#not having to use public transit saves me so much time and energy

[tendebill]

update: i am becoming more and more sick as we speak

[multidimensionalguidance]

Cancer Season For All Signs (Part 1)

As summer time continues to pass, the sun will now be going through one of the most soft, nurturing, and psychic signs, Cancer! From July 16th till August 16th we will be focusing our energy towards the aspects of our lives that are related to our home, mothers, domestic comfort, vehicles, roots, and inner world.

This transit will have a particular effect for each Ascendant/Rising sign during this time, but please make sure to also take a look at your Moon as well.

Note: All of my astrology post are sidereal calculations!

Aries

You will be extra focused on home matters, spending time with your family or mother, renovating or making changes at home, and overall feeling like you want to be comfy, nurtured, and loved within your home environment. There might have been or will be an unexpected change in your finances be it for good or bad, and it will trigger you to focus on the importance of having your own property or vehicle. There will also be certain psychological or subconscious patterns that will become more noticeable to you during this time, and this could make you feel very sensitive, so be careful on not pressing the anger button on everyone. This potential stress might end up affecting your work or career as well, so be gentle and allow yourself to be nurtured. A lot of changes and transformations have been occuring within your work environment, profession, work, and public image so things have been a bit all over the place with finances, but this has also open your eyes to needing more stability in other areas of your life such as your home. Enjoy your favorite comfort food and people during this season, you deserve it!

Taurus

During this month of the Sun being in your 3rd house you will be more communicative and feeling comfortable with voicing out to others the way you feel, and don't get me wrong, you're not the type to stay quiet at all, but there could have been matters that you've allowed to sit in your head for far too long. It will push you towards being interested in learning new things, processing a lot of information, and/or developing new skills/hobbies. Be mindful of random bursts of anger or unexpected situations occuring out of your own impulsivity that might end up physically affecting you somehow. Luckily, you do have Jupiter fully protecting, guiding, and throwing wisdom your way. Your energy levels might be all over the place, and for the next couple of years you will be experiencing a lot unexpected changes to your body and personality. It will take you some time to get used to it, and even for others who are used to your very stable or predictable nature will be up for a surprise. This is a chance for you to think outside of the box and break away from old ways of being. This season is a good time to accept these changes and to pay attention to the way you share your thoughts, be it spoken or written. You might also thinking about the ways your near environment has kept your from traveling, exploring other places, and connecting with your personal philosophy.

Gemini

Your focus will be all about your resources, finances, self-value, family, food habits, and even beauty related to your face. This might be a season where you'll put more of your energy towards upgrading your finances, and most likely due to expenses being much higher during this year. You might want to organize yourself better not just with your money, but also with the priority you give to self-care when it comes to the food you ingest and the care given to your face. If you decide to buy any products towards those matters it will be highly beneficial for you since Venus its also in there. If you are in the mood of traveling abroad, be wary of any unexpected incident occuring. It would be best if you wait until Mars is no longer tightly conjunct Uranus. If anything, you would do better by growing your savings account during this time until the cosmic weather settles down a bit. If you've been feeling called to staying inside more often or isolated, it's okay, just make sure you're not pushing those who love and care for you away. You are currently being guided to explore subconscious mind, spirituality, and any self limiting beliefs that are stopping you from self development. If you've even been questioning matters of afterlife and religious beliefs, it is also completely normal! Do not shy away from those big questions and stay as curious as always.

Cancer

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all the nurturers, wifey/hubby material, psychics, and most kind hearted souls of the zodiac. This is quite literally your month to shine and feel like the main character because you are! You will be getting more compliments and looks your way with Venus transiting your sign. This is a time for you to simply exist and be yourself. Spend time taking care of your body, mind, and soul during this month and it will be well rewarded. Your social circle, whether it's online or face-face have probably expanded a bit during this year, and it will continue to do so, but please be mindful that not everyone is deserving of your energy this month. Spending time with your family, specially your mother will be very beneficial for you as well. You're always so concerned with taking care of others, but now its a time for you to give that energy to yourself and focus on spending time with those who want to nurture you. Treat yourself this month like the royalty of the zodiac that you truly are! Your social circle has been expanding and gains have also been making their way to you as well, so be wary that all of these blessings also comes with having more eyes on you than you would like to, hence why it is essential to purge those who reek of envy, jealousy, etc. There might be unexpected endings or beginnings occuring within your networking circle, and this could affect your long term goals plus investments, so again, invest in relationships that truly wish the best for you!

Leo

This month will be all about focusing on your spiritual side and subconscious mind. You might feel more introverted during this time or simply not as keen to being surrounded by a lot of people. This is a good time to put an ending towards bad habits and limiting beliefs that could be holding you back from greatness. Any activities related to shadow work or spiritual healing will beneficial so take advantage of it as much as you can. Even if you love being the star of the show, you also need to rest and allow others to miss you a bit. Be wary of not going over the top with expenses, specially related to traveling. If you have any plans of enjoying a spiritual or any sort of retreat, then this will be the best time to do so. You've been experiencing a lot of luck and expansion in your career and profession, but be mindful that the brighter you shine the more noticeable you become to others, and even if you might not care it will draw negative attention your way. There might be a shocking or unexpected situation related to work, your boss, paternal line, or your public image that might come to light so be ready for it.

Virgo

During this time matters related to your goals, friends, investments, online image, financial gains, and elder siblings will be highlighted. You love to bring your natural desire of service towards your friend, and being the mom-friend in your group is a given for you. There's a good chance of gaining money through collaborations with your friends. You might also feel like beautifying in some way your social media, meaning, uploading more aesthetic content or curating your algorithm to be more artsy. This is a good time to re-evaluate your long term goals and making sure that you're flexible to adjusting them if necessary. Any investments that you make during this month that aids your goals no matter how small will be very beneficial for you. Nurture your wishes as if it was your baby during this time and be proud of how far you've come to being closer to achieving them as well. If you have older siblings, then make sure to spend good quality time with them.

Thanks for reading! I'll be uploading part. 2 soon so if your sign is not in here, don't worry.

If you’d like to know with even more detail how Cancer season will be for you or would like to receive a reading from me, feel free to check out my services here or type multiguidance.com in your preferred browser.

[helloiamadrawer]

Random WBC Crew NSFW Headcanons (+ Killer T)

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!!

U-1146

service top/top energy- tell him what you want and hes all hands on deck

knows that he has a big d but he doesn't really brag about it (cough cough 2048)

doesn't really jack off too much, low sex drive unfortunately

but when y'all do have sex he does not disappoint.

number one rule of 1146: never underestimate a neutrophil's oral skills cause LORD- (and I speak for all the neutrophils here 🙌)

will have you crying from his tongue swirling around your entrance transitioning to flicking your clit: he has all kinds of tricks up his sleeve

tell him how good he makes you feel plz and thank you he will return the favor..

as for p in v...

he's a tease at the start, sliding the tip of his cock against your wet slit before he enters STAWP-

he's barely vocal but you can hear some grunts and his hot labored breathing

U-4989

it's always a ride when it comes to 4989

service top/leaning bottom

first time with him was interesting cause he let you take the lead

yes, he was vocal lemme tell ya lol, his voice becomes a little shaky whilst praising and moaning your name as you ride him, you can say he's enjoying it too much but you cant help but to find it hot

"o-oh god, yeah,-ngh! fu-uck you're so good~ don't-don't stop~"

PLEASE thread your fingers through his fluffy hair while he eats you out

overstim king, cums the most out of the crew, the messier the better, he will have you sore but begging for another high surprisingly

aftercare=cuddles and kisses

U-2626

switch like a switchblade

he loves to see your reactions during the act, from your puffy red cheeks while sucking his dick to your fucked out face when his dick hits a new angle inside of you, noises of pleasure loudly slurring out of you

sure you may not see his reaction alot but he will show that fangy smile or reply with some lewd comment

average dick energy (a little girthy) but he sure knows how to use it

sex being the only chance too sweep his bangs over to finally see what his eyes are like..but you would have to work real hard for that right in 2626's terms

a sucker for leaving bites on your neck/neck kisses

U-2048

Mans is down for anything from quickies to threesomes he's such a slut

eyefucking king ™️ (don't ask why look at his eyes)

sends you to poundtown lmaooo

very much into receiving head but he ain't gonna complain about giving you head as well (just ask in the most smuttiest way possible :) )

ofc the most cockiest of all neutrophils has to have the filthiest mouth for dirty talk in the bedroom

"such a good fucking whore for me, aren't ya baby? I hardly even touched you and you're literally soaked~" he whisper in your ear with that stupidly smooth voice he has, pressing himself against you..in public. "Babe we are in the artery right now..save it for when we get somewhere private."

slight knifeplay kink

fond of any position that involves eye contact ughhhhhhhhhhhh

Killer T Cell

the most aggressive top you've ever seen

In the sheets he is a bully, pulling your hair, smacking your ass, dominating you the second you two hit the mattress

is actually very gentle the first time then after the a few more time he starts showing his rough side

he let you top ONCE and he made you swear to never tell anyone, (he was a total brat during the whole thing but ended up secretly liking it in the end)

goes a little overboard with love marks sometimes drawing a little blood which once he saw it he was bowing his head a million times apologizing

no escape from the many holds/positions with those big muscles 😫

call him daddy? it's all over for you

"So..you think you can call me daddy and get away with it? Well I got some news for you doll, you're 'bout to witness what punishment is coming to you~" 😈

[fancoloredglasses]

Star Trek, part 7: The TNG Movies VII-X (so a show that lasted more than twice as long as TOS gets just over half as many movies?)

[All images are owned by Paramount. Please don’t sue me.]

[QUICK NOTE: This is a bare-bones review of the films rather than my usual tongue-in-cheek blow-by-blow review since I’m trying to cover four movies in one review. If you would like to see any of the films reviewed in-depth, please let me know]

With the final film starring the Original Series crew and the season finale of TNG in the past, it was only a matter of time before the TNG crew would hit the big screen. How would Picard and Company make their mark on movie audiences?

The answer is “It’s complicated.”

While not every film with Kirk and Company was a masterpiece (in fact, one could say that only every even-numbered film was good) they were more-or-less (I’m looking at you The Final Frontier!) entertaining. In the case of the TNG films, only one of the films is unanimously considered "good", while the rest…well, at least they weren’t The Final Frontier, but not by much in some cases.

I should also note that none of the TNG films have number designations, showing that they’re not from the same time frame as the previous films.

There were only 4 films due to the final one not being well-received both in reviews and at the box office, forcing Paramount to scrap plans for a fifth film to tie up any loose ends.

Those that were waiting for DS9 or Voyager films would unfortunately be disappointed, as following the final TNG film there would not be another film in the series for 7 years (and that was a reboot to the franchise)

But now, onto the films! If you would like to watch them, they’re available on Paramount+ or behind your favorite paywall.

The first film was a “passing of the torch” moment, transitioning the eras for the big screen.

As such, Kirk, Chekov, and Scotty were in attendance for the beginning of the film, which was the maiden voyage of…

…the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B), an Excelsior class starship. This was a publicity stunt where they brought in Kirk (now retired), Scott, and Chekov for the press to gawk at.

Suddenly, they receive a distress call as a strange “ribbon” of temporal energy was about to envelop a transport. Unfortunately, as this is a dog and pony show, there were a lot of systems that weren’t yet online and the Enterprise was ill-equipped to deal with this crisis.

They manage to save some of the crew, but the Enterprise is caught in the ribbon’s gravity. Scotty has an idea how to save the Enterprise (because of course he does), so Kirk (because he has to be the hero) goes to pull off Scotty’s hare-brained plan. It succeeds (because of course it does), however…

The section of the Enterprise Kirk was working in is hit, causing a hull breach that blows him into ribbon’s grasp, killing him (that will NOT look good on the captain’s resume!)

Among the survivors are Guinan (future Ten Forward bartender)

…Tolian Soran, who desperately wants to go back to the ribbon.

Fast forward 70-ish years. The Enterprise-D is given new uniforms to match DS9, Worf gets a promotion to Lt. Commander (just in time to be transferred to Deep Space Nine), and Data decides it’s time to try installing an emotion chip he acquired near the end of the series (unfortunately, Data was not prepared for the onslaught of emotions the chip would grant him, leading to rather forced “humor” as he adjusts)

(Thanks to Krebber)

(Thanks to enessis)

However, all of this frivolity needs to wait as Soran has developed technology that can extinguish stars, and he intends to use it to divert the ribbon to the planet Veridian III so he can finally rejoin it (Guinan explains that part of her is inside, and it’s a paradise)

Picard attempts to stop Soran as the Enterprise is attacked by a pair of Klingon renegades they’ve had dealings with in the past. Not only does Picard fail (drawing him into the ribbon as well), but…

(Thanks to Wolftime Gaming)

However, all is not lost, since the portion of Guinan tell Picard he can leave any time, and place. What’s more, there’s someone who can help!

Yep, Shatner just has to be the hero one last time!

Anyway, they go back to stop Soren again (why? Why not go a bit further back to before Soren was ready?) and stop him this time, but…

Well, at least Shatner can’t return to hog the spotlight in future films.

With the awkward passing of the torch, we need to replace the Enterprise, so…

Meet the new USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E), a Sovereign class starship. The ship has a crew of 700, but not families (and after what happened to the Enterprise-D, who can blame them?). Additionally, the Enterprise now has its own EMH (that Dr. Crusher despises) Most of the command crew (except Worf) have transferred to the Enterprise-E (making casting the film a lot easier)

One other change between films is in the uniform…

(Thanks to EVIL ED)

We see the second Starfleet uniform change over the course of a decade. I’ve already covered the change in my review of DS9. You will also note that ocular technology has advanced between films, as La Forge has bionic eyes rather than needing a VISOR.

But enough about the differences, on to the film!

First Contact is the first of two Trek films directed by Jonathan Frakes (though he has directed episodes from all three TNG-era shows, as well as three of the Paramount+ Trek shows and a Trek parody series)

Earth is once again threatened by the Borg. Once again, the Enterprise is able to sweep in and Save The Day.

During the battle, the USS Defiant (commanded by Lt. Commander Worf) is critically damaged. Fortunately, the surviving crew is beamed to the Enterprise (allowing Michael Dorn to get a paycheck from the film)

However (what, you didn’t expect it to be this easy, did you? It would be a rather short movie otherwise)…

…a sphere inside the cube escapes and opens a temporal rift, which causes Earth to assimilate in the present (wouldn’t that make all the humans on the Enterprise suddenly become Borg as well?)

The Enterprise travels slightly farther back in time (the far-flung future of 2063, to be exact) to stop the Borg, which allows them to meet…

Zephram Cochrane, the inventor of the Warp Drive (or at least Earth’s version of it; better get on it, you have less than 40 years to pull it off!) The crew manages to defeat the Borg, save Earth, and witness Cochrane’s historic flight, in which he makes First Contact (hence the title of the film) with the first aliens Earth has officially encountered.

(Thanks to Binge Society)

First Contact is by far the best of the TNG films (and could surpass The Wrath of Khan as the best overall) It also sets the stage for the next Trek series (more on that in a future review)

Unfortunately, it’s pretty much all downhill from here.

Insurrection was also directed by Jonathan Frakes. This film went for a light-hearted approach after the violent First Contact. Unfortunately, no one thought about the fact that The Final Frontier was also mostly humor and look how THAT turned out!

Worf has once again joined the crew, despite the fact that Deep Space Nine is in the middle of a war with the Dominion (and he should be mourning Jadzia Dax’s death), but there he is because he just happened to be in the neighborhood.

The Enterprise and crew investigate a planet that emits particles rendering its inhabitants effectively immortal. Additionally, the crew enjoy benefits from their brief exposure, including Geordi’s eyes temporarily being able to see, Worf more or less going through Klingon puberty again, as well as…

(Thanks to April 5, 2063)

…the rekindling of Riker and Troi’s relationship. Of course, Riker had to make a tiny concession.

(Don’t worry, the beard will return in time for the next film)

An alien race (with the help of a Starfleet Admiral) are attempting to move the indigenous people to harvest the particles for themselves. The Enterprise manages to expose and thwart the plot in time for Worf to return to Deep Space Nine for the final season.

Which brings us to the final TNG film

Jonathan Frakes did not direct this film. It was instead given to a director who never watched TNG, and boy howdy did it show!

The film starts happily enough…

(Thanks again to April 5, 2063)

Yes, Riker and Troi manage to continue their relationship from the last movie and get married! (the first of two, as they will be having a traditional Betazoid wedding later…in which everyone in the wedding party is nude!

As you can see, they managed to shoehorn Worf in once again (this time as a wedding guest, but that doesn’t explain why he sticks around after)

Meanwhile, the Romulan Empire is being overthrown by a subject race, the Remans (get it? Romulus and Remus? READ A BOOK!) The Enterprise is sent to assist the Romulans. Along the way, they encounter…

…a prototype android, designated B-4 (get it? Before? The writing is definitely top-notch here!) which they bring aboard.

Upon arrival at Romulus, they encounter the Reman leader…

…Shinzon (played by Tom Hardy, who would go on to play Bane and Venom), a clone of Picard the Romulans had planned to use to infiltrate the Federation but later abandoned. Shinzon intends on invading the Federation and poisoning Earth, killing all inhabitants.

Picard uses the Enterprise as a battering ram, crippling Shinzon’s ship and boards to defeat him…

(Thanks to Omega Trek)

Before too many of you are up in arms about Data’s death, Brent Spiner had been wanting a death scene for Data since Insurrection due to the fact that he felt he was getting too old to continue to look like he did in the series. However, he was given an “out” to continue playing the part…

(Thanks to Rotten Tomatoes)

Data had made a backup of his memories into B-4, meaning Data could continue in another (slightly older-looking) body had there been a fifth film.

This ends the Star Trek films before JJ Abrams lens-flared the franchise up nine years later.

If anyone would like me to review any of the films more in-depth, please let me know!

[restforthe-burdenedsoul]

Okay I put on my logical thinking hat 🎩

I looked on indeed job postings and basically everything I’m interested in requires a masters degree. This isn’t a surprise. I don’t know what I thought would be different.

I have a few options. None of which i like, but that’s life

1) continue the same as I’m doing. Working my truancy job with kids/parents and going to school full time

Pros: I already know the job, my boss is amazing, I’m mildly adjusted, I know I can do grad school work with it, opens more doors in 14 months for jobs I like

Cons: long commute makes me lose about 2 hours a day but I don’t want to cut off the commute because if I ever get into an accident off the clock, that would suck as far as legalities go, working with kids/parents, being “the bad guy,” not utilizing the skills I went to school for, not utilizing really any skills, pretty burnt out after work for being under stimulated mentally but overstimulated from paperwork, tough to do grad work after work, not much time to do things for myself (cleaning, eating, seeeing friends, journaling … really I should be doing school work right now), mental health suffers

2) get a new job, put a hold on grad school

Pros: no longer working with parents/kids, no more school stress for now, more time to enjoy life, feeling more passionate about work

Cons: it’s unknown, pushes back the timeline on what I really want to do career wise, could be worse than my job now, maybe less pay, maybe not a good job for grad school when I go back, May end up not even going back to school

3) get a new job and continue grad school

Pros: same as above (except for the school thing), reach my career goal faster

Cons: don’t do well with transitions and could create more chaos with school, May be more or equally exhausted while trying to do grad school

4) stay with my current job, put a hold on grad school, attempt to start life coaching

Pros: stability while I try to start up a business, more passionate about life coaching, don’t need a degree to do what I really want to do, if I thrive in it I could quit my job, potentially wouldn’t need grad school

Cons: pushes back timeline on what I want to do if life coaching doesn’t work out, starting up a business is stressful, will likely be putting in a lot of hours creating a program and promoting it, unstable income if I leave my Job for life coaching , doesn’t take much to become financially in the hole

My perfect job would include:

working in the mental health field, specifically those with ADHD, anxiety, borderline, depression who are goal oriented.

Some kind of career coaching and budget/finance coaching (but not a financial advisor) and social skill building

Age 18+ clients

——

When I did case management (which is so hard to find here?!) , my favorite clients were those who were goal oriented and open to me pushing them to do things they were hesitant about.

I helped clients who were 100% dependent on our program for transportation learn to use medical transport and public transportation. They didn’t have to schedule around someone else anymore to do what they wanted to do.

I helped clients make and maintain budgets. I helped clients save up for “wants” instead of only being able to buy “needs”

I helped clients build social skills to decrease their social anxiety

I helped clients build resumes, find jobs, maintain jobs

I helped clients find acceptance of their medications and diagnoses instead of fighting against themselves in treatment

I feel like I served a purpose. But I didn’t like helping them find housing, getting yelled at by my harder clients, going into unsafe areas alone, working with clients who didn’t want help, feeling trapped and uncomfortable in client homes with verbally aggressive clients, approving when clients could take money out of their accounts, taking clients to doctor appointments, working with clients who used substances, etc.

Case management is hard work and some days I didn’t have the energy for my goal oriented clients. I know there’s a need for the things I like to do. It’s just that those jobs come with the other things I don’t like. And they pay poorly. Not enough that I could continue maintaining this apartment. We’d have to move and I don’t know where to. I couldn’t afford to live on my own at that job, not even with the second income of my ex.

—-

All I know is I’m not happy where I am right now. But all signs, when I really break it down, point to option 1. And I hate that.

[fiadhaisteach]

My spouse & I straddle the Gen "X"/Millenial line (He's the very definition of a Xennial & I'm 4 years older).

13 years ago, I was pregnant and we were both laid off during the '08/'09 recession.

12 years ago we had run through our savings, had an eight month old, were on TANF, receiving SNAP & WIC benefits, & living with my mother in a different state. (We also, later, ended up filing for bankruptcy as our new income would never get us out of the hole we'd gotten into, trying to stay off assistance... don't do that. Use the benefits you have access to.)

We did some math and decided whichever of us found a job first would be the breadwinner and the other would be the homemaker, because there wasn't a job in our rural area that would cover the cost of daycare, let alone a second vehicle.

We were extremely glad we'd done the math and kept a parent at home, even though our house, now, is walking distance from highway bus stops, because it turned out that both kidlets (when we later added a 2nd) would need the extra care. (Frankly, the only reason we were able to buy a house, 7 years ago, is because I'm a disabled veteran in a rural area willing to buy in an "undesirable" location at just the right time so there was zero initial cost and mortgage/taxes/insurance came to about the same as rent. Couldn't do it now.)

I "won" the draw and it actually was pretty good. The prior owner was a shitty boss/supervisor, but an excellent employer (he had to be to retain employees). He provided raises that kept up with the cost of living, plus a little, & offered okay benefits. 

When his health failed and he sold the business, the new owners kept all the old employees on, though our benefits were considerably reduced, and in my case, workload near doubled because they didn't see the need for an outside bookkeeper and the old owner's workload was split between me & the new manager, but hey... steady employment. However, within 3 years I was the only one of the "old guard" left and in 6 years have received one, small, raise.

Now, my health has been deteriorating for a couple of decades, but has been getting significantly worse over the last 5 or so years and I'm finding that most of my energy is taken for "work" with very little left for the family, even as I'm falling further and further behind. So my spouse started to make a concerted effort at finding employment.

Even as a white cis-man who has two degrees and a winning personality, with a decade of stay-at-home parentness, it took three years (covid was a factor too), but he was able to find a job (and he does deserve it, never doubt) which should have minimal impact our take-home pay, while allowing me to expend my limited energy at home... and he'll have job/career mobility, where I had none (really, less than none since my wages have been effectively going down vs. cost of living).

Could we, technically, be "better off" if I kept this job? If you only considered income... sure. My spouse can, and will, bus to work (so I can have the vehicle for doctor appointments and picking the kids up from after school clubs), but if I kept working I'd still have no energy left for the family, my spouse would have less simply by virtue of working out of the home, the kids would have to give up after school activities, & everyone would be spending their free time doing all the household things that wouldn't be getting done during the work/school week... so no... not really.

Are we fortunate that we are able to have one parent at home? Absolutely! Though some of that is trade-off, not living where we'd prefer to live (we're both city mice living in the country), and limiting our mobility to a single vehicle & rural public transit. I realize some don't have even that much option, but it's still a choice we had to make.

We also had family to fall back on when we hit rock bottom (a mixed blessing I won't get into here) and used our government benefits to get back on our feet (late, but better than never).

Is there a point to this? *shrugs* Generational crap is crap. The Joneses are probably also trying to keep up with the Joneses, so just do the best for you. Fuck capitalism. Use the benefits you pay for. Take care of your health as best you can. Hair dye is cheap. Count your blessings.

[itsmeanyango]

THE SUN IN VIRGO IN THE HOUSES(SUN TRANSIT IN THE HOUSES)

So incase you guys don't know, the sun is malefic and that's what we are going to talk about on the last day of Leo season which is Sunday and the Sun is Leos ruling planet.

Virgo season starts tomorrow and this is what you need to know.

Virgo is a dual sign, the M and the fish at the tail. To me, it means Mother (the M) and child(the fish). Virgo represents facts and order. The Sun is how you see yourself. Most of the things I mention below are going to be your own doing.

If this does not resonate with you its okay, this is a general interpretation which has not taken into consideration every single persons birth chart. But these are the themes you are bound to meet.

I will expound more on my Patreon, join to support me. Thank you in advance.

The first house is the house of first impressions. Virgo in the first house means you come off as very orderly and well put together. The Sun transiting Virgo first house means people may see you as the person with facts and very organized during Virgo season(when the sun is in Virgo). The sun will be highlighting you in peoples eyes. You may feel like everyone has got their eyes on you, they probably do because you are acting jittery. If you make a mistake, everyone will know(or in your head you will convince yourself that everyone knows). If you do something good even if you are unaware of it, it wont go unnoticed. You may feel heavily scrutinized by the public or be in a place where everyone is checking your work ethic. Peoples expectations of you may feel like your hand is in fire but you can't remove it.

The second house is the house of your money and survival needs. The sun transiting Virgo in the second house may mean if you are not organized then all your sources of income or survival will be burnt and you will have nothing left. Always save up and in different accounts! I bet people who had this transit before the pandemic began found themselves spending a lot of money or losing money. They may have also had a boost but failed to save so when the pandemic was made official in the news, they were struggling!

The third house is the house of communication. The Sun transiting third house Virgo means your communication may be taken the wrong way. Virgo is ruled by Mercury, Mercury rules communication and is in this house. Virgo as mentioned is a dual sign! What you intend to say may not be received but instead the opposite will. Be very very clear in communication, do not use ambiguity and do not leave room for guesswork! We are in a very digital age! If you are not clear with your communication get what will happen to you online? Your image will be tarnished, burned!

The fourth house is the house of roots, it also represents home. Everyone has their own definition of home. Sun transiting Virgo in the fourth house means you need to be careful making a home purchase if you have this transit as you may get scammed! You may also fail to follow all the procedures for the purchase. You may still buy the home but fail to notice certain things and now your dream of owning a beautiful home is burned! You may also burn very important bridges or have important bridges burnt that are related to your roots due to the discovery of certain factual information. This house is ruled by Cancer(a water sign), so you better check the drainage and water supply in the area you want to purchase a house/home in. Also find out the rains in the area because they might just sweep your house away. You may want to avoid having a house in a valley or near a water body.

The fifth house is the house of romance, love affairs, fertility and self expression. The Sun transiting Virgo in the fifth house means that you may find yourself nitpicking on matters related to this house. You may be doing everything robotically or 'scientifically'. You may act like you have OCD when it comes to dealing with the matters of this house. Rest, don't be so calculative.

The sixth house is the house of health, fitness and organization(order). This is Virgos house. The Sun transiting a Virgo sixth house means that your schedules will be on fire. You may put too much on your plate or insist that you must change your whole life in this month because you want to become a better you. You want to rush the process. So you enroll yourself into gym, you create a packed daily schedule that you force yourself to follow from morning till bed time, you change your diet or suddenly change your routines. Burnout will catch up with you and you may end up spiraling backward. Unless you have an intercepted house, Virgo sixth house means you have a Libra seventh house. If we look at it the Sun transit way, you won't be able to regain balance. You may start overcompensating. However, you probably have another planet in your seventh house which may be beneficial to you. Take things one step at a time.

The seventh house is the house of Relationships and contracts. All types of relationships and not just romantic. The Sun transiting a Virgo 7th house means you need to be very careful of the contracts you sign and relationships you get into because they have the potential to burn you or you them. Use facts and not assumptions or first impressions that look good. First impressions of the matters in this house may be very attractive like gold they end up blinding you.

The eighth house is the house of merging. Anything that is joint is here. Joint is also shared. So whatever you have joint ownership, CUSTODY or partnership of is under highlight over here. The Sun transiting Virgo eighth house may mean: Please keep your legal documents very safe away from fire and water! If you have any critical information as a softcopy, back it up and back it up and back it up more! Keep records!!!!! These records will save you when you are about to be drowned(the 8th house is a water house) in boiling(Sun) water! Triple check your documents, do not let just anyone see them because you never know who wants to get you. The most innocent of souls could be the one to get you! Like your child may accidentally spoil your computer/phone/USB stick/external storage. Be careful around water. Keep your hardcopy documents in waterproof packaging.

The ninth house is the house of travel, higher learning, ethics, and critical/fast thinking. The sun transit ninth house Virgo means you need to have the right documents on matters related to this house. If you have many or any assignments to submit at school, do them very well. No plagiarism at all, this assignments can either break or make your life during this transit. Double check your travel documents especially your covid tests and certificates. Ensure you have carried them when travelling. If you are applying to schools(University mostly), please please check the percentage of OPEN SOURCES THE SCHOOL OFFERS otherwise when doing your thesis you will have a very very difficult time. If possible, visit the school environment and see if it is worth it, some school environments are tough especially for students who will be looking for housing near school. Research on the countries you want to visit, please stop going to countries where minorities are suffering because of tourists due to increase spread of the virus and pollution. Be kind. Find out if your ethics are really ethical, you may be very oppressive with your ethics.

The tenth house also called Medium Coeli(MC) or Midheaven, is the house of career, long term goals, structure, experts and father. The Sun transiting Virgo tenth house means someone may be excited to become a dad. Someone might be looking into paternity because they either feel skeptical that the child they are raising is not theirs or their father is not their biological dad as they have been made to believe. I like saying that the tenth house is what they mean by 'things that have been put together in heaven, no man can put asunder', so do not force things or interfere with things in this house. Just do your part and leave the rest otherwise you will be wasting your time and energy. During this transit you may feel like everything is falling into place but you may need to think twice. Virgo is facts and order, do you really have the facts or you think you do and you are just going with it? You may be thinking that things are meant to be, everything may be looking real good right now or real harsh right now when they aren't. Go back to the drawing board and check that your facts are not twisted.

The eleventh house is the house of groups, friends, humanitarianism, technology and the future. The Sun transiting Virgo eleventh house may mean your social circles and activities need vetting. Do you really know these people or do you think you know them? For some, you may not even need to do the evaluation because things will happen in your life that shows you who these people really are. You will need to be very specific about any pieces of technology you buy during this transit, research on it. Then go to reputational shops to buy and not just anywhere that claims to sell. CHECK AND KEEP THE WARANTY. Scan and print receipts because they fade, scan and print the warranty too. Keep soft copies of the warranty and receipts. Take a video of you unboxing the technology so you can catch any damages on camera and return it with proof that it was not your mishandling(this is if the business delivered it to you otherwise they can say you damaged it while transporting it). Check that your anti virus(not those free ones, they are fake. Buy a legit anti virus) is up to date and you do not have any security threats. If you love yourself, please stop clicking ads, stop allowing people to plug anything into your PC, TURN OFF BLUETOOTH DISCOVERABILITY, stop using public WIFI and please close all tabs and running apps when on zoom (or any other such platform)because when you share screen you may not know that your information is out for everyone to see-some of which may be very sensitive-. How humanitarian are you? And do you do things humanitarian in a human way or analytical way just because its what needs/has to be done? You may need to significantly drop the statistics and analytical things when dealing with people face to face. What is your plan for the future? Revisit it and make the necessary changes. If you have none, start writing down one.

The twelfth house is the house of endings, spirituality, dreams and the subconscious. The Sun transit Virgo twelfth house may mean that you need to have detailed end of life plans, pay for them now or start saving up for them now. It doesn't matter if you are just 18, start. What do you need to let go of? Your sick relative who is willing to go but waiting for you to let go of them? A friendship? A job? A house? Unhealthy eating habits? Unhealthy coping mechanisms? Several things you are hoarding? Write down things that need letting go of then start letting go of them bit by bit this month. Have you been doing things subconsciously? Start recording them, you may need to see something. Like a pattern which may be as a result of trauma or your instincts getting stronger or something else. You may need to stop looking at spirituality like a science experiment. You may not find the facts you are looking for but it does not mean people who are spiritual are lost. You may however, find that some things just do not make sense because they conflict each other. Someone may be starting to learn something spiritual. Your dreams, write the down even if they do not make sense.

These are the messages I am able to channel, I have been writing for over an hour. It is 20.22(which is cumulative numerology 6 and Virgo is the 6th Zodiac sign) EAT right now. I have written this through two Horas! I hope this helped.

[pollylynn]

Title: Prototype WC: 1100 Episode: Murder Most Fowl (3 x 08)

She thinks of him as dealing exclusively in heroes and villains. Drama queen doesn’t begin to cover it, and from her vantage point it seems that humans in between don’t exist for him. She’s not sure how he maintains it—this investment in absolute polar opposites—given that they spend their days and nights sifting through the details of the lives of people who are mostly fair-to-middling when it comes right down to it.

Most of the time, she supposes it’s just a writer thing. It’s his job, in some sense, to be that drama queen, to blow up the banal misdeeds and petty motivations of the everyday person until they’re fit to keep the pages turning until the very last.

Today, though, she has to consider the possibility that it’s a dad thing. The villain of the day is, of course, The Boyfriend.

“You can’t tell me a rat isn’t a red flag,” he huffs as he tries to keep up with her. It’s a struggle, given how much breath he’s expending on his scenarios where Ashley falls somewhere in between the Gilgo Beach Killer and The Manson Family—Yes, Beckett, all of them—in terms of murderous depravity. “A rat with a ‘special diet’?”

She’s not listening. She is definitely not listening, and still it’s almost a relief when he moves on to The Falcon Killer. This second villain springs forth, fully formed, from the writer part of his brain, so it looks like his hero–villain complex is a both/and situation. The Falcon Killer is not one bit less annoying than Ashley the Rat King, but being imaginary he at least has the virtue of having no financials someone might try to demand that she run, and there’s a lower likelihood that she’ll find herself on the receiving end of pointed questions about how to file an order of protection on behalf of someone else.

By late morning, things have swung around to the hero end of the spectrum. It’s all working class hero Lightbulb Len all the time. Arthur Sansone, she supposes, is the exception that proves the rule. He’s neither hero nor villain.

“He’s Sancho Panza to Lightbulb Len’s Don Quixote!” The grimy tiles of the subway reverberate as he waxes rhapsodic, and she wonders what city she’ll pull up stakes and move to, because she can clearly never show her face on New York public transit ever again. “Samwise to his Frodo!”

She’s thinking very seriously about being Michael to his Fredo even before he sets to work on special guest villains, Mario Rivera and Byron H. Singer, to say nothing of the shadowy figures behind the conspiracies aligned against Len Levitt.

“It’s a blood pact.” She, like everyone else in the bullpen, hears his stage whisper to a nodding Ryan. “It’s so much bigger than bulbs—it’s bulbs and birds.” He slaps a palm down on whatever evidence it is he’s spread out on the desk. “Lightbulb Len never stood a chance.”

She’s got a pinching headache right between her eyes the next morning when he rousts her practically at dawn to spend another day seeking justice for his latest Campbellian hero. The coffee he hands her is hardly enough to counteract the way he’s pin-balling between singing their vic’s praises and contemplating how he can get Alexis out of the country before Ashley returns and fully commits himself to a Count of Monte Christo–level revenge scheme. He’s crossing the writer–dad streams and it’s too early for any of it.

It all falls away, though, when the case breaks in a terrible, unexpected direction. Len Levitt’s last act on earth was to turn his camera on a man abducting a child, and damned if that isn’t the most heroic thing any of them has heard in a long while.

He’s all work from that point on. There’s no talk of heroes or villains. Lightbulb Len, it’s sad to say, is all but forgotten as lead after lead on the abduction turns up absolutely nothing.

Heroes and villains are forgotten entirely. All his dadly, all his writerly energy is focused on every single thing he can remember about Alexis’s life just four or five short years ago—everything that might give them a lead.

Even when they have their hands on Dean Donegal and he’s goes after the man hard, there’s no villain across that interrogation room table. It’s obvious, even as they take turns grilling him about Indianapolis—about everything—that he sees a mirror for his own desperate fear. It’s clear he sees a father facing the worst pain of his life.

Before long, she feels like the villain—she sees herself through his writer’s eyes when someone has to be the rational, not-a-parent in the room when the Captain decides that they’ll back Dean as he goes to meet the kidnappers’ demands. She imagines how he’d cast her on the page right now—implacable, ice water in her veins. She has all too easy a time imagining Nikki Heat’s villainous turn, but what can she do when no one else will say what needs saying?

She feels like something worse than a villain in the subway for the second time in as many days. Adrenaline is running the show when she kicks in the door and gets her shot off. Her momentum carries her on a beeline for Tyler Donegal, but somehow he gets there first. Somehow his body is between hers and the boy’s, and he’s crouched down, two careful feet away, talking in a low, absolutely calm voice.

She doesn’t hear what he says at first. She’s too busy re-running the last minute-and-a-half, complete with what was very nearly yet another traumatizing event for Tyler Donegal with her in a starring role. When she catches back up with real time, he’s standing up. He’s reaching a hand down patiently to help the boy up from the filthy floor in his own time.

“Your dad told us you were smart,” he says. “But save yourself smart? That’s hero smart.”

She can only just make out Tyler’s wide eyes in the dim light, but she feels the tension slowly trickling out of him. She sees his pale skin moving through the shadows to grip Castle’s hand as he staggers to his feet. He places a careful palm on the boy’s shoulder and flashes her a grin that’s exhausted and triumphant all at once.

“Wouldn’t you say that’s hero smart, Detective?”

“I would.” She returns the grin. “I definitely would.”

A/N: This has no morphousness in its flabby, flabby end, but I am so very tired.

images via homeofthenutty

[inhibited-irregularity]

EUROVISION 2021, personal favorites:

- Russia 🇷🇺

Manizha, Russian Woman: Absolute favorite. The sheer originality of the song! Her energy and the level of absolute badassery! She can sing, she can rap,and she's a bomb of energy. The way reggae and brass and hiphop and Slavic melodies overlap and it somehow works, the transitions between fun and "I'm bitter about the sexism and I'm mocking it unapologetically and making a stand" and the anthemic, emphatic and powerful message to Russian women; I was swelling with emotion while watching her. While to an American or a Westerner it may seem like performative feminism, I'm gonna remind you that in Russia and other Slavic countries that's very much not a thing and actually a very unpopular stand to make, and in Russia, The Balkans, and Eastern Europe in general, hundreds of women face domestic and sexual abuse on the daily, and those who do come forward rarely get support and are mostly dismissed. Let's not forget that Manizha got a huge backlash from the Russian government officials, and a big part of it was for her Tajik roots. The honesty of her message is real, and she's speaking from personal experience and the experience of women around her - nothing performative about her song, and you can tell from her delivery that the fire within her is true and she leaves her heart on the stage and pours it into the song. The staging and costumes are great as well, and symbolically well thougt-through. I would really like her to win, or at least get to the top 5. Most of all, I hope her message is heard and felt. 10000/10

- Italy 🇮🇹

Måneskin, Zitti e Buoni: definitely the closest thing to my actual music taste this year, so liking them off the bat wasn't a surprise. However, they're not just your regular Franz-Ferdinand-ish young alt rock band that wants to do rock "properly" - they have IT. The X factor, the Je ne sais quoi. I've been exposed to that particular genre, and I can confidently say that the song still manages to be refreshing and original (that bridge, those riffs!) The band has a great energy and no matter how much Damiano steals the show, they are still a unit and nobody is left in the shadows. They have the spirit of great rock bands of the previous century, and yet they don't try to copy anyone (khm,Greta Van Fleet, khm). Damiano's vocals are both powerful, seductive and provoking, and I'm still admiring the sheer amount of emotion he can pack into a single line and the nuance and yet rawness behind it. I'm not gonna state the obvious lol (the obvious being yes, I'm thirsty as well, he becomes yet another unattainable rockstar for me too,and yes they all look great) Anyway, great song, and maybe the clearest and most serious candidate for the number one spot, taking both the jury and the public into consideration. 10/10

- Iceland 🇮🇸

Daði Freyr and Gagnamagnið, 10 years:

What can I say about this masterpiece that hasn't already been said? A clear fan-favorite (hi, Valentina), but with the guns to back it up. The song is contagious, fun and campy, and unlike some other songs with said qualities, actually good from a musical perspective. Daði is incredibly charismatic and his sense of humor shines through, and even though he's the star of the show, the same can be said about the other band members. The synergy Måneskin has can be applied to Gagnamagnið as well, even though the energy is entirely different. They're serving us fun, sunshine, kitties rainbows sugar spice and everything nice, and manage to do it with zero cringe factor (plus those funky keytars). I'm one of those Eurovision fans that lament the golden age's (2004-2009) campiness (We'll never forget you, Verka), and Daði managed to bring it back, but modernised, polished and still sincere. I personally preferred the epic dad joke that slightly more commercial Think About Thing was (but that's one tough act to follow), but I'm always down for a husband adoring his wife and singing praises to their relationship. Since we're on tumblr, I feel obliged to use the term "cinnamon rolls" in describing Daði and the band. 9.5/10

- France 🇫🇷

Barbara Pravi, Voilà: She brought the theatrics, she brought the drama, and she brought the 101 in "that's how you perform". Her personality leaps through, and her voice is both beautiful and full of emotion and power. I'd hire her to star in a serious and artistic movie. Despite the fact that Voilà is from its melody to the singing style to the video to the vibe and the aesthetic hands down the most French thing I've seen since Amélie (do not come for that movie), it miraculously doesn't come across as a cliché, but rather an homage, and an individualistic one at that. It's not entirely my cup of tea, since I'm usually biased to songs that may come off as snobbish (I mean, the jury is going to lap it up), and are all about being proper and technical and oh how ~artistic~, but Barbara puts the soul into the immaculate. I'm not giving her the highest mark because I'm yet to see the performance, but I'm rooting for her. If she delivers the performance, we might have a clear winner. 9/10

- Ukraine 🇺🇦

Go_A, Shum: I'm a sucker for all things ethnic and mytological, so this was a no-brainer. I want that song played at every party. I want to go to the forest in the video and chant and summon the spring with flute and hard-bass. Kateryna Pavlenko has some unexplainable power over me, and her eyes are simply hypnotizing. The vocals are great, proper Slavic ethno right there (seriously, check out Slavic folklore and traditional music), and she has a subtle punk quality too(?). Ukraine came to save the spring and make us forget about the pandemic, and minus the Maruv fiasco (justice for her!), they always deliver and I expected nothing less. On the other hand, I loved the original version much more and couldn't help but be a bit disappointed with the revamp (yes, I know they had to), and while I personally love Shum, I think some other acts are more deserving of the higher placement. Go_A are not my winner, but definitely soon to be in my playlist. 8/10

- San Marino 🇸🇲

Adrenalina, Senhit ft. Flo Rida: You know that golden age of Eurovision I mentioned? THIS. I'm Serbian, so I can't resist a banger reminiscent of our horrible turbo-folk elements (and I say that endearingly,takes me back to 18th birthday parties (boy I'm glad that's over)). Let's just crown Senhit this year's Queen of Camp. The wild factor of Flo Rida...just?? Amazing. Can't wait to see how the performance goes (EDIT- it went great, I had a grin on my face the entire time and couldn't help but dance along). A certain refreshment after Serhat and Valentina Monetta endless loop. They didn't dial down the weird, but made it catchy af, and the vocal can rival any Balkan folk diva. While I think it's definitely the most entertaining entry this year, it's far from being the most original, and it's not really my genre of preference. Will vote for Senhit and root for her to qualify. 7.5/ 10

- Sweden 🇸🇪

Tusse, A million voices: As I mentioned before, I'm the first person that starts complaining about Sweden Superiority as soon as Eurovision season begins, and I'm with you all with being tired of Sweden qualifying just because they're Sweden and usually just bringing the same brand of MTV/Calvin Harris/American pop, or a successful and not-so-subtle imitation of the performances that did well the previous year,but listen: A million voices is a solid pop song and I'm going to die on that hill. It actually embodies the essence of pop - a catchy, pleasant melody sung by a good vocalist, with a short,sweet and uplifting message. It's not the same as previous years, it's not commercial, just good pop - good pop being something you immediately like and vibe to no matter how many common elements of the genre it checks. It relies on RnB rather than electronic sounds, auto tune or various DJ effects. Tusse is charming and charismatic af, and he's a 19yo kid doing an amazing job on a global stage. You don't have to like it, but there's no need to hate on it (ask Jendrik). Imo, Tusse deserved to qualify. Not winner material yet, but I wish him a fun time and a successful career. 7 5/10

- Switzerland 🇨🇭

G'jons Tears, Tout L'Univers: I saw the video first, and I HATED IT. It came across as a Duncan Lawrence-high-art wannabe, something technically perfect, but empty of soul or meaning, another soft boy with a sad falsetto, another jury-points bait. BUT. I changed my mind entirely after seeing him perform. Hands down, it was touching and epic. Reminding me of Hamlet aside, he DELIVERED, and made me love him, and actually enjoy the song. I still think the song is less original than Tusse's voices, but I enjoy the troubadour vibes of the pre-chours. G'jon is absolutely adorable, and I'm not gonna be mad if he wins. 8/10

shout-outs&honorable mentions:

- Serbia 🇷🇸 Yes, some national bias, but I'm proud of our girls. Ever Since we placed 2nd with Željko's Lane, we had that goddamn flute e v e r y year, and the same outdated scenography with a side of extra pathos (I'm sure that ruined Sanja's chances and her otherwise great performance back in 2016.) Finally something fun and actually representative of the music popular here. They looked flawless and the energy was off the charts. Go, Hurricane!

-Finland 🇫🇮 Yes, cheesy and corny and I cut my finger accidentally from watching the video on all the edge, but I'm biased because they're bringing emo and nu-metal back, and that's the music of my early adolescence (hello, Kaulitz brothers and Andy Biersack,hello Gerard Way and Linkin Park) Call me grandma lol

- Malta 🇲🇹 DESTINY CAN SIIIIIIIIING! I wasn't impressed with the song initially, but the performance blew my mind.

- Ireland 🇮🇪 A for effort, and so nice of her to try and give us something unique! While it wasn't good enough to qualify, it was super fun and she seems so nice. Also, we all know that she was out of breath an can sing much better than that. Still wasn't bad.

- Romania 🇷🇴, for being so young and brave enough to put on a show. The nerves got the better of her, but the song itself is good and no doubt she'll do well in the future

- Lithuania 🇱🇹, thanks for the memeries

- Croatia 🇭🇷, Not my cup of tea, but Albina gave a great performance

-Norway 🇳🇴, for embodying the spirit of Eurovision

- North Macedonia 🇲🇰, for the disco chest

- The UK 🇬🇧, for putting some effort

(Might edit later)

[christinaroseandrews]

Marketing Matters - Strategy - Fanfiction

Strategy - Fanfiction

So this is a bit of a taboo subject in the publishing world, but I’m going to be upfront with you all. 

We write fanfiction. 

There, I said it. 

Writing fanfic is also a viable marketing strategy for authors who are choosing to go the self-publishing route and not always for the reasons that immediately spring to mind.  In addition, the skills, fanbase, and tricks learned while writing fanfic can also apply to traditional publishing.  However, I’m going to give you one caveat right up front: many big name publishers don’t like authors who write fic. Or at least they say they don’t. It’s becoming more common, but most publishers and agents want authors to be focusing on original fic not fanfic. Several smaller presses don’t care as much, so long as your author persona and your fic persona are very separate and you don’t rub it in their faces.  But the big name publishers may require you to pull your fanworks. So that’s something to keep in mind.

So now it’s time to break it down.

About Us and What we’ve done:

We’re probably best known as fanfic writers in the Hunger Games fandom, where we have a few well regarded fics.  We’ve also dipped our toes into other fandoms including the MCU, Harry Potter, DBZ, and more drive-by one-shots in various fandoms than you can shake a stick at.

We also both were/are a part of the Sims 2 writing community and had a few well known stories there as well.  ^__^ We may or may not have met in this fandom. LOL

Both of us have been part of these fandoms for years and were active members in them. Lark started in fanfic back in 1994/5 as a beta reader (which she then parlayed that experience into becoming an editor that summer). While Rose discovered fic in college in 2002. In these fandom communities, we met people that we now call friends in real life as well as mentors, betas, advisers, and cheerleaders. We learned skills that apply both to fic and to original writing.  And, most importantly, we learned how to listen to our audience.

Let me stress that again: we learned to listen to our audience. 

When we transitioned, we hit up the people we met in these fandoms to help us with various aspects of publishing life (either paying or trading favors for work done) and we’ve also given status updates about our original writing, along with links to our author tumblr in the authors’ notes of our fics. Nothing that will violate the terms of Ao3′s Terms of use - but links to our professional website/social media.

While we write fanfic less, we still dip our fingers in now and again.

Cost:

Time. 

Straight up time.

The cost of writing fic is time, energy, and creativity.  Time spent writing fic is time NOT spent writing original works that can be published.  Time that is not spent editing or plotting or doing other sweat equity types of marketing. Which is why some authors refuse to write fic once they turn professional and it is completely understandable. Fanfic authors don’t get paid for their work and for some, getting paid is a big deal. Especially when most of your income comes from writing.

It’s a cost we willingly pay sometimes, but if a fanfic author you know also writes original works for publications. It does mean that updates may be slower and there is often less motivation to keep publishing stories -- especially if the stories don’t get much in the way of response/feedback.

It’s about return on investment.

Return on Investment:

I’m going to do this a little differently since sometimes the return isn’t monetary.  This is also likely to sound really clinical and analytical; that’s because I’m trying to be objective and I may be going too far the other way. We write fanfic because we love it, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t give back to us too.

Monetary (Language of Flowers only):

Units sold:  20

Mailing list subscribers: 6

Social media followers:  Twitter - 15, Tumblr - 60, Facebook - 8

Not Monetary but Cost Saving

Editors - 9

Cover Designers - 3

Mailing List Trades - 3

Skills Learned:

Editing (Line, Content, Story Doctoring -- Yes, all of these)

Proofreading (not the same as editing)

Creating Characters

Keeping Characters in Character

Plotting

Engaging an audience

Finishing what you start

How to handle ConCrit

How to handle Trolls

How to write to an audience

How to prevent plot holes

As you can see, the biggest return on investment of the time is in the skills section. Fanfiction is not to be taken lightly.

And as for me, Lark, I literally parlayed my experience working in fandom to actual paying jobs as an editor. I honed my skills as an editor on fanfic which I then turned around and used to get a job editing professionally. I did that multiple times for a bunch of different publishers/clients. I got my start in fanfic.

As an editor, one of the biggest problems I see with developing authors is a “sameness” in voice. AKA all of the characters sound the same.  If you want to see this in traditionally published book action, then look at Laurel K. Hamilton... Her Merry Gentry and Anita Blake heroines sound almost exactly the same. (Which not coincidentally, sounds like how she speaks in real life.)

With fanfiction, you can’t do that. You’ll get called out for being OOC. So you have to learn to adapt your voice. (Or only write characters that sound like you but that gets boring after a while.)

So in my actual job as an editor, one I get paid to do, I legitimately tell my clients to pick a character from a show they like and use them as a template for a character they’re having trouble giving a good character voice to. And unsurprisingly, it works. It’s a good trick and it subconsciously teaches your brain how to create different characters/voices.

They other HUGE takeaway from the skills is in regards to concrit and being able to take it. If you want to publish for a living and not just half-ass it, you have to develop a thick-ish skin. And fanfiction can help with that. I straight up learned to deal with harsh reviews from writing fanfiction. But more importantly, I learned how to listen to what the person was telling me and then become a better author because of it.

In fanfiction, unlike in the publishing world, the reviews are meant for the authors... not potential readers. If someone really hates your work, or worse, is apathetic to it. They just won’t comment. They’ll hit the backspace and you’ll never hear anything. Most comments, especially critical ones, are from people who legitimately like the story that you’re telling but have a problem with part of it. The comment may be harsh, it may even be mean. But it tells you something and it gives you an idea where you may be turning off readers. People aren’t always good at phrasing criticism constructively. We’re not really trained how to do that. But when someone tells you why something isn’t working for them or why they didn’t like something, listen. You don’t have to agree -- we certainly haven’t -- but listening and thinking critically about the feedback will help.

This can be seen in our first novel, The Language of Flowers, which started out its life as a fanfic. The story pissed several readers off. And we realized as we were writing it that we needed to explain something and we weren’t doing a good job of doing so. So the scene that every single one of our readers loved was born of that concrit. Our story is better and reached the top 100 in its categories on Amazon because of the feedback we got as fanfic authors.

Seriously, writing fanfic has gotten us to where we are today.

Takeaways:

My biggest take away is that writing fanfic is a great skills builder and audience builder.

Pros:

Skills. Oh so many skills. But the biggest is that you will be writing and no writing is ever wasted. It’s practice. Like an artist has to sketch or a musician practice. You’re honing and toning your writing muscles. And fanfic is absolutely valid for doing that.

Cons:

Time. Straight up Time.

Rating:

It’s been so long since I’ve done one of these that I don’t remember. But honestly, the rating varies. You get out of fanfic what you put in and what you’re willing to take from it.

(Note: This has been sitting in our drafts for about 4 years. I finally finished it up because I was bored and waiting to go to a doctor and didn’t feel like doing nothing.)

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[anotherkpopvictim]

Into a New World (Through the Gate) - BTS OT7 Fantasy Story Chapter 6

A/N: Hello! I'm back after three months! I took some time to write a bit ahead so I would have enough to post today and on Namjoon's birthday.

So Happy Birthday to our maknae Jungkookie! Enjoy <3

Updated Timeline in case you get confused -

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LVJ9t7XMDjiMNU1AU4wGVs65x_fh-WxzbBYKTtGylkU/edit?usp=sharing

Relationship: BTS X BTS

Rating: T

Words: 4528

Hurt/comfort, fluff, fantasy

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Chapter 6: A New Hope

Worldbuilding Notes on Familiars: Familiars are a witch’s companion and can be any animal, though most commonly they are dogs, cats, birds or snakes. When a human reaches the point where they become a witch, an animal (usually on the streets or occasionally in the wild) will begin to feel a pull towards the witch. They usually find each other fairly quickly and physical contact finishes the transition from animal to familiar. These familiars become more physically and mentally powerful, and can heal more quickly than a regular animal. Just like a witch will keep themselves young, they will also keep their familiars young as well.

The feeling of a bond between a witch and their familiar is similar to the feeling of a pack bond but not quite the same. If a familiar dies, the witch will experience intense pain for a few weeks, but they will ultimately survive. On the other hand, if a witch passes away, their familiar will unfortunately die along with them.

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September 9, 3501, Present Day

“Please, hyung! Please, please, please, please, please!”

“No.”

Jungkook whined and stomped his feet petulantly as he pulled at the older vampire’s jacket sleeve. “That’s not fair, hyung! I’ve been good, I want to go into the city again!”

Yoongi sighed and reached over to ruffle the younger one’s hair apologetically after he finished buttoning his black coat. “You have been, baby. You’ve worked so hard on keeping your bloodthirst under control and I’m so proud of you,” he praised. “But, Taehyung and I are going into town to meet a new person and I don’t want anyone going that doesn’t absolutely have to.”

After Namjoon and Yoongi had spoken the night before, it was decided that Yoongi would be the one to go with Taehyung to meet this Minho guy. Jungkook hadn’t been happy when he learned that he wasn’t allowed to go with them. He’d been dying to get out of the house since he’d been cooped up nearly seven years ago. Most fledglings only needed to stay with their sires for five years, and yet, here he was, still locked up.

Jungkook pouted and crossed his arms now. “There’s always an excuse.”

Yoongi looked up from where he was adjusting his gold watch. “What?”

The younger vampire huffed out an annoyed and disheartened breath. “Whenever I ask to go into town with you, you always have some excuse as to why I can’t. You say that I’m doing well with keeping my bloodthirst under control, but you still won’t let me see other people again.”

Taehyung came over from where he’d slipped on his shoes and wrapped an arm around Jungkook’s waist, giving a comforting squeeze. “Kook-ah, you know that your bloodthirst was much different from other fledglings. Hyungs just want to make sure that you aren’t a danger to yourself or anyone else.”

“Think of it this way, Jungkookie,” Yoongi reasoned, his tone soft with guilt now that he knew his baby was unhappy. “We don’t know how long we’ll be gone, but this will undoubtedly be the longest you’ve been away from me before. Namjoon will still be around, but this is another step towards going out like you want.”

“I guess,” Jungkook replied, though his shoulders slouched dejectedly. He slipped out of Taehyung’s grasp and started walking out of the foyer with dragging feet. “Bye, hyungs.”

The older vampire and the witch watched him go, one with guilt in his eyes and the other with a knowing look. Taehyung ushered the two of them out the door quickly and to the vehicle waiting outside that he had pulled out of the garage earlier. Eunji was resting in the back seat, idly grooming her paws.

After they typed in the park address and were out on the long stretch of road from their remote abode to the outskirts of the city, Yoongi found himself thankful that Taehyung had decided to drive today, because his mind was currently occupied. He was nibbling at his lower lip anxiously and thinking about how upset Jungkook had been. The younger vampire’s dejected expression etched into his brain.

“Do you...do you think I’m being too careful with him?” Yoongi blurted out, breaking the quiet ambience of the soft music playing from the car speakers.

Taehyung took it in stride, as he always did. He’d always been the most intuitive out of all of them and often knew the others needed to talk well before they themselves did. “Well, since I’m not a vampire, I don’t have the knowledge or experience or feelings that you two do about all of this. I honestly think that only you and Jungkook can decide that.”

“I’m his sire, I’m supposed to protect him, but I’m also supposed to help him grow and acclimate to society.” Yoongi shook his head, “I thought I knew what to do from what I’ve been taught and told, but it’s different when it’s your own fledgling. I don’t want anything to happen.”

“You have the best intentions, hyung, and Jungkook knows that,” Taehyung replied. “But I’m sure that not being able to go anywhere except your own house and see no one but your family can get suffocating after a while.”

“So you think that I should let him have more freedom? Bring him to the city?”

“Not necessarily such big steps,” Taehyung corrected. “Perhaps allowing a human friend to come over and visit and see how he does. Then, maybe you could take him to the outskirts of town where there’s not as many people as in the city.”

“Yeah...yeah, okay,” Yoongi began nodding, hopeful, though still cautious. “That could work. I don’t want to overestimate his control, but I also don’t want to underestimate it. I think your ideas would be great to try, Taehyung-ah.”

The witch couldn’t help but smirk, “Aren’t they always?”

Yoongi rolled his eyes as he snorted before gently slapping his boyfriend’s arm. Then, the vampire changed the subject of their conversation. “So, what do we know about this ‘Minho’ guy?”

“His name is Choi Minho and he’s 173 years old,” Taehyung listed off. “Baekhyun referred me to him as he claimed to have once been helped by the Dragon.”

“The Dragon?” Yoongi frowned, trying to remember where he’d heard the name before. “Isn’t that a witch of legend?”

Taehyung hummed in confirmation. They had reached the outskirts of Seoul now, where they passed some farmland. “I’m sceptical as well. On the phone with Minho, I asked him if he was serious about it and he said he was. He was hesitant to talk to me at first, but once I explained the situation with Hoseok-ssi, he agreed to meet us at Riverbend Park to speak in person.”

“At least he wants to meet in a public place,” Yoongi remarked, feeling uneasy about someone with such an outlandish claim. “It’s a good thing you brought Eunji with us, just in case this goes sour and we need backup.” From the backseat, Eunji let out a pleased rumble and leaned forward enough so the vampire could run his fingers through the fur on top of her head. “Not to mention that she’s amazing at reading people. She’ll probably know this guy’s true intentions long before we will.”

“I’m hoping for the best,” Taehyung said, “But if this doesn’t work out, I don’t know if we’ll be able to save Hoseok before his magic energy disappears completely.”

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Hoseok could feel the effects of Taehyung’s last energy potion wearing off already, and it had barely been four hours since he’d taken it. It appeared that the more he drank it, the less effective it became. It hadn’t gone unnoticed by the others either. They all wore varying expressions of worry on their faces as they came in and out of the room intermittently.

As he’d lost the ability to move, Seokjin had cooked up a simple soup for him, which Jimin was currently attempting to force down the orange fairy’s throat. Jimin eagerly claimed the position of Hoseok’s entertainment for the day, which was mostly just talking about anything and everything. Eventually, though, the conversation inevitably veered in the direction of Aurora.

Jimin had sparkles in his eyes when he spoke about the beauty of the Fairy Kingdom, of the vibrant colors of the plants and the vastness of the forests. He explained that Earth was one of the most developed worlds (naturally, as it was the center) and that large forests like back in Aurora did exist, though not as many, and certainly not as filled with life as the Fairy Kingdom.

“Jimin-ah,” Hoseok began as he swallowed the last bit of soup, “Can...can I ask why you live here instead of Aurora?”

The pink fairy froze for a moment before setting the empty bowl on the bedside table and looking back at Hoseok with a solemn smile on his face. “Of course you can. Fairies don’t often leave Aurora, so I imagine you’re curious about me.”

“Well, yes, that,” Hoseok replied, “But I also just want to know about you as a person. If you don’t want to tell me anything, that’s fine too.”

Jimin smiled more genuinely at that, then he crossed his arms on the edge of the bed and leaned his chin on them. “I lived in Aurora until I was twenty-six. Then...then, I was banished.”

“What?” the orange fairy was shocked. Jimin frankly didn’t seem capable of doing anything that would get him banished from his homeland. Then again, his own brother had banished Hoseok for an unfathomable reason. “Twenty-six...so that was many decades ago. My father exiled you? What for?”

“Honestly…” Jimin bit his lip, apprehensive, but looked the older man directly in the eye so he knew he was telling the truth. “Nothing.”

Hoseok blinked before furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. “Nothing?”

“I lived in Rosewood,” the pink fairy explained. Hoseok knew that Rosewood was closer to the edge of the Fairy Kingdom, almost as far as one could get from the royal palace. “There was a string of robberies in the community at that time. I happened to walk by the crime scene the morning after one had taken place at a jewelry shop and I was immediately pinned as the perpetrator by the owner. He never liked me, and I suppose he saw a chance to get rid of me and took it. I thought I would be released quickly once they realized that there was quite literally no motive or evidence that I did anything, but…I was banished by the king.”

Hoseok was honestly shocked and it took his mind probably too long to really understand what Jimin was insinuating, perhaps because his body was exhausted. “Jimin...I…”

The younger man smiled softly, still a bit solemn. “You don’t need to say anything.”

“But I do,” Hoseok rebutted. “My father exiled you from your homeland without probable evidence and that...I’m so sorry, Jimin-ah.”

“It isn’t your fault,” Jimin replied. “But thank you.”

Hoseok felt a little bit overwhelmed by what Jimin had told him. Before his brother was the king, Hoseok’s father, Jaeseok, ruled the Fairy Kingdom for over a century. Compared to his brother’s reckless, heated antics, Hoseok thought that his father had been a rather fit king. After hearing Jimin’s words, however, he questioned whether he really knew enough about what went on during King Jaeseok’s reign. Hoseok felt choked up with second-hand guilt.

“In the end, I suppose it was fate,” Jimin continued, eyes alight and sparkling once more. “If I hadn’t been forced out of Aurora, I would never have met Yoongi, or any of my other packmates.”

That’s right, even though Jimin had been wrongfully banished, it allowed him the opportunity to meet the others. So at least there was a silver lining there.

The orange fairy felt like he could breathe easier again. “I guess we’re in the same boat, huh? Wrongfully exiled but managed to meet our packmates-” Hoseok tried to cut himself off once he realized what he was saying, but it was too late. He looked at the other fairy with wide eyes.

Jimin’s eyebrows were raised in surprise. “You found your packmates? But you’ve only…” Then his eyes widened in understanding. “Wait...we’re your packmates?”

Hoseok winced but nodded sheepishly. “I’d definitely felt a pull towards all of you, but it was Namjoon and Seokjin-hyung that told me.”

“Of course the Ties knew,” Jimin said, a slight furrow to his brow. “But why didn’t they tell the rest of us then?”

“I think…” the older man wracked his brain for the right words. “I think they wanted to wait and see if I could even be healed before telling you guys. So it wouldn’t be as painful if I…” he trailed off.

Jimin stood up from the chair with a desperate, worried expression. The pink fairy leaned over Hoseok and threw his arms around his neck, holding him in a tight, comforting embrace. Hoseok used what little energy he had to wrap an arm around the other’s back and hug him. “I won’t...I won’t let you die. Whether you were our packmate or not, it would have been the same. I won’t let you die.”

A feeling of pure adoration and love came over Hoseok, making him smile weakly. If he didn’t already know that he was meant to be with these six men, he would have to know now with all the butterflies that seemed to swarm his stomach when they were around.

Hoseok’s eyes shot open the second he felt something soft and warm against his cheek, only to see Jimin leaning back away from his face. The pink fairy had given him a gentle kiss to the apple of his left cheek, leaving a tingling warmth in its wake.

“We’ll figure this out, Hoseok-ah,” the younger man said determinedly.

The orange fairy didn’t have anything to reply with, and not much energy anyway, but he could only hope that Jimin was right.

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The park was quiet because of the clouds covering the expanse of sky above them, but there were still some people milling about. The humans that passed by Taehyung and Yoongi gawked at the rather large wolf accompanying them, and even the other supernatural creatures did double-takes. A wolf was a rather uncommon species for a familiar, as they were usually pet animals like dogs, cats, rabbits, or birds. Though the species of a witch’s familiar didn’t reflect the amount of power they held, it was still rather jarring for anyone to see a wild animal in the center of the city.

Eunji wasn’t the only wild familiar around today, apparently, because as Taehyung and Yoongi spotted a man standing where they were to meet Minho, they could clearly see a large black bear by his side. As they approached, the large animal gave them a suspicious glance and made a huffing noise before going back to eating berries off of the rather long branch it had cradled in its arms.

“Minho-ssi?” Taehyung questioned as they reached the picnic table.

The man turned at his voice and smiled with a gentle nod. He was tall with short black hair and a kind smile. He was dressed in simple jeans and a long-sleeved blue button-up. “Taehyung-ssi, I presume.”

The witch returned the nod as the two of them took a seat on the other side of the picnic table, Eunji settling down next to Taehyung and eyeing the black bear across from her curiously. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, Minho-ssi.”

“That’s not a problem,” the other witch replied.

“This is Yoongi-hyung, he’s one of my packmates,” Taehyung explained. The two nodded their greetings before Taehyung cut to the chase. “So...Baekhyun-hyung said that you really had an encounter with the Dragon?”

Minho’s friendly expression turned a bit apprehensive then. “Why exactly do you want to know? You mentioned something about an injured friend?”

“Yes, a new...acquaintance of ours is losing his magic energy,” Taehyung replied. “We aren’t quite sure what caused it, but it doesn’t really matter when every witch I’ve contacted insists that it can’t be treated.”

Minho looked thoughtful. “Hm, that’s very strange. Uncommon, too. So, you’re seeking out help for this friend?”

Taehyung nodded, “Yes. I haven’t had any luck so far, though. That’s why when Baekhyun-hyung told me that you claimed to have an encounter with the Dragon - as far-fetched as it sounded - I had to follow up with you.”

The older witch locked Taehyung in an intense gaze, like he was analyzing him. After a good minute of silence, Minho let out an exhale and dropped the intensity of his gaze. “I have met him - the Dragon. It’s true.”

“Baekhyun mentioned that he saved your familiar from the brink of death?”

“He did,” Minho confirmed, turning to run his hands through the black bear’s thick fur. “He saved my Hwayoung. It was a few decades ago now. I was in Russia, hunting down a demon that had been terrorizing a few of the villages there. The demon...managed to trap Hwayoung in a ring of hellfire.”

The demon must have been powerful, then, as Taehyung knew that only the oldest demons were able to produce a ring of hellfire. Hellfire was magical in nature, and therefore couldn’t be put out in any natural manner. Not even witches had a spell or potion that could put it out. The fire only disappeared if the demon was slain, which was no easy task if it was powerful enough to create a ring of hellfire.

Taehyung felt himself automatically reach over to Eunji and run a hand over her back, confirming her presence. He could imagine how terrifying it was for Minho when his familiar was in such a position.

“By the time I killed him, Hwayoung was…” Minho paused and blinked back the surfacing tears. “All of her fur had been burnt off, and her skin was charred. She had the faintest heartbeat I’d ever heard and I felt such sick dread. I did what I could to keep her alive, but she didn’t improve even over many weeks.”

Taehyung’s heart clenched painfully in empathy. A witch’s familiar was an unimaginably important being in their lives, just as much as their packmates, but in a different way. He’s not sure how he would handle the grievance of losing Eunji if it ever happened. She meant a lot to him.

“I found myself wandering the country, just waiting for a miracle to happen really. And then it did,” Minho continued. “I made acquaintance with a much older witch, who told me about a place those who were desperate could go to pray. I didn’t really necessarily believe in any god or higher power, but I was willing to try anything at that point.” It was then that Minho paused in his words and looked at Taehyung and Yoongi with a serious expression. "The woman told me that I should keep the place a secret because if the location were to become known to someone with ill intentions, it would disappear forever."

“That’s why I couldn’t find anything about it,” Taehyung realized. “Anyone who does know is hesitant to talk.”

The older witch nodded with a smile. “I went to this place she spoke of, and I prayed for help. And then...the Dragon appeared. Just...out of nowhere. I was shocked, but I told him of my Hwayoung’s condition and he agreed to heal her if I brought her there. When I did, I watched him heal her like it was nothing. It was the most powerful display of magic that I’d ever seen before.”

Both Taehyung and Yoongi were surprised at the story, but not as unbelieving as they had been before. Minho appeared honest and genuine in his retelling, and in Taehyung’s mind, if Baekhyun trusted him, then he really didn’t have a reason not to trust him as well.

“That’s...incredible,” Yoongi managed out in awe.

“Do you…” Taehyung bit his lip. “Do you trust us enough to tell us where this place is? It seems like it’s the only chance for Hoseok-ssi to be healed.”

Minho took a minute to carefully look over both of them before he nodded. “I trust you. I will tell you the location, but I trust that you will keep it secret and not abuse it.”

Taehyung let out a long breath, some of the tension that had built up over the last few days easing away. “Thank you, Minho-ssi. You have no idea how much this means.”

The older witch’s smile turned into a teasing one. “Are you sure that this Hoseok-ssi is only a friend? The way you talk about him certainly makes him seem like more.”

“Maybe he will be,” Taehyung replied honestly. “But right now he is only a friend.”

Minho nodded. “Well, Baekhyun told me that you live near the Mysterious Forest, correct?”

Yoongi and Taehyung shared a confused look with each other but nodded in confirmation.

“If you wish to meet the Dragon, there is a waterfall deep within the woods of the Mysterious Forest where you can pray. I believe the place is an extension of himself, and if he believes your intentions, he will show himself to you.”

“The Mysterious Forest?” Yoongi exclaimed, his utter shock only barely held back. “Are you serious?”

“Very serious,” Minho replied earnestly. “Even though it is quite near to you, the waterfall is hidden very deep in the woods. He may ask you for something in return for his help. He asked me to eradicate a group of feral trolls over in Egypt.”

“We’ll do whatever he needs! Wow! I…” Taehyung struggled for the right words. “Thank you! Thank you, Minho-ssi. Thank you for trusting us with this information. Hoseok-ssi will be very happy to hear it, just like the rest of my packmates will be.”

Minho gave a mysterious sort of smile then, “Speaking of packmates, does one of them happen to be a young vampire?”

Yoongi straightened immediately, on alert. “Yes, why?”

The older witch huffed out a laugh and pointed behind Taehyung and Yoongi. The two of them quickly turned around and instantly spotted the familiar head of dark hair peeking out from behind a tree across the clearing in the park.

“Jeon Jungkook!” Yoongi called sternly, his resounding voice momentarily startling a human couple walking nearby. “Come over here!”

Demurely, Jungkook revealed himself and shuffled across the grass towards them, refusing to meet any of their eyes the entire way. He stopped next to Eunji and gave her a head rub in greeting. “H-Hi, hyungs.”

“Jeon Jungkook, what do you think you’re doing?” Yoongi chastised. “You know how dangerous it is for you to be out alone.”

Though the younger vampire obviously still felt bad for disobeying his sire, he stood firm and crossed his arms over his chest. A serious frown twisted his lips and made a furrow between his eyebrows. “Yet I didn’t kill anyone. No one’s been hurt and I feel completely in control.”

Yoongi sighed harshly through his nose, “How long have you been here?”

“The entire time,” Minho supplied. “He arrived with you but since he was hiding I assumed he was back up or something. Once I saw how terrible a job he was doing at hiding, I realized you might not have realized he was here.”

Jungkook’s frown turned into a prominent pout. “Was my hiding that bad? I thought I was being pretty sneaky.”

“Maybe you weren’t too bad,” Minho clarified with a gentle smile towards the young vampire. “But when you work as a hunter, you become more aware of your surroundings all the time. Work on using your other senses to eavesdrop so you don’t expose yourself by peeking around trees so much.”

“You really feel completely in control right now, Kook-ah?” Yoongi asked.

Jungkook nodded, “I was going to turn back and head home the second I felt any bloodlust but I never did.”

“That’s rather impressive, Kookie.” Taehyung complimented. “I’m proud of you.”

While Jungkook blushed and grinned at the praise, Yoongi narrowed his eyes in Taehyung’s direction. “You knew he was there the whole time, didn’t you?”

Taehyung shook his head in denial, “No, I didn’t know. Though I had an inkling he might follow us this morning.”

Yoongi turned back to Jungkook with a sigh but a softer look in his eyes. “Even though what you did was risky, I’m proud of you too, Kook. I’m sorry that I underestimated you.”

“I forgive you,” the younger vampire replied. “I know you’re just being overprotective. I remember when I was a human, we would call people like you a helicopter parent.”

“Yah!” Yoongi exclaimed, his normally pretty calm expression twisting up in disgust. “You’re my boyfriend, please don’t refer to me as your parent!”

Jungkook’s smile became mischievous and he rebutted, “You always seem to like it when I call you Daddy, though.”

Minho broke down in full on laughter across the table and Taehyung giggled along, highkey proud of Jungkook’s confident teasing. Yoongi, on the other hand, sputtered out incomprehensively and blushed a color that obviously contrasted the rest of his pale skin.

Along with the good news of a real possibility of healing Hoseok, the moment lightened the atmosphere that had been so cautious to begin with. Taehyung looked at Hwayoung now sharing her branch of berries with Eunji and the smug smirk on Jungkook’s face, and he felt like maybe - just maybe - everything was going to be okay.

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The sound of the book falling out of his hand and hitting the desk is what startles Namjoon back awake. He realized that he had been falling asleep while reading as he’d had a difficult time sleeping the night before. He was overwhelmed with anxiety as he pondered Hoseok’s - his packmate’s - fate.

The shapeshifter sighed and dropped the book onto the table after he bookmarked it. He stood up from the chair in the library and stretched out his arms and legs. On his way to the kitchen to get some water to quench his thirst, Namjoon stopped by Jungkook’s room. The door muffled the sounds coming from inside, but it was clearly some kind of war video game the young vampire was playing.

Namjoon didn’t bother knocking on the door and simply opened it, though he did so cautiously as he knew that Jungkook was still bummed from earlier that morning. “Hey, Kook-ah, have you eaten anyth-”

No one was inside. Namjoon took in the empty chair Jungkook always sat in when he played video games in his room, the television playing the start menu - accompanied by sound effects and gunfire like in the game - over and over again, and finally looked at the curtains blowing gently in the wind that came in through the fully opened window.

Namjoon pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers as he realized what had most likely happened. “Jeon Jungkook, you are in trouble!”

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A/N: Comments and kudos really help me to stay motivated to write, so leave one if you enjoyed the chapter. See you on Joon's birthday with the next chapter!

[rayarmat]

Fun in Snow and The Road Not Taken: Money-Time Trade-off For Happiness is Not  Linear

I often hear middle- or high-income friends and family members complain about being overworked and not having enough “time” for fun and relaxation. I think their logic is flawed because of their basic misunderstanding of the relation between “time/quantity” and “experiential/quality” of life. On a snowy day like yesterday, for example, many people were aggrieved at having to work indoors and missing the perfect sunny day outdoors, which my family and I used for downhill sledding (as shared in the pictures and video).

Often when I ask people trapped indoors why they can’t they take a half day off to enjoy the snow, they would say they have used up their vacations or time offs and cannot take an “unpaid” leave. When I ask them how they used up all the “paid time off” they often mention some costly or elaborate activity or high expenses of life. The question is why not enjoy breaks in life in smaller, lower cost doses? or even lower our baselines of expectations in life so we can live at a lower cost? It is all rooted in the circuitry of human brains.

The Addictive Reward Seeking Circuits in Human Brains: Dopamine, The “Never-Enough” Hormone 

For example, one of my former coworkers once spent $3000 on a week-long vacation to a ski resort. That was about two weeks of take-home pay for him and his wife (after tax) and about ONE YEAR of his family’s (after-tax) savings. That also used up half of his annual vacation time. Another person I know, would spend a major part of her time-off from her well-paying but grueling (indoor) job, inside shopping malls (indoors again) to shop for designer items like expensive snow boots or triple goose down winter jackets to keep her feet and body “perfectly” warm for up to 8 hours “if and when” that rare occasion arises that she can finally take the hard-earned vacation to enjoy the snow outdoors. When that ephemeral moment of joy finally arrives to enjoy life in full gear - arctic boots, jackets, Ray-Ban sunglasses and all - she would spend, like the fellow in the first example, hours driving or flying to a costly ski resort plus a good bit of her hard-earned savings and time off on a vacation which often turns out somewhat disappointing and not as dreamy or enjoyable as her perfectionist mind had imagined or planned (spent) for. Occasional head aches or back pains, stressful travel, imperfect weather, residual work stress and and the anxiety of returning to her indoors grueling job make the fleeting vacation a lot like caffeine rush and crash, high expectations and fleeting pleasure followed by disappointment and fatigue. The superwarm jacket and arctic boots now have to be stowed away in a large, very large, closet (in a large house with a high mortgage), next to other once or twice a year used items, all paid for by her, toiling away at a tiresome job.

The brain circuits pushing humans to these cycles of “rush and crash” are often controlled by a hormone called dopamine, the “not-enough” hormone involved in pleasure, reward, learning, motivation and novelty. Basically without this hormone we would not be motivated to “explore” but with too much of it we end up on slippery slopes and addictive cycles of seeking more novelties and new highs (My book will explain the mechanisms in more detail). Basically the “rush” phase of the cycle results from elevated baselines of pleasure expectation (dopaminergic reward seeking circuits in the brain) followed by a “crash” phase caused by negative prediction-errors, i.e., the experience being a lot less rewarding than imagined (hence a sharp depletion of dopaminergic energy, drive and motivation). Over time, these cycles are associated with dependence and withdrawal, the clinical hallmarks of addictive behavior. That is why the new volume of American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) now lists several new conditions such as hoarding disorder, internet gaming disorder and caffeine use disorder as psychiatric disorders or conditions recommended for further research because of their addictive nature.

The way out of these cycles is to:

1) Understand the real “reward” is the experience of joy with minimal expectations, and the real “cost” is the amount of life (work) exchanged for that joy.

2) Set our “reward” expectation baselines and set points, as well as our “cost” baselines, at low manageable levels and in small doses over time.

That is why my family and I take a different “low-cost” path to relaxation, but it needs flexibility:

1) We do not wait for the perfect week-long vacation to travel to a remote fancy resort: This allows us to be flexible and take advantage of smaller windows, 2-3 hours at a time, of great weather.

2) We enjoy taxpayer funded local natural preserves or state and public parks that are lesser known, often free and not that busy. Many are within an hour drive from our house so there is no need to spend a lot of time and money in transit, lodging, restaurant food, etc.

3) We do not wait to buy nice arctic jackets and boots because we do not need all of that on a 2-hour sledding window. Normal boots and jackets will do.

4) We do not think too much about the opportunity cost of our time (see next section). Any income we lose from not working for a few hours is offset by the money we save in staying local and flexible with our relaxation windows.

In short, we find Robert Frost very wise in The Road Not Taken: 

“I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

***************************** 

On The Opportunity Cost of Time and Experiential Value of Life

“It is one of those days that even my second pot of coffee is not helping!” This and many similar posts I see every day on social media signal to me a state of “fatigue”and grievance among people. But the grievance is misplaced and rooted in the way people unknowingly base their own life’s value system on the economic model first proposed by Adam Smith to quantify and allocate labor and capital resources in the new age of capitalism. Prior to that, (excess) labor, capital and know-how were not mobile or widely available to create the large-scale powerful machinery, factories and markets that capitalism created.

In Adam Smith's capitalism, a person’s unit of time (labor) is valued and quantified for the labor and productivity of that person in that unit of time. Unfortunately, many people have now adopted this market valuation of hourly labor (salary) as the baseline of how they “value” their own time and life’s worth. Their mix up experiential value of life (joy of living) with the exchange value of their time and labor. Therefore, many people now subconsciously evaluate any experience in their life (units of time on this planet) as a “cost” or what economists call an “opportunity cost,” the market value of their time.

For example, a nurse whose time is valued by the medical market at $30 an hour, would be programmed to think of an 8-hour block of her job, life and even vacation opportunities at about $240 (in lost income opportunity or opportunity cost). After all, if she had to take an unpaid day off for fun or any task or life experience, she would lose about $240. A medical doctor making about three times as much as the nurse, would value his or her time in life at a rate of $720 per 8 hours. That is why with time-consuming chores such as mowing the lawn, or taking care of an elderly parent, it is more likely that the doctor, and not the nurse, would hire help. This is because the opportunity cost (i.e., forfeited income) for the nurse, of “not” getting paid for hospital work while nursing an elderly parent at home, is less than her cost of paying someone else to nurse her parent so sh/he would nurse the parent herself. For the doctor, however, the economic calculus is very different. He comes out way ahead in terms of the opportunity cost if he can work on that day (make $720) or not use a paid vacation and instead pay someone about $240 to nurse the elderly parent or $100 to landscape and manicure his lawn.

The problem of “rush and crush” explained in the first part of the article occurs because many humans now equate ANY reward expectations in life (and dopamine baselines) with income and opportunity cost of their time (labor) in the market. Yet life’s “experiential value” cannot be quantified with market “exchange value.” For starters, there are no taxes on the joy of life (not yet). Also, how could anyone assign value to what we learn or feel through our life experiences? To the peace and health that comes with a joyful anxiety-free life?

Although some evolutionary scientists call modern human species as Homo Economicus, the economically calculating human species, Money-time trade-off for happiness is not linear. If it was, rich folks would never have to pay for love, get depressed, addicted or suicidal in an economic utilitarian system.

Our brain circuits (including those of the rich folks) have not evolved to curb our enthusiasm, excess and high reward expectation baselines. So we are prone to being regulated and controlled by the addictive “never-enough” hormone (dopamine) when we are driven by competition to set increasingly high expectations proportional to the exchange value (opportunity cost) of our time even when it comes to life outside work. This is why many people follow and worship folks who have higher (income/reward/dopamine) baselines than theirs because they equate value of a life to the exchange (market) value of that person’s time. 

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

I have learned to set modest reward expectation baselines so I do not have to measure life experiences (vital to my quality of life such as health and peace) against the exchange market value of my time (i.e., labor). For example, the opportunity cost for my two hours of sledding would be around $200 in a competitive world. But that number is now totally irrelevant to me as long as I am able to feed and house my family. Honestly, how can anyone “quantify” a “qualitative” life experience which is conducive to our health and peace? How could I even assign a market exchange (dollar) value to the joy of sledding downhill on a sunny afternoon with my family? Is it worth the $200 I lost in income (if I competed against my equals in capitalism)? or slightly more or less? Does it even matter as long as it exceeded my modest and humble expectation for a happy afternoon and dopamine baselines moderated by contentment (the hormone involved here is serotonin, which is a topic of another article). 

Perhaps nobody can summarize this article better than Jose’ Mujica, Uruguay’s former farmer President, who stepped down voluntarily after one term to attend to his flower gardens: “When you buy something, you are not paying for it with money. You’re paying with the hours of life you had to spend earning that money. The difference is that life is one thing money can’t buy.”

[astroismypassion]

Hi I'm the June 17th birthday. I couldn't respond to your message on Kofi but I am totally fine with you putting my reading on your blog. Thank you for doing your best to work around the messages issue!

Hi!

Thank you for buying me this delicious hot beverage. I drank irish cream black coffee with rice milk while writing your interpretation. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I did writing! I listened to some old George Ezra while writing. ;)

Your dominant planets are: 1. Sun, 2. Jupiter and 3. Pluto. Your dominant signs are: 1. Scorpio, 2. Gemini and 3. Leo. Your main mode is Fixed. You are Water dominant.

FAMILY, SIBLINGS, EARLY LIFE

You have Aquarius IC. You had an unconventional, unique upbringing. Your 4th house is in Aquarius and Pisces. You like to play on your own. Or you created an imaginary world for yourself. Or you could have escaped through music, arts, TV series or film. You were sheltered from what was really going on around you. You might have a hard time establishing healthy boundaries with your family members. They seem to completely merge with you and rely on you emotionally or be completely cold and detached. There were many traditions and superstitions in your family that might have been passed down through generations. If you have any siblings, they are Capricorn, Aquarius or Pisces. In your elementary and high school years you might have been drawing a lot during classes you didn’t find stimulating. Or you daydream often. You were a mature and responsible student. You seemed a lot older than your peers. You might have viewed your schoolmates as weird sometimes, but they viewed you the same back. You might have often asked yourself if you’re the “weird one” or they are. You have Uranus in the 4th house. You may have changed residence or moved around often, even change schools. There were a lot of unpredictable, sudden changes and events in your early life that were hard to control (and to grasp). You have Sun square Moon. Your mother and father have different personalities and traits. They did not agree on the parenting style, how to raise you. They might have had different views. You have Sun conjunct Mercury. Your father emphasized the importance of communication or that you keep good relations with your siblings. This is also a writer’s placements! You can flatter or cut deep with words. You know how to appeal through words and find exactly the right words. You can sometimes think you “feel” words, because some words would be funny to you or have a “weird” sound to it. You might visualize a lot in your mind. Words, think in imagery and pictures and you have a strong, vivid imagination. You have Sun conjunct Mars. He probably met your open emotional expression with resistance.

PARTNERSHIPS AND FRIENDSHIPS Your friends are Pisces, Aries, Cancer, Sagittarius, Libra and Virgo. In your romantic relationships you attract Taurus, Gemini, Leo, Virgo and Aries. You have Taurus Venus in the 7th house. You desire, respect and value (also attract) stable, loyal, stubborn, highly opinionated people. Those who like to debate with you. People that have “go to” phrases and are polite, kind, have good manners. You might easily sense fragile egos, self esteem and weak points of other people. You have Gemini Mars in the 8th house. This is how you take action. How you approach your crush. You like to play mind games a bit, use a bit of world play and double entendre. You like to know everything about them and how their mind works. You wonder how they are thinking, what their thought process is. You like to have shared learning experiences with potential partners or dates where you go to an escape room or take a cooking class together and learn a new skill. You like to constantly evolve, expand and regenerate. You need a mental connection and great mental rapport to introduce physical intimacy into a relationship. You have Aries Moon in the 5th house. You have the potential of a serial dater. You need some passion, excitement and playful energy to get the connection started. But even in the early stages of your love affairs, you need a great deal of emotional comfort. You have to feel safe and secure around the person, like they are your family already. You know what you like and you might cut off people instantly when you notice red flags or just something that you don’t like. You know you can’t save people, so you understand the person needs to help themselves first. Otherwise, they would become another one of your problems. You have Venus sextile Jupiter. You might be very generous when you’re in love. You like to spoil your partner and take them out for dinner often. You might be over generous or over loving. With you money, time, affection, attention, praise and compliments. You have Venus square Uranus. You might like some odd, quirky, hard to figure of people. You are fascinated by those. You might have a long distance relationship at some point. Or you could date your friends or online date. You might even have a platonic connection with someone before it being romantic. You have Venus trine Neptune. You might idealize your partner or they do that to you. You might view them through rose tinted glasses. You are attracted to musicians, artists, singers, creators and people who play instruments.

CAREER, PROFESSIONAL LIFE, PUBLIC IMAGE

You have Pluto in the 2nd house. You fear poverty, homelessness and being hungry. You are very private when it comes to your financial matters. You don’t discuss it openly or ever. It’s a weird topic for you. Sometimes you fear it, it’s like you’re scared of what it can do. You are very passionate about gaining financial stability. Sometimes your dreams scare you or you might think “too big” or see just the bigger picture and forget to focus on the now as well. You have Sagittarius and Capricorn over your 2nd house. You might be over indulgent and flashy when you have money to spend. But with Capricorn there you also work hard for it. You have Leo MC. You might gain recognition for your accomplishments. You could also be attracted to film, theatre, drama, modelling. Or politics, governmental jobs, administration. Even publishing, media, public relations and public affairs. You could be a representative for a company. You might like to post on your social media. But you perfect your image, caption and you check for grammar errors. You like to be seen as creative, funny, healthy, bright and hard working. You have Virgo North Node in the 10th house. This indicates your life purpose. In this lifetime you are called to organise, to establish healthy boundaries with others, routine, daily habits. To take care of your daily duties, responsibilities, your health and even your pets if you have any. If you don’t. You’d benefit from owning a pet greatly, so that it calms down your Virgo mental restlessness. You could work in accounting, counselling, therapy, even health fields, such as nutrition, dietetics, nursing etc. You could be interested in physical and mental wellbeing. You could be into fitness and wellness. You might like communication, publishing, bookkeeping or even library work. You could use your keen eye for details. You have Leo and Virgo over your 10th house. You will shine and be in the spotlight, yet you’ll have to learn humility as well. Sometimes you might feel underappreciated or undervalued by authority figures, such as your parents, mentors, teachers, bosses. You might feel like you are putting much more effort in your responsibilities and work than you get credit for it. You have Aries and Taurus over the 6th house. This means you like a stable job, because it means stable income (Taurus in the 6th, Capricorn in the 2nd). But at some point in your life, you might desire to be your own boss, be self employed or become a businessperson, since it gives you the freedom of expression, expansion you value (Aries in the 6th house, Sagittarius in the 2nd house). You might even do something athletic or sporty daily or even as a part of your job! You have Cancer Mercury in the 8th house. You need to communicate a lot with your intimate partners. You like to think about your family, siblings, your home, your comforts and safety. You like talking about deep, occult and taboo topics. You might entertain the idea of conspiracy theories as well. You have an excellent memory. You can remember scents, colours, how people made you feel like no other. You have a long term memory. You have Mercury square Jupiter. Sometimes you might be a bit judgemental or be prone to overthinking and overanalyzing. You might also read between the lines. You have Mercury sextile Saturn. You have great power and focus to concentrate for long periods of time when you have a tunnel vision.

ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS

You have Pluto, Jupiter and Saturn currently transiting your 3rd house. You might spend more time alone and less with your friends, siblings and family members. You might have to work hard daily or commute to another city for work or just travel daily to a different part of the city. You might reevaluate and reconsider, rethink and transform your attitude to the local community, neighbourhood, city, to your siblings, peers, schoolmates. You might meet some new people, some new friends too, when Jupiter enters the scene since it’s a one and a half to two years long transit. You have Scorpio Chiron in the 1st house. You might not like your own name, or there is a visible spot, mark on your face, body that you don’t like. Or you could have been picked on by others for that. You might not like your physical appearance and you’re self conscious about it. You often nit pick it. At some point in life you might have had an identity crisis or just really doubted your personality, ego, self worth, character and traits. You might have been bullied or the power was taken away from you. You often felt powerless. Or scared of your own potential and power. You have Taurus Ceres in the 7th house. This represents how you wish to be nurtured and how you nurture others. You like to cook for them, buy them food, share meals with them and buy them little gifts. You like to listen to them. You might be a therapist for many. I’m sure you received compliments as “you’d be an excellent therapist”. You might empathize with them and really try to understand the other’s perspective and where they are coming from. You like to put yourself in others' shoes. You have Virgo Juno in the 11th house. This indicted your “ideal soulmate”, ideal partner, be it platonic or romantic. You like someone friendly, intelligent, who isn’t afraid to discuss social issues, society and question it all. You like someone who is clean, smells nice and grooms themselves. You like platonic, friendly connections at first. You need a lot of mental simulation. You have Libra Lilith in the 12th house. You might have been accused that you lack ambition. But you just don’t like competition that much or participation in the rat race. You value the inner core and being. You have rich inner workings. You have Leo Part of Fortune in the 9th house. This is where you experience good luck and charm. You might be praised for your views, beliefs, opinions on life. How you choose to constantly expand your horizons. You are at your happiest when you travel, even when you get lost in a good book, TV series or a foreign film. You like to constantly learn something new and you’ll be a life long student.

CHART RULER

Your chart ruler is Pluto. The chart ruler of the 1st house is in the 2nd house. Your ego is directly tied to your self worth, financial status, your talents. You might develop your personality, character, ego, self esteem through 2nd house topics, such as working on your talents and pursuing new skills, earning money and becoming financially independent, self care and developing your own set of values.

HOUSE RULERS

The house ruler of the 1st house is in the 2nd house. The way you look depends on your self-esteem. Life is oriented to discovering personal values and creating self-esteem. Appearance is a source of security issues. The house ruler of the 2nd house is in the 5th house. You use your money for artistic projects. You are possessive of creative projects. Financial security depends upon your personal creativity. The house ruler of the 3rd house is in the 6th house. Daily conversation revolves around work and health. Your mind is oriented to daily life. Thoughts are oriented to daily routine and work. You are curious about diet and nutrition. You have an efficient mind. You take information and organize it. You have an actively curious mind. The house ruler of the 4th house is in the 4th house. You want a home of your own. Private time is spent with family. Home and family bring up strong core feelings, for better or worse. You want a family for the sake of having a family. The house ruler of the 5th house is in the 3rd house. Creative talents and gifts are hidden. Hobbies revolve around the taboo or occult. The house ruler of the 6th house is in the 8th house. The daily work environment must serve your need to form deep relationships. You use your knowledge of diet, nutrition and exercise to help other people transform. You want an intense work environment. The house ruler of the 7th house is in the 7th house. The partner needs to be willing negotiate and cooperate with you. Marriage partners are business partners, business partners are marriage partners. You want to be with someone who is cooperative. You want a partner who is a good negotiator. The house ruler of the 8th house is in the 8th house. You enter sexual relationships for sex. You get emotionally entangled with other people to form deep connections. Your attitude to life and death affects your ability to deeply connect with other people. The house ruler of the 9th house is in the 5th house. You are philosophical about the way you raise children. You find meaning through the creative arts. You like to take romantic getaways. You enjoy the artistic expression of other cultures. Traveling is for leisure and pleasure. The house ruler of the 10th house is in the 8th house. You bring a professional approach to depth psychology. You find your true vocation by exploring occult subjects. Your career revolves around the need for intensity of experience. Your career involves working with other people’s emotional baggage. Your true vocation involves depth interactions with other people. You achieve recognition as a researcher. You receive awards for your work with people on the fringe of society. The house ruler of the 11th house is in the 8th house. You associate with people who are involved in the occult. Your friends have emotional baggage. You keep your group involvements hidden. You don’t talk about your long term hopes and wishes. The house ruler of the 12th house is in the 7th house. Your partner desires to escape from reality as much as you do. You lose your boundaries when it comes to significant relationships. Your grief and sorrow affect your relationships. The desire to escape reality affects your ability to maintain a serious relationship.

[deathghost8]

Harm reduction script essay compiled

1- “TLDR” (I wrote the book that will save the world)

2- ancap math 101 : Purchasers and fulfillers

3- #MATH politics : Harm reduction education platform overview

1 Innovation: Viable Tech in a social organism)

(I wrote the book on saving this social organism, it is 3 pages long.)

Pages 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣

1️⃣ • Social order is a circle. []

our agreement of what is valued is : that which flows back into the organism, if it does not, we cannot place value on it -

Look, What goes out is our waste: Poop. 💩What flows in and circulates is our life blood. ⭕️

any attempted systematized defiance of the circle constitutes a tumor or a heart attack. Some type of unholy disease which kills the organism. In today’s tech feudalism that’s called Net Worth, or influencers. 🤑

Technologically civilized would mean that the emergent wealth of the organism flows from the top end of total aggregate productivity (value generated) back to the beginning in an automatic credit type of way, such that no individual beneficiary is raised above others, and no individual sponsor or authority point is held responsible or given control of this flow. This would be the invention of decentralized money, the Viable Tech connecting all other viable tech to all beneficiaries, effectively employing the meaning of innovation to reduce or totally eliminate labor/overhead / cost to human wellbeing and the enjoyment of wealth produced by the organism as a whole.

2️⃣ • Ya cannot govern by Ruling, ya Dingus!! []

Automating the purchase of the basic minimum in food and wellbeing commerce on behalf of the entire population is the means by which tech feudalism converts into technologically civilized, because the only authority that doesn’t kill the organism is that of the combined emergence of the V O L U N T A R Y spending decisions of all the sovereign individuals.

(For yer health!!)

~Purchase on behalf of~

Is the bridge tech to the full decentralization system, because you need to retain the aspect of voluntary purchasing by individuals, who then select and continue to sustain the winners in the innovation contest whose offering is widely adopted because it’s the most optimal and wins at reducing cost and overhead.

Thus, we see that it is pure ancap : a means of total divorce from the harmful entanglement of authority and status attainment institutions like government and corporation - a simple payment to every citizen to purchase their wellbeing voluntarily, sponsoring the winners in that contest via the auto refilling minimum income credit app (like bill pulte sending everyone 1337$ every month on their cash app).

3️⃣ •We held these truths to be self evident - The income floor is like tokens to vote via purchase, but simultaneously a gesture of wellbeing toward all those who have been harmed by state tyranny, domestic violence , corporate rigging (monopsony, gouging, monopoly, theft, etc) or any kind of oppression - Of course, As any good democracy Which eliminates poverty and guarantees life liberty and the pursuit of happiness should do.

The actions of a truly free populace will then fund whatever else can or should exist in such a free society, because healthy humans who aren’t exhausted , depleted , and diseased are creative and industrious. Here you have a next generation society that invents itself. It starts with the decentralization of money so that democracy begins to flow in the commerce itself.

22 - technological civility

🔄 Inclusion pricing / inclusion model -

Let me mathematically discuss The next human innovation equation

First of all, social order definitions.

We are calculating social order where we have eliminated boss tyranny and installed voluntary transacting as the basic motion.

(The lack of doing so is how economy runs now, full of tyranny and abuse, and distraction politics with illusory division. )

Doing so will Philanthropize value between

Purchaser & Fulfiller.

- the worker and the beneficiary of work both need to capture most, ( ifnot 100% ) of the value within that TRANSACTION

Fulfillers provides any needed function or item to the social organism.

Purchasers are the VOTE PLACERS.

|| Anything that harms or suppresses the social organism can not qualify under the fulfiller. It has to be actual value.

This is democracy of nature - the organism’s emergent intelligence describes:

✨ what is positively valued:

* either vital or desired,

* Or just an optional luxury

💩 What is value minus:

* either simply inefficient (ie obsolete or archaic)

* OR worthless, harmful, or toxic

Inclusion model is the basic exertion of educational value - the human GAin of wellness and growth, taking place of itself, voluntary.

(Educational value is what is expressed by the basic principle about zen:

calm wellbeing in the present now, uninfringed by illusion or coercion.)

Instead of not allowing non paying users to come in, you use advertising and other mechanisms which sponsor them, to avoid excluding.

That is what the Viable Tech of decentralized money can and will do. Enable the democracy of nature by the principle of wu wei.

↘️⭕️↘️ Meta conclusion / sharp rectangle punchline

-

the wealthy innovators or influencers that currently hold Potential energy are responsible for continuously accumulating opportunity cost - if they were to view the emergent intelligence of the social organism somehow, with leader vision, they would circulate the **necessary amount** to fund work at the the bottom, by sponsoring purchasers to create the work for fulfillers.

Emergence is the technological democracy replacement for a representative system that was made obsolete when communication faster than the horse carried letter - instant electronic messaging - came forth.

333

[][][] So Then,

Now [][][]

(Interlude - there is another joker - sets up the monastery value)

() The monastery idea flows into and within the harm reduction platform and is a necessary piece of monk education as a structure of my mind, my deepest heart.

Monastery is Harm Reduction because if money were no object I would open them everywhere and hire other monks to run it with me

() the real purpose is to offer a place that is not tied down by commercial / profitability burden, nor public funding approval.

There was a time that Kanye tried to start a shoes gifting program, but what he should have done was open monasteries, the maximum adequacy 3rd place.

I want to create the space for Leaving this social contract as the main function of my business. 🚪🃏 My business is people’s wellbeing.

👁‍🗨The joker sees through all pairs of eyes - but there is another joker. The warrior

[image transition here:

there is another joker

🚪👁‍🗨🃏

the warrior is the joker

The joker is the tank

The tank is the monk

The monk is at the top

Battling

[image transition back]

He battles every boss, taking Aggro and defending the young and the vulnerable, leading the group, so that the newer ones may learn and get xp

And this monastery is the warrior’s house of gathering.

The base.

What school actually means. The warrior’s house.

STANLEY [the LOVE SAMURAI]

lives there.

In regular reality the Love samurai is a joke in the Raphael level

Of Stanley parable.

In my game, the love samurai is the joker. He is me.

Education monk.

Monastery is the warrior’s house, the place where no nazi infringement is allowed to take away our wellbeing or our free will.

Harm reduction is critical, vital, and sharply precise with intent.

It is abstract, but unambiguous comprised of a few separate but inseparable policy values.

first understand the Nucleus values :

* wellbeing / healing

&

* curiosity / sovereignty

1️⃣ Decriminalization - remove policing against medicinal and educational action / tools. This item resonates by the recent cultural movements to decriminalize federal cannabis and psychedelics, (plus all types of sex work and human interaction for the purpose of wellbeing) and most recently the public outcry to defund policing.

This item is an essential modification to the social contract. We need to be allowed to grow up, and make decisions; with no one standing over the shoulder saying we are wrong. That cannot be tolerated anymore. It’s just too much. It’s too violent. It’s too oppressive. We’re done with it.

2️⃣ decentralization. FUND wellbeing directly

To children and their guardians as valued individually-owned Work. This is an income floor policy. Its true meaning is that there can be no outside boss who could fire you or in any other way withhold the funding.

Because- they aren’t the stake holder. You are, on behalf - your kids are.

We will have decentralized this by letting it be funded at the very bottom of social order, at the purchase level, recognizing that the best purchase will always be made by the individual.

With democracy, That is the liberty we believe in. It’s time we started acting like it.

3️⃣ infrastructural - 3rd places that kids may be kids and Peace is the purpose. All are invited. It is not for sale. Very very simple, common sense for the type of spaces we want to have in a CIVILIZED social order.

I’m Not saying don’t have a public building that is the school. I’m saying don’t have it be an authoritarian Hell , a part time jail with bosses and grading, and de-individualization.

So To have it at all, you need to make it both voluntary and useful. So that children and families may use the resources in support of their kids’ curiosity.

Real TLDR distilled conclusion:

My task as monk educator:

UNPLUG us

from Use of Force Matrix

which demands we emulate coercion

And then PLUG us back In Again

But into the Celebration and Sharing Matrix this time.

Disconnection is the illness -

- Use of Force is the illness

Contact is the medicine []

[] Sharing is the medicine

⭕️

How to contact ?

Celebration

How to Share?

Crafting

🔛

👁‍🗨

Wellbeing (means of doing: healing)

Sovereignty (means of doing: curiosity / question pathing [quests] )

[retro-rudy]

Logic- No Pressure Album Review

In summation of Logic's career, the foremost qualities that can’t go unnoticed is the dedication, respect and admiration the man has always had for the art of hip-hop. From the beginning, dating back to his Young Sinatra mix-tape series, in an era where trap beats were overtaking hip-hop, Logic arrived as a breath of fresh air with his conscious driven lyrics and entertaining flow, fueled by the boom-bap style he enjoyed from earlier influences such as Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, and Mos Def. Logic lived up to the hype and expectations by delivering a successful debut album and painting a promising future, in which, considering how the industry measures success, Logic went onto surpass by reaching the heights of mainstream play and various award nominations with his next 2 studio albums. Amid the commercial success came the broader spotlight, the very one that emphasized his every move, and drew fluctuated criticism to an all-time high for the Maryland emcee. The challenges for Logic however were not the subjective opinions people had towards his music, but rather stemmed from the more personal jokes, memes, and the non-music related opinions that seemed to overshadow the music he was creating for audiences. In 2019, these unfortunate circumstances led Logic to step away from music and social media for some time with no public explanation to the reasoning of his hiatus. That was until the ever so unpredictable 2020 saw Logic emerge with a staggering album announcement accompanied by an unexpected retirement announcement.

Logic, returned in 2020 as many anticipated, with his 7th and final studio album, No Pressure. The joint announcement of album date and retirement came on July 16th, just one week before the set album release date. While the announcement was abrupt and left many with lingering questions, the 1 week wait would eventually lead fans to the clear reasoning of his decision through No Pressure’s foundation of honest and convincing lyrics.

Right out of the gates, Logic sets the tone and premise of the direction he will take the album on the opening track, No Pressure Intro. Logic applies audio from the famous Orson Wells “The Hitchhiker” introduction, which Logic chops and edits perfectly to bring us into the album. Within the edits, Logic cites No I.D and The Incredible True Story to give the intro a fun twist that adds the thematic touch many have grown accustomed to in Logic’s discography. The fundamentally ear-hitting boom-bap beat produced by NO I.D could not have been curated any better for Logic on the opener. Logic and the instrumental go hand in hand as he delivers bar after bar for over a minute and a half before reaching an abrupt interruption that catapults you into the next track. “B*tch I’m too alive, like twins in a womb, come hither, consume” and “But it cost a fee to be the boss it cost to be, over possessions like an apostrophe.” are some of the more standout bars on this intro.

           On No Pressure, Logic’s overall mood comes off positive, natural, motivated and unforced which benefits each song on this record in its own way. On songs such as Hit My Line, Celebration, and Amen, Logic’s unhinged and unpressed mind state injects everlasting life and validation to the long peace, love and positivity advocate. Logic’s comfort with his current-self shines through on Hit My Line with a confident, worry-free chorus and candid verses as he persuasively calls on god for a fixing of humanity. Logic’s positive drive has been a stapled message within his raps since the beginning of his career and the messaged remains well intact on Hit My Line and the entirety of this project. The confidence he shows when he says, “They say they don’t want messages in rap, it ruins the art. Well here I am people, yeah, now tear me apart.” further endorses his attempt of leaving it all out for this record with no regrets. Even on the track, Celebration, where Logic taps into his braggadocio side of rap to pen out the worry-free mindset he now has and how there is nothing for him to prove to anyone, you can hear the freeing mentality he has as he spits:

“It’s been a minute now; my style is feeling infinite now. Used to people pulling me down, it ain’t shit to me now. Don’t let it get to me now: threw out my phone, they can’t get to me now.”

These tracks dwell on a cheerful and flamboyant tempo that Logic ceases throughout the entirety of the tracks. The same can be said for songs like Dadbod, Perfect, and 5 Hooks, that show versatility in terms of beat choices and the ability of Logic to naturally execute each varying flow that comes off as effortlessly in this stage of his career.

           Meshed in with the collection of the more upbeat and elated-expressive tracks, Logic sprinkles in tracks built off well executed hip-hop samples that serve up a heavier dose of conscious articulated bars. Dating back to the Young Sinatra mix-tapes, Logic has never been shy to wear his influences on his sleeve, and tracks like GP4 and Man i is prove this to the be the case in present day. GP4, a nostalgic tie-in with Logic’s Growing Pains’ song collection, which we last heard on Under Pressure, contains a sample constructed from OutKasts’ Elevators song from ATLiens. Given the track record of various and well-respected hip-hop samples Logic has placed on each of the Growing Pains’ tracks, this one fits cohesively with the bunch. Much like the previous Growing Pains’, Logic leans on his story telling to paint witty and mental pictures of a variety of thoughts floating in his mind. From adolescent memories, to admitting his once determination of becoming the greatest rapper alive now being inessential, Logic goes onto acknowledge how the greatest rapper alive might not even be rapping and is instead stacking groceries at an ordinary 9 to 5 with no care in the world, resembling much how Logic feels at this point in his career. On Man i is, Logic’s maturity and growth flourishes among the inspired instrumental created out of an iconic mashup consisting of OutKasts’ SpottieOttieDopaliscious, Tarika Blues’ Dreamflower, DJ Screw and Pimp C. Logic self-reflects as he looks back on where he came from and what he endured, to which through it all has led him to this point in life where he can confidently say he is sincerely proud of the man he has become. In hip-hop it’s made well-aware that high expectations are to be met when paying homage to classics and Logic absolutely fulfills the task on this one in a form that without a doubt places Man i is among the most prominent tracks within his discography. Open Mic\\Aquarius III keeps Logic on the lyrical prowess and serves as a bridge for fans to connect with the bar for bar artillery the emcee has long had. The beat switch that takes place in this track is superb with the pure hip-hop cypher sound of Open Mic interestingly transitioning into the more jazzy and mellow Aquarius III. The high-volume of bars continues immediately on the following track, Soul Food II. The deserving sequel to one of Logic’s held in high regards track off his debut album Under Pressure. Logic retains the format of spitting a series of bars as he did in the original Soul Food. It’s warming and evident to hear the growth in both, his mentality as a human and abilities of his craft as an artist when you hear both songs in sequential order. In Soul Food II, mentally, Logic remains as humble and passionate as ever while sonically the tone and delivery of his raps resonate with the listener enough to have them capture and break down his every word. This along with the metaphors within this song is what prompts Soul Food II to standout on its own and give its predecessor a run for its money, and dare I say, maybe even edge out the original.

           On the last leg of the album is where I find Logic taking the listener towards the conclusion of the album on a pure, passion driven energy specifically due to the openness of Dark Place, and the spiritually motivating Heard Em Say. Dark Place is the first of its kind for the emcee as it is by far the most personal track Logic has ever released. While Logic has been open about personal situations before, it has never been to the degree and sentiment he lets out on the track. What was meant to remain an unreleased and personal track shares a transparent view of his feelings regarding the real toll the amount of negativity and criticism took on his mental state.

“Writin’ rhymes was easy before the fame. Now I’m constantly overthinkin’ every line, it’s a shame. Rap used to fill me with joy, now it’s nothin’ but pain. I’m stuck in the game, tryna get back from where I came.”

 The entire song contains some of Logic’s most honest and heart-breaking lyrics that transport you directly to the most difficult year he experienced as a mainstream artist. “I’d love to end this on some positive shit. Hit you with punchlines instead of some derogative shit, but it’s okay to be sad sometimes and tired of shit.. I guess.” Logic becomes as relatable to the listener as ever with his sincerity on here. And while the song might show vulnerability, it’s okay. In the end the fan and artist label are irrelevant compared to the human label we all fall under. Another evident example of the earnest connection between Logic and his Rattpack. Fittingly so, the best in my opinion is saved for last. Heard Em Say easily ranks in the top 5 of Logic's entire released discography for me. From self-producing the song, to writing one of his most heartfelt verses, the song sums up as one of Logic’s most range defining cuts from an artist standpoint. The 3rd verse on Heard Em Say is one of Logic’s best verses from his discography, and impressively so isn’t due to the depth of lyricism, but due to Logic’s infinite passion heard throughout the verse. Logic grabs you with every word and instills raw emotion and inspiration with a hopeful send off in quintessential fashion Logic has long been known for.

After Confessions of a Dangerous Mind failed to reach favorable appreciation within hip-hop enthusiasts, and his fan base respectively; the project left many wondering if perhaps Logic’s better days were behind him. With unfavorable reviews and criticism weighing heavily on the emcee, Logic spent the better part of 2019 and 2020 writing raps vigorously on his Louis Vuitton rhyme book as he mentions on the freeing Amen. Logic stated in an interview with Nick Huff Barili of Hard Knock TV, that No Pressure essentially came to fruition out of his essential love for hip-hop no longer being intact, before coming to the conclusion of ending his career and delivering a final project in the form of which he came into the game with, a project he would give his every ounce of love for hip-hop to, to showcase pure hip-hop built on a foundation of bars and verses made up of the emcee’s best abilities. With executive production from No I.D, No Pressure achieves this and sees Logic set the record straight in his place among hip-hop. In retrospect, while the time apart might have been difficult, I believe both Logic and fans of Logic in the long run reached a perfect ending of a prominent and inspiring career. No Pressure serves as a celebrated accumulation and reflection of the inspiring emcees’ hip-hop career, the final chapter that gives the fan closure and comprehension for his farewell. Logic is now free of pressure and has found happiness by obtaining the greatest blessing in life, family. Thank you for delivering us this classic, and the best of wishes on your future endeavor Bobby. Final rating: 10

[thevagueambition]

Top 5 figures from Danish history...

Heh, actually my knowledge of Danish history is not really focused around particular figures, so it’s not like I actually know that much about any of these... still managed to ramble a lot.

Gerda Wegener (& Lili Elbe): To be honest The Danish Girl kind of poisoned the well a bit, huh? I still haven’t watched that movie because every single thing I’ve heard about it infuriates me. I need to read Lili’s autobiography one day, though. Anyway, apparently the movie also portrayed Gerda fucking Wegener as a straight woman when some of her most well-known art is all the lesbian erotica she painted in Paris in 1920s... literally descriptions of her and Lili moving to Paris are always like “so Lili could live as a woman and Gerda could live as a lesbian” lmao... While I haven’t done the research to say so conclusively, from my understanding she was very supportive of Lili’s transition. You know, the whole being excited to paint her thing. The two met at the Danish Academy of Art where they were both students but they choose to focus more on Gerda’s career than Lili’s. Anyway idk if Gerda was a lesbian in the modern sense (Lili definitely wasn’t) or if she was also attracted to men, as she did remarry after her marriage to Lili Elbe was declared illegimatimate by the king (as a result of Lili being legally recognised as a woman) but it was a pretty short marriage and like... either way the idea of her is straight is fucking ludicrous. I worry that tumblr will block the post if I include a pic of her erotica but here’s one of her other paintings that also has wlw energy (Gerda herself is the one in the middle, Lili is the one painting in the background):

Niels Bohr: Prominent physicist who was eventually involved with the Manhattan Project. I was at his old office in Copenhagen one time years back where the guide told us about how both Churchill and Roosevelt had suspicions about him being some sort of Russian agent simply because he was like “hey, maybe we should share information with the Russians and maybe the situation we’re creating with nuclear weapons and no transparency is actually super fucking dangerous” and I have stanned him ever since hearing that story lmao. 

Apparently, he wasn’t super political prior to the rise of Nazism, but he helped a lot of fellow scientists flee from Germany in the 30s and a bit into the war, until he was warned that the occupational forces had designs on his family as well (his mother was Jewish) and fled to Sweden. Once in Sweden, he petitioned the Swedish king to make a public statement about their willingness to receive Jewish refugees -- some think this had a big effect, others think what happened would have happened regardless. A commendable action, either way. 

Herman Bang: I don’t actually know as much about him or am as familiar with his work as I should be. He’s the Danish historical gay, though, so how could he not show up here? I have liked the few short stories of his I have read and certainly the treatment of him by Danish society is interesting (and hearbreaking). He really just Could Not Catch A Break. The media at the time wrote libelous article after libelous article about him. There’s a quote from him along the lines of:

“Of one thing I’m certain; I will not stay in this country. Here people are in the habit of mistreating me to such a degree that it will never cease.”

In another quote, from while he was in Paris and some Norwegian was running another harrasment campaign a friend urged Bang to fight back but he answered that “what do you want me to do -- the three main points are true”. The three main points being that he was gay, half-jewish and a fan of Henrik Ibsen (code for “a feminist” I assume).

Johann Friedrich Struensee: Struensee was Christian VII’s doctor who managed to, through among other things a close friendship with the king and an affair with the queen, to manoveur himself into a position where, for 18 months, he was the de facto ruler of Denmark. He was hugely into Voltaire and enlightened absolutism, made a lot of reforms that had the conservatives livid. Still, it would be a stretch to say I like him, often he’s made out to have been far more progressive than a form of monarchism can reasonably be thought to be, but I find him fascinating as a symbol of the times. And there is something heartbreaking to the mistreated, schizophrenic Christian VII being forced to sign an execution order for his best friend. There exists a sketch of Struensee and a co-conspirator drawn by the kings a few years later where he wrote “Ich hätte gerne beide gerettet” or “I would have liked to save them both”. 

Queen Dagmar: This is more based on the cultural significance she took on in the few centuries after her death than her actual person. I’m pretty sure we know very little for sure about her. In folklore, though, this first wife of Valdemar II (Valdemar Sejr) is a kind and forgiving woman who wants prisoners to be set free and outlaws to have their outlawry lifted. Folklore also makes her midly prophetic in that she begs Valdemar II not to marry his second wife, the sons of whom cast Denmark into civil war. 

The inscription below reads: “Your sunshine-soul went back up where it came from and down here your grave was broken and plundered, God’s angel Dagmar, ask our savior heal, what in the land of Denmark has been torn apart.”