#Digital Marketing Course Notes

[digischema06]

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If you are searching for digital marketing notes for beginners, then Ashutohrana.info is the answer to it.

[haroob]

I will be your social media marketing manager

We use social media as an integral part of nearly every digital marketing campaign. We help businesses access the best of social media and use it as a marketing asset.

[asdmahmedabad]

Practical digital marketing techniques for beginners - ASDM

Explore the top 9 digital marketing techniques! From SEO to social media, learn how each digital marketing strategy can boost your online presence & sales. This is where digital marketing comes in. It’s the art and science of leveraging the power of the internet to connect with your target audience, build brand awareness, and ultimately drive sales. By implementing effective digital marketing strategies, you can transform your online presence from a virtual ghost town into a thriving sales hub.

[rafescherie]

✮⋆˙ bbf!rafe decides to lend you a helping hand relieving the stress of college.

warnings — 18+ MDNI. perv!rafe, brother's best friend trope (reader is topper's sibling), manipulative tactics for sex, fingering + naive/inexperienced reader.

cherie's note — best friend's brother!rafe is so yummy i had to try writing for him

the creak of the old hardwood floors were barely audible as the tall blond wandered the dimly lit hallways of your home, rubbing the exhaustion out of his eyes. he wasn't sure why he was awake — maybe the lingering effects of the party earlier, or the exhausting heatwave humidity that flooded the outerbanks.

he passed by a door, half-open. he had been here hundreds of times, his best friend topper, your brother, inviting him over to your home since before the pair were in middle school. he knew whose door it was before he even had to look.

yours.

leaning against the doorframe, he peered in, careful not to make a sound. you were lying on your stomach, completely focused and unaware of who creeped through the cracks, your laptop casting a faint blue light over your features. headphones in, brow furrowed, fingers lazily twirling a pen between them.

rafe smirked. of course, you were still up.

you were such a good girl. rafe knew this better than anybody — taking any chance he could to just watch as you stayed up for hours studying. unlike your brother, you hardly went out to the parties, or the bonfires — more concerned with the previous lecture or some stupid upcoming test.

for a second, he considered just watching — just like every other time. but the temptation was too strong. he rapped his knuckles lightly against the oak door of your bedroom.

"you always stay up this late?" his voice was low, rough from sleep.

your head snapped up, eyes widening slightly before you pulled out an earbud. "jesus, rafe." you huffed, setting your pen down. "what are you doing?"

he shrugged, testing the waters by taking another step closer, leaning against the doorframe. "couldn't sleep." his gaze flickered over your screen before settling back on you.

the loose pajama shorts tickled against the soft skin of your plump thighs, leg hoisted up just enough for rafe to see that lacey pair of panties hidden below. it was much more than your brother's best friend should ever see, but that was the last thing on your mind as your head pounded from all the homework. his blue eyes filled with exhaustion and curiosity at your state, taking another step onto the fuzzy carpet rug of your room.

"i'm uh-" you stutter, heart thundering against your chest at the advance, "i've been studying, s'why i'm still awake."

rafe quirked an eyebrow, finger dancing along your dresser — littered with trinkets of all sorts. his eyes linger on one item in particular, familiar to him as he remembers the time he had stolen a cheap hand carving at the flea market and gifted it to you. he could still remember the day he had gotten it for you — after finding out how your recent obsession was centred around seahorses, when his young eyes captured sight of the hand carving, he knew the goal in mind. after all these years, he was surprised you still had it.

"studying, huh?" a teasing smirk played at the corner of his mouth as his gaze dropped briefly to the scattered textbooks and notes covering your desk before meeting your eyes again, "at this hour? you're a real diligent student."

he stopped at the foot of your bed, hands shoved casually in the pockets of his low slung sweatpants. the thin fabric did little to conceal his strong, lean physique. up close, you could see the glint of mischief in his sleepy blue eyes.

"i know you've got a big test coming up soon..." he dragged out the words teasingly.

"mhm," you hum, scrolling through what felt like hundreds of digital pages of notes. your gaze flickers nervously between the laptop, and the man stood in front of you. "been studying for it all week, brain is starting to mush."

rafe let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. "mush huh? well, we can't have that..." in two long strides, he closed the distance between you, reaching out to gently shut the lid of your laptop. his fingertips brushed against yours, sending an unexpected shiver up your spine.

"how about you take a break, hm?" his voice was a low rumble, almost hypnotic in the quiet of the night. "i bet all this studying has you wound tighter than a coil. might do you some good to... relax."

the suggestive edge to his tone doesn't go unnoticed, "it's late, rafe..." you practically stutter, crimson blush flooding your cheeks at the thought of spending time with rafe alone. "besides, top's probably gonna be wondering where you are, soon."

rafe's lips curled into a roguish grin at the mention of your brother, looming over you with a predatory gleam in his eye. "topper? nah, he's dead to the world right now. passed out cold after that last beer."

his hand came up to brush a stray lock of hair behind your ear, fingers lingering to trace the delicate shell. "plus," he murmurs, voice dropping an octave, "what top doesn't know won't hurt him. it'll be our little secret."

the air between you crackled with tension as rafe's gaze raked over your form, taking in the way your thin pajama tank top clung to your curves. he licked his lips unconsciously, "c'mon, sweet girl, live a little. promise i don't bite."

the moment of hesitation is apparent on your face — wide doe eyes staring back at the man who waits almost painfully for you to say something.

"alright," you start, voice a little too timid, unsure of yourself, "what do you have in mind?"

rafe's grin widened at your question, a flash of triumph in his eyes. "well, for starters..." he reaches out to trail a finger along your jawline, tilting your chin to meet his heated gaze. "how about i help you work out some of that pent=up tension? i've got a few ideas that might clear your head better than cramming."

his other hand found its way to your thigh, squeezing gently as he inched higher. "we could start with a nice, relaxing massage. get rid of all that stiffness from hunching over your books all night." his voice vibrates through you in a low purr, dripping with suggestion.

this felt wrong — so wrong. having rafe's hands on your bare skin, knowing your brother, his best friend, was only a few bedrooms down, the heat within your stomach pooled as the thrill of anticipation roared throughout your entire body. his touch was hot against your skin, leaving burning fingerprints in its wake. still, as his hand trailed up your thigh, you felt your body relax as you gave in to his suggestion.

his touch was electric as his hands began to knead the tense muscles of your shoulders and upper back. he worked slowly, deliberately, thumbs digging into knots you hadn't even known existed. leaning down, his breath ghosted hot air against your ear as he whispered, "that's it, just relax. let me take care of you."

his fingers traced the line of your spine, slipping beneath the thin straps of your tank top. with agonizing slowness, he pushed the flimsy material down, exposing more of your soft skin to the cool night air and his heated gaze.

continuing his sensual massage, his wandering hands seemed to 'accidentally' brush against your most intimate areas. his fingers grazed the curve of your ass as he reached for the small of your back, calloused fingers kneading deep within the plush flesh of your body.

lost in the new sensations, you barely register the inapprorate touches — his knuckles so clumsily skimming over your clothed mound, the brief contact sending a jolt to your core. too inexperienced to realize the significance, you had only played it off as a 'mistake', but rafe knew better.

the whimpers you let escape were hardly recognized internally as his calloused hands dug into the dimples of your back, working his magic at releasing the tension built up within your overworked muscles. each purr out of your throat had his hands slipping further and further, just like he had planned.

unbeknownst to you in your innocent state, rafe allowed his touch to linger longer on your clothed mound. his palm grazed the front of your panties as he adjusted your position, applying the slightest bit of pressure.

there was nothing wrong with this, you thought — rafe was helping you. his hands worked skillfully against the soft skin, eliciting the most delicious moans out of you with each touch. he was giving you a massage, this was as innocent as it could get, right? it wasn't like he gained anything from helping you out.

wrong. the foreign feeling of his fingers rubbing against your covered cunt, rubbing the slit between your puffy lips had your eyes shooting open in confusion, head rounded to look at him from over your shoulder, "rafe?"

rafe froze for a split second when you stuttered his name, fingers stilling against your clothed sex. but then, emboldened by your lack of immediate protest, he pressed on. his middle finger began to trace slow, deliberate circles over your covered pussy, feeling the heat emanating from your core.

"just relax, princess," he cooed softly, free hand sliding up to rest on your hip, holding you in place. "let me make you feel good."

he leaned down to press open-mouthed kisses along the side of your neck, tongue darting out to taste your skin. all the while, his finger continued its maddeningly slow movements, rubbing you through the dampening fabric of your panties. the rough pad of his fingertip caught on your clit, sending sparks of pleasure shooting through you.

the whine you let out was almost feral, worry spreading through you quickly at the thought of your own family walking in and seeing the situation in front of them. “t-this feels wrong, rafe..” but it felt so right at the same time.

a dark chuckle rumbled in rafe's chest at your conflicted words, his finger never ceasing its torturous dance over your weeping pussy, as if studying the anatomy of your body. "wrong?" he murmured huskily against your ear.

to punctuate his words, he hooked a finger in the waistband of your panties and tugged them aside, finally making direct contact with your slick folds. rafe groaned at the feel of your wet heat, stroking through your arousal with teasing lightness. "fuck, sweetheart... you're so wet already. your body knows what it wants, even if your pretty little head is confused."

his other hand slid up your torso to cup your breast through your tank top, thumb circling your nipple until it pebbled beneath the thin fabric.

you knew the blush on your cheeks was bright red as the warm feeling flooded your cheeks. it felt so foreign — his fingers exploring your sloppy folds, thumb occasionally sending firm strokes against your swollen clit.

"i-" you begin, the words breathy which each word you spoke, "i've never done this before, rafe."

your eyes meet his, blue eyes dark and blown with anticipation, with pure lust. he groans out at the confession, a wicked grin spreading across his face, "never? fuck, you're like the perfect little virgin sacrifice."

his fingers continued their relentless exploration of your untouched folds, circling your clit with the pads of his two fingers, applying just enough pressure to have you practically squirming beneath him. his free hand pushed the fabric of your tank top up to expose your breasts, his head dipping to capture one rosy peaky between his teeth, sucking greedily as he rolled the other nipple between his fingers.

"don't worry, baby. i'll teach you everything," he promised darkly, working to slowly pump two fingers inside of your tight pussy. "gonna ruin you for anyone else. by the time i'm done, this sweet cunt will only crave my touch."

moaning out at the sound of his words, his hand roughly slaps against your mouth, hips rutting desperately against yours as his thick fingers continued to fuck into you, "they'll hear us if you keep that up, angel. gotta be quiet for me, can ya do that?"

his thumb found your clit again, rubbing firm circles around the sensitive bundle of nerves as he curled his fingers just right inside of you. he groaned out at the feeling of your walls pulsing around his digits, cock hurting against the fabric of his boxers at the feeling of how tight you were. rafe swallowed your needy whimpers with a deep, filthy kiss, tongue delving into your mouth to tangle with yours.

you nodded frantically at his question, almost desperate. the chuckle he lets out is dark and primal, coming from a place of pure ego. nevertheless, the walls of your cunt fluttering and clenching around his plunging fingers. he wanted nothing more than to push you over the edge, to watch you come undone completely. he craved the feeling of freeing his aching cock and burying it deep inside your tight, virgin heat.

but even in his lust-addled state, rafe recognized the risk you were taking, hand still clamped over your mouth tightly to drown out the sounds of your pathetic whines. he could tell you were close, the way your eyes rolled and you clung onto his wrist — he was going to make damn sure he'd never forget this sight.

"you're so fucking wet for me, baby," he murmured appreciatively, voice low and husky. "this pretty pussy is practically begging for my cock."

despite his earlier restraints, rafe found himself unable to resist your needy pleas. he increased the pace of his touches, fingers pumping steadily in and out of your tight heat as his thumb rubbed firm circles on your poor clit. the obscene sound of your arousal filled the room as he fingered you, the obsessive mixture of squelching and subtle whining ringing through his ears like a song, destined to bring you closer and closer to the edge.

"feels so fucking good," you moan out, hand trailing down your soft body to make contact with your own clit. the action sent a groan through the man, adorning the way you worked yourself out of pure desperation for him.

"yeah?" he rasps, curling his fingers inside of you once more. "fuckin’ filthy slut, getting off with your brother's best friend? dirty girl..."

one of rafe's hands slid up to cover your mouth again, ready to muffle any loud cries as he pushed you over the edge. you were experiencing pure ecstasy, eyes rolling to the back of your head as his warm breath tickled your neck. his hips rocked subtly against yours, seeking some much-needed friction for his own aching arousal.

"c'mon, be a good girl and cum on my fingers," he urged in a low, commanding tone. his words alone were enough to elicit that delicious high out of you, whines muffled against the warm palm of his hand. he held you tightly as your body shook and convulsed with the throes of your first orgasm, fingers still buried deep inside your tight velvet walls. he swallowed each keening cry that fell from your swollen, plump lips, muffling the sounds of your pleasure. rafe's own hips jerked involuntarily, grinding against your thigh as he watched you come undone.

"that's it, baby. cum on my fingers, just like that..." he praised breathlessly, voice strained with barely contained desire. even as your climax began to subside, rafe continued to slowly pump his digits in and out, drawing out every last wave of bliss.

finally, as your breathing stilled, he carefully withdrew his fingers from your overstimulated folds, coated digits slipping past his own lips as he made a show of licking them clean. your poor cunt clenched around nothing at the sight, eyes flickering down to the bulge in his sweats.

tugging your hand suddenly, he brings your open palm to the prominent tent below his torso, groaning at the contact. "feel what you do to me? how fucking hard i am for you?"

his hungry lips capture yours once more, tongue exploring the inside of your mouth like he was on a feverish mission — breathy sighs falling from his lips each time you stroked him through the cotton fabric of his sweatpants.

with great effort, he practically dragged your hand from his straining erection. his lips pressed a soft kiss to your warm forehead, dipping his head between your thighs to place the softest kiss to the tender, sensitive skin of your inner legs.

the mattress shifts underneath you, rafe standing back on to the fuzzy carpet of your bedroom. a pout flooded your features at the lack of sudden satisfaction, your body already eager for more. "i'll text you, yeah?"

it wouldn't be for a few days later that you'd receive that infamous, long-awaited text from your brother's best friend — audibly gasping as your eyes land on the perverted video of himself he had filmed for your eyes only.

[driftwooddestiel]

do we have concrete evidence for charlie brooker being queer. and if you reply to this with an essay i would not mind in fact i encourage it.

SMILES SO WIDELY. thank you so very much for asking 🫶🫶🫶

short answer is umm welllll not technicallyyy like nothing *concrete* concrete . But theres a whole lot of definite hints. very definite indeed. and the (extremely) long answer, with said evidence, is below the cut >:)

obligatory rpf disclaimer that i do not actually claim to know anything about this man’s sexuality or his personal life . im just having fun and playing in this space

OKAY ONTO THE EVIDENCE. and oh how theres evidence.

1. flirting with men on many many occasions (pt 1)

now some may say these examples don’t count because they were clearly jokes BUT. quite frankly i think they still count because none of these situations asked him to do that like he chose to flirt with those guys entirely of his own volition and that’s gotta mean something.

 “what examples?” well…

one: pc zone, 1998, issue 62. charlie does a feature on video game phone support lines where he prank calls various companies to measure their competence. he puts on various characters for these prank calls, one of which is called Flirty. he only called as flirty once, to EIDOS interactive. in this call he, well, flirts with the (male) caller the entire time, sometimes in very over-the-top ways (asking to meet up, go dancing and spray water on each other’s bare chests??) and also by being genuinely kind of slick by asking about types of matrox graphics cards, and when the caller mentioned the matrox mystique he responded by going “you’ve got a touch of mystique about you”. he did this twice. it’s interesting to say the least

(you can listen to the call here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE39Elq1ov0)

also important to note here that he was afaik not asked to put on any specific personas for these prank calls, he chose them himself. also according to paul mallinson and richie shoemaker he did these calls drunk & after locking himself into the office of PC zone’s editor at the time. inch resting… ALSO. this is where the fruity charlie image in my pfp is from.

two: digital update radio show, 1998, i forget which broadcast this was exactly but its on youtube, i will find it sometime. anywayyyy. he plays a lie detector game with some guy from the marketing or smth and for no real reason, when the marketing guy gets hooked up to the lie detector, charlie asks “do you fancy me?” – yeeees its a joke. but he did not have to ask that… also i highly recommend listening to that lie detector game because the game also asks “will you fancy your partner when he’s old?” and “have you ever used a prostitute?” and its just like, really really funny. 

three we have his interactions with the mods of the SOTCAA forums aka the corpses. i dont know why he turned it into enemies to lovers stuff he just did that. this is just one example but like he legit invited them to meet up irl and also made many other jokes in this vein. im just saying… bit gay innit

2. flirting with men on many many occasions (pt 2)

these are occasions similar to the previous point in that they also take place in a comedic setting, however while they can be passed off as merely jokes they also can be interpreted with a higher degree of sincerity (mainly because they’ve happened so much)

mostly these are with david mitchell because thats just like . who he flirts with the most honestly. basically he’s implied he wants david to kiss him on multiple occasions at panel show recordings, has made various other flirtatious comments, and of course, THIS:

crazy thing to say in and of itself, even crazier if you compare his behaviour around david to his behaviour most of the time on panel shows. he literally does act all aggressive… this was also just a wild thing to say in a webchat on MUMSNET of all places. there’s also the things hes said on twitter but ill discuss those later

theres also the time richard herring joked about him and chris morris when he was on rhlstp but thats a whole other can of worms

OH MY GOD I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT “IF I DID IT TO YOU BACKSTAGE”. ONE SECOND. i have to link to my reblog of it cos the og poster deactivated. https://www.tumblr.com/driftwooddestiel/770480765641310208/davidmitchelldaily-david-mitchell-and-charlie

CRAZAYYYY. this was on david’s radio show ‘the unbelievable truth’ btw

ALSO. on big fat quiz of the year 2009, he and david mitchell are on a team together right and at LEAST 3 gay jokes are made about them. "at least they found each other now" "the married couple and the civil partnership over there" "the dancing queens, charlie and david". is this evidence for anything? not necessarily. but its wild

3. constantly depicting himself in gay scenarios

basically like. you watch screenwipe and the examples are endless. but probably most notable would be in screenwipe when theres a dream/nightmare sequence of him, and i quote, “giving blowjobs for pennies”, which shows him doing just that (in a manner appropriate for a bbc program that is). that scene was NOT necessary like at all . he did not have to do that. but he did

4. saying his favourite sex act is docking in a guardian column once

OKAY YEAH he specifies he doesn’t mean his fav to partake in but still… dude. in this (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/feb/09/twitter) column he said this:

okay!!!

5. the whole 90s flatmate thing

this one is a whole saga really. to summarise:

at some point in the 90s, charlie shared a one-bedroom flat with one other guy. he claims that every night they set up the couch as a bed for one of them but like… i’m just saying. at some point you’re not gonna bother anymore. i unfortunately do not remember where he said this but i promise he did.

also in the 90s he would play a lot of tekken with his flatmate (same as before? who knows!) and has said MANY times that he noticed the homoeroticism of fighting games. and that when they played tekken till late at night they probably sounded like an S&M dungeon, and so on… and that was the inspiration for striking vipers. 

^ in addition to this, many insane things have been said about this particular story by him and by annabel jones (close friend of his for 20+ years, bm cocreator). including:

“i did think ‘well there is something, primally… a little homoerotic about this game here,’ like— here’s a thing where i am - when i’m playing that, with my flatmate - i am, in a sense, i’m wrestling, it’s like i’m controlling a hypersexualised character, in the game, and we’re sort of grappling and wrestling with each other! um… yeah, so that was the only outlet i had… (laughs) um and ya!” (charlie) [OKAY!!!]

CB: “our neighbours must have thought we were [...] an incredibly in love couple!” AJ: “and there wasn’t?” [hello???]

AJ: “did you voice that? did you have that conversation with your mate” CB: “yeah!” AJ: “YOU DID?” CB: “i said oh my god like–” AJ: “did he think you were coming onto him?” CB: “no no! and i’d say– well, no because i’d save that for afterwards” [im gonna thrup]

6. always finding the homoeroticism and phallic imagery in everything

he sees shrimp colours with this stuff sometimes and its great. comprehensive list of notable things hes described as phallic, to my knowledge:

the gun in ‘doom’

spaceships in 70s-80s arcade games

big ben

guns in general

and things hes called homoerotic:

fighting games

sports vide games (specifically in hockey games when they celebrate a win)

the tv show ‘britains hardest’

an advertisement he’s seen

and doubtless more things im forgetting rn

of course you dont have to be queer to notice these things. but it helps

7. various things he’s said in PC zone over the years

so theres the fact he makes like a hundred jokes about gay sailors in pc zone which started out looking like ordinary old homophobia but after a point its like… why do you keep bringing up big burly sailors in ENTIRELY UNRELATED SITUATIONS. why are you so fixated on this hmm…

theres also:

^ this. its VERY IMPORTANT to note that the person answering letters this issue WAS CHARLIE. he chose to answer this way. also like no smoke without fire he really was putting out gay vibes even then

and a collection of other insane pc zone moments (some u have to click on to see in full sorryy) (note that the fourth image was said in response to a letter approving of the inclusion of photos of reviewers in pc zone, saying they thought charlie looked just like the kind of substance-abusing man with no life they thought he was (paraphrased)):

there was also the time he wrote his name as shirley brooker for no reason and never gave an explanation. completely unrelated to the contents of the writing he just did that. combined with the column where he talks about feeling a disconnect from the idea of what a man is (paraphrased) i feel like its not totally unreasonable to consider that he might not be 100% cisgender. tee bee haych

9. twitter behaviour. not going in the flirting with men sections because it’s twitter so it’s like… different

hes said many crazy things on twitter but i’ll just bring up 2 of the most egregious examples

THIS. insane. he just said this. unprompted. why

E THIS. charlie condou is a friend of his who was in nathan barley btw. he is also gay. i do not know what he meant by this tweet. but it says something

10. I AM CHARLIE BROOKER. I AM GAY. and other things

this is my favourite. in 1998, charlie brooker made this update to his website superkaylo:

important context: david mccandless and paul mallinson were both also working at pc zone and were close friends of his at the time (maybe still are idk… ik he’s still in contact with paul bc he was given special thanks at the end of plaything). this was obviously a prank but like… again. where there’s smoke there’s fire. or something

there’s also the fact he has said he “fell in love with” the character of colin and has described himself as loving his character so much he kept writing him into more scenes. especially intriguing since colins design clearly takes inspiration from the outfit of rik myall’s character in the young ones, given that the young ones and rik myall in particular were huge inspirations of charlie’s. OTHER BM THING OF NOTE: a line kelly says to yorkie (���like a frightened horse on a frozen lake”) was also said by charlie on big fat quiz of the year 2009. cray cray

im so serious when i say there is definitely more. but i fear this has gotten too long so i will stop here o7

IF YOU READ THIS FAR THANK YOUUUU and thank you again for asking i had so so much fun typing this all up thank you :-)

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

dave : @roweafr - trump 100 :: @FinancialReview

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

May 2, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

May 03, 2025

Yesterday I identified incorrectly the messaging app newly fired national security advisor Michael Waltz was using at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday as the unsecure Signal app. Joseph Cox of 404 Media identified the app as “an obscure and unofficial version of Signal” from “a company called TeleMessage which makes clones of popular messaging apps but adds an archiving capability to each of them.” As Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo notes, this third-party app introduces even more insecurity into those White House communications.

Today I spent time organizing the many tabs I had opened over the past six weeks. When they were grouped by topics, what emerged was the story of an administration that decided from the start to portray President Donald Trump as a king, creating an alternative social media ecosystem designed, as Drew Harwell and Sarah Ellison of the Washington Post noted in early March, “to sell the country on [Trump’s] expansionist approach to presidential power.”

The team set out not just to confront critics, but to drown them out with a constant barrage of sound bites, interviews with loyalists, memes slamming Democrats, and attack lines. “We’re here. We’re in your face,�� said Kaelan Dorr, a deputy assistant to the president who runs the digital team. “It’s irreverent. It’s unapologetic.” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said their goal was “FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE.”

They are engaged in a marketing campaign to establish Trump’s false version of reality as truth. The White House has also brought into the press pool right-wing influencers, who are asking questions that tee up opportunities for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to push administration talking points, which the influencers then amplify on social media.

Trump’s aspirations to authoritarianism are showing today in the announcement that there will be a military parade on Trump’s 79th birthday, June 14, which coincides with the 250th anniversary of the Second Continental Congress’s establishment of the Continental Army in 1775. About 6,600 soldiers, 150 vehicles, and 50 helicopters will proceed from near the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, to the National Mall at a cost of tens of millions of dollars.

Trump’s attempt to empower loyalists showed today in the news that the Trump administration has reached a settlement in principle with the family of Ashli Babbitt, the Trump loyalist who was shot by Capitol Police officer Michael Byrd as she tried to breach the House Speaker’s Lobby on January 6, 2021. The right-wing Judicial Watch organization had filed a $30 million civil suit on behalf of Babbitt’s estate. A 2021 internal review determined that Byrd saved lives.

The administration’s hunkering down in right-wing ideology showed as well in Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s public attack on U.S. ally Germany for declaring the German right-wing political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) as an extremist party that goes against Germany’s “free democratic order.” That designation is the result of a three-year investigation. It allows the government more leeway in monitoring the AfD.

Both Vice President J.D. Vance and billionaire White House advisor Elon Musk supported the AfD and backed it in a recent election. Rubio took AfD’s side today, writing on social media that that new designation was “tyranny in disguise.” He attacked the current government and urged Germany to “reverse course.”

The German Foreign Office responded publicly. “This is democracy. The decision is the result of a thorough & independent investigation to protect our Constitution & the rule of law. It is independent courts that will have the final say. We have learnt from our history that rightwing extremism needs to be stopped.”

It says something about the Trump administration that the German government is lecturing the U.S. government about the dangers of right-wing extremism.

Molly Beck of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan spoke to reporters yesterday, threatening Wisconsin governor Tony Evers with arrest after the governor issued a memo to state workers directing them to check with a lawyer before turning over documents or other items to officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Evers said Republicans were mischaracterizing his memo, which did not direct anyone to break the law.

"We now have a federal government that will threaten or arrest an elected official, or even everyday American citizens who have broken no laws, committed no crimes and done nothing wrong," Evers said. "And as disgusted as I am about the continued actions of the Trump administration, I'm not afraid."

Yesterday, at an event for judges, jurists, and lawyers, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson spoke out against the attacks on judges currently plaguing the country. Judge Esther Salas, whose son Daniel was murdered by a man who came to their house looking for her, has been calling out the recent tactic of sending pizzas to the homes of judges or their children, making the point that right-wing opponents know where they live. Furthering their attempt at intimidation, the perpetrators have been using the name of Judge Salas’s son.

Judge Jackson began her remarks yesterday by saying she wanted to address “the elephant in the room”: the attacks on our legal system. Such attacks are not just on individuals, she said, but undermine the system itself. “Attacks on judicial independence is how countries that are not free, not fair, and not rule of law oriented, operate,” she said, and she told her colleagues: “I urge you to keep going, keep doing what is right for our country, and I do believe that history will vindicate your service.” According to Laura N. Pérez Sánchez of the New York Times, the audience gave her a standing ovation.

At least some of the administration’s intimidation is an attempt to cow opponents. It does not appear to be working.

Yesterday, about 1,500 lawyers and their allies packed the plaza outside Manhattan’s federal courthouse to defend the rule of law. According to Santul Nerkar of the New York Times, they held up pocket Constitutions, reaffirmed their oath to support and defend the Constitution, and chanted: “The rule of law protects us all. Without it we will surely fall.”

Speaking in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., constitutional law scholar and U.S. representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said, “The whole country needs a constitutional refresher.” He recited the Preamble of the Constitution: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

On March 6, Trump issued an executive order attacking the law firm Perkins Coie, which has represented high-profile Democratic individuals and causes, by barring the federal government from hiring the firm, suspending the security clearances of individuals working for it, barring its lawyers from entering federal office buildings, and preparing to end government contracts with any of its clients.

Rather than back down, as several other firms did, Perkins Coie sued the next day. Today, Judge Beryl Howell permanently barred any enforcement of Trump's executive order, saying it “violates the Constitution and is thus null and void.” In her opinion, Howell noted that “disposing of lawyers is a step in the direction of a totalitarian form of government.” Trump’s executive order violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of the right to free speech, the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of due process, and the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of right to counsel.

She pointed out that the fair and impartial administration of justice has been part of the U.S. since John Adams “made the singularly unpopular decision to represent eight British soldiers charged with murder for their roles in the Boston Massacre.” “I had no hesitation,” Adams wrote in his diary, because “the Bar ought…to be independent and impartial at all Times And in every Circumstance.”

Today, Riley Board and Dylan Tusinski of the Portland Press Herald reported that the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state of Maine reached a settlement in the state’s lawsuit against the Trump administration after it froze funding to Maine education. The administration claimed the state violates the law because it allows transgender girls to compete on girls’ sports teams. Governor Janet Mills said she was following state and federal law and that Trump could not change the law by fiat. Maine attorney general Aaron Frey said the state had no choice but to sue in order to force the USDA to follow the law. The settlement restores the funding and establishes that the administration will go through the legally required process to pursue its policy.

When Trump tried to bully Governor Mills over the issue at a White House meeting in February, she told him, “See you in court.” Today she commented: “It’s good to feel a victory like this. I stood in the White House and when confronted by the president of the United States, I told him I’d see him in court. Well, we did see him in court, and we won.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi has launched a different lawsuit against the Maine Department of Education that would pull funding primarily from poorer students and students with disabilities. “That’s a separate complaint they filed a few weeks ago, it’s only a one-page complaint that cites no authority, no case, no law,” Mills said. “We’ll see them in court on that one as well.”

Finally, tonight, Trump’s apparent determination to dominate the news and to project an image of leadership is overlapping with his increasingly erratic behavior. After suggesting on Tuesday that he’d like to be Pope, tonight the president of the United States posted on his social media site an AI-generated image of himself wearing papal robes and a miter.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[hoursofreading]

Reintroduce friction: We’ve mistaken convenience for progress. Instead of making everything easier, we need to make important things appropriately difficult in the digtital world. Right now, the system rewards the performance of expertise rather than its development. AI makes that worse. We likely will have to rethink education - AI will be a part of it, and right now, the system rewards output over understanding, so of course students are Chat-GPTing essays. Some things will have to be harder than they currently are - maybe getting a college degree should require more than the ability to prompt an AI effectively. (maybe governing a country should require more than generating attention on social media.) Treating attention as infrastructure rather than a market to be optimized. Right now, we treat attention like a commodity. It’s something to be mined, optimized, and sold to the highest bidder. But attention is infrastructure! It’s the invisible highway that ideas, identities, and institutions travel on. We have to invest in it like we would a highway. We’ve built a digital ecosystem that optimizes for engagement, not understanding. As boring as it is, we need new algorithms and to treat attention as a shared utility. Boring things. Most of the ideas that will save us are boring at first. We need to rewire our entire grid, retrain an industrial workforce, and build factories We need more of the Manhattan Project, the Interstate Highway System, DARPA, etc - the confluence of public investment (and probably private investment at this point) and educational training systems that directly train people for the phenomenal task of rebuilding the physical infrastructure of the United States. Rebuild systems that restore stakes. A functioning economic and political system doesn’t need to give everyone the same outcome, but it must give them a stake in the game. Today, vast swaths of the public don’t see policy as cause-and-effect. They see it as a performance, a branding exercise, a series of decisions made for someone else. That’s why Kansas farmers vote for a leader who guts their food export program. And it’s why young people identify as socialists- what’s the alternative? As Peter Thiel once noted: people without a stake in capitalism will rationally turn against it. What we're seeing now is that process playing out. Reestablishing stakes doesn’t mean giving everyone money in the S&P or whatever. It means showing them that effort leads to change and that policy is cause-and-effect.

From Dollar Dominance to the Slop Machine - by kyla scanlon

[maddiviner]

Reading Journals!? Why You Really Should!!

I'm writing this to promote the concept of reading journals in general for occultists! 

It often seems like, while a lot of us read a ton, we don't engage enough with what we read. It's very important to think critically about the information we consume.

Keeping records of it can be helpful for that. While not everyone's going to vibe with it, I do recommend giving it a try for most witches, diviners, wizards, etc... you might like it. Keeping a reading journal? It has some advantages IMHO.

I found it works very well for keeping track of my reading goals. It also helped me engage more with what I was reading. I think this produced an altogether more interesting experience when reading fiction, too.

I learned more when reading nonfiction, and it helped prep reviews for this very website, too. It's kind of hard recently, because of health issues, but I want to keep a daily reading habit as best I can. I might change up my journaling format, though, which I'll discuss towards the end of this article.

To begin, you need a journal. Any blank notebook will work. A lot of people swear by dot grid journals. I use those for most other things. For my reading journal, I bought a pre-printed one called Kunitsa, and there are others on the market, too.

Beyond that, you only need a pen. I use a lot of highlighters and other color in my reading journal, to make tracking things more fun. Next, you're going to want to include a table of contents for your reading journal if possible. In fact, I recommend doing that for all journals, but that's another story entirely. If you pick a pre-printed reading journal like mine, choose one with such a feature.

If you're a DIYer, leave a few blank pages at the beginning of your notebook for the table of contents. Usually four or five pages will do for a table of contents, depending on the size of the journal itself. Including a table of contents can also help get past those first-page jitters if it's a blank book.

A reading journal can include an inventory of your library. My own library is digital because I have to cross the Atlantic on a frequent basis. Those with physical books might find it useful to catalogue everything, particularly favorites.

This could even include where it's stashed. Given that I could easily print a list of mine, my journal doesn't have this, but yours could. You could also organize your library based on the criteria of your choice. I do this digitally, and it can be great to be able to pull out a list of (for example) all the Tarot books I own, favorites, etc..

Keep track of your reading goals! This is the big one, of course. I try to read at least thirty minutes per day, and I log each day I meet that goal. A reading journal can include a simple daily reading tracker like mine, or variations on that.

Some people might track how many pages they've read, or even chapters, for example. You can, of course, include your To Be Read list, adding to it and crossing out as needed.

Keep track of books, authors and topics. You'll want to include a page or two for each book you read, with meaningful quotations and your own thoughts. Some people get quite elaborate with this, including diagrams, images, and such.

I stick to quoting the parts I found important, then adding my own notes. If you buy a reading journal, choose one formatted for both fiction and nonfiction. These little "spreads" on each book help a ton if you want to prepare reviews later on, or just to keep track of what you’ve read for the future.

The reading journal I've been using has a section for borrowed books. Since all my books are Kindle, and I don't typically borrow books, I repurposed this for my review schedule. You can create your own spread for that kind of thing if you're doing a DIY approach, which would be even better.

Because I didn't see a use for the first two pages of the notebook, I turned them into a little pocket using washi tape. I figure that if necessary, I can include extra trackers/etc on my own paper in the pocket. I haven't done that yet, but I probably will in the new year. Currently, the pocket only contains some unused stickers.

You could, of course, get much more complicated with a reading journal! It's all up to you. I plan to use a similar setup next time around, but doing it myself in a (larger) dot grid notebook. The preprinted version of a reading journal worked well to get me started. Now that I've got the basics figured out, I want to customize things more.

All and all, I know most occultists love journaling. At least, many of us do. But why don't more of us journal about what we read? Dedicating a notebook just for a reading journal worked great for me, and might work for you, too.

I'd look into different options (preprinted, blank notebooks, digital) before getting started. Don't be afraid to mess up, like with any new notebook. It can become a way of looking deeper into what you're reading, though.

[awkwardlyotherworldlyoracle]

From Confusion to Clarity, Charani’s Journey with NIDM Hyderabad

In the quiet lanes of Hyderabad, Charani sat by the window of her small apartment, sipping chai and scrolling through job listings that seemed endless and, frankly, hopeless. A fresh commerce graduate, she had dreams bigger than her degree, but no clear direction. Like many others, she followed the safe path, study hard, get a degree, land a job, and make your family proud.

But the job part? That wasn’t happening.

Every rejection email felt like a blow. She began to doubt herself.

"Was I not good enough?" "Do I even have the right skills for this world?"

Each day passed with rising anxiety and increasing pressure from family to “do something.” But doing what? That’s when the universe sent her a sign on her phone.

While scrolling Instagram late at night, she came across an ad that caught her attention: Turn your creativity into a career, Join NIDM, the Best Digital Marketing Institute in Madhapur.

There was something sincere about the message. Something different.

The next morning, Charani visited the National Institute of Digital Marketing (NIDM) in Madhapur. From the moment she walked in, the vibe was electric, young minds discussing branding strategies, faculty guiding live ad campaigns, and real-time dashboards showing actual website traffic data.

This wasn’t just another classroom. It was a gateway into a world she never knew existed.

She sat through a demo session and something clicked. “This is it,” she thought. “This is where I start over.”

The curriculum at NIDM wasn’t like traditional education. It wasn’t about memorizing notes or writing long exams. It was about, Learning how businesses actually grow online, Running live ad campaigns on Google and Meta, Creating SEO-optimized content, Designing creatives on Canva and Adobe tools, Studying real analytics and performance metrics, Getting certified by platforms like Google, HubSpot, and Meta

Charani had never felt more alive.

She discovered her passion for content marketing and brand storytelling. Her trainers at NIDM recognized her talent early and pushed her beyond her limits with love, patience, and mentorship.

In just a few weeks, she went from a confused graduate to someone managing a mini digital campaign for a real client through her internship.

That first “client call” gave her butterflies but also pride. She had found her purpose.Upon completing the course, Charani’s portfolio was stronger than ever. She had certificati ons, live project experience, and an impressive resume—thanks to NIDM’s in-house career support team.

Within two months, she landed her first role at a well-known digital marketing agency in Hyderabad as a Content Strategist. She worked on multiple projects, learned client handling, ran blog calendars, and built websites that ranked on Google.

But she didn’t stop there.

Fast forward to today, Charani is a freelance digital marketing consultant, partnering with e-commerce brands, wellness startups, and even international clients. She earns more than she ever imagined and works on her own terms. She also conducts webinars to help beginners just like she once was. Words from Charani to You “If you’re reading this and feeling stuck like I was please know that your story can change. I thought I was lost, but NIDM helped me find my way. Today, I don’t just have a job, I have a career I love, a skill that pays, and the freedom to create my path.”

“One Instagram ad changed my life. Let this blog be that turning point for you.”

If Charani’s story inspired you, it’s time to take your own first step.

Visit www.nidmdigitalmarketing.com NIDM Hyderabad – The Best Digital Marketing Institute in Madhapur.

[the-most-humble-blog]

👑 King of the World:

A Love Letter to the Benevolent Tyrant Who Totally Doesn’t Exist 🕳️

“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” —Some guy. Possibly high. Definitely right.

Let’s play a game.

Let’s say—hypothetically, allegedly, hilariously—that there is a literal King of the World. Not a metaphor. Not a corporate puppet. Not a UN committee member with a PowerPoint on sustainable sand exports.

I mean a real one.

A real-life Sidious in loafers and maybe a cardigan. Someone who smiles for the cameras, kisses babies, pats dogs, and casually decides who disappears in the night because they asked too many inconvenient questions.

You’ve probably never heard his name. That’s the point.

🛎️ The Setup: “He Just Wants Peace”

He’s just an old man. A grandpa, even. He doesn’t understand all this techno-talk and activism. He smiles like a nursing home got personified. He wears wool. His knuckles shake. He says “God bless you” a lot. He’s benevolence wrapped in linen.

Until, of course, you try to vote in a way that meaningfully disrupts the system.

Then suddenly:

Your files are gone

Your phone becomes radioactive

Your friend dies in a motorcycle crash (but he didn’t own a motorcycle)

Your Wikipedia page changes

Your tax record gets flagged

Your entire social circle turns cold overnight

All while his PR team posts a video of him petting a golden retriever.

📂 Strange Coincidences (That Keep Happening to Loud People)

Let’s catalog some real-life “oopsies”:

🔹 Journalists who expose war crimes and end up exiled, imprisoned, or suicided.

(“Suicided” means 2 shots to the back of the head and the note was typed in Comic Sans.)

🔹 Corporate whistleblowers who suddenly get hit by a train.

Or develop a degenerative disease. Or fall down the stairs onto a belt of ammo.

🔹 Leaders who say the wrong thing about the wrong lobby, and the next week they “have a heart attack” while jogging at 5am.

(He was 32.)

🔹 Billionaires who go rogue... and die in a submarine that implodes.

(And the news doesn’t break until the week after it happened.)

Almost like someone wanted a delay buffer so they could quietly write the script before CNN got the footage.

🪞The Devil You Know—But Can’t Prove

No, we don’t know his name. But we know what he does:

He doesn’t hold office.

He doesn’t need your vote.

He doesn’t trend on Twitter.

He doesn’t make speeches.

He makes decisions.

Through private rooms. Through puppet foundations. Through “friendly suggestions” whispered into the ears of presidents who thought they had free will.

🐍 The Kind King with the Knife Behind the Throne

Imagine this:

A man so beloved that even mentioning his name in the wrong tone sends three black SUVs to your grandma’s house.

He doesn’t raise his voice. He just raises his hand—and someone else pulls the trigger.

“I love you, citizen. You’re free to disagree. But if you do, I’ll have to squeeze your soul through your asshole, just to remind everyone else to shut the fuck up.”

And the best part? The punishment doesn’t look like fire and blood. It looks like graceful descent into irrelevance.

You won’t be shot. You’ll be digitally erased.

You won’t be tortured. You’ll be publicly mischaracterized as dangerous, deranged, or deeply unwell.

Because in the empire of silence, character assassination is more efficient than bullets.

🧠 Plot Twist: You Already Suspected This

You’ve seen it in the way dissenters disappear. The way the truth is always delayed. The way freedom looks more like a marketing scheme every year.

You scroll past conspiracies and say, “That’s too much.”

But deep down, your gut is whispering:

“That’s a little too real to be fake.”

📉 People Who Talk Too Much… Stop Talking

Ever notice how when certain voices get loud:

Their podcasts go dark

Their books vanish from shelves

Their assets freeze

Their “crazy ex” suddenly leaks something

Their YouTube gets copyright-striked by someone who doesn’t exist

Their plane has engine trouble

And yet somehow, the King never loses his smile.

🪦 Hilariously Mysterious Deaths: A Quick List of FAFO Victims

“FAFO” = Fck Around, Find Out*

📡 A cybersecurity genius said the NSA was lying. Two weeks later, he “hanged himself” from a doorknob with a shoelace.

🗳️ A politician exposed a global vote-rigging scheme. Collapsed in public. Declared “cardiac arrhythmia.” No autopsy.

📷 A former CIA tech guy tried to leak a vault. He vanished in a foreign country, declared legally dead. At 28.

💰 A billionaire investor warned the Fed was lying. His private jet “went off radar.” Never found. Wife remarried in a month.

Meanwhile, our King is waving in a sweater from a garden somewhere.

🎭 The Power of Kindness… as a Weapon

He doesn’t need to bark. He’ll just have his underlings offer you a deal:

“You can stop talking, keep your family safe, and walk away clean. Or keep talking, and we’ll test how far your spine bends before it shatters. In Minecraft, of course.”

👁️ But Wait—This Is Just Satire, Right?

YES. YES OF COURSE IT IS. THIS IS SATIRE. Totally a joke. Definitely not referencing any real people or regimes or historic events or names.

You’d have to be crazy to believe this kind of thing exists.

A world where one man, or one hidden collective, decides the fate of governments, currencies, lives, and legacies behind the scenes?

Absurd.

A world where “free speech” is tolerated only until it threatens legacy pipelines?

Nonsense.

A world where “democracy” is filtered through billion-dollar PR agencies run by arms dealers?

Silly! Go outside and touch grass!

🏁 Final Word:

If there were a King of the World… You’d never hear him roar. You’d only hear the echo of someone else going silent.

So laugh. Screenshot. Repost with jokes. Because this is definitely satire.

And definitely not a coded warning written in a language polite enough to survive content moderation but sharp enough to slice your brain open sideways.

⚖️ Free Speech Disclaimer: This post is 100% protected by the U.S. Constitution. Any resemblance to real-life monarchs of shadowy power is purely coincidental, metaphorical, and hysterically satirical. You’re crazy for even reading this. Go pet a cat. File your taxes. Smile for the drone.

Or don’t. And watch what happens.

🔥 Reblog if you know the real king doesn’t wear a crown—he wears silence. 💬 Comment if you’ve seen the power structure blink at you through a politician’s smile. 📩 DM if you’ve ever laughed your way through fear. 🔁 Share it before the archive gets wiped for “community safety.”

👁️ This was only Part I. The next piece is already too sharp for public release.

What happens when the King loses patience? What happens when the veil lifts and you see who’s really pulling the smiles?

📂 Part II will drop soon—but only inside the vault: 🔗 patreon.com/TheMostHumble

[llamahologram]

camp halfblood, redesigned by me!

in honor of the new show, now available on etsy at ArcadiaBays, print and digital versions (hd & without watermark!)

changes from canon:

• expanded and redesigned cabin area. Annabeth Chase and other Athena and Hephaestus campers redesigned each and every cabin for the new generation of campers. Each cabin is intentionally designed and placed, with a designated expansion zone as more minor gods are added to camp. I also added a cabin for Hestia near the cabins’ campfire area- I felt that she needed to be represented, and that Percy would insist on some sort of honoring of her presence. Note: dionysus cabin is missing in this version, but in the version on my etsy his cabin is between hermes and hebe!

• each cabin now has bathrooms and showers within the cabin. The old camp bathrooms have been repurposed into guest facilities for any visiting roman campers, etc

• more campfires! There are now two campfires- an informal one in the middle of the cabins, and the main campfire where everyone gathers for smores and singalongs.

• the camp is set up less like a summer camp and more like a small village- more open space, etc

• I added “Memorial Circle,” a place for the camp to recognize campers who have passed away. The outer wall has every fallen camper’s name carved in, and there are five statues placed in a semicircle. Each statue display changes on a cycle to display a carved figure of every lost camper. Memorial Circle was designed and created in a joint effort between the Athena, Hephaestus, and Apollo cabins (with additional help and input from everyone else, of course)

• there’s a small art market next to the arts and crafts center where campers, nymphs, and satyrs can sell or display their work!

• there’s a soccer field next to the volleyball field now, so the campers can have a variety of sports

• some other details I like: apollo and artemis are the “twin pillars” welcoming you to the cabin area, matching and yet different. Hebe cabin (goddess of youth) has a small fountain in the center (fountain of youth). I LOVE the design for the demeter and hecate cabins, they just fit so well! zeus and hera have their own little section, still with the others but kind of given a place of prominence within the layout

[whyisthereacentaur]

Have you ever heard of der Schneider (the tailor), from the early 20th-century German "educational" children's book Der Struwwelpeter?

He allegedly would leap out with a giant pair of fabric shears and amputate the thumbs of children who wouldn't stop sucking their thumbs.

I kid you not, this is the illustration in the book and it scared the hell out of me as a child even though I never believed he was real:

I was just wondering, what do you think he's doing in 2024?

Wow, so first, apologies for the long delay in answering this ask! And thank you for the inspiration. The ideas came quickly, but finding the time needed to put them to digital page took a lot longer.

Fair warning that I’ve had altogether far too much fun with this idea and have taken some extreme artistic licence with his species!

Modern Monsters: The Scissorman

~~~

I had already heard of this character.

I have no idea why my grandmother happened to own a copy of the translation of Der Struwwelpeter, nor why she kept it in the main bookshelf, but she did; and I was a child who read everything within reach, so I did.

For those who haven’t, the book is an anthology of ridiculously overblown morality tales. Der Schneider or The Scissorman features in the tale of Little Suck-A-Thumb. You can read the short poem in English here: https://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/the-story-of-little-suck-a-thumb

I’ll be sticking to calling him The Scissorman below, because honestly, it’s just got great horror vibes.

There is very little said about the Scissorman in the poem itself. When kids suck their thumbs, he shows up and cuts off their thumbs with his scissors. It’s never explained why he does this, or how he knew that Konrad was sucking his thumb in the first place.

Call me crazy, but maybe he(?) is not even human at all. Maybe he can pass as human, and drops the disguise when it’s too late for his victims.

The Scissorman still makes close to a reasonable living from tailoring these days, but that line of income has suffered somewhat in the age of fast fashion. It was mainly a flimsy excuse to live among humans, anyway. It’s a lot harder to detect time wasters and thumb suckers out in the wilderness, after all, let alone get within striking distance before other humans show up and get in the way.

However, with his inhuman ability to sense humans, the Scissorman is more than aware that he is not the only monster to move among them.

And some of those monsters will pay handsomely, whether that be by money or barter or favours, for someone to source human flesh for them.

The Scissorman runs a quite-literally-underground wet market hidden in an expansive chamber underneath his tailor’s shop. He has recruited a network of trustworthy (for his purposes, at least) vendors of all sorts of in-demand human products and byproducts; alongside his own procured stock, one can find everything from organs, to extracted emotions, to literal blood, sweat and tears.

It should be noted that the Scissorman does not, himself, need to eat fingers and thumbs, or any other physical body part.

The Scissorman feeds on the energies and emotions released by humans, with the most negative ones being the most powerfully nourishing and delicious. Removing thumbs and fingers from his typical targets is just the most efficient way of removing access to various sources of comfort, keeping his victims’ negative energies at an all-time high.

He is, of course, terminally manipulative, and therefore will self-report the motivation for his attacks as something different - something that lets him claim virtue and blame his victims.

He will sometimes partake of the market’s other offerings from time to time despite the lack of physical obligation to do so. It’s a good way to monitor the quality of the stock, as well as build rapport with the customers and vendors, and he is conscious of the importance of reputation and allies in the underworld they all move in.

Incidentally, he has met Cuca. She does come by every now and again when the cravings for brat flesh get a bit too distracting.

In exchange for his promise to leave her nannying charges alone, she has paid him off well with tips on where to find all the worst-behaved people she knows - whether he chooses to cut them down to size, or to drop by periodically to feed off the suffering they inflict on others around them, really depends on which mood strikes him that day.

~~~

Barring the Kelpie, which I’ve treated as more of a wild animal than sapient being, a lot of my Modern Monsters have been… if not outright good, at least capable of and willing to do some things that might do some good.

The idea of a guy who zaps in out of nowhere and mutilates children for no justifiable reason seemed like a great opportunity for a monster who Knowingly Does Bad Stuff and who also Definitely Won’t Change.

I had to make the Scissorman at least not fully human, because he’s been terrorising children for more than one natural lifetime. And no disrespect to the original illustrator, but that face looked so passive and mask-like for someone who’s cutting off someone else’s body part, I started to think about a creature hiding its true shape behind a porcelain mask.

Why I went for that shape being some sort of alien blowfly-pseudoscorpion hybrid with neck vertebra and metal shears for pincers, well, one, the butcher’s stall & exposed bone/attendant flies connections, two, I wanted the tailor’s scissors to be an integral part of his true body and wanted to reference a weird real-life creature with pincers, and three, I let the weird part of my brain loose to have fun with it.

I’m trying out a new art program (IbisPaint X) and did the grayscale image first, then belatedly realised that colours might be a good choice when I’ve called him “red-legged” in reference to the original poem. So you get both versions. Colour scheme loosely refers to the original illustration’s clothing.

The rhythm of this poem jumps about a little, but so did the translation of the original, so I didn’t agonise as much as usual about trying to keep the meter tight.

On the plus side, I learned a new word - I had to look up what to call “eater of humans” when they can’t be called a cannibal since they’re not human themselves. You can imagine my face finding out what word I now had to fit into a rhyming poem somewhere.

~~~

Modern Monsters series

Modern Monsters 1: Dullahan

Modern Monsters 2: Kelpie

Modern Monsters 3: Kuchisake-onna

Modern Monsters 4: Cuca

Modern Monsters 5: Vampire

Modern Monsters 6: Dr Frankenstein

Modern Monsters 7: Frankenstein’s Monster

Modern Monsters bonus: Frankenstein, Monster (it’ll come some day I swear)

Modern Monsters 8: The Scissorman

Modern Monsters 9: Lesser Dragon (Dragonet)

[jot006]

💸 What Is Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based online marketing strategy where you earn a commission by promoting other people's or companies' products. You make money only when someone buys through your unique referral link.

🧩 How Affiliate Marketing Works

Join an Affiliate Program

Get access to a unique tracking link for each product.

Promote Products

Share your link via blogs, YouTube, social media, email, etc.

Earn Commissions

You get paid when someone clicks your link and makes a purchase.

🧠 Think of it as digital word-of-mouth marketing — but you get paid for the referrals.

👥 4 Key Players in Affiliate Marketing

RoleDescriptionMerchantThe seller or product owner (e.g., Amazon, Nike)AffiliateYou, the promoterCustomerBuys the product through your linkAffiliate NetworkConnects affiliates with merchants (e.g., ShareASale)

🛠️ Popular Affiliate Platforms

PlatformNiche/FocusCommission TypeAmazon AssociatesGeneral products1–10% per saleClickBankDigital products (courses, ebooks)Up to 75%ShareASalePhysical & digital goodsVariesCJ AffiliateBig brands like Lowe’s, TurboTaxVariesImpact.comSaaS, brands, retailVariesPartnerStackB2B softwareSubscription-based commissions

💡 Types of Affiliate Marketing Content

Content TypeStrategyBlog PostsProduct reviews, “Top 10” lists, tutorialsYouTube VideosProduct unboxings, demos, comparisonsInstagram/TikTokReels, short videos with product mentionsEmail MarketingRecommend products to your newsletter subscribersNiche WebsitesBuild a site focused on a specific interest (e.g., fitness gear)

🔢 Affiliate Commission Models

ModelHow You EarnPay-per-sale (PPS)You earn when someone makes a purchasePay-per-click (PPC)You earn per click (rare)Pay-per-lead (PPL)You earn when someone signs up or registersRecurringEarn monthly if they subscribe to software/tools

🔑 Skills Needed to Succeed

SEO (Search Engine Optimization): To rank blogs and websites

Content Writing: Reviews, tutorials, comparisons

Email Marketing: Build trust and convert readers

Video Marketing: YouTube, Instagram, TikTok

Analytics: Track clicks, conversions, ROI

📈 Example Affiliate Marketing Niches

NicheWhy It WorksFitness & WellnessHuge audience, lots of physical/digital productsTech & GadgetsHigh-ticket items, lots of reviewsPersonal FinanceHigh commission potentialOnline EducationCourses, membershipsSoftware/SaaSRecurring commissions, B2B audiencePets, DIY, GamingPassionate communities

💼 How to Start Affiliate Marketing (Step-by-Step)

Pick a Niche you understand or love.

Choose an Affiliate Program (Amazon, ClickBank, ShareASale).

Create a Platform:

Website (e.g., blog with WordPress or Wix)

YouTube channel

Instagram / TikTok

Email list

Create Valuable Content (don’t just sell — educate or solve a problem).

Insert Your Affiliate Links strategically.

Drive Traffic with SEO, social media, paid ads (optional).

Track & Optimize using analytics (Google Analytics, affiliate dashboards).

🧪 Real Examples of Affiliate Content

🔍 Blog: “Top 5 Laptops for Students – 2025 Edition” → Link to Amazon

📹 YouTube: “Best Noise Cancelling Headphones under ₹10,000” → Description link

📧 Email: “My 3 Favorite Tools for Growing a Blog” → Links to ConvertKit, Grammarly

⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

Promoting too many unrelated products

Writing low-quality or fake reviews

Spamming your audience

Not disclosing affiliate links (legal requirement)

Ignoring SEO or traffic strategy

🧾 Legal & Ethical Notes

Always include a disclaimer: “This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.”

Avoid misleading or dishonest marketing

Follow the affiliate program's terms (each has rules)

🤑 How Much Can You Earn?

Beginner: ₹0 – ₹5,000/month (first few months)

Intermediate: ₹10k – ₹50k/month

Advanced/Affiliate Pros: ₹1L–₹10L+ per month (especially in SaaS or finance niches)

💡 Success takes time, consistency, and value-based content.

📚 Recommended Resources to Learn

PlatformCourse NameCostUdemy“Affiliate Marketing for Beginners”₹400–₹700Coursera"Affiliate Marketing Fundamentals"Free/PaidSkillshareVarious affiliate & blog marketing coursesFree trialYouTubeChannels like ODi Productions, Income SchoolFreeBlogsBacklinko, Neil Patel, Authority HackerFree

📦 Want Help Starting?

I can help you:

Pick a niche

Choose affiliate programs

Design a starter blog or YouTube channel plan

Get a free guide or checklist

Just let me know your interests (e.g., tech, fitness, education), and I’ll help you launch your affiliate journey step by step.

[akamed1988]

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[2mercia2furious]

stepping outta my trash can and pulling up my internet clown pants:

let's talk about how u can tell executives are using AI to generate statements and memos

sweetie, that em dash you've been making fun of ppl for? that's for the Twilight proles not the AI-holes.

let's talk about the brand exonerative tense and brand marketing in layoffs statements.

writing crisis comms is a highly specialized field that requires years of experience, expertise and the ability to draft on the fly about some of the most difficult topics in industry. and of course... you gotta know the right outlets.

but when you use AI to modify or "refine" copy, you get statements that ring hollow because AI is only good at linguistic flattening. think of using AI to re-draft or revise statements as a whoopie cushion. honey, you know that's not a real fart.

let's take a look✨

what does it mean to "position Gaming for enduring success... to focus on strategic growth... to increase agility and effectiveness?"

here it doesn't just mean they're simply "following Microsoft's lead." now you're used to reading the exonerative tense in statements about war and policing. these often deliberately get rid of all human subjects and prefer passive voice, which is narrowly avoided here. but note that while a subject such as I, we or our does appear at multiple points, it's only to simulate the appearance of unanimous consent (3rd person authoritative: see monarchs and CEOs).

except for where we're talking about "employees who are affected." they are affected. but the cause slips through our linguistic fingers like wet sand. there is no actor, no sandcastle, simply an inevitable wave of change.

and well, except for all the headlines that in fact use that same passive linguistic structure to elide a subject.🙃

did the layoffs begin? omg how did that happen- someone had to rubber stamp it right? and someone is impacted. but there's not really an indication of anything beyond an overarching brand subject.

let's turn back to the Xbox CEO's statement and the phrase "our platform, hardware and game roadmap have never looked stronger."

AI generated corporate copy often contains brand reassurance statements like this one. these are marketing, even when featured in internal crisis comms, with the expectation of distribution by whatever means. with literally thousands of layoffs statements at their disposal, AI can be used to generate statements like this one either in whole or in this case, likely in part.

so let's tldr this.

does it sound flat? is it using words like "agile", "deliver + exceptional" multiple times in close proximity, and "thrive?"

it's not just CEO-speak. it's burying the digital hatchet with AI trained on publicly available and previous executive communications and LinkedIn posts.

optimized for brand resiliency.

workshopped for maximum shareholder satisfaction.

publicized on outlets voted "most likely to exclude the noun from the verb in ways that maximize reach"

welcome to the era of the Brand Exonerative Tense.