'I Would Love It': Judge Threatens To Kick Trump Out Of Court In E. Jean Carroll Trial

'Facts and law side with Texas'

'Shock to the legal system'

Irsay has a history of drug and alcohol abuse

2 accounts of possible cryptid canines encountered in and around Arlington‚ Ohio (Hancock County) by different witnesses. What did the witnesses observe?The following account was forwarded to me:"When I was a teen back in the early 2000s I had a great fascination with werewolves. My uncle told me of this time when he and a friend were driving around Arlington‚ Ohio and a creature had walked in the middle of the road that looked like a big dog and the back reached the hood of the car‚ but was longer and had more mass than any dog they had ever seen. He said then it leaped to the side of the road and they drove off quickly.Now I at first called him a liar and said it was BS‚ but I went down to Florida 2 years ago and stayed with a cousin whose dad is one of my uncle's best friends. One night I was talking to him and I said‚ "Did my uncle ever tell you of the time that he and some friends were driving around Arlington..." This is where he interrupted me instantly and said a werewolf jumped out in front of the car. Now my uncle had not talked to this person for over five years and I had not mentioned anything about this to him before asking him.I was later told‚ by my dad's girlfriend who grew up around Arlington on a farm‚ that something happened to her when she was 10 years old. She said that her family were all eating supper one night and they remembered that they had forgotten to feed the chickens that day. So they had to run out and do it after supper. Her dad told her and her younger brother to go out and feed them. They got out into the shed that the chickens were in and heard scratching and clawing at the side of the shed. They both froze on the spot‚ not moving a muscle. Her dad then walked to the back porch and turned the light on and he yelled out to them. "When I tell you to run‚ I want you to hold onto your brother and run for this door! Don't stop until you get to me!" So they ran as fast as they could when her dad told them to "run!"When she reached the safety of the house‚ she asked him why he told them to run. He refused to tell her. So one day‚ when she was 16‚ her father told her what had happened. He had seen a shadow of something that reminded him of a bear on the barn by the shed. He said it was tall and slender and unlike any bear he had ever seen. That is all he told her." Name withheldShapeshifters: Morphing Monsters &; Changing CryptidsCryptid Cinema: Meditations on Bigfoot‚ Bayou Beasts &; Backwoods Bogeymen of the MoviesMonsters Among Us: An Exploration of Otherworldly Bigfoots‚ Wolfmen‚ Portals‚ Phantoms‚ and Odd PhenomenaAncient Monsters: An Anthology of First AppearancesCryptid U.S.: Tales of Bigfoot‚ Lake Monsters‚ and More from Across AmericaVoices From the CosmosToward the Light: Rescuing Spirits‚ Trapped Souls‚ and Earthbound GhostsCops' True Stories of the Paranormal: Ghosts‚ UFOs‚ and Other ShiversRegister a SNAP EBT CardTry Audible PlusPHANTOMS &; MONSTERS READING LISTHave you had a sighting or encounter?Contact me by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonAccess Phantoms &; Monsters Posts on Twitter 'X'-----YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS-----WEREWOLVES‚ PORTALS‚ &; CRAWLERS NEAR THE LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES - LIVE Chat - Lon Strickler (Host)A Tennessee family‚ who lives near the Land Between the Lakes‚ experiences a variety of unsettling phenomena. As time goes on‚ the husband gives a detailed account of the activity‚ along with updates. I will also detail a very bizarre incident in which the witnesses experienced an abomination while at the Land Between the Lakes Recreational Area.Over the years I have received many requests to post and talk about the strange and unexplained activity in the Land Between the Lakes area. I'll let you decide how dangerous this region is.If you have questions‚ feel free to post them in the live chat. I will do my best to answer each.-----ORDER THE AUDIOBOOK VERSIONORDER THE AUDIOBOOK VERSIONProject Threshold: Finale-----TODAY'S TOP LINKSDolls Seized at Peruvian Airport Upend 'Alien Bodies' Shown to Mexico's CongressIncredibly Rare Tibetan Brown Bear Spotted in India for the First Time EverFAERIES‚ ELVES‚ &; GNOMES - CRYPTID 'LITTLE PEOPLE' - LIVE Chat - Q &; A - Lon Strickler (Host)LISTEN TO NARRATIONS OF PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS REPORTS &; CASES - PLEASE SUBSCRIBE‚ LIKE &; SHAREThousands Have Mysteriously Disappeared in the Alaska TriangleInmate Found Dead with Heart Missing Per LawsuitPHANTOMS &; MONSTERS READING LISTCONSIDER ADVERTISING ON PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS RADIOLET'S DISCUSS YOUR OPTIONSClick the link for our Media KitCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistPHANTOMS &; MONSTERS RADIO Podcasts on Spotify**********Your financial support of Phantoms &; Monsters and our other pursuits is much appreciated. Please click the banner above. Thanks.Have you had a sighting or encounter?Contact us by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonAlso available with audiobooknarration by Terry Springs‚CBS-TV Las Vegas affiliate.The Dark Arts of MISTER SAM SHEARON - Original Prints &; MerchandiseThis blog and newsletter are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Work 3.0 United States License.Registered trademark PHANTOMS AND MONSTERS ® / PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS ® - USPTO #90902480 - Lon D. Strickler© 2005-2024 Phantoms &; Monsters - All Rights Reserved

A young man is deer hunting on private land in West Virginia with his father and uncle. While in his stand‚ he observes a buck with human-like eyes. When he attempts to shoot‚ the craziness begins!The following account was recently forwarded to me:"This happened in West Virginia about ten years ago. I have done my best to stuff my memory of it deep down but I accidentally watched a video on YouTube that basically re-traumatized me. What the presenter said really freaked me out and brought up this memory and now I don't know WTF to do with it. She discussed 'deer gods' and interdimensional being encounters!When I was 22 I went out hunting with my dad and uncle. We each had our own deer stand and blind in the private hunting ground that my uncle owned. About halfway through the morning hunt‚ there was this big buck that strode into my view‚ but he didn't look quite right. Not in a sick or mentally ill way. His eyes were more...human-like? The eyes looked like they contained a lot more intelligence. I put my gun to my eye to aim and the buck stopped cold. I swear he was looking at me. He knew. Then when I took the shot.. my trusty gun would NOT FIRE!. In a scramble‚ I checked my gun. It was fine. But it wouldn't shoot! The deer just stood there and kept staring at me. Then‚ on my second check of the gun‚ I got a really weird and eerie feeling. When I looked back up‚ this thing was standing on its hind legs and staring at me. I froze. It started to charge‚ running on its hind legs‚ full speed‚ directly toward my stand!I left everything and fell about halfway down the ladder. I know I screwed up my ankle that day and I didn't care. I was terrified. I could hear the footsteps running towards me and I ran as fast as I could. Maybe like a fourth of the way to my dad's blind‚ I looked behind me because I was still hearing the footsteps right on my heels. But there was nothing there. The running steps chased me almost until I got to the blind. My dad thought I had been shot or something because of how I was behaving and breathing. He carried me to the truck and when I calmed down he told me that he'd heard other similar stories in the area.I haven't gone into the woods or hunting since. That was ten years ago and until now‚ I haven't known WTF to do with my experience. I've been kind of watching and listening to paranormal shows since then‚ trying to make sense of it.Just last week I watched that video on YouTube about deer and their relation to death‚ gods‚ Fortean theories‚ and the like. Since watching that episode‚ I've been messed up thinking that I was trying to kill a 'deer god' and that's why the buck chased me. She had some great points and a really interesting interdimensional theory. It might have put some pieces together for me. But should I go back to those woods and apologize? I'm paralyzed in fear to this day about it all and I'm not trying to make enemies‚ especially with some wild god. What should I do?" QNOTE: This is a first for me. 'Deer Gods?' 'Interdimensional Deer?' What are your thoughts? LonShapeshifters: Morphing Monsters &; Changing CryptidsCryptid Cinema: Meditations on Bigfoot‚ Bayou Beasts &; Backwoods Bogeymen of the MoviesMonsters Among Us: An Exploration of Otherworldly Bigfoots‚ Wolfmen‚ Portals‚ Phantoms‚ and Odd PhenomenaAncient Monsters: An Anthology of First AppearancesCryptid U.S.: Tales of Bigfoot‚ Lake Monsters‚ and More from Across AmericaVoices From the CosmosToward the Light: Rescuing Spirits‚ Trapped Souls‚ and Earthbound GhostsCops' True Stories of the Paranormal: Ghosts‚ UFOs‚ and Other ShiversRegister a SNAP EBT CardTry Audible PlusPHANTOMS &; MONSTERS READING LISTHave you had a sighting or encounter?Contact me by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonAccess Phantoms &; Monsters Posts on Twitter 'X'-----YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS-----WEREWOLVES‚ PORTALS‚ &; CRAWLERS NEAR THE LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES - LIVE Chat - Lon Strickler (Host)A Tennessee family‚ who lives near the Land Between the Lakes‚ experiences a variety of unsettling phenomena. As time goes on‚ the husband gives a detailed account of the activity‚ along with updates. I will also detail a very bizarre incident in which the witnesses experienced an abomination while at the Land Between the Lakes Recreational Area.Over the years I have received many requests to post and talk about the strange and unexplained activity in the Land Between the Lakes area. I'll let you decide how dangerous this region is.If you have questions‚ feel free to post them in the live chat. I will do my best to answer each.-----ORDER THE AUDIOBOOK VERSIONORDER THE AUDIOBOOK VERSIONProject Threshold: Finale-----TODAY'S TOP LINKSDolls Seized at Peruvian Airport Upend 'Alien Bodies' Shown to Mexico's CongressIncredibly Rare Tibetan Brown Bear Spotted in India for the First Time EverFAERIES‚ ELVES‚ &; GNOMES - CRYPTID 'LITTLE PEOPLE' - LIVE Chat - Q &; A - Lon Strickler (Host)LISTEN TO NARRATIONS OF PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS REPORTS &; CASES - PLEASE SUBSCRIBE‚ LIKE &; SHAREThousands Have Mysteriously Disappeared in the Alaska TriangleInmate Found Dead with Heart Missing Per LawsuitPHANTOMS &; MONSTERS READING LISTCONSIDER ADVERTISING ON PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS RADIOLET'S DISCUSS YOUR OPTIONSClick the link for our Media KitCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistPHANTOMS &; MONSTERS RADIO Podcasts on Spotify**********Your financial support of Phantoms &; Monsters and our other pursuits is much appreciated. Please click the banner above. Thanks.Have you had a sighting or encounter?Contact us by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonAlso available with audiobooknarration by Terry Springs‚CBS-TV Las Vegas affiliate.The Dark Arts of MISTER SAM SHEARON - Original Prints &; MerchandiseThis blog and newsletter are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Work 3.0 United States License.Registered trademark PHANTOMS AND MONSTERS ® / PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS ® - USPTO #90902480 - Lon D. Strickler© 2005-2024 Phantoms &; Monsters - All Rights Reserved

There have been thousands of songs written about the moon in pop music culture. Three distinctive reasons fuel songwriters’ desire to write about the moon. One is romance‚ of course‚ and the other two are adventure and horror. Obviously‚ there’s been much more written about romance than adventure and horror‚ but some good ones have floated around the Dark Side of the Moon. Our favorite Moon songs with a rock edge tend to be a mix of both. There are so many. We start out with our top 10 and then added the rest in random order.  # 10 – The post 50 Classic Rock Songs About The Moon appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

From microscopic fungi growing on lichens in Antarctica‚ to a towering tree in Cameroon’s cloud forest‚ weighing in at 7-8 tons‚ 2023 was a great year for expanding humanity’s understanding of our woody‚ flowering neighbors. 74 plants and 15 fungi were named and described for the first time by botanists and mycologists studying around the […] The post Scientists Pick Top 10 Favorite New Plants and Fungi Discovered in 2023–From the Mysterious to the Magnificent appeared first on Good News Network.

May the spice flow… for one day. IMAX announced today that it would play Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One in select theaters for just one day‚ and those who can snag tickets will also be treated to an “exclusive sneak peek” of Dune: Part Two. The event‚ which will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday‚ January 24 at select IMAX theaters‚ is‚ of course‚ part of the promotional lead-up to the release of Dune: Part Two‚ which is set to premiere in theaters on March 15‚ 2024. What will be part of the “exclusive sneak peek” at this screening is unclear‚ though it’s likely to be scenes from the upcoming film‚ which chronicles the second part of Frank Hebert’s iconic sci-fi novel‚ Dune. Dune: Part One takes place through the first part of Hebert’s book‚ up to the moment when Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother (Rebecca Ferguson) have joined the Fremen after the Harkonnens have murdered Paul’s father (Oscar Isaac) and reclaimed rule of the desert planet‚ Arrakis (aka Dune). The second film‚ according to Villenueve‚ will be more emotional than the first. “Part One was like the promise of something‚ but Part Two delivers on that‚” the director said in an interview this summer with Empire‚ later adding that‚ “the first movie was more contemplative—a young man discovering a world. Here‚ it’s a war movie.” Part Two will also bring some of the book’s major characters to the big screen‚ including Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler)‚  Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh)‚ and Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken). Whatever we have in store for us in Part Two‚ the opportunity to see the first film on an IMAX screen (again) before the second movie comes out is a good thing. You can see if there are tickets available for a screening near you by clicking here.

Welcome back to Reading the Weird‚ in which we get girl cooties all over weird fiction‚ cosmic horror‚ and Lovecraftiana—from its historical roots through its most recent branches. This week‚ we continue Max Gladstone’s Last Exit with Chapters 23-24. The novel was first published in 2022. Spoilers ahead!   “You and me‚ we’re gonna ride the whirlwind all the way to Hell or Oz.” The first time Zelda followed Sal into the Medicine Wheel‚ she didn’t believe Sal’s contention that the place felt “completely normal.” Now Zelda understands. Though from inside the Wheel seems to stretch on forever—wouldn’t it be stranger not to see everything‚ not to be able to “greet every being face to face and name it in its own tongue”? Above her‚ the sky births stars‚ golden webs‚ three moons “full‚ new‚ gravid‚ and gone.” She’s larger here‚ unfolded. Her strides cross leagues‚ and she soon approaches the Wheel’s center and the fixed light of the northern Bear. Vertigo-sickened‚ she stares down “a pit four hundred and thirty light years deep” to a tri-star system. Another step plunges her into storm: a rage of wind‚ lightning and thunder‚ music and whale-shapes surging through the dark. Once she thought the storm came from outside‚ from the rot. Instead the storm lives here‚ as if “the weight of so much spin‚ of so many different worlds and might-have-beens‚ created this vortex.” Ten years before‚ a voice on the Wheel-wind asked “What do you seek?” Zelda answered‚ for “it to be okay.” The answer: “Child‚ it never is.” Still‚ she reached Sal and dragged her from the Wheel nearly frozen‚ arm shredded as if by a barbed-wire hand. Ten years later she turns her spin against the storm of “grief‚ hunger‚ blame‚” and her skin is too scar-armored for the storm to defeat her. Show me the way‚ she demands‚ and—the storm stops‚ so abruptly that she falls. A hand reaches toward her—Sal sits in the eye of the storm‚ not the sky-tall fire-and-shadow Sal but “Sal‚ before she was lost. Sal‚ before Zelda failed.” Zelda struggles to figure out how this can be and how to say something that won’t mess things up. Sal speaks Zelda’s name‚ and they simply embrace. Everything Zelda’s reading about time travel tells her it’s dangerous to answer Sal’s: “How long?” She answers anyway. “Am I…” Sal asks. Is she dead? No‚ Zelda says‚ as she’s always insisted. Zelda got scared‚ Sal says. But everyone gets scared‚ including the Sal Zelda thought so fearless. Zelda’s impulse now is to tell Sal to leave and never think of her again. Instead she tells Sal that she never stopped loving her. Sal replies that she loves Zelda. They’re in this together‚ and Sal won’t let go if Zelda doesn’t. It’s not our choice‚ Zelda wants to say. Out there is a great hungry darkness‚ and love won’t “blunt its teeth.” “I’m scared right now‚” Sal says. And why not‚ with the eye of the storm closing in. Zelda clings to Sal‚ silently begging the moment to be forever‚ for them not to have to face what comes next‚ ten years back. Don’t let Zelda fail‚ don’t let Sal change‚ let them stay together‚ holding each other. *** Ramon wakes to a storm that shakes the Challenger. Zelda should have warned him it was coming‚ but she always meant to enter the Wheel alone‚ didn’t she? The Challenger responds I told you so. Ramon can’t trust anyone out here‚ it insists‚ and he’d rather have his cozy life back home than the truth. Zelda knows he’s not fit to follow her. Does he think he can help her now‚ struggling in the tempest inside the Wheel? No‚ says the Challenger: “she wins or dies. That’s America.” Nevertheless‚ he struggles into the Wheel and lets his knack lead him one step at a time to Zelda. He had faith once in his power to fix things. He had faith Zelda would always know what to do. Now he believes if there’s a cosmic design‚ only a “vast and utterly alien consciousness” could apprehend it. That said‚ there’s some gravity to it all that led them together by the intent of will‚ care‚ love. He finds Zelda and carries her out along a stone-delineated spoke. Emerging from the Wheel‚ he steps into dawnlight. The sky’s clear‚ the Challenger half-covered in drifted sand. Three riders approach on dead horses: two women and‚ unmistakable‚ “the bulk of Ish.” *** Ten years before‚ after Zelda pulled Sal from the Medicine Wheel‚ they huddled in one sleeping bag‚ Zelda desperate to warm her lover. Sal was like ice‚ but even asleep she smiled‚ happy. Zelda lay awake‚ wondering if their capital-Q Quest would ever lead to an end: the treasure‚ the grail. The crossroads was still far away‚ if it existed at all outside their needs and desires. The night silence was broken by the jingling of silver bells‚ too melodious to belong in the rotting alts. Zelda looked toward their ashed-over campfire where the air twisted as if someone was hitching in. What appeared was a woman in white on a white horse. The woman was about Zelda’s age‚ and she fixed on Zelda a wise‚ gentle smile. “Do not be afraid‚” she said. “Long have I sought you‚ and we have much to do.” This Week’s Metrics Fighting the Cowboy: Continued creation of Terra Preta in the Amazon. If you don’t know about Terra Preta‚ you’re one of today’s lucky 10‚000! Libronomicon: Is there advice to the reader in Zelda’s wish to pause time with Sal alive “like a sentence is when you close the book and put it down and never read the next”? Weirdbuilding: Zelda may be genre-savvy about time travel‚ but that doesn’t make her behave any differently when talking to Younger Sal. Madness Takes Its Toll: Zelda has faced the cracks in the world before‚ and “the madness there.” So she’s very sure she can make her way through the storm within the wheel‚ and make it “bow to her.” I’m not sure that’s how any of this works.   Anne’s Commentary In Chapter 23‚ Ramon confronts home truths about the human intellect’s limitations in grasping the core nature of the cosmos‚ its “logic or justice”: If there was a design to it all‚ a way the pieces fit‚ the consciousness that could apprehend it would look vast and utterly alien to his own‚ all wrong damn angles and higher dimensions‚ the kind of math professors said that even geniuses would understand for at most fifteen minutes in their whole career‚ and in those fifteen minutes the question was‚ how fast can you type. I tried to type fast enough to record my insights from our first trip inside the Medicine Wheel‚ which epiphanies lasted for roughly five microseconds—I’m no higher (or even lower) mathematician. Nor am I a vast wrong-angled consciousness‚ fun though that might be. But since I did type down my impressions‚ I include them below. Is the Wheel singular but omnipresent across all worlds by some trick of the altiverse‚ or is it plural‚ each world/alt having its own Wheel? Or is the Wheel neither singular nor plural but both? Say there’s One Wheel to Rule Them All‚ if ruling is what the Wheel even does. We could think of an omnipresent Wheel as having a site-specific iteration in each alt. I first visualized an infinitely expansive Sphere. Its interior holds the One True Reality (OTR). On its surface‚ percolated from the OTR‚ are an infinite number of bubbles or buds‚ each a discrete world/alt/possibility. All buds remain connected to the Sphere and communicate with the OTR interior. Or to stick with the Wheel metaphor. Picture an infinitely large wagon wheel‚ with an infinite number of spokes radiating from the central hub to the outer rim. The hub would represent the One True Reality‚ the rim (like the surface of the Sphere) an interface with the Not-Cosmos (see below.) The spokes‚ then‚ are analogous to the Sphere buds‚ site-specific iterations of the OTR‚ one per world/alt/possibility. All the spokes connect to and communicate with the OTR hub. Beyond the surface of the Sphere or the rim of the Wheel is the Not-Cosmos‚ call it a second OTR. This would be the Outside‚ the Realm of Rot—maybe the home of that utterly alien consciousness Ramon supposes capable of apprehending the design of it all. As it’s in contact with Sphere-Skin and Wheel-Rim‚ the Outside can infect their bud/spoke iterations; via these iterations‚ the Outside could conceivably infect the Sphere-Interior and Wheel-Hub. Which would suck. Or would it? We’re not sure the Outside is Totally Evil. In the end‚ Sal experienced it as ecstatic revelation…. Maybe I didn’t type fast enough after all‚ because I bogged down in confuddlement at this point.  What are Zelda’s impressions of the internal anatomy of the Wheel? First‚ that its interior is as big as the world. Second‚ that her vision expands not only to encompass its expanse but to see every being in it. Third‚ that she herself expands as if bursting free from a larval shell. It’s a euphoric experience until she nears the center of the Wheel. There a “pit” descends light years to a triple-star system—the actual location of the alt where she and Ramon are camped‚ or of the alt she needs to find? Her sense of normality becomes a crushing sense of alienation‚ and she plunges into storm. She used to think the storm came from outside the Wheel. Now she realizes the storm “lives” in the Wheel‚ a vortex manifested from all the grief and spent spin of ruined worlds. With the road-scars accumulated over ten years‚ Zelda’s sufficiently armored to fight through the storm to the very center of the Wheel. The Wheel‚ she’s believed‚ is the same in every alt‚ every point of time. This trip in‚ she leaps to a new comprehension of the Wheel as infinitely layered. Other worlds exist within the storm-vortex‚ but they’re “written” in languages she doesn’t know‚ scribbles without meaning. The language that she can read‚ the heart of Zelda’s Wheel‚ is Sal—unchanged‚ unlost‚ unfailed. It’s as if the Wheel‚ having asked what Zelda seeks‚ provides it. Zelda wants it to be okay‚ and “okay” for her is Sal‚ dauntless. Chapter 23 ends in story present. Chapter 24 opens in story past: Having rescued Sal from the Wheel‚ Zelda is clueless about their next step forward‚ unsure the crossroads even exist. It’s time for the cavalry to gallop in‚ right? No‚ nothing so noisily dramatic. Scratch the bugles; ethereal silver bells will do. Scratch the troop of lathered horses; a single horse‚ immaculately white‚ will do‚ ridden by a very Galadriel of a white-clad woman‚ young but ages-wise‚ immune to all earthly stainage. She even speaks in high-fantasy fashion‚ eschewing “I’ve been looking for you guys forever” to “Long have I sought you.” The princess‚ I presume! It looks like the White-Hat Cowboy has a counter in the White Lady of Elsinore‚ on a White Palfrey to boot! It remains only for those Whales cruising the Wheel-Storm to be White‚ proper avatars of natural/supernatural Malice or at least Indifference. Yes.   Ruthanna’s Commentary The Wheel is present in every alt. The wheel is a gorgeous inversion of the eldritch: it’s everyday experience that feels uncanny when compared to the all-encompassing perceptions within. The wheel’s spokes point to north stars‚ personal or astronomical. There are a lot of things in this book that claim to represent the really real; only the Wheel makes a persuasive case. Which is ironic since it’s one of the few things that doesn’t take on anthropomorphic form to argue for itself. This is the first point at which it’s really struck me‚ for example‚ that the Challenger’s voice isn’t just Ramon’s internal monologue‚ but an actual entity in its own right—possibly the Cowboy. Or at least a near relation: what’s as American as guns‚ if not cars? Which puts a whole new light on the Challenger’s insistence that Only The Road Is Real. On this read‚ those claims are less Ramon’s own self-doubt and self-sabotage‚ and more the negging that keeps him in an abusive relationship with a genius machina. What happens‚ I wonder‚ when Ish’s firearm meets up with Ramon’s vehicle? I wonder a lot of things‚ in fact. Maybe it’s the inevitable result of spending a chapter in close proximity to the heart of the really real: it’s increasingly obvious how much I don’t know. For example: In a place where all times are one time‚ are temporal paradoxes actually a thing we need to worry about? If so‚ did we just get one? Why does Zelda insist Older Sal is being tortured‚ given that Older Sal seems pretty happy (if pointy) whenever we encounter her? Are we about to learn the deal with Elsinore? If the gang really did make up the Crossroads‚ does that mean they aren’t there? (If the U.S. really did make up the nightmare alts‚ does that mean you wake up after getting eaten by a cannibal zombie? I suspect no‚ on both counts.) If Zelda planned “so much to do” with the woman in white ten years ago‚ what happened after that? And if that woman’s the Princess‚ what’s she been up to this past decade? And et cetera. This is a master class in peeling away layers of assumption: from the reader‚ from the characters‚ from the genre(s). I know less than I thought I did at the beginning‚ but that’s the beginning of wisdom‚ right? No one ever says what the completion of wisdom involves. Probably more not-knowing‚ grumble. This is such a big part of what Zelda and Sal struggle with: both are afraid to admit to not-knowing‚ and both want desperately for the other to deserve her pedestal. There would be real potential for a mature relationship there‚ someday‚ if they hadn’t tumbled into the sort of adventure that makes pedestals plausible. And so here’s Sal‚ sitting at the heart of the Wheel‚ torn in a tug-of-war between Zelda and Zelda. And here’s Zelda‚ torn by desire for Sal-who-was and fear/desire/repulsion for Sal-who-is. An endless moebius strip of mutual tug-of-war‚ drawing the universe forward. Zelda feels a kinship with the Wheel‚ caught in a storm of grief. This seems both accurate and arrogant. The heart of reality is grieving for apocalyptic loss: not some nightmare-alt but the bone-foundation that the Cowboy seeks to deny and celebrate all at once. Survivors building in the ashes‚ making space amid those who did the burning‚ isn’t as cinematic as Mad Max stitchmouths—but it’s what every one of those nightmares is built to elide. Zelda doesn’t fully grasp it even walking the storm. Maybe none of them grasp it—or they wouldn’t be so anxious to pull each other back from the center. After all how else‚ other than turning a wheel‚ are a gang of adventurers likely to finally make a revolution?   Next week‚ Nadia Bulkin’s “Seven Minutes in Heaven” asks why one world survives while the next one over dies—a pressing question for any alt-rider. You can find it in Nick Mamatas’ Wonder and Glory Forever anthology. Ruthanna Emrys is the author of A Half-Built Garden and the Innsmouth Legacy series‚ including Winter Tide and Deep Roots. You can find some of her fiction‚ weird and otherwise‚ on Tor.com‚ most recently “The Word of Flesh and Soul.” Ruthanna is online on Twitter and Patreon and on Mastodon as r_emrys@wandering.shop‚ and offline in a mysterious manor house with her large‚ chaotic household—mostly mammalian—outside Washington DC. Anne M. Pillsworth’s short story “The Madonna of the Abattoir” appears on Tor.com. Her young adult Mythos novel‚ Summoned‚ is available from Tor Teen along with sequel Fathomless. She lives in Edgewood‚ a Victorian trolley car suburb of Providence‚ Rhode Island‚ uncomfortably near Joseph Curwen’s underground laboratory.