1 Info + author's note

I plan to reasonably delve into each world the MC goes to, as I think it will be good for the story.

I would say about 150-200 chapters per world can be a nice thing.

About the Harem, I still have some doubts, as making it too big can bring problems in the future, let me know what thoughts you have for the future of this story, I will be answering all your suggestions and questions.

Everything I will write in this author's note from now on can be skipped, go straight to chapter 1.

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HAREM IS SOO GOOD HAREM IS SOO GOOD HAREM IS SOO GOOD HAREM IS SOO GOOD HAREM IS SOO GOOD HAREM IS SOO GOOD HAREM IS SOO GOOD HAREM IS SOO GOOD HAREM IS SOO GOOD HAREM IS SOO GOOD HAREM IS SOO GOOD HAREM IS SOO GOOD HAREM IS SOO GOOD HAREM IS SOO GOOD HAREM IS SOO GOOD HAREM IS SOO GOODHAREM IS SOO GOODHAREM IS SOO GOODHAREM IS SOO GOODHAREM IS SOO GOOD

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The Sea King had been a widower for many years, and his aged mother kept house for him. She was a very wise woman, and exceedingly proud of her high birth; on that account she wore twelve oysters on her tail; while others, also of high rank, were only allowed to wear six. She was, however, deserving of very great praise, especially for her care of the little sea-princesses, her grand-daughters. They were six beautiful children; but the youngest was the prettiest of them all; her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea; but, like all the others, she had no feet, and her body ended in a fish's tail. All day long they played in the great halls of the castle, or among the living flowers that grew out of the walls. The large amber windows were open, and the fish swam in, just as the swallows fly into our houses when we open the windows, excepting that the fishes swam up to the princesses, ate out of their hands, and allowed themselves to be stroked. Outside the castle there was a beautiful garden, in which grew bright red and dark blue flowers, and blossoms like flames of fire; the fruit glittered like gold, and the leaves and stems waved to and fro continually. The earth itself was the finest sand, but blue as the flame of burning sulphur. Over everything lay a peculiar blue radiance, as if it were surrounded by the air from above, through which the blue sky shone, instead of the dark depths of the sea. In calm weather the sun could be seen, looking like a purple flower, with the light streaming from the calyx. Each of the young princesses had a little plot of ground in the garden, where she might dig and plant as she pleased. One arranged her flower-bed into the form of a whale; another thought it better to make hers like the figure of a little mermaid; but that of the youngest was round like the sun, and contained flowers as red as his rays at sunset. She was a strange child, quiet and thoughtful; and while her sisters would be delighted with the wonderful things which they obtained from the wrecks of vessels, she cared for nothing but her pretty red flowers, like the sun, excepting a beautiful marble statue. It was the representation of a handsome boy, carved out of pure white

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As soon as the eldest was fifteen, she was allowed to rise to the surface of the ocean. When she came back, she had hundreds of things to talk about; but the most beautiful, she said, was to lie in the moonlight, on a sandbank, in the quiet sea, near the coast, and to gaze on a large town nearby, where the lights were twinkling like hundreds of stars; to listen to the sounds of the music, the noise of carriages, and the voices of human beings, and then to hear the merry bells peal out from the church steeples; and because she could not go near to all those wonderful things, she longed for them more than ever. Oh, did not the youngest sister listen eagerly to all these descriptions? and afterwards, when she stood at the open window looking up through the dark blue water, she thought of the great city, with all its bustle and noise, and even fancied she could hear the sound of the church bells, down in the depths of the sea.

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When first the sisters had permission to rise to the surface, they were each delighted with the new and beautiful sights they saw; but now, as grown-up girls, they could go when they pleased, and they had become indifferent about it. They wished themselves back again in the water, and after a month had passed they said it was much more beautiful down below, and pleasanter to be at home. Yet often, in the evening hours, the five sisters would twine their arms round each other, and rise to the surface, in a row. They had more beautiful voices than any human being could have; and before the approach of a storm, and when they expected a ship would be lost, they swam before the vessel, and sang sweetly of the delights to be found in the depths of the sea, and begging the sailors not to fear if they sank to the bottom. But the sailors could not understand the song, they took it for the howling of the storm. And these things were never to be beautiful for them; for if the ship sank, the men were drowned, and their dead bodies alone reached the palace of the Sea King.

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When the sisters rose, arm-in-arm, through the water in this way, their youngest sister would stand quite alone, looking after them, ready to cry, only that the mermaids have no tears, and therefore they suffer more. "Oh, were I but fifteen years old," said she: "I know that I shall love the world up there, and all the people who live in it."

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At last she reached her fifteenth year. "Well, now, you are grown up," said the old dowager, her grandmother; "so you must let me adorn you like your other sisters;" and she placed a wreath of white lilies in her hair, and every flower leaf was half a pearl. Then the old lady ordered eight great oysters to attach themselves to the tail of the princess to show her high rank.

"But they hurt me so," said the little mermaid.

"Pride must suffer pain," replied the old lady. Oh, how gladly she would have shaken off all this grandeur, and laid aside the heavy wreath! The red flowers in her own garden would have suited her much better, but she could not help herself: so she said, "Farewell," and rose as lightly as a bubble to the surface of the water. The sun had just set as she raised her head above the waves; but the clouds were tinted with crimson and gold, and through the glimmering twilight beamed the evening star in all its beauty. The sea was calm, and the air mild and fresh. A large ship, with three masts, lay becalmed on the water, with only one sail set; for not a breeze stiffed, and the sailors sat idle on deck or amongst the rigging. There was music and song on board; and, as darkness came on, a hundred colored lanterns were lighted, as if the flags of all nations waved in the air. The little mermaid swam close to the cabin windows; and now and then, as the waves lifted her up, she could look in through clear glass window-panes, and see a number of well-dressed people within. Among them was a young prince, the most beautiful of all, with large black eyes; he was sixteen years of age, and his birthday was being kept with much rejoicing. The sailors were dancing on deck, but when the prince came out of the cabin, more than a hundred rockets rose in the air, making it as bright as day. The little mermaid was so startled that she dived under water; and when she again stretched out her head, it appeared as if all the stars of heaven were falling around her, she had never seen such fireworks before. Great suns spurted fire about, splendid fireflies flew into the blue air, and everything was reflected in the clear, calm sea beneath. The ship itself was so brightly illuminated that all the people, and even the smallest rope, could be distinctly and plainly seen. And how handsome the young prince looked, as he pressed the hands of all present and smiled at them, while the music resounded through the clear night air.

It was very late; yet the little mermaid could not take her eyes from the ship, or from the beautiful prince. The colored lanterns had been extinguished, no more rockets rose in the air, and the cannon had ceased firing; but the sea became restless, and a moaning, grumbling sound could be heard beneath the waves: still the little mermaid remained by the cabin window, rocking up and down on the water, which enabled her to look in. After a while, the sails were quickly unfurled, and the noble ship continued her passage; but soon the waves rose higher, heavy clouds darkened the sky, and lightning appeared in the distance. A dreadful storm was approaching; once more the sails were reefed, and the great ship pursued her flying course over the raging sea. The waves rose mountains high, as if they would have overtopped the mast; but the ship dived like a swan between them, and then rose again on their lofty, foaming crests. To the little mermaid this appeared pleasant sport; not so to the sailors. At length the ship groaned and creaked; the thick planks gave way under the lashing of the sea as it broke over the deck; the mainmast snapped asunder like a reed; the ship lay over on her side; and the water rushed in. The little mermaid now perceived that the crew were in danger; even she herself was obliged to be careful to avoid the beams and planks of the wreck which lay scattered on the water. At one moment it was so pitch dark that she could not see a single object, but a flash of lightning revealed the whole scene; she could see every one who had been on board excepting the prince; when the ship parted, she had seen him sink into the deep waves, and she was glad, for she thought he would now be with her; and then she remembered that human beings could not live in the water, so that when he got down to her father's palace he would be quite dead. But he must not die. So she swam about among the beams and planks which strewed the surface of the sea, forgetting that they could crush her to pieces. Then she dived deeply under the dark waters, rising and falling with the waves, till at length she managed to reach the young prince, who was fast losing the power of swimming in that stormy sea. His limbs were failing him, his beautiful eyes were closed, and he would have died had not the little mermaid come to his assistance. She held his head above the water, and let the waves drift them where they would.

In the morning the storm had ceased; but of the ship not a single fragment could be seen. The sun rose up red and glowing from the water, and its beams brought back the hue of health to the prince's cheeks; but his eyes remained closed. The mermaid kissed his high, smooth forehead, and stroked back his wet hair; he seemed to her like the marble statue in her little garden, and she kissed him again, and wished that he might live. Presently they came in sight of land; she saw lofty blue mountains, on which the white snow rested as if a flock of swans were lying upon them. Near the coast were beautiful green forests, and close by stood a large building, whether a church or a convent she could not tell. Orange and citron trees grew in the garden, and before the door stood lofty palms. The sea here formed a little bay, in which the water was quite still, but very deep; so she swam with the handsome prince to the beach, which was covered with fine, white sand, and there she laid him in the warm sunshine, taking care to raise his head higher than his body. Then bells sounded in the large white building, and a number of young girls came into the garden. The little mermaid swam out farther from the shore and placed herself between some high rocks that rose out of the water; then she covered her head and neck with the foam of the sea so that her little face might not be seen, and watched to see what would become of the poor prince. She did not wait long before she saw a young girl approach the spot where he lay. She seemed frightened at first, but only for a moment; then she fetched a number of people, and the mermaid saw that the prince came to life again, and smiled upon those who stood round him. But to her he sent no smile; he knew not that she had saved him. This made her very unhappy, and when he was led away into the great building, she dived down sorrowfully into the water, and returned to her father's castle. She had always been silent and thoughtful, and now she was more so than ever. Her sisters asked her what she had seen during her first visit to the surface of the water; but she would tell them nothing. Many an evening and morning did she rise to the place where she had left the prince. She saw the fruits in the garden ripen till they were gathered, the snow on the tops of the mountains melt away; but she never saw the prince, and therefore she returned home, always more sorrowful than before. It was her only comfort to sit in her own little garden, and fling her arm round the beautiful marble statue which was like the prince; but she gave up tending her flowers, and they grew in wild confusion over the paths, twining their long leaves and stems round the branches of the trees, so that the whole place became dark and gloomy. At length she could bear it no longer, and told one of her sisters all about it. Then the others heard the secret, and very soon it became known to two mermaids whose intimate friend happened to know who the prince was. She had also seen the festival on board ship, and she told them where the prince came from, and where his palace stood.

"Come, little sister," said the other princesses; then they entwined their arms and rose up in a long row to the surface of the water, close by the spot where they knew the prince's palace stood. It was built of bright yellow shining stone, with long flights of marble steps, one of which reached quite down to the sea. Splendid gilded cupolas rose over the roof, and between the pillars that surrounded the whole building stood life-like statues of marble. Through the clear crystal of the lofty windows could be seen noble rooms, with costly silk curtains and hangings of tapestry; while the walls were covered with beautiful paintings which were a pleasure to look at. In the centre of the largest saloon a fountain threw its sparkling jets high up into the glass cupola of the ceiling, through which the sun shone down upon the water and upon the beautiful plants growing round the basin of the fountain. Now that she knew where he lived, she spent many an evening and many a night on the water near the palace. She would swim much nearer the shore than any of the others ventured to do; indeed once she went quite up the narrow channel under the marble balcony, which threw a broad shadow on the water. Here she would sit and watch the young prince, who thought himself quite alone in the bright moonlight. She saw him many times of an evening sailing in a pleasant boat, with music playing and flags waving. She peeped out from among the green rushes, and if the wind caught her long silvery-white veil, those who saw it believed it to be a swan, spreading out its wings. On many a night, too, when the fishermen, with their torches, were out at sea, she heard them relate so many good things about the doings of the young prince, that she was glad she had saved his life when he had been tossed about half-dead on the waves. And she remembered that his head had rested on her bosom, and how heartily she had kissed him; but he knew nothing of all this, and could not even dream of her. She grew more and more fond of human beings, and wished more and more to be able to wander about with those whose world seemed to be so much larger than her own. They could fly over the sea in ships, and mount the high hills which were far above the clouds; and the lands they possessed, their woods and their fields, stretched far away beyond the reach of her sight. There was so much that she wished to know, and her sisters were unable to answer all her questions. Then she applied to her old grandmother, who knew all about the upper world, which she very rightly called the lands above the sea.

"If human beings are not drowned," asked the little mermaid, "can they live forever? do they never die as we do here in the sea?"

"Yes," replied the old lady, "they must also die, and their term of life is even shorter than ours. We sometimes live to three hundred years, but when we cease to exist here we only become the foam on the surface of the water, and we have not even a grave down here of those we love. We have not immortal souls, we shall never live again; but, like the green sea-weed, when once it has been cut off, we can never flourish more. Human beings, on the contrary, have a soul which lives forever, lives after the body has been turned to dust. It rises up through the clear, pure air beyond the glittering stars. As we rise out of the water, and behold all the land of the earth, so do they rise to unknown and glorious regions which we shall never see."

"No," said the old woman, "unless a man were to love you so much that you were more to him than his father or mother; and if all his thoughts and all his love were fixed upon you, and the priest placed his right hand in yours, and he promised to be true to you here and hereafter, then his soul would glide into your body and you would obtain a share in the future happiness of mankind. He would give a soul to you and retain his own as well; but this can never happen. Your fish's tail, which amongst us is considered so beautiful, is thought on earth to be quite ugly; they do not know any better, and they think it necessary to have two stout props, which they call legs, in order to be handsome."

Then the little mermaid sighed, and looked sorrowfully at her fish's tail. "Let us be happy," said the old lady, "and dart and spring about during the three hundred years that we have to live, which is really quite long enough; after that we can rest ourselves all the better. This evening we are going to have a court ball."

It is one of those splendid sights which we can never see on earth. The walls and the ceiling of the large ball-room were of thick, but transparent crystal. May hundreds of colossal shells, some of a deep red, others of a grass green, stood on each side in rows, with blue fire in them, which lighted up the whole saloon, and shone through the walls, so that the sea was also illuminated. Innumerable fishes, great and small, swam past the crystal walls; on some of them the scales glowed with a purple brilliancy, and on others they shone like silver and gold. Through the halls flowed a broad stream, and in it danced the mermen and the mermaids to the music of their own sweet singing. No one on earth has such a lovely voice as theirs. The little mermaid sang more sweetly than them all. The whole court applauded her with hands and tails; and for a moment her heart felt quite gay, for she knew she had the loveliest voice of any on earth or in the sea. But she soon thought again of the world above her, for she could not forget the charming prince, nor her sorrow that she had not an immortal soul like his; therefore she crept away silently out of her father's palace, and while everything within was gladness and song, she sat in her own little garden sorrowful and alone. Then she heard the bugle sounding through the water, and thought—"He is certainly sailing above, he on whom my wishes depend, and in whose hands I should like to place the happiness of my life. I will venture all for him, and to win an immortal soul, while my sisters are dancing in my father's palace, I will go to the sea witch, of whom I have always been so much afraid, but she can give me counsel and help."

And then the little mermaid went out from her garden, and took the road to the foaming whirlpools, behind which the sorceress lived. She had never been that way before: neither flowers nor grass grew there; nothing but bare, gray, sandy ground stretched out to the whirlpool, where the water, like foaming mill-wheels, whirled round everything that it seized, and cast it into the fathomless deep. Through the midst of these crushing whirlpools the little mermaid was obliged to pass, to reach the dominions of the sea witch; and also for a long distance the only road lay right across a quantity of warm, bubbling mire, called by the witch her turfmoor. Beyond this stood her house, in the centre of a strange forest, in which all the trees and flowers were polypi, half animals and half plants; they looked like serpents with a hundred heads growing out of the ground. The branches were long slimy arms, with fingers like flexible worms, moving limb after limb from the root to the top. All that could be reached in the sea they seized upon, and held fast, so that it never escaped from their clutches. The little mermaid was so alarmed at what she saw, that she stood still, and her heart beat with fear, and she was very nearly turning back; but she thought of the prince, and of the human soul for which she longed, and her courage returned. She fastened her long flowing hair round her head, so that the polypi might not seize hold of it. She laid her hands together across her bosom, and then she darted forward as a fish shoots through the water, between the supple arms and fingers of the ugly polypi, which were stretched out on each side of her. She saw that each held in its grasp something it had seized with its numerous little arms, as if they were iron bands. The white skeletons of human beings who had perished at sea, and had sunk down into the deep waters, skeletons of land animals, oars, rudders, and chests of ships were lying tightly grasped by their clinging arms; even a little mermaid, whom they had caught and strangled; and this seemed the most shocking of all to the little princess.

She now came to a space of marshy ground in the wood, where large, fat water-snakes were rolling in the mire, and showing their ugly, drab-colored bodies. In the midst of this spot stood a house, built with the bones of shipwrecked human beings. There sat the sea witch, allowing a toad to eat from her mouth, just as people sometimes feed a canary with a piece of sugar. She called the ugly water-snakes her little chickens, and allowed them to crawl all over her bosom.

"I know what you want," said the sea witch; "it is very stupid of you, but you shall have your way, and it will bring you to sorrow, my pretty princess. You want to get rid of your fish's tail, and to have two supports instead of it, like human beings on earth, so that the young prince may fall in love with you, and that you may have an immortal soul." And then the witch laughed so loud and disgustingly, that the toad and the snakes fell to the ground, and lay there wriggling about. "You are but just in time," said the witch; "for after sunrise to-morrow I should not be able to help you till the end of another year. I will prepare a draught for you, with which you must swim to land tomorrow before sunrise, and sit down on the shore and drink it. Your tail will then disappear, and shrink up into what mankind calls legs, and you will feel great pain, as if a sword were passing through you. But all who see you will say that you are the prettiest little human being they ever saw. You will still have the same floating gracefulness of movement, and no dancer will ever tread so lightly; but at every step you take it will feel as if you were treading upon sharp knives, and that the blood must flow. If you will bear all this, I will help you."

"Yes, I will," said the little princess in a trembling voice, as she thought of the prince and the immortal soul.

"But think again," said the witch; "for when once your shape has become like a human being, you can no more be a mermaid. You will never return through the water to your sisters, or to your father's palace again; and if you do not win the love of the prince, so that he is willing to forget his father and mother for your sake, and to love you with his whole soul, and allow the priest to join your hands that you may be man and wife, then you will never have an immortal soul. The first morning after he marries another your heart will break, and you will become foam on the crest of the waves."

"I will do it," said the little mermaid, and she became pale as death.

"But I must be paid also," said the witch, "and it is not a trifle that I ask. You have the sweetest voice of any who dwell here in the depths of the sea, and you believe that you will be able to charm the prince with it also, but this voice you must give to me; the best thing you possess will I have for the price of my draught. My own blood must be mixed with it, that it may be as sharp as a two-edged sword."

"Do you not love me the best of them all?" the eyes of the little mermaid seemed to say, when he took her in his arms, and kissed her fair forehead.

"Yes, you are dear to me," said the prince; "for you have the best heart, and you are the most devoted to me; you are like a young maiden whom I once saw, but whom I shall never meet again. I was in a ship that was wrecked, and the waves cast me ashore near a holy temple, where several young maidens performed the service. The youngest of them found me on the shore, and saved my life. I saw her but twice, and she is the only one in the world whom I could love; but you are like her, and you have almost driven her image out of my mind. She belongs to the holy temple, and my good fortune has sent you to me instead of her; and we will never part."

"Ah, he knows not that it was I who saved his life," thought the little mermaid. "I carried him over the sea to the wood where the temple stands: I sat beneath the foam, and watched till the human beings came to help him. I saw the pretty maiden that he loves better than he loves me;" and the mermaid sighed deeply, but she could not shed tears. "He says the maiden belongs to the holy temple, therefore she will never return to the world. They will meet no more: while I am by his side, and see him every day. I will take care of him, and love him, and give up my life for his sake."

Very soon it was said that the prince must marry, and that the beautiful daughter of a neighboring king would be his wife, for a fine ship was being fitted out. Although the prince gave out that he merely intended to pay a visit to the king, it was generally supposed that he really went to see his daughter. A great company were to go with him. The little mermaid smiled, and shook her head. She knew the prince's thoughts better than any of the others.

"I must travel," he had said to her; "I must see this beautiful princess; my parents desire it; but they will not oblige me to bring her home as my bride. I cannot love her; she is not like the beautiful maiden in the temple, whom you resemble. If I were forced to choose a bride, I would rather choose you, my dumb foundling, with those expressive eyes." And then he kissed her rosy mouth, played with her long waving hair, and laid his head on her heart, while she dreamed of human happiness and an immortal soul. "You are not afraid of the sea, my dumb child," said he, as they stood on the deck of the noble ship which was to carry them to the country of the neighboring king. And then he told her of storm and of calm, of strange fishes in the deep beneath them, and of what the divers had seen there; and she smiled at his descriptions, for she knew better than any one what wonders were at the bottom of the sea.

In the moonlight, when all on board were asleep, excepting the man at the helm, who was steering, she sat on the deck, gazing down through the clear water. She thought she could distinguish her father's castle, and upon it her aged grandmother, with the silver crown on her head, looking through the rushing tide at the keel of the vessel. Then her sisters came up on the waves, and gazed at her mournfully, wringing their white hands. She beckoned to them, and smiled, and wanted to tell them how happy and well off she was; but the cabin-boy approached, and when her sisters dived down he thought it was only the foam of the sea which he saw.

The next morning the ship sailed into the harbor of a beautiful town belonging to the king whom the prince was going to visit. The church bells were ringing, and from the high towers sounded a flourish of trumpets; and soldiers, with flying colors and glittering bayonets, lined the rocks through which they passed. Every day was a festival; balls and entertainments followed one another.

But the princess had not yet appeared. People said that she was being brought up and educated in a religious house, where she was learning every royal virtue. At last she came. Then the little mermaid, who was very anxious to see whether she was really beautiful, was obliged to acknowledge that she had never seen a more perfect vision of beauty. Her skin was delicately fair, and beneath her long dark eye-lashes her laughing blue eyes shone with truth and purity.

"It was you," said the prince, "who saved my life when I lay dead on the beach," and he folded his blushing bride in his arms. "Oh, I am too happy," said he to the little mermaid; "my fondest hopes are all fulfilled. You will rejoice at my happiness; for your devotion to me is great and sincere."

The little mermaid kissed his hand, and felt as if her heart were already broken. His wedding morning would bring death to her, and she would change into the foam of the sea. All the church bells rung, and the heralds rode about the town proclaiming the betrothal. Perfumed oil was burning in costly silver lamps on every altar. The priests waved the censers, while the bride and bridegroom joined their hands and received the blessing of the bishop. The little mermaid, dressed in silk and gold, held up the bride's train; but her ears heard nothing of the festive music, and her eyes saw not the holy ceremony; she thought of the night of death which was coming to her, and of all she had lost in the world. On the same evening the bride and bridegroom went on board ship; cannons were roaring, flags waving, and in the centre of the ship a costly tent of purple and gold had been erected. It contained elegant couches, for the reception of the bridal pair during the night. The ship, with swelling sails and a favorable wind, glided away smoothly and lightly over the calm sea. When it grew dark a number of colored lamps were lit, and the sailors danced merrily on the deck. The little mermaid could not help thinking of her first rising out of the sea, when she had seen similar festivities and joys; and she joined in the dance, poised herself in the air as a swallow when he pursues his prey, and all present cheered her with wonder. She had never danced so elegantly before. Her tender feet felt as if cut with sharp knives, but she cared not for it; a sharper pang had pierced through her heart. She knew this was the last evening she should ever see the prince, for whom she had forsaken her kindred and her home; she had given up her beautiful voice, and suffered unheard-of pain daily for him, while he knew nothing of it. This was the last evening that she would breathe the same air with him, or gaze on the starry sky and the deep sea; an eternal night, without a thought or a dream, awaited her: she had no soul and now she could never win one. All was joy and gayety on board ship till long after midnight; she laughed and danced with the rest, while the thoughts of death were in her heart. The prince kissed his beautiful bride, while she played with his raven hair, till they went arm-in-arm to rest in the splendid tent. Then all became still on board the ship; the helmsman, alone awake, stood at the helm. The little mermaid leaned her white arms on the edge of the vessel, and looked towards the east for the first blush of morning, for that first ray of dawn that would bring her death. She saw her sisters rising out of the flood: they were as pale as herself; but their long beautiful hair waved no more in the wind, and had been cut off.

"We have given our hair to the witch," said they, "to obtain help for you, that you may not die to-night. She has given us a knife: here it is, see it is very sharp. Before the sun rises you must plunge it into the heart of the prince; when the warm blood falls upon your feet they will grow together again, and form into a fish's tail, and you will be once more a mermaid, and return to us to live out your three hundred years before you die and change into the salt sea foam. Haste, then; he or you must die before sunrise. Our old grandmother moans so for you, that her white hair is falling off from sorrow, as ours fell under the witch's scissors. Kill the prince and come back; hasten: do you not see the first red streaks in the sky? In a few minutes the sun will rise, and you must die." And then they sighed deeply and mournfully, and sank down beneath the waves.

The little mermaid drew back the crimson curtain of the tent, and beheld the fair bride with her head resting on the prince's breast. She bent down and kissed his fair brow, then looked at the sky on which the rosy dawn grew brighter and brighter; then she glanced at the sharp knife, and again fixed her eyes on the prince, who whispered the name of his bride in his dreams. She was in his thoughts, and the knife trembled in the hand of the little mermaid: then she flung it far away from her into the waves; the water turned red where it fell, and the drops that spurted up looked like blood. She cast one more lingering, half-fainting glance at the prince, and then threw herself from the ship into the sea, and thought her body was dissolving into foam. The sun rose above the waves, and his warm rays fell on the cold foam of the little mermaid, who did not feel as if she were dying. She saw the bright sun, and all around her floated hundreds of transparent beautiful beings; she could see through them the white sails of the ship, and the red clouds in the sky; their speech was melodious, but too ethereal to be heard by mortal ears, as they were also unseen by mortal eyes. The little mermaid perceived that she had a body like theirs, and that she continued to rise higher and higher out of the foam. "Where am I?" asked she, and her voice sounded ethereal, as the voice of those who were with her; no earthly music could imitate it.

"But if you take away my voice," said the little mermaid, "what is left for me?"

"Your beautiful form, your graceful walk, and your expressive eyes; surely with these you can enchain a man's heart. Well, have you lost your courage? Put out your little tongue that I may cut it off as my payment; then you shall have the powerful draught."

"It shall be," said the little mermaid.

"Why have not we an immortal soul?" asked the little mermaid mournfully; "I would give gladly all the hundreds of years that I have to live, to be a human being only for one day, and to have the hope of knowing the happiness of that glorious world above the stars."

"You must not think of that," said the old woman; "we feel ourselves to be much happier and much better off than human beings."

"So I shall die," said the little mermaid, "and as the foam of the sea I shall be driven about never again to hear the music of the waves, or to see the pretty flowers nor the red sun. Is there anything I can do to win an immortal soul?"

In another year the second sister received permission to rise to the surface of the water, and to swim about where she pleased. She rose just as the sun was setting, and this, she said, was the most beautiful sight of all. The whole sky looked like gold, while violet and rose-colored clouds, which she could not describe, floated over her; and, still more rapidly than the clouds, flew a large flock of wild swans towards the setting sun, looking like a long white veil across the sea. She also swam towards the sun; but it sunk into the waves, and the rosy tints faded from the clouds and from the sea.

stone, which had fallen to the bottom of the sea from a wreck. She planted by the statue a rose-colored weeping willow. It grew splendidly, and very soon hung its fresh branches over the statue, almost down to the blue sands. The shadow had a violet tint, and waved to and fro like the branches; it seemed as if the crown of the tree and the root were at play, and trying to kiss each other. Nothing gave her so much pleasure as to hear about the world above the sea. She made her old grandmother tell her all she knew of the ships and of the towns, the people and the animals. To her it seemed most wonderful and beautiful to hear that the flowers of the land should have fragrance, and not those below the sea; that the trees of the forest should be green; and that the fishes among the trees could sing so sweetly, that it was quite a pleasure to hear them. Her grandmother called the little birds fishes, or she would not have understood her; for she had never seen birds.

It has been ~75 years since the joint Shinobi forces defeated Tobi and Madara. Naruto led the attack against them and saved the great countries from eternal imprisonment. It was not without cost, however. The joint Shinobi forces stood at 80,000 strong at the beginning of the war, and at the end the head count 7,847. Some of the villages felt the suffered causalities more than others, and the trust and peace Naruto had brought to the villages was quickly shattered. It was a short 12 year of true peace, but it was peace nonetheless. The Daimyo's profited greatly during the alliance, and did what they could to keep it. The figured if they kept the amount of ninja's that graduated low enough peace could be established. This only made the situation worse, as the years went on the villages felt as if they were without security, and overruled the Daimyos after much debate. Things only continued downward from there.

Cool Britannia is a term used in some media to describe the contemporary culture of the United Kingdom, coined in the mid-1990s and closely associated with the "New Labour" government of Tony Blair. It is a pun on the title of the patriotic song "Rule Britannia".

The phrase "Cool Britannia" was first used in 1967 as a song title by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, but there is no connection between that usage and the modern coining of the term. This seems to have arisen from the description of London in Newsweek in late 1996 as "coolest capital city on the planet." The phrase was coined shortly after and widely used in the media and in advertising. The election of Blair's government in 1997 on a platform of modernisation and with Blair as a relatively young Prime Minister gave the idea fresh currency. (There is a strong parallel between this and the catch-phrase "Swinging London" during the early years of Harold Wilson's Labour government.)

To the extent that it had any real meaning, "Cool Britannia" referred to the transient fashionable London scene, 1990s bands such as Blur, Oasis, and later The Spice Girls, fashion designers and magazines. By 1998 The Economist was commenting that "many people are already sick of the phrase," and by 2000 it was being used mainly in a mocking or ironic way.

Similar terms for Wales and Scotland, "Cool Cymru" and "Cool Caledonia" respectively, were coined but had next to no currency whatsoever and to this day most people have never heard of them.

"Cool Britannia" was also a registered trade mark for one of Ben & Jerry's ice-creams (vanilla with strawberries and chocolate-covered shortbread), designed for the British market.

With the increasing number of shinobi, the amount of missing-nin also greatly increased. The country sides were already rampant with petty criminals and thugs, and now they had skilled ninja to make them more efficient and lead them. Due to the crime the villages decided to handle all the treachery with hunter-nin; they would work together even though they were from different villages. The hunter-nin cooperation helped to bring the villages back together; Kirigakure had the most missing-nin and as such led the fight against them. The suffered the most from it and quickly realized that, they were using most of their resources to fight off people that defected from them and they were open to an attack from anyone. They decided to make the first move.

Thirty-Seven years ago Kiri's swordsman had a mission that they were to undertake directly from the Mizukage; they were to defect and control large groups of missing-nin. They carried their missions successfully, gaining Kiri the pity of the other countries and the aid of an insurmountably large army. They used the missing-nin to start a new war. They started with Konoha, they have long hated the fame and prosperity that Konoha had received from the war and decided to wrought upon the retribution. The attack came at a complete surprise, two of the swordsmen's forces had left Konoha in ruins. The attack wasn't focused on the Konohagakure shinobi; it was directed at the civilians and the structures. They continued these methodical attacks on all the other villages, five of the seven swordsmen had died in the process, their blades being shipped back to Kirigakure in foolishness. The two remaining swordsmen returned to Kirigakure with distrust towards the Mizukage, and killed her in cold-blood. The other villages caught on to what Kiri was up to, they were already suspicious and when news reached them it was confirmed. As for the swordsmen, the two collected the other five swords and took on apprentices, as they left the village.

The villages were rebuilt, only shadows of their former selves. Few tried to make peace, and when they did they made little. Naruto had died young at the age of 54, due to his use of regeneration. New Kages came to be, and generations have passed on. The current state of the world is not one the joint forces would have hoped for, though not all is bad. There are still celebrations of peace, and exams go on as normal.

Konoha grew back to its original size after being rebuilt once again, slowly garnering its power once more. Naruto was looked up to as a hero by most in the village, though there were some (especially in other villages) that despised him. Konohamaru Sarutobi, was the lord seventh. He was a strong supporter of Naruto's goals, and one of the few Kages that still strived for peace. After an alliance made with the Akatsuki, and no intentions to cover it up, other villages became mistrusting of Konoha. When the Seventh Hokage passed away, his grandson, Mikano Sarutobi, succeeded him as the Eighth Hokage.

However, the appointment of Mikano Sarutobi as the Eighth Hokage raised numerous problems both within Konoha and outside. The Elder Council had discrepancies with the twenty-two year old Hokage and against their will, Mikano Sarutobi started a war with the Crimson Lotus. This ultimately proved the downfall of both Mikano and Konoha. The Crimson Lotus attacked, killing Mikano and utterly destroying Konoha. The ninja and civilians were scattered across the Land of Fire. After a great deal of time, they were able to be reunited and a Ninth Hokage, Jeisen Uchiha, was selected.

Konoha was reclaimed and the Crimson Lotus was defeated, though at a very heavy price. Due to the attack by the Lotus and Sound army, many buildings and important documents were destroyed or lost and the village was left with nearly empty coffers and a broken economy. Heavy losses were sustained during the many fights with the Crimson Lotus, leaving Konoha greatly weakened militarily, and the civilian population greatly reduced due to a high number of casualties from the invasion of the Lotus and Sound armies.

After some rebuilding, the village has mostly recovered. A new Hokage was named, Nenshou Natsuin at a time of increasing bandit activity which precipitated the return of the Crimson Lotus, or did it? An announcement from the Hokage for all Konoha ninjas to cease acting as if they were Crimson Lotus put a stop to that. Fearing an attack by multiple parties, Nen ordered the evacuation of Konoha's civilians to camps and stepped down, naming Asumizu Kigen the 11th Hokage. Not long after the civilian camps were attacked, leaving many civilians dead.

The village then enjoyed a period of growth and recovery. Asumizu Kigen stepped down to return the leadership of Konoha to Nenshou Natsuin.

Konoha agreed to participate in the Coalition that was formed to take on Hoshi Suuhai, the main village in the Land of Sound. At the same time, they sent forces with ninjas from Ame to the Land of Water, where they attempted to attack Kiri, but suffered a crushing defeat. In the wake of that, Anda Uzumaki was appointed Hokage.

Konoha has a defensive alliance with Kumo. Due to their attack on Kiri, the two countries are considered at war.

Kiri was spited by most for its attacks on the other villages many dcades ago, even though most of the residents were not involved in the attacks. Michio Nobou, as the Mizukage, tried to make peace with the others but was not trusted due to Kirigakure's past. Kiri's economy is on a smaller scale than most villages, though it gets by well enough, used to its remote location.

During a Kage summit, the Mizukage was killed and a new one was appointed, Amaya Hozuki. Her attempts at building a seishin army backfired and the army rampaged, destroying much of the city. Heavy losses were sustained, and the elite swordsmen defected once again rather than face betrayal and execution at Amaya's hands. It wasn't long before they returned and their leader, Ei-Ji, defeated Amaya and became the new Mizukage. Under Ei-Ji's leadership, morale was high and the village accumulated a strong military force and built up their economy.

Unfortunately, this was broken when a group of dissidents who had been opposed to Ei-Ji's leadership snuck in late one night and were able to strike fatally at Ei-Ji. Retaliation against the interlopers was swift, and the Mizukage's sword was secured, and a new Mizukage named Rumi was elected. The future is uncertain, but the village of Kiri is showing definite signs of returning to it's moniker of "The Bloody Mist".

While the village agreed to participate in the Coalition formed to deal with the issues in the Land of Sound, their contribution to the Coalition was meager, and withdrawn when they were attacked by an army of ninjas from Konoha and Ame. The attackers were crushed in battle.

Kiri formerly had alliances with Konoha and Ame, but is now considered at war with them. They have a loose alliances with Kumo.

Kumo was hurt the least from the attacks and stayed largely independent from the rest of the villages. The previous Raikage was bold and authoritative with a knack for recklessness. He was killed during the Kage summit and replaced by his murderer, Masura, an unpredictable and insane man. He ruled Kumogakure with complete control, bringing the Forgotten into the city and under his rule. With his death, he was able to complete the process of summoning the Oni Lord Tharaxius to the mortal realm, unleashing great danger and utterly destroying the village of Kumogakure. The remnants of the Forgotten, Kumo's ninja forces, and civilians resettled in the northern part of the Land of Lightning. When the Oni Lord's talismans were collected and destroyed, this ended the reign of Oni Lord Tharaxius and destroyed him completely, and Kumogakure has been rebuilt since then.

They have loose alliances with Suna and Kiri, but as of late those alliances have been largely neglected. Through the Forgotten there is a partnership and trade alliance with Ame. Due to the difficulties caused by running a refugee camp, crime and thuggery rose in the Land of Lightning. A task force of ninjas headed by Arashi Sekiran took care of a gang of ninjas that were plaguing the coasts and not long after he was promoted to the position of Raikage.

While he was on a lengthy mission, Kentaro Uchiha was dealing with discontent in the ranks of the Forgotten, who had been mostly integrated into the village. Dissatisfied with their new positions, they were threatening to destabilize the village. After this was taken care of, Kentaro had a meeting with the Council of Kumo and found out that the previous Raikage had vanished and left instructions behind leaving him in charge.

The village has a defensive alliance with Konoha and loose ties to both Ame and Kiri.

Suna was under the rule of Gaara for many decades, leading to, what some call a peaceful stagnation. The village struggled with a group known as the Outlanders, which under the leadership of Raki made bold and aggressive moves towards Suna, though Suna was able to fend them off. As the Outlanders were preparing their retaliatory strike, the Oni Lord Tharaxius entered this plane of existence. Raki publically announced their plans were on hold and they would be assisting with the removal of this unnatural threat. Unfortunately, he changed his mind while Suna's ninja forces were in Ame helping to liberate the city from the Oni cultists and their leader. He made his move and took over Sunagakure forcefully, resulting in a complete change of leadership and social policies. Suna is currently undergoing major reforms in all areas of life: economy, politics, ninja forces, etc.

Iwa is a country with great military might. Iwagakure was made ever stronger when Nobu taught the Tsuchikage Nuclear Release. After the destruction of the Council of Elders in Iwa by an unknown terrorist organization, the Explosion Corps took over the government. During the Kage summit, the Tsuchikage's advisor was killed. He was later replaced by Nobu, who later usurped the position of Tsuchikage with the help of the Explosion Corps. The village maintains a strong military and has problems with a group of Hashi clones led by a woman named Abari and connected to an ominous looking man wreathed in black.

Ame remained intact after the years, as the Seven Swordsmen never attacked them. They've had their own problems however, with atrocious crime in Ame and there being far too few ninja to deal with it. The village was under control of the Oni for a time, but was liberated by a group of ninja led by Masaki, who became the first Kouukage meant to establish Ame as a ninja village on equal footing with the Big 5. However, Masaki fell into madness and control slipped, enabling the Oni to re-establish their hold on Ame firmer than ever. They prevented anyone from leaving and subjugated much of the populace while the city was effectively in 'lock down'.

The attempts of the Oni to free the Oni Lord in Kumo left them weakened and members of a resistance group were able to escape to help trigger an assault that resulted in the village being freed. There was brief chaos as internal struggles over who would take power began, from which Shinkirō Gami emerged as the leader of the village. Major reconstruction and revitalization projects began, which have been largely successful. Perhaps the crown jewel is the construction of a very modern medical center that provides the best and most cutting-edge medical care.

Under the reign of the Oni, their alliances with other villages crumbled. Due to the efforts of Shinkiro, there were new ties to Kumo and Konoha. Due to the attack against Kiri, their alliance is void and the two villages are considered at war.

Takigakure has remained largely untouched by the war, but their fear of being attacked has grown over the years. Due to this and the recent election of Takigakure's new leader, corruption has been spreading in the village's government. A nationalistic pride hangs over the village as more ninjas are being recruited than ever before. However, nasty rumors have been circulating about Takigakure's plans. Currently, they are negotiating an alliance with Sunagakure, the first alliance it has had in the village's history.

The original Otogakure founded by Orochimaru was destroyed many decades ago. Since then the Land of Sound has been ruled by ninja clans and plagued with civil war as the clans fight each other for territory and influence. The situation has not been helped by efforts of neighboring countries to keep the country destabilized.

There was briefly a New Otogakure created a few years ago that was primarily focused on the destruction of Konoha. The New Otogakure mysteriously destroyed as a consequence of the Unnatural Winter that was brought to the Sound by the leader of Hoshi Suuhai in an attempt to unify the Sound in one village. From that point, Hoshi Suuhai was the primary ninja village in the Land of Sound. However, with the death of it's leader, Levi, many clans left Hoshi Suuhai and resumed their earlier ways of living. The village was known for being highly wary of visitors and distrustful of other ninjas.

Following the presentation of evidence at a Kage Summit, the Great Nations agreed to form a Coalition to conquer Hoshi Suuhai. The Coalition was a success, and as per the agreement at the Summit, the village of Kumo is in charge of the rebuilding and recovery efforts and holds stewardship over this country and has their forces based in Hoshi Suuhai.

An anti-ninja organization that use dirty tricks and advanced technology to deal with their enemy. Unlike other organizations they didn't do it for only wealth or power, they had an actual goal in mind: promoting equality between ninjas and civilians. With the rise of Masura to power, the Forgotten moved into Kumogakure much to the displeasure of the civilians and the ninja forces. After Masura was killed by a strike force, their leader Arei Sho perished similarly, though the Forgotten appeared to retain control of Kumogakure. When Tharaxius was summoned, their forces were largely decimated. The remaining Forgotten moved with the refugees from Kumo to the north and are engaged in rebuilding Kumo. Their top officials now have spots in the council and leadership positions within the city, enabling them to enact some of their reforms and build a new type of ninja village.

Originally the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist; they left on their own accord and travel the land doing whatever their goals may be. They were seen from time to time in many villages, clearly leading a nomadic life as they pursued their goals. They were however brought back to Kirigakure by a young chunin named Hayate. Under Amaya's leadership, they were slated for execution, but before they could be executed the seishin-modified army of Kirigakure rampaged and they escaped in the chaos. They made their return to Kiri when Ei-Ji returned to Kirigakure to challenge Amaya and take the position of the Mizukage. Ei-Ji was killed by assassins, turning leadership of the Seven and Kiri over to others.

When Akira Toriyama created Dragon Ball, the mangaka had no idea how iconic the franchise would become. Today, the series stands as one of the most popular and well-known anime series of all time. With over 500 chapters and even more episodes to its name, Dragon Ball has become the poster child of action-packed shonen goodness.

However, there are some anime enthusiasts who shy away from the franchise. The long-running series can be intimidating for people who don't know the first thing about Dragon Ball, but don't worry; ComicBook.com is here to help.

We've gone ahead and broken down Dragon Ball into its elements, separating the franchise's manga from its anime series and feature films. So, if you've been curious about Dragon Ball and its record-breaking run, then we've got the answers for you.

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

Before Dragon Ball was adapted into an anime, it was a manga. The story was written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama between November 1984 and May 1995. Titled Dragon Ball, the series was published entirely by Weekly Shōnen Jump before Sheisha bound them into tankōbon trades for readers.

Akira wrote the series shortly after he gained success with the manga Dr. Slump in 1980. The comedy gave him the clout to pursue Dragon Ball, and the artist jumped at the chance to publish his new story. While Dragon Ball is known for its over-the-top action, the series did not always focus on that. The manga was less about Super Saiyans and more about mythical hijinks when it debuted. Loosely inspired by the Chinese tale Journey to the West, Dragon Ball began as a playful mix between comedy and slapstick action before later chapters delved into more intense action sequences.

When Dragon Ball hit shelves, readers ate up the series and critics praised its complex stories. As such, Toei Animation quickly secured animation rights to the series and premiered its anime adaptation in February 1986.

Dragon Ball covers the first 159 chapters of the manga in about 153 episodes. The series ran for more than three years, and it only ended to divide Akira's story into two distinct eras. The original series followed protagonist Son Goku as a child in search of seven wish-granting items known as Dragon Balls. Trained in martial arts, Goku begins traveling world to acquire the mystical objects and fights with lots of baddies along the way.

Shortly after Dragon Ball ended, Toei Animation began work on its sequel Dragon Ball Z. The second series debut the same month that predecessor ended and introduced fans to a more serious, action-packed story than they had seen before.

Dragon Ball Z follows an older Goku as he and his comrades known as Z Fighters defend the planet against nefarious, overpowered villains who seek to destroy it. The series also introduces a second generation of characters to fans. For instance, Goku now has kids of his own named Gohan and Goten who he trains.

When it comes to popularity, Dragon Ball Z reigns supreme in the fandom. This show is the one which grabbed the attention of foreign audiences and led ushered in a new era of anime lovers.

If you talk about Dragon Ball GT with fans, you may want to speak lightly. Opinions about the show are varied to say at the least since its canonicity has been questioned ever since it premiered in 1996.

Dragon Ball GT is a sequel to the Dragon Ball Z series. The show is set five years after the latter ended and sees Goku turned back into a child. The hero then travels across the universe to find the Black Star Dragon Balls which deaged him, and they also run into an adversary who is bent on ending the Saiyan race during their travels.

Most fans tend to frown upon Dragon Ball GT. Unlike its contemporaries, this anime is not based on any manga created by Akira; Instead, it tells an original story conceived by Toei Animation. As such, diehard Dragon Ball lovers argue that show is not considered canon to the overall franchise though Akira has referred to Dragon Ball GT as a "side story" of the original anime.

After the dismal reception of Dragon Ball GT, Toei Animation refrained from rolling out any new series. However, they did go ahead and rerelease Dragon Ball Z under the new name Dragon Ball Kai.

Toei Animation created the remake in honor of the franchise's 20th anniversary. And, of course, the overhaul would hopefully make fans forget the bad taste that Dragon Ball GT left in their mouths. The studio took the original Dragon Ball Z series and digitally traced over the animations to make the show look more contemporary. Dragon Ball Kai also removed content from the sequel which wasn't sourced from Akira's manga. The move ultimately cut Dragon Ball Kai down to 167 from 291, and fans were pleased to see much of that filler go.

Once Dragon Ball Kai ended, fans were left in a perpetual limbo. No one knew whether Toei Animation would produce another series after Dragon Ball GT failed to impress audiences. But, after an 18-year wait, the company finally came through and released a much better series titled Dragon Ball Super.

Dragon Ball Super acts a sequel to Dragon Ball Z and takes place after Goku's planet is at peace. The hero and his friends have all but returned to their normal way of life when another intergalactic threat comes knocking at their atmosphere. The so-called God of Destruction is eager to take on Goku after hearing about the hero's strength, and the baddie is willing to end the universe to do so.

While the anime is not based off any of Akira's manga, he did create the series. The artist also provided character designs for Toei Animation to use as inspiration, and fans have been grateful for Akira's return. Since the show debuted, more than 60 episodes have aired, and Dragon Ball Super began simulcasting to the U.S. this month so fans can watch the on-going series.

When an anime becomes popular, it is expect that the series will spin-off an film or two to satisfy fans. So, when you consider how popular Dragon Ball has become, then it is not surprising to hear the franchise has spawned 19 films.

The first Dragon Ball movie was released back in December 1986 when The Legend of Shenlong hit Japanese theaters. The most recent film, Resurrection of F, premiered last year. These movies are often collected alongside several feature-length television specials which the franchise has produced. For instance, an hour-long crossover special between Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Toriko aired back in 2013 to the delight of anime fans everywhere.

If you thought the number of Dragon Ball films was huge, just wait until you hear how many video games belong to the franchise. Since 1986, dozens of console games and arcade titles have been released which feature Goku and his crew of Z Fighters. Now, in 2016, there are well over 80 video games housed under the acclaimed franchise.

For decades, many Dragon Ball video games were kept abroad in Japan due to licensing concerns. The first game was released in September 1986 for the Super Cassette Vision as that was before the time of consoles like PlayStation. The most recent game, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, just debuted in North America for current-gen consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. And, so far, the game's reviews are on the favorable side.

If you love cereal but wish it were just a little more convenient, you're in luck. General Mills has added two new Cereal Treat Bars to their snack options, a new Trix Cereal Treat Bar and a new Cocoa Puffs Cereal Treat Bars. The two new flavors are part of a total of eight new permanent and limited edition snack offerings from General Mills hitting store shelves this month offering people snacks on the go.

The new Trix Cereal Treat Bars are described as meeting "the needs of everyone in the family on the go in the form of a fun, snackable bar. The easy-to-grab snack offers the same exciting colors, shapes, and flavors of the iconic Trix cereal in bar form, catering to fruit and snack lovers alike, without the spoon." They available on retailer shelves now with a suggested retail price of $3.69 for a six-pack.

The new Cocoa Puff Cereal Treat Bars have a similar description though are said to "offer more chocolate flavor, with a chocolate-flavored footing of the iconic Cocoa Puff cereal. Catering to chocolate and snack lovers alike, Cocoa Puff Cereal Treat Bars offer the same 'Great Chocolately Taste" without the spoon." Like the Trix Cereal Treat Bars, they are also now available at retailers nationwide with a suggested retail price of $3.69 for a six-pack.

For those looking for non-cereal bar options, there some other new treats joining them, including Pillsbury Mini Sweet Biscuits. This product offers flavors from sweet to fruit in Chocolate Chip, Blueberry, Honey Butter, and Cinnamon Sugar and are a poppable snack that's already baked and ready to eat. They are available now with 7-4ct packs retailing for $3.97. Other items include Ratio Soft Bakes, Nature Valley Soft Baked Blueberry Muffin Bars, Ratio Crunchy Bars, LARABar Fudge Brownie, and Epic BBQ Chicken Bars.

We're just a few weeks away from the debut of The Suicide Squad, James Gunn's irreverent take on the DC Films universe. In addition to a slew of new characters, the film will feature franchise veterans, including Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn. Fans are curious to see exactly how Gunn takes Harley's story to new heights — and in a recent Q&A on Instagram, he revealed that he wouldn't be opposed to working with the character more. As Gunn put it, he "definitely would" be interested in making a Harley solo movie.

Of course, there is the caveat that Robbie has pointed out that Harley might not lend herself to a true solo film, as the actress has expressed a desire to see the character joined by friends. This partially led to last year's Birds of Prey, which saw Harley joining forces with some of DC's most beloved female characters.

But with ongoing rumors about a Gotham City Sirens movie — and potentially a Birds vs. Sirens crossover — there could end up being an avenue for Gunn to potentially deal with the character again.

In The Suicide Squad, welcome to hell — a.k.a. Bell Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out — even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today's do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin, and everyone's favorite pyscho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.

The Suicide Squad will see the return of Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Joel Kinnaman as Colonel Rick Flag, and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang from 2016's Suicide Squad. Joining them in the film are David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Steve Agee as King Shark, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, Idris Elba as Bloodsport, John Cena as Peacemaker, Nathan Fillion as T.D.K., Pete Davidson as Blackguard, Flula Borg as Javelin, Mayling Ng as Mongal, Peter Capaldi as The Thinker, Michael Rooker as Savant, Alice Braga as Sol Soria, and Sean Gunn as Weasel.

Charles Band, the producer behind films like Castle Freak, Puppet Master, and Evil Bong, is set to release an autobiography, titled Confessions of a Puppetmaster: A Hollywood Memoir of Ghouls, Guts, and Gonzo Filmmaking, from William Morrorw, an imprint of HarperCollins in November. the book will be co-written with Adam Felber, a panelist on NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. This will be the second time in a relatively short period that Band has been heavily featured in a book. Last time around it was It Came From the Video Aisle!: Inside Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment Studio, a 2017 book that looked at the history of Full Moon from its inception to what was then the present day.

Of course, getting Band's story in his own words is a bit different. Here's how the official press release for the book describes it.

"Zombies, aliens, a little skin, lots of gore — and even more laughs — the cinematic universe of Charles Band is legendary. From the toilet-invading creatures of Ghoulies to the time-travelling bounty hunter in Trancers to the pandemic-crashed Corona Zombies, Band has spent four decades giving B-movie lovers exactly what they love. It's been a wild ride as Band has surfed the ebbs and swells of the industry, his own life often as outrageous as the movies he produces. In Confessions of a Puppetmaster: A Hollywood Memoir of Ghouls, Guts, and Gonzo Filmmaking, this congenial master of Grindhouse cinema shares the incredible story of an ordinary movie-loving guy who lived his passion, constantly reinventing genres — and himself."

Born into a family of creative artists, Band spent much of his childhood in Rome where his father worked in the film industry. Early visits to movie sets sealed young Charlie's fate. By his twenties he had plunged into movie-making himself and found his calling in exploitation movies — quick, low-budget efforts that exploit the zeitgeist and feed people's desire for clever, low-brow entertainment. Soon, Band was turning out dozens of movies, establishing himself as a major player. His movies crossed genres, from vampire flix to sci fi, from Lovecraft adaptations to erotic musical adaptations of fairy tales. He cast his movies with Hollywood icons like Roddy McDowell and Christopher Lee and future stars like Helen Hunt and Demi Moore.

Jackass 4 is scheduled to arrive later this year but filming is apparently still ongoing as franchise star Steve-O has posted a new video to his YouTube channel from the set. Not only did the long-time stuntman show off filming of the new movie but in it he revealed some of the new cast members that will appear in the film. Naturally franchise heavyweights Johnny Knoxville, Jason "Wee Man" Acuña, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Ehren McGhehey, and Preston Lacy will be featured but Steve-O confirmed three more additions to the cast in the form of Jasper Dolphin from Adult Swim's Loiter Squad, Sean McInerney aka Poopies, and Zach Holmes aka Zackass from Too Stupid to Die.

Not present for the upcoming movie will be Bam Margera. Despite initially being part of the new film, Margera was removed from the call sheet by producers after some on-set incidents. In the time since then, Margera has been banned from Jackass productions for three years after director Jeff Tremaine was granted a restraining order against the star. It was previously reported that Margera had threatened his wife and kids. Margera has previously appeared on social media to bash his former colleagues, while also admitting to struggling with sobreity and his own mental health in recent years.

"We want Bam to be happy and healthy and get the help he needs," Knoxville previously told Digital Spy. "We tried to push that along. I think that's all I really want to say about it. I don't want to get into a public back-and-forth with Bam. I just want him to get better."

With the release of The Suicide Squad drawing near, fans are analyzing and picking apart different elements of the film's already-released marketing material. One of the highlights of all of that has been Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), who will be appearing onscreen after 2016's Suicide Squad and 2020's Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). Fans have noticed how Harley's look has continued to evolve in The Suicide Squad, including not having her "Damaged" face tattoo. According to a recent Instagram Q&A from The Suicide Squad writer-director James Gunn, the removal of the tattoo won't be addressed in the movie — but was because neither he nor Robbie was fond of it.

The new Pet Sematary movie, which is in development to be released exclusively on Paramount+, has found its first cast member and with it seemingly revealed what the film will be about. According to a report from Deadline, actor Jackson White (Mrs. Fletcher) is in final negotiations to take on the role of Jud Crandall in the film. Fans of the original Stephen King story and the feature films it inspired will remember Crandall as the elder neighbor character to the Creed, played by Fred Gwynne in the 1989 adaptation of the book with John Lithgow taking on the role in the 2019 reboot.

With White being a 25-year-old actor, his casting seems to clearly indicate that this film will be a prequel to the classic Pet Sematary story and that he'll take on a younger Jud for the movie. Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura previously teased that a prequel movie was a possibility but the film and book both clearly outline what a prequel movie would be about. In the original story, and feature adaptations, Jud tells his distraught neighbor Louis Creed about what went wrong the last time that a person was buried in the "Pet Sematary" and returned from the dead.

Crandall tells the story of Timmy Baterman, a person killed during World War II and whose father buried him in the "sour ground." After returning to life, Baterman began to terrorize people just like the pets that returned, but would terrorize the town with their own secrets. In the end his father would kill him once again. The whole story from Crandall leads to the iconic line "sometimes, dead is better."

Electronic Arts has revealed first details for this year's EA Play Live showcase. The event will be hosted by Austin Creed, also known as WWE's Xavier Woods. The pre-show will begin on July 22nd at 10 a.m. PT. The main showcase will follow, but a specific time has not been announced. Unfortunately, EA has not provided any additional information regarding the event, or which games fans might expect to see during this year's presentation. Hopefully, the publisher will have plenty of exciting things to reveal for the rest of the year, and maybe for the start of 2022, as well!

EA's Tweet announcing the event can be found embedded below.

The Joker has company, as another villain is getting his own series. This time it's Aquaman's half-brother and arch-nemesis Black Manta. The series will be written by Chuck Brown with art by Valentine De Landro. It spins out of a Manta-featured stor in the Aquaman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Spectacular, and introduces a new hero by the name of Torrid as well as a new villain by the name of Devil Ray. The irony there is that "Devil Ray" sounds like a more one-to-one comparison to Black Manta's name than Black Manta is to Aquaman, making this a classic example of the superhero "evil twin" trope...even though the one who's getting an evil twin is already kind of an evil twin of an existing hero.

The issue has a main cover from the comic's primary art team and a variant from Francis Manapul. The Manapul cover connects to his variant cover from Aquaman: The Becoming, which will ship the same month and features Jackson Hyde in the role of Aquaman.

The miniseries apparently centers on Black Manta hunting a rare and valuable metal -- possibly Nth metal, or something else that spins out of the events of Dark Nights: Metal? -- but he's going to find himself competing with Torrid for the MacGuffin.

The issue will be available in stores and online on September 7, 2021. You can read the official synopsis below.

Anime dates back to the birth of Japan's film industry in the early 1900s and has emerged as one of Japan's major cultural forces over the past century.

Much of the work done in these early years was not the cel animation technique that would come to be the dominant production technique, but a host of other methods: chalkboard drawings, painting directly on the film, paper cut-outs, and so on.

One by one, many of the technologies used today were added to Japanese animated productions—sound (and eventually color); the multiplane camera system; and cel animation. But due to the rise of Japanese nationalism and the start of WWII, most of the animated productions created from the 1930s on were not popular entertainments, but instead were either commercially-oriented or government propaganda of one type or another.

Up until this point, Japanese animated productions had been made by and for Japan. But gradually they began to show up in English-speaking territories, although without much in the way to link them back to Japan.

At the time these shows were released, few viewers realized they had been heavily reworked for non-Japanese audiences. Aside from beginning redubbed in English, they were also sometimes edited to remove things not acceptable to network censors. It would be a long time before an audience arose that demanded the originals as a matter of principle.

In the 1970s, the rising popularity of TV put a major dent in the Japanese film industry—both live-action and animation. Many of the animators who had worked exclusively in film gravitated back to TV to fill its expanding talent pool. The end result was a period of aggressive experimentation and stylistic expansion, and a time where many of the common tropes found in anime to this day were coined.

Among the most important genres that arose during this time: mecha, or anime dealing with giant robots or vehicles. Tetsujin 28-go had been the first: the story of a boy and his remote-controlled giant robot. Now came Gō Nagai's outlandish battling-robots epic Mazinger Z, and the massively influential Space Battleship Yamato and Mobile Suit Gundam (which spawned a franchise that continues unabated to this day).

More shows were showing up in other countries, too. Yamato and Gatchaman also found success in the U.S. in their re-edited and re-worked counterparts Star Blazers and Battle of the Planets. Another major hit, Macross (which arrived in 1982), was transformed along with two other shows into Robotech, the first anime series to make major inroads on home video in America. Mazinger Z showed up in many Spanish-speaking countries, the Philippines, and Arabic-speaking nations. And the earlier series Heidi, Girl of the Alps had found great popularity across Europe, Latin America, and even Turkey.

The Eighties also saw the emergence of several major animation studios that became groundbreakers and trendsetters. Former Toei animator Hayao Miyazaki and his colleague Isao Takahata set up Studio Ghibli (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away) in the wake of the success of their theatrical film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. GAINAX, later the creators of Evangelion, formed during this time too; they started as a group of fans making animated shorts for conventions and grew from there into a professional production group.

Some of the most ambitious productions from this period weren't always financially successful. Gainax's own and Katsuhiro Otomo's AKIRA (adapted from his own manga) did poorly in theaters. But another major innovation that came along during the Eighties made it possible for those films—and just about all of anime—to find new audience long after their release: home video.

Home video transformed the anime industry in the Eighties even more radically than TV had. It allowed casual re-watching of a show apart from the rerun schedules of broadcasters, which made it that much easier for die-hard fans—otaku, as they were now starting to be known in Japan—to congregate and share their enthusiasm. It also created a new submarket of animated product, the OAV (Original Animated Video), a shorter work created directly for video and not for TV broadcast, which often featured more ambitious animation and sometimes more experimental storytelling as well. And it also spawned an adults-only niche—hentai—which acquired its own fandom despite censorship both domestically and abroad.

Last April, John took a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas is a popular destination in the western portion of the United States. The town is most popular for its casinos, hotels, and exciting nightlife.

In downtown Las Vegas, John spent a lot of time on The Strip, which is a 2.5 mile stretch of shopping, entertainment venues, luxury hotels, and fine dining experiences. This is probably the most commonly visited tourist area in the city. The Strip at night looks especially beautiful. All of the buildings light up with bright, neon, eye-catching signs to attract visitor attention.

A stay in Las Vegas can feel similar to a visit to many popular cities worldwide. Many of the hotels have miniature versions of important international sites and monuments. These famous landmarks include the Eiffel Tower, Venice, and even ancient Rome.

One day, John took a side trip outside of the city to visit the Grand Canyon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World. The canyon offers a breathtaking view of Nevada's ridges and natural landscape. John especially liked the canyon because it was removed from all of the noise and movement in downtown Las Vegas.

John had a great time during his trip to Las Vegas. He did not win a lot of money in the casinos. However, he managed to see a lot of amazing sites during his visit to this city that never sleeps.

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Last April, John took a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas is a popular destination in the western portion of the United States. The town is most popular for its casinos, hotels, and exciting nightlife.

In downtown Las Vegas, John spent a lot of time on The Strip, which is a 2.5 mile stretch of shopping, entertainment venues, luxury hotels, and fine dining experiences. This is probably the most commonly visited tourist area in the city. The Strip at night looks especially beautiful. All of the buildings light up with bright, neon, eye-catching signs to attract visitor attention.

A stay in Las Vegas can feel similar to a visit to many popular cities worldwide. Many of the hotels have miniature versions of important international sites and monuments. These famous landmarks include the Eiffel Tower, Venice, and even ancient Rome.

One day, John took a side trip outside of the city to visit the Grand Canyon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World. The canyon offers a breathtaking view of Nevada's ridges and natural landscape. John especially liked the canyon because it was removed from all of the noise and movement in downtown Las Vegas.

John had a great time during his trip to Las Vegas. He did not win a lot of money in the casinos. However, he managed to see a lot of amazing sites during his visit to this city that never sleeps.

Last April, John took a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas is a popular destination in the western portion of the United States. The town is most popular for its casinos, hotels, and exciting nightlife.

In downtown Las Vegas, John spent a lot of time on The Strip, which is a 2.5 mile stretch of shopping, entertainment venues, luxury hotels, and fine dining experiences. This is probably the most commonly visited tourist area in the city. The Strip at night looks especially beautiful. All of the buildings light up with bright, neon, eye-catching signs to attract visitor attention.

A stay in Las Vegas can feel similar to a visit to many popular cities worldwide. Many of the hotels have miniature versions of important international sites and monuments. These famous landmarks include the Eiffel Tower, Venice, and even ancient Rome.

One day, John took a side trip outside of the city to visit the Grand Canyon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World. The canyon offers a breathtaking view of Nevada's ridges and natural landscape. John especially liked the canyon because it was removed from all of the noise and movement in downtown Las Vegas.

John had a great time during his trip to Las Vegas. He did not win a lot of money in the casinos. However, he managed to see a lot of amazing sites during his visit to this city that never sleeps.

the little mermaid text

LaserDisc (LD), a playback-only format that boasted top-notch picture and sound quality, emerged from Japan in the early Eighties to become a format of choice amongst both mainstream videophiles and otaku. Despite its technological advantages, LD never achieved the market share of VHS and was eventually eclipsed completely by DVD and Blu-ray Disc. But by the beginning of the Nineties owning an LD player and a library of discs to go with it (as few places in the U.S. rented LDs) was a hallmark of one's seriousness as an anime fan both in the U.S. and Japan. One major benefit of LD: multiple audio tracks, which made it at least partly feasible for LDs to feature both the dubbed and subtitled version of a show.

Even after home video technology became widely available, few dedicated channels for anime distribution existed outside of Japan. Many fans imported discs or tapes, added their own subtitles electronically, and formed unofficial tape-trading clubs whose memberships were small but intensely devoted. Then the first domestic licensors began to appear: AnimEigo (1988); Streamline Pictures (1989); Central Park Media (1990); which also distributed manga; A.D. Vision (1992). Pioneer (later Geneon), the developers of the LaserDisc format and a major video distributor in Japan, set up shop in the U.S. and imported shows from their own roster (Tenchi Muyo) as well.

It's not confirmed that this will be the content of the new movie but if we were the betting type we would put the house on it.

Human body parts and organs

It goes without saying that humans (mammals identifiable as those that stand upright and are comparatively advanced and capable of detailed thought) have pretty remarkable bodies, given all that they've accomplished. (Furthermore, an especially intelligent human brain produced this text!) To be sure, humans have overcome predators, disease, and all sorts of other obstacles over thousands of years.

To fully understand and appreciate these accomplishments, let's take at some of the most well-known parts of the human body!

The head, or the spherical body part that contains the brain and rests at the top of the human body, has quite a few individual organs and body parts on it. (It should quickly be mentioned that hair occupies the space on top of the head, and the ears, the organs responsible for hearing, are located on either side of the head.) From top to bottom, the eyebrows, or horizontal strips of hair that can be found above the eye, are the first components of the head. The eyes are below them, and are round, orb-like organs that allow humans to see.

The eyes make way for the nose, or an external (sticking-out) organ that plays an important part in the breathing and bacteria-elimination processes. Below that is the mouth, or a wide, cavernous organ that chews food, removes bacteria, helps with breathing, and more. The mouth contains teeth, or small, white-colored, pointed body parts used to chew food, and the tongue, or a red-colored, boneless organ used to chew food and speak.

The neck is the long body part that connects the head to the chest (the muscular body part that protects the heart and lungs), and the stomach, or the part of the body that contains food and liquid-processing organs, comes below that.

The legs are the long, muscular body parts that allow humans to move from one spot to another and perform a variety of actions. Each leg contains a thigh (a thick, especially muscular body part used to perform strenuous motions; the upper part of the leg) and a calf (thinner, more flexible body part that absorbs the shock associated with movement; the lower part of the leg). Feet can be found at the bottom of legs, and each foot is comprised of five toes, or small appendages that help balance.

Arms are long, powerful body parts that are located on either side of chest, below the shoulders;arms are comprised of biceps (the thicker, more powerful upper portion), and forearms (the thinner, more flexible lower portion). Hands, or small, gripping body parts used for a tremendous number of actions, are at the end of arms. Each hand contains five fingers, or small appendages used to grip objects.

The aforementioned shoulders are rounded body parts that aid arms' flexibility. One's back is found on the opposite side of the stomach, and is a flat section of the body that contains important muscles that're intended to protect the lungs and other internal organs, in addition to helping humans perform certain motions and actions.

Yellowstone National Park, located in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, was established as the first national park in the United States. The park is a popular destination for visitors who enjoy ecological tourism as it offers forests, mountains, and abundant ecosystems to explore. Some of Yellowstone's most well-known landmarks are its geothermal hot springs and geysers, the most famous of which is named Old Faithful.

Last fall, Lisa and her friends decided to take a camping trip to Yellowstone National Park. They arranged to stay at one of the park's many convenient campsites. For their camping trip, they brought their backpacks, sleeping bags, and a cooler of food and drinks. They pitched their tents immediately upon arriving to their campsite.

During their trip, Lisa and her friends hiked the many trails of the park, exploring its natural surroundings. In the forest, they saw a lot of local wildlife. Lisa was surprised to see a family of grizzly bears, some gray wolves, and even bald eagles flying overhead. Outside of the woods, they admired the beauty of some of Yellowstone's natural cascades.

Since Yellowstone contains many hot springs and the world's largest area of active geysers, Lisa and her friends visited many different geyser sites. They even spent an afternoon swimming in Yellowstone's Boiling River. Of all of the sites, Lisa and her friends agreed that Old Faithful was the most impressive. Lisa and her friends waited patiently for the geyser to erupt. After about 40 minutes, a stream of boiling water over 100 feet tall sprayed from the ground and up into the air. Fortunately, no one got wet!