and what feels like some progress. I very much want to reconcile. To date, she states she does not. She has been willing to stay and see if time will change her heart, but she keeps doubling down on her statements of wanting to leave. I feel like her confession was her attempt to make me want to separate, so she didn't have to do it. We have both begun IC, though she is very resistant and hardened to it. Among her hardness though, I see glimpses of hope. At times she is much warmer to me than she has been in years. I am putting 110% of myself into trying to make it work.
She does respond positively to my efforts at times, but there are also moments of less-than-stellar response. She will react to my touch in a negative way or something similar. I also have what I now know as an intense case of HB. Meanwhile, she has almost no drive for me, though she has admitted she has the drive for self-fulfillment. I say almost no drive when it comes to me because she has tried for my sake twice prior to DDay but after her attempt to leave, and once since DDay though it didn't involve intercourse.
Is there any hope for R in this? Will my WS ever come around to wanting R. She is leaving me in limbo currently, and it hurts. But I don't want to rush things either. IC/MC advises that if I want R, I need to love her like I always should have and that showing her unconditional and sacrificial love even in this situation is the best way to bring her around in time. I'm afraid she will leave before she softens. She seems impatient and keeps saying things like "Nothing has changed", "I still feel the same way" or "I see your effort, but I'm just waiting for the other foot to fall like it always does." On top of that, I have yet to see true remorse or repentance. She says she's sorry that what she did hurt me, but otherwise, she has been very cold about the PA. I'm 20 days out from DDay, desperately want R, but WS hasn't come around yet. What can I do?

Chapter 3
As man moved away from God’s system of tribes man found a new vice, grain.1 As man began to farm, gluttony grew and so did the suffering of man, disease, and despair run rampant through the land.2 While this happens the rich commission statues in their own honor.3 The homeless will claw at the statues of gold so they may eat more grain.4 It is the golden crop, just as corrupting as the devil’s blood.5 So as God put the tree in the garden he put wild grain in the soil.6 Man has failed him once more as Eve was tricked by the snake man as fallen to sin.7 We have failed God at every occasion yet in his eternal mercy he forgives us as man is his greatest creation. 8 Man has so much potential for greatness yet falls into the maw of hell again and again.9 The Devil watches us fall each time and cackles, above man God sees them fall yet knows that he must preserve man from themselves.10 So while the world may burn it is not because God has lost favor with Man, Man burned the world down.11 If consumption cripples a believer it is not because God has cast you down, no the Devil has chosen them as his next target of corruption.12 It is a believer's job to live through the Devil’s curse by any means necessary.13 Most of all it is a Believers job to not sin and to live in God’s light.14 While heaven does wait for the believers but God wishes for Man to enjoy his creation, its beauty while refraining from sin.15 God has chosen what you shall see from his grand creation: the land far away is outside of God’s will.16 God’s will may appear to the common man in mystical ways, take each day as a blessing from above and look for signs of divinity, not of human indulgence.17 The Devil waits for the common man to fall for his temptations and to abandon God’s eternal will.18 The Devil tainted God’s creation at the Tree of Knowledge yet man was still able to follow his will, to repent for the oldest of sins.19 So as God has cast down Man and drowned the world he will once more cleanse the sinner from the world of his creation.20 He charges the Righteous believer to burn the world of the Devil, to redeem his name.21 Destroy the cities of rot and decay, topple the Heathen autocrat, burn this world of sin to the ground so that a new world of greatness may rise.22 God’s world has been tainted and corrupted the only way to cleanse this failure of Man is to build upon the ashes of the old cities and build a new world in God’s world.23 Man must start again, it’s God’s will to burn the fields of Babylon to let Athens crumble into dust. To let the Romans burn.24 We must turn back to God’s image that was so graciously given to man all those years ago.25 As all things that violate God’s do these systems of heresy will fall, they will fall at the sword of the Righteous martyrs and heroes of God’s will.26 The creations of God must follow his will to the letter as otherwise, the Devil may creep into the hearts of the Righteous.27 The Most blessed of souls may still fall to the allure of sin, as Judas once betrayed the son of God for the blood of lesser Demons.28 The Righteous must be careful of the temptations of mercy to the heretic, of yearning for a better material life, Man must resist these urges and be shown the error of their ways through sword and bow.29 The will of God shall not be forgotten in the history of man, he has given man test after test hoping that Man would succeed but we have failed again and again before him.30 All of Mankind seemingly cannot accept God’s Will.31

With only days separating us from the Centenary Edition of the 24 Heures du Mans, it's time again for the Le Mans Primer thread! This is the place if you’ve got any questions about the 2023 Le Mans event, no matter how small! There are no dumb questions about Le Mans!

CONTENTS

• The Race
• Session Times
• The Track
• The Classes
• The Legends
• Videos and Documentaries
• Entry List and Spotters Guide
• Endurance Chat podcast
• Broadcast Details
• Social Media
• Live Timing
• Get Involved!

The Race

It all comes back to Le Mans. A century ago, people asked ‘Could a car continue to drive for 24 hours straight?’, an event was made to test that theory, and a legacy in racing, motorsport, and motoring was born. The 24 Heures du Mans is the holy grail of endurance motor racing, and brings up its Centenary edition this year. In its 100 year history, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is recognised as the most prestigious and gruelling test for innovations and improvements in motorsport technology. Technologies such as disk and air brakes, streamlined bodywork, fuel, oil, and lubricant improvements, improvements to engine efficiency and longevity, even things as simple as LED lighting and windscreen wiper blades have been trialled and tested at Le Mans. The normally hot conditions in the middle of June stretch the limits of reliability, with all the teams knowing that in order to beat their competitors, they must first beat the event. A variety of different engine configurations, displacements, positions, fuels, and hybrids have won over the history of the event. So far, petrol-fuelled traditional piston engines have been the most successful. Mazda managed to win using a Wankel Rotary engine in 1991 with the Mazda 787b (oh god listen to that sound!), while Audi was the first to win with an alternate fuel, taking victory in the diesel-powered R10 TDI in 2006. 2012 ushered in the era of the Hybrid, with Audi taking victory in the R18 e-tron Quattro, featuring a flywheel hybrid engine.

Qualifying

The Qualifying format for Le Mans is unique to the event, and called Hyperpole. In this format, all classes are permitted to use the track in the 1 hour qualifying session on Wednesday evening. The top 6 cars from each of the 4 classes then progress to the Hyperpole session on Thursday night, which sets the top of the grid for each class. This means that each class will be segregated on the final grid.

Session Times

• Ligier European Series Practice 1 – Sunday June 4th, 08:00 Local, 06:00 UTC, 02:00 ET, 16:00 AEST – 45 Minutes
• Ligier European Series Qualifying 1 – Sunday June 4th, 09:15 Local, 07:15 UTC, 03:15 ET, 17:15 AEST – 20 Minutes
• Test Day Session 1 - Sunday June 4th, 10:00 Local, 08:00 UTC, 04:00 ET, 18:00 AEST – 3 Hours
• Ligier European Series Race - Sunday June 4th, 14:00 Local, 12:00 UTC, 08:00 ET, 22:00 AEST – 60 Minutes
• Test Day Session 2 - Sunday June 4th, 15:30 Local, 13:30 UTC, 09:30 ET, 23:30 AEST – 3 Hours
• Porsche Carrera Cup Practice 1 – Wednesday June 7th, 09:00 Local, 07:00 UTC, 03:00 ET, 17:00 AEST – 45 Minutes
• Ferrari Challenge Practice 1 – Wednesday June 7th, 10:15 Local, 08:15 UTC, 04:15 ET, 18:15 AEST - 45 Minutes
• Road To Le Mans Practice 1 – Wednesday June 7th, 11:30 Local, 09:30 UTC, 05:30 ET, 19:30 AEST – 1 Hour
• Free Practice 1 - Wednesday June 7th, 14:00 Local, 12:00 UTC, 08:00 ET, 22:00 AEST - 3 Hours
• Qualifying Practice - Wednesday June 7th. 19:00 Local, 17:00 UTC, 13:00 ET, Thursday 03:00 AEST - 1 Hour
• Road To Le Mans Practice 2 – Wednesday June 7th, 20:30 Local, 18:30 UTC, 14:30 ET, Thursday 04:30 AEST - 1 Hour
• Free Practice 2 - Wednesday June 7th, 22:00 Local, 20:00 UTC, 16:00 ET, Thursday 06:00 AEST - 2 Hours
• Ferrari Challenge Practice 2 – Thursday June 8th, 09:00 Local, 07:00 UTC, 03:00 ET, 17:00 AEST – 45 Minutes
• Porsche Carrera Cup Practice 2 – Thursday June 8th, 10:55 Local, 08:55 UTC, 04:55 ET, 18:55 AEST – 45 Minutes
• Road To Le Mans Qualifying Practice – Thursday June 8th, 12:55 Local, 10:55 UTC, 06:55 UTC, 20:55 AEST – 20 Minutes x 2 Classes
• Free Practice 3 - Thursday June 8th, 15:00 Local, 13:00 UTC, 09:00 ET, 23:00 AEST - 3 Hours
• Road To Le Mans Race 1 - Thursday June 8th, 18:30 Local, 16:30 UTC, 12:30 ET, Friday 02:30 AEST - 55 Minutes
• HYPERPOLE - Thursday June 8th, 20:00 Local, 18:00 UTC, 14:00 ET, Friday 04:00 AEST - 30 Minutes
• Free Practice 4 - Thursday June 8th, 22:00 Local, 20:00 UTC, 16:00 ET, Friday 06:00 AEST - 2 Hours
• Porsche Carrera Cup Qualifying – Friday June 9th, 09:00 Local, 07:00 UTC, 03:00 ET, 17:00 AEST – 45 Minutes
• Ferrari Challenge Qualifying – Friday June 9th, 10:15 Local, 08:15 UTC, 04:15 ET, 18:15 AEST – 45 Minutes
• Road To Le Mans Race 2 - Friday June 9th, 11:30 Local, 09:30 UTC, 05:30 ET, 19:30 AEST – 55 Minutes
• Ferrari Challenge Race 1 - Saturday June 10th, 09:30 Local, 07:30 UTC, 03:30 ET, 17:30 AEST - 45 Minutes
• Porsche Carrera Cup Race 1 - Saturday June 10th, 10:45 Local, 08:45 UTC, 04:45 ET, 18:45 AEST - 45 Minutes
• Warm Up - Saturday June 10th, 12:00 Local, 10:00 UTC, 06:00 ET, 20:00 AEST – 15 Minutes
• RACE START - **Saturday June 11th, 16:00 Local, 14:00 UTC, 10:00 ET, Sunday 00:00 AEST

The Track

The Circuit de la Sarthe covers 13.6 kilometres of the French country side. It combines the permanent race components of the Ford Chicanes, the pit straight, under the Dunlop Bridge and through to Tertre Rouge as well as the normal everyday roads of the Mulsanne straight through to Indianapolis and Arnage. The track has gone through many iterations over the years; originally, the cars raced into the heart of the city, turning just before the river Sarthe, before hurtling down the 8.6 kilometre straight. In 1932, the circuit removed the journey into the city, and more closely resembled the track we see today. Here’s a video of Mike Hawthorn touring the circuit with a camera and microphone attached in 1956, one year after his involvement in the Le Mans disaster. The addition of the Porsche Curves and the Ford Chicanes in 1972 added an extra dimension to the high speed, fast flowing track. In the late 80’s, the Group C prototype cars would reach over 400km/h, achieving average speeds of almost 250km/h in qualifying for the entire lap. This is an onboard of Derek Bell’s Porsche 956 in 1983, showing the ridiculous speeds on this configuration of the circuit. This configuration remained relatively unchanged right up to 1990, until FIA mandations required that for the circuit to be sanctioned, it must not have a straight longer than 2km. The 6km Mulsanne straight was cut down into three relatively equal length portions by two chicanes, giving the iteration of the circuit used today. Allan McNish takes you on an onboard lap of the 2008 circuit in this video. McNish is one of the gods of the modern prototype era, winning Le Mans 3 times; once with Porsche and twice with Audi. For a more comprehensive focus on the track, John Hindhaugh’s track walk takes you on a 30 minute exploration of the track, with in depth focus on corners like the Dunlop Esses, Tertre Rouge, Mulsanne Corner, and the Ford Chicanes.
For some modern on boards, check out the fastest ever lap in the Circuit de la Sarthe: Kamui Kobayashi's 3:14.791 in 2017 Q2, and last year’s Hyperpole lap, by Brendon Hartley, setting a 3:24.408
The Dunlop Bridge
The iconic Dunlop Bridge has been a part of the Le Mans track since 1932, making it the oldest Dunlop Bridge at any track. This part of the track requires a good launch out of the first chicane before cresting the brow of the hill, and plunging through the esses out onto the Mulsanne straight. As the LMP cars are much more maneuverable, caution must be taken passing the slower GT traffic, as Allan McNish discovered in 2011.
Tertre Rouge
Tertre Rouge is the corner that launches the cars onto the long Mulsanne straight. Maintaining momentum through this corner as it opens on exit is imperative to ensure maximum straight line speed heading down the first part of the Mulsanne. The undulation in the road makes for fantastic viewing at night, with some magic images of the Porsches throwing up sparks on the exit in 2014. Finally, this was the location of Allan Simonsen’s fatal crash in mixed conditions in the 2013 Le Mans. The Danish flags will fly at the corner in his memory.
Mulsanne Corner
After the incredibly long Mulsanne straight, the Mulsanne corner nowadays features a subtle right hand kink before the tight 90 degree turn. Here, the cars decelerate from 340 km/h down to below 100 km/h, resulting in a brilliant opportunity to overtake. Again, care must be taken overtaking slower traffic; unaware drivers have caught out faster cars attempting to pass through the kink, such as Anthony Davidson’s spectacular crash in 2012 resulting in a broken vertebra for Davidson.
Indianapolis and Arnage
The Indanapolis and Arnage complex is one of the most committed areas of the track. Hurtling down the hill from the Mulsanne Corner, the road suddenly bends to the right, a corner which only the bravest prototype drivers take flat out, followed by a beautifully cambered open left hander taken in third gear. A short sprint leads the cars into Arnage, the slowest point on the track. The tight right hander was the scene of heartbreak for Toyota in 2014 when the leading #7 broke down and had to be retired after an FIA sensor melted and shut off the electronics. Kazuki Nakajiima was unable to make it to the pits, leaving him stranded on the circuit.
The Porsche Curves
At a terrifyingly high speed, the Porsche Curves is the most committed part of the lap. Getting caught behind GT traffic in this section can mean losing phenomenal amounts of time. This was the site of Loic Duval’s horrific crash in practice for the 2014 event. Keeping momentum through the flowing right-left-right handers that lead into Maison Blanche requires 100% commitment and ultimate precision, with severe punishment for getting it wrong. The exit of the Porsche Curves underwent significant change in 2020, with additional run-off added in the middle part of the section. This has turned the treacherous and claustrophobic sweeping left-hander into an open and sweeping corner, encouraging every little bit of road to be used on the exit. What it hasn’t changed is the terrific consequences for making a mistake
The Ford Chicanes
The final chapter in the 13.6km rollercoaster that is Le Mans is the Ford Chicanes. Two tight left-right handers with massive kerbs are all that separates the driver from the finish line. Watching the cars bounce over the kerbs in beautiful slow motion is certainly something to behold, but 24 hours of mistreatment can lead to suspension and steering issues. The drivers have to be attentive until the very end, lest they throw it all away in the last minutes of the race.
The Circuit de la Sarthe requires over 85% of the lap on full throttle, with the cars accelerating from less than 100km/h to over 300km/h five times each lap. The challenge of having a car finish Le Mans is in itself, an achievement.

The Classes

The WEC consists of three classes on track at once, resulting in three separate races on track each in their own battle for 24 Hours. The classes are split based on their car type, with LMH and LMDh machinery facing off in the Hypercar class, purpose built prototypes with a spec engine and gearbox battling in LMP2, and GT machinery racing in GTE. Each class has its own set of regulations, driver requirements, and relevance for the Le Mans event.

Hypercar

The current top class of endurance sportscars is Hypercar, combining cars built to Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) and Le Mans Daytona (LMDh) specifications. Fighting it out will be LMH machinery from Toyota, Ferrari, Peugeot, Glickenhaus and Peugeot, while Porsche and Cadillac will be racing in LMDh cars. The LMH cars are bespoke sportscars, designed to a strict set of requirements dictating maximum power, drag coefficient, and weight, amongst other parameters, intended to limit the cost of the category. LMDh machines on the other hand are based on the future LMP2 chassis offerings, with manufacturers able to develop their own engines and bodywork, aligning with the power and drag coefficients of LMH. As part of cost-cutting, the Hypercar class is also subject to a Balance of Performance (BoP) formula, to level the playing field and ensure good racing! Hypercars are a little slower than their LMP1 predecessors, with lap times around the 3:24 mark for the Circuit de la Sarthe, which is on par with the 2014 LMP1 cars.

LMP2

The second prototype class is LMP2, and provides an excellent platform for endurance racing on a budget. The LMP2 class features a spec drivetrain and gearbox, using a Gibson V8 producing 400kW, and a selection of three chassis to choose from, of which the Oreca 07 has been the chassis of choice. This ensures that the competition in the class is very tight, and often comes down to the drivers and the team’s performance instead of just having the best car. While LMP2 was capable of 3:25 lap times in years previous, part of the ‘stratification’ of classes with Hypercar’s inclusion, the LMP2 class has lost some power and had some weight added. This should put LMP2 at the heels of the LMH pace, but with laptimes outside the 3:28 mark.
LMP2 is the first class that must feature amateur rated drivers. The Amateurs must drive for a minimum of 6 hours in the car over the course of the race. This means that there's an element of strategy of when to use your amateur driver throughout the race, as the amateur driver is generally slower than the Pros. The pro drivers in this class range from up and coming talent, former F1 drivers, and some of the best sportscar pilots in the world, and with 244 cars in this class, LMP2 is sure to be a hotbed of action over the 24 hours.

LMGTE-Am

GT class cars are cars that are derived from production models, and feature some of the most iconic cars and brands battling it out at the top of the field. The GTE cars are on the border of aero dependency, and can lap Le Mans in around 3:45 in a professional driver’s hands.
This year is the last year of the GTE class, and features 21 cars in a Pro-Am category, with cars from Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, and Chevrolet on the grid. Despite the lack of a Pro category, the driver quality in GTE-Am is still incredibly high, with factory drivers, young stars, experienced champions and every level of experience in between on the grid, with each car featuring two Bronze or Silver rated drivers. With two amateur drivers, the strategy considerations multiply. While GTE-Am might be the class focussed on the least over the course of the race, the stories that come from this class are phenomenal, and it's well worth following.
The GT classes feature a range of different cars and configurations, and to equalise each of these against each other, the class goes through a process called 'Balance of Performance' or BoP. The organisers can adjust each individual car's weight, fuel tank, air restrictor, turbo boost pressures, and aero performance to alter performance levels to enable the different cars to race competitively. This can sometimes be contentious as every team will feel hard done by, but it is a necessary evil to having the variety of cars on the grid.

Innovative Car

Each year, there is the option for an Innovative Car, with untested or innovative technology, allowed to enter in it’s own category. In years past, this has allowed for entries from the Deltawing, or a modified LMP2 to allow amputees to race.
This year, the Innovative Car entry is a modified Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Next-Gen NASCAR, run by Hendrick Motorsports. The Next-Gen NASCAR features modifications to allow it to run safely on the Circuit de la Sarthe, and will be driven by multiple NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button, and Le Mans Overall Winner Mike Rockenfeller.

The Legends

Part of the allure of the Le Mans 24 Hours is the history, and the legends steeped in history over the course of its 88 previous editions. The race has had many headline battles in its history - periods of time where two or three teams went toe to toe for years, with the drivers, cars, and brands embroiled in these battles given the chance to elevate themselves above the rest, and show their prowess.
In 2019, we at /WEC, took our normal Le Mans Legends celebrations to a new level; each week, members of the community have been writing reviews on some of the closest, most fascinating finishes in Le Mans history! You can check out these reports below!

• The 1966 Dead Heat by kinkymulsanne
• 1983; Factory Porsche dominates with a 1-2 victory, but only just! by Floodman11
• 1987; The colossal struggle between Porsche and Jaguar (Part 1) by Lagiacrus7
• 2016; FUCK by Cybershrike
• 1979; Boogie Nights meets Days Of Thunder by SolHiemis
• 1991; the Hiroshima Screamer Prevails by AE_Racer
• 2010; the Day the Peugeots All Died by kiwichris1709
• 1999; The Le Mans Turning Point by starzonda
• 2011; The Final Audi vs Peugeot Rivalry by Stuff_And_More
• 1988; The colossal struggle between Porsche and Jaguar (part 2) by Lagiacrus7

Bonus CookieMonsterFL Write-Ups

• 3.5L: The Downfall of Group C
• Airborne Crashes

For a bite-sized history lesson on every Le Mans event, check out this post by u/JohannesMeanAd2, describing every Le Mans in a single sentence!
The early races were dominated by the Bentley company in their Speed 6, who won 5 of the first 7 races. Cars were separated into classes by their engine displacement, and the overall winner was based on distance covered. If two cars had finished with the same number of laps, the car with the smaller displacement was declared the winner. The race wasn't run during the second world war, and comparatively very little information is available on the stories of the early days of Le Mans.
After the second world war, teams such as Jaguar, Ferrari, Mercedes, and Aston Martin became the dominant teams. This era featured the legendary Jaguar D type, the Mercedes Benz 300 SLR, the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, and the Aston Martin DBR1. Jaguar won 5 times between 1951 and 1957, followed by an era of Ferrari dominance. Drivers such as Mike Hawthorn, Stirling Moss, Juan Manuel Fangio, and John Fitch became household names as Le Mans became a battle between German engineering and British "garagistas".
Ferrari and Ford was the story of the 60's, with Ferrari winning 6 times straight before Ford won four in a row with the GT40 Mk II, taking their first win in 1966. The story of their rivalry is legendary in it's own right - Henry Ford had almost successfully bought out the Ferrari motor company, only to be knocked back by Enzo himself at the 11th hour. In retaliation, Ford planned to hurt Ferrari where it mattered most; on the track. The Ford GT40 was so comprehensively dominant that it won the 1966 edition 21 laps ahead of the next car back - a Porsche 906/6. None of the Ferrari 330P3's finished the race. This battle gave drivers like Bruce Mclaren, Dan Gurney, and Jacky Ickx their first Le Mans victories, and propelled them to the forefront of motorsport stardom at the height of motorsport's popularity.
The 1970's saw the dawn of Porsche, with the 917k taking the brand's first win in 1970, with the same car winning the following year in the hands of Helmut Marko (yes, that Helmut Marko). It would be 5 years before Porsche would win again, with Matra taking 3 victories in the interim, each at the hands of Henri Pescarolo. Porsche returned with the 936 and the 956/962c dominating the race for the next 20 years. In fact, from 1970, Porsche won 12 times in 18 events, including 7 in a row, and they miiight have been a bit cheeky about it. Amongst these 12 wins, there were 4 for both Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell, and two for IMSA legend Hurley Haywood, as well as the first win for the Joest team in 1984. This era coincided with the introduction, and subsequent destruction of the Group C sportscar formula, widely regarded as the best Sportscar championship regulations of all time. Porsche’s dominance was eventually ended by Jaguar in the XJR-9LM, at the height of Group C’s magic. Ickx's 6 wins at this stage had earned him the nickname 'Mr Le Mans', a fitting title for one of the best drivers in the world at the time.
GT cars became a force to be reckoned with at the end of the Group C era, with classes being split into LMGTP and LMP. McLaren and Porsche had wins in GTP cars, in the F1 GTR and the 911 GT1 respectively, while Porsche, BMW and Peugeot scored LMP wins. 1997 saw the first win for Tom Kristensen, while the following year Allan McNish took his first victory, starting their journeys into the legend books of Le Mans.
The 2000’s ushered in the era of Audi, with all 13 of their wins coming since the turn of the century. GTP was disbanded due to safety issues, being replaced by GT1 and GT2. Audi picked up wins in the R8, the R10, the R15, and the R18, often dominating the might of the Peugeot 908. Audi's dominance elevated not only their drivers to legend status, but also their team managers, car designers, and race engineers. People like Reinhold Joest (team manager), Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Audisport director), Ulrich Baretzky (engine designer), Leena Gade, Howden Haynes (race engineers) behind the wall and Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello, Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer have become household names in the sport not only for their wins, but their longevity and domination. Audi's dominance was only broken by a win for Bentley in 2003, running basically an Audi under a British racing green skin, and Peugeot in 2009, before being ended for good by Porsche in 2015. After both Porsche and Audi left the top class, Toyota rose to dominance, taking the last 3 Le Mans events in a row!
Between 2015 and 2017, Porsche added to their victories, now holding a record 19 overall victories at the Circuit de la Sarthe. Audi trail with 13, with Ferrari, Jaguar and Bentley holding the next three positions. Toyota finally took their first overall victory in 2018, and have won every year since. Tom Kristensen is has the most victories at Le Mans, with 9 overall victories over his career with Porsche, Audi and Bentley, inheriting the title of Mr Le Mans.

Videos and Documentaries

• Truth in 24 and Truth in 24 II - The story of Audi’s victories against testing conditions and the might of Peugeot in 2008 and 2011.
  
• Le Mans - made in 1971, this movie follows a fictional Le Mans race in 1970, featuring fantastic footage and sounds of the Porsche 917 and the Ferrari 512 starring Steve McQueen
  
• Michael Fassbender:Road To Le Mans Season 1 - Season 2 - Season 3 - The journey that Michael Fassbender has taken from movie star to Porsche GTE-Am driver, detailing his racing through the ranks of Carrera Cup, Le Mans Cup, and ELMS.
  
• The Deadliest Crash - The BBC documentary on the 1955 Le Mans disaster. For more information, see CookieMonsteFL’s amazing post on the incident
  
• Our Return: A documentary of our road to Le Mans 2015 - Porsche’s youtube documentary chronicling their return to Le Mans and their eventual win.
  
• McLaren at Le Mans: Pursuit of Perfection - The story behind McLaren's 1995 victory
  
• The fastest ever lap at the Circuit de la Sarthe. Kamui Kobayashi's 3:14.791 in 2017 Q2
  
• Mark Blundell’s explosive lap - Blundell was going so fast, he was overheating the blowers in the car. After being told to turn down the engine and abandon the lap, in true racing driver fashion he simply turned off the radio.
  
• Clearwater Racing: Journey to the 24 hours of Le mans
  
• Cetilar Racing: The Italian Spirit of Le Mans - A documentary on Cetilar Villorba Corse's journey to Le Mans in 2018
  
• McLaren at Le Mans: Pursuit of Perfection - The McLaren F1 road car's story and development for the historic LeMans race of 1995.
  
• Ford vs Ferrari / Le Mans '66 - Coming out late 2019, this movie tells (a stylised version of) the story of the battle between Ford and Ferrari at Le Mans in the late 1960's. While there are some inaccuracies, the movie has been widely heralded as one of the best Motorsport themed movies ever made, and has been enjoyed by critics and motorsport fans alike.
  
• Michael Fassbender: Road To Le Mans Season 1 and 2, Season 3, Season 4 – Actor and Amateur Driver Michael Fassbender documents his 4 year journey from Porsche Carrera Cup into the ELMS and finally, to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
  

Entry List

Spotters Guide to be added when released!

Once again, /WEC will have a community spotters guide thanks to the efforts of Ziombel_444! The planned release date is the 6th of June, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

Check out Ziombel_444's other work at Spotters.Guide, and support this great effort!

Endurance Chat

/WEC's podcast, Endurance Chat, will have four episodes in the lead up to Le Mans, as well as a Pre-Pre-Race show in the hours before the event. Watch this space for updates!

• Endurance Chat S8E11 – The Centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans Preview - History, context, and insight into this year’s edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours
  
• Endurance Chat S8E12 - The 2023 Le Mans 24 Hour Hypercar Class Guide – COMING SOON
  
• Endurance Chat S8E13 - The 2023 Le Mans 24 Hour LMP2 Class Guide – COMING SOON
  
• Endurance Chat S8E14 – The 2023 Le Mans 24 Hour LMGTE-Am Class Guide – COMING SOON
  

In addition, Endurance Chat made a series of features detailing the history of sportscars in the late 60’s and early 70’s, at the transition point of GT and Prototype machinery. The series details some of the machinery, events, and drivers in one of the fastest and most dangerous periods in racing history. You can find a playlist to these features here!

Streaming and Television

In the past, the FIAWEC Broadcast has started from Qualifying Practice. We are awaiting confirmation if that is the case this year – Streams for non-FIAWEC sessions after that point will be subject to the organisers of those series broadcasting those sessions.

• Official stream OUTSIDE US ONLY - The Le Mans package gives you access to all WEC sessions (Qualifying, Warm Up and the Race) with a choice of on boards, cross platform compatibility, and up to 5 devices connected at once. Additionally, replays of the event are free after the event. Official comms headed by Martin Haven, Anthony Davidson, and Graham Goodwin, who in my personal opinion properly nail the tone of the event. Has been known to get overloaded and crash however
• Eurosport will likely be broadcasting the event in a variety of locales throughout Europe. This will be updated when confirmed
• Radio Le Mans will be streaming live radio for every session

For American audiences, unfortunately the Official stream is geoblocked for your area. Information on how to watch will be updated when confirmed

• [Official TV Broadcast distribution](COMING SOON) Find out how to watch in your region!

Any further updates on TV or Streaming distribution will be added as they are released!

Social Media

If you're looking for more interaction, you can find most of the teams, drivers and commentators on Twitter, giving you instant interaction with those in the midst of the event.

If someone wants to make a twitter list for the teams/driveetc for this year, that would be greatly appreciated!

Live timing

• Official Live Timing

Be sure to join the discord for alternate timing solutions!

Get Involved!

By far the most fun you can have watching an endurance race is watching it with the official /WEC Discord! It's a lot of fun and a really great atmosphere to watch the race in!
If you want to have a go at picking who you think will be winning in each class, jump into mwclarkson's Fantasy Endurance Contest! It's free to enter, and if you win, you'll get the satisfaction and achievement of being right!
If there's anything you'd like us to add, or need clarification on, please comment below and we'll add it in!`

u/Aathranax responded (poorly) to my post about messianics not being Jews. My responses are interspersed as the indented quotations. (I can't respond directly because I was banned from their sub. DO NOT BRIGADE THEIR POST.) Parts of the original have been removed for the sake of brevity.

so a while ago the Messianicphobic crowd decided to create a sub in an effort to address things that we supposedly claim (which is funny because a huge majority of things I've seen from it are things that have never even left my mouth EVER) this is my first of X posts that ill be doing addressing this total lunacy.
The first one being on Maimonides and Apostates Jews.
before I even begin to address the post in question its important to note that Maimonides was not a member of Chazal, he wasn't a member of the Great Court and thus did not have authentic Semikhah going back to Mount Sinai as such, what he says is fundamentally his opinion. An opinion some readers my agree with sure, but an opinion all the same. Ergo NOT AUTHORTATIVE. so with out of the way let us begin
The post starts with this quote from the Mishnah Torah. the linch pin here in the wording of "false gods" I'm willing to concede that Maimonides would have likly seen normative Christianity as such however Messianic Judaism IS NOT normative Christianity and only someone unfamiliar with our community would be foolish enough to think otherwise. Messianic Judaism is not any form of Christianity that Maimonides would have even recognized as it didn't exist in his time.

How are you not Christian? You worship Jesus. You proclaim him God. Every Messianic institution upholds the trinity, including the one you claim to belong to. You accept the new testament (a collection of texts declared authoritative by the Christian church), and you practice their central rituals of baptism and communion even if you try to hide it behind different terminology. In what way are you not Christian? Everything that makes Christianity idolatry, you accept. You are not different from the mainstream evangelical church in any meaningful way.

Furthermore Maimonides viewed normative Christianity as idolatry and for good reason, Many Christians in his time were unironically worshiping the Cross itself and used the image Rabbi Yeshua as God. Now I cannot speak for everyone here, I can only speak as a member of UMJC / MJRC standards that you'd be hard press to find anyone in my particular party doing anything Maimonides would recognize as being part of the idolatry problems within normative Christianity.

Maimonides expressly condemned Christianity as idolatry. This would've been for a number of reasons: the Trinity is a violation of the unity of God; worshipping a man is expressly forbidden; claiming that God has a body likewise violates the unity of God; etc. It's not just because Catholics use statues and paintings in their churches; that is only part of the problem. It's because Christian theology is idolatry through and through. For reference from this site : "In his interpretation of the Mishna, tractate Avoda Zara 1:3, he writes: “Know that this Chriatian nation, who are making the claim of a messiah, with all their many different sects, are all idol worshippers and all their holidays are forbidden, and we deal with them regarding religious issues as we would pagans.”
"And he adds (AZ 4): “Therefore one must know that in every one of the Christian nation’s cities which has an altar, meaning their house of worship, it is a pagan house of idolatry without any doubt.”'
Again, you are not the exception.

Which further complicates the suggestion that the original poster somehow knows what Maimonides would think about the state of todays world.
The Talmud clearly labels Christianity avodah zarah (idolatry) in the tractate Avodah Zarah 7b. Messianics are Christians and therefore idolaters.
This is not how identity works, you can think we're Christians and certainly via some definitions that would be true to some capacity but what does Avodah Zarah 7b actually say?
This section of the Talmud seems to conflate the notion of being Christian as having festivals (day of worship) on Sunday, Messianics have it on Saturday like any other normative Jew. this may seem like pilpul but it is a total issue on definitions.

You have entirely missed the point. The idolatry they were focused on wasn't about the day of the week. It was about worshiping Jesus. The day of the week is mentioned to make it clear why doing business with Christians (i.e. idolaters) was entirely forbidden. Because they were discussing the claim that business can't be done three days before or three days after a pagan festival. Christians, as pagans, have a festival every seven days, which means that there is no time before or after the festival on which a Jew can do business with them. Moving your day to Saturday doesn't resolve that issue or have any bearing on your status as an idolater.

The more eagle eyed might have caught on that this is on section on the prohibition of BUSSNESS. the actual status as idol worship doesn't actually appear here.

Indeed it does. Because Christians are idolaters, Jews can't do business with them at certain times, which is what this tractate is discussing. The status of idolaters is foundational to the meaning of this text.

Indeed that issue in reality comes from that of The Trinity which some Messiaincs COMPLETELY REJECT

Some may, but they still worship a man, and that is the idolatry. Please show me a single messianic organization that says Jesus was not God, that he was a merely human messiah. There isn't one because there can't be one, in part because your Christian scriptures proclaim him to be God and lord. The Christian theology at the heart of your sect needs Jesus to be divine because otherwise, he was a failure or a human sacrifice. Both disqualify him from being of any importance within Judaism.

you'd think for someone who hates us this much that they would bother to do their homework and work out if this is even applicable?! Furthermore there are respected Rabbis who do not agree with this view at all The Meiri in his commentary on Avodah Zarah 2b and 6b states that Christanity IS NOT idol worship.

Like you said, the Meiri was not one of the chazal. In fact, he lived after Maimonides. So, by your own standard, we can ignore his opinion just as you ignore Maimonides. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

As idolaters, even those Messianics from a Jewish background have effectively removed themselves from Am Yisrael. According to Judaism, Messianics are unequivocally not Jews.
A Jew is a Jew is a Jew, hence the rest of this statement need not be addressed.

Apostasy is an important element of Jewish law that removes people from the community. You may still retain a legal identification as a Jew in some limited respects, which places particular restrictions on the interactions Jews can have with you. But as an apostate you are no longer a member of the community. You retain the obligation to repent and return to Judaism, but you are not a Jew in the sense of being a practitioner of the religion of Judaism. So in any relevant sense of the word "Jew," you are not Jewish so long as you are Christian. This is because Christianity is not Judaism. This is not a difficult concept to understand.

I ignored all work emails over this las long weekend, 3 weeks before school is out. I started checking them this morning before getting my sons up to get ready for the day.
I'm a middle school teacher at a private K-12 that is split into 3 campuses. One of our lovely family parents emailed our Middle School Head on Saturday and accidentally (or "accidentally") CC'd the entire middle school staff along with her intended recipients of the Head and the Parent Committee general email.
Here is the email
Since Saturday there have been a couple chain responses to it that I've received. One official one from the Head and assistant head reminding us of the current dress code and telling us not to talk about it and not to respond to it. Another from some coworkers talking about it without admin included.
I'm staying out of it.
Our dress code is deliberately vague and general, saying that ultimately what defines appropriate dress beyond basic limits falls on each individual family to decide for themselves. It bans graphic images and words, vulgar or hate speech, requires shoes with backs, and that nipples, buttocks, and genitals be fully covered at all times, and states teachers can require additional clothing for class activity (such as athletic shoes, goggles for science, etc). Beyond that it says that any dress concerns by staff should be reported to the school admin who will determine if they should consult with the family on their child's attire, but that we are not to address it with a child directly.
We have 3 weeks left. June 15th is our final day. This is where the parent is directing her attention. I don't envy admin right now.

Hi ladies.. you may remember reading this remark in one of my previous posts.
32 F, 4 of us (M, Aj, An) ladies are still single, all doctors over 32 and work in the same place. We were UG batchmates, know each other for 14 years and by virtue of being single and lonely have ended up hanging together more these last 3-4 years. M and I were friends right since the beginning of UG, Aj at the end of UG, An since about 4 years. They each have other friends besides me. I didn't have many friends besides these 4 so I stuck around though I often felt slighted by them. They stood me up often when plans were made and when we're together talk over me and jabber on in their native tongue though I can follow only half.
One of these girls (M) is very short tempered with those of us she knows well but maintains a wide circle with a fake happy social butterfly sort of image. She goes out often and posts those happy pictures with others but would come to me one on one for deep conversations. We went on a day trip last year where she behaved AWFULLY and she never apologized. Apparently she never realized and I was waiting for her to apologize for a month. Aj intervened coz it was Ajs birthday and she wanted peace in the gang. I dunno how M could have been so snappy and rude and not realized at all. Aj and An told me she's been feeling very upset about being single and that frustration comes out like this so I should tolerate. The trip gave me PTSD but I forgave her gradually (though I still find that obliviousness baffling).
I don't get invited out much and these 4 were my only friends.. so in a very lonely phase a few months ago I asked M why she never invites me for her fun stuff- she hummed and hawed awkwardly and came up with- "I don't like to mix my circles" and "You're not everybody's cup of tea". I couldn't believe many people actually do #1 and #2 hurt a lot. In a recent confrontation she ended up admitting that she doesn't consider me a "close friend" and I'll have to find new ones soon coz she's leaving. I said I will. I don't know why she denied it for so long and wore a mask!
Aj is socially awkward but we bond over a love for food, books and travel. Aj and I spent the day together on Saturday- I told her about what happened with M recently. She thought the cup of tea remark was very rude even if it's true. She told me they'd gone on 2 trips together where she'd made a few rude remarks but nothing close to my PTSD trip and that was enough to make Aj decide to only solo trip after that. We had a nice lunch and afterwards she said.. "don't kill me for saying this but you're not everyone's cup of tea". What the fuck?! I just blanked it from my mind but it's still hurting. I could say hurtful things back but I won't. Ultimately she said none of us are perfect and since social image matters so much to M being unmarried is really weighing on her so we should give her leeway. Why should the onus of tolerance be only on one side? Just what the fuck.
An is a religious nut and bails on plans most of the time- shows up like a queen when she wants to. Very unreliable.
I'm just hurt about M and Aj coz I was closer to them for more years. I'm actively trying to make new friends here!
I know I'm being quite sensitive.. any words of wisdom?