Luke Doak
828 posts
USA. I went to a Texas BBQ restaurant.
The man at the counter asked: brisket or ribs?
I stood very still.
In my country, this question has another name.
It is called choosing a clan.
Brisket: slow. Patient. It has waited 14 hours for this moment.
Fourteen hours of smoke and silence.
This is the way of discipline. This is the way of my teachers.
Ribs: bold. Immediate. They arrive already holding their weapon.
They do not wait. They do not explain themselves.
This is the way of instinct. This is the way of warriors who do not return.
I asked the man which was better.
He said: "Depends on the person."
I stared at him for a long time.
This was not an answer.
This was a test.
Perhaps the most important test of my life.
I chose brisket. I sat down. I prepared myself.
The ribs arrived at the next table.
They smelled of smoke and oak and something I cannot name in any language.
The man eating them did not look at his food.
He looked at nothing.
He had already transcended.
I went back to the counter.
"I made an error," I said. "Ribs."
I sat down again.
The brisket at the next table glistened quietly.
Fourteen hours of patience. Fourteen hours of waiting.
Looking at me.
Not with anger. With something worse.
With understanding.
I went back.
"Brisket," I said. "I have returned."
The man at the counter said nothing.
He had seen this before.
Brisket. Ribs. Brisket. Ribs.
On my fourth approach, he placed both on the counter without speaking.
I understood then: there is no choosing.
There is only the truth of what you already are.
And what I am, apparently, is someone who cannot leave a BBQ restaurant.
I ate. I could not finish.
I sat with the remains for a very long time.
The other customers left. New customers arrived. I was still there.
The man came to my table at closing time.
"You doing okay?"
I told him I was conducting a funeral.
He nodded like this was a reasonable thing to say.
A ninja does not choose between brisket and ribs.
A ninja orders both and sits with the consequences until the restaurant closes.
Is this normal in Texas?
And which one was right?
I need to know. I am going back tomorrow.
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@operations1492 @Xhej__ education doesn’t create a good voter but the educated has a better foresight and understanding than the uneducated. You can be wise and uneducated but that’s the exception not the norm.
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@KitsuraNines Welcome to the Democrat party in its final form.
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it’s been the long con to try and normalize this shit i swear, can’t believe we let it get here. what are we doing?
Trolling.Canuck@TrollingCanuck
What in the fuck is this shit 🤬 Its a "queer attraction" to rape children.
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@The_Bloooop What makes it worse is she was advocating for Men's Mental Health earlier this month.
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Ok so idc if you like someone or not, but this type of remark is truly vile.
We do not use peoples trauma as a personal gotcha moment or attack. Cheating no matter how you look at it is a very gross thing to do to someone. It can change a person completely... some ppl never recover trust towards others because of it.
If you want to shit talk someone maybe don't make yourself look more vile in the process.
deme@demenishki
@ChibiReviews wait omg aren’t you the guy who’s fiancé literally cheated on you and your whole friend group sided with her? LMFAO
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@isfjcutebear In the US you are called a right wing extremist if you have basic takes like put criminals in prison and illegal immigration is bad.
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🇯🇵 I am Japanese.
Question for people all over the world.
When I say I wanna leave behind a beautiful Japan for my grandchildren, that resembles the one I grew up in.
I am getting called far right extremist.
Have you also experienced the same? Why is this?
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@celestiumart Celestium, question, do you have a sabbath during the week?
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I’m sorry for no stream today guys. I went to bed pretty late last night and wasn’t feeling well after church so I’ve mostly been resting throughout the day.
Thank you for your patience and kindness, hope I can make it up to you this week 💜
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@omgsidewalks Eliminating poverty can reduce crime. Universal heathcare, public housing, and free colleges due not reduce poverty they increase it. Look at England and Canadian health care, look at our own public housing, free college just makes a college degree worthless.
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You actually reduce crime by eliminating poverty. You reduce crime with universal healthcare, public housing, livable wages, and free college. You reduce violence by creating happy, healthy communities that aren’t constantly fighting over basic needs and material resources.
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A good message that both men and women need to hear.
🍄Tiny Pixie Dae VT | Partner Push🍄@tinypixiedae
Don't forget to bring comfort to those around you.
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Don't forget to bring comfort to those around you.
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Okay I just want to say, I copied the prompt EXACTLY. I didn't ask for a crown!
ySr@ysr1305
Deeply analyze the reference image @image1 including gender presentation, species traits, exact ear shape/position on both sides, any masks (note if lower face is covered), piercings, facial marks, all distinctive features, clothes colors and outfit palette. Faithfully adapt the character: If male, render as strikingly handsome and powerfully masculine with strong sharp jawline and chiseled intense features. If female, exquisitely beautiful feminine anime perfection. Integrate any animal/creature traits harmoniously. CRITICAL: Preserve 100% exactly as in reference - identical ears, ANY mask or face covering MUST remain completely unchanged (do not add mouth, lips or alter the masked area AT ALL - replicate exactly including texture and how it meets the stone), piercings and head details identical on both sides and fusion line. Breathtaking extreme close-up masterpiece anime illustration of an awakening majestic elemental nature deity — intelligently select the single most complementary and dramatic elemental nature based on the reference's full color palette including clothes colors and outfit, dominant tones, hair/skin, species traits, expression and overall aesthetic (prioritize powerful volcanic lava/magma/fire for red, orange, warm, fiery, or energetic characters; ice/crystal for cool/blue tones; flora/wood for green/earth tones; lightning for bright or electric vibes; shadow/cosmic for dark/mysterious tones; or any other perfect match that creates maximum beauty and harmony) — perfectly based on reference, stunning flawless face with extremely large vibrant glossy hypnotising sparkling captivating expressive anime eyes dominating the face beautifully, left half of face dramatically transformed into stylized dark elemental primordial essence of the intelligently chosen nature sculpted precisely matching reference's exact facial structure, bone contours, proportions, jawline and silhouette as a seamless elegant material transformation/overlay (exactly like the original lava stone sculpt — no outgrowing, no extra protrusions, no distortion or additional growths, maintaining identical facial shape and boundaries) with dramatic glowing vibrant energy fissures and flowing luminous elemental power, left eye a large blazing stylized vibrant glossy hypnotising elemental orb (matching the chosen essence) preserving the original eye shape perfectly, right eye exact reference eye color as huge vibrant glossy hypnotising emotional anime eye filled with depth and intensity, dramatic diagonal glowing energy crack, elegant glowing elemental tear, subtle glowing elemental details at seamless fusion with numerous floating vibrant glowing elemental particles, shards or essence perfectly matching the chosen elemental nature (ash & embers for volcanic; shimmering ice crystals & frost for ice; glowing petals & leaves for flora; electric sparks for lightning; ethereal motes/stardust for cosmic/shadow; etc.) dancing gracefully around the face and cracks, if the reference character is male: no crown, diadem, regalia, headpiece or any physical head adornment of any kind whatsoever; if female: wearing the majestic intricate crown of sharp obsidian crystals and glowing jewels colored to match reference palette exactly, thick elegant swirling anime-style elemental aura wisps and essence matching the chosen nature with luminous matching particles rising gracefully from cracks forming a divine mystical halo aura around the head, vibrant dramatic anime color palette, cinematic shading, razor sharp clean lines, highly detailed, intense emotion, epic dark fantasy anime key visual, stunning beauty or handsomeness, ultimate masterpiece quality, best quality
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@middle_class_us Alone in the wilderness I would have to work and build my own shelter, work and grow my own food, figure out how to provide medical treatment for myself. You have to earn all of these things no matter where you live.
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A living wage is not a luxury.
Shelter is not a luxury.
Food is not a luxury.
Healthcare is not a luxury.
These are the conditions required to be alive.
And America turned all of them into things you have to earn.
If you can't earn enough then you don't get to participate.
There is no floor.
There is no safety.
There is just the market.
And the market does not care if you survive.
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@OhRick4 @mangohedonist It wasn't FDR it was WWII. The fact that we were selling massive amounts of arms even before we were attacked in 1941 had a lot to do with the recover. The success after war can be attributed to the fact that all other industrial countries were rubble and we supplied everything
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@mangohedonist We were in the middle of The Great Depression due to wealth hoarding. Things didn't turn around until FDR...raised taxes. He proposed 100% and Congress compromised at 94%...and it stayed that way for years. It's how we got SS and all the other things they keep stripping away
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People really need to wake up
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and all the rest who are hoarding massive wealth SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED
ITS CALLED TAXES
When things were good the wealthy paid 70% and UP
When they started cutting them in the 80s is when things went to shit
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@BriskittyThe3rd It's always a "tiny" amount for "the rich". It never stays that way which is the problem.
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“waaaaaaah, how dare you make me pay a tiny amount to improve everyone’s well-being”
I genuinely hate these people so much.
The Rabbit Hole@TheRabbitHole
They don’t care for the poor. They just envy the rich.
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@EustaceEuseful @Tectone One would think my man, but sadly not everyone sees it that way.
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Shout outs to all the grown adults who understand
You can disagree and banter with your homies and still be good
Same thing with supporting creators, it’s okay to disagree with your favorites
It’s actually even healthy
No 2 individuals should agree on everything Everytime
It’s all good
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@FiadhBaikal Generally people don't LARP as these things. The are more projections from other people. Every accusation is an admission after all.
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I am not afraid of being called those things
But I am also not going to larp as those things either like some people do nowadays
TECTONE 🇺🇸@Tectone
Stop being afraid of being called racist. Stop being afraid of being called transphobic. Stop being afraid of being called a Nazi. Stop being afraid of being called words. If what you’re saying is the truth, feelings do not matter.
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The people who think I'm a horrible person are miserable freaks who believe it's okay to abuse trans people..
IbFluffy@ItbFluffy
@nyaraVT @ChibiReviews Do you feel like you deserve to be alone because aome people think you're a horrible person? Or That Chibi has a different opinion on subjects and we should not be trying to isolate or hate on people that haven't done a horrific crime?
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