Tiger

I can actually see that. It's a very intense song really. And Tarin... Mmm Bop is disturbing.

I'll list the hierarchy from top to bottom. Emperor/Empress- This is the ultimate ruler over the entire empire. The Empress has no husband, but when he was alive he had the title of Emperor because they were married, but the imperial bloodline was hers, so that makes the power ultimately hers. The Empress is also known as the Queen of Jevartus. It's ruled basically as a city/state and she is the ruler. There is also a Governor of Jevartus who rules in her absence. She can forfeit this title to the heir to the imperial throne if she so chooses. Imperial Chancellors- They rule over multiple kingdoms. For example, while King Frederico is also King of the South, he's also Imperial Chancellor of the Americas. Normally, they are relatives of the Emperor/Empress. Imperial family- The imperial family is the next step down. Imperial princes and princesses are the siblings, sons, daughters, nieces and nephews of the emperor/empress. Mihai is both an imperial prince and a royal prince. He's imperial because his father's side of the family is descended from the imperial line. King/Queen- They rule over kingdoms but ultimately answer to the Empress. If I remember correctly (and someone please correct me if I'm wrong), the kings and queens of Europe were also under imperial rule when the Roman Empire was at its height of power. Duke/Duchess- They rule over a duchy, which is an area of designation within a kingdom. They can be members of a royal family but are not always. Prince/Princess- They are actually normally below Dukes and Duchesses but not always. In the UK for example, the Prince (or Princess) of Wales is higher than any Duke or Duchess and is the heir to the throne. In this series, I don't give them areas of designation, but in the UK they do have such designations. Normally, they become Dukes or Duchesses when they become adults. Marquis/Marchioness- A step below Prince/Princess. Count/Countess- This is the middle of the nobility. In the UK, Earl is the title for a man. Konstantin is a Count, because his father is a Duke, and he is the eldest. Not all have this title because of a parent being a duke/duchess, but it's common. A count's son is also likely to be a baron but again, not always. Note: I am not using the title, Earl, because it reminds me of the worst hick name ever. I mean no offense to anyone named Earl. If that's your name, you have my deepest sympathy. Viscount(ess)- A step below still. The eldest of a Marquis/Marchioness is likely to have this title. Baron(ess)- This is the lowest title in the nobility. Baronet(ess)- This is the highest of the gentry. Often, they are military figures. Hereditary Knight- That is the middle of the gentry. Again, often associated with military. Knight/Dame- This would be a title given by a monarch to honor the person. All but this one are hereditary titles. May or not be in the military. There are some key differences. For example, if a king or queen is corrupt (along with all or most of his or her family), the Empress (or Emperor if a man is reigning) can remove that entire family from that particular throne. She's done so twice. That's one of those peripheral things that I know but haven't made it into the story itself and may or may not, though it's pretty obvious that this is the case in the kingdom that King Frederico rules. I just haven't gone into all the details except that Empress Guadalupe wanted him away from Hebalon but respected the fact that he was deserving of power even though he's a horny bastard who crosses too many lines with his dick. Also, there are different permission levels for portals (among other things) based on levels. I hope that answers the first part of your question. As for the demons, there are 9 houses, one of which is denied a seat on the council. I'll cover that more in the story at some point. But for most intents and purposes at this point, there are 8 houses. The House of the Snake is in power right now, and the leader of it is the Demon King. The House of the Lizard is next to be in power followed by The House of the Spider on down. For the council, The House of the Cat normally does not have a vote unless the vote is directed at another house, in which case the house that the vote is about does not get a vote. The House of the Cat was the last to be in power, so it is now at the bottom. When the House of the Snake is out of power it will be last, and the next house in power will likely be the House of the Lizard (unless they fail their mission) or the House of the Spider (if the House of the Lizard fails). Now more about voting: If there are two houses directly involved in what the vote is about, neither those two houses nor the House of the Cat get votes, because there must be an odd number of votes to prevent ties. Thus, if the House of the Cat and two other houses are excluded, it would mean a total of 5 votes or a 3-2 victory rather than 6 votes with 3-3 tie. I hope that makes sense.

A definitive answer for that is all but impossible. Back then ships depended much more on the ocean currents. If the was blowing against the ship, it added more time. If the wind was blowing with the ship, the voyage would certainly take less time. There's also other issues such as storms, and those can really put a damper on the time. One of the worst issues, of course, is getting into battles at sea, which can tack on a lot of time IF it causes severe enough damage to the point where you must have your ship repaired at the nearest port. There's also the issue of food. Most meats and such would packed with large amounts of salt to preserve them. However, it only lasts so long, so if you run out of food, and especially fresh water, your ship is in trouble. You would have had to restock on food from time to time. Luckily, it's not as far as some places. Corsica is an island that east and slightly south of the Iberian peninsula (Spain). It is considered to be a region of France and has been a part of France since 1764 (almost 350 years). Anyway, estimating travel time was far from an exact science, and even with all of our technology today, you cannot estimate an exact time of arrival, because there are too many variables, although it would be a much shorter voyage today. Now, for my comments about the chapter. I thought it was great. There was tension, love, and politics. Oh yes, it had everything we've come to expect from Mark. I see foreshadowing, however, of how poor Cavendish will take it when he is reassigned or whatever. He will take it really hard. He has many lessons to learn I'm sure. I'm also quite certain it's a good thing that George is on his voyage and away from London. This will give The Brotherhood as well as his wife and father to do what they can to give him more credibility, and hopefully by the time he returns, we'll find that Admiral Wilcox is a former admiral who has been forced out of the navy in shame.

I find myself trying to remember what drugs he was using. Wasn't it pain killers? I doubt pain killers (except maybe dilaudid, morphine, and MSContin, the latter of which did not exist in 1968) could cause someone to fall quite that quickly. However, heroin and methamphetamine (again did not exist then) could cause someone go down hill that quickly. Those are some serious drugs. So while the idea that just pills would do that is far-fetched, the idea of someone dying so quickly from using certain drugs is not out of the question, especially when needles are involved. If someone could remind me what he was using it would help. I do remember him using the needle, but I'm trying to remember whether or not he was on heroin.

Jeff was a complicated character. I don't like what happened to him. I don't think placing blame on JP is fair though. He is flawed. But why wouldn't he be? His father was a cold-hearted bastard. His brother was an asshole. His mother was a whore. What about that household suggests that JP would be "normal"?

That was accidental. I don't know why I did that. I'd certainly hope you wouldn't make one of your characters like Donald Trump. Not only is he an arrogant pig, but he's also an ugly f**ker.

Enric, Steven dies in World War II after impregnating Stefan's mother, who was probably became a whore shortly after that. Anyway, he won't be marrying that girl, at least I doubt he will be unless he does so right before he's off to France. So really there's no point in saying that it will last, because we already know it will not. This is unfortunate, but that's how the story goes.

Jhol, the narrator is speaking in 3rd person in that one. It is neither Travis nor Owen.

Well, Granger has already been f**ked by a future king.

In my last blog entry I expressed outrage at the proposed changes to curriculum in Texas. This article has recently been posted on the Texas ACLU website. They, along with the NAACP, have drafted and sent a letter to the Texas Board of Education. While the ACLU did not yet suggest there were going to take litigious action, they did use legal precedents. I think this could be a huge legal battle that redefines what state boards of education can and cannot do, at least that is my hope. It was several years ago when the Kansas Board of Education wanted to do away with the teaching of evolution and replace it with bullshit creationism. Personally, I think the federal government needs to create legislation that would completely obliterate federal government funding for states who make these kinds of changes. Anyway, there's the article.

I just read it. This was a great chapter. It looks like the plan is about to reach fruition. The empire has created its own destruction. I venture to say that Jamie's plan may very well strike at the emperor himself. I'm definitely looking forward to finding out what happens. Also, I listened to the audio as I read.

His grandfather is in Antigua. That makes a difference. His grandfather is not under the microscope like those on the British Isles.

If that were the case, we would not have Hello Stupid.

He's probably right about that. Also, he'd never get with Granger either. In those times it was bad enough to even sleep with other men, let alone ones so far below or above your social status. It's still probably a big deal in the UK but not to nearly the same extent as it was then.

Oh, I like it. It's so sick and twisted. I love sick and twisted! I can imagine that there'll be some BDSM later on. Gregor says he doesn't like guys, but yet he really seems to like some of them at least. Good start, Carl!

Ricky, the problem some have with Cavendish is that he's not Calvert. Some really wanted him to stay. They love him to pieces. I don't blame them. He was a yummy character. Hopefully they'll get used to "Gravendish" soon.

I have to say I prefer Quinn. As for the "quick change", he was faced with a situation where he had to face his demons once and for all. He's not unbelievable. Quinn is just, as Comicality says, a shiny example of Dom's "flair for drama".

That's a good one paya! I love that one. So this song is said to be the sexiest song ever...

Apparently, you missed a lot of stuff about Rory. He was pretty messed up too. First, he was pissed at having to move to Arizona, and he didn't want to get to know his father. He missed the fact that he was in a "house of queers". The boy was totally clueless and stubborn. Oh, and remember his venture out into the wilderness where he got a thorn? Oh, and he didn't realize that he wanted to stay in Arizona until the last second. Quinn was certainly a mess as well. He had a hard time accepting his sexuality, and he got drunk a bunch of times. It seemed to take him forever, and even when he started to accept it, he still had issues. In short, both of them were a mess.

Well, that's at least one god born in November too. Me!

I agree completely, Mark. Someone needs to do something about this. Education is too important for a group of misguided bible thumpers to destroy the education system like this. I just emailed the ACLU in Austin. This needs to be challenged in federal court. It's not about Republicans and Democrats. It's about the future of our children.

Steve, since when is 10 Republicans voting in favor of something and 5 Democrats voting against something not partisan? It says exactly that in the second paragraph. If any special interest groups are involved, it's the conservative think tanks, especially the religious zealot/bigot assholes who hate anyone who is not straight and white. And some of the board members were quoted, saying that education has a liberal bias. So this liberal bias myth conservatives made up is their excuse for rewriting history and promoting the "free enterprise system" in a good light instead of the flawed system that needs to be done away with in the US and replaced by the mixed market systems that have made almost every single European nation plus Canada and Australia better places to live than the US. Essentially, they're turning history and economics into fiction to promote their extreme right wing views. Mussolini would be proud.

I do sometimes. In fact, a certain someone has gotten me into the idea of wearing them more often.

I enjoyed the chapter. The Brotherhood is definitely an interesting twist. I like the idea of an orgy and Stonehenge. That sounds hot! Oh, and it seems that even Spencer is intimidated by Sir John. I love it. Poor Granger though... he'll be stuck having an admiral on his ship for a while. I'd always thought admirals had their own ships. I'm a little confused about that. :wacko:

It says it right in the article that it's the Republicans, Steve. If there's any special interest groups involved, it's likely the Evangelical preachers. Also, I've toned down my language a bit. I'm still mad as hell though. I've been fuming about this for several days.