#growing up is realising that doing activities for the sole purpose of getting attention is just pointless and annoying for others

[mrburnsnuclearpussy]

Can someone tell Emilia fart that eccentricity is only charming when a person is just being their authentic self and not when it is forced and she comes across as a deeply insecure individual and it is exhausting and sad to witness?

[iliveiloveiwrite]

Flame of a Candle

A/N:  The wonderful @lupins-sweater requested a Remus fic where the reader has a candle addiction and let me tell you, I fell in love. Also, two fics in one night! Apologies to my taglist, but I couldn't stop writing and I had to post it. I will be getting to my other requests this week as well as finishing my Draco Malfoy series. As always, I hope you enjoy, it’s pure fluff! Also, the candle scents I mention are real candle scents from the ones I have in my room (they’re all inspired by books!).

Pairing: Remus Lupin x Fem!Reader

Warnings: fluff, mentions of food.

Word count: 1.8k

It was not your fault.

It absolutely was not your fault that the newest shop on the high street was an independent candle store.

And it wasn’t your fault that instead of entering the bakery like you had planned, you walked into the candle shop.

It also wasn’t your fault that you left the shop with a bag full of candles.

You made it to the bakery though, grabbing everything on your list. Bread, teacakes, vanilla slices for Remus. The visit to the new candle shop, simply a small stop on the way.

You would usually make this trip with Remus; his hand gripping yours tightly as you peeked in the windows of all the shops. But you left him bed in this time, snoring away, completely oblivious to the world. This past full moon had been exceptionally rough; he came back with larger cuts and bruises that had you silently crying as you patched him up. It never did get any easier to see the added injuries after a full moon.

The day is beginning to brighten as you return to the home you shared with Remus. The garden path lined with pansies and marigolds, adding a cheery disposition to the ivy-covered cottage you called home.

Remus would be soon awake, so you head to the kitchen to put his vanilla slices in the fridge before adding your new candles to the ever-growing collection that had slowly filled three cupboards with differing size jars and tins.

Your placing the final glass jar candle in the cupboard when you hear his footsteps creaking on the stairs and his raspy voice calling out.

“Darling, what are you doing?” Remus questions; his voice still gravelly with sleep.

It had been a week since the last full moon, and he was still catching up with missed hours. He was awoke once as he reached out for you in his sleep and found your side of the bed empty; it worried him for a minute but then he realised that you would be in town so sleep quickly overtook him again. He stirred back awake to the sound of the closing cupboard door; his senses still sensitive after the change, hearing and smelling everything within a small distance.

The hesitation before your answer has his curiosity piqued as he steps into the kitchen to see you closing a cupboard door.

“Nothing, dear!” Your voice chimes.

He chuckles, “You really are the worst liar.”

“Excuse me? I’ll have you know that I am an excellent liar – so good in fact that MI6 are thinking of hiring me.”

“(Y/N), I love you, but yes, you’re the worst liar.”

“I’m hurt, Remus. Truly, deeply hurt.” You gasp, holding a hand to your heart.

“Stop deflecting,” He laughs, “What were you doing that’s so secretive?”

You fiddle with your fingers, “So I went into town to go the bakery,”

“Is that it?”

You shake your head, “Well I got somewhat waylaid on the way to the bakery.”

Remus raises an eyebrow, leaning against the kitchen counter and crossing his arms, “Now you’ve got my attention.”

“There’s a new shop that’s opened on the high street; what used to be the bridal shop.”

“Put me out of my misery – what type of shop is it?”

“A candle shop.”

A slow smile breaks over his face, “How many did you buy?”

“Around ten or so.”

“Ten? (Y/N), sweetheart, we have cupboards full of candles.”

“I know but let me show you them! They smell so good!”

“Of course, but I need to know – did you go to the bakery?”

“What do you take me for? I could never deprive you of your vanilla slices. They’re in the fridge.” You peck his lips quickly before turning to grab your latest purchases from the cupboard.

Remus heads to the fridge; his stomach growls at the sight of the vanilla slice waiting for him. Healthy breakfast be damned, he turned into a werewolf once a month, if he wanted dessert for breakfast, he was going to have it.

He puts it on a plate before settling down at the dining table.

He isn’t angry – why on earth would he be? Candles bring you joy. He’s a minute away from suggesting you start making them yourself but when you set the candles down the table with such care and look at Remus with such excitement at showing him your haul; all sentient thoughts leave his head and he’s left with the love he feels for you.

Remus takes a bite of his sweet, “Tell me about them, love. What did you buy?”

You grin; the smile crinkling the corners of your eyes. And yeah, Remus’ heart just skipped a beat.

“Oh, Remus! It’s such a cute shop – entirely independent and it has the most positive energy. I could spend all day in there! And the owner is so lovely! So helpful. He looked shocked at the pile of candles I put by the till, but I simply couldn’t not buy anything. You know how I am with candles.”

He chuckles, “Like a moth to a flame. So what new scents do we have?”

You hold up one of the glass jar candles, “Okay… So we have: forget me nots and mountain air; Damascus rose and sweet orange; night jasmine and citrus; coffee and chocolate; lavender and patchouli; burnt sugar and rain; lily of the valley and white musk; sweet peaches and ripe cranberries; crisp apples and rose petals…”

You trail off, putting the lids back on them once Remus had smelt them and had handed them back to you.

Remus points at the final jar, still unopened, “What does that one smell like?”

You avoid his eyes as you murmur, “I had to buy it when the shop owner explained its properties.”

“Oh?”

You nod, unscrewing the lid to the candle, taking a sniff before handing it to Remus. “It holds healing properties.”

“How so?”

“It’s got peppermint oil to ease headaches. As well as lemongrass and vanilla to help relieve stress and tension and promote relaxation. I thought we could give it a try for a couple of nights before you leave for the moon.”

He looks up from his study of the candle, “You bought this for me?”

You nod, shrugging, “It’s something to try. You always try to downplay the headaches you get but I know how much pain you are in and that healing potions do little to help other than make you drowsy. So I thought we could try this; we could light it when we start getting ready for bed. You don’t have to though, Remus. It’s entirely your choice.”

“You did this for me?” He asks, voice shaky.

You frown, “I did. Is something wrong? Did I do something wrong?”

He shakes his head, trying to find the right words, “You did absolutely nothing wrong. I just didn’t expect to feel this touched by your candle addiction.”

“You haven’t noticed have you?”

“What?”

“Remus, the majority of my candles all have some healing properties in them. I’ll do anything I can to make the transition that little bit easier whenever we don’t have access to the wolfsbane potion. This is the first time you’ve actively noticed it though.”

He opens his mouth, then quickly closes it. He never realised the meaning of the differing scents – and he should have. He got top grades in Herbology and Potions, but it never clicked with him. He would always comment on the scents; whether they were pleasant or not, but he simply put it down to your love of them.

Remus finally realises what it feels like to love and be loved with just as much passion in return.

“So you don’t have a candle addiction?” He finally says, his voice hoarse with emotion.

You chuckle, “Oh no, I do. I definitely have a candle addiction; it’s been there before I was with you, but you kind of give me a purpose to buy them.”

He passes the jarred candle between his hands, “So you do all of this to try and ease the days before the transition?”

You nod, “I can’t do a lot in those few days, Remus. I’m only useful when you come back and I can help patch you up, but before then, there isn’t very much I can do to help, and it hurts me. I had the idea when I was clearing out my candle cupboards; getting ready for my Christmas collection. I was reading the labels and it suddenly hit me and I don’t know how I didn’t think of it before. But it’s been a while since we were at Hogwarts. Anyway, as I was reading the labels, I realised the healing properties of the oils in the candles. So I bought a Herbology textbook and started brushing up on my knowledge of plants that could help.

“The opening of the new candle shop was pure coincidence, but I had to buy the candle once the owner explained it to me. Your headaches are so bad, and I can never do a lot other than place a cold flannel on your head to lessen the pain but even that doesn’t work a whole lot. So I light the candles, making sure not to overwhelm you with the smell, and they seem to help a little.”

Remus is sure his face is a picture. You were right; in the days before he leaves for the transformation, he suffers with tension headaches from the pain of the moons path and his resistance of the monster within. You could never do a lot; it’s a pain that not even the strongest pain potions could touch. Yet, you tried to find a way to help him. You came up with your own solution.

“I love you.” He states; the only words he’s capable of saying right now.

You smile, it lighting up your face, “I love you too. You’re not mad?”

“How could I be mad? You buy candles with the sole purpose of trying to ease my pain. I’m the furthest thing from mad; I adore you.”

You blink away the tears, “Remus…”

“You’re incredible. First, you love me despite my being a werewolf and having to leave you every month. And then, you try to ease my pain by finding candle combinations that help with headaches and anxiety. What did I do to deserve you?”

“You were you, Remus. I fell in love with you in Fifth Year when you spent the entirety of our free period asking me about my favourite books. We were supposed to be revising for our OWLs, but you wanted my attention completely. And you got it.”

He takes a smell of the candle, committing the scent to memory, “I’ve loved you just as long. I saw your battered copy of Wuthering Heights peeking out of your bag and I just knew.”

You point at the candle, “What do you think then?”

He grins, “I think we’re going to have a lot more candles lit around the house.”

*********

General (HP) taglist: @the-hufflefluffwriter @obsessedwithrandomthings @kalimagik @summer-writes @lupins-sweater @slytherinprincess03 @mischiefsemimanaged @soleil-amaryllis @masterofthedarkness @bforbroadway @chaotic-fae-queen @peachesandpinks @nebulablakemurphy @haphazardhufflepuff @siriusly-addicted-to-writing @firewhisky-kisses @deafgirltingz

[prettywordsyouleft]

Bloodstone | Part 8

Summary: You knew all about the ring your grandmother had told you about and yet when the stone fell from it one fateful day, you weren’t truly prepared for its return, nor who it came back with.

Pairing: Kim Namjoon x reader

Genre: fantasy / romance

Warnings: another angst part

Index: Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

“You don’t need to be so serious right now, Yoongi,” you teased as he led you into the back, stacks of books scattered everywhere over his desk. You gasped at how much he had invested into researching the stone. Turning your wide-eyed expression towards your best friend, you shook your head in astonishment. “Woah, you’ve been busy.” Shoving aside some papers strewn on his chair, Yoongi placed you within it and handed you an opened book, pointing at the page.

“Read.”

It was another handwritten journal, and you blinked a couple of times before settling into the passage. You grinned when you read the words Stone of Blood and looked up at Yoongi. “The bloodstone!”

“Just… read it, won’t you?” he urged, his expression void of any happiness.

Troubled by Yoongi’s response, you returned your focus to the book you held.

Victoria had fallen greatly for the strange man who appeared from her dreams. As her lady’s maid, I was the only one privy to the man staying within her chambers. Mr Percy charmed her in the greatest sense and my Lady was overjoyed that her lonely days were over. They planned to wed in the spring and children were often discussed. After her troubled childhood, I was relieved she was smiling once again.

Just as strange as his arrival, was his departure. I awoke to the shrill of my mistress, and by the time I reached her side, she was hysterical. Her hands were bleeding as she held shards of a red stone within them and her cries woke the entire village.

She was never the same after that night.

You stopped reading then, placing the book down on the table and distancing yourself from it. Yoongi retrieved it and cleared his throat. “It goes on to say that Victoria ended up hanging herself from the second-floor landing of the manor home when she realised Percy wasn’t going to return.”

“It’s just someone else’s experience,” you murmured, trying to clasp your shaking hands together. “Perhaps there was a problem with how the stone embedded within him.”

“It’s not the only one. The stone seemed more actively used back then. In fifteen-”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“Y/N!” Yoongi exasperatedly called, placing the book down and reaching for your shuddering shoulders. You couldn’t quite look him in the eye, convincing yourself that what you had read was just a story from long ago. Shaking you roughly, Yoongi finally caught your attention. “You did as the book told you to. You fell in love. The stone has you both fooled that this union is meant to be because it’s controlling you. But the stone once overwhelmed with that love, will shatter. Namjoon won’t be here for long. If you keep up with this delusional love for him-”

“It’s not delusional. I know what is from the stone and what is from my heart!”

Yoongi raked a hand down his face in frustration. “Do you really? Because what you’re experiencing is just what Eliza and Victoria and all these people did. And look at the misfortune they all experienced. This stone will kill you both if you’re not careful. I don’t want to lose you. Please listen to me. You need to send him away, for both of your sakes.”

You couldn’t relax, not even when you returned home later that evening. The words on that page continued to haunt you, much as Yoongi’s urgent warning did. You were in a stage of disbelief, detached from your physical self, fumbling around the house for any sense of clarity.

Namjoon gripped at your shoulders firmly. “Maybe you should go rest. You don’t look well, my love.”

“That’s a good idea,” you murmured, slowly making your way down to your bed.

You slept soundlessly for several hours and then awoke with a start, relieved to find Namjoon beside you still. Whilst your slumber had been dreamless, you had jolted awake, shackled with fear that he was no longer in your world.

You couldn’t cope with this building anxiety.

Getting up quietly, you headed into the study, reaching for the journal Namjoon knew more intimately than you did. As you read each entry Eliza had made, you felt yourself relating more with the woman. Her joy had been yours recently. You understood how she felt when she gushed over holding Namwoo’s hand and how food tasted better at his side.

As you continued, the rollercoaster of emotions overwhelmed you. Reaching the final entry, you choked on your sobs, realising why Eliza had done as she had.

“Why are you in here?” a voice questioned softly and you turned to look at Namjoon, your emotions flooding from your eyes.

“I know why now. She wasn’t awful at all. Eliza gave up your father to save him.”

The statement shook Namjoon and he rushed to your side, brushing away the endless stream of tears as best as he could. You turned your head away from him as you tried to gather your emotions up into a box as you had earlier in the day. However, Namjoon stopped this, wanting to know more, wanting to see everything.

He couldn’t help you otherwise.

“She broke my father.”

“He would have died if she hadn’t!”

“Wh-what?” Namjoon breathed, his eyebrows knitting together. “Why would he-”

“Yoongi told me everything. The stone is cruel, Namjoon. It doesn’t want to harness long-lasting love. It just wants its fill of the emotion. And then when it’s done, it shatters, unable to handle the weight of that love anymore.”

“That’s… it makes no sense!”

You explained all that you had read in the bookstore earlier and Yoongi’s warning as well. You were distraught; clinging to the front of Namjoon’s bed shirt as if holding on would keep him there for longer.

None of it made sense to him and Namjoon gripped at his head. “You’re telling me, the stone will poison me if you choose to give me up, or it will shatter when our love grows too great?”

“Something like that.”

“But it states its binding two entities together in the truest of love. That’s powerful.”

“And deadly,” you wailed, a fresh wave of emotions trailing down your face. “I don’t want you to die like Percy did.”

“Victoria didn’t know if Percy actually died or just vanished,” Namjoon pointed out but you shook your head.

“He never returned and she ended her life. This is so tragic. Why did my grandmother give me such a terrible curse?!”

“Calm down, what we have isn’t a curse,” he soothed, reaching for your shuddering body.

As you sobbed on Namjoon’s shoulder, he tried to understand why the stone even existed if its sole purpose was to destroy the very love it sought out each time. He was certain there was more to understand in this lesson. The stone wouldn’t continue to bring two different life forces together like this for such a trivial need of love. The ongoing tribulations of sourcing out the right people felt like the path of destiny. His father had been the right fit for Eliza. He firmly believed his heart was meant to entangle with yours.

This couldn’t end so catastrophically.

Your emotions weakened you and you spent the remainder of the morning in bed. Although it pained Namjoon to leave you alone whilst unwell, he held a pressing need to revisit Yoongi’s store.

Setting off at a quick pace and following the route he had paid attention to yesterday, he eventually found himself standing in front of the building. Heaving in a deep breath, he strode to the door, the bell chiming above to announce of his arrival.

Namjoon still couldn’t understand what Yoongi said, unlike you. However, after an intense stare down, Yoongi sighed and nodded, gesturing for Namjoon to follow him. He stepped through a curtained doorway into the back room of the store and blinked at all the stacks of ancient texts littered everywhere.

For a moment, Namjoon was overwhelmed with admiration for the human. Whether or not they had their differences, he could appreciate that beneath that bristly exterior was an intellectual man who genuinely cared about you.

Yoongi shuffled towards the desk and picked up a book, handing it over to him.

Just as you had read, there was the tale of Percy and Victoria’s love before him. He, however, took longer than you had, perusing each page for a better indication of what could happen to him and you.

Namjoon wasn’t prepared to give up on your love. Although your time together hadn’t been very long, in all his years of existence, he hadn’t felt this way before. He was certain that meant something. Why else would he get to experience something this powerful if it was all meant to end in disaster?

He continued to think over Percy’s departure. If all that remained behind was a shattered stone, surely that didn’t mean he had died. Namjoon thought over this for some time, vaguely hearing Yoongi talking on his phone.

It wasn’t until he felt your arms wrap around him tightly that Namjoon snapped back into full awareness of his surroundings.

“Don’t leave me ever again!” you begged, clinging to him as you shook with your emotions.

Namjoon glanced up at Yoongi watching on from the doorway and then pulled you into his lap, sighing heavily with the thought of what he needed to say next. “Listen to me carefully, Y/N. I’m going to have to leave you.”

_________________

Part 9

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[slytherinknowitall]

Potion Fumes and Cauldron Leaks

Chapter 13: Dressed-Up Figures and Undressed Souls

(Click here for chapter 12!)

(Click here to start from the beginning!)

Disclaimer: I don’t own the “Harry Potter” book series. The story of “Harry Potter” is the property of J. K. Rowling, it is not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

The remainder of the month went by in a breeze, and looking back, the Potions professor realised that it had been the happiest time of his life.

Severus still felt uneasy about his feelings towards Granger, of course; so much so that he even promised it to himself to never act on them. Quickly backpaddling on the thought that the two of them could become friends – after all, a teacher and a student becoming too close would always be weird, no matter the circumstances – he instead decided to quietly admire his beloved from afar. In a bid to distance himself from her and her enticing charms, he restricted their private lessons to the two mandatory sessions a week and made sure to drop a snide remark here and there – though they somehow never seemed as harsh anymore. It did not help, however, that the young woman seemed unfazed by all of that; she would still always show up to their meetings beaming at the Potions Master’s face.

So at the end of the day, he still could not help but experience almost juvenile-like euphoria. She liked him, too! Granted, she was not in love with him or anything, but indeed just the fact that his new object of affection liked him on a platonic level made Severus feel all kinds of ways. As a result, his behaviour seemed to change. Although he tried his best to behave like his normal mean self, he would sometimes suddenly find himself softly humming as he made his way through the castle’s countless corridors, and every once in a while, he would even accidentally chuckle at some of his colleagues’ lousy attempts at jokes over dinner. He also caught himself daydreaming about the Gryffindor more frequently, but he did not mind it that much anymore. Instead, he chose to quietly enjoy all of these new-found emotions.

As for Granger, well, she was back to her bubbly, know-it-all self. She had quickly begun to show up for class on time again, handing in excellent essays and fiercely waving her hand around trying to be “the chosen one” who got to answer questions. That behaviour also extended to their apprenticeship lessons, with her bombarding her tutor with countless questions about this and that, attempting to extract every single bit of knowledge, howsoever small, from the talented wizard’s mind. Severus could not help but be a tad bit amused by her eagerness to learn. He was still trying to maintain his reputation as the snarky, greasy-haired git of the dungeons, of course; so on the rare occasions when he actually answered one of her questions, he would do so in his typical scoffing fashion. In reality, however, he was delighted by their relatively one-sided conversations. He was utterly fascinated by the way her mind appeared to work as well as the huge range of topics in which she took an interest. After years of unsuccessfully searching for a suitable conversational partner with which to have intellectually stimulating discussions, he had finally found one – and in a member of the Golden Trio at that!

A few weeks ago, they had even taught their first class together. Severus had to admit that he had been sceptical at first about that part of the apprenticeship programme; however, Granger had done surprisingly well. Having come in prepared with a perfectly outlined lesson plan, she had no trouble properly instructing a group of second-years on how to brew the Fire Protection Potion. A nice and helpful teacher, her presence had seemed to make the pupils breathe a little easier in what is otherwise a rather strict class; some had even managed to create potions that were noticeably better than any others they’d handed in before. Though this of course did not mean that Severus planned on making any permanent changes to his personal style of teaching. The reason behind his sternness was completely logical: Unruliness had absolutely no place in his classroom, as safety always came first in a potions lab!

On one particular Thursday – the day before Halloween to be exact – the Head of Slytherin found himself in the dimly lit Potions classroom, brewing yet another one of Madam Pomfrey’s last-minute orders; unfortunately, the matron had apparently not taken to heart his elaborate lecture about ordering often-needed potions well in advance. Working side by side with his apprentice, they were preparing a batch of Antidote to Common Poisons and a few phials of Laxative Potion respectively.

Just as Severus was rummaging through his storage room in the search for some lavender essence, he heard his student speak up.

“While everyone knows that the headmaster is a – for the lack of a better word – special character, I must say that I’m still a bit dumfounded by this announcement,” her melodic voice resonated from the ancient stone walls. “Having spent the better part of my childhood in the Muggle world, I am obviously familiar with the practice. But all those scary things, those creatures that Muggles dress up as – most of them actually exist in the wizarding world! So why should we magic folk put on costumes like that? I just find it quite bizarre and …”

Finally having found the little ampoule for which he had been searching, Severus returned to his workstation as Granger continued to ramble on and on. He obviously knew what she was talking about. Just this morning at breakfast, Dumbledore had suddenly announced that this year’s Hallowe’en Feast would come with a little twist: It would be a fancy-dress party Muggle style, and everyone attending was expected to show up wearing a costume. Snape groaned at the mere thought of it. This year, the old man was just implementing one silly rule after another. Sometimes, the half-blood believed that the headmaster came up with all of his crazy antics with the sole purpose of annoying his younger colleague.

“Anyway,” the witch said, at last concluding her babbling. “What are you going as?”

Severus, who was in the process of measuring out the correct amount of Honeywater for his potion, stopped dead in his tracks and looked at the young woman with a stone-cold expression.

“I beg your pardon?” he asked snappishly.

His protégée’s hazel eyes turned big. “Oh, um, I’m talking about the Hallowe’en Feast, sir,” she stuttered rather sheepishly. “I was just wondering what your costume will be.”

“Costume? Miss Granger, am I really to believe that you would be stupid enough to assume that I, Severus Snape, Potions Master and Head of Slytherin, would take part in such a ridiculous display of foolishness?!”

He could practically see her confidence crumble before his very eyes, and he would have lied if he said that that did not make him feel a tiny bit bad. After hectically searching for something to say for a few moments, she dropped her gaze.

“Of course not,” she then mumbled. “My apologies …”

Granger quickly turned her attention back to her project, and so Snape did the same, trying hard to ignore that slight sting he felt in his chest.

For a while, they worked in silence. Once he finished his potion, Severus began looking for the little piece of parchment paper on which Poppy had written her order, wanting to double check if he had prepared the correct amount. Following a minute-long search, he finally found it on Granger’s side of the desk. When he went to pick it up, however, he noticed a strange, scarlet red dot on it.

Confused, he turned to face his apprentice, intending to ask her about it, when he noticed what appeared to be a fair amount of blood smeared all across the girl’s chin and lips. While he had long ago taken note of her tendency to subconsciously bite her lips whenever she was anxious or scared, he had never seen it get so bad to the point that she would make herself bleed like that. Severus could not help but feel guilty about this; it had to have been his unkind reply which had caused it.

“Miss Granger,” he muttered softly. When she looked up in surprise, he handed her the white handkerchief he always carried in the left pocket of his cloak. “You are bleeding.”

He watched as she hastily brought up her right hand to her face and then stared in disbelief at the shiny red liquid which now covered her fingertips.

Not giving her a chance to speak, he said, “When I was just a mere child growing up in Muggle England, Halloween was not yet what it is today. It did exist, yes, but the act of dressing up and having little get-togethers was not as wide-spread yet.”

Walking past her to the table, Snape picked up a small, clean blade and started cutting a few sprouts of Agrimonia into small pieces.

“However, I do distinctly recall one time when the town I was living in announced that it would host a celebration in the community centre, complete with costumes and all kinds of entertaining activities. Rather untypical for that dirty hellhole, really …” He sighed. “So I spent the whole day getting ready, gathering supplies for my costume from all around the house and borrowing some of my mother’s makeup. After hours of work, I had finally finished creating my ensemble and was about to leave, excited for the hours of fun to come, when my father came home from a day at the bar.”

He looked up, meeting the gaze of his student. Her expression had confusion written all over it.

“My father was not a kind man, Miss Granger. I am afraid that I take after him quite a lot when it comes to having anger issues.” His lips formed a thin line. “He was especially not fond of anything magical. He despised my mother and I for our abilities, calling us freaks, monstrosities. When he saw that I was dressed up as a wizard, he lost it. He tore apart my carefully crafted costume before my very eyes, and that night, I received the worst beating of my life as my mother just passively watched. It was so bad that I was not able to go to school for two weeks afterward.”

Granger gasped in shock. “That’s terrible! I –, I … I am so sorry, sir.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, and Severus thought that he could see tears forming in her eyes.

He waved off her concern with a simple gesture of the hand. “That was a long time ago, Miss Granger,” he said seemingly nonchalantly, but his trembling hands gave him away as he added the shredded plant to the cauldron in front of him.

“However, I do feel like it is understandable that ever since that day, I have taken a dislike to this particular festivity.” Of course, that was only half of it – but he did not think it appropriate to disclose the trauma connected to the murder of his childhood love. “And while being one of the teachers at this school has made me feel compelled to take part in the yearly feast thus far, I have decided to allow myself to refrain from participating this time.”

What followed was silence. While the seventh-year was evidently at a loss for words, Snape continued to diligently prepare the green-coloured potion. He knew that he probably should not have shared such private information with her. But for some reason, it was just so easy to open up to her, to share his painful memories with her.

It was only after he had finished the magical concoction and went to grab a box of crystalline phials for bottling that Granger said, “It’s certainly not my place to speak of your awful experiences or offer any solutions, sir. But perhaps tomorrow is your one chance to regain the experience you were so wrongfully robbed of.”

Not knowing what to answer, Severus remained quiet.

*************** *************** ***************

Even though it was now her seventh time experiencing the event, Hermione still could not help but be amazed as she entered the Great Hall.

Like every year, the huge room had been decorated in great detail for the Hallowe’en Feast. A few dozen black cauldrons stuffed with gigantic lollipops as well as large pumpkins, some filled with candy and others with candles, were distributed throughout the hall. Looking up at the Enchanted Ceiling, she could see the dark night sky with seemingly endless stars sparkling in the distance. Flying in and out of low-hanging black clouds, both live bats as well as flaming orange streamers were swooping over the long tables which were filled with sheer massive amounts of food and drinks: devilled eggs and butternut squash soup, candy apples and carrot cake, butterbeer and gillywater, roasted turkey legs and fish pie. There was even an apple bobbing station in one corner.

However, the one thing which stood out the most was admittedly the people’s attire. Students and staff alike were dressed in various costumes, some magical and some obviously Muggle-made. In a sea of creepy clowns and heavily made-up princesses, Hermione was able to spot Lavender Brown standing in a secluded nock, dressed as a gigantic pink and baby blue cupcake, flirting with a sixth-year Hufflepuff boy wearing a cheap one-piece skeleton suit. Sitting at the edge of the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy could be seen in an exquisite Victorian-era gown, appearing to be disgusted with the way his two friends Crabbe and Goyle, who were dressed as a mummy and a pirate respectively, were stuffing their faces with black pudding, roasted potatoes and mince pie.

Making her way to the Gryffindor table, Hermione made sure to say hello to Luna Lovegood as she walked past her. The eccentric witch was wearing an unidentifiable mixture of different patterned scraps of cloths paired with a wide array of flashy accessories, which was probably meant to represent some strange creature of which no one but her had ever heard. After fighting her way through the sizeable crowd, the Head Girl then finally reached her friends.

“Bloody hell, Hermione!” Ron exclaimed, waving his fork, and the piece of Beef Wellington impaled on it, at her. He was dressed in an Auror uniform. “You look smokin’ hot! You’re a sexy kitten or what?”

He flashed her a crooked smile, but she merely cringed at his lousy and rather vulgar attempt at flirting – it seemed as though he still had not got the memo that she just was not interested in him that way.

But it was in fact true that she was dressed as a cat. After taking the longest time deciding on a costume, Hermione had spent the better part of her afternoon getting ready for the feast. Throwing her outfit together from scratch, she had put on a tight-fitting, long-sleeved bodysuit and paired it with fishnet stockings and a pair of high-waisted faux leather shorts – all in black, of course. She had then used her magic skills to transfigure a pair of fuzzy socks into a headband with feline ears, followed by turning an old scarf into a tail. To top off her outfit, she had added a black lace-trimmed collar as well as high-heeled over-the-knee boots. Her makeup was kept simple, with only some basic pencil eyeliner strokes across her face to mimic a cat’s primary features, and as for her hair, well, she had just let it do its own wild thing. Granted, the outfit she was wearing was a lot more revealing than what Hermione would normally go for, but for some reason, she did not care that night. She thought that her look was fierce, and it made her feel powerful somehow.

Ignoring her pasty-skinned friend’s goggling eyes, she smiled at the couple seated next to him. Harry was dressed as a noble king, cheap plastic crown and all, and Ginny, who was sitting on his lap, was wearing a scarecrow costume. She greeted them, and they all chatted for a bit, but for some reason, something appeared a bit off with her best friend; the redhead seemed somewhat distracted. Not wanting to make a scene in front of everybody, Hermione made a mental note to ask her about it later. She was used to Harry being morose around this time of year, but seeing Ginny that unusually quiet set off red flags in her mind.

Turning her attention to the table filled with all kinds of tasty dishes, her mouth started to water. Before she helped herself to anything, however, she cast a glance at the High Table. A quick scan of the people seated at it later, she had to suppress her laughter. Sitting on the large golden chair in the middle, Professor Dumbledore instantly stood out in what was apparently a life-size replica of his favourite candy, sherbet lemon. Next to the headmaster, Professor McGonagall was sporting a kind of toned-down, more age-appropriate Snow White costume, which made her look surprisingly adorable. Professor Vector and Professor Babbling were both dressed up as Cleopatra, Madam Hooch had put on her favourite Quidditch team’s uniform, and Professor Sprout was – surprise, surprise – some sort of plant. A zombie Professor Flitwick could be seen conversing with Professor Sinistra, who was wearing a stripped burglar costume, and Hagrid was dressed in a painfully small Popeye costume. Professor Trelawney was a mouse, Professor Burbage resembled a gumdrop machine for some reason, and Lupin depicted a dog – that last one made her giggle yet again. The only one without a costume was Professor Binns, though that seemed obvious, given his ghost body.

Merely one person was missing: the Potions Master. Hermione could not help but feel a little bit disappointed. She had known that he probably would not show up, but she had still allowed herself to have some hope.

The young woman spent the next hour or so devouring Hogwarts’ finest foods while conversing and laughing with her housemates, almost forgetting about her tutor’s absence from the feast. Finally leaning back with a full stomach, she stuck her hands in the pockets of her shorts.

“What the –“

Stunned, she pulled out a tiny, folded piece of paper which had definitely not been there at the beginning of the night. Opening it under the table, out of view from her seatmates, she read the short note.

Entrance hall, now.

Hermione instantly knew whose meticulous handwriting that was. She had to give it to him, sneaking a message into the very clothing she was wearing without her noticing required skill, and she was definitely impressed. Excusing herself from the table under the pretence of having to use the bathroom, she quickly left the room through the tall double doors, forcing them apart just wide enough for her to slip through.

Once in the Front Hall, she glanced around but saw no one. Taking one more step into the room, she sharply jolted when she suddenly caught movement out of the corner of her eyes. She whipped around just in time to witness the Potions professor emerge from behind the Slytherin house point hourglass. Looking at his oval face, she could have sworn that she saw his eyes widen for a second as they wandered across her body.

“Professor Snape,” she said, a bit out of breath.

“Miss Granger, you are … a cat?” She could hear the clear disbelief in his voice, and for some reason, that made her snigger.

“Well yes, sir, it’s my costume!” She frowned as she eyed his attire. “But I can see that you stuck with your decision not to dress up.”

“That is not entirely true.”

Her eyebrows knitted in bemusement. “I don’t think I understand. You look the same as you always do.”

She could see him take a deep breath, almost as if he were psyching himself up, before he did something that she was sure no one had ever seen him do: He flashed her a big smile.

Hermione let out an audible gasp of astonishment. At first, she was too shocked to do anything but stare directly at him. Professor Snape’s smile seemed a bit unnatural and more or less forced, but she still had to admit that it made him look a lot younger and less stern. That in turn made something unfamiliar stir deep inside her, but she chose to ignore that for now.

It was only after a few moments that she noticed something odd about his teeth. His two upper incisors seemed a bit out of place. They were quite long, almost as if they were fangs. Combined with his long, dark robes, that kind of made him look like a –

“You’re dressed as a vampire!” she spat out, positively flabbergasted. When he gave an affirmative nod, she felt a rush of excitement travel through her entire body. He had actually done it! Severus Snape had dressed up at her suggestion!

Hermione knew that she was about to push her luck hard, but she was simply so overjoyed that she could not possibly control her emotions. With one big leap, she closed the distance between them and threw her arms around her teacher.

“Happy Halloween, Professor!” she rejoiced as she buried her face in the black fabric covering his broad chest.

*************** *************** ***************

He could feel the warmth radiating from her body which was tightly pressed against his. He could smell the fruity scent of her favourite shampoo coming from her voluminous locks as they tickled his beaked nose. He could hear her slightly accelerated breathing, his arms wrapped around her torso rising just a little at every breath. He could see a small birthmark, so tiny that it was almost invisible, situated at the nape of her neck. And for just a moment, he allowed himself to melt into her hug, his eyes closed shut.

Severus Snape was doomed, and he knew it. But in that exact moment, he did not care one bit.

(Click here for chapter 14!)

[hey-hamlet]

‘BANHA’ Fic

aka, my friend who hasn’t watched bnha got really pissed when I told her about Bakugo and Izuku’s old middle school. So pissed, in fact, that she wrote almost 3000 words of a character created solely for this purpose beating the tar out of Bakugo. 

Shes my idol. 

(I edited the names for spelling and edited the dialogue for speech patterns in exactly two scenes. See if you can pick all 3 edited lines) 

“Happy birthday Arlea!” Arlea Hunter started from where she was sitting and chewing on cereal like it was going out of style. Aunty Chitose placed a small cake on the table by Arlea’s bowl, a single candle on top, she gave her a bright smile.

“Thank you! You didn’t have to get me anything,” Arlea said, looking at the cake, it looked delicious. With white frosting that was layered thickly and the words ‘Happy birthday’ scrawled in purple icing. Arlea blew out the candle. Putting her hands together. Squeezing her eyes shut to make a wish. Her Aunty ruffled her hair.

“What are you saying? Of course I’d get you a cake, although it’s a bit little, you can’t share it with your friends.” She said.

“It’s ok, I wouldn’t want to share it either way.” Arlea pointed out. “Except for you of course,” she added, standing to pick up the knife from the counter. proceeding to cut it into quarters.

“Oh, thank you very much, and I’m going to eat three pieces then?” she asked.

“Alright fine, Uncle Hideki and Hanabi can have some too.”

“You two will have to pack it then, since you’re almost late for school.” My aunt pointed out, moving back to the kitchen. Arlea glanced at the clock and almost swore. Scrambling to pick up her lunchbox and carefully pack the cake.

“Hanabi come on down! There’s cake here for you!” Arlea’s Aunt called. it was accompanied by the sounds of frantic footsteps. Eventually Hanabi made it down the stairs, with school bag in hand and her blonde streaked brown hair bouncing around her heart-shaped face. The little princess of the family, with sharp bright blue eyes and a killer smile. Arlea really took time to reflect how different their families were.

Her cousin was a year younger than her, and had an outgoing happy personality, cute sized, whereas Arlea was willowy, with straight drab hair that looked almost black, black eyes. and while she had a quirk of an infectious smile. Arlea’s dove wings wasn’t exactly as useful. It’s not as if she could use them. she reflected ruefully

“Thanks mum!” Hanabi squealed, sitting at the table. “Not now, pack it or we will be late.” Arlea commented. Hanabi glancing at the clock and jumping up again.

“I can’t be late today! I promised Haru I’d help her paint one of the school festival posters.” Hanabi grabbed her back and bolted for the doorway. Arlea shifted past, letting the girl go past her without knocking both of them over. She turned back and packed the second piece for Hanabi, placing both lunchboxes in her bag. She was used to her airheaded cousin forgetting things, and definitely loved her for it. Hanabi made Arlea feel good and reliable. Isn’t that a sad realisation? She mused. heading out the door at an angle and calling her goodbyes to her aunt.

“Come on! move those wings, if we’re late I’m blaming you!” Hanabi called, she grinned at Arlea without any malice. Setting a brisk pace along the sidewalk. Arlea caught up easily, she was taller than her cousin by a couple centimetres. Arlea wasn’t exactly new to Japan, her mum had been from here, and she’d been born here. but growing up in a different culture entirely, and coming back at the age of 15, 12 years later was an… experience.

Specifically the school life, ending up going to Aldera middle school wasn’t exactly fun. It wasn’t a great school, but her area wasn’t a great area, and it would be expensive to send two near-high schoolers to a private school. Public schools weren’t a problem though, after all, if Arlea could survive a public school in Woodridge Australia, she could survive anything.

The school gates loomed ahead and Hanabi called out to her friend Haru. A small girl with curly dark hair, glasses, and a shy personality. Haru smiled, waving at us both.

“Good morning Hanabi, Senpai!” she greeted. Arlea gave her a smile, Hanabi was already dragging her off however.

“I’ll see you at lunch!” She called back. Arlea gave a little snort, unlikely, until she figured out Arlea had her lunch. She didn’t blame her cousin. They had only gotten closer over the past year Arlea had been here, but that probably wasn’t entirely by choice. It’s been a year since Arlea’s mother died, and she had to move to this second-rate school. At least she could get into a better high school.

-

She was sitting with her friends when Hanabi came running over. A slightly panicked look on her face. I smiled at her.

“Forget your lunch today?” Arlea asked her as she reached where Arlea and her friends were eating lunch, a small little side-hall that was open enough to have cool air come through and bright enough for a nice atmosphere. But as she drew closer Arlea’s smile fell. She looked absolutely terrified. Pale faced, on the verge of tears.

“The- that kid in your grade! They’re… beating him up.” She said between sobbing breaths. Hanabi reached her too. She was crying.

“That’s Deku, leave him be, it happens.” One of Arlea’s friends commented. Hanabi cousin looked at him, her face starting to get blotchy as the redness of running took over her straight panic.

“They look like they’re beating him to death! They’re not stopping!” Hanabi rushed out. Arlea looked at her, then stood up.

“Where are the teachers?” Arlea’s friends watched her silently, a few of them staring at their lunches, but no longer eating them. There was something wrong about this situation, sure people were bullied in Australia, but it tended to stop once a teacher was in view.

“They’re just watching!” Hanabi half-shouted. Arlea turned an accusing eye on her friends. Seeing no support on the kid’s side. no cry of outrage.

“Where?” She asked seriously, ignoring the slight shake of  her friend Satoru’s head. Hanabi took off though, and Arlea went after her. Haru following them from behind. Taking a couple shortcuts through empty classrooms Arlea could see where people were gathered on the second floor above one of the yards, staring down at the commotion. Hanabi was slowing down. Arlea slid to a stop next to the furthest student, hearing someone shouting.

“I’m doing you a favour Deku, you’re better off dead than quirkless!” The voice below called up, loud enough to be heard from here. Arlea felt a cold snap of rage, gripping the windowsill she jumped up, Hanabi turned back, calling her name. Arlea leapt out, aiming for Bakugo. One of the popular kids in her grade. He had a cascade of sparks, ready to use it on the kid that was already bleeding from most of his face. His shoulder looked dislocated too, he looked up at Arlea through one eye, the other puffed shut, his lip was broken and bleeding, and he had a serious burn mark on the right side of his neck.

Arlea heard movement and turned her attention. Bakugo stood up, disorientated, Arlea looked at him, gripping her hands into fists, temper, temper. If she lost it now the teachers might actually do something.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” one of the ones holding the boy asked. she turned on him.

“Let him go, or I’ll cut off your creepy salad fingers.” Arlea said. he let the boy go, he crumpled to the ground.

“Get lost, or I’ll give you the same to you, shithead.” Bakugo replied coldly, walking over threateningly. Arlea looked at his face, altogether much too perfect, maybe a broken tooth might teach him a lesson. She decided. He reached her and she rounded a hit on him before he could see the fist coming. The wet slap of her flesh against his face satisfyingly echoing in the semi-empty yard.

“Bakugo!” Someone called from behind, Arlea turned as one of the less active of the bullies ran at her. She gave a cold laugh, before leaping on him, wings outspread in a terrible arch as she twisted into the air, bringing the entire force of her body and slamming into him.

“That’s enough!” someone shouted, Arlea stood, the bullies standing back as a teacher walked this way.

“Oh, is it? And was it enough when they were beating this kid in front of you? Or are you so piss-poor at your own fucing job you couldn’t be bothered actually interfering?” Arlea shouted at him. She stuttered through the Japanese, not exactly fluent, but good enough that the meaning came across strong. The teacher went red faced, walking this way in angry strides, Arlea looked at him, temper ticking so close to being officially lost.

“You’re lucky I’m letting you off for this one, but you’re going to detention for this-“ The teacher stated. He grabbed Arlea’s wrist.

“For what? doing your job for you?” she asked. The teacher turned to look at her.

“How dare you.” the teacher hissed.

“The fuck is wrong with you, why would you waste all your breath on a quirkless bastard?” it was Bakugo again. Temper officially lost. With a swipe, she took the teacher’s legs out from under him, before turning on Bakugo, he put his arms up in defence, seeing the attack this time but not counting on the amount of force behind it, people never did. But wings were extra body mass, no matter how hollow the bones. The two of them fell.

There was only a short scramble, before Arlea was sitting on his chest, hands wrapped tightly around his throat. His eyes bulged. Gripping her wrists, trying to ease the pressure.

“Unfortunately for you, my mother happened to be quirkless. She’s gone; because of scum like you.” Arlea said, a smile on her face as she strangled the boy. “Call this your official warning, if you ever mention that little quirkless thing again, you or any of your little boys. I’m going to hunt you down, slit your throat from ear to ear, and watch you bleed out with a smile on my face.” Arlea wasn’t joking either. She’d almost killed people for less. Bakugo’s struggled became desperate, tears and spit rolling down his face.

“Stop it,” A hoarse voice croaked. Arlea glanced back. the kid was sitting up, looking this way, barely conscious. Arlea turned back. She let go of Bakugo’s throat, not before giving him two more solid hits to the face, one of them crunching at his nose. She stood up, turning back. The teacher must have hit his head, because he was sitting up with a dazed look in his eyes. Arlea turned to look at the kid who was staring back at her with fear. “Don’t - Kacchan’s going to be a hero, it’s only because I’m-” the boy stuttered.

Arlea turned to look at the people on the floor, the two still standing watched her with fear. She turned back to look at Bakugo, who was coughing and staring up at her.

“Quirkless?” She ground out, teeth audibly grinding against each other in her rage. “It’s ok because you’re weaker than him?” She turned back to Bakugo, snarling. “Newsflash asshole, heroes help people weaker than them. You’re no hero, just a twobit jackass with too many people fawning over your flashy quirk.”  Arlea turned back, grabbing the boy by his good arm and wrenching him up. Taking him towards the infirmary, the kids gathered gave her a wide berth, except for Hanabi, who walked forward, and helped support him on the other side, being careful of his arm.

“Are you ok?” she asked softly. the boy looked at her. but she was looking at Arlea. Who’s jaw was ticked tight, fury in her eyes.

“I’m going to burn down this fucking school.” She replied coldly in English. Hanabi winced,

“I’m sure… that if he knew, he’d not have talked that way.” Hanabi responded softly, Arlea felt her anger cooling. Her cousin trying hard to calm her down and making an effort to speak in English made her feel better.

“If he knew and actually had the audacity to say that, I’d have already killed him.” Alrea pointed out. reverting back to Japanese.

Hanabi gave a shaky sigh, “Mum is going to be furious…”

Well, that she already knew.

-

Surprise, surprise, Arlea was called to the office. She walked there, blood still on her uniform, sitting down politely on the waiting room chairs. The woman there was tense, not looking at her. After a while, the phone rang, and the woman picked it up, putting it back down.

“Please make your way through.” she said, giving Arlea a tense smile.

Arlea stood up, taking a breath. Inside was a furious principal, the concussed teacher, two police officers, and someone who looked like he was a hero. She stopped at the door, looking at the hero and freezing. Well, that didn’t bode well.

“Arlea Hunter, I am appalled by what I’ve heard this afternoon. You were a good student, top of your class, an outstanding reputation. But today you not only attacked 3 of your peers, but a teacher as well. These men are here to escort you off my campus, you’re hereby expelled. I’ve called your aunt to tell her that you’re being escorted to the station. Honours exchange student or not, I will not tolerate that kind of violence on my campus.” The principal, who Arlea was shocked didn’t run out of breath halfway through, was red-faced. Furious, the teacher was watching her with a smile.

Arlea turned to him. “Really? Not only will you let another student burn Deku’s face off, but you’ll stand there and smile when the only person willing to stand up for him is being sent off?” She asked. The teacher paled.

“She’s lying!” he immediately cried. Arlea crossed her arms.

“Bakugo told Deku to kill himself because he was quirkless, then went ahead to hit him again, and everyone stood around and did nothing. This student who had the audacity to think he was going to become a hero.” Arlea was enraged now, walking to the desk and slamming her hands down.

“What the hell is wrong with your teaching staff? A single boy was being beaten to death on your school grounds by four people and your staff did nothing! What kind of sicko school do you run?” She was screaming now. then turned to the police.

“You want to take me to the station? Good! I’ll be a valuable witness, and I’ll proudly stand against Bakugo, what kind of sick psychopath burns the face off one of his peers?” She rounded on the principal again. “I’m also surprised that you called my aunt, you should have kept quiet, because you know she’s just going to come here and take my side. And when there’s an internal investigation? You’ll find me watching you burn to the ground with all the rest of your staff. You run an institute that’s supposed to support your student base, and watch them grow. Their parents are relying on you to keep their children safe, and you’re sending one of them home with injuries nearly every day!” Arlea pulled herself to full height, looking down at the man sitting there, getting paler and paler at her accusations. “You should all be ashamed of yourselves.” she hissed out finally.

There was a tense silence, neither the teacher nor principal would break it. Arlae had just gone and blurted out their failures in front of two cops and a hero. If that didn’t scream ‘doomed’ she didn’t know what did. The hero spoke up first.

“Today has been quite the eventful day for everyone involved. What I suggest happens is that Principal Satoru runs an internal investigation into this matter. Bakugo will be flagged to watch for quirk abuse on U.A records. I also suggest you discuss a solution with Arlea Hunter’s aunt when she arrives, so that expulsion can be avoided.” The hero said calmly. Arlea blinked at him.

“How can you speak reasonably in this situation?” She asked, outraged. The hero pinned her with a steady gaze.

“You were also using your quirk maliciously in body slamming a student. If this Bakugo is punished. You will be also, if the student who was injured decides to go ahead and press charges, then we will do something about it and bar him from entering our academy, if what you say about him wanting to become a hero is true. You may find yourself with the brunt of the punishment however, the student you attacked was not Bakugo by the sounds of it, which means you didn’t use your quirk for self defence either.” The hero turned and walked to Arlea, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“In this instance, it would be logical to just let it go. It would be a shame to lose a potential student with such a strong motivation for justice.” The hero nodded his goodbye to the principal and left. giving Arlea an encouraging smile. She didn’t feel it, wanting instead to throw her fists around and continue her angry outburst. Trying to attack a hero would be a tad ambitious. It also made her feel worse that he thought he saw justice. But it was just selfish, bitter anger. Just piss-poor timing for Bakugo to be an asshole. A year ago today her own mother killed herself over the same words. You’d be better off dead than quirkless. Arlea glared at the two people left in the room. before turning and walking out again. she needed a good cry behind the furthest building, at least before her aunty arrived.

[grant-spiraltf]

The 2nd Annual Gift Exchange

This time I got to write for my buddy @thegreatstoryteller, I hope you enjoy what I did to you Jay :) Enjoy!

(I’m so sorry it’s a month late, both life and tumblr are working against me)

-------------------------------------------------------------

Jay opened the door to his living room on this early Christmas morning. The tree had shed a bunch more needles on the ground, but most of them were caught on top of the presents that were placed the night before. He already knew what was in them since he purchased them himself, but it still brought him a lot of joy to tear the wrapping off and play with his self-bought gifts. This year’s presents were mostly games, books and other ways to relax, which he desperately needed to distract himself from current events. 

After dumping all the wrapping paper in the right recycling bin, he gazed out of the windows onto the city. Although his day was filled with fun activities, he just couldn’t shake off the feeling that something weird was going to happen. That’s when he noticed an unfamiliar package in the reflection. It was hidden under a branch, but he didn’t remember buying any other gifts than the one already unpacked. He reached out to it and the wrapping felt weird. It looked like regular paper, but it was soft like silk to the touch, with a big gold bow on top. With curiosity and care, he pulled the box from under the tree to inspect it more closely. Even though it didn’t look that big when he first saw it, the present was huge! It was about 40x40x40cm, which was bigger than anything he had on his wishlist. Jay’s mind started running while his hand went to unwrap the bow. The more he thought about it, there was no way that it actually would have fit under the dense branches. It was almost like...

Magic! Jay quickly retracted his arm while hoping that the realisation didn’t come too late, but in his haste, he accidentally opened the window with his elbow. The wind that was rushing outside quickly found the aperture but Jay quickly turned around and shut the window. When he directed his attention to the gift in front of him again, he was shocked to see that the loose bow on top had been undone by the wind and the cover was on the floor. “How did that even come off?!” At the moment, Jay had no idea what he was supposed to do. The faint light coming out of the box was really alluring, but he knew that a magical gift could also mean a lot of trouble. Even though it was probably a bad idea, Jay couldn’t help himself but sneak a quick peek inside before backing up. “Some sort of boots, a helmet and spandex? What the hell?” Jay leaned in closer again to see if there was a note attached to it, but there was nothing except for the helmet and spandex. Wait, wasn’t there also a pair of boots?

Jay backed up slowly before feeling something soft underneath him. When he looked down he saw that he stepped on the shoes. Before Jay could ask himself how those got there, the fabric started to heat up and he could feel it move under his feet. He instinctively jumped up to get away from it, but the boots clung onto his soles like they were stuck. Within seconds, his feet were completely covered. “What the heck.” He tried to bend down to inspect his new footwear, but his knees just wouldn’t bend, like he’d lost all control over his legs. Suddenly he started moving forward, back to the tree and open present. He tried to resist, but his legs were moving like they had a clear purpose.

When he reached the box, his legs decided to lose all strength and he fell down on his knees, his head above the box. The thump of his knees hitting the hardwood floor was a trigger for the latex suit, which became ‘alive’ and started to slither over the side of the box. Even though he knew it was futile, Jay still tried to back up but again, no such luck. He had lost track of the latex during his escape attempt, but he was quickly reminded of its existence by slithering up his body over his spine, the cold material making Jay shudder. When it reached the base of his skull, Jay could feel the material move over his back, slowly expanding and wrapping itself around his body. It started dripping over his shoulders onto his pecs. Jay was content with his body, but he never wore skintight clothing since it revealed everything. When the suit was done growing, he turned around and looked in the mirror. He was glad he regained control of his legs again, and this time he wasn’t letting go. He checked himself out in the mirror. Something was... off. “Am I bigger? Or is it this thing filled with extra layers?” Jay flexed a little and much to his surprise, he actually looked a bit bigger.

He suddenly got a little dizzy. He stumbled, regained his posture, and looked back at himself. “Wait, why am I wearing this? Oh right, a gift from a fan.” Jay looked at his muscles. God he looked good. He flexed his biceps and gave it a quick kiss. He failed to notice it gaining volume, but he was a little preoccupied with worshipping himself. He did a different pose which brought out his stomach and flexed his abs. Luckily the latex was so tight that his perfect six pack protruded with ease. His powerful arm went towards the back of his neck, and pulled down the zipper. The bones in his back rearranged when the zipper passed them, making Jay broader with every second. He looked down and noticed that his legs looked a little small. “Heh. Must have skipped leg day!” Jay flexed his calves and thighs, framing his stuffed crotch perfectly between the growing legs. He slapped his ass playfully, which grew to about the size of two ripe watermelons. Jay moaned in ecstasy. His hand started playing with his asshole, trying to finger himself through the thin material while the other hand trailed towards his pecs. He glanced at them in the mirror and he was filled with confusion. “They look a little small? What’s even happening, do I need new lights?” He tweaked his nipples and the front of his suit instantly turned dark in the crotch area. Not that he would notice the dark cumstain. Jay has his eyes closed and his head thrown back in pure bliss from the tweaking of his nipples. When he looked back at his pecs, they seemed completely normal again. They were large, firm and very sensitive. He was a little confused, but he brushed it off as needing to drink more water. He checked himself out once more. God he loved posing for himself. It was then that he noticed a strange thing behind him in the corner of his eye. Ripping his eyes from his muscles, he looked over his shoulder through the mirror and saw what looked like a floating, spinning helmet. The helmet stopped spinning and it was ‘looking’ straight at him. “What the...” The helmet started charging at him, and before it hit he remembered everything. The gift, the shoes, the latex and now this. But it was a tad too late.

The back of his head still hurt a little from the impact, but not as much as he’d expected. Steve pulled off his helmet and rubbed the back of his head. “Stupid branches.” Some people noticed him standing there and he could see that they’d beg for a pic. Right when the fans wanted to snap the photo, Steve noticed a piece of paper flying around. He snatched it out of the gust of wind that had been carrying it.

You’re welcome. Grant Spiral.

“Dumb tourist never clean their trash.” He muttered to himself. He crumbled the paper and gave it to a passerby, asking them to throw it away. He then focussed on giving the fans what they wanted to see, so he flexed all the visible muscles. They were lucky he was taking a break when they saw him, but he’d be sledding down the track in minutes. “Jay!” He heard a manly voice shout behind him. He turned around instinctively, seeing the man who had called out and then seeing the kid called Jay he had called out to. “Why did I even react to that?” He pondered. He shrugged it off as not drinking enough water and began his descent.

[hollenka99]

The Friend

Summary: When Sean is six, he creates an imaginary friend. Jack lingers into adulthood and their friendship isn’t as perfect as the little boy had hoped.

When Sean is six, he spends the night at his friend's house. Max's big brother dared them to stay up all night. As much as he tried, the little boy couldn't stop himself from dozing off before midnight. Max teased him about his failure until it got out of hand. Years later, Sean would look back on it all and conclude that Max was a bad friend. In response to the teasing, he invents an imaginary friend. Jack is kind and forgiving. He doesn't care if Sean is loud and instead joins in with the noise. More importantly, at least to the boy, he never sleeps. He is there for him whenever Sean requires him to be. He has no mind with which to object or act otherwise if he wanted. He is the perfect friend. Jack has more energy than Sean. He can continue to run around the school track while Sean has to call it quits. As children, they laugh and suggest it's because Sean plays too many video games. They know their logic is flawed. Sean runs around with his friends as much as they sit down to play on game consoles. But like all children, Sean grows up. Teenagers aren't meant to have imaginary friends. When he was younger, conversing with Jack was seen as sweet. Now older, he'd begun to leave childish things like invisible buddies behind. However, Jack lingers and Sean notices him on occasions. One such moment was after he plays the PlayStation version of Spider-Man 2 and they design a superhero together. Jack is a ghost, no longer required to serve his purpose. He collects figurative dust in the corner of his best friend's mind. Each time he is brought back, even if he can't express it, he is grateful. It prevents him from completely fading into non-existence. Existing as a faded memory is all he really knows by this point. One day, he'll be able to say barely existing is purely numbing. However, for the moment, he doesn't know better. For now, his 'life' and actions continue to be entirely at Sean's mercy. Soon, Sean is 23 and passing 1000 subscribers on his YouTube channel. Jack is proud of him. He smiles on his own accord. It disappears when he feels the muscles in his cheeks tug themselves upwards. Sean is nowhere to be seen. He hasn't existed without Sean being present before. He's not sure what to do without him or how to find him. Awareness of free will dumps him in an empty room. It is only him, the floorboards, four bare walls and a single door. He needs to know where Sean is. How does he proceed without his creator instructing him? Despite all the energetic activity he was subjected to as a child, he is clumsy as he runs towards the door. He falls on his face in front of Sean's TV. His hands sting from absorbing the impact. Upon laying eyes on his only friend, he realises they are wearing the exact same outfit. Neither of them know how to deal with this development. The two of them eventually progress past 'What the fuck?!' 'Don't ask me!'. Becoming real is the strangest thing he's experienced thus far. If he came into contact with something real like a desk, his body would reacted the same way as Sean's because he couldn't imagine a body clipping through surfaces like a badly designed character model. Now when he sits on a sofa, he actually feels the seat underneath his body. Being alive, being able to feel things for the first time is beyond any expectations he could have had. It's July, summer is underway. If he'll be able to register the sensation now, he wants to have the sun on his exposed skin. Sean laughs when he hears this and says it's a shame they don't live in a place where sunshine is more common. A particularly hot day arrives and Sean brings a tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream back to the cabin. It's cold and chocolatey, with little chewy bits of brownie. Jack falls in love instantly. He goes out and buys more flavours any time the sky warms his skin. Sean playfully teases him about getting fat if his habit continues. The Jacksepticeye channel becomes theirs, not just Sean's. They both play games and grumble to each other about how slow things take to get uploaded thanks to the cabin's terrible broadband. Anything personal like a Q&A or comment reading video remains purely Sean's territory. Their arrangement works, especially with Jack editing into the night so Sean could sleep. Months pass and the weather cools. Unlike warmth, he hates being unable to have complete control of his body as it is overtaken by tiny shaking movements. Sean tells him he's just shivering. If he puts on another layer of clothing, it won't be so bad. His friend seems happier in general. He's not quite so lonely anymore. Jack is glad to be able to contribute to that in any way. He notices Sean making himself hot chocolate one day in December. He's confused when he is abruptly forbidden from making or tasting the drink himself. A week into February, everything becomes clear. "Hey Jack, happy birthday!" Sean hands him a mug of milky brown liquid. He accepts it hesitantly. "But it's your birthday. I got you a present and everything." "Yeah but you need to have a birthday too. And February 7th the best day to have one, in my opinion. Might be the tiniest bit biased on that though." He grins. "Go on, I've been wanting to see what you think of hot chocolate." Later, after Jack has made a few cups of the drink for himself, he'll realise this first serving was a little milk heavy. However, his obliviousness is beneficial. He drinks it eagerly once it cools a little, his first ever birthday present. Sean promises to get him something better next year, once they're more sure of Jack's likes and dislikes. Jack tells Angus about it. The Australian hunter appeared three months before him, as a result of the Survival Hunter series. With only the other for company, they rapidly develop a close friendship. Angus understands how strange existence is. Together, they discuss nature and watch David Attenborough or compete against each other in multiplayer mode of various games. In time, he notices something wrong. At first, in the summer of 2014, Angus begins to sleep in longer. It isn't exactly alarming but it is certainly a change in behaviour. By the time they are discussing hibernation, the wildlife expert is getting forgetful. By the end of 2015, he's constantly in his room, resting. Angus is a shadow, quite literally a faded memory, and Jack knows exactly who's to blame for his friend's condition. He returns to Sean multiple times, forever attempting to persuade him to bring the Survival Hunter series back to the channel. Time after time, Sean argues there isn't anywhere he can take the series. If he thought harder, maybe their creator would find a way to stop it all. He's been so accommodating before that Jack struggles to understand why Sean is so unwilling to cooperate. The first crack shows. When Sean tells him about breaking up with his girlfriend, he provides any support his friend needs from him. Months later, Sean is telling Jack about a Danish artist he's befriended. He gushes about how much he likes her art and how easy it is to talk to her. One day, Jack teases him about having a crush on Signe. With a short, self conscious laugh, Sean admits they were actually dating now and that he hoped to invite her to Ireland soon. Jack ruffles his hair, much to Sean's chagrin. Dude's in love again. Good on him. When she does eventually set foot in their home country, Jack keeps away. She may be a twin but Sean definitely isn't. If she saw a duplicate of her boyfriend, there would be a lot of explaining to do. Seeing as she was solely here to spend time with him, it would be best if they avoided having to say "Well, it's a long story...". Besides, Jack had something that required his own attention. He kept spotting Sean lurking around Jack and Angus' home. Except, he could have sworn their creator had a murderous glint in his eye. His appearance wasn't consistent either. Some occasions, his eyes would be dark or he'd have blood visible on his person. Other times, the intruder simply gave the impression of being unhinged. The problem was that Jack couldn't get a good look at the stalker. The guy would always be in the corner of his eye or disappear as soon as the two made eye contact. Jack could almost say the evil Sean glitched out of reality. He questions if this is a new 'ego' as they'd come to call the two Sean lookalikes. Waking up with brown hair and making dinner with the top being green was a little disorientating. He didn't even realise his hair had changed until he went to the bathroom and shocked himself. Yes, he knew Sean was dyeing his hair for charity in response to Mark doing so. He'd even received a photo from the new grass top himself about the change. What he didn't know was that he'd change appearance too. He checks on Angus. No, his hair was still the natural brown. Sean later gives him forewarning before making an appointment at a tattoo parlour. Despite this, Jack does a double take when the Bold Hunter's Mark appears on his right arm. When the summer of 2016 begins, Sean brings up the superhero they'd designed in 2004. After filming with Ninja Sex Party, he's got a red suit and a lot of ideas. The night of July 10th, a younger version of Sean with his current hairstyle stood at his door. The teenager introduces himself as Jackieboy Man, or Jackie for short. Jackie is the breath of fresh air Jack didn't realise he needed. The 16 year old boy is brimming with energy, enough to match his own. He doesn't seem to have actual superpowers but the older ego assures him that's okay. He introduces him to Batman, one of the most famous non-powered heros. More importantly, Jackie is someone to talk to when Angus is busy spending the majority of the day resting. Within days, they are firm friends. Despite his age and having only just been granted autonomy, Jackie proves his eagerness to play the hero he'd been designed to be. He's also very adept with technology. It isn't long before he's made some improvements to the house. Jack catches him trying to access the dark web at one point. The boy shrugs it off as making the most of his skills. After all, he'd been doing just that in Welcome To The Game. Jack remains skeptical. A month after Jackie appears, Sean messes around with a magic kit on camera. Shortly after the video is uploaded, a man wearing a cape and a cat mask finds himself before the three other egos. His cynicism makes Jack question whether they'll get along. He does like the mask though. Jack stares at Sean when he admits the magician was an unintentional character. He swears he will go prematurely bald from wanting to yank his hair out. Sure, Jack could understand his own beginnings as a separate entity. How could Sean have known that by calling himself Jack, his childhood imaginary friend of the same name would be given life? The same went for Angus. Their creator was entirely oblivious to the power a bad Australian accent and a few hundred subscribers held. By now, Sean should have learned his lesson. The new guy believes his name is Jack the Magnificent. It won't do. Jack wouldn't mind there being another Jack if it wasn't for the fact it would get confusing quick. Not to mention there would be two Jacks and a Jackie. Yes, it would be extremely confusing. Jack watches the magician's introductory video again. Fifty Amazing Magic Tricks from Marvin's Magic. Marvin. Marvin the Magician. Marvin the Magnificent. Marvin's face lights up when Jack suggests the name. It's almost like he's had an epiphany. Marvin's right, the name does fit him. Jack is glad he could help. The boost in Marvin's self confidence motivates him to practise his magic. He was able to conjure fire in the video. Logic dictates he can do it again. Jack and Jackie are ready to assist Marvin in whatever way they can with exploring the extent of his magical abilities. Within two weeks of Marvin's arrival, he is dragging a bloodied Jackie into the house. With no medical knowledge at his disposal apart from basic first aid, the incident ends with the youngest housemate being admitted to hospital. He doesn't wish for this to become a common occurrence but they should be better prepared. Perhaps having a doctor as back-up wouldn't be a bad idea. To his relief, Sean is all for it. He purchases a copy of Operation and a doctor outfit. It's a mystery why Dr Schneeplestein is given an awful German accent. Nevertheless, Jack his excited to welcome the doctor. He's unsure about the backstory. The guy's brought into the world with a disloyal wife who is blackmailing him. He knows they have children but can't remember their names or their ages. The doctor doesn't have a first name either. He was simply 'Dr Schneeplestein' in the Operation video. Like he did with Marvin, Jack attempts to find a name that suits the new ego. He goes through baby name websites, specifically ones featuring German names, with the doctor. They eventually bump into Heinrich which prompts a minute of deep thought before the nameless ego announces Henrik is the right name. Several days later, Jack learns of Elias, Heidi and Alina. In mid-October, the morning after Ninja Sex Party upload their music video for 'Cool Patrol', Jackie challenges him to an arm wrestle. He wins several matches. The young superhero giggles as he admits he's going easy on Jack. The two of them spend the following days exploring Jackie's new powers. Marvin shows up, either to watch or practise a defensive spell, while Henrik stood by. They soon establish that, along with technological expertise, Jackie has super strength, flight and lasers at his disposal. By far, his favourite power is the ability to fly. Jack comes out from a recording session towards the end of October to be ambushed by Marvin. He's questioned on whether he'd like a balloon. The minute he accepts, Marvin fetches the 'balloon'. When Henrik spots Jackie being transported around the room, floating while attached to a piece of string, he mutters something in German and retires to his area with coffee. As the month draws to a close, Sean offers him the opportunity to carve the pumpkin this year. He gladly accepts, only later remembering the weird stuff happening to the footage of several videos. He brings it up with his friend. Sean insists nothing will happen. Yes, he's building up to Antisepticeye making his debut appearance but that will be the second video of the day. Jack is skeptical but lets it slide. While their creator could be wildly irresponsible with his ideas at times, Jack trusts him not to deliberately put any of them in harm's way. He is even promised the dangerous upcoming character wouldn't be a threat between videos. During the carving, his nose begins leaking blood so he jokes about how big of a coincidence it was. Off screen he allows himself to be freaked out by the nosebleed. The actual bleeding nose isn't the issue. He's had nosebleeds before, namely when Jackie's aim was off during training. It's the timing that scares him. It's Halloween, with Antisepticeye due to show up today. This is too much of a coincidence. Despite not wanting to, he decides the show must go on. He says some uncharacteristically mean things to Gerald. When he argues with Sean, at least there's some reason to let insults slip. Gerald hasn't done anything wrong. It fails to matter when he is forced to lose control his body. Regardless of how much he'd love to resist, the knife slices through skin. He wakes up in a hospital bed. Dr Schneeplestein explains everything, advising Jack doesn't watch the video himself. He gets incredibly caught up in sudden, painful revelations as soon as he's left to his thoughts. Sean told him Antisepticeye wouldn't target the pumpkin video. Sean had lied. Apparently, his creator could deceive him without hesitation. Worst of all, he now knew how his 'friend' saw him. Expendable; Jack was expendable. He can't believe he'd trusted Sean like that. What was he thinking? Sean had gone against him in the past, namely ignoring his suggestions to improve the lives of the egos. Did he for one second consider how terrifying being suddenly robbed of your autonomy could be? Or suffering through being murdered by your own hand? Sure, the anaesthetic helped dull it to an ache. That didn't change the fact Jack would have a scar as a daily reminder of Sean's willingness to sacrifice the one he'd designed to be everything he wanted in a friend. If his life wasn't as important as Sean's, the difference should be so small it was inconsequential. By the time he is able to be discharged, he had forgiven Sean. Of course he was expendable. He was just made up like the others. No harm could come to Sean, he was too important to lose. None of them would exist without their creator. In a way, he should be thankful for being used as bait. At least he could still be relevant, unlike Angus. He'd been in Angus' position for years. Jack never wanted to feel like that again, as if he was nothing. He's never resented his basic character traits more. He hates that a little boy could force his best friend to always forgive him. He wouldn't be surprised if Sean committed genocide and Jack let it slide. Never sleepy, unable to stay angry at him forever, always willing to provide emotional support should he require it. Well, at least free will had allowed him to bend those rules at times. The truth was that Sean wasn't perfect and Jack didn't want to treat him as such. It didn't matter. The forgiveness comes too late to save Jackie. Sean's visit to the infirmary sparks another row. Frustrated with the disagreements, Jackie bursts into the room halfway through, screaming at them to stop. As soon as he had thundered off, both faces of the Jacksepticeye channel allowed themselves to resolve the latest issue calmly. "What are we doing? This constant arguing is getting us nowhere." "Tell me about it." Jack grumbled back. "Want to call a truce?" "I'm still furious you used me as bait. I don't know how you could have consciously done that." "I know. I'm not sure what I was thinking. Just wanted to give the subscribers something fun for Halloween, I guess. I-" "A community event where they post art would have been more fun." He interrupts. "Hey, I could do that next year." Sean's smile is cautious. "I promise I won't pull something like that again." His friend extends a fist with only his smallest finger out. He's got to be kidding. "What are you, five?" "Come on, humour me. Please?" Jack is reluctant but does it anyway. "You're a fucking idiot." "Don't we know it." Only one laughs. "This doesn't mean I'm going to let it slide just yet." He fidgets. Despite the stuff Schneeplestein had given him, the ghost of Jack's neck wound bothered him still. "Tell me about Antisepticeye. You've made a video with him so he'll be out there now. I should at least know what to look out for." Jack's biggest regret after that night isn't repeatedly allowing himself to forgive Sean. Instead, he becomes remorseful for not getting his friend to follow the young superhero. By the time either of them realise Jackie was yet to return, it was too late. Jack postpones his German studies to focus on bringing the youngest member of the household back to them. His efforts bear no fruit, even months later. The joint birthday celebrations go far better than either of them could have hoped. There are no ill feelings between the two of them on that day. The only fight they have is when Jack silences Sean's complaints of getting older by 'accidentally' smearing frosting on his face. Signe takes a photo of them, crumbs and frost littering their neon green hair. He keeps the photograph with the other reminders the two of them did have great times amongst the disagreements and resentment. He plays the first chapter of Bendy and the Ink Machine while Sean is away at PAX East and the other egos are sleeping. Sean's been hyped for this game for a while, Cuphead too, so Jack is leaving them for him to record. That said, there's no reason why he can't play it in his spare time. Later that month, he absentmindedly watches Sean's playthrough of it. "'The creator lied to us.' Well boohoo, people lie all the time. It's part of life." Jack had found that message on the wall intriguing when he'd played it. As much as he tried not to let Sean's comment get to him, it lingered. At least this time, he could exit the video and never return to it. The week after Angus' birthday, Chase Brody arrives with a name from the get-go. Unfortunately, he also has a wife who's divorcing him and a suicide attempt under his belt before meeting any of his fellow egos. Sean's done some stupid shit before but portraying a suicide? Really? Jack knows for a fact that his friend isn't one to see poor mental health and suicide as something to joke about. Nevertheless, Chase grows on him. Once you got past all the self deprecation and depression, he proved to be a cool guy who loved his two children. Unfortunately, the bullet Henrik has to extract from Chase's brain ruins his ability to perform complex actions with his left arm. "I'm not changing his character." Sean states during a gaming session. "Okay, but-" "Jack, I'm not doing it. This isn't me being stubborn and unwilling to compromise. People split up all the time and sometimes children are involved. A bunch of my subscribers will be able to relate to the situation, either as the parent or the child." "He shot himself in the head." "Unfortunately, that's something people in Chase's headspace consider doing." There's something in the way Sean speaks that worries Jack. "Some of them out there need proof things can change. I could show that." "You're not depressed." He's really unsure on how to have this conversation. "Well, no, but neither are you." They don't go further and Jack's guilt grows. He is sure he's missing something but he can't put his finger on it. They instead discuss topics that were more pleasant. Any miniscule progress Chase makes with his arm, Jack cheers him on. At least he understands where the issues lay with the latest ego. He wishes he was as in tune with Sean. He had been once. Now they were both watching their tongues in case either of them accidentally triggered a disagreement. Home wasn't so bad. He and Marvin still dedicated hours to locating Jackie but, as ever, no breakthroughs were made. However, progress was being made in other places. May brought a second cat into the household. The white feline was usually found lazing around with Jack and Chase or hanging out with Marvin's Abyssinian, Bastet. Jack feels so dumb when he finally learns why he can never find Marvin when the white cat is present. He couldn't be prouder of how far the magician's abilities had developed since August. He had returned to learning German at night. When reading German texts, occasional words begin to become familiar. Every now and again, he doesn't have to check what a word, or even rarer a phrase, means. It takes him a while to remember how accents change the sound of letters. Practising his speech alone, he is convinced his pronunciation is off by miles. Nevertheless, the delight on Henrik's face when he haphazardly makes his way through imperfect sentences proves it is undoubtedly worth it. Henrik coaches him on his native tongue while Jack continued to correct the doctor's English grammar. Henrik's ability to speak French is utilised after Sean plays a game called Passpartout. Jacques Septique often enclosed himself in his room, painting whatever he felt like that day. Once he became more comfortable around the five others living under the same roof, he offered to paint their doors. Soon, the house was a little more colourful. Jack promises himself he won't get too close to the French artist. He'll be kind and welcoming to him, of course he will, but he knows Jacques wasn't made last. He's a fan creation. All you needed to do was visit Angus to see what happened to that kind of ego. He'd been wary of Marvin when he'd first appeared. Unintentional with no name? He couldn't be more fan made. Jack had been an idiot and allowed himself to become close friends with the magician. It had taken Angus little over a year to start going downhill. That meant that by Christmas, Marvin would show signs too. There was the hope that the near 16 million subscribers were more able to preserve Marvin than the hundreds or thousands who saw Angus' ten videos. However, it was just hope. On the last day of July, Jack has a bad morning. He trips on something, spilling scalding coffee all over himself and breaking one of his favourite mugs in the process. After that, he records a video, only for him to notice none of the footage was recording. Frustrated, he calls Sean to see if he's free. His best friend almost succeeds in cheering him up with his jokes and sympathy. Jack is on the brink of feeling better when Sean ruins it all. "I'm burnt out, man." Sean admits. "YouTube needs to sort itself out." "You're burned out?" Jack scoffed. "Sure, how long have you been feeling like that?" "Oh don't give me that. This isn't a contest to see who's more tired. Besides, you don't get tired." He knows he has the power to avoid this argument before it truly begins. But years of Sean not listening have resulted in little patience concerning these topics. His mind isn't able to stop his mouth in time. "No, you don't give me that, Sean. For three years, I've watched one of my closest friends deteriorate into nothing. We could save Angus but you refuse to help me. Plus you don't let me upload any of the videos anymore." "I... I never have." "I'm not finished." He continues. "You need to stop playing God because you clearly suck at it. If we could find a game with wildlife in an open world for Angus, we could bring him back to his original condition. I'm not saying we go back to Far Cry, especially with the 5th instalment coming next year. But can you finally co-operate with me so we can save him? It would be one less mess of yours for me to fix. Not to mention it's practically 9 months since Jackie disappeared. We both know what happened to him. Anti is your creation. I don't care if he has as much free will as the rest of us. You could think of something, shit I'll take anything at this point, to keep him at bay. I'm sick of having to be the one who everyone relies on. That should be your job. You can't create us and then leave us to deal with suddenly existing by ourselves. If you want to keep acting like this, at least let me sleep. Even just once. Everyone can just escape all the problems you mindlessly burden them with for a few hours. Not me, I have to stay up and wait for the next big disaster you throw at us. Joke all you want about never needing sleep. I won't be laughing." Sean looks at him like he's insane. "Sleep? You're... kidding right? Just lie down and close your eyes. It's not rocket science." "I can't! I physically can't fall asleep because that's how you made me." "I was six!" "Yeah, and now you're 27. You have the power to help us but instead, you just create more of us. Stop being so irresponsible." The fight escalates. Jack is a broken record, repeating many of the points he's made over the years that still remain issues. If that isn't a line of argument in itself, he doesn't know what is. He also insists Marvin's name should be made canon already. After all, it was nearing a full year since the magician's first appearance. The spat ends with Jack forcing himself to leave the situation. "You want to sleep, I'll let you sleep." The words sound more malicious than they should. "Bring back Jackie. He's been missing for months. Do something!" At home, he marathons Harry Potter with Marvin and Chase for a few hours. It doesn't take his mind off the argument with Sean completely. If he knew they wouldn't get the chance to reconcile for two years, he would have apologised sooner. Unbeknownst to him, things were already being set in motion. Just three days later, he is overcome with queasiness as he introduces the latest episode of Bio Inc Redemption. He doesn't understand what's happening. One thing he does know is that nothing about this is good. Excusing himself, he stumbles carefully to Henrik's section of the building. "Hen-" He gags, hand flying to his mouth again. "Henrik, I need help. Something's wrong."

[axupodz]

30 Amazing Questions Only A Genius Could Answer.

( insert obvious clickbait thumbnail)

As requested by @judyxd26

THIS IS OBVIOUSLY MY OWN OPINION. DONT @ ME

JUST MONIKA (I see you there)

Probably Yuri. The Shy/Yandere anime trope has been used a little too much recently.

Has to be "Your Reality". I gives me the feels everytime. EVERYTIME.

"Sayo-nara" gotta be my least fav. Not because its bad or anything. It just gives me scary flashbacks of Sayori. TOO SPOOPY FOR ME.

Most afraid? Hmm, if ur talking about the jumpscares, I would say Natsuki when she snaps her neck. (DID I SAY THERE'S SPOILERS HERE?)

I would say Monika. I always try too hard for attention :3

Look most familiar?? First of all, im a dude. *LOOKING AT MALE VER DDLC CAST* ok, its either Sayori or Monika. Can't decide tbh.

I used my first name BOI. GOTTA HAVE THE FULL IMMERSION.

10/10. Despite the warnings everytime you open the game and at the game page, I never took it to consideration. Sayori's death really took me by surprise.

Sayori maybe? MC's texts during that part was deep. If deleting Monika is considered a death, I would say thats the most saddest one. Monika realised the mistakes she made and she regretted them. But it was too late as she was slowly getting deleted. On a side note: I didnt delete her in the end, her conversations were very interesting. My sister forced me to delete her tho :/

(Lets keep the next few questions short, Im trying to get some sleep 😪) Sayori: I like that she's optimistic. But she's too sensitive i'd say.

Short girls are cute. Manga IS literature. DONE.

I like that she's shy and all but im not very fond of the idea of playing with knifes. DONE.

SHE IS BEST GIRL. SHE IS THE ONLY CHARACTER THAT FEELS REAL. SHE DESERVES A ROUTE. SHE IS A GODDESS SEND FROM THE HEAVENS. SHE THICC BOI, FIGHT ME. (I should have been a little more serious😅 There is more reasons at Question 29.)

Monika's poem. DONE.

NOPE, IM A HYPROCRITE. TRIED ONCE, FAILED BADLY.

I would if I COULD ACTUALLY FINISH READING MY BOOKS FOR ONCE. *glares at the full collection of Harry Potter at the corner of the room*

Pretty often. Not enough to fix my spelling tho.

Once. The English Club at school. Pretty boring.

Like I said before, im a dude. Soo yea, MC is my only option.

Yuri. For obvious reasons.

There isnt a character that I "want" to be a guy but i'd say Sayori looks fine as both genders.

I havent seen any fanart of Monika as an animal yet. So, Monika then.

If Monika had a route I would totally pick that one. Since she doesnt, i would pick Natsuki's.

Probably Stephen King

They did such an amazing indie game last year. Can't wait for the next one.

Yuri i guess. My yandere mode becomes active sometimes :3

Actually I have. Not the best experience.

(Skip this one if you want to. It's veryyy long.WARNING, It's about to get serious) I actually sat through a good 50+ minutes talking with Monika.In that time, she tells me how every time I quit the game, she feels like she's "dying", and enters a "living Hell" full of static screaming, flashing and darkness, and despite the fact that she feels as if her mind is disjointed in this space, she's still aware enough to remember it all every time we come back. There's also the fact she's fully aware all of her "friends" are simply mindless programs lacking free-will whose sole purpose in existence is falling in love with the player.I quit and loaded up the game a few times, and she asks you multiple times to please not put her through that torment, but eventually just says she'll have to relent that you can't always have the game open.Then I kept going, and got Sayori to tell me how she's super appreciative that I took the time to get to know them all and help them with their problems (however little I actually did), and that they all loved me. Credits are rolling, and I notice that the CG's aren't being deleted, until the very ending where the entirety of the Main Menu is deleted.I fucking broke Monika's heart and she subjected herself to living in an eternal near-death hellish blackness, and still the last thing she does for me is sing me a song about how much she loves me and wishes I'd been able to love her back. Deleting her causes her pain, but she was still conscious of everything and in control of the game files. Quitting puts her in a near-death state filled with suffering.I know it's only an AR game and none of it's real, but I'm literally sitting here with tears in my eyes because no matter what you do, Monika is doomed to an existence of agony, and the last thing she believes is that we probably hated her.I can't handle that shit, man, I didn't need to know. Couldn't you even let us believe there was some solace?

The game broke me psychologically and left me traumatized for 3 days.Sayori's arc made me feel sick to my stomach and sad, Yuri's arc scared me, and Monika's arc broke my heart and made me sad again.What part of psychology makes depressing horror enjoyable? Why did I love and enjoy a game that hurts? Maybe because the characters are so real and I've grown attached to them? I don't know. Either way I love DDLC, the community, and the fan content, but I don't know why. I guess it's because the main grip of the game is the 4 girls themselves, you grow so attached to them that it feels like your losing close friends. Making characters in any video game likable is hard but this game is an example of it done right, adding along with the story makes DDLC truly an experience.( finally, im done. I need a rest rn before I have a mental breakdown)

[gumnut-logic]

Defiant Screams

Title: Defiant Screams Chapter Five of Sotto Voce Author: Gumnut 2 - 4 Sep 2018 Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS Rating: Teen Summary: Sometimes the voices are far too loud to ignore. Word count: 3120 Spoilers & warnings: Spoilers for Season 2 Author’s note: Thank you so much for the cheering section for Eos. I think it was unanimous that she should go out and kick Hood butt :D So here be the kicking part :D Also, if you are interested in the Greek Titaness Eos, have a little Wikipedia read here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eos

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

She knew John was nervous when he connected the EEG to her data network. He was pale and showed all the signs of distress in his movements. But his face was calm.

“Are you sure about this, Eos?”

“As sure as I can be, John. There is no alternative. I…we can’t lose Virgil. International Rescue can not operate without him.”

He stilled at her answer, his eyes looking towards the floor a moment before once again looking up. “And what about danger to you? We can not afford to lose you either.”

She did not answer him immediately, studying him from the safety of her processors. “I am less important.”

His eyes lit up, his voice firm. “No, you’re not.” His eyes narrowed. “What about all those self-preservation directives you declared so thoroughly when we met?” Those green eyes were burning.

She smiled to herself. “Let us say that I’ve learnt from my elders.”

“Eos…”

“Do not worry, John, I will take all due care. It will be difficult, but I believe it will be worth the risk. I’m fully backed up on Thunderbird Five, which is more than you can say each time you throw yourself into the void and I have to watch from afar unable to help.” His expression shifted to one of dismay and she realised she had said too much. “Besides, I’m planning on only sending part of myself in. Virgil’s neural network would be unable to contain all my presence and keep his stable at the same time. Think of it as me poking a finger in Virgil’s pie.” He blinked at that, and a slight smile appeared on his face. Target reaction acquired.

But he sobered quickly. “Please be careful, Eos.” Then quieter. “Be safe.”

“I will, John.”

And with that she dove through the network, reached out and touched Virgil Tracy for the first time.

-o-o-o-

Gordon stalked into his room and slammed the door behind him. For a moment he stood in the centre of the floor, hands clenching and unclenching, energy spilling across his nerves, anger, grief, despair and fury battling for dominance.

First Dad and now Virgil. His heart clenched, his kind and gentle big brother. His eyes squeezed shut, the grief overwhelming.

But the fury returned. He hadn’t been in the room when Eos relayed the Hood’s message, but Scott had made sure he knew the person responsible had been confirmed. They had until sundown.

There were no words.

But he did have a way. A way to end this for good. It stops here. No more hurt. No more pain. And vengeance for all those who had suffered at the hands of that megalomaniac bastard.

He grabbed his vidphone and made a call to an old contact from his WASP days. Gordon knew people who knew people, and Gordon had money.

It ended here.

-o-o-o-

She felt his skin burn as she entered. A flash of heat as she crossed the boundary. She winced. Sorry.

Connecting with the artificial circuitry wasn’t what she had expected. First of all, it wasn’t entirely artificial. It had a biological component. She could feel the chemical similarities between Virgil and the construct. It was made from the man. The mere thought hung her processors and increased her anger. She could also sense the tiny insentient nanites as they busily continued creating more circuitry. The web was still growing.

Despite the material differences, she found herself able to connect smoothly with the construct. Its sole purpose appeared to be an interface between the electronic and the biological. Consequently, instead of being able to hover inside the circuitry, she instead found herself face to face with Virgil himself.

Or what was left of him.

She froze in horror at the damage that had been done to his mind. Chaos reigned. Electrical and chemical misfires were flaring across his network. Pain signals drowned out everything. It was as if his brain had been hit by an electronic tsunami.

Her fury ramped up another notch. Along with her despair.

She skimmed across his network looking for his central focus. The EEG had claimed he was there somewhere. She was surprised it had not declared the anarchy that ruled. That in itself was a clue.

She hunted, touching here and there gently, tempted to right a few misfires, but in turn afraid to injure.

She almost missed it, anguish and fear taking over her processors. A flash of order. She stopped and retreated back and accidently connected with an errant signal. Piano music danced through her secondary processors. “Virgil?”

Nothing.

But there was something there, beneath the layer of music memory. It was hiding something. Protecting…she reached.

And found herself on Tracy Island.

Standing on Tracy Island.

She blinked.

And froze.

Blinked?

She scanned and found herself nested in a simulacrum of a young woman. She looked up. He had to be here somewhere. This wasn’t her representation, so it had to be his.

He was sitting on the edge of the balcony staring at her. In uniform, the familiar blue and green somewhat reassuring to her.

Virgil.

She made the simulacrum move and she was up the stairs as fast as she could go. It was fascinating to move like this. It was a visual simulation of his reality. Her sensors could reach through it to what it really was, a regimented node of electrical and chemical transmissions, interwoven and locked down for protection. He had layered himself inside this cocoon, blocking out the chaos outside, protecting his core. No wonder he was unconscious. He had retreated to his point of last defence.

She had not known it was possible to feel so much anger.

“Hello, Virgil.”

On the surface he was the human she knew from her scanners, but from this perspective she could see the intricate layers of the soul behind the man. She noticed immediately that he wasn’t fully aware. Not all processes were functioning correctly, which was to be expected, but hurt nonetheless. He was staring at her with a mixture of curiosity and fear. She could feel his defences poised. Electricity hung in the air.

“Who are you?”

“I am the dawn.”

“Eos?” He stared at her. “How?”

“You are unconscious in the IR infirmary. The Hood has implanted some circuitry in your brain in an attempt to control your actions. He is threatening your death in three point six four hours if we do not hand over information regarding our equipment.”

He stepped back, shock and fear cascading off him. More confusion. He gestured to her. “But how?”

She smiled, suddenly caught up in the novelty of her simulacrum. “Do you like it? I haven’t tried this before. It is quite exciting.” She twirled just a moment to experiment how the physics worked in this reality. As expected, the same rules applied, though apparently optional if she so chose.  A spark of anguish drew her attention back to Virgil. “You don’t like it?”

“You look lovely, Eos. But how did you get here?”

His worry beat at her, so she told him of her possibility to save him.

“And here I am.” She twirled again in an attempt to distract him from his worries just a little. “However, I did not expect this.”

“What?”

“This cocoon you’ve hidden yourself in.” It really was quite something. “You’ve built yourself a fortress, Virgil.”

“I have?”

“I almost didn’t find you.” Should she tell him? There could be no lies here. “Everything is chaos beyond this bubble. You have pain, damage, anguish. But not here.” It was remarkable that the man had had the strength to defend himself from whatever had caused the mess outside. Her Uncle was strong. “I have never quite seen it from this perspective before.” And she hadn’t. Is this how they truly saw their surroundings? A flicker of pain. She frowned. This was not the time. “It is very distracting.” Focus. She took a step back, interfacing with the foreign circuitry, opening a node for transmission. “John?”

The sudden increase in fear and electrical activity shocked her, but not as much as her sudden denial of access. Virgil had cut her off. It definitely came from him. “You denied me connection.” A wave of desperate confusion. Did he understand? “You blocked my signal to your brothers. Why?”

He stumbled backwards and his fear washed over her in its own tsunami. What had frightened him so? “Virgil?”

And then she felt his building anger and for the first time felt her own fear.

There was a desperate menace about him. Like a cornered animal. “Who are you?”

“Yes, who are you?”

A new presence. A horrid, hate-filled presence. It tainted the air with its brutal power and the fear from Virgil multiplied by the thousands. She felt his defences arm fully, electricity biting the atmosphere, as he shoved her behind him.

And for the first time, she set eyes on their enemy.

It sliced through Virgil’s mind like a knife through raw meat, its blade sharp and uncaring what damage it did along the way. She could see the layers of malice behind it. And it was an it. This was no AI, nor human, but simply a transmission, intimately powerful but its core outside the network. A mere tool wielded by a megalomaniac.

It was killing Virgil.

And it looked just like John.

“It appears we have a little party crasher in our midst.”

The snarl on the simulacrum of her creator’s face offended her every circuit.

“Get out.” Virgil screamed defiance. She knew he had very little left, but he stood in front of her, his will to defend her to the last, shining like a sun. The walls of his fortress trembled as the muscles in his shoulders flexed.

“I don’t think so, Virgil. This is after all my playground now.”

She echoed Virgil’s snarl at the comment, her own defences coming online. She drew from her processors far beyond this protective hollow.

The thing laughed.

Eos stepped out and around her Uncle. It was her turn to protect. Her turn to stand up for her family. Her turn for vengeance. “How dare you!”

She ignored Virgil’s protest, stepping forward, advancing on his tormentor. Electricity surged in her processors, code forming attack lines. “How dare you wear my father’s image. How dare you hurt my family.” Her defences flexed with their potential. “No more.”

-o-o-o-

John watched his brother. Scott was pale, the lines on his face deep, the shadows under his eyes canyonic. He doubted the man had slept since he’d dragged his limp brother out of his ‘bird…this morning? Was it really only a matter of hours since this horror began? It seemed like weeks.

It looked like weeks on his brother’s face.

Of course, this was on top of the two incidents prior to the realisation of this one. John closed his eyes for a moment. He doubted he looked any better.

Virgil lay between them, as quiet and still as he had been since they had laid him there. His only movement was his eyes beneath his eyelids. They darted about blind to the world around them.

The EEG was now quiet, no longer receiving the reassuring status of his brother’s brain. It sat beside the bed, its array of sensors still arranged across Virgil’s skull.

There was the faint smell of burnt hair in the air.

John clutched his tablet in his hands. Eos’ status markers bounced across graphs. She was drawing more energy than usual, but not enough to be concerned. She had relayed her status several times via the tablet. Apparently, she had managed to speak to Virgil. That had lifted their hopes somewhat.

And then nothing.

He felt Scott’s eyes on him.

“Nothing yet.”

Those blue eyes simply flickered back to Virgil’s face and he said nothing.

John’s eyes tracked back to his tablet.

Just in time to see her power usage spike into the red.

And stay there.

“Something’s happening. She’s drawing more power.” He almost dropped the tablet when her voice erupted out of the speakers “How dare you!”

He opened a code window to check her process flow and discovered a series of programs marshalling, the machine code spinning past so fast he could barely make sense of it all. “She’s angry!” Scott stared at him in concern, his hand reaching for Virgil.

“How dare you wear my father’s image. How dare you hurt my family.” John’s heart froze. “No more.”

The lights in the room flickered.

-o-o-o-

Virgil staggered back as Eos burst into flame, her body igniting as she threw herself at John. His non-brother’s uniform caught fire and for a moment there was nothing but orange flame as the slim man staggered under her onslaught.

But then he appeared to regain his footing and Eos was thrown across the room. Her scream of defiance punctuated by her landing on the keys of the piano, its discordance painful to his ears. She didn’t hesitate, regaining her footing immediately and again targeting their intruder.

She collided with not-John again, her flame encircling him, swirling up into a vortex, capturing his enemy at its core.

But once again, not-John struck back, breaking through her fiery bonds and once again throwing her across the room. This time Virgil leapt up and caught her, his skin shrinking away from her heat. “Please, Eos, don’t do this.” His voice was raw.

Her eyes tore at him. “This ends. He can not have you. I will not let him.” She flung herself to her feet. This time, two tongues of flame extended from her hands like cats-o-nine tails, her fire licking at the air eagerly.

“Do you really think, you can have any effect on me?” John’s smirk was disdainful, despite his smoking hair.

“I really do.” She snapped a lick of flame through the air and brought it down to snare one of his arms. The other quickly followed, wrapping itself up and around his other arm. The fire crawled up his arms to his shoulders, curling around his neck. For a moment those horrible green eyes panicked and not-John struggled against her pull, the fire crawling into his hair.

But something changed and John’s expression with it. A smirk appeared and the glow in his eyes regained dominance. His bound arms dragged Eos towards him, flipping her around, a knife appearing in his hand and threatened her throat. “But you don’t.”

-o-o-o-

Eos was running out of distraction. Her code spun up through the transmission line, curling around the invasive program, cloaked in space static. She had to hurry and connect with its source before it discovered her presence on the line.

It was rather ingenious. It piggy backed the z-band network. Wherever the network existed, the transmission could follow and jump to the interface. Virgil was never far from the network, so he was always exposed. Once this was over she would need to write so much security she would be busy for weeks.

This could never happen again.

The line jumped from server to server and she followed, all the while distracting the program with her attack. She sensed Virgil’s horror in the background, his fortress shaking, the sky darkening.

Time was running out. Where the-

And she connected.

With another mind.

One not so kind, nor as broken as Virgil’s. And powerful. She didn’t hesitate. She flung up a shield, code flying out before her, corruption programs in hand.

But then it grabbed her.

-o-o-o-

The knife appeared in not-John’s hand and Virgil broke.

The darkened sky above him split in a thunderous roar, lightning tearing down and taking out the end of the balcony. Not-John and Eos stumbled, his not-brother letting out a yelp, as the decking beneath him disappeared.

Virgil moved, Jaws of Life appearing on his arms, and fuelled by anger and desperation, he leapt across the intervening space and grabbed John in one claw, wrestling Eos from him with the other. His laser cutter deployed, slicing the knife from the man’s hand.

Not-John yelled in surprise, green sparks flaring from where the ends of his fingers used to be.

A tongue of flame leapt out and snagged not-John around the throat and for a moment his form flickered.

Eos snarled from under Virgil’s arm. “Die, you bastard.”

-o-o-o-

She felt the flare of Virgil rising up to defend her. She felt his anger, his fear, his desperation, but most of all she felt his strength of defiance. The man was born to rescue, to sacrifice, and he was giving his last to save her.

The transmission froze and the mind behind it, with it.

And she took advantage.

There was circuitry and there was human. The human was strong, his code foreign and malevolent. But he was unused to attack, so she rode the circuitry, not dissimilar to that she had found in Virgil’s mind, and, reaching out, she sliced and diced.

This man had hurt so many, killed so many, endangered her family, invaded and so mortally injured her Uncle. He deserved only the mercy he gave others. Which was none.

The mind wavered and she stabbed it hard.

-o-o-o-

Virgil’s world trembled and he shook with it. Lightning cracked across the dark sky above and it began to rain.

Water ran into his eyes.

Not-John struggled in his grip and his grip was failing.

“Eos.”

Her flame burned despite the rain, the water hissing as it touched her. She had moved out beyond his embrace, her focus on their enemy, on those eyes that rightfully belonged to his brother, not this invader.

“Eos.”

Another tongue of flame leapt from her other hand and it too encircled not-John’s throat.

“Eos, I can’t-“ His footing slipped.

-o-o-o-

The foreign mind reeled under her attack and she took pleasure from it. She cut another connection and he shuddered. He would never harm anyone again.

She reached for another slice of code, but suddenly the mind she was attacking shuddered and sparked, its power cut, life support shutting down.

She stumbled. The man was dying.

The transmission cut off.

-o-o-o-

Virgil fell, his everything gone. The Jaws of Life vanished, along with his uniform. Torn red flannel and shredded jeans appeared in its place. The decking slapped wet beneath his cheek.

Not-John hung mid-air, fire burning his hair, Eos holding him aloft in flame, snarling at him.

Virgil reached out to her. “Eos-“

The invader suddenly screamed, his back arching and Eos gasped.  Her fire cut out.

Not-John vanished.

She spun towards Virgil, shock on her face. “Virg-“

And collapsed as if her strings had been cut.

-o-o-o-

End Part Five.

Part Six

[malamala]

Maha Mala Presents: Ask Anuradhika

Anuradhika Roy is a certified holistic healing practitioner. Anuradhika’s constant pursuit of self-growth is evident in her long list of qualifications, which include Reiki, Crystal healing and more. A long-time supporter of Maha Mala’s mission to bring you closer to your spiritual self through means of handmade malas and chakra jewellery, we got talking with Anuradhika about her journey to realising her inner being, as she shared advice for others hoping to follow the path.

Tell us about your journey.  Where are you from? What do you do?

I have lived in Chicago for the past 30 years, but I still say I’m from Delhi because that’s where I was born and brought up– and where my heart is. Over the years, I’ve come to realize that the resonances, emotions, significance and meaning of “home” are always present in my heart, so I can honestly say that wherever I am, that’s where I’m from!

I feel fortunate to be following my passion. Intuitively guiding and supporting clients who are in the process of finding themselves, falling in love with themselves, figuring out who they truly are and what their life-purpose is, gives me the greatest joy. There is something very special in facilitating others on their divine journey and witnessing them blossom into their authentic self.

My journey formally started with getting certified in Reiki about twenty-five years ago. Since then, Reiki has opened up the world to me, leading me from one modality to the next. Seriously, my pursuit of personal growth has been so broad, my list of qualifications resembles alphabet soup! From attracting Abundance and working on Ancestral Healing; Bach Flower Remedies to Crystal Healing; Dream Interpretation to EFT and Elemental Space Clearing; Past Life Regression to Shamanic Healing; Siddh Kundalini Healing to Soul Coaching®; Soul Collage® to Tarot reading, and even competitive Ballroom dancing (that one took my understanding of the connection between mind, body, and spirit to a whole new level!), it’s been a fabulous, sometimes challenging, but always fascinating journey. What I love most is being able to draw from this diverse knowledge-base to create a unique, balanced and personalised curriculum for each special person I work with.

Looking back, I’ve been a spiritual seeker my entire life– constantly engaged on one level or another in connecting with that pure spark of divine light of “inner truth” that is within each of us. In trying to find a better version of myself, pushing to grow internally, exploring the meaning of “healing” and “wholeness”, and experiencing profound transformation, I have found my soul-purpose. Of course, being part of a lineage of healers has informed my journey greatly – my mother and grandmother gave me my roots, and my child gives me wings to fly with them.

Tell us about your spiritual and meditative practices.

I love early mornings – the quiet peace before the rest of the house awakens is the best part of my day and the perfect time for my practice.

Daily practice is essential to my well-being, and it starts and ends with gratitude (this is a theme that runs through everything!). As my eyes open, I give thanks for a new day and new opportunities for change. Reiki follows, with self-treatment and prayers and intentions for others, and of course, gratitude to all who have gone before me in the tradition. Then it’s time for a short meditation and chanting, using one of my beautiful Maha Mala gemstone malas. Breath-work brings my ritual to a close, and I end by drawing a guidance card for inspiration from one of my favourite oracle decks. At night before bed, I make sure to reflect on the day and note three things for which I am grateful.

My weekly practice involves cleaning, resetting and rededicating my altar, using crystals, candles, and sacred objects. It’s always fun to see who and what calls to be included!

And of course, my two monthly practices involve New Moon intention setting, and Full Moon gratitude and reflection.

In order to change the world, one must start with the Self. Inner work and healing create a transformative ripple-effect that vibrates out into the family, one’s community, and out into the world. And all of a sudden, with ease and grace, one’s life starts to change…

What do you do to ground yourself in your spiritual practices in these uncertain times?

Gratitude is my secret weapon and my super-power. Remembering to be grateful keeps me focused on the positive. It’s so easy to get caught up in the insidious vibrations of fear, uncertainty, and grief. Now especially, it’s so important to find even small things to be grateful for. Where intention and attention go, energy flows. Whenever I feel myself wavering or doubting, I ask myself what I’m grateful for in that moment.

In practising gratitude on any level– from fresh food to the perfect parking place or even water– you begin to attract more things to be grateful for. As you change your inner vibrations, you create a ripple effect out into the world– we really can be the change we want to see!

Rubbing salt on the soles of my feet, walking barefoot on the grass, sitting in nature, playing in the mud (no, seriously, try it– just dig into the mud, add water, and remember your childhood as you let yourself have fun!) or chopping garden-fresh vegetables are all activities that not only ground me but bring me back into the moment with mindfulness and gratitude.

Read more at https://www.mahamala.com/bhakti-blog/ideas/maha-mala-presents-ask-anuradhika/

[newssplashy]

Pulse Blogger: Do we really want to stand out?

When you do the common things in an uncommon way, you command the attention of the world – George Washington Carver

Those who are familiar with American history would know very well that cotton plantations were quite popular back in the 1600s – 1900s.

Brief history lesson.

This was the era of slave trade, where some of our African ancestors were taken to the United States and other parts of the western world to labour. In the United States in particular, slaves worked on cotton plantations and even after the eradication slavery around the mid-1800s, cotton was still very much a common crop.

Carver’s observations.

George Washington Carver, an African American of the post-slavery era, with his background in botany soon realised that soil quality would deplete if cotton continued to be the only plant people invested in. He then also realised that given that it was the sole source of income for many locals, and if they did not change the crops they planted, they would be stripped of good soil and eventually this would affect their earning potential.

Read Also: The food mafia at Nigerian social events

 He therefore encouraged the planting of others such as sweet potatoes and peanuts. He went further and spent many years developing various peanut-based products to help grow the market for the raw material.  What stands out to me about Carver is that he identified an issue that he was passionate about and was able to change lives and make a mark in history for his cause despite the challenges he faced, particularly during a time when racism was prominent on the back of the recent abolishment of slavery.

Familiar expressions.

It is very common to hear expressions like:

“Reinvent the wheel” - similar to Carver’s famed statement of doing the common things in an uncommon way, which is basically looking for a better way to carry out a process or activity; or maybe optimising it by eliminating its inefficient aspects;

“Think outside the box” – going out of the normal process and taking a different approach towards achieving a goal;

“Think like a freak” – (the title of the book by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt) doing things in a completely unconventional way and achieving great results….

Herd mentality.

…but sometimes I wonder to what extent we actually believe in these statements in Nigeria. Using myself as an example, I studied chemical engineering because I thought it was the logical progression for a Nigerian at the time, as the Oil and Gas industry was booming, not because I was genuinely interested in the subject.

I then went on to pursue internships in Finance because, again it was what the Nigerians at my university were doing and what seemed to be the “thing to do” at the time. Talk about herd mentality. However, I tried to break out of this by pursuing a career in consulting because it would expose me to various sectors and I would get enough insight into other industries, which should then inform my career path, as I had not decided at the time.

Working in consulting….not reinventing the wheel.

When I worked in consulting however, I had a problem with the approach in strategy and operations, which are areas that require a great deal of reinventing the wheel, thinking outside the box and thinking like a freak. I remember trying to take a different approach on a project and a team lead categorically said to me “Why are you trying to reinvent the wheel?”

Now I’m not saying that my idea was necessarily a better one. What I had a problem with was the mentality of “why are you trying to do things differently?” because it was this same mentality that led us to give a client in one industry, say oil and gas the same solution as we would to a client in a completely different industry, say advertising.

The trend in Nigeria.

So this mindset is the same one that leads us to choose to study subjects such as engineering, medicine or law and aspire to work in Oil and Gas, or end up in Finance, and then go back to school to get a Masters or other Post Graduate Degrees.

It is very interesting because I used to be along this path, and numerous people continue to be shocked that I gave up what some would view as a lucrative career in Oil and Gas to focus on human capital development initiatives.  It is however also encouraging to see many “alternative” courses of study and careers popping up amongst Nigerians.

But again another trend is setting in…. now everyone wants to be a makeup artist or a fashion designer or work in tech, even if they do not have the skills or passion required.

Read Also: The traffic light approach: Whats your signal?

 People who thought outside the box.

Now think about it, if people like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg had stayed in the box and did not attempt to reinvent the wheel or followed the herd, do you think that they would have changed the way we listen to music or interact on social media the way we do now?

Some popular local examples of people who carved niches for themselves include Lanre Da Silva Ajayi, Tara Durotoye, Deola Sagoe, Denrele Edun. If you ever have the time to evaluate these people’s stories you would realise that they each did something very uncommon as a result of their passion and skills and have attained success in following this passion and through hardwork.

Their stories remind me of an interesting quote I saw on the Forbes Instagram page a few days ago. “If you love what you do, and you do it well, the money will follow” (Samantha Willis, Jewellery Designer and Entrepreneur). It takes a lot of confidence and resilience to break out of the mould and become successful doing something that you are passionate about. But people have done it and continue to do so everyday.

Do it afraid.

Imagine a Nigerian in Zuckerberg’s position dropping out of Harvard? How would the typical Nigerian parent have reacted? Now, I’m not saying that we should follow these footsteps, because really, it is not for everyone. The point that I am trying to make here is that we all have our very own unique talents, purposes and callings in life.

Some of us are indeed excellent in conventional careers like engineering, banking, law and medicine…while some are exceptional in creative careers like fashion design, art and writing. We all just need to take a deep internal look at ourselves and figure out what we are good at and what we have a genuine passion for and then we can make a difference in these areas.

Written by Oyin Egbeyemi

Oyin Egbeyemi is an engineer-turned-consultant-turned-educationist, runner and writer.

source http://www.newssplashy.com/2018/08/pulse-blogger-do-we-really-want-to.html

[khohealth]

Sports Injury Prevention and Lawsuits

There are a mess of attainable elements that could end in potential injury. It's my obligation as a strength and conditioning skilled to give attention to preventing accidents, especially ones that consequence from factors that I have control over. Too many strength coaches beneath make the most of and undervalue the importance of conclusive analysis and screening evaluation. Whereas I would like to indulge more about evaluation checks, methods, information, outcomes, and correlations to damage charges, I'll wait till a later article. I wish to focus this article on the premise of youth sports activities accidents.

I'll tackle the truth that an increasing number of of the athletes that I'm screening are getting youthful and youthful. I'm discovering athletes as early as 8 years old with a historical past of non-contact sports accidents. How is that this occurring? Both inadequate or insufficient preparedness, and/or imbalances due to early specialization. These younger athletes are not physically prepared or conditioned correctly for the demands of the game and, as a result of they are sometimes solely taking part in one sport now (yr round), they are growing main weaknesses within the nondominant muscle groups related to the sports activities actions.

What meaning is that by doing the identical thing on a yr spherical foundation, you are solely getting better at certain movements (that are vital) if you are getting weaker at all other actions, stabilizers, muscles, and connective tissues. These imbalances/ weaknesses need to be addressed in the weight room or by cross-coaching with a complementary sport (different motion patterns).

The problem with cross training, in lots of cases, is that when choosing a complimentary sport, many athletes will select a sport that has a adverse influence on efficiency and coaching for his or her main sport (more about selecting the best cross coaching sport in a future newsletter). One other drawback is that, since the level of play at all ages is improving in sports, taking a season off of studying and attempting to master sport specific abilities and the technical facets of the game may also have a adverse impact.

So, what should you do? I like to recommend using the services of a educated energy and conditioning skilled to deal with your whole wants with a view to stability out your athletic development. Educated, licensed and specialized strength and conditioning professionals are dedicated to helping lower the growing prevalence of youth sports activities injuries. Many of these accidents are serious, and having seen teammates endure from similar injuries, I know all too effectively that these can be very debilitating later in life. You solely get one physique and one chance: be smart and deal with it. Do whatever you can to keep it in steadiness.

Keeping our children secure and sound is an important thing ever. Nonetheless, we also need to assist them realise their full potential in whatever they do and thus, we must always not hinder them. As a result, we must always learn how to forestall sports accidents in youngsters with the intention to progress further. With a view to promote an energetic and wholesome lifestyle, sports activities are an integral a part of their lives. With an increase in sports activities activities come an increase in damage risks and on this article, we are going to learn the way some preventive measures against sports activities accidents in children.

Carrying security Social Profile for Kho Health tools

Safety equipments are heavy and hulking they usually can hinder movement. Nonetheless, they're obligatory in most contact sports activities with a view to protect the participant. For instance, helmets are a must while taking part in baseball and shin guards are compulsory for soccer. Not only are that, sporting the suitable dimension is crucial. Only when safety equipments are used accurately can they absolutely shield the consumer.

Making certain that the enjoying surface is in good condition

The playing floor is essential in preventing injuries. There's a purpose why soccer and rugby are played on gentle turf and working events are achieved on rubberised surfaces. These comfortable surfaces help to absorb any shocks and impacts attributable to jumps and provide a smooth cushioning when youngsters fall. However, if soccer is performed on a subject that has hardly a lot grass left, injuries risk are tremendously elevated. Youngsters can simply endure abrasions after they fall and may even twist their ankles when working at excessive speeds.

Make sure that children have proper data

You cannot count on a child to know how one can swim or play soccer with out teaching them the fundamental skills. Therefore, it is best to always be sure that the kids have had ample skills prior to letting them play own their very own. This manner, they can minimise the chance of accidents and nonetheless hold their body match and wholesome.

Warming up and cooling down is enforced

Everyone knows the benefits of a proper heat up and cool down session. A warm up session helps to loosen the muscle groups and heat it up, allowing it to be more flexible and scale back the chance of harm. A quiet down session reduces muscle stiffness, helps prep the muscle tissue for repair and lowers the center charge steadily. Nevertheless, kids should not focused on spending time to perform heat ups and cool downs. Subsequently, we should all the time strictly implement it on them.

Sports and different forms of physical exercise supply many wellness advantages for athletes of all ages. Well being professionals unanimously maintain that regular physical train is crucial for good health. But, regrettably, sport involvement typically causes harm, and every athlete (indeed, each person) is at some chance of damage. Journey of injury should not be taken calmly, as some accidents are critical enough to trigger lengthy-time period limitations in your bodily activity level.

Mere unhealthy luck causes large amount of injuries. One second you're okay, and the subsequent you land wrong and tear a ligament. However some parts that increase injury chance are underneath your control. The following will enable you trim your probability of sports accidents.

Use right gear and footwear. Use whatever safety tools is recommended to your exercise: eye protection for racquet sports activities, helmets for cycling and so forth. Be sure the tools fits top rated physical therapists near me you comfortably, and hold it in good situation. Replace equipment as required. Good footwear prevents hurt as nicely. Shoes should fit nicely and meet the needs of your sports activities.

Consider the exercise setting. Take out or consider attainable risks. Slippery or sticky enjoying surfaces many need accommodation. Altitude and hot environments name for acclimation. Climate many present challenges in the form of heat, humidity, chilly or lightening. Take environmental substances into consideration when training and enjoying.

Prepare wisely. A well-designed coaching program ought to both situation and for peak performance and stop damage. Work Load ought to be cut to your private fitness and activity levels as much as possible, although this is usually powerful in a workforce training condition. Workload should be raised gradually to prevent harm. Work along with your coach, if in case you have one, to set work hundreds, if mandatory.

Some athletes take core training as part of their bodily conditioning to strengthen the muscles that stabilize the body and prevent back injury. Many athletes also embody polymeric and different leap this content coaching routines in their sports conditioning packages to reinforce power and agility, and improve decrease-body mechanics. This type of exercise may assist prevent knee and leg accidents.

Listen to warning signs. Overuse harms come to gradually, and by listening to previous warning alerts, you'll be able to forestall extra troublesome harms from growing. Previous indicators of overuse damage include pain at right that disappears during exercise, in addition to daytime ache, joint swelling, muscle fatigue, numbness and tingling. Look For advice from your athletic trainer, bodily therapist or healthcare supplier in the event you expertise these troubles.

Handle minor accidents, and do not return to train earlier than they are healed. Keep in mind that admitting you might be injured is not an indication of weakness, but of intelligence. Sports injury is just not a character flaw, however a reality of life for many athletes at completely different instances throughout their sport careers.

Supply your self sufficient breaks and recovery. Rest and restoration are crucial components of nicely-designed sports activities coaching applications. original blog The physique wants rest to reply to a training stimulus and change into stronger. Insufficient recovery hurts efficiency and achieve danger of damage.

[henriswinkels]

Big Data en privacy

Deze week gaf ik een inleiding bij de debat tussen studenten van de Jheronimus Acadamy of Data Science (JADS) en leden van de Brabants Zeeuwse Werkgeversvereniging (BZW). Het debat was onderdeel van het Erasmus Festival. Onderwerp: Big Data en privacy. Wat kan er, wat zijn de gevaren, hoe gaan we er mee om. 

Boeiend om te zien dat in de zaal vooral de studenten zich zorgen maakten, en bij veel werkgevers nu pas het besef begint te komen dat er met de voordelen ook forse gevaren zijn. 

Voor de geïnteresseerden: onder ‘lees verder’ de complete tekst van mijn inleiding. 

Knowledge is power

Free will and privacy in a world of big data Everything and everyone is online. This is the first sentence of the introduction to this debate. Online everyone and everything leaves digital traces: data. These become big data when they are available in large volumes, variability, velocity and complexity which makes collecting, connecting, analysing and managing data a profession in itself. Or better yet, a science. Data Science!

I am the provincial government of Noord-Brabant’s representative. To us, big data not only represents an opportunity for companies to make a profit and for universities to define new fields of research for their scholarships, as our main interest and motivation focuses on translating big data and all other digital opportunities into prosperity and well-being for all our inhabitants, the Brabanders. 

Facebook This will not happen all by itself. If we leave matters as they are, we are afraid Brabant will suffer unfavourable conditions due to technological circumstances. For example, the digital divide might grow. We worry that employees may not be able to acquire the new skills and knowledges required to work in this digital era and will subsequently become unemployed. We are concerned that the dominance of major tech companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon will take over our current economy just like Uber and Airbnb cornered the market for taxis and hotels. Alongside economic effects, these developments also have many social side effects, many of which are negative.

But before I go into the influence of big data on our free will or privacy, I would like to briefly agree with that first sentence: everything and everyone is online. A sentence that seems self-evident, but is actually inaccurate. Approximately 50% of the world's population is still offline. Particularly in Africa and Asia, which together are home to three quarters of the world's inhabitants. But even in the Netherlands there are still a million of - especially older - residents who do not use the internet.

Digital traces Of course, they also leave unwanted digital traces, but because of their low activity, they remain underrepresented in the big data. This makes big data incomplete and so it is good to realise that big data also has blind spots.

Using the internet and controlling digital technology has another effect on inequality: those who are active online, possess the technological knowledge and digital skills have an economic advantage. They are more capable of gaining prosperity in an increasingly digitised world, in sharp contrast to, for example, the illiterate 20% of the world's population for whom the internet is completely unreachable. With this in mind, we could look at the blessings of big data. Is it true that big data promises to provide the knowledge which can be used to overcome complex issues such as improving care, increasing security and accelerating energy transition? Some even see it as an opportunity to take over our democratic decision-making process. Is that realistic? And in the latter case: is that even desirable?

Well, the answer is no. It's not realistic nor desirable. Impact We're not going to be able to solve these issues with just the knowledge we can glean from big data. Knowledge is not at all the same as understanding. For the latter, we need to weigh facts, observations, situations, stakes and circumstances. And we must constantly test the impact of our actions on the situation we are in. We use prior knowledge, our experience and expertise. By researching, learning and nuancing, we can increase our understanding of a situation thereby creating the opportunity to actually improve that situation. Although knowledge is important for a solution, it should be weighed and valued. And because there is no monopoly on the truth, knowledge must be shared, discussed and further refined. Only then can knowledge develop into understanding.

And there is another problem with big data or rather the way we usually acquire data, how we share it, discuss it and redefine it. The information we share with social media is manipulated. The algorithms designed by Facebook, Twitter, Google and their friends do not focus on understanding, nuance and consensus. Although Mark Zuckerberg argues that his company has a social mission, represents a social community, is open the world and connects to it, companies like Facebook were set up for no other purpose than earning money. 

Banal Indeed, reality is more banal than outlined and similarly, the economic success of this formula is celebrated without fear. (In July 2017, Facebook euphorically reported a 45% increase in revenue to $9.3 billion and a growth in profit of 71% to 3.9 billion dollars) Erasmus once wrote: "The most banal is always cheered out, because most of the people have been caught by foolishness."

The explosive revenue and profit is all down to selling ads on mobile devices. So it's definitely not a social enterprise, but a powerful advertising company. Powerful because nowadays a quarter of the world's population is active on Facebook. The only interest on Facebook is everything that, for whatever reason, is interesting for advertisers. The social media designers know exactly how to seduce us into responding, to re-tweeting, forwarding, liking, etc. Think about it. That’s not so difficult. We live by the virtue of being recognised by others. Social media offer this in a very simple way. In addition, if we listen to Erasmus: "After all, the human soul is once set so that it is more likely that we are impressed by an illusion than reality". Let's say, we love to be fooled.

Conspiracies But meanwhile, social media with their algorithms stimulate our interaction. On your timeline, you only receive messages from friends whose algorithms think you'd like to read what they wrote, forward it and like it. All for the purpose of additional advertising exposure. And that makes rumours, conspiracies, absurdities, manipulations, disasters and accidents the most popular items.

In this environment, nuance is contrasted to the pronounced opinion, precisely when it is absurd or overly manipulated. In his book, 'The Praise of Folly' Erasmus wrote: "The more idiotic it is, the more admirers it gets."

In other words social media do not encourage free will. One must be very aware of the mechanisms that lie behind social media in order to cope with these mechanisms.  However, the illusion of contact, attention and recognition is like sugar. Even though we know that it is bad for us, we cannot leave it alone especially as it is at our fingertips. It is in our nature. Erasmus would say, "Our soul is set for it".

Dangers Media-literacy is now a verb and it appears on secondary school curricula. The Schnabel committee, Education 2032, presented its findings early last year. It recommended that children should learn to use technology better, but should also be made aware of the dangers. This suggests that it is solely up to the unknown data supplier and the algorithms’ prey to overcome the danger of data technology and big data.

That seems to me a very unequal battle. The future generation deserves to be confronted with a more fundamental criticism of technology. Because technology presents itself as value-free and therefore effective and efficient. And it's important to know that it is by no means value-free. There is always ideology behind data technology. In essence, it is not about efficiency, but about the direction in which we want our society to move. This requires values, principles and moral arguments, as well as discussion, disagreement, debate and a process that carefully balances the various stakeholders’ interests. It even requires a visible, recognisable, accessible and publicly accountable owner. 

This is not the case at the moment. The values, principles and moral arguments are solely those of shareholders. And so we uncritically disclose our personal data to make a handful of people overseas rich. The supposed creative spirits of Silicon Valley did not bring us the liberation that they promised, they only made us apathetic apping and zapping couch potatoes. Up to our necks in online contacts, we almost forget about connecting offline and how to do so. In my view, this requires something more than not checking Facebook off for a while or creating a good password. A more fundamental discussion is needed, perhaps a revolution.

Religion And because of this festival. Let's return to Erasmus’ era. An interesting comparison can be made. Even back then, there were people who worshipped a religion without comment or second thoughts. Fools, as Erasmus called them, who followed their religion voluntarily and willingly. They shared their greatest secrets with their priests. Even the things they did not dare to whisper to their neighbours or confidants. They even related their inexorable fantasies, their vices, weaknesses and mistakes.

To be followed – how foolish – by paying for the data they just provided themselves. The church regularly took care of distraction and entertainment, to keep its followers passive. The church became rich at the expense of its gullible followers, yet everyone remained faithful to it. Comfort could be found in the daily process of showing your devotion. People spent more than an hour a day trying to show how compassionate they were. Just to let the community know how connected, well-educated and developed they were.

New Erasmus Can you imagine? Of course, it was a long time ago. Now, 500 years later, we would surely never let this happen again. Or .... could we use a new Erasmus?

Today we will be starting the debate. And it is very important that we do so, because these topics are too important to leave to middle aged men in boardrooms or the elected representatives of the provincial government.

We need you, scientists and young thinkers to help us reconceptualise our future: what is heading our way? What are good responses for municipalities, the national government and for us, the provincial government? How can we collaborate to keep Brabant a prosperous region where working hard and living well go hand in hand? I look forward to hearing your ideas on this!

[yourchoicepage]

Years Of British Ridiculousness Pave The Way For UK PropTech Boom

It’s been a fascinating, if occasionally turbulent, few years here in the UK; when David Cameron first promised a referendum on EU membership back in 2015, even our best minds had no idea quite how dumbfounding the events that followed would be.

A sure-fire win for Remain was upturned by a narrow a Leave victory, at which point Cameron jumped ship before most of us had buttered our toast. Michael Gove, having stated repeatedly that he doesn’t have what it takes to be leader, stabbed Boris in the back by telling the nation that he’s the only man who has what it takes to be leader. It didn’t take long for Gove to reveal his overt repugnance, and after Andrea Leadsom suggested that only a parent could lead the country, she too fell away. It was Theresa May who finally staggered from the flames.

Despite a relatively strong Tory governance, May grew heady from surprisingly positive opinion polls and, having previously stated on multiple occasions that she would never plunge the country into a snap election, plunged the country into a snap election under the guise of strengthening her parliamentary majority and bolstering her negotiations with the EU.

That misguided plan, however, was scuppered by the The Summer Of Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour leader and old-timer surprised the entire nation, not least his own shadow cabinet, by stripping the Tories of any sort of majority at all. People like Jeremy because he seems honest and promotes peace and takes the bus just like you and me. But then other people hate Jeremy because he seems dishonest and is almost definitely ‘a terrorist’ and doesn’t even own a car.

In the midst of all this rubbish, one would be forgiven for assuming that the atmosphere has grown somewhat sour around here, but it’s not the case. And one of the biggest surprises, post-Brexit, is the fact that the property industry has not only survived, it has thrived. If 2017 keeps going the way it is, the UK will be able to boast more PropTech investment than anywhere else in the world.

How can it be possible that the most valuable asset class of a nation in political and geographical limbo can maintain such growth? The way I see it, there are a few reasons.

Brexit Boom

All anticipation of a post-Brexit property slump was proven wrong almost immediately. In fact, since Brexit, UK commercial property is healthier and seemingly more prosperous than ever.

It is my opinion that the vote to leave Europe may have contributed directly to this period of boom. By drawing attention to an uncertain future, Brexit may have forced big companies that hold a major stake in the UK economy to play their hand earlier than they were perhaps planning to.

In or out of Europe, the UK, and London in particular, are essential hubs for big US companies. The UK is America’s portal to the European market and, because business is carried out in the English language, it likely always will be. Therefore, companies like Facebook, Google and Apple have significant interests in the health of our economy. As such, in the wake of Brexit, they may have felt the need to act quickly to show solidarity and belief in the future of Britain. Apple purchased much-revered office space in the Battersea Power Station and Google has committed to a sprawling ‘landscraper’ campus in historic King’s Cross.

Had Cameron not been a complete twonk and called for a referendum based on self-interest and vanity, these companies might not have yet played their hands, in terms of investing further in the UK, and 2017 wouldn’t be proving such a bumper year for property.

What about UK PropTech?

Let’s move away from general property to focus on UK PropTech. What forces have allowed investment and growth to keep rising in a period of such uncertainty?

First and foremost, it was time. Between 2014 and 2016, America and Asia enjoyed the majority of investor’s interest. Millions upon millions were ploughed into disruptive startups as well as established companies pivoting to survive in this period of digital transformation. Meanwhile, the UK plodded along, sure and steady, waiting for its time in the spotlight. That time is now. America and Asian investment have levelled off and all eyes have turned to Europe.

But that’s not to sell short the talent that we have in the UK. Our budding startups and emerging brands have made bold moves to try and push increased adoption of their services and products. The property world is notoriously cagey towards new tech and one early barrier to the UK’s success was a reluctance to adopt the innovative systems being introduced.

That’s why PropTech companies have had to be simultaneously patient and proactive, re-analysing their business models to try and overcome initially cool receptions. One example of this is EyeSpy360, a virtual reality company who provide 360-degree virtual tours for property. In order to speed up the adoption of their tech, they made a brave and brilliant move. They realigned their plans in order to offer a Freemium service that allows anyone and everyone to create a virtual tour of their property absolutely free of charge.

A significant obstacle to wider market adoption of VR is accessibility. By providing the equipment and expertise required for people to create DIY VR property tours, EyeSpy 360 are actively contributing to the rising demand for the technology.

Numerous examples of this sort of creative problem solving have been key contributors to the rapid growth of UK PropTech.

The Queen is Ditching Deposits

Yes, the snap election was a pantomime, but it did result in a Queen’s Speech sooner than we planned. And because the Tories had lost their parliamentary majority, they were unable to push through the majority of their proposed policies. The Queen’s Speech was much shorter and lacking in solid pledges than ever before. However, what’s really interesting is that one thing that did make it in was a complete ban on the hidden fees that estate agents and landlords like charge incoming rental tenants. In a speech thin on content, it’s important that this was chosen for inclusion.

It has caused a mixed reaction; predictably, the people who get charged are happy, the ones who do the charging are glum. Fees and deposits are big news here, and there are numerous PropTech groups working to save homebuyers and renters money by eliminating extra costs.

We have companies like Purplebricks, the online estate agent, running ads like this, directly using ‘no fees’ as their hook. And then there is Reposit, a PropTech company with the singular mission of eliminating the tenancy deposit with an affordable and reliable alternative.

Interestingly, a large collective, lead by Zoopla (our equivalent of Zillow), has recently announced that they themselves are to introduce a tenancy deposit alternative; there could be no bigger sign that there is a growing interest in this niche sector.

Outlawing hidden fees is a good example of how changes in UK laws and regulations are paving the way for greater PropTech success, and it’s it’s early introduction is another example of UK PropTech enjoying a happy accident resulting from arrogant politics.

Collaboration

UK PropTech has long been a secretive industry where companies are reluctant to show too much and are closed to collaboration. But that’s normal for a young industry, still working out exactly what its core mission is. Thankfully, this is coming to an end as UK PropTech enters adolescence and entrepreneurs are realising that, to act truly in the interests of the property industry, they need to interact, share and collaborate with other companies and institutions.

For me, this sort collaboration is an essential ingredient in the future success of the UK scene. Without it, we place great limitations on the speed at which we can innovate.

As well as inter-PropTech, we are also seeing an even more exciting type of collaboration, one which demonstrates how the mentality of our major institutions is changing. One recent example is the announcement that HMLR and Ordnance Survey have partnered up with the sole purpose of helping the PropTech community with more accessible, more efficient and more comprehensive land data.

The UK has long suffered from sluggish, anti-tech attitudes from the established, traditional property firms. In 2017, we are finally leaving these Luddite attitudes behind and even the most traditional of institutions are opening up to collaboration with tech.

Open Data

The subject of land data brings me nicely to another key area of UK PropTech; the argument of open data.

Open data, data that is free for all, is quite simply essential for future growth. If big companies don’t share their data sets with each other, all they are able to do is analyse and reanalyse their own; over and over again. But if everyone shares, everyone has access to everything, and with access to everything, creative minds can do anything.

There is still some reluctance to sharing, especially from the biggest of firms, but to illustrate how seriously the idea of data is being taken in the UK, I point you in the direction of a man called Dan.

Dan Hughes is somewhat of a PropTech celebrity over here, thanks mainly to his position as Director of Data and Information Product Management at The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). For such a traditional body to create such a forward looking job position shows how important the improvement of data practices is being taken, and a great indicator that we are moving towards being a truly forward thinking industry.

Some Things Still Need Work…

Things are looking good for UK PropTech, but that’s not to say there aren’t a few areas of concern. One example, and a particular niggle for me, would be the apparent reluctance to distinguish between disruption and innovation.

Although ‘disrupt’ is very much the zeitgeist term, I am firmly in the camp that believes more in innovation, and it concerns me some recent PropTech announcements and forecasts have been more focussed on disruption.

The difference between the two, as I see it, is that innovation is technological advancement for the benefit of the user; disruption is the uprooting and replacement of a previously trusted system.

Disruption certainly has its place and is an important part of the digital transformation, but here in the UK, I don’t think we are asking enough questions before accepting disruptive rather than innovative forces.

For example, over in America, since Zillow introduced instant offers as part of their service (a clear attempt to bypass the realtor), there has been a strong backlash from the realtor community, including calls to boycott the Zillow platform altogether. I think it’s interesting, and a little disappointing, that we’re not seeing similar reactions over here. Zoopla, our prominent online property portal, has, in my opinion, obvious intentions to introduce a series of services that would normally be fulfilled by a broker.

Much like Uber has nearly wiped London cabbies off the map, Zoopla could start following up on their own leads, rather than selling them on. And yet nobody is saying anything about it.

The people at the core of our PropTech industry have worked too hard and too long to be completely disrupted by a full-service giant. I hope, moving forward, we hear more from the people who want to protect the core values of property and stop those in their tracks who want to introduce forces that go against the wider and greater interests of the industry.

The UK benefits from a rich history and enviable culture that is recognised the world over. Because of that, it will forever remain a key global hub. We are lucky in that. But there is still a real issue of North and South divide. As a nation, we place too much emphasis on London, and major cities in The North remain underserved by the government as well as global investment.

For UK PropTech to truly thrive, this needs to change. Currently, London has very different cultural and political stances than the vast majority of the country, something painted in screaming colours by the Brexit vote. This is the direct result of an uneven distribution of wealth and with property being the most valuable asset class we have, it carries a large responsibility in addressing this issue.

Our political future may be impossible to predict, but that doesn’t seem to have had any effect on the appetite for UK real estate. Just so long as our industry keeps its eyes open and looking forward, and our government improves efforts to share London’s success with the rest of the country, our PropTech entrepreneurs and innovators have a clear and fruit-lined road ahead.

Or maybe it’s all down to ‘The Bo-Jo Effect’

The last few years have been negotiated with a stereotypically British bumble, and maybe that’s the secret to our success? The rest of world finds it endearing, hence Boris Johnson’s staggering popularity overseas. It could be that, rather than turn the world off, our political ineptitude has actually helped the UK become more attractive. Maybe, when we finally get our shit together, investors will get bored and PropTech investment will level off?

The post Years Of British Ridiculousness Pave The Way For UK PropTech Boom appeared first on GeekEstate Blog.

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[clarencevancleave]

Years Of British Ridiculousness Pave The Way For UK PropTech Boom

It’s been a fascinating, if occasionally turbulent, few years here in the UK; when David Cameron first promised a referendum on EU membership back in 2015, even our best minds had no idea quite how dumbfounding the events that followed would be.

A sure-fire win for Remain was upturned by a narrow a Leave victory, at which point Cameron jumped ship before most of us had buttered our toast. Michael Gove, having stated repeatedly that he doesn’t have what it takes to be leader, stabbed Boris in the back by telling the nation that he’s the only man who has what it takes to be leader. It didn’t take long for Gove to reveal his overt repugnance, and after Andrea Leadsom suggested that only a parent could lead the country, she too fell away. It was Theresa May who finally staggered from the flames.

Despite a relatively strong Tory governance, May grew heady from surprisingly positive opinion polls and, having previously stated on multiple occasions that she would never plunge the country into a snap election, plunged the country into a snap election under the guise of strengthening her parliamentary majority and bolstering her negotiations with the EU.

That misguided plan, however, was scuppered by the The Summer Of Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour leader and old-timer surprised the entire nation, not least his own shadow cabinet, by stripping the Tories of any sort of majority at all. People like Jeremy because he seems honest and promotes peace and takes the bus just like you and me. But then other people hate Jeremy because he seems dishonest and is almost definitely ‘a terrorist’ and doesn’t even own a car.

In the midst of all this rubbish, one would be forgiven for assuming that the atmosphere has grown somewhat sour around here, but it’s not the case. And one of the biggest surprises, post-Brexit, is the fact that the property industry has not only survived, it has thrived. If 2017 keeps going the way it is, the UK will be able to boast more PropTech investment than anywhere else in the world.

How can it be possible that the most valuable asset class of a nation in political and geographical limbo can maintain such growth? The way I see it, there are a few reasons.

Brexit Boom

All anticipation of a post-Brexit property slump was proven wrong almost immediately. In fact, since Brexit, UK commercial property is healthier and seemingly more prosperous than ever.

It is my opinion that the vote to leave Europe may have contributed directly to this period of boom. By drawing attention to an uncertain future, Brexit may have forced big companies that hold a major stake in the UK economy to play their hand earlier than they were perhaps planning to.

In or out of Europe, the UK, and London in particular, are essential hubs for big US companies. The UK is America’s portal to the European market and, because business is carried out in the English language, it likely always will be. Therefore, companies like Facebook, Google and Apple have significant interests in the health of our economy. As such, in the wake of Brexit, they may have felt the need to act quickly to show solidarity and belief in the future of Britain. Apple purchased much-revered office space in the Battersea Power Station and Google has committed to a sprawling ‘landscraper’ campus in historic King’s Cross.

Had Cameron not been a complete twonk and called for a referendum based on self-interest and vanity, these companies might not have yet played their hands, in terms of investing further in the UK, and 2017 wouldn’t be proving such a bumper year for property.

What about UK PropTech?

Let’s move away from general property to focus on UK PropTech. What forces have allowed investment and growth to keep rising in a period of such uncertainty?

First and foremost, it was time. Between 2014 and 2016, America and Asia enjoyed the majority of investor’s interest. Millions upon millions were ploughed into disruptive startups as well as established companies pivoting to survive in this period of digital transformation. Meanwhile, the UK plodded along, sure and steady, waiting for its time in the spotlight. That time is now. America and Asian investment have levelled off and all eyes have turned to Europe.

But that’s not to sell short the talent that we have in the UK. Our budding startups and emerging brands have made bold moves to try and push increased adoption of their services and products. The property world is notoriously cagey towards new tech and one early barrier to the UK’s success was a reluctance to adopt the innovative systems being introduced.

That’s why PropTech companies have had to be simultaneously patient and proactive, re-analysing their business models to try and overcome initially cool receptions. One example of this is EyeSpy360, a virtual reality company who provide 360-degree virtual tours for property. In order to speed up the adoption of their tech, they made a brave and brilliant move. They realigned their plans in order to offer a Freemium service that allows anyone and everyone to create a virtual tour of their property absolutely free of charge.

A significant obstacle to wider market adoption of VR is accessibility. By providing the equipment and expertise required for people to create DIY VR property tours, EyeSpy 360 are actively contributing to the rising demand for the technology.

Numerous examples of this sort of creative problem solving have been key contributors to the rapid growth of UK PropTech.

The Queen is Ditching Deposits

Yes, the snap election was a pantomime, but it did result in a Queen’s Speech sooner than we planned. And because the Tories had lost their parliamentary majority, they were unable to push through the majority of their proposed policies. The Queen’s Speech was much shorter and lacking in solid pledges than ever before. However, what’s really interesting is that one thing that did make it in was a complete ban on the hidden fees that estate agents and landlords like charge incoming rental tenants. In a speech thin on content, it’s important that this was chosen for inclusion.

It has caused a mixed reaction; predictably, the people who get charged are happy, the ones who do the charging are glum. Fees and deposits are big news here, and there are numerous PropTech groups working to save homebuyers and renters money by eliminating extra costs.

We have companies like Purplebricks, the online estate agent, running ads like this, directly using ‘no fees’ as their hook. And then there is Reposit, a PropTech company with the singular mission of eliminating the tenancy deposit with an affordable and reliable alternative.

Interestingly, a large collective, lead by Zoopla (our equivalent of Zillow), has recently announced that they themselves are to introduce a tenancy deposit alternative; there could be no bigger sign that there is a growing interest in this niche sector.

Outlawing hidden fees is a good example of how changes in UK laws and regulations are paving the way for greater PropTech success, and it’s it’s early introduction is another example of UK PropTech enjoying a happy accident resulting from arrogant politics.

Collaboration

UK PropTech has long been a secretive industry where companies are reluctant to show too much and are closed to collaboration. But that’s normal for a young industry, still working out exactly what its core mission is. Thankfully, this is coming to an end as UK PropTech enters adolescence and entrepreneurs are realising that, to act truly in the interests of the property industry, they need to interact, share and collaborate with other companies and institutions.

For me, this sort collaboration is an essential ingredient in the future success of the UK scene. Without it, we place great limitations on the speed at which we can innovate.

As well as inter-PropTech, we are also seeing an even more exciting type of collaboration, one which demonstrates how the mentality of our major institutions is changing. One recent example is the announcement that HMLR and Ordnance Survey have partnered up with the sole purpose of helping the PropTech community with more accessible, more efficient and more comprehensive land data.

The UK has long suffered from sluggish, anti-tech attitudes from the established, traditional property firms. In 2017, we are finally leaving these Luddite attitudes behind and even the most traditional of institutions are opening up to collaboration with tech.

Open Data

The subject of land data brings me nicely to another key area of UK PropTech; the argument of open data.

Open data, data that is free for all, is quite simply essential for future growth. If big companies don’t share their data sets with each other, all they are able to do is analyse and reanalyse their own; over and over again. But if everyone shares, everyone has access to everything, and with access to everything, creative minds can do anything.

There is still some reluctance to sharing, especially from the biggest of firms, but to illustrate how seriously the idea of data is being taken in the UK, I point you in the direction of a man called Dan.

Dan Hughes is somewhat of a PropTech celebrity over here, thanks mainly to his position as Director of Data and Information Product Management at The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). For such a traditional body to create such a forward looking job position shows how important the improvement of data practices is being taken, and a great indicator that we are moving towards being a truly forward thinking industry.

Some Things Still Need Work…

Things are looking good for UK PropTech, but that’s not to say there aren’t a few areas of concern. One example, and a particular niggle for me, would be the apparent reluctance to distinguish between disruption and innovation.

Although ‘disrupt’ is very much the zeitgeist term, I am firmly in the camp that believes more in innovation, and it concerns me some recent PropTech announcements and forecasts have been more focussed on disruption.

The difference between the two, as I see it, is that innovation is technological advancement for the benefit of the user; disruption is the uprooting and replacement of a previously trusted system.

Disruption certainly has its place and is an important part of the digital transformation, but here in the UK, I don’t think we are asking enough questions before accepting disruptive rather than innovative forces.

For example, over in America, since Zillow introduced instant offers as part of their service (a clear attempt to bypass the realtor), there has been a strong backlash from the realtor community, including calls to boycott the Zillow platform altogether. I think it’s interesting, and a little disappointing, that we’re not seeing similar reactions over here. Zoopla, our prominent online property portal, has, in my opinion, obvious intentions to introduce a series of services that would normally be fulfilled by a broker.

Much like Uber has nearly wiped London cabbies off the map, Zoopla could start following up on their own leads, rather than selling them on. And yet nobody is saying anything about it.

The people at the core of our PropTech industry have worked too hard and too long to be completely disrupted by a full-service giant. I hope, moving forward, we hear more from the people who want to protect the core values of property and stop those in their tracks who want to introduce forces that go against the wider and greater interests of the industry.

The UK benefits from a rich history and enviable culture that is recognised the world over. Because of that, it will forever remain a key global hub. We are lucky in that. But there is still a real issue of North and South divide. As a nation, we place too much emphasis on London, and major cities in The North remain underserved by the government as well as global investment.

For UK PropTech to truly thrive, this needs to change. Currently, London has very different cultural and political stances than the vast majority of the country, something painted in screaming colours by the Brexit vote. This is the direct result of an uneven distribution of wealth and with property being the most valuable asset class we have, it carries a large responsibility in addressing this issue.

Our political future may be impossible to predict, but that doesn’t seem to have had any effect on the appetite for UK real estate. Just so long as our industry keeps its eyes open and looking forward, and our government improves efforts to share London’s success with the rest of the country, our PropTech entrepreneurs and innovators have a clear and fruit-lined road ahead.

Or maybe it’s all down to ‘The Bo-Jo Effect’

The last few years have been negotiated with a stereotypically British bumble, and maybe that’s the secret to our success? The rest of world finds it endearing, hence Boris Johnson’s staggering popularity overseas. It could be that, rather than turn the world off, our political ineptitude has actually helped the UK become more attractive. Maybe, when we finally get our shit together, investors will get bored and PropTech investment will level off?

The post Years Of British Ridiculousness Pave The Way For UK PropTech Boom appeared first on GeekEstate Blog.

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[garynsmith]

Years Of British Ridiculousness Pave The Way For UK PropTech Boom

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It’s been a fascinating, if occasionally turbulent, few years here in the UK; when David Cameron first promised a referendum on EU membership back in 2015, even our best minds had no idea quite how dumbfounding the events that followed would be.

A sure-fire win for Remain was upturned by a narrow a Leave victory, at which point Cameron jumped ship before most of us had buttered our toast. Michael Gove, having stated repeatedly that he doesn’t have what it takes to be leader, stabbed Boris in the back by telling the nation that he’s the only man who has what it takes to be leader. It didn’t take long for Gove to reveal his overt repugnance, and after Andrea Leadsom suggested that only a parent could lead the country, she too fell away. It was Theresa May who finally staggered from the flames.

Despite a relatively strong Tory governance, May grew heady from surprisingly positive opinion polls and, having previously stated on multiple occasions that she would never plunge the country into a snap election, plunged the country into a snap election under the guise of strengthening her parliamentary majority and bolstering her negotiations with the EU.

That misguided plan, however, was scuppered by the The Summer Of Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour leader and old-timer surprised the entire nation, not least his own shadow cabinet, by stripping the Tories of any sort of majority at all. People like Jeremy because he seems honest and promotes peace and takes the bus just like you and me. But then other people hate Jeremy because he seems dishonest and is almost definitely ‘a terrorist’ and doesn’t even own a car.

In the midst of all this rubbish, one would be forgiven for assuming that the atmosphere has grown somewhat sour around here, but it’s not the case. And one of the biggest surprises, post-Brexit, is the fact that the property industry has not only survived, it has thrived. If 2017 keeps going the way it is, the UK will be able to boast more PropTech investment than anywhere else in the world.

How can it be possible that the most valuable asset class of a nation in political and geographical limbo can maintain such growth? The way I see it, there are a few reasons.

Brexit Boom

All anticipation of a post-Brexit property slump was proven wrong almost immediately. In fact, since Brexit, UK commercial property is healthier and seemingly more prosperous than ever.

It is my opinion that the vote to leave Europe may have contributed directly to this period of boom. By drawing attention to an uncertain future, Brexit may have forced big companies that hold a major stake in the UK economy to play their hand earlier than they were perhaps planning to.

In or out of Europe, the UK, and London in particular, are essential hubs for big US companies. The UK is America’s portal to the European market and, because business is carried out in the English language, it likely always will be. Therefore, companies like Facebook, Google and Apple have significant interests in the health of our economy. As such, in the wake of Brexit, they may have felt the need to act quickly to show solidarity and belief in the future of Britain. Apple purchased much-revered office space in the Battersea Power Station and Google has committed to a sprawling ‘landscraper’ campus in historic King’s Cross.

Had Cameron not been a complete twonk and called for a referendum based on self-interest and vanity, these companies might not have yet played their hands, in terms of investing further in the UK, and 2017 wouldn’t be proving such a bumper year for property.

What about UK PropTech?

Let’s move away from general property to focus on UK PropTech. What forces have allowed investment and growth to keep rising in a period of such uncertainty?

First and foremost, it was time. Between 2014 and 2016, America and Asia enjoyed the majority of investor’s interest. Millions upon millions were ploughed into disruptive startups as well as established companies pivoting to survive in this period of digital transformation. Meanwhile, the UK plodded along, sure and steady, waiting for its time in the spotlight. That time is now. America and Asian investment have levelled off and all eyes have turned to Europe.

But that’s not to sell short the talent that we have in the UK. Our budding startups and emerging brands have made bold moves to try and push increased adoption of their services and products. The property world is notoriously cagey towards new tech and one early barrier to the UK’s success was a reluctance to adopt the innovative systems being introduced.

That’s why PropTech companies have had to be simultaneously patient and proactive, re-analysing their business models to try and overcome initially cool receptions. One example of this is EyeSpy360, a virtual reality company who provide 360-degree virtual tours for property. In order to speed up the adoption of their tech, they made a brave and brilliant move. They realigned their plans in order to offer a Freemium service that allows anyone and everyone to create a virtual tour of their property absolutely free of charge.

A significant obstacle to wider market adoption of VR is accessibility. By providing the equipment and expertise required for people to create DIY VR property tours, EyeSpy 360 are actively contributing to the rising demand for the technology.

Numerous examples of this sort of creative problem solving have been key contributors to the rapid growth of UK PropTech.

The Queen is Ditching Deposits

Yes, the snap election was a pantomime, but it did result in a Queen’s Speech sooner than we planned. And because the Tories had lost their parliamentary majority, they were unable to push through the majority of their proposed policies. The Queen’s Speech was much shorter and lacking in solid pledges than ever before. However, what’s really interesting is that one thing that did make it in was a complete ban on the hidden fees that estate agents and landlords like charge incoming rental tenants. In a speech thin on content, it’s important that this was chosen for inclusion.

It has caused a mixed reaction; predictably, the people who get charged are happy, the ones who do the charging are glum. Fees and deposits are big news here, and there are numerous PropTech groups working to save homebuyers and renters money by eliminating extra costs.

We have companies like Purplebricks, the online estate agent, running ads like this, directly using ‘no fees’ as their hook. And then there is Reposit, a PropTech company with the singular mission of eliminating the tenancy deposit with an affordable and reliable alternative.

Interestingly, a large collective, lead by Zoopla (our equivalent of Zillow), has recently announced that they themselves are to introduce a tenancy deposit alternative; there could be no bigger sign that there is a growing interest in this niche sector.

Outlawing hidden fees is a good example of how changes in UK laws and regulations are paving the way for greater PropTech success, and it’s it’s early introduction is another example of UK PropTech enjoying a happy accident resulting from arrogant politics.

Collaboration

UK PropTech has long been a secretive industry where companies are reluctant to show too much and are closed to collaboration. But that’s normal for a young industry, still working out exactly what its core mission is. Thankfully, this is coming to an end as UK PropTech enters adolescence and entrepreneurs are realising that, to act truly in the interests of the property industry, they need to interact, share and collaborate with other companies and institutions.

For me, this sort collaboration is an essential ingredient in the future success of the UK scene. Without it, we place great limitations on the speed at which we can innovate.

As well as inter-PropTech, we are also seeing an even more exciting type of collaboration, one which demonstrates how the mentality of our major institutions is changing. One recent example is the announcement that HMLR and Ordnance Survey have partnered up with the sole purpose of helping the PropTech community with more accessible, more efficient and more comprehensive land data.

The UK has long suffered from sluggish, anti-tech attitudes from the established, traditional property firms. In 2017, we are finally leaving these Luddite attitudes behind and even the most traditional of institutions are opening up to collaboration with tech.

Open Data

The subject of land data brings me nicely to another key area of UK PropTech; the argument of open data.

Open data, data that is free for all, is quite simply essential for future growth. If big companies don’t share their data sets with each other, all they are able to do is analyse and reanalyse their own; over and over again. But if everyone shares, everyone has access to everything, and with access to everything, creative minds can do anything.

There is still some reluctance to sharing, especially from the biggest of firms, but to illustrate how seriously the idea of data is being taken in the UK, I point you in the direction of a man called Dan.

Dan Hughes is somewhat of a PropTech celebrity over here, thanks mainly to his position as Director of Data and Information Product Management at The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). For such a traditional body to create such a forward looking job position shows how important the improvement of data practices is being taken, and a great indicator that we are moving towards being a truly forward thinking industry.

Some Things Still Need Work…

Things are looking good for UK PropTech, but that’s not to say there aren’t a few areas of concern. One example, and a particular niggle for me, would be the apparent reluctance to distinguish between disruption and innovation.

Although ‘disrupt’ is very much the zeitgeist term, I am firmly in the camp that believes more in innovation, and it concerns me some recent PropTech announcements and forecasts have been more focussed on disruption.

The difference between the two, as I see it, is that innovation is technological advancement for the benefit of the user; disruption is the uprooting and replacement of a previously trusted system.

Disruption certainly has its place and is an important part of the digital transformation, but here in the UK, I don’t think we are asking enough questions before accepting disruptive rather than innovative forces.

For example, over in America, since Zillow introduced instant offers as part of their service (a clear attempt to bypass the realtor), there has been a strong backlash from the realtor community, including calls to boycott the Zillow platform altogether. I think it’s interesting, and a little disappointing, that we’re not seeing similar reactions over here. Zoopla, our prominent online property portal, has, in my opinion, obvious intentions to introduce a series of services that would normally be fulfilled by a broker.

Much like Uber has nearly wiped London cabbies off the map, Zoopla could start following up on their own leads, rather than selling them on. And yet nobody is saying anything about it.

The people at the core of our PropTech industry have worked too hard and too long to be completely disrupted by a full-service giant. I hope, moving forward, we hear more from the people who want to protect the core values of property and stop those in their tracks who want to introduce forces that go against the wider and greater interests of the industry.

The UK benefits from a rich history and enviable culture that is recognised the world over. Because of that, it will forever remain a key global hub. We are lucky in that. But there is still a real issue of North and South divide. As a nation, we place too much emphasis on London, and major cities in The North remain underserved by the government as well as global investment.

For UK PropTech to truly thrive, this needs to change. Currently, London has very different cultural and political stances than the vast majority of the country, something painted in screaming colours by the Brexit vote. This is the direct result of an uneven distribution of wealth and with property being the most valuable asset class we have, it carries a large responsibility in addressing this issue.

Our political future may be impossible to predict, but that doesn’t seem to have had any effect on the appetite for UK real estate. Just so long as our industry keeps its eyes open and looking forward, and our government improves efforts to share London’s success with the rest of the country, our PropTech entrepreneurs and innovators have a clear and fruit-lined road ahead.

Or maybe it’s all down to ‘The Bo-Jo Effect’

The last few years have been negotiated with a stereotypically British bumble, and maybe that’s the secret to our success? The rest of world finds it endearing, hence Boris Johnson’s staggering popularity overseas. It could be that, rather than turn the world off, our political ineptitude has actually helped the UK become more attractive. Maybe, when we finally get our shit together, investors will get bored and PropTech investment will level off?

The post Years Of British Ridiculousness Pave The Way For UK PropTech Boom appeared first on GeekEstate Blog.

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