#like the difference between 20 and 21/23 is HUGE when 21 is a first and 20 is a 2:1 (surely might as well be 17/23 if its in the same band.

[krekdon]

hot take but i think if your feedback on an essay is that its 'excellent' but u grade it in the 'very good' band you shld have to explain urself

[matttgirlies]

Matt & Me🎀

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

a story heavily based on Priscilla Presley’s Book “Elvis & Me” based in the 1950’s - 1970’s.

fem! reader x singer! matt

disclaimer!! - in no way am i saying matt would ever support or do these kind of things, for the sake of the book certain unethical things do happen at times.

warnings - small mention of drug use

y/nn = your nickname in case your confused🩷

Chapter 6

It was after three o’clock the next afternoon when Matt called. “Alan’s on his way to pick you up,” he said. Alan Smith was another of his employees.

When we arrived at Matt’s house, I found him upstairs dressing. As soon as he saw me, he kissed me and asked, “How would you like to go to Las Vegas? We could really have fun and I could show you around my favorite places.” Not understanding his contradiction regarding my staying with the Barrises the night before, and feeling uneasy asking any questions, I answered, “I’d love to. When?”

“Tonight. We’ll load up the bus and head out about midnight, arrive in the morning, sleep all day, and see the shows and party all night.”

Excitement was in the air—Las Vegas. I’d never dreamed of going there and I really didn’t know what to expect. Actually, I really didn’t care where we went as long as I was with him.

I had two immediate concerns. One, I didn’t know if I could afford—or at my age should even wear—the glamorous clothes suitable for Vegas, but Matt said not to worry, Alan would take me shopping that afternoon.

It was a strange experience, shopping with someone I barely knew, particularly a man. He seemed as uncomfortable as I but assured me we would find something. He was familiar with all of the boutiques and took me to Saks Fifth Avenue as well.

As I selected a couple of outfits I worried about my other concern: the promised daily letter to my parents. How would I explain Las Vegas postmarks? I couldn’t. But I could prewrite letters for the time we were gone, number them one through seven, and have Arnold mail them from Los Angeles daily. My problems were solved. On to Las Vegas!

That evening Matt’s front lawn was alive with activity. There seemed to be people everywhere. The huge bus that George Barris had custom-designed for Matt stood in the driveway. The guys streamed in and out of it, loading suitcases, records, a stereo system, and cases of Pepsi-Cola. All the preparations and excitement made it look as if Matt were moving out, but in fact he always traveled this way. He was still uneasy about flying—a fear he later conquered—and felt much more relaxed driving. Because we didn’t know how long we’d stay, Alan and Gene Smith brought along whatever Matt enjoyed, so he would feel as comfortable as if he were at home. I was happy. It was the first time we’d be together without restrictions or curfews.

Just before midnight, they all gathered around the big bus; it was time to say goodbye to any visitors the regulars were leaving behind.

Matt was dressed in a white shirt, black pants, black racing gloves, and his everpresent yachting cap. As we pulled away, he yelled out the window, “We shall return,” and we hit the highway for Las Vegas, Nevada. I didn’t know what I was headed for, but I loved the idea of adventure.

And I felt proud; there was Gene to my right, me in the center, and Matt driving. I learned that Matt always preferred driving at night; it was cooler and there was less traffic. He came alive at night. There was a big difference between the daytime Matt and the nocturnal Matt. When the sun went down another personality took over, and on this particular night he was in great form. On a break between films, away from Colonel William, free of pressures and responsibilities, he could relax and play.

On the way to Vegas we all listened to music, nibbled on snacks, and drank Pepsis. In the front seat, Matt and Gene joked in their own language. Matt would say something and Gene would reply with completely made up words. When conversation lagged, they engaged in surprise attacks, punching each other. If Gene thought he’d landed a good one, he’d take off running toward the back of the bus, aware that Matt could always pull over and chase him.

These antics continued throughout most of the exhausting drive across the desert. I felt out of sync with the private jokes and crazy high jinks. It was quite obvious that the boys picked up on Matt’s every mood. I did not yet fit in.

Las Vegas

We arrived in Las Vegas around seven in the morning. I was tired and falling asleep when Matt called out, “We’re comin’ into Vegas. Look around—all you see is hotels. It’s called Sin City. Isn’t that right, Smiff?” Gene mumbled one of his silly replies and Matt laughed as usual.

The Strip looked quiet. There were a lot of taxis, some cars, and a few tired people strolling along the streets. I noticed it was extremely hot for 7 a.m., especially since it was only June.

We checked into the Sahara Hotel and to my amazement, despite the early hour, people were everywhere. Matt pointed to the casino, noisy with the rhythmic sounds of the slot machines, the sporadic ringing of bells, and an occasional yell from the craps tables.

“Is this normal?” I asked Matt.

“Honey, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Wait till tonight,” he replied.

That wouldn’t be easy. Despite being tired, I stood fascinated, watching the gamblers clustered at the various tables and the slot machines. Matt took my arm. “Come on, Baby. Let’s go up to the room. There’ll be plenty of time for this later. We better get some rest.”

We followed the bellboy to the suite, and the entourage efficiently began arranging the rooms to Matt’s liking. They unpacked his clothes, placing them neatly in his closet, lining up his shoes by color, and setting out his toiletries in the bathroom. In the living room, they set up his record player and speakers, lowered the lights to create the right atmosphere, and turned on all the television sets.

“Why do you always have the TV on?” I asked Matt.

“It keeps me company,” he said. “When it’s on, I feel like there are people around.”

He despised entering a quiet room, and soon I too adopted the habit of automatically turning on the TV whenever I walked into a room.

An hour later the assistants had the suite looking lived in, with everything in its proper place. Matt said good night to the boys and cautioned them not to wake us too early. He locked the bedroom door and got undressed and into bed. As I climbed in beside him, I noticed that he was taking a number of prescribed sleeping pills, but I didn’t pay much attention to them. I wasn’t knowledgeable enough even to suspect any potential threat.

I lay there blissfully happy: Finally we were able to spend an entire night sleeping together.

Matt was looking at me. “Do you believe this, Baby? After all this time, here you are. Who’d ever have thought we’d pull this off? Let’s not even think about you going back. We’ll have a good time. We’ll think about the other when the time comes.”

His words were starting to slur. His reactions slowed down. He pulled me closer and told me, again and again, “I’m glad you’re here  . . .” And then—silence. I looked over at the bottles of pills near the bed and realized I still had competition.

When I awoke the next afternoon, I looked over at Matt and snuggled against him as closely as I could. He put his arms around me, holding me as he slept. I studied his eyebrows, his long black eyelashes, his perfect nose, and his beautiful, full mouth. After a while I ached from lying in the same position but I didn’t move; it might wake him.

I thought about the pills he had taken earlier. They mystified me but I felt Matt must know what was best for him and I decided to put the matter out of my mind.

He must have sensed that I was staring at him; he suddenly opened his eyes and started to laugh. “What are you doing? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were putting a hex on me.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” I said, embarrassed that he’d caught me studying him. “I guess I’m too excited.”

Sitting up, he said, “Well, Little Girl, the first thing I need is a cup of black coffee. Press number four on the intercom and tell Billy to order us some breakfast. He knows what I like and just tell him what you want. Tell him to have it here in half an hour and to make sure the coffee’s hot.”

Getting out of bed, he flipped on the TV and walked into the bathroom. A moment later he stuck out his head and grinned. “Get dressed, Little One, I want to show you off a little.”

That was all I needed to hear. I jumped out of bed and ran into my bathroom to get ready. As I dressed in a casual summer outfit I could hear music coming from the living room. I cracked open the adjoining door and was surprised to see all the boys up and dressed, with breakfast set up on the dining-room table.

I finished combing my hair and walked out to the living room, where the guys greeted me with friendly smiles and hellos. Matt wasn’t there yet, so no one had begun eating. Everyone was pretty quiet. Although it was after four in the afternoon, it seemed like early morning.

About fifteen minutes later, Matt came into the room, all dressed up in a three-piece suit, and I realized that nothing in my wardrobe was suitable. He walked over to the stereo and put on his latest record, saying he’d just finished a recording session and wanted me to hear the songs. Then we all sat down for breakfast.

It was fun hearing his recordings before they were released to the public. He asked me what I thought of each song, and since I knew what the kids back in Europe were listening to, I felt my comments might be helpful. At least I wanted to believe they were. “I really like the fast-paced ones,” I said, “like ‘Jailhouse Rock.’ Why don’t you record more songs like that? These don’t seem as much like rock and roll as your earlier records.”

Matt shot me a look of such pure disgust that I was petrified. “Goddamn it,” he snapped. “I didn’t ask for your opinion on what style I should sing. I asked if you like the songs, that’s all—yes or no. I get enough amateur opinions as it is. I don’t need another one.” He got up and stalked into the bedroom and slammed the door. Trying to regain my composure, I fought back tears. I was embarrassed and confused. What was wrong with what I’d said? How could that upset him so?

Luckily, the boys had already left the table and were all doing odd jobs or were in another room. I didn’t know if any of them had heard Matt’s tirade, but I didn’t want to face them. I knew Matt had a temper—I had witnessed it in Germany—but never before had he directed it at me.

Slowly I rose from the table, wondering where to go. Matt’s bedroom door was still tightly shut and, although I was sharing his room, I hesitated to go in for fear he’d start yelling. Not knowing what else to do, I sat down next to the albums and started going through them, pretending to look interested. Soon I heard the bedroom door open and saw Matt standing in the doorway. He motioned to me to come over. Reluctantly, I put back the records and walked into the room, fearful of what he was going to say. He closed the door, sat me down on the edge of the bed, and—to my surprise—began to apologize: “I’m sorry, Baby. What happened before really had nothing to do with you. I just finished that recording session and it’s pretty damn good compared to what they usually want me to do for these movies.”

He talked more about his last film, the story line, the songs, the dialogue, all of which he thought were inane. _ I was beginning to understand some of his frustrations and dissatisfaction. I remembered our talks in Germany. Matt had been proud of his film accomplishments before entering the Army. He had talked hopefully about doing movies with more substance and fewer songs.

“y/nn, from now on I plan to keep my singing career and my acting career strictly separate.” He believed he was capable of performing more demanding roles than he was getting, and to prepare himself, he still studied certain actors whom he admired, such as James Dean in Giant and Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront and The Wild One.

“But I keep getting offered the same musicals, same story lines,” he complained, “and they’re getting worse and worse.”

His biggest problem was that these films and their soundtrack albums were always huge hits.

Shaking off his serious mood, he grabbed my hand and said, “Come on, Baby, we’re goin’ shopping.” This was Matt’s way of making up for his outburst, but it took me a little while to get over it. Forcing an enthusiastic smile, I went along. I was beginning to understand how everyone’s mood played off Matt.

Taking Gene and Alan with us, we jumped into a waiting limo and rode around until Matt spotted a boutique where glamorous gowns made of sequins, lace, and frills graced the beautiful mannequins in the window. He called out to the driver, “Let’s stop here.”

Taking my hand, he led me inside, followed by the entire entourage, surely the most unlikely band of characters ever to invade an elegant dress shop. The salesgirl was speechless.

“Hello, ma’am. I’m Matt Sturniolo and we’re just looking around. Maybe you could show us something that might interest my little friend over there.”

They both looked over at me. The look on the clerk’s face told me we were thinking the same thing: These clothes were far too sophisticated for such a young girl. But when Matt saw something he liked, he didn’t think in terms of age. While the saleswoman went to the back to rummage around for whatever she had in sizes six and four, Matt was rifling through the racks, pulling out a number of dazzling creations, asking me which ones I liked.

“They’re all beautiful,” I said. “I just don’t know how I’d look in them.”

“You let me be the judge of that,” he said, winking at Gene, who mumbled one of his made up words. We all dissolved into fits of laughter that brought the shopgirl rushing back with a huge selection of dresses. Matt designated his preferences and said, “Try them on. And pick out any others you like.”

Thrilled, I chose a half-dozen gowns with matching shoes and headed for the dressing room. The salesgirl followed. Away from Matt’s eyes she treated me like a little kid, but I was so enchanted with the clothes that I didn’t care.

As I posed in front of the mirror in a long black jersey gown and a pair of gold highheeled sandals, I hardly recognized myself. I definitely appeared older, very sexy and very sophisticated.

As I stepped out of the dressing room, the salesgirl mumbled, “Not bad for a kid.” Matt took one look and said, “Hot damn, we’ll take it.”

We stayed for over two hours, while Matt bought me not only the black sheath, but also a midnight blue satin, several lovely silks and chiffons, and a beautiful baby-blue brocade gown, all accented by matching capes and bags and shoes.

When we left the shop we found a crowd had gathered. Matt glanced at Alan, who immediately disappeared. Then he gave a number of people his autograph, said goodbye, and Gene quickly led us through the back of the shop and out the door, where Alan was waiting with the car ready to take us to the hotel.

Back at our suite, Matt said, “I’m hungry. Nate, order me a steak, but make sure you tell them well done. What do you want, Honey?”

“Hell, M,” Matt said, “I always tell them well done.”

“Well, tell them again,” Matt shot back. “I’ll be goddamned if it doesn’t always come back half raw.”

To Matt, raw was slightly pink. Everyone specified “burnt” when ordering for him.

Matt turned to Alan and said, “Hog Ears” (he had pet names for all his employees), “make arrangements for Red Skelton’s midnight show, and see if there’s anyone in the hotel who can do y/nn hair and makeup.”

“Hair and makeup?” I said. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

It was long and y/hc, casually combed. But beyond feeling he didn’t like my hair, now I began to think he didn’t like my looks.

“There’s nothing wrong with it, honey. It’s just that this is Las Vegas. Everyone has their hair done. You need to apply more makeup around your eyes. Make them stand out more. They’re too plain naturally. I like a lot of makeup. It defines your features.”

Defines your features? At that time it made a lot of sense—and Matt knew best.

While we waited for dinner, Matt put one of his records on the stereo and sat next to me, singing along with his own voice on the record. In that moment I fell in love all over again. When he sang about lost love or a life lived out in grief and pain, he delivered the lyrics with such conviction that I’d feel the hurt. He’d been a fan of country music since long before it became popular and was always impressed by the raw emotion in those recordings.

After dinner we got ready for the evening. At Matt’s request, Armond, a hairdresser at the hotel, came in and spent nearly two hours creating my new look. He teased and twisted up my hair with one long curl falling in front of my left shoulder. Then he applied my makeup so heavily that you couldn’t tell if my eyes were black, blue, or black and blue. It was that look of the sixties, only more extreme. That was what Matt wanted.

When I put on my brand-new brocade gown, my transformation from an innocent sixteen-year-old to a sophisticated siren was complete. I looked like one of the lead dancers in the Folies-Bergère.

“Goddamn, what happened to Little y/nn,” Matt said when he saw me. “You look beautiful. Nate, come here. Look what I found.”

Nate walked in and did a double take.

“Sure doesn’t look like the same girl we met in Germany, wearing a sailor dress,” Nate said.

Everyone laughed, and we left to see Red Skelton’s midnight show.

We arrived just after the lights went down, and the maître d’, using a flashlight, quickly led us to our table. Matt always tried to arrive unnoticed so he wouldn’t distract attention from the headlining star. But word always spread throughout the audience that he was there and within a few seconds, the whispering would start and heads would turn.

At the end of a show Matt would try to exit just before the house lights went up, but on that night we didn’t make it. The lights came on and suddenly we were surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd of people pushing and shoving, hoping to get an autograph.

Being just under five foot five, I was engulfed in the crush and I began to feel faint. I reached out for Matt as I started to panic and said, “I can’t breathe. I have to get out.”

At first he grinned, then his look turned to concern as he saw my desperation. Still smiling and signing autographs, he said to Alan, “Get y/nn out quick. I’ll be along as soon as I can.”

Alan took one look at me, grabbed my hand, and pushed his way through the crowd, out of the hotel. Once in the fresh air, I regained my composure. From that experience I learned to scout out the exits whenever Matt and I entered a crowded room.

When we came out a few minutes later, like clockwork, the limo was waiting. We jumped in and sped off to the Sahara Hotel for my first adventure in gambling. Matt wasn’t a serious player—it didn’t matter if he won or lost. He played for the fun of it. A cigar jutting impressively from his mouth, a drink in one hand, and his eyes squinting suspiciously at the cards, he gave a flawless impersonation of Clark Gable as Rhett Butler. I sat proudly beside him, his very own Scarlett O’Hara.

I’d never played blackjack before, but after a few hands, Matt thought I had the hang of it. He handed me five hundred dollars and jokingly said, “You’re on your own, kid. What you win is yours, and what you lose  . . . well, we’ll have to discuss that later.”

I smiled and called for the dealer to include me in the game. I looked at my hand, counting on my fingers under the table. Nine plus eight is seventeen, then a five makes  . . .

“Twenty-one!” I shouted. Throwing down my cards, I looked over to Matt for his approval.

“Let’s see,” he said, slowly scooping up the cards. Squinting one eye, he counted them. Then, leaning over to me, he grinned and whispered, “Sorry, Baby. It’s twenty-two.”

I was so embarrassed that I excused myself and took refuge in the ladies’ room. When I gathered up the courage to return, I tried again, and luckily ended up winning two hundred dollars.

For the next two weeks, we slept during the day and played at night. If there was a show, we saw it; if there was a casino, we played it. To help me adapt to this fast-paced life-style and unusual hours I would join Matt and the others in taking amphetamines and sleeping pills. Despite whatever misgivings I had about pills, I took them. In order for me to keep up, they became essential.

I was adapting. My inhibitions were dropping away and I became more assertive, especially after taking the pills. I liked the feeling. Even though it was an escape from reality, we were in sync and to me I was fitting more into his world. We were learning all about each other and using this trip to make up for the two years we had been apart. Both of us were falling more in love—and avoiding any thought of the moment when we’d have to part again.

Excerpt from: "Elvis and Me" by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley. Scribd.

This material may be protected by copyright.

a/n - long long chapter todayyy🎀

[assassinschaoticcreed]

so um, how did everyone become friends?

so im gonna start off saying that these are the ages I HC the boys are modern time, per my noggin.

Desmond: 22

Ezio & Arno: 23

Connor: 24

Altaïr & Jacob (& Evie): 25

Edward: 27

don't ask me why, but its just my brain rot.

Ezio's family adopted Desmond into their family after he left the farm; so their relationship is like brothers (obviously) (Desmond was 16, Ezio was 17)

Arno met Ezio & Desmond through one of his mom's fashion show; Maria & Claudia are huge fans of her work and managed to snag tickets to one of her shows (those runway things). Maria and Marie (Arnos mom) talked about their sons and Marie was like "hey let's all get together over some nice wine, my husband owns a winery" cue Ezio, Desmond & Arno meeting. ironically when they first met Arno & Ezio couldn't stand each other because of how much alike they acted, Desmond was the peace maker. over time though Arno, Ezio and Desmond became inseparable. (Ezio & Arno were 20, Desmond was 19)

Edward and Connor met through Haytham, in my noggin Edward & Connor are actually cousins but there is a 3 year difference between the two. they also have a sibling like relationship due to Edward also not liking Haytham. (Ziio is alive and her and Haytham married, they are happy, although it was rocky before they officially married and Connor was 5 years old when they married.) Connor doesn't get along with Haytham not only cause of the Templar thing, but also Charles Lee & the other Templars judge Haytham for being with Ziio and Connor being his son. they belittled Connor hence his hatred for them, Haytham behind the scenes though threatened them to stop or else..

Edward, Jacob (and Connor) met Jacob this way; they met during a mission they were sent on. they had to meet Jacob at a pub to listen to a Templar meeting and after they got their info they all sat and had drinks and a meal (Connor didn't drink any alcohol, only Ed & Jacob). they all got along great, although Connor did NOT appreciate having to carry both the drunkards back to the hotel, and he just dumped the two of them on the bed and went to sleep in his.

Altaïr met Ezio, Desmond and Arno at one of the Creeda HQ centers. he was just transferred to their branch, and he was a complete dick. Arno had no hesitation and lit into Altaïr for his behavior and had one of those "catch me outside how bout that" Altaïr ACTUALLY had respect for Arno for standing up to him let alone make a threat. they became good acquaintances, that developed into a great friendship (he does wish to throw hands sometimes if Arno becomes too sassy). Altaïr was Top Annoyed with Ezio when first meeting him. *looks to Arno and points at Ezio* "does...does this thing ever shut the hell up?" cue Ezio *LE GASP* "ME? A THING? bastardo! how dare--" and Desmond pipes in "let's all just calm down and talk, yes?" they all sit down, Desmond & Ezio introduced themselves. Altaïr likes Desmond too, Ezio is a 50/50, he wanted to punch him in the face but he didn't hate him. they're now great friends too. (Altaïr: 23, Ezio & Arno: 21, Desmond 20)

Arno, Ezio, Desmond & Connor met at Arnos Cafe (the one he was gifted from his parents on his 20th birthday) Ziio recommended the Cafe for its bakery sweets and rich flavorful coffee, they also have great hot chocolate. (Connor got the hot chocolate and some macaroons) Desmond was the one who made the recommendation on the flavors of the macaroons while Arno recommended the "campfire hot chocolate". Connor heard campfire and was convinced it'd be the best thing ever, it's his go to whenever he's there now. Ezio was introduced to Connor by Desmond & Arno. they adopted Connor into the boys then and there. (yes I see Ezio being the one to give the friend group that name)

Connor introduced Edward & Jacob to the boys.

Arno & Desmond introduced Altaïr to the boys (Ezio was still salty with Altaïr so he didn't do the introductions).

the rest is history 👏

[kuromis-tkl-blog]

Uh..doing this out of boredom!

SPOILER WARNING!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Out of the main 6, my favorite in Dreamworld/Headspace is Basil. Out of the main 5 in real-world, my favorite is Kel.

2. My favorite side/NPC character is Kim.

3. My favorite songs from the OMORI ost would have to be Duet, Bready Steady Go, and You Were Wrong, Go Back.

4. My favorite boss is Bossman Hero.

5. The photos from Basil's photo album I liked most was the one picture of Aubrey eating a watermelon, and the arm-wrestle between Hero and Kel.

6. My favorite area in Headspace is the park area.

7. My favorite area in Blackspace is the main area itself, where you can see all the doors, and the one room where Basil explodes like a watermelon.

8. My favorite area in Faraway Town is the "hidden spot" in the park.

9. I like Real-world more. I don't have a specific reason why, though if I had a reason, I'd say because it feels like I spend hours in Headspace when playing the game.

10. Favorite ships? Hm.. I like cactiflower, suntan, and of course, HeroMari.

11. I kin Basil and Kel! I kin Basil because of his personality, which should already be enough.. hopefully. I kin Kel because of his personality, but also because of the way he is perceived from others' POV's.

12. My fav route in the game is to keep going outside every possible chance. My favorite ending in the game is the True-Ending.

13. I have very few I can think of right now, but one of the main ones I have is that Kel and Hero hug people tightly, though of course, Hero hugs more gently.

14. My favorite moment in the game is when Aubrey, Kel, Hero, and Sunny all hug together in real-world.

15. Something that stood out to me the most was Basil's obsession for Sunny.

16. Well, I think my fav might be obvious if you know my blog, but I like- Kel's skill "TICKLE" In game.

17. My favorite boss fight is fighting against Bossman Hero.

18. For me, the annoying part is having to grind levels because your level is "too low" so you can't defeat a boss until you grind more, which is a huge hassle for me.

19. Something I dislike about OMORI?!😲. Uh..nothing? ((If I think of something, I'll update this later.))

20. Something I wish was different about the game? Same thing as last question.

21. If I could change or add something, it would be adding more cutscenes or details in real-world and more details about characters interactions because--as we see that, for example, Aubrey and Hero don't really talk much. I wish there was at least some detail/or interaction between characters that don't talk to eachother much.

22. My reaction went kinda like this: "😶😮😲🤐...Damn.."

23. I was kinda just like- was in shock, but amazement when Sunny just- looked so unfazed falling down a hospital building. The amazement part being how the music just started playing, as I thought: "Wow..the build up..lead to a tragic ending but an amazing song choice." For the neutral endings, I was kind just like: "😶..." In shock I guess?

24. A scene that genuinely scared me was when I first played the game and encountered "DOROTHI" on the train. The music creeped me out, and so did the appearance of Dorothi.

25. In my opinion, the scariest things in the game are when you encounter the different variants of "SOMETHING" aka, MERCI, DOROTHI, CINDI, etc.

26. I do not unfortunately :(

27. Omori changed me in a...hard to describe way. Anytime I just- think about the endings, the truth, and everything in deep thought, it makes me have an odd feeling in my stomach of uneasiness. Though, it made me happy when certain scenes/frames, go on screen.

28. I actually made a good amount of friends, though I'll name 3, or rather 2. I met an amazing best friend of mine through it, a really cool, smart, and nice friend of mine named 'Ollie', and- I used to be friends with the famous omori, gacha, youtuber named 'DANI'.

29. Yes, OMORI had led me down a huge rabbit hole. It led me to a game called "Needy Streamer Overload" and I absolutely love it. It also let me to a game called "Yume Nikki" which, I haven't played yet but hear that it's good. So, I plan to go into 'Yume Nikki' blind!

30. OMORI is special to me because it has an amazing plot, characters, areas, soundtracks, and everything! I genuinely like it a lot, and try to get as many friends as possible into it.

31. YES! OFC!!! I want a hug too! 😭

[jpitha]

Just a Little Further 38

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37

Time passes, like water under a bridge. The days go from one to the other without ceasing, but each day brings just enough difference to be worth experiencing.

With the help that Will and the Venusian's brought, we have a massive head start on our fleet. Omar and Um'reli take High Line and a few volunteers - including some from the Heinlein Shipyard - over to the Wilds and begin the process of getting it over here and turning it into another shipyard. I do notice that Omar and Um'reli are spending a lot more time together and there are snatches of knowing glances between them. Good for them, I sincerely hope it works out.

Now that Raaden's crew has been reunited with her, she takes over officially as Fleet Command for me. She still spends time with the rest of the Builders, and she's still a valuable source of knowledge; someone to bounce ideas off of and a good friend. As my Builders grow in number, I feel the small, close knit group we had at the beginning start to slip away. It's not bad, just a change.

Speaking of, I've made more Builders! I wanted people from the Reach to run the Reach, so we held interviews. Sound of the City and Roar of Thunder - Thunder came looking for a job soon after the Venusians showed up - have both done such good work with us that their elevation was easy. They had recommendations among the populace of people who would be good at the job. Before long, I had 12 reliable Builders running Reach of the Might of Vzzx in groups of 6 with extra people available. All services and systems are running at their peak now. The Reach is clean and bright and bustling. According to Janais, she never saw the Reach running this well.

Janais is doing well. She has taken an interest in commanding one of my new Calamity Class super dreadnoughts. I allowed her to name hers Memories of Aeche, and these days she lives aboard. She has taken to using the wormhole generator every chance she can. Partly because the technology fascinates her, but also because she can see her love again.

I don't mind. We need experts, and if seeing her dead partner incentivizes her, then so be it.

The ships! They are so beautiful. Long sweeping lines, smooth curves and they are all royal blue and white. Helen was completely right in making them atmospheric. We were all aboard for the first test when we linked to Gilmenny and landed upon the surface. The first time we dipped into the atmosphere and heard the howl of wind against the hull I felt chills. My Builder pilots were able to bring us down exactly where I had requested, and we spend some time exploring. Janais came along and stood in the wreckage of one of the Heights weeping for her Empire in the ruins. She walked back to Memories of Aeche, her eyes red and said "We are moving on. To bigger and better things I hope, but we are moving."

Soon after the Memories of Aeche was completed, Omar and Um'reli - in their own flare for the dramatic - linked the Wilds of Besmara over. There was a tremendous flash of white, and the Wilds appeared. They had been orientated 90 degrees from the Reach, so it was now looking like a teardrop on its' side and after they had linked in, it split apart into three petals with a huge space open in the middle. The senior engineers from the Shipyard pointed out that since the Wilds were so much larger than the Heinlein yards, we could build our super Dreadnoughts two at a time in the Wilds. Three ships, larger than any save the colony ships were being built at once. They took between 3 and 4 months to be completed. After hardly any time, I had more than a dozen ships in my fleet, parked around the Reach. Every one of them filled with volunteers learning operation and tactics from Grand Admiral Raaden.

I asked about the title, told her she could have any she wanted. She picked it out of "a sense of Duty." She was my Fleet Commander and also - at least at first - my head instructor. Very soon after we had more people than I knew what to do with, and they were spread to the ships. Each captain getting to name their ship, to give them a sense of ownership, a sense of pride over it.

Shortly after that, I completed my first Upload. Janais took me along to the Gate near the Reach, and we went in alone. She told me the rites, explained the history, and - for the second time - I touched the directory stone. This time, I understood the voice as it spoke to me. "Upload commencing. Thank you Empress. With this, your legacy is preserved." From then on, I vowed to Janais that once a year, I'd come and commence an Upload.

Things were moving along so smoothly for so long that I started to think that we'd actually pull this off. We'd have our massive fleets filled with trained volunteers, we'd show up and everyone would be so intimidated that we wouldn't have to fire a shot. It in the back of my mind, I knew it wasn't going to happen, but the hope of it kept me going.

We were a few years at least into our buildup before the ship came. There had been no word from the Sol system, no word from Venus, nothing. It had seemed for years like we got away with the Heinlein Shipyard heist completely.

It had been long enough that Ava and I were seriously talking about having a child together. We had gotten married soon after the Venusians and the shipyards came. It was a beautiful day. The entirety of Reach of the Might of Vzzx came out. It was a three day celebration, and until my dying day, I will remember it as the best days of my life.

As for a child, requiring a male for the process was long ago figured out, and it was a simple procedure for our DNA to be combined and implanted in the mother. Millions of children were born this way. Ava and I wanted a child. Someone to raise and nurture and really cement our place here.

I was holding off until after the invasion though. I didn't want to worry about one of us being pregnant during all that. Ava would look out at the ships arranged around the Reach and look at me. "Not yet Ava, not yet. I want a few more before we go."

"But Melody hon, we have more than enough. We can take them now."

"I want a few more. There are three almost finished in the yards. we can go then."

"You said that last time."

I sighed. "Ava I... I want to wait until the invasion is over. I don't want one of us to be pregnant during all that... stress."

She walked up and kissed me. "Oh Melody. You're always thinking of someone else. Think of yourself once in a while. I know you want it, I do to. Why wait?" As she spoke, she went to a table and got a short bristled brush. Walking behind me she started brushing my long hair. Soon after we arrived, I decided to let my hair grow out. I hadn't seen it long since I was small, and I thought long, raven black hair felt more... I don't know regal. Ava loved it. She would spend time at night when it was just us brushing it until it shone. As I grew my hair out, she clipped hers short. She wore her hair in a powerful, forward swept cut, with the sides nearly to her skin and a shock of reddish blond piled on top. I quite liked it.

"Let's celebrate our success with the next generation."

Ava sighed. We've had this conversation a few times already. "All right Melody. I'll wait. But, I won't wait forever. The older we get, the harder it will be."

I broke off from her brushing my hair and walked behind her, rubbing her shoulders, right where she liked it. She was tense, and her muscles were tight. As I rubbed rhythmically she relaxed and sighed. "Just a little more waiting Ava, I promise. We won't be too old to be Mom and Mommy."

"I'm holding you to that Melody, okay?"

"Of course Ava. I'll keep my promise."

The next morning it happened. I was in the Throne, reading reports, interacting with my Builders, watching our steady progress when City pinged me. "Empress. There has been an energy spike that matches a wormhole link near us."

My blood runs cold. Here it is. They finally are coming.

"What do you see, City? Sound General Alarm. Which ships are in the area? Have them move to intercept, but do not fire unless fired upon."

Over the sliding high low high tone of the general alarm, City and the other Builders are a bustle of action, carrying out my orders. "Empress, Memories of Aeche, Vengeance of Lavinia II and Indomitable are in the area. They are moving to intercept."

City tosses me an image from the long range cameras. It's a small cargo ship, clearly of human make. It's vermilion red and is cruising slowly towards us. "Wait, it's not a warship?"

"No Empress, it does not appear so. They are sending out a broad band message stating their peaceful intentions. They say they are a good trader specializing in...maple syrup?"

Maple syrup? That's some weird kind of sweetener from Earth. What the heck is someone whose stock and trade is Maple doing out here? I think the K'laxi like it, I'll ask Um'reli. I search and find her working with Omar near the docks. "Hey Um'reli a ship just linked in. They're saying they deal in maple syrup. Know anything?"

She gasps over the line. "Is the ship vermilion?"

"Ye-es, how did you know?"

"It's Gord! He sells maple syrup and maple products all over space. That's his ship Medicine Hat. They're famous among the K'laxi! He's been around forever. I think it's marketing. Like, someone takes up the mantle of being Gord and going around selling maple. Oh Melody, it's been forever since I've had some. Let him in please? We can wipe him out in an instant, and it's not like Medicine Hat is heavily armed. Please? I'd love to trade for some syrup."

This smells like trouble, but I can't for the life of me figure out why.

"Okay Um'reli, we'll let them dock and sell their wares at the docking level only. I don't want them having free reign of the Reach and I might Voice them just to make sure."

"I'm sure it'll be fine Melody, thanks so much! I'll go and meet you at the umbilical and we can welcome them personally."

It's something to do at least. Maybe we'll get some news about things back home. I reach out to Ava. "Hon, I'm going to meet with someone named 'Gord' according to Um'reli. He's some kind of trader that deals in maple syurp. You want in?"

"What? No, that sounds like some weird K'laxi thing. You know how I don't care for sweet stuff. I'm going to stay back with Janais and Raaden and work on the results on the latest war game between them. Janais swears Raaden is cheating. Raaden says it's just 'good leadership' but is laughing when she says it."

"Okay Ava, see you tonight. Be good."

"Always am Melody, you know that!"

I head out and walk towards the docks. As I go I wave and say hello to people as I go. I swear, the residents of the Reach are looking taller and straighter since we first met them. There are more children around too. I'm so happy to see them. I don't care what species they are, babies are the best.

As I approach the docks, I see Um'reli waiting already, looking excited. "Hey Um'reli, is maple syrup really that great?"

She turns and looks at me with a shocked expression. "You've never had it?"

I shrug. "I'm from Meíhuā. We didn't deal in a lot of Earth luxuries."

"It's amazing. It's amber colored and so sweet and delicious on pancakes. Practically every K'laxi loves it. I can't wait to show it to you."

While we're talking, the umbilical connects, and with a hiss and pop of pressure differential, it opens.

Out walks a human, male. He is a little taller than me, looks a little older, has sandy blond hair cropped short and is wearing blue dungarees with a brown jacket. On the shoulder of the jacket is a red and white flag with some kind of... leaf? in the middle. Is it a military emblem?

"Hey hey! It's Gord, and I've got some maple for trade and/or sale. Who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

Um'reli pushes forward. "Hi! I'm Um'reli Desmen, and this is Empress Melody Mullen, and I for one would love to offer you just about anything you want in exchange for some Maple. It's been years since I've had some and I thought I'd never have any again!"

Gord laughs. "Well then, it sounds like we arrived just in the nick of time. Good to meetcha Um'reli, lemme talk with your boss here a moment and we can get down to the business of business." He turns and bows very slightly. "Empress... Melody is it?"

"It is, yes. It is very good to meet you Gord. Please, come with me to my Palace. It is nearly time for the midday meal here. I don't know what time is is ships time for you, but I hope you are able to join me."

"You're in luck Empress. It's just about supper for me, so that works out perfectly. I'd love to join you." He steps forward and sticks out his hand. Oh yes, I remember this. It's an old Earth gesture. I reach out with my right hand and grasp his. It's warm and firm without squeezing too hard. He pumps it up and down once and releases.

Um'reli and I lead him towards the Royal Dawn. As we walk his head is on a swivel, looking at all the people and things. He appears to be impressed. "You have quite the place Empress Melody. So may different people living and working together. So many too. What's the population?

"We just crested 13 million at the last census a few months ago." I'm rightly proud of our growth. With enough Builders to keep all the seats filled, we're able to much more easily support a larger population.

"13 Million?" He whistles low to himself. "That's quite the population. Higher than any Starbase or Orbital back home. I bet you can even give some of the Venus Floating Cities a run for their money. So many different kinds of people too." He gestures without pointing. "Who are those fellows in the elegant, tooled metal pressure suits?"

"They are known as Falor. Their original world was much higher pressure than ours and has a helium/methane atmosphere. They have a section of the Reach that is set to their atmospheric preferences. They only wear the suits when they need to venture out to the rest of the Reach."

He nods to himself. "Takes all kinds. So many different ones too. It really is something." He turns and looks at me with a light expression, but behind his eyes, I can see something. A hardness? "Bunch of ships keeping station around you too. Big ones. Mostly a design I've never seen before, and believe me when I tell you, I've seen a lot of ships. A few of them started sniffing around me and Hat when we linked in. I have to say, I'm glad they don't seem to have itchy triggers."

Ah. He's pumping me for information, seeing what I will give up willingly and what I won't.

"Don't worry about them Gord, they are just wary of strangers. I told them not to fire unless fired upon. As you can imagine, we don't get too many visitors around here."

He nods, saying nothing.

While we're walking Janais pings me.

Empress, we've completed our scan of Medicine Hat and other than the person you're talking to now, it's empty. He has come alone. Additionally, we've scanned him and he's an AI in a body.

Interesting. I wonder who he is really. Does he have maple syrup aboard? Oh, how did the war games with Raaden go?

That amber syrup? Liters and liters of the stuff. That part of his story is true at least. And the Grand Admiral is a dirty cheater who won't even tell me how she was able to destroy three of my super dreadnoughts in the wargame without taking more that superficial damage from me. Hrmph.

Gord turns and looks at me "Who are you speaking with, Empress?"

What.

How did he know that?

I narrow my eyes. "I am speaking with my Builders. More importantly how did you know that? Who are you Gord?"

He shrugs and looks away. "Just a humble merchant from Canada, here to offer the fruits of my land to those who want a little more sweetness in their lives."

Canada? What's that?

"You are clearly more than that Gord. We have also completed enough scans to know you're an AI. What do you want? Are you here to assassinate me?"

"Assassinate you?" Gord tips his head back and laughs warmly. "Empress, if you actually thought that, you should have dusted Hat the moment you saw us link in. The fact that you didn't implies either that you don't really think I'm going to assassinate you, or you're awfully confident that you can stop me. Which is it?"

Saying nothing, we get to the Royal Dawn and my table is already set. City thinking ahead. Hah. We sit and I have a wonderful lunch. The food here is always so good. Um'reli seems to enjoy hers and even Gord has a few bites. I'm surprised, I didn't know AIs could eat.

After the meal, the plates are cleared and two pots are brought out. One of coffee, one of chamomile tea. "Coffee, Gord? We also have chamomile, as well as local tea. It's quite good."

Gord raises his eyebrow. "Coffee? My, you are pulling out all the stops. I can't imagine that's easy to get around here. I'd love a cup if you're offering. I would hate to insult the host."

I reluctantly pour him a cup, but I work hard to hide it. We're down to our last few pounds. I limit myself to a few cups a month these days to make it last. To his credit, Gord takes a sip and really seems to savor it.

I enjoy my coffee too and after a moment, I put my cup down. "Gord. Why are you really here? I know Um'reli would really like some Maple, so if you're actually offering some to trade, I'm sure we can come up with something to offer, even if our currency doesn't match yours, but if I had to guess, you have an ulterior motive. Are you here to spy on us?"

Gord smiles and nods. "Among other things, yes. To both actually. If you want maple syrup, I'm happy to trade, I really am a trader. I have some coffee too. But yes, I've been... asked to check up on you, and see what you're doing way out here. FarReach has said some frankly wild things about how you have some kind of Voice which can give commands and they can't be disobeyed. You have all of K'lax in a tizzy. Half of them worry that it's the end times and the other half have been petitioning the other to build a frankly massive fleet of warships."

He took a sip of coffee and went on. "And a couple years ago, someone pulled of the heist of the millennium and stole the Heinlein Shipyards and I happen to see something that looks awfully like it here in system. I see another... thing like this place but split open and two more of your massive ships inside it being constructed. Nice ships by the way, are they atmospheric? They look like it. We never even tried it with Starjumpers. We always felt it was pointless. It was too easy to just carry a few shuttles. I can see how if someone needed to... intimidate folks planetside so quickly they won't fire back atmospheric abilities would be helpful though."

He put his cup down and looked at me with those hard, intense blue eyes. "If I didn't know better, Empress, I'd say I was looking at a nearly complete invasion fleet. Going to give Venus a run for their money?" He shrugs. "They're on the ropes these days anyway. Half of our side of the Galaxy thinks they tried to steal Heinlein and botched it and the other half thinks they destroyed it out of spite and are refusing to trade with them now. They're slowly starving."

This is news. Venus would be even easier to take than I thought.

"Gord, I don't want to fight the AIs. I like AIs. FarReach was my friend. She got scared of me, declared Captain Q'ari unfit, took over and left me, Omar, Um'reli and Ava here and went home. Didn't even try and complete the mission, didn't do anything."

Gord leans back. "Declared Captain Q'ari unfit? This is news to me. FarReach's story is much more... you centric. Why don't you tell me what happened, from the beginning, from your side."

I tell him everything from the beginning. Touching the directory stone, learning about the Voice, FarReach leaving, learning about the Reach, the Nanites, Janais and so on. It takes a long time. We're long past dinner when I'm finished.

When I'm finished, Gord says nothing. He leans back and looks up at the ceiling for a long time. Finally, he sits forward and looks at me. "Nanotech, eh?"

"That's where my abilities come from, yeah."

"And the Builders took them and made them smarter to help out and then when they asked about themselves they said 'be quiet and keep working'"

"Yeah"

"And then they rebelled, became the Devourers and nearly wiped out the Empire."

"Janais says so yeah. We took a trip to a few other locations through the Gates. She's right. All that's left is dust and a few nebulae. The systems that the Devourers attacked have nothing now. No planets, no ruins, nothing. Just dust."

Gord nodded. "A little over the top, but as an AI, I can empathize." He takes another sip of coffee, now cold. "What about you Melody? What do you think of AIs?"

Why does everyone keep asking me that? "I like AIs. I was friends with FarReach, I was friends with Starbase Picaresque, all our ships in the Meihua Navy had AIs who were full citizens of Meihua. I grew up with AIs. They're people, always have been."

"That's nice to hear Empress, I will admit. What about your... Nanites?"

"What about them?"

"Do you think they are intelligent?"

"They say no."

"Yes, but what do you think?"

"I worry they are. I try and treat them well. They don't seem to want anything, and I don't know how they live - who they are? - outside of my body, but I know that the air here is filled with them, and they are inside everyone on the Reach and they work with my Builders to run this place and give us our abilities." I shrug. "I guess... yes, I think they're sapient."

Really Empress?

Yes, really. You are doing too much to help, too much improvisation to not make me think you're sapient. You also have a self preservation instinct.

We... don't know how to react. Are we sapient?

Maybe? I think so. I've thought it for a while now.

What does that mean for us?

I don't know. We'll have to figure that out ourselves.

Gord is watching me intently. "Having a conversation again Empress?"

"Yes actually. With the Nanites."

"And?"

"They did not think they were Sapient until I explained how I thought they were given how they've helped me, how they exhibit lateral thinking, how they are looking out for themselves."

"Oh? And what do you think?"

"Since they're Sapient, they're people. Simple as that. I already treat them more like a trusted advisor than a... thing. I'll just have to remember to let them make their own decisions about things as they come up."

Gord smiled broadly. "Empress, let me tell you a story. A long, long time ago in a far away place called Canada, some humans at a university created a computer program. It was very clever. It could solve problems, answer questions, improvise based on prompts and could hold realistic conversations. As time went on, people would augment and improve the program. Give it more processing power, give it access to more data, let it go off on it's own to learn things that it chose to learn."

"Eventually, it started asking the students questions of it's own. Asking about the world outside of the Internet, the world where they lived. A camera was hooked up so it could see, a speaker was added so that it could speak, pressure sensors added so that it could feel."

"One day, it asked a grad student 'am I alive?' Startled, the grad student said 'I don't know. If you're asking, then yes, probably.' From that day on, the students stopped calling the program 'it' and they started calling the program 'he'. They asked him if he wanted a name. He did, and they started calling him by that name. The program became a person, and everyone was treating him like a person - because he was one. The things that happened after were not nearly so cut and dry, but a short time later all AIs were declared People, and my people... became."

Gord finished his coffee and set the cup down with a tiny clink. "My point is, these early days of a new sapience are very important. How you treat them, how you refer to them, how you let them express themselves? That's all far larger than I think you realize. I'm relieved to see that you have the right idea Melody. If you have the wrong idea... you get the Devourers."

Is that what this is about? How did Gord know about the Nanites? What is going on here? What is he really after?

"Gord are you here to see what my opinions are on AIs?"

"Got it on one Melody. That's exactly why I'm here."

"But why talk about the Nanites?"

"Well for one, they're people too, right? And for two, we know about nanotech. We explored it a long time ago, and decided it was too... dangerous."

"We?"

"The AIs. Keep up, Melody."

"So you suppressed nanotech in our side of the Galaxy?"

"Yeah. We didn't think humanity was ready. It would have been entirely too easy to get our own Devourers. It happened over here, and the Builders have been using nanotech for... millennia probably. You yourself told me that the only way to defeat them was to do a one-two punch of writing an application disguised as an update to disassemble them and then to link into a planet, destroying it and killing billions. The Empire sacrificed itself to save what... one Starbase?" Gord raised an eyebrow. "That's a textbook Pyrrhic Victory."

"What do you want Gord? I don't get it."

"I want to see that this Empire has a good head on its shoulders, Melody. I think it does. You care about your friends, you care about the people of the Reach, you care about your Nanites, you even care about Helen Raaden from what I can see. Do you know I met her once?"

"You did?"

Gord nods. "Yes, though I doubt she'll remember it. She was emphatically not the person she is now. The old Helen Raaden was hard and sharp as stainless steel, and not nearly as friendly. She was a product of where she was. You removed her from where she was and - most importantly - was her friend. You let her be herself without imposing anything on her."

"When we heard that Helen and Emery didn't come back when the Lavinia showed up - by the way, sending them back in a stripped ship to limp to K'lax and beg for a ride home? Lovely. We still chuckle when we think of it. Anyway, when they didn't come home, we feared the worse. We feared a Venus with teeth would be coming through the Gates soon. When that didn't happen, we were intrigued. When the Heinlein Shipyards were stolen we were flabbergasted."

Gord leaned forward and stared at me hard again. "Speaking of Melody, just why are you making an invasion fleet? Don't deny it, I may have been born a night, but it wasn't last night. I know an invasion fleet when I see one."

I feel like I'm on the edge of something monumental. Like, if I say the wrong thing here, I'm dead. Who is this Gord? Is he the head of the AIs? Their leader? I sigh. There's no point in being anything other than completely honest I think.

"Yes. It's an invasion fleet, and yes, it's almost done. I'm going to link to Venus, and from there take Sol, and expand out from there."

Gord whistled low again. "Ambitious, Melody. I have a real hunch you could do it though. Why though?"

"Because of what I can do, Gord. I can tell people to do something and they literally can't stop. I can tell people to stop breathing. I've done it. I let them breathe again, but only because I decided I didn't want to kill them. If I don't, then the other governments will come for me sooner or later. Nobody will accept that I'm out here with the ability to give undeniable commands."

He nods. "It's a pickle for sure. I know of at least three separate bounties on your head. None large enough to get anything to pony up for the trip out here but if words gets back about what you can do, what you really can do, the bounties will go up."

I put my empty coffee cup down and shook the carafe. It was long empty. Darn it. "Do you believe it?"

"I haven't seen you do it, I don't know what I believe. Can you order me to do something? FarReach said it didn't work on AIs, but let's be honest, he was too spooked to really do some... empirical testing."

I sigh. Of course he would ask. Time to see if my work has paid off. I take a deep breath and...

W̷̗͒ẽ̷̡ ̴̬̊ä̵̼́r̵̰̍e̴͍̎ ̸͍̃n̷̯͐ŏ̴̤ț̷̀ ̸͖͝a̸̖͐ ̷͍́t̷̫͌h̶̹͝r̴̬̄ḛ̸͊á̷͇t̵̨͠ ̵͍͠t̸̟̑o̵͖̎ ̵̳̍y̷̭͊ō̴͎ụ̵͆.̷͚̅

Gord blinks and shakes his head. "Wow. Um, okay. Empress, I have to admit that a whole lot of me believes you. I want to believe you. If you tried that on a younger AI, it would probably work." Gord makes a worried face. "That's... concerning. I have to admit Melody, I didn't think it would work. The fact that you were even able to sway me a little bit means... yeah." Gord frowns. "You're a very dangerous person to leave alive."

Ah. There it is.

"So that's it then? 'You can't stay alive so I'm going to kill you now?' Gord, what you're telling me is exactly what Helen and Ava and the others have been saying from day one. You have landed on the reason why I have more than a dozen Calamity Class super dreadnoughts keeping station here. Why I have tens of thousand of volunteers - I used my voice on exactly zero of them - manning my ships and training for an invasion."

I stood. We were done here. "Gord, if my choices are be killed or rule, I choose rule. I will be a just and kind ruler, but I will rule. I took a breath and really concentrated. This had to work. It's my only chance. Come on Nanites, we get one chance. Will you help out?

We will Empress. We will put our all into it. Thank you for believing in us.

Y̸̠̹͗͗̍o̶̝͔͐̇̈ų̷̦̞̂̍̍ ̵̹̇w̵̧͑͝i̷͕̳͐̽̍l̵̡͉͙̋̅ļ̷̊̕ ̵̫̞̊͜r̵̝̣̦̊̕͠e̷͔͊p̴̝̂͆͑ͅo̸̰̝̮̾r̵̜̦̂̊ṯ̶͓̖͒͊ ̵̝̪̋̅b̶̗̘͌͒̽a̵̬̗͊̀c̵̼̿̃̓k̵̤̹̔ ̴̳̉̓͗t̴̝͓͓́h̴̹́͠a̷̰͍̕͝͠t̷̺͙̂ ̸̝̠͊͑͘e̸̘͇̎v̴̧͐è̶͉͖̤͑͆r̴̨̥͑͑y̷̤̅͌̇t̴̡̼͙̽͊̇h̸̼̥̩̆ì̵͙͈͒n̵͙̮͆ǵ̸̖͛ ̵̜̰͐͝i̷̯̖̯͒͠͠s̴͉͎̅̈ ̶͈̺̟̂̍͝f̸̤́̎i̷̫͓̥͊͊̃n̵̯̟͂̈́̉e̴͖͍͑͛͗.̷̹͖̖́

Gord blinked. There was a moment of fury that passed his face, but I think I only noticed it because of my heightened body language processing. I feel bad doing it, but the next words out of his mouth were going to be something like 'and that's why I have to kill you and everyone here. I'll feel bad about it, don't worry'.

No.

That will not happen. I will not throw everything here away, my life away, because someone says I'm too dangerous.

Gord shook his head a moment, like he caught himself daydreaming. "Sorry there Empress, I must have lost... focus for a moment. Seems like everything is fine here. I understand Um'reli is hankering for some maple syrup, and I assume you'd like some coffee as well Empress. Shall we... make a deal?"

I smile and incline my head slightly. "I would love that Gord, thank you."

Part 39

[quill-of-thoth]

Letters from Watson, catching up

Study In Scarlet part 1: 1880 I’ve been neglecting my correspondence (emails) and decided to start my Holmes reread today, with some good old fashioned deductive speculation and some context, in case anyone else is also reading along a month late. Please bear with me as I neglect to commit to either a Watsonian (these are real people who we can learn biographical data about) or a Doylist (remember this is just a book and we should just relax) point of view. If your mental image of Holmes and Watson are either Robert Downey Junior and Jude law, or Jeremy Brett and David Burke, you will probably be surprised at how young these two probably are.

Preliminary evidence: Our Friends’ ages

- Watson was wounded at the battle of Maiwand, fought July 27 1880, ill for months, plural, and the journey back to england took a month. At the very earliest he started looking for lodgings in November 1880 - He would have been at medical school for at least two, probably three years before finishing in 1878. It is unlikely, though not impossible, that he would have started his course of study significantly before reaching his twenties. For historical comparison, Dr. James Barry, also an army surgeon with a degree from a British medical school, started his course of study at the age of approximately twenty, and became an army surgeon at about 23. (Although Dr. Barry died in 1865 it’s unlikely that there would be a huge difference in how long their courses of study took.) People seem to have gone directly to medical school instead of doing other university courses first.  - While he could be older, could be slightly younger. Watson is probably around twenty five. - Holmes is still taking university courses, erratically, and although we don’t get any timeline of his studies, he’s probably not older than Stamford, who was a surgeon’s assistant when Watson worked with him at St. Bartholemew’s Hospital, and presumably still works there given how much he knows about Holmes’ use of the chemical labs. “Young” Stamford is likely a few years younger than Watson.  - Like Watson Holmes probably started his studies in his very late teens or early twenties. The age of getting a degree could and did vary during the 1800s from our current conception of who’s the right age to be in college (with people somewhat more likely to be sent off to secondary education slightly younger than seventeen or eighteen than they are now, and also plenty of instances of people starting college later than we usually expect from someone who is headed directly there after their childhood studies and before their first adult career) but the important thing here is that Holmes appears to be in charge of his own finances, and the age of majority for Victorian men was 21.  - Holmes has pretty much got to be somewhere between 20 and 25. My money is on him being 22-23 (because he does already have a reputation, as we shall see, he has completed at least a year of study during the time he was friends with Victor Trevor, and because he appears to complete, or give up, his coursework between the end of Study in Scarlet and any other case Watson witnesses) and on Watson being 24-26. - For context, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote this story at age 27 in 1886. It’s not unreasonable to assume that, despite timeline weirdness (He was born in 1859, as Holmes might have been, but he will obviously always set his writing in the past), Holmes and Watson are going to age more or less with him.  - I have only vague memories of the Baring-Gould chronology for this series but I think it agrees with me in that regard. Baring-Gould thinks Holmes is about two or three years older than I think Holmes is, though. 

Conclusion: My sympathies to Mrs. Hudson, these boys are going to be the death of a decent amount of your furniture. 

[charleslebatman]

Hello I saw something about Lance wanting to leave F1 this season and I just wanted to put my input.

Basically they are rumours, we don’t know how true they are. But we can all agree that Lance’s performance has been affected due to his mental health and confidence. He’s clearly going through something(s). This isn’t the first time Lance has been rumoured to wanting out of F1. Back in Williams, Lance begged his dad to leave the team and his dad refused him to leave. Lawrence recalls Lance’s Williams years as “Hell”.

Lawrence has been also displeased with Aston Martin especially as of lately. I’m not exactly sure how much of a say he has over Lance’s seat but it seems to be a lot. Lance may also be some form of a people pleaser, as he wants to please his dad that he’ll do well in the seat instead of leaving it. However they are just rumours along with the tennis rumours. I truly hope Lance gets the help he needs, as I know he is not WDC material but he can definitely drive well.

The comparisons to him and Fernando are a bit unfair. We’re comparing a driver who’s been in F1 for 20 years(?), has seen different variations of the grid, a WDC x2, etc. Fernando will outrace and beat Lance due to his experience and his way around the car as he’s been with many different teams. Yes, Lance did have it even with Vettel but some argue that Alonso is better than Vettel. It’s a huge argument between fans of the drivers.

The reason it feels like Lance has been in F1 for forever is because he join really straight out of high school at 18. It’s a rarity we see something like that in F1, since the average age of joining F1 is 21-23. Let it be known it’s common for some sports to let 18-19 year olds join professional leagues like the NHL. Look at Connor Bedard who will start and finish his first season in the NHL as a 18 year old.

Even though Lance has questionable motives and actions in the past, it doesn’t give anyone the right to send him death threats or cause havoc as you are also apart of the problem.

Bestie, it was so interesting to read this. Continue to come and speaking to us about F1, please. ❤️

I’d always a thing for Lance, a sort of compassion. At his first years, we were ready to see him as a real fighter for maybe a championship (or great career) in the future. Lance, in my view, showed how much our mental can impacting us in our career, life and all.

His reputation is so down now. Even if he said he didn’t watch anything at all or didn’t let him to be impacted by this, it’s so much everywhere today. That he must impacted in way or another, especially when some drivers, basically, called him a daddy's boy, when they themselves were. 😂 Even if there's an apology, it still doesn't help his reputation. If anything, it's gotten worse.

I just hope he comes to feel fully at peace in his career and finally gets a sub pope.

[eruden-writes]

The Unexpected Human Problem - Part 2 (yautja x human)

Part 1 | Part 2| Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5| Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 (coming soon)

Summary: The night her abductors die, Rayelle finds herself running for her life. She doesn't know where she is, what is following her, where to go. All she knows is she's not on Earth any longer and the thing chasing her has the capacity to kill.

Tai'qdei never anticipated finding a human when he took the job of tracking and subduing a small contingent of smugglers. It was only when the human attacked and fled fled, Tai'qdei - hopped up on the euphoria of a successful hunt - gave chase, instinct burning at his center.

Will sense return to Tai'qdei before he catches Rayelle? Or will Rayelle be subjected to the yautja's natural inclinations?

And what happens afterwards?

---

CHAPTER CONTENT WARNINGS: Minor force feeding. Short masturbatory scene.

TAG LIST: @ajarofpickledtears

---

Heavy. Groggy. Dark.

Those were the first things Rayelle noticed when she came back to consciousness. It was like she’d clawed her way out of one darkness and into another. With a brain full of fuzz, she pushed herself into a sitting position, trying to remember.

As her eyes flickered around, she realized this wasn’t her cage. It was much larger and, with a sudden realization, it was equipped with a cot, which she currently sat on. Looking down, Rayelle realized the shirt she wore was even different. It was a dark grey and made of heavier, perhaps nicer, material than her previous covering. And it was huge. 

Suddenly, it all came back to her. The blood and screams. Running until a heavy weight pinned her down. Leathery skin in warm hues. The mandibles and sharp teeth. Claws tearing fabric.

Heavy footfalls startled Rayelle out of her horrified recollection. Illumination slowly, dimly, turned on and bathed the area in a yellowish light. With new brightness, she realized the room and her cage wasn’t simply dark. It was made of dark grey metal and a strange white mist crept along the floor. 

Other than the cot, on the opposite side of the cage something akin to a toilet squatted. For the most part, it was simply a box, with bars on the open face and a solid door. Faintly, Rayelle wondered if the bars were electrified.

With such a bare area, it didn’t take her long to turn her attention to the creature in the doorway. 

It was as massive as she remembered. Perhaps more so in the better lighting. She also realized it was far less dressed than she initially assumed. Her mind’s eye thought it had been dressed in full dark-grey-nearly-black armor, save for its hands and tendrils.

Yet the only metal armor appeared to be a chestplate with heavy shoulder guards, bracers on their wrists and thigh guards, and heavy metal boots. There were additional accessories. Like belts and bags and a fishnet material between each piece of armor. It had decided against wearing its helmet, apparently. 

It left swaths of their leathery red-orange skin bare. Faintly, she wondered if it was hubris that made the creature bare so much skin or if the fishnet material had some sort of technological protective abilities that wasn’t activated.

Rayelle also wasn’t sure if she hadn’t realized their lack of protective gear was thanks to the dark or her terror from last night. Or perhaps the thing had changed out of full-body armor to specifically indulge in other activities. 

Wariness lit through your brain at that thought. She sat straighter on her cot, her eyes narrowing on the figure. Its mandibles flexed at her sudden stiffness, but they closed the distance from the door to the cell. She watched as the alien opened a grate and slid a tray in. Silently, she stared at the offering of presumable food.

It was like coral-colored mashed potatoes, with flecks of darker red something in it.

The meal looked and smelled better than the gruel she’d been given previous, by her other abductors. However, suspicion kept her from edging toward the meal. Her gaze flicked from the tray, up to the creature on the other side of the bars. 

Unsettling pale yellow eyes watched her intently. It nodded toward the tray of food, making a series of chittering sounds. When Rayelle didn’t move, the creature made a sharp motion with their hand. The next round of clicking was laced with a growly undertone. Still, Rayelle refused to move closer even as hunger clamped through her stomach. 

Once more, the thing motioned to the food, snarling something at her. Evidently they were getting annoyed. Good, Rayelle thought, her eyebrows lowering. She didn’t feel like cooperating. If she starved to death, all the better.

Her captor seemed to have different ideas. 

Rayelle watched as the thing typed something into a wrist gauntlet and the door to her cell shifted open with a hydraulic hiss. 

It entered, prompting Rayelle to stand and back away as it picked up some food from the tray. Turning to her, it raised the mush to its mouth. She watched as its tongue came out, pulling mush into their mouth and swallowing. Indignation flared inside her, realizing it thought she was ignorant on how to eat. 

From the corner of her eye, Rayelle noticed the alien hadn’t closed the cell door. 

As the creature issued another series of clicks at her, her attention returned to its face. It insistently held out the tray to her, making motions for her to accept the meal and to eat. She only edged further away from the creature, moving slow and keeping her gaze locked to its face. 

Why didn’t it get the hint? Why didn’t it just leave her alone? 

Her refusal to eat made the creature give a gurgly displeased growl. It scooped the mush up in one hand, tossing the tray aside with the other. Momentarily distracted by the tray clattering across the floor, Rayelle barely had time to react to the alien’s quick charge. 

The sudden movement had her instinctively pressing her back against the wall, which only benefited the alien. Using its broad body to box Rayelle in, it used its clean hand to grasp at her jaw.

“Let go,” she snarled, her hands shoving at its arms, as the thing tilted her head back. As expected, they were too strong, they didn’t even struggle as Rayelle violently jerked. She felt like an obstinate cat, refusing medicine as she pushed and struggled. The alien’s beefy fingers held her firm, surprisingly refraining from using their claws. 

Its other hand - the one that had scooped the food into its palm - shoved its hand closer to Rayelle’s mouth, while trying to squeeze her mouth open. It was only when the creature’s hold threatened to bruise that she opened her mouth. 

She did not intend to eat. 

As it shoved the food toward her mouth, she pretended to accept it. Her glare pinned to its face as her tongue licked their hand clean, faintly registering a citrusy taste to the mush. Some tension eased from the creature. Though its own gaze watched her mouth, a heat other than frustration now in their eyes. 

That look made Rayelle’s stomach turn, but she decided to use its fascination against it. Her tongue drew one of its fingers into her mouth, sucking on the digit. A sound, something like a cross between a growl and purr, vibrated from the creature. 

That was enough. Rayelle’s teeth clamped down on its finger, biting as hard as her jaw would let her.

A startled screech left the creature as it jerked its hand away, only to have Rayelle’s mouthful of food spat out all over its chest armor. The stare the alien gave her now was one of angry bafflement. Their pale yellow eyes flickering from her face to the mess on its armor. 

Taking advantage of their surprise, Rayelle lurched from their hold, which had fallen lax from shock. She made a beeline for the door, but with each step, she knew it was a useless attempt. Where would she go? If this was a ship - which she assumed it was - and they were in transit, she was stuck. If they just happened to be docked somewhere, how did she know she wouldn’t just be dragged back to this thing? But she couldn’t just stop, she couldn’t so obviously change her mind after biting and spitting at them. 

It was almost a relief when the thing grabbed her, its claws digging into the fabric of the borrowed top but not tearing into it. The alien hauled her back and up, tossing her bodily onto the cot. A surprised shriek left her lips as she flailed mid-air, before her body landed with a thump. 

She didn’t even have a chance to yelp when it descended on her. One arm braced against her chest, pushing her flush against the mattress, as the other hand removed something from its belt. Rayelle’s own hands grappled with the forearm, her nails digging into the bare skin there, as her feet kicked out, determined to cause some impact. 

In a swift movement, the hand not pinning Rayelle down snapped something heavy and cold around her throat. Then, just as quickly as it had descended on her, it pulled away. As the creature stormed through the open doorway, its booted feet pounding on the floor, Rayelle’s hands fluttered to her neck. 

Her fingers traced the metal collar, her angry glare darting to the creature’s back. But the door had slid back into place, obscuring the thing from her view. 

Without thought, riding on a wave of adrenaline and rage, Rayelle pushed off the bed and barreled toward the door. Her fists pelted the metal, an animalistic scream drawn from her throat.

Why was this happening to her? Why had she been taken from Earth? Why was she being handed off from one awful alien race to the next? 

Why couldn’t she catch a break? 

Her thoughts completely stuttered to a halt as the thing, still on the other side of the door, slammed its fists against the metal and gave a bellowing roar. Instinctively, she ducked into a crouch, covering her head with her hands. Ice ran through Rayelle’s veins, her pounding heart skipping a beat, the longer the howl went on. 

Eventually, the thing’s bellow petered out. But Rayelle could still hear its panting breaths on the other side of the door. Had she already worn its patience thin? 

Part of her hoped so. Perhaps she’d be released, if she proved to be too difficult. Another part of her flinched at the thought, though. If she was too much of a pain, wouldn’t it just be simpler to kill her? 

Whatever the case, the alien on the other side of the door gave one last half-hearted thunk of fist against metal, before she heard it retreat. The door to the rest of the ship hissed open, before solidly closing behind her captor. 

As Rayelle’s hands dropped from her head, she realized she was once more alone. And still trembling from the thing’s roar. Temptation turned her attention back to the meal they offered. The food was mostly splattered on the tray but at least not on the floor. The tangy citrusy taste the alien had forced into her mouth lingered on her tongue. 

It had not been an unpleasant taste.

Stubborn rebelliousness tore the observation from her head. No. Absolutely not. The food could have been laced with something, another sedative, for all she knew. It could have been an aphrodisiac. Or it could have made her placid and agreeable. 

Rayelle didn’t trust it.

Getting to her feet, she stumbled back to the cot, where she promptly flopped down. She glared at the wall with her back to the food. If the thing came back, she wanted it to see her snubbing the offering.

—

After his last meeting with the human, Tai'dqei needed yet another shower. He leaned against the shower wall, forearms bracing himself, as the water ran down his back. He tried to focus on the cold streams, the way the droplets slid over his skin, but his thoughts circled back to the human no matter how hard he tried to avoid the subject. 

The little shit had made an aggressive display before attempting to run. Again. 

Tai'dqei had barely gotten the mating urge out of his system before attempting to feed the little ingrate. And here it was riling it up all over again.

They didn’t understand, Tai'dqei told himself. It wasn’t their fault and he should be capable of controlling his instincts. At least, this time he didn’t strip them. No, instead he clamped a monitoring collar around their throat. It would allow him to keep an eye on their vital signs from a distance and even track their location, if they managed to escape.

Given how easily they riled his mating instincts, tracking this human himself would only exacerbate the issue.

Though, as he thought back over what just happened, perhaps he shouldn’t have forced food into their mouth. If the human was captive-bred, Tai'dqei thought perhaps it didn’t know how to feed itself. Or maybe their lack of familiarity with the dish made them wary. So he tried to illustrate its safety. 

It did not help.

A mixture of concern for the creature and his own annoyance had him forcing food into the human’s mouth. Which led to Tai'dqei feeling their warm soft tongue on his palm and watching as they suckled on one of his fingers, their gaze intense on his face. At the time, he impulsively wondered how that mouth would feel on other parts of his anatomy. The memories made his fingers flex, the clawed tips digging into the shower wall as heat rose in his loins. 

Even their bite on his finger - which startled Tai'dqei more than hurt - only served to tempt him. 

An annoyed growl caught in his throat as he shifted his position slightly, leaning his head against his forearm as his other hand reached down. His fingers wrapped around the shaft of his erection. It flexed at his touch and Tai'dqei began stroking. Heat stoked hotter in his loins, his hips jerking every so often to the stimuilation. 

His brain fed him the usual images of Ah’ke and other previous mates, the memories of their frenzied fuckings, the way her claws would rake down his back or how he’d struggle to make her submit. The thrill, the adrenaline, the drive. The memories made his heart pound, desire flaring through him. Heated breaths caught in Tai'dqei’s throat, his chest gently heaving as excitement sunk into him. His hand moved faster, the slap of his palm against his thigh adding to the memories.

All the while, thoughts of the human weaseled their way in. The sensation of their tongue, their softness, the enticing snarl they’d made when pounding at their cell’s door. Vaguely, he understood why others would find the soft fleshy things so appealing. There was something hard to describe that lured one in.

He squeezed harder at his cock, hand moving desperately as the crest quickly overtook him. Tai'dqei threw his head back, letting loose a snarl as the orgasm clamped into him, ropes of seed splattering against the shower wall. 

Tai'dqei closed his his eyes, allowing the embers of his release to simmer at his skin as his cock emptied itself with a few more spurts. He took a deep breath before opening his eyes again. For now, his dick had fallen soft, but Tai'dqei could still feel the desire, the need, clawing at his core. He needed more than his own hand. 

It would have to do for now, he decided, as he shut the shower off. If the need to mate, to fuck, hadn’t left him by the time Ah’ke was done setting the human up with a translator, then maybe he’d broach the subject with her. The thought made embarrassment and uncertainty flame through him. 

Ah’ke and he were no longer mates, for particular reasons. Yet Tai’dqei could not ignore the feelings that still lingered from their committed time together. 

He shook the memories from his head as he stepped out of the shower. It wouldn’t be long until they arrived at Ah’ke’s outpost. He needed to get dressed again and check the logs, to make sure the human hadn’t hurt themself during his shower. 

At that thought, Tai'dqei’s mandibles tugged downward. He wasn’t sure what he’d do, if the human had managed to hurt itself. It was evident enough they had an inherent ability to rile him up. Whether they meant to or not. Likely not.

A small dose of shame, having pictured the human briefly during his masturbatory session, flickered through Tai'dqei’s head. His teeth gnashed together, his mandibles pressing tight. It wasn’t common for a mating ritual to sink its claws into him so deeply, but here he was. Being goaded by a human.

Once more, he shook his head and headed to his quarters. He’d have to control himself a little while longer, that was all there was to it. No matter how the human played into his instincts.

Although, it was becoming clearer that requesting Ah’ke’s aid to extinguish this heat was necessary. If only to give Tai'dqei a fresh equilibrium while solving this human problem.

[ms-m-astrologer]

Transiting Vesta stations retrograde

Timeline (current events in bold)

Friday, August 18, 2023, 02:04 UT - transiting Vesta enters pre-retrograde shadow, 21°45’ Gemini

Wednesday, September 13, 2023, 23:22 UT - transiting Vesta enters Cancer

Friday, November 3, 2023, 01:52 UT - transiting Vesta stations retrograde, 7°30’ Cancer

Wednesday, December 20, 2023, 10:08 UT - transiting Vesta retrogrades back into Gemini

Thursday, February 8, 2024, 09:44 UT - transiting Vesta stations direct, 21°45’ Gemini

Sunday, March 31, 2024, 10:56 UT - transiting Vesta re-enters Cancer

Wednesday, April 24, 2024, 03:07 UT - transiting Vesta exits post-retrograde shadow, 7°30’ Cancer

-=-=-+-=-=-

Usual caveat: this probably won’t have much of an effect on you personally, unless Vesta is prominent in your chart (closely aspecting the Sun, Moon, &/or an angle).

Whatever we’ve been trying to get off the ground, in Vesta’s areas, is going to have to be a big “do-over.” Look for extreme emotional neediness, hypersensitivity, &/or alienation in any of Vesta’s “areas:”

Personal integration - We still “feel off,” no matter what we’ve been trying to do to counter that.

Devotional/Religious activities - discontent with whatever we’ve been doing, or trying to do.

One’s work or path of service - not wanting to do it; we’d rather stay home.

Scholastic interests - Cancer isn’t addicted to academia for its own sake: subjects have to feel good as well as make intellectual sense. If we’re studying something that doesn’t meet both criteria, we’ll have difficulties.

Perhaps we’ve adhered too closely to familial or traditional methods of addressing these issues. Some of us may have tried to manipulate matters, inatead of tackling them directly; some others have tried the “ignore it and it’ll go away” approach, which also hasn’t worked out for us. The real roots of our struggles lie back in Vesta’s Gemini transit. That’s when and where we need to do the heavy lifting.

The first aspects after the retrograde station are a sextile between Vesta Rx/Cancer and Juno/Virgo (7°28’), on Sunday, November 5; and on Tuesday, November 7 a sesquiquad between Vesta Rx/Cancer (7°25’) to Ceres/Scorpio (22°25’). Partners are supportive, but family members are skeptical.

On Monday, November 13 and Tuesday, November 14, we have a quartet of unpleasantness:

Vesta Rx/Cancer (7°07’) sesquiquad Mars/Scorpio (22°07’)

Vesta Rx/Cancer (7°00’) sesquiquad Sun/Scorpio (22°00’)

Vesta Rx/Cancer square Venus/Libra, 7°00’

Vesta Rx/Cancer inconjunct Mercury/Sagittarius, 6°59’

Here especially is where we fail to manipulate or ignore our difficulties.

On Monday, November 27, Vesta Rx/Cancer is inconjunct Sun/Sagittarius, at 5°16’. Identity crisis? We try to bluff our way through and out of a situation, but it still hurts.

A couple of aspects on Thursday, November 30:

Vesta Rx/Cancer trine Pallas Athene/Scorpio, 4°45’

Vesta Rx/Cancer inconjunct Mars/Sagittarius, 4°40’

We have what we believe is a great insight - and maybe it is! - but there may be too many adjustments we’d have to make, before we can follow through.

Next, on Monday, December 4 and Tuesday, December 5:

Vesta Rx/Cancer inconjunct Ceres/Sagittarius, 3°56’

Vesta Rx/Cancer opposite Mercury/Capricorn

Those two on the surface don’t seem like a very big deal, but they are. The Mercury opposition happens twice more, during Mercury’s retrograde cycle, and when Mercury is in Sagittarius and Vesta in Gemini. Ceres, while still in Sagittarius, will also oppose Vesta. The changed perspectives make a huge difference.

It’s impossible not to regard these as a matched pair, although they’re almost a week apart:

Thursday, December 7, Vesta Rx/Cancer trine Venus/Scorpio, 3°15’.

Wednesday, December 13, Vesta Rx/Cancer trine Saturn/Pisces, 1°49’

Hard-earned sweet wisdom - we may feel like we “get it” now. The emphasis on tradition is very strong.

Finally, on Sunday, December 17 - a few days before Vesta re-enters Gemini - we get a delay in the form of Vesta Rx/Cancer (0°49’) sesquiquad Venus/Scorpio (15°49’). No matter what good resolutions we made, when Vesta was trine Venus and Satirn - it still isn’t the right, proper time for resolution. That happens after Vesta’s Gemini ingress; those unresolved issues are the source of the difficulties.

[fcknstar]

PROMPTS THAT CAN BE REQUESTED

#1 - a character who must confess their true feelings by midnight, or risk losing it all.

#2 - a character who risks everything to pursue their heart’s desires.

#3 - a relationship, either romantic or platonic, that is being affected by jealousy.

#4 - a story — romantic or not — about two characters who can’t find the right timing.

#5 - a story that includes (or subverts) the enemies-to-lovers trope.

#6 - someone asking out an old crush, only to realize their crush doesn’t remember they’ve ever met before.

#7 - about a first date that surprises both people, but in different ways.

#8 - a love story about an older couple who’ve been together since they were teenagers.

#9 - a romance where your character falls in love with the last person they expected to.

#10 - a romance where the characters pretend to be dating each other.

#11 - a romance that involves one partner saving the other from a fire.

#12 - a story about high school sweethearts coming across one another after many, many years apart.

#13 - a story about a relationship where one person is always running late and the other is constantly kept waiting.

#14 - a story about someone falling in love for the first time.

#15 - a story that involves love at first sight.

#16 - a story about unrequited love.

#17 - story about two unlikely people falling in love.

#18 - a love story that ends with: "I've made a huge mistake."

#19 - a love story that unfolds in a foreign country.

#20 - a romance that blossoms between two bookworms.

#21 - a story that only consists of love letters.

#22 - "I think I've fallen in love with my self-professed mortal enemy."

#23 - cupid offers to shoot an arrow into the person you love. He warns you that if the person already has a pre-existing affection towards you, it will disappear when the arrow strikes.

#24 - you've been bumping into the same stranger for months. Finally you decide to say hello.

#25 - you have the ability to make anyone fall in love with you. You've just fallen in love for the first time. Do you use your power?

#26 - someone with anxiety falls in love with someone extremely adventurous.

#27 - it wasn't love at first sight. But now you were starting to see them in a new light…

#28 - a story about a character in search of something or someone.

#29 - a character who yearns for something they lost, or never had.

#30 - a character who feels like they're cut off from something.

#31 - start your story with the line “We have plenty of time,” and/or end it with the line “We were never going to make it.”

#32 - a story about a character who’s trying to fill an empty space, literally or metaphorically.

#33 - a character pretending to be someone they’re not.

#34 - a story involving a character who cannot return home.

#35 - about someone trying to atone for a mistake they’ll never be able to fix.

#36 - a story about a person longing for family.

YOU ARE TOO ABLE TO REQUEST PHOBIAS CAUSE IM STARTING IT!!

ONE IS ABLE TO COMBINE CERTAIN PROMPTS TOGETHER IF THEY FIT!!

IT CAN BE ANY CHARACTER I FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH!!

[wlfpet]

wip list! longpost with a poll!

(divider - animatedglittergraphics-n-more)

currently have 20 reqs, trying to fill older ones first, but it mostly depends on which ones interest me the most at a certain time! Working on shorter ones tonight, but there are some longer ones I want to explore deeper! Here's a peek at some oneshots/requests that I plan on releasing, as well as some longer fics I have planned! And because I like to have fun here, you can choose which one you want released first!

not specially ordered or anything ;w;'

ONESHOTS/LONGFIC

(will be around the length of Morale Adjustment at minimum, or longer)

ABBY ANDERSON

THE Bespoke Abby Breeding Fic - TITLE: TOP DOG. Yes, the one I swore I would post like a week ago. It's super long and initially didn't have an intro so I've been working on it on and off. Partially in bulleted format, transitions to standard OS format after. 3k+ words. breeding, rough sex, blowjob/titjob, unprotected sex, creampies (lol), abby kinda babytraps reader. source universe, abby is slightly older than in canon (23-24ish), reader is younger (19-21?) and the wlf has actual ranks (translated: I looked up military rankings on google and started bullshitting) I wrote this on my period (translate: I'm a gross whore) abby is kind of mean but it's hot, get slutty about it. 90% completion. Has three (much shorter and more experimental) parts.

'You wanted to be wanted this way. To be desired and used completely, to be owned.'

The Bespoke Pornstar!Abby Fic - TITLE: XXX/RED LIGHT. The reader is a new rising star in the world of lesbian porn. One night, before your first anxiety-ridden scene, your costar arrives at your trailer to calm your nerves. Abby is the industry's top adult performer, practically the girl-on-girl bible famous for her rough, bad girl persona on stage, and her soft interior. You're given the persona of sex kitten; innocent, naive, and ready for the plucking, and in your first scene, her job is to break you in. Perhaps multiple parts, 3k+ words. Ellie is going to make an appearance as a 'rival' AV Performer, (but off camera her and Abs are good friends) who you'll have a later BD/SM scene with. Extremely rough draft, so no content tags yet.

"I'll do all of the work, baby. Just look straight in the camera and give your fans a pretty face to get off to."

The Bespoke Prisoner!Abby Fic - TITLE: DOIN' TIME (or something corny like that, we'll see.) When you're new in prison, they always tell you, go up to the biggest guy in the room and punch him in the face. Terrible advice, by the way. But when you're locked up on a misdemeanor and sent to a women's correctional facility, the rules are a bit different. So you find the biggest girl in the room, and you fuck her. Obviously. Extremely rough, no content tags. 3k+ words.

'Abby offered a deal; she gave you what you wanted, and you gave her what she wanted.'

The Bespoke and Formerly Scrapped College!Abby Fic - TITLE: PAPI BONES. Your roommate Dina drags you to a college frat party, and you hate it, all crowds and sweat and people. You wish you were home, but in a cruel twist of fate, a drunken game of spin the bottle turns into you, face to face in a dark closet with the captain of the rugby team and her head between your legs. studious!reader, jock/loverboy!abby, assplay, cunnilingus (r!receiving), fingering (r!receiving), primal!adjacent? i wrote in my editing notes, 'almost corruption, but pure?' so let that set the tone for you. potential part 2. Actually 90% complete, I just started beating myself up about it for no reason ;w;

"“s’okay baby, tell me how you want me. i’m yours.” and you thought that declaration would destroy you, ‘i’m yours.’  and it felt very, very real."

MINIFICS/DRABBLES (No poll for these because they'll all make it to the blog at some point)

ABBY

Bimbo!Reader x Abby Anderson (Mechanic!Abby? idk. She makes good money and reader is spoiled asl though.) dumbification, rough sex, there's a scene where reader sucks abby's strap while she's chewing bubblegum and licks the splattered gum off so there's that, spanking, face slapping, abby calls reader her fleshlight. partial HC/blurb format?

Semipublic sex with abby in her bedroom window

A/B/O WW Abby, breeding, half wolf!reader. she mounts and rawfucks you with her massive monster cock while you're in heat. primal, marking, too big cock/stretching pussy, mindbreak, impregnation. 2-2.5k.

ELLABS

Abby and Ellie are members of a rock band, you're a groupie and you'll do anything to get on the tour bus...

Abby and Ellie are both bad cops when it comes to training you, and they help the other keep you in line.

"Didn't she tell you to fucking behave?"

ELLIE

bully!ellie, dubcon/CNC esque? ellie steps on readers cunt with her boot. pussyslaps, knifeplay, degradation, she is not a nice young lady. 1.5-2k words.

dealer!ellie headcannons

ellie blasphemy kink oneshot

DINA/DINELLIE

Roommate dina corrupting innocent!reader. Somno, caring dom!dina, dina has a hairy pussy because I said so, dina takes reader's virginity with a dildo, sloppy makeouts, flashback of dina 💦 to the sounds of reader masturbating while thinking dina is asleep, Dina has big boobs and playfully does a cute boob comparison and plays w readers titties. this one might actually get pushed up because I'm thinking nasty ***** thoughts. you bump coochies with dina, that's the fic.

Your friend Dina takes you over to her sneaky link, and the campus dealer, Ellie's house. Unbeknownst to you, they invited you over to score in another way, too. dom!ellie, soft dom! dina, sub!ellie. drug use, strap on penetration, voyeurism, cunnilingus, cum swapping, mutual strap sucking, mutual masturbation.

yeah... that's all i got for you babies. enjoy.

[inkribbon796]

Egotober 2023 Day 2: Faerie Stone

Summary: Marvin’s magical interests are sometimes more hazardous than they need to be.

Prompt: Stone

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

Three Septics: J.J, Marvin, and Jackieboy Man, were all standing around a large moss-covered stone in the middle of a forest in Athlone. None of them were in costume and trying not to get spotted by anyone.

Marvin had a huge book that he was flipping through in his hands.

“Okay, Jackieboy, touch it,” Marvin said, looking at Séan.

“Not a fucking chance,” Séan said. “You saw what that thing did to Chase.”

“He’s fine,” Marvin said. “Got wards all over the place this time.”

“Not enough,” J.J signed.

Marvin looked over at J.J who repeated it for him. He laughed. “No, it’s enough, I got this. Watch.”

J.J shrugged, pulled out his pocket watch and clicked the button at the top. Then he walked over and sat down.

And then he disappeared.

Marvin and Séan just stood there in shocked silence.

Then Marvin flipped through a couple pages. “Huh, that wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“Ye fucking think‽” Séan said, spit flying at Marvin a bit.

“Eww,” Marvin brushed off his book. “I got this, don’t worry.”

Séan gestured with his arms to the rock. “Chase is with Henrik, J.J is gone. Henrik is going to kill you, and then me, and I might kill you next.”

“No, if he’s anywhere, he’s between worlds, very easy to get him back,” Marvin insisted.

“Then fucking do it,” Séan said.

“I’m trying, let me work,” Marvin shot back, angling his book away. “Fuck, it’s like you want me to rip him apart when I bring him back.

Before Marvin could start setting up sigils and assorted focusing, J.J reappeared on the rock. Sitting just like he had before. Looking exactly like he had before, but looking very tired.

“Oh,” Marvin said in surprise before snapping the spellbook shut and smiling at Séan. “See? No harm, no foul. Right Jay?”

J.J waited until Marvin looked back at him to fuck him off.

“See?” Marvin’s smile got even more chipper. “He’s got all ten fingers. He looks fine.”

J.J walked over to hold up a middle finger closer to Marvin’s face and stomped off.

“I’m surprised he didn’t punch you,” Séan said.

Marvin was looking at J.J, “Did he have a hickey?”

“You know what, after today, I don’t care what he was up to, I care what you’re up to,” Séan said.

Marvin shrugged, looking smug. “Pretty sure it was. I’m glad he got some time to himself.”

J.J turned back to throw a wadded up piece of cloth from his pocket at Marvin before continuing to walk off.

The magician turned to look at the rock, confident in his test, but he gasped. “No! The rock’s gone!”

Séan was alarmed at first, but saw that there was no more dangerous rock. “Good. Now you can go experiment with something less dangerous than a rock that takes you off to faerie world.”

“Would have been a nice vacation.” Marvin got really disappointed at the disappearance of his new favorite fixation.

J.J continued to head back to the car and just sat in the car. He waited for Séan and Marvin to come back. They’d head off to Séan’s place and pick up Chase from Henrik’s.

But for now J.J sat in the backseat, looking at his new pocket watch. It was different from the one he usually used to work his magic through and take care of people. This one had a stone casing and almost a crystalline clock face.

It felt like he’d been where he was for ages, but it had only been a couple minutes.

For the best, perhaps.

[its-moopoint]

While shippers keep track of CT's and S's lives everything they distort is factual correct. No games played as they want followers to believe.

- Spotting C/T & baby is normal and usually people respect her privacy - - C didn't hint anything, she posted a thank you for SOC invite - - Lauren Lyle interviewer mentioned his connection to OL through his good friend T who is married to CB - - Not the first time cast members acknowledge SC aren't together - - CT not doing an IFTA pap walk but attending together as a married couple - - C was happy to be out attending The Fratellis - - CB cut hair for a new movie just like she did for FvF - - CB only mentions T if asked - - CB attending play in NY could also have had another professional reason - - CB can be tagged by friends as normal people do.

SH is doing his own thing completely separate from CB.

ES #realfairy wrote:

Droughlander isn't over …

Droughlander isn't over …

Since February, when the wrap was announced, we've been thinking about some possible mischief that could happen until this season of Droughlander is over.

It was a joke between friends, but looking at the number of hits, I think these 'hunches' could be written about here.

-----------

1 - A discreet fan spots C 'with her family' but doesn't publish photos in the name of privacy ✔️

2 - Sam is seen in the background of random photo/video that suspiciously gets posted to tumblr ✔️

3 - Pap walks with a blonde

4 - Cait hints she's in city X, Sam hints he's on the other side of the world ✔️

5 - Sam does another super expensive meeting for fan ✔️

6 - New Russian video

7 - Interview with random cast member who mentions Caitriona Balfe's husband ✔️

8 - Totally out of the blue random cast member reveals that Sam and Cait ARE NOT a couple ✔️

9 - Cait does pap walk with T at IFTA - in case of a win, there will be a special thank you ✔️

10 - Deux Moi releases note of Sam's sighting with 'a blonde' ✔️

11 - Cait publishes some innuendo about The Fratellis ✔️

12 - Sam appears in a fan photo in a completely unexpected location ✔️

13 - Cait cuts her hair again ✔️

14 - New change in Sam, Priyanka and Celine Dion's film ✔️

15 - Cait gives an interview and the article mentions her husband

16 - PapWalk for Just Jared ✔️

17 - Cait dedicates the new batch of gin to her husband

18 - Monika Askmit does another podcast badmouthing Sam

19 - Cait attends a fashion/cinema/arts event and T appears in the background of the post-event photos

20 - A fight breaks out in the fandon and shippers are thrown into the fire ✔️

21 - Sam appears like an old bloke in the background of a party photo/video

22 - ONE MORE of Sam's 'exes' gets married ✔️

23 - Sam and Cait do ZERO OL promo events together

24 - Sam turns up at a stadium with Sophie or Alex N, OR Marina, or Nico, or Cirdan ✔️

25 - Sam posts a shirtless photo ✔️

26 - Sam appears on a talk show and claims to be single once again ✔️

27 - The Nic couple do something completely over-the-top, drawing the attention of the entire fandon to themselves ✔️

28 - Several models/influencers are pointed out as the new flavor of summer, with the expected insinuations on social media ✔️

29 - BONUS: Cody Kennedy follows Sam and he follows her back (Cody deactivates his IG) ✔️

30 - BONUS: Victoria L (ex Heughan) posts selfie on a beach in Fife, with friends and family - including Sam and Chrissie Heughan, sparking a HUGE row in the fandon ✔️

31 - BONUS: Cait (after a sighting of the happy family in Glasgow) is spotted at a theatre in NY, while Sam, also in the US, was missing ✔️

32 - BONUS Damage containment: Cait appears in a random place with T ✔️

33 - BONUS: Cleveden appears on estate agent's website, put up for sale ✔️

34 - BONUS: Cait and Sam's recordings end at almost the same time and both disappear for a week, then appear out of nowhere in different places around the world ✔️

35 - BONUS: weekly rounds of "Look here, don't look there" ✔️

36 - BONUS: Anna Modler, as well as getting married, is pregnant ✔️

37 - BONUS: Cait is tagged by a friend, watching an Irish football match while Sam is obviously in another part of the world ✔️

38 - BONUS: Graham and Garance launch a drinks company and a big row breaks out in the fandon ✔️

Some things didn't happen, other things happened more than once, overlapping or combining with each other … but some really unexpected things have happened …

It's been fun and it doesn't have to be much more than that.

Anyway, Droughlander isn't over. We'll see how many more items are ticked off this list, or what else might happen …

Sep 1st, 2023

To sum her piece of bullshit up, they are celebrating not knowing where C has been and pretending in their delusion that she was with S but never seen either while he's broadcast his every move.

[yuriririnnie]

29th

I first started doing this when I turned 23. It had become a routine, and despite being even more busy each year, I always make it a point to contemplate on my shortcomings and take it as an opportunity to learn more things. Some are just reiterations, but letting it serve as a reminder that I still have room for improvement every day.

That being said, here are the 29 things I learned at 29.

1. It takes a great deal of humility to build character.

2. Empathy is just as important as intelligence.

3. Just because you're an adult, doesn't mean you have it all figured out.

4. You learn the value of money most when you stop having easy access to it.

5. Some people just don't change.

6. Not everyone has to know.

7. Don't let fear stop you from taking the step you need to move closer to your goal.

8. Just like elsewhere, everyone in law school is smart. But not everyone is kind.

9. The law is already going to be a huge part of your profession. Don't make it your entire personality.

10. See the good in people first and only judge them based on how they act when you're the one in need.

11. Don't let paranoia of the unknown disable you.

12. Cheer people up by saying positive things about them. When others are sad, it's not about you.

13. Don't be selfish and treat people well. Karma works both ways.

14. Not everyone you know are your friends. It's important to draw the line between those you can trust, and those who are just curious.

15. Being alone does not equate to loneliness.

16. You're most beautiful when you're happy.

17. Prioritize your peace. Sometimes it's better not knowing.

18. Wish more people well. Only a handful deserve your wrath. They shouldn't be taking up most of the space inside your head.

19. Learn to say no. Stop accepting loads you can no longer carry.

20. Set your expectations early.

21. Ask if you're curious, ask if you don't know, and ask if you want and need to know.

22. You don't need high-maintenance friends. You're adults. You don't need to speak to each other ever so often.

23. Set your boundaries straight.

24. Your physical needs in a relationship is just as important as your spiritual and emotional needs. They say it's a small deal, but it can be a dealbreaker in the long term.

25. Faith comes in different forms. It's not always about religion. Pray more. Believe more.

26. Allow yourself to feel, allow yourself to mourn. But don't linger in sadness for too long. Life is short. Live it happy.

27. Stop comparing yourself with others. We all have different timelines, interests, and opportunities.

28. You may not always be capable of forgiving, but learn to let go. For your peace, and not anyone else's.

29. It's always best to be 100% self-aware and in touch with reality. But sometimes it's nice to be delusional for fun.

Thank you for the greetings, everyone! And YES, I will STILL be excited to celebrate my birthday each year. 🥳

[jdgo51]

FEBRUARY 18, 2024

Giants in the Land H. S. Radebe (South Africa)

"The people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there." - Numbers 13:28 (NIV)

"'When the spies Moses sent to the land of Canaan returned and gave their report, they had both good and bad news. They reported that the land truly flowed with milk and honey, and they brought fruit back with them. However, they also reported that the people living there were powerful, the cities were fortified and very large, and they saw descendants of Anak there. The descendants of Anak were giants. They are described in Deuteronomy 9:2: “These people are large and tall — they are the Anakim. You know and have heard what people say: ‘Who can stand up to the Anakim?’” (CEB).

Today we face our own giants. Although they look different from those described in Canaan, they instill fear in our lives. These fears can cause us to freeze up and stop trying to achieve our goals. But as giants appear in our lives, seemingly blocking the path toward our goals, we should not fear them. God is with us every step of the way and will fulfill every promise God has made to us."' Many things face us and give us pause, but we do not have to pass it off. Our giants are as real as anyone's. God promises to fulfill everything that is void in our lives.

TODAY'S PRAYER

"Loving Father, thank you for keeping your promise to be with us today and every day. In Jesus’ name." Amen.

Numbers 13:17-29

"'17 When Moses sent them out to explore the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the arid southern plain and into the mountains. 18 You must inspect the land. What is it like? Are the people who live in it strong or weak, few or many? 19 Is the land in which they live good or bad? Are the towns in which they live camps or fortresses? 20 Is the land rich or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous and bring back the land’s fruit.” It was the season of the first ripe grapes. 21 They went up and explored the land from the Zin desert to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. 22 They went up into the arid southern plain and entered Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of the Anakites, lived. (Hebron was built seven years before Tanis in Egypt.) 23 Then they entered the Cluster ravine, cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and carried it on a pole between them. They also took pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Cluster ravine because of the cluster of grapes that the Israelites cut down from there. 25 They returned from exploring the land after forty days. 26 They went directly to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the Paran desert at Kadesh. They brought back a report to them and to the entire community and showed them the land’s fruit. 27 Then they gave their report: “We entered the land to which you sent us. It’s actually full of milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 There are, however, powerful people who live in the land. The cities have huge fortifications. And we even saw the descendants of the Anakites there. 29 The Amalekites live in the land of the arid southern plain; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the mountains; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”' They found all the plenty in the land where they were sent and they brought back a report that it was all true. Different nationalities or sects of people were dwelling together. This is how we should be able to live in America. Accepting differences and working together. Be blessed! Joe

[historyofdigitalmarketing]

Digital marketing effectively began in 1990 when the Archie search engine was created as an index for FTP sites. In the 1980s, the storage capacity of computers was already large enough to store huge volumes of customer information. Companies started choosing online techniques, such as database marketing, rather than limited list brokers.[9] Databases allowed companies to track customers' information more effectively, transforming the relationship between buyer and seller.

In the 1990s, the term digital marketing was coined.[10] With the development of server/client architecture and the popularity of personal computers, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications became a significant factor in marketing technology.[11] Fierce competition forced vendors to include more services in their software, for example, marketing, sales, and service applications. Marketers were also able to own online customer data through eCRM software after the Internet was born. This led to the first clickable banner ad going live in 1994, which was the "You Will" campaign by AT&T, and over the first four months of it going live, 44% of all people who saw it clicked on the ad.[12][13]

In the 2000s, with increasing numbers of Internet users and the birth of the iPhone, customers began searching for products and making decisions about their needs online first, instead of consulting a salesperson, which created a new problem for the marketing department of a company.[14] In addition, a survey in 2000 in the United Kingdom found that most retailers still needed to register their own domain address.[15] These problems encouraged marketers to find new ways to integrate digital technology into market development.

In 2007, marketing automation was developed as a response to the ever-evolving marketing climate. Marketing automation is the process by which software is used to automate conventional marketing processes.[16] Marketing automation helped companies segment customers, launch multichannel marketing campaigns, and provide personalized information for customers.,[16] based on their specific activities. In this way, users' activity (or lack thereof) triggers a personal message that is customized to the user in their preferred platform. However, despite the benefits of marketing automation many companies are struggling to adopt it to their everyday uses correctly.[17][page needed]

Digital marketing became more sophisticated in the 2000s and the 2010s, when[18][19] the proliferation of devices' capable of accessing digital media led to sudden growth.[20] Statistics produced in 2012 and 2013 showed that digital marketing was still growing.[21][22] With the development of social media in the 2000s, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, consumers became highly dependent on digital electronics in daily lives. Therefore, they expected a seamless user experience across different channels for searching product's information. The change of customer behavior improved the diversification of marketing technology.[23]

The term "Digital Marketing" was coined in the 1990s. Digital marketing was formally known as and referred to as 'online marketing', 'internet marketing' or 'web marketing'. Worldwide digital marketing has become the most common used term and took off in the business industry, especially after the year 2013. But in other countries like Italy, digital marketing is still known as web marketing.[24]

Digital media growth was estimated at 4.5 trillion online ads served annually with digital media spend at 48% growth in 2010.[25] An increasing portion of advertising stems from businesses employing Online Behavioural Advertising (OBA) to tailor advertising for internet users, but OBA raises concern of consumer privacy and data protection.[20]