#or use foresight and order it on amazon

[whereisthedamndaddymanual]

It is easy to get midnight munchies if you have a cool car. Or a bunch of eager young drivers.

[captain-hawks]

BEST FRIENDS & BAD IDEAS

♡ — jean kirstein x f!reader

Big aspirations and even bigger dildos—in which a poorly thought out plan makes it incredibly hard to act like your feelings for Jean Kirstein are platonic. Not when they’re anything but. And especially not when you’re half naked in his lap.

18+ ONLY

wc — 2.7k

prompt — cockwarming, creampie

additional content — NSFW, 18+, best friends to lovers speed run, dildo use, implied masturbation, unprotected p in v, praise kink, jean kirstein’s big dick

╰┈➤ kinktober masterlist

“If you keep doing that, I’m gonna come,” Jean growls, and his low, rough tone sends you off-kilter, shoving you headfirst over the precarious edge you’ve been foolishly dangling from.

In retrospect, perhaps this wasn’t the best idea.

–

In the long list of questionable decisions you’ve made today, one of the first catalysts guaranteeing inevitable disaster was your lack of foresight to lock your bedroom door before stripping off your shorts and underwear and preparing to lower yourself down onto the ridiculously large dildo that had been delivered in an even more comically large Amazon box this morning. 

Your best friend of many years and college roommate, Jean Kirstein, came home just as your makeshift “stand”—you’d hastily attached the suction cup at the base of the dildo to the last clean plate in the cabinet for lack of a better surface—went flying across the rug, ripping the few inches you’d manage to ease down onto right out of your lube-slick channel. You’d hit the floor with a thud, growling in frustration. This, understandably, had the unfortunate effect of attracting the concern of said roommate, who swiftly burst into your room as if you were in the middle of being robbed. 

The concern quickly morphed into hysterics as he spotted the giant purple dildo wiggling uselessly a few feet away from where you were lying on your stomach, punching the carpet and yelling at him to get out with as much dignity as you could muster.

“That’s my shirt,” he commented dryly, ignoring your pleas for him to forget everything he had just seen. 

“Well it was in my drawer,” you spat back, trying to push the dildo-plate behind you, although the damage was already done.

Jean leaned against the doorframe, folding his arms. “I have so many questions.”

“Our business hours are between 8 and 5, so you’ll have to call back tomorrow. Sorry,” you said with a dismissive wave, subtly kicking the plate and dildo beneath the bed. 

The suction cup chose that moment to pop off, and all ten inches came rolling back into view right where a bar of sunlight was stretching across the floor from the window. It would have almost looked artsy. 

If it weren’t a fucking dildo.

“I thought you ordered a lamp,” he observed mildly, motioning to the huge cardboard box you’d yet to take out to the recycling bin. 

“I’m gonna order you a fleshlight if you don’t shut up,” you grumbled, shoving on a pair of sweatpants.

Jean crinkled his nose, running a hand through his hair. “That thing’s so big, the landlord might start charging us for three tenants if he sees it. Is this a cry for help?”

“I’m trying to prepare myself for seducing Eren at the party Saturday night,” you whisper-yelled, as if anyone else was going to overhear you in your otherwise empty apartment. 

“Jaeger?!” he barked out with a disbelieving laugh. 

“Everyone says he’s huge. I don’t want it to be a disaster.”

“He’s not that fucking big!” he exclaimed incredulously. 

You pinched the bridge of your nose. “Can you like, go be somewhere tonight? Go get so high with Conny you forget you saw anything? I’m gonna go try in the bathroom instead.”

“You’re kicking me out of my own apartment so you can shove a giant, sparkly purple dildo inside of yourself imagining it’s Jaeger’s dork ass?”

“I love it when you talk dirty to me, Jean.”

He groaned. “The bathroom sounds like an even worse idea. You’ll slip, hit your head on something, blood will go everywhere, and we’ll lose the security deposit.”

“Or my plan will work, I’ll get laid this weekend, and you can stop complaining about how grumpy I’ve been lately,” you reasoned matter-of-factly. 

Jean’s hand came to rest on your shoulder as you attempted to push past him to leave the room, aforementioned dildo jiggling menacingly in your hand. “You’re gonna hurt yourself,” he said a little more softly, raising a brow as he cast another look at the offending object.

“I have lube!” you shot back defensively.

Jean glanced up at the ceiling, muttering something about regret under his breath before exhaling, “Let me help you.”

–

In all the years that you’ve known Jean, you’ve done an excellent job at keeping your little crush on him your best kept secret. A secret kept under the most formidable lock and key, buried deep in the depths of your psyche. Tucked away in the very back of a dusty, old cabinet like an expired can of corn. 

Objectively, you know Jean’s handsome. You’re well aware. 

With his intense, hazel eyes—ones that see everything. 

His tall, solid form. 

His sinfully curved, pink lips (and his habit of idly sliding his tongue along the bottom one). 

His long, dexterous fingers—a dangerous thought. 

That fucking mullet he let grow in, which shouldn’t be nearly as sexy as it is when he rolls right out of bed and leaves his room looking like a pillow-rumpled supermodel. 

He’s hot, okay?

And sure, you’ve drunkenly kissed at a few parties over the years. Jean’s seen your ass more times than you can count. Definitely your boobs that time he ran into the bathroom to puke while you were showering. Sometimes he has a habit of putting his head on your lap when you’re both on the couch, nudging you till you card your hands through his soft brown hair like a damn dog. 

But it’s always been platonic. 

Friendly. 

Two people who are just very, very comfortable with one another. Comfortable in knowing that neither intends to ruin their stable, solid friendship by carelessly sprinkling feelings into the mix. 

Comfortably going so far as to share the sordid details of your sex lives (or lack thereof, lately) while leaning against the kitchen counter eating take out food without batting an eye—though you’d be lying if you said you didn’t try to one up him sometimes when you feel that familiar, unwelcome twinge of jealousy yawning awake inside of you.

But this?

This is asking too much of your restraint to keep your heart walled off and your mouth clamped shut. In your defense, it was already left in pitiful tatters after grinning-and-bearing it throughout the seven-month-long nightmare that was Jean dating fucking Pieck. 

—

The next phase of your slew of terrible ideas today began with Jean sitting at the head of your bed, back against the wall, holding the dildo between his legs. Like your own personal fucking dildo holder. Grinning like this wasn’t the single most awkward thing the two of you have ever done (save for the time you both fell asleep with your head in his lap on the couch and woke up to his accidental boner poking you in the ear—neither of you ever mentioned that again). 

And it would have been totally fine if it worked out like you imagined in your head the moment he pitched it—you sinking down onto the silicone schlong a few times, stuffing in as much as you could while he held it still. Then letting him carry on with his day while you lay there in bed for a little while with it lodged inside of you, getting yourself used to the stretch. Totally fine. 

The reality of the situation was far different, entailing a sticky, slippery mess of lube coating of your hands and a dildo that bent and flopped in every direction as you tried to carefully impale yourself on it while maintaining some sense of dignity. 

You had given up fairly quickly, butting your head against Jean’s collarbone and sighing as you asked if he thought Eren would go slow. 

He was quiet for a moment. 

“…do you trust me?” Jean had asked carefully, like his next suggestion wasn’t going to send you spiraling.

Like “Just sit on my dick, as a friend!” wasn’t the most fucking confusing statement your heart, brain, and vagina had ever heard.

–

Which is how you find yourself in your current predicament, straddling Jean Kirstein’s lap with far more inches of him than you’d realized he’d been keeping tucked away buried to the hilt in the velvety heat between your thighs. Raw, skin-to-fucking-skin, because you’re both in a miserable dry spell with not a single condom to be found between the two of you. And somehow the combination of “known you for half of my life” and “just got tested” and “IUD” sounded better than one of you being tasked with trudging to the pharmacy.

Or, god fucking forbid, going down one floor to ask Conny for one.

Nope. 

You have three days to prepare yourself for whatever may come with Eren, so sitting on your best friend’s intimidatingly large dick sans condom the least of your worries. Even if it feels so incredible you’re literally silently choking on the moan threatening to spill past your lips. 

Even if you fucking swear you heard his breath hitch when the thick head of his cock began to slip past your entrance, stretching you open wide as he breached your damp channel. 

Even if he hardly had to touch himself to get hard for this. 

Even if his gaze darkened when you choked out, “Jean, your dick is huge.”

This was a terrible idea. 

“If you keep doing that, I’m gonna come.”

“Doing what?!” you ask, exasperated.

He rests his hands on your waist, “Doing this,” and squeezes firmly, “on my dick.”

“This isn’t even sex,” you tell him, ignoring the way the close proximity of his hazel eyes sets a flurry of emotion stuttering in your chest. “It’s like, cockwarming at best. You can’t come from cockwarming if you’re not even turned on.”

Jean raises an eyebrow. “Do you even know how tight you are?”

“That’s obviously why I was worried about Ere—”

“It’s like this,” he cuts you off, wrapping a hand around your throat. It’s a loose hold, only meant to prove a snarky point, but a spark of arousal seeps through your body anyway at the mere suggestion. His eyes widen a fraction at the traitorous way your walls clamp down on him even harder in response. “What, you into being choked?”

“I’m into a lot of things, Jeanie,” you tell him haughtily, trying to ignore the heat blistering beneath your skin.

“Like dumb idiots named Eren Jaeger?” he counters, making to grab for the tongue you’re currently sticking out at him. 

If you didn’t know better, you’d almost think Jean sounds like he’s jealous. 

Which he definitely isn’t. 

But you poke the bear anyway. 

“What, are you jealous?”

He shifts slightly, and you bite your lip to stifle the moan as your cunt spasms around the pressure from his cock. 

If he notices, he doesn’t mention it. Instead, his brow furrows as the corners of his mouth tilt downward slightly. “I just think you deserve better.”

You tug on his earlobe, letting out a weak laugh in an attempt to dispel the sticky, messy feeling of hope trying desperately to cling to the arousal stirring in your gut. “Says the guy who’s currently fucking me.”

Jean scoffs and deadpans, “I thought this wasn’t sex.”

Who are you kidding? Certainly not the tension coiling ruthlessly in your abdomen. 

You move a little, trying and failing to relieve the sensation of hot wax dripping down your spine. Instead, you let out a tiny, strangled noise when your throbbing clit presses down against his pelvis, the resulting flood of pleasure setting every nerve ending in your body on fire.

The way he growls out your name through gritted teeth is a warning, but his low tone only serves to stoke the flames licking their way up between your thighs. 

You move again, inhaling sharply through your nose.

“Fuck,” he groans quietly, head hitting the wall behind him with a resounding thud. 

You’re not sure if he does it on purpose, but his hands find their way back to your hips, calloused fingertips pressing directly against your skin as he slides them up beneath your shirt. His shirt. 

The next time you rock against him, his grip on you tightens. And then, you feel it—he tugs you forward. 

You lean further into him, without really meaning to, forehead coming to rest against his. “What are we…”

“Just keep going,” he murmurs. 

He shifts again, sinking down lower so his back is pressed against the mattress, and you realize the angle gives you more purchase to grind down against him when he pulls at your waist, thumbs lazily skimming your hip bones. 

“Jean…” you whisper, not really sure what else you intend to say. 

“I want you to feel good,” he says softly, pushing his hips against you, even though he’s snugly bottomed out. 

It feels so fucking good—

—laying atop Jean while he stares back up at you, pupils clearly dilated in arousal—

—watching his eyes fall shut as you run a hand along the stubble on his jaw—

—knowing he’s well aware the slickness between your legs is no longer from the lube, your cunt gushing with arousal at the feeling of being stuffed deep with his thick cock. 

So you tell yourself you’ll figure the rest out later when you start to shamelessly grind down against him. 

“You don’t have to be quiet for me,” Jean teases when you cough to cover up a gasp.

Your answering moan is nearly a whimper, and Jean’s muscles tense beneath you as he continues to guide your hips. He doesn’t try to pull his cock out from where it’s lodged inside of you, doesn’t start thrusting and fucking up into you. He just lets you chase the clitoral stimulation you so desperately need while you’re cockwarming him, groaning along with you at each needy drag. 

“Good girl, that’s it.”

This is far more intimate than you bargained for, the gentle slide of his hands up your back scraping your heart out bit-by-bit. 

“Holy shit, you don’t know how close I am to coming right now,” he moans in a gravelly, unsteady tone. 

All you can do is whimper his name when the rubber band suddenly snaps in response, your body trembling as a wave of white-hot pleasure crashes over you. 

And then Jean’s hands are cupping your face, his lips crashing into yours. He kisses you fiercely as you whine and shudder through your orgasm, moaning into your mouth as you card your fingers through his hair. You can feel his cock throb inside of you, pulsing with need as your tight cunt spasms and contracts, relentlessly squeezing his shaft while you soak him with your release. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he’s groaning, both of you too drunk on pleasure to move when he suddenly climaxes, cock pumping thick, hot ropes of cum deep in your pussy. 

Chests heaving, Jean slowly sits up, forehead falling against your shoulder as he wraps his arms around your waist. 

After a few minutes of silence, he finally murmurs, “Don’t fuck Jaeger.”

You tilt his head upward, finger resting just below his chin, skimming the stubble that’s there. Too many emotions are swimming in his hazel eyes, more than you can identify—save for one that you recognize with a jolt of clarity. It’s the way you look at him, when he’s not paying attention.

Longing. 

Desire. 

Soft, gentle, unfiltered affection. 

This time, you’re the one to close the distance between your mouths, brushing your lips against his. 

“Who?” you ask, smiling into the kiss. 

Jean chuckles, the sound like warm honey, and he deepens the kiss, one hand sliding to the back of your head. Though you remain seated on his softening length, cum begins to seep from your slick heat, pooling on his balls and abdomen. 

He goes to move, but you don’t budge. “You wanna get cleaned up?”

You shake your head, the corner of your mouth tilting upward with a smirk. “I’m comfortable.”

Jean bites his lower lip, huffing, “My cum’s dripping all over, and I’m two seconds from getting hard again if you keep squeezing down on me like that.”

Feigning a look of innocence, you flex the muscles in your tight, soaked channel one more time for good measure. He chokes, and you grin. 

“Good.”

— likes, comments, &/or reblogs are greatly appreciated!

[themollyjay]

Coming in 3 Days!

The Inevitable Singularity By Molly J. Bragg Coming November 21st From Desert Palm Press

Sean is a mercenary who works as the bodyguard of Grand Master Caila of the Order of the Paladins of the Republic. A fact that the entire Order, except for Caila herself, resents deeply since they kicked Sean out almost twenty years earlier. It doesn’t help matters that Caila has taken a vow of Celibacy, but everyone knows that she and Sean have feelings for each other.

Sean’s presence is only tolerated because Caila is the official Seer of the Paladin Order. While all Paladins can see the future to a limited extent, Caila’s gift with foresight exceeds even the head of the order.

But when a mine destroys Caila’s ship just as they arrive in the Ptolemy system to settle a dispute over a hyperspace route, it quickly becomes clear that someone doesn’t want their mission to succeed.

With only Reagan, a Paladin with a personal grudge against Sean for support, Sean and Caila make their way to Ptolemy, recruiting allies along the way to help them complete their mission, but each time they look into the future, Caila sees a vision showing her that Ptolemy will be reduced to a lifeless cinder if they leave, and Sean receives a warning that Caila will die if they stay.

Can they avoid disaster, or will Caila be forced to sacrifice herself to save an entire world?

Preorder now at: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLFPJX4V Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-inevitable-singularity-molly-j-bragg/1144249587 Desert Palm Press: https://desertpalmpress.com/shop/p/the-inevitable-singularity-by-molly-j-bragg (Get a 10% discount with code 10DPP) iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-inevitable-singularity/id6469932983 Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-inevitable-singularity Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com

[catierambles]

Fated Ch.4

Pairing: Walter Marshall x Clara Tunney (OFC)

WC 891

Warning: I cried writing this, you might too Minors DNI 18+ ONLY

@brattymum96 , @ouroboros113 , @peaches1958 , @summersong69 , @henryownsme , @eldarwen333 , @omgkatinka , @identity2122

Walter pushed into the house and kicked the door closed behind him, idly throwing his keys onto the kitchen island. The BOLO so far had no leads and it looked like Daniel Marks had gone underground. He didn’t have a cellphone or debit card that they could track, staying almost completely off the grid and the US didn’t have CCTV that other countries had so they wouldn’t be able to catch him out and about.

“How was it today?” He asked the two Sergeants that were sitting on the couch, watching a movie.

“It was quiet.” Jones said, “She barely left the bedroom, only coming out to put away the cold stuff she ordered and collect the packages she got.”

“She got groceries?” He asked, going into the kitchen and seeing the plastic bags on the floor of dry goods. She probably hadn’t known where to put them. Opening the fridge, he saw the milk, eggs, and butter that hadn’t been in there before and he made a small sound. He’s been meaning to pick more up, just hadn’t had the time. Thoughtful. “What else did she get?”

“Some stuff from amazon.” Williams said, “Don’t know what, she vanished into the bedroom again with the boxes.”

“Other than that, she didn’t come out?” He asked but they shook their heads. “Not even to eat?”

“She took a shower not too long ago.” Jones said and he mentally patted himself on the back for having the foresight to get two female officers to look after her while he was gone. “Anything else, Sir?” She asked as they got up from the couch and he shook his head.

“Nope, that’s it. Thank you.” He said and they nodded.

“Any time, it was an easy day for us.” Williams said and Jones snorted. He walked them out and locked the door behind them, pausing for a moment before heading into the bedroom. Clara was sitting at the computer with the headset on and he saw the open boxes on the bed, going over and looking in them, seeing the pack of t-shirts as well as the small clothes and socks. Her hair was still wet from her shower and was clipped at the back of her head. She was no longer wearing the clothes he had given her, instead wearing a pair of pajamas that he figured she had also ordered.

“Hey.” He said, wiggling the back of the chair slightly, and she pulled the headset off, letting it hang around her neck. He could hear heavy rock music coming through the headphones and he made a mental note as to her music tastes.

“Hello.” She said and he moved aside one of the boxes, sitting down on the bed.

“Saw you got some things.”

“Nothing extravagant, don’t worry.” She said, still looking at the monitor.

“Thank you for getting some basic groceries.”

“You paid for it.”

“Thank you anyway.”

“No problem.” She said and silence descended between them before he cleared his throat.

“Clara, I want to talk to you about what happened this morning.” He said and saw her still briefly.

“Okay.” She said, resting her chin in her hand.

“I’m sorry.” He said and she blinked slightly in confusion, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Okay?”

“I’m supposed to be looking after you, not sticking my tongue down your throat.”

“Okay.” She said, blinking slowly, turning her eyes forward again.

“I know you said you wanted me to, but your judgment is clouded right now. You’re in a vulnerable state and as I said, I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

“Okay.”

“It was a mistake, Clara, and it’s not going to happen again.”

“I understand.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

“Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Goddamnit, she was pulling inward again and it was his fault.

“Don’t shut yourself off, Clara.”

“I’m fine, Walter.” She said, “Was there anything else?”

“No.” He said after a moment with a sigh, “No, that was it.”

“Okay.” She said and put the headset back on, effectively ending the conversation. He sat there for a moment longer, but she ignored him and he got up with another sigh, leaving the bedroom and closing the door behind him. Once he was gone, Clara all but ripped the headset off, a sob forcing its way up her throat as tears sprang to her eyes and her chest felt like it had been cleaved in two. It was irrational for her to feel this way, this devastated by his sudden rejection of her. Maybe he was right and she wasn’t in her right mind. She wanted to run, run far away, from him, from anyone. She missed her family and her twin brother, but they (with the exception of her brother) were all twisted into wrong thinking. Besides, she had no way of getting into contact with her brother without her parents finding out, and the last thing she wanted was for them to turn up and for him to get into trouble. He’s suffered enough because of her.

She did eventually cry herself dry, but the pain in her chest didn’t go away so she shut down the computer and climbed back into bed after clearing off the boxes, curling under the covers after unclipping her hair and closing her eyes.

[weare-yanagie]

Transhumanism🤖

Transition towards post-humanism

The close-knit relationship between technology and human evolution is not a newly identified discovery. For example, the discovery of fire made a significant change in the then-existing life cycle of man. Therefore, through this article in YanaGie, we hope to introduce you to the climax of the conflict between technology and human evolution.

(

Things to know before reading:

Content- The article describes modern biological and technological innovations related to this concept (For example, the article doesn’t deal with how a chip is attached to the human brain through the Neuralink project). More attention has been paid to its inception, publication, and the philosophical debates that have been arisen from it, for the purpose of scientifically analyzing it. The structure of the topics in the article is as follows:

1: emergence, 2: development of the concept during the 80s, 3: development of the concept during the 90s, 4: market interference, 5: philosophical and ethical views, 6: summary.

)

“For the last several decades, a strange liberation movement has grown within the developed world. Its crusaders aim much higher than civil rights campaigners, feminists, or gay-rights advocates. They want nothing less than to liberate the human race from its biological constraints. As “transhumanists” see it, humans must wrest their biological destiny from evolution’s blind ...”

- Francis Fukuyama (American political scientist)

1. Emergence

The concept of Transhumanism became popular through an article published in 1957 by Julian Huxley, a British biologist, and philosopher, under this name. He stated that at this time, human evolution can be “supplanted” by removing unnecessary factors and improving the necessary ones we have gained.

Here, Huxley mainly focused on improving human conditions to a higher level through also a social and cultural sense in a broader perception, but the concept was adopted by Transhumanist movements that emerged later only as a unification of scientific and technological advances that man had acquired at that time. For example, computer science, space exploration, and cell and tissue preservation through cryopreservation techniques.

2. Development of the concept during the 80s

Subsequently, in the 80s, Transhumanist organizations and schools of thought emerged, focusing on extending human life span, Cryonics (the belief that it is possible to revive deep frozen dead human bodies in the future), space colonization, etc. to advance scientific and technological approaches.

Furthermore, the 80s was a decade favorable for this subject. The Foresight Institute was established by American engineer K. Eric Drexler and researcher Christine L. Peterson with the aim of using molecular engineering and nanotechnology in a visionary manner and conceptual artist Natasha Vita-More brought the discussion of human enhancement through the integration of aesthetics and scientific-technological advancement, among other events. In addition, prominent figures within this movement included American philosopher James Hughes and Canadian roboticist Han Moravec.

3. Development of the concept during the 90s

In the 90th decade, the concept was discussed further. British philosopher Max More and American philosopher Tim W. Bell founded the organization Extropy in order to enhance human characteristics. In 1998, Swedish and Britain philosophers respectively, Nick Bostrom and David Pearce established the Transhumanist Association (WTA), to introduce Transhumanism as a research subject, and in 2008 WTA, was renamed as Humanity+ in hopes of broadening the ideology of Transhumanism.

4. Market interference

In fact, after 2000, Transhumanism received support and funding from Google co-founder Larry Page, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk among other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. In 2013, Larry Page established Calico Life Sciences LLC (Calico Labs) with the aim of using technological advancements to extend human life. In 2022, Bezos and his donors invests $3 billion in Altos Labs, which aims to use technology to prevent ageing and disease. Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the goal of colonizing Mars and the moon, and Neuralink in 2016 with the goal of creating chips that can be connected to the human brain. In July 2022, Synchron announced that they had successfully implanted a chip in the brain of a patient with ALS(Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis).

Elon Musk has quite a significant idea about this, according to him to avoid redundancy in the face of AI humans should merge mentally and physically with machines. Even if his statement seems quite serious at face value, the fundamentals of connecting humans and machines have been present for centuries, it exists in even wearing glasses which we have been doing for a long time now.

5. Philosophical and ethical views

American political philosopher, Francis Fukuyama, has stated “Underlying this idea of the equality of rights is the belief that we all possess a human essence that dwarfs manifest differences in skin color, beauty, and even intelligence. This essence, and the view that individuals therefore have inherent value, is at the heart of political liberalism. But modifying that essence is the core of the transhumanist project. If we start transforming ourselves into something superior, what rights will these enhanced creatures claim, and what rights will they possess when compared to those left behind? If some move ahead, can anyone afford not to follow? These questions are troubling enough within rich, developed societies. Add in the implications for citizens of the world’s poorest countries — for whom biotechnology’s marvels likely will be out of reach — and the threat to the idea of equality becomes even more menacing.” , when talking about Transhumanism in 2009.

He also elaborates “Transhumanism’s advocates think they understand what constitutes a good human being, and they are happy to leave behind the limited, mortal, natural beings they see around them in favor of something better. But do they really comprehend the ultimate human goods? For all our obvious faults, we humans are miraculously complex products of a long evolutionary process — products whose whole is much more than the sum of our parts. Our good characteristics are intimately connected to our bad ones: If we weren’t violent and aggressive, we wouldn’t be able to defend ourselves; if we didn’t have feelings of exclusivity, we wouldn’t be loyal to those close to us; if we never felt jealousy, we would also never feel love. Even our mortality plays a critical function in allowing our species as a whole to survive and adapt (and transhumanists are just about the last group I’d like to see alive forever). Modifying any one of our key characteristics inevitably entails modifying a complex, interlinked package of traits, and we will never be able to anticipate the ultimate outcome.” In his text.

6. Summary

Transhumanism has gained more popularity from the later end of the 1950s, been active during the 80s and 90s, and gained more attention of philosophers and scientists and had their views gained by the 2000s. This is because the action of succeeding biological limitations using science and technology is not an easy feat with positive outcomes. But after the 2000s, this concept gained more attention of the market, and individuals with more wealth have increased investing their resources largely for this matter. According to Francis Fukuyama, Transhumanism challenges equality among humans. Moreover, the changes that occur in the individual based on their unique characteristics affect the whole of humanity (our concepts, social relationships and interactions, desires, social values, spirituality, etc.) Transhumanists hope to eradicate “undesirable” qualities within us, but they do not realize that our “good” qualities are intertwined with our “undesirable” ones and that they would lose the basic essence of what humanity ultimately wishes for.

Sources: Brittanica (“Transhumanism”), The Guardian (“No death and an enhanced life: Is the future transhuman?”), Foreign Policy (Francis Fukuyama on “Transhumanism”).

@weare-yanagie | # SCIENCE

F O L L O W F O R M O R E ✨️

[cebwrites]

//lays on the floor

thinking about an AU where Kirin stayed with Baroque up until the Strawhats defeated them

The reason why Kirin was ever associated with Baroque in the first place was because of Bon-chan

They were they one who brought him in thinking it'd be a good way to keep an eye on their new friend and also stay close because this was after Kirin left his grandmother's place for trying to kill his brother (after finding out that Takashi became a marine) and essentially he had all his support systems and connections reduced to null

What they didn't expect was for Kirin to rise so quickly within the ranks, to a named position (Mr. New Years) as their partner, because of his efficiency (and cruelty when applicable) that caught Crocodile's eye - this gave him something to do, yes, but it ultimately made him worse emotionally/mentally

I like to imagine that Daz very much sees himself as an extension of Crocodile's right hand, even though Robin was his partner in the organization, Daz was the level directly underneath that and took his position seriously (during ID and post-Marineford he does take that position as Croc's right hand)

Kirin is similar in that regard, but because he didn't have as strong of a grasp of himself or wherewithal as Daz did at the time, it was more like he was a tool to Croc's orders rather than a faithful subordinate; and it was killing him - to throw away his personhood, to numb himself to the actions asked of him (in canon Bon-chan noticed this and regretted not having the foresight to predict something like this, and managed to get Kirin out of there with a bit of Robin's help before it was too late, but in this AU Kirin would stay for 3 more years until Baroque's defeat; Smoker was the one to take him down because none of the Strawhats would’ve been able to at this point)

After Baroque's dissolution they were all sent to a prison that the majority of them broke out of but Croc and Daz refused to come with for whatever reason like the cover story implied, then Impel Down once security regained their bearings

Kirin didn't really care where he went so long as it was with Bon-chan (assuming the two of them missed the bus to escape with the rest of them and didn't just sit and sulk like Croc and Daz)

But then the Impel Down arc happens

And then Marineford where Doflamingo still uses Kirin and Daz to taunt Crocodile and the former gets his leg severed as an outcome of two divorcees' hatred for each other

Miraculously (me, I'm god and I say so) he gets picked up by the Heart Pirates because when they were surveying the edges of the battlefield Bepo spotted and recognized Kirin from an interaction some time ago (Pen and Shach were ordered to get him and the leg, Kirin thought he was dying when he was suddenly grabbed and dragged underwater but it’s fiiiine it turned out fiiiiine)

Law was very hesitant since it'd mean more resources spent on a stranger, but then again taking Strawhat and Jinbe were also on a whim (I do like the theory that Law helped Luffy because then he'd owe a favor to them though, given his time under Doffy and also old man Wolf from the Law novel) and when was Law ever immune to Bepo's wishes

While Luffy was tearing through Amazon Lily's forests and destroying trees Kirin was offered a position on the ship like much in the way that Jean Bart was - devastated at the supposed death of Bon-chan, taking more psychic damage at being called a monster by his brother at Marineford, and nowhere else to go (believing that all his found family would reject him after word of the Baroque stuff came out - he also never formed his crew in this AU so Rio, Izzy, Coco, everyone would still be scattered across the world), Kirin agreed

Over the course of the timeskip he'd slowly start to recover with the introduction to actual (relatively) normal and cheerful people who gave him space but were ultimately kind and welcoming and appreciated his presence - that 'tool' programming very much remained though, but instead of a weapon at Crocodile's disposal, he was now a Heart Pirate willing to do anything for his captain

This Kirin, unlike canon, followed orders and didn't complain, he'd keep to himself until others entered his personal space and he'd leave when he had enough of it

This Kirin confounded Law because he was nothing like the snarky man he met in the North Blue years ago that bested him almost immediately in combat (due to Law's own underestimation and Kirin's experience/intuition/craftiness, but still) and it drove them up the wall trying to figure out why

Law wanted to study him under a microscope and that's what lead then being in avertedly in each other's spaces a lot

Plus, he likes his new captain and Kirin is observing Law just as much as they are to him (very slow-burny shy touchy touchies but the relationship isn’t really allowed to fully blossom because both of these assholes’ hangups - Law with their inability to open up and Kirin putting his “captain” on a pedestal and thinking of his life as second to theirs and the crew’s very much a la Sanji’s entire WCI arc and learning self worth)

Being around the other Hearts was still a huge help for his mental health though, it brought his smile back and maybe even coaxed a few more out of Law to see their “””test subject””” very heavy quotation marks enjoying himself too

No one questions it when the two Hearts go missing after dinner, and even though Zoro’s grumpy about leaving his gym in the crow’s nest early every evening he lets them have their privacy for the nights they’re there

Fast-forward to Punk Hazard where things progress as usual until Kirin reveals himself when Law cuts the giants down and Law has to contend with a stray crew member (they panic internally given the stakes, immediately asking if anyone else followed him but Kirin reassures them that he’s the only one that left, plus if they all did it would be too suspicious and it was a hard-won victory against the crew that he’d be the one to go, plus there’d be shockwaves if Law’s plan went as intended and Zou needed as many reinforcements as they could get)

When they’re all in the cave recouping Law gives Kirin a proper chewing-out to one side even though they can all feel everyone eavesdropping, particularly Robin’s eye on Kirin, but Kirin looks up afterwards with this determined look says that he’s never asked for much when he joined their crew but if he could be selfish just this once then it’d be to ask that his cap- no, that *Law* not do anything reckless on his own with a certain glint in his eyes that tell Law all Kirin isn’t saying, ”I don’t want you to die”

Law’s definitely not keen on having this conversation, least of all in front of the Strawhats, but they’d sigh and pinch the bridge of their nose, pull their hat down too - and say that there’s not much else to do now that Kirin’s *here*, so he might as well pitch in with the plan

[mybookplacenet]

Featured Post: Get the Cheese: The Demotivational Road to Health, Wealth, and Real Happiness by Damian Andrews by Damian Andrews

About Get the Cheese: The Demotivational Road to Health, Wealth, and Real Happiness by Damian Andrews: Everyone wishes to be happier, healthier, and wealthier. But, if everyone wants it so badly, why do so many people struggle to achieve it? It takes more than knowledge to succeed. Action is not enough for long-term success. The iPod's success was not a fluke. Steve Jobs' success is replicable. Dropbox founder Drew Houston, Pinnacle Group founder Nina Vaca, and others followed the formula. The success principles are seen in the Great Pyramids and the Apollo missions. Get the Cheese author Damian Andrews takes you on an entertaining and witty out-of-the-box journey. From stories of cave dwellers to today's great business leaders. You'll learn that the secrets to health, wealth, and happiness already exist within you, and learn how to let them out. As Shakespeare said, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Book Excerpts What really inspired the iPod? “Giving up, Steven sighed and looked across the room. The latest ‘Gift from Bill’ mocked him from the coffee table. Someone thought it was funny to set it up in his office. It was an ugly industrial-looking box with an even uglier-looking screen box on top. Steven whispered, “Oh, you know, there are 114,000 known viruses for that thing. Time to think different for the cure.” In a flash, the music player hurtled across the room in a graceful arch. It smashed into the screen. First imploding, and then shards of glass sprawling across the coffee table. As the last of the glass came to rest, a small wisp of smoke exited the top of the broken screen. With grace, it circled and then dissipated, leaving an ozone/phosphor aroma in the air. It was a picture-perfect moment. “If only my phone had a camera to immortalise the moment,” Steven thought.” Apple’s iPod Success “Often, the first movers are mistaken for trailblazers in the grand annals of innovation. This misconception is far from the truth. Most figures lauded as pioneers were not the first. Their difference was that they made the innovation work. Ford, Gates, Lucus, and Jobs created viable financial and cultural touch points. They did this using already-established concepts. Add to the list Coca-Cola, Sony Playstation, McDonald’s Happy Meal, Amazon Kindle, Tesla Model 3, Google Search, and many more. Despite their late entry, they all became more than a product. They transformed into icons of the world in which we live. In the same manner, the iPod wasn’t the first MP3 player. Yet its success and effect on the music industry are undeniable. There is so much more than being first. The skill is in the flair, finesse, and foresight to perfect the concept. To make it both appealing and a commercial success. There are many examples of products that were not the first but became successful.” Targeted Age Group: +12 Written by: Damian Andrews Buy the ebook: Buy the Book On Amazon Author Bio: Damian Andrews Sliding Elephants through Eyes of Needles A finalist in the 2023 Business Excellence Awards Damian Andrews draws on skills learned in Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment (SASR), as a Corporate Recovery Specialist and expert advisor to national and international companies. Also a study of psychology and NLP Damian refined and developed unique unconscious learning techniques to rapidly implement personal and business change with micro-learning, social-learning and gamification. Posting to Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment, he was exposed to high stress, life or death scenarios and developed his ability to quickly adapt, work cohesively and be tenacious. Damian’s studies included a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Law) and Bachelor of Business. As a Corporate Recovery Specialist, Damian excelled at bringing calm and order to highly stressed and distressed businesses. Developing keys for successful business turnarounds and implemented many successful financial management and KPI tracking tools. Under his own banner, Damian provided instrumental change to large companies and government organisations. The business sectors Damian has operated in includes manufacturing, property holdings, IT, retail, professional services, large retail fitouts, apartments, commercial, civil, infrastructure, road, rail and renewable energy. Damian was the CEO of the Family Peace Foundation created to help prevent domestic violence. A passionate believer in the global community he launched 'SHAIR dot care'. An all inclusive global community sharing experience, strength and hope to create strong, healthy and inspiring relationships. Damian has spoken to audiences around the globe bringing fresh life to often overlooked fundamental principles essential for rapid success. He exists to improve efficiency in operations, increase value and disrupt current norms to make the world a better place. Damian’s believes inside you is unlimited potential to change the world for the better Most of all he’s a proud dad and loves spending time with his son. Follow the author on social media: Learn more about the writer. Visit the Author's Website Read the full article

[sparityinc]

Top 10 Digital Transformation facts for your Business Growth

Introduction

In this digital era, where technology is evolving and offering boundless possibilities. One force stands out in the ever-changing corporate landscape, determining the fate of both large and small organizations: digital transformation. It’s not just about technology; it’s about radically changing how we work, interact, and invent. In this fascinating blog, we dispel myths about this paradigm shift, highlight success examples, and examine the enormous potential it contains. Join us as we explore specialized experiences, environmentally friendly methods, career opportunities, efficient processes, and much more. Discover the untold sophisticated wonders of Digital Transformation, an exemplar of innovation that’s altering the face of modern business!

Opening New Doors – “ 3 I”s

Connected Engagement – Interaction

Digital transformation emphasizes interaction, enhancing customer engagement through chatbots, voice assistants, and immersive interfaces. It revolutionizes communication patterns between humans and technology, like Amazon’s proactive shipping algorithm.

Eric Kimberling is a globally recognized ERP systems expert, explained not only customer engagement and how employee engagement is effective through digital transformation

Seamless Unity – Integration

Integration unifies databases, processes, and systems, breaking down data barriers and enabling real-time data sharing APIs and cloud platforms. Apple’s seamless ecosystem enables seamless device synchronization, resulting in a unified user experience that surpasses individual components.

Unlocking Insights – Insights

Insights, using analytics, AI, Power BI, and machine learning, help organizations identify client preferences and market developments, highlighting patterns, trends, and correlations. This data-driven analysis aids in proactive innovation and strategic decision-making. For instance, Google leverages data-driven foresight to improve services and drive innovation through well-informed insights.

Sustainable Actions “ 3 R”s

Reduce:

Effective resource utilization depends on streamlining processes and getting rid of redundant steps. This idea is powerfully shown by Amazon’s creative approach to order fulfilment and warehousing. They reduced operational costs by using automated technologies, and by accelerating deliveries, they considerably increased customer satisfaction.

Reuse:

Reusing existing resources is a crucial notion for effective operations. The effectiveness of using user data is demonstrated by Netflix’s famed recommendation system. By intelligently reusing information, they may personalize content recommendations, giving their users a more interesting experience without exerting further effort.

Recycle:

Recycling can be used for knowledge, technology, and tangible items. IBM’s shift from hardware-centric to cloud services and AI solutions exemplifies reusing resources, reducing electronic waste and creating new economic opportunities. This innovative technique showcases the long-term benefits of reusing in the digital age.

Eco-Friendly Practices

Embracing the digital transformation unlocks sustainable benefits: Green HR practises minimise paper waste, while the metaverse reduces travel, fostering eco-friendly operations for a greener future.

Through their Eco Structure platform, Schneider Electric uses IoT, analytics, and linked devices to improve energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions. Because of the real-time monitoring, resource optimisation, and waste reduction made possible by this, processes are streamlined with no negative influence on the environment. Through their partnership with Schneider Electric, Hilton Hotels were able to reduce their energy usage by 15%.

Fostering Job Opportunities

Instead of diminishing jobs, digital transformation strives to create while boosting them. Employees are given the freedom to concentrate on strategic thinking, problem-solving, and innovation. New professions in data analysis, AI development, cybersecurity, and user experience design are created by advanced technology, creating exciting high-end work prospects.

In a February 26, 2021, World Economic Forum article, it was stated that automation is projected to generate a net addition of 58 million jobs. A notable historical example is the introduction of ATMs in the 1970s, which led to a reduction in the number of tellers per bank branch from 21 to 13. However, this move also made establishing new branches more cost-effective, subsequently creating opportunities for additional bank tellers who transitioned into financial advisory roles.

Throughout the 1900s, people feared job losses in the agricultural sector during the shift from farming to industry, yet the industrial sector generated more jobs. To succeed in this changing landscape, we must embrace change and prepare ourselves for work with new technologies.

Yann LeCun, a Professor at NYU and Chief AI Scientist at Meta, an AI, ML, and Robotics researcher, highlighted in a tweet how AI fosters new job opportunities. Let’s take a closer look.

Streamlining Operations

Businesses are changing as a result of the intersection of digital transformation and operational efficiency. It involves a purposeful combination of innovation and expertise, driven by data mastery, analytics, and AI for real-time decisions, rather than simply embracing technology. Humans are freed from routine duties by automation, such as the 20% boost in production efficiency achieved by a manufacturing plant utilising RPA.

This change includes collaboration among partners using digital platforms, such a retail consortium that increased turnover by 15% by coordinating inventory systems.

Mastering Supply Chains

Supply chain management and digital transformation are crucial for modern businesses. Real-time data analytics optimize production schedules and adapt output to market variations, ensuring resource efficiency, waste reduction, and customer satisfaction. IoT-enabled order tracking enhances customer experiences and strengthens organizations’ resilience to shocks, as seen in sourcing strategies adapted to supply chain bottleneck.

According to a McKinsey survey, businesses that adopted digital transformation claimed cost reductions of 20–30% in a variety of areas, including customer service and supply chain management.

Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Mars Inc Sandeep Dadlani Explained how digital transformation helps in streamlining supply chain management. Now he is Executive Vice President , Chief Digital &Technology Officer at UnitedHealth Group

Smart Savings

By automating processes and optimizing workflows, digital transformation can reduce expenses. One example is AI-driven inventory management for retailers. Additionally, by using personalized techniques like data-driven recommendations, it raises client engagement while reducing acquisition costs. Additionally, digital solutions that enable remote work lower office and travel expenses, increasing talent access.

Compared to traditional strategies, digital marketing often delivers a higher ROI. According to a Gartner survey, businesses that spent more than 41% of their marketing budget on digital marketing had the best results.

The COVID-19 pandemic strengthened the use of remote work, while corporations claimed lower costs for office space. For instance, Global Workplace Analytics estimated that companies could save over $500 billion per year in the U.S. by allowing more remote work.

Fuelling Small Business Growth

For SMEs to expand, advertise their products globally, and cross-regional barriers, digital transformation is essential. They are liberated from links to the past, which promotes independence and makes it possible for them to react rapidly to market developments. For instance, Shopify’s user-friendly design, adaptable storefronts, and frictionless payments have accelerated SMEs’ online growth and allowed them to grow, explore new markets, and scale up operations.

Navigating Change: Post-Covid Era

Businesses have been able to adapt and adjust their strategy as a result of the global epidemic thanks in large part to the impact of digital transformation. The quick transition to remote work and consumer engagement via e-commerce platforms, virtual events, and contactless services demonstrated the effectiveness of digital transformation in facilitating change and customer-centric adaptations. Businesses needed the synergy between digital transformation and change management to handle uncertainties, implement new technologies, restructure processes, and promote employee and consumer adoption.

Decentralized Leadership

Digital transformation combines decentralized, accessible, and effective leadership with digital transformation to revolutionize company environments and foster growth.

Decentralization empowers decision-making in traditional hierarchies, as seen in the banking sector with blockchain technology. Digital transformation removes obstacles, allowing accessibility in the educational sector. This balances decentralization and accessibility while retaining steadfast leadership, enabling businesses to achieve unprecedented innovation and success.

Conclusion

In the fast-paced world of contemporary business, digital transformation is a prime example of innovation that combines technology, sustainability, and growth. It opens up a world of opportunities by dispelling the myths of complexity, expenditure, and job loss. It amplifies the power of larger corporations and SMEs, enabling effective operations and environmentally responsible procedures. Its importance has been emphasized in the post-COVID era by demonstrating adaptability and a focus on the client’s needs. Instead of impeding growth, decentralization strengthens leadership. A successful and innovative future depends on digital transformation because of its revolutionary influence and boundless potential. Accept change in this digital age and soar to new heights with us.

Your guiding partner for your digital transformation journey will be Sparity.

[fractiondigital]

PPC Management Services for eCommerce: : 5 Reasons to Use Them

It is imperative to stay on top of the latest trends in a global marketplace in which everything evolves at an unprecedented pace – from gadgets and technology to medicine and travel.

If you are a seasoned Amazon Seller or a newbie, you cannot ignore the need for an “extra set of hands” to ease your workload! It is this that ‘scaling’ is about – expanding beyond your physical self and developing innovative foresight at an unprecedented pace!

It is critical to define PPC because, in an ever-evolving market to build a well-defined, self-regulatory, proactively sustainable Amazon PPC model in order to reduce downtime and provide a competitive advantage through growth, revenue, and revenue generation.

It is possible that you have a decently selling product. Profits and growth can always be enhanced.

In this blog we have covered all the topics related to objectives of ppc, ppc definition, ppc full form in digital marketing, ppc full form in production. In order to run powerful, results-oriented, optimized, and highly effective PPC campaigns, you should hire an Ecommerce Expert.

The term e-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to the buying and selling of goods and services over a computer network, primarily the internet. These business transactions occur either as business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), consumer-to-consumer, or consumer-to-business. The goal of marketing eCommerce SEO is to generate more organic (i.e., non-paid) traffic to your online store from search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

SEO is a popular choice for eCommerce marketing strategy. Regardless of the way that Website optimization offers the greatest returns on initial capital investment of any marketing strategy for online businesses, numerous websites are assembled with practically no thought of web search tools.

All things considered, many depend on web-based entertainment or paid promotions that can be perfect for organizations yet regularly require a steady flow of revenue. The marketing budget costs organizations enormous sums consistently — a sum that is only growing.

Then again, eCommerce product marketing primarily requires upfront effort — if you rank well, deals can be made automatically without costing you anything.

As a result, Web optimization is one of the best eCommerce marketing strategies which can improve and transform your business.

What is PPC for eCommerce?engines

A PPC stands for campaigns for eCommerce promotes an online store through PPC ads, which is used as an online advertising strategy. A search engine ad can appear on a website, social media network, or on search engine. It is an effective method of generating sales in eCommerce since it targets buyers who are ready to make a purchase.

For more information visit 

#ecommerce #fractiondigital #digitalmarketingagency #agency #ppcmanagement #ppcads 

[joachimnapoleon]

How the (Quarantined) Murats broke the Internet (and Lannes). [Part 2/2]

Hello all! Here is the second half of my and @histoireettralala‘s AU on our Trifecta in Quarantine.  (Part 1 can be found here.) ^_^

***

Caroline groggily plops into her desk chair, yawning in between sips of her morning coffee as she waits for her laptop to start up. She smiles at the sound of the sewing machine running from across the hall; Joachim is already hard at work making a new batch of masks for their friends and family. He has become quite determined, he informed her this morning, to make as many as he can, now that he's discovered he has such a talent for it.

She is secretly relieved that he has developed such a liking for this new hobby. Joachim has been delighted to be able to spend so much more time with the kids since the office temporarily closed, but at the same time... she knew her husband well enough by now to sense his restlessness. Joachim has always been bursting with energy and a perpetual need to be doing Something Important--not unlike Napoleon himself. Sitting at home for days on end, feeling useless, was simply unbearable for him.

Now, he has a purpose again, and she can already see the effect it is having on her husband, the added spark in his eye, the renewed spring in his step. And, she thinks, I've gotten an adorable new video out of it to add to my collection.

Caroline takes another sip of coffee as her YouTube page loads.

She nearly chokes on the hot liquid in her surprise.

Since she went to bed last night, her video of Joachim sewing with Letitia has accumulated... 12,184 views. There are hundreds of new comments and subscribers.

Caroline blinks. She figured Paulette and Josephine would be able to give it a nice boost, but... wow.

She refreshes the page.

12,192.

She refreshes it again.

12,203.

She decides to take a look at some of the top-rated comments.

@napoleon, 12:03: Well this was most... unexpected. So, when can I expect my masks?

@j.poniatowski, 1:05: MY DUDE

@ney, 12:17: very sweet, and kudos on not hurting yourself yet joachim

@bakingsoult, 3:27: maybe we can make a deal, fresh cookies of your choice for masks? PM me

@elisa.bacchiochi, 2:08: CAROLINE WE ALL NEED MORE OF THIS PLZ

@augereau, 4:02: My dear Murat, I think we could do a very lucrative business together; give me a call if you're interested.

@jeanlannes, 12:54: O___O

The majority of the comments, though, are from total strangers, many of whom have felt compelled to comment on the physical beauty of Caroline's husband. It would take far too long to go through them all and filter out the ones that go a little too far, especially as new comments are constantly being added to the thread. She sighs. At least most of them seem to be wholesome enough. And, anyway, it isn't like Caroline isn't used to this by now.

After finishing her coffee and refreshing the page one more time--the video is now up to slightly over 14,000 views--Caroline grabs her camera.

She has an audience to please.

***

[Three days later]

Lannes is not happy.

Aside from being bored to death right now as a result of so many days pent up inside, the masks he ordered from Amazon still haven't arrived, and wearing them is now required in order to go anywhere. The family's groceries are running low (except for their toilet paper; Lannes had made sure to buy twelve 24-packs of that once this whole thing had started, a foresight of which he was extremely proud). How is he supposed to go grocery shopping now without the requisite mask?

To make matters worse, Murat had entirely abandoned him for the past couple nights. Lannes is deeply wounded by this. How could his best friend just up and forget about two straight Skype cocktail hours? Especially when he knew perfectly well that they were the only thing keeping Lannes sane at this point? Even a flurry of furious text messages had failed to impress upon Murat the gravity of his neglectfulness.

Ten minutes later, a "sorry lol" was the verbatim response Lannes had received, followed shortly after by a "super busy" and then a "maybe this weekend idk". Murat had not even had the decency to reply to Lannes' ensuing "WTF".

If I don't get out of this house soon, I'm going to lose my mind, Lannes thinks.

He grabs his cellphone and dials the one man capable of helping him in this crisis.

"What in God's name is it today, Lannes?" a weary Larrey asks after the seventh ring.

"Doc!!! Do you have any spare masks?"

"I've already told you three times I don't!"

"How can you still not have any though? YOU'RE A DOCTOR!!!"

"That's correct; I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker. The mask demand has far outpaced the supply right now. Have you tried asking Murat?"

Lannes blinks, uncomprehending. "Ask... Murat...?"

"Yeah, I've gotta give it to him, he's been making some excellent quality masks!" Larrey exclaims. "I'm actually wearing one right now."

Lannes doesn't know how to even begin to process this statement. His arm holding the phone goes slack; the phone drops from a limp hand to the carpeted floor.

Everything Lannes knows is wrong.

Well, except one thing: he needs alcohol.

A lot of alcohol.

Now.

He heads towards the kitchen.

"Lannes?" the voice of Larrey calls through the abandoned phone. "Are you still there?? Lannes???"

***

Ney stares at himself in the mirror, studying his new mask. Murat had delivered it to him personally earlier this morning, along with a set of masks for Aglaé and all their children.

"Letitia picked the fabric for your mask personally," Murat had said with a wink.

"Well, I hope you'll give her my thanks. Tell her she has very good taste."

A giant image of the perpetually scowling Grumpy Cat covers Ney's mask.

Aglaé appears behind him in the mirror. Appraising her mask-clad husband for a moment, she nods approvingly.

"It suits you perfectly, my love."

Her husband's mouth might be covered by the mask, but Aglaé isn't fooled. His smile is betrayed by his eyes.

***

[Three weeks later]

Fifty-thousand subscribers.

And Caroline is only just getting started. A prominent blog had e-mailed her this morning about doing an article on Joachim's mask-making venture. Shortly afterwards, a local news channel had called to inquire about conducting a Skype interview with Joachim (and would it be possible for little Letitia to be present too?). Joachim had been reluctant to leave his work--there were still so many masks he needed to make!!--but Caroline had convinced him it would be for the Greater Good.

At Pauline's suggestion, she had monetized the YouTube channel yesterday morning.

Joachim enters Caroline's office, carrying Louise in his arms. Caroline greets them warmly.

"Did Napoleon like his new mask?" Joachim asks.

The last video Caroline had uploaded had been of Joachim and Letitia making Napoleon's mask, complete with her brother's signature "N" ornately embroidered by Joachim himself. His skills were progressing at a surreal pace. Imagining the look on Madame Campan's face at the sight of Joachim's meticulous sewing and craftsmanship, Caroline makes a mental note to forward the video link to her former mentor. See?! Caroline imagines herself screaming triumphantly at the haughty old woman. I was right about him all along!!!

"Napoleon said, and I quote: 'Tell him it's really not bad at all.'" She gives him a knowing smile.

Joachim beams. He's fluent enough in Napoleonese to know that this is high praise indeed.

***

[One month later]

Two-hundred-fifty-thousand subscribers.

Caroline's latest video--Joachim teaching Lannes to use the sewing machine--is shaping up to be their biggest hit yet. (She'd had to implore the two to keep their language as clean as possible; this is a family-friendly blog and besides that, it simply wouldn't do to put the ad revenue at risk). Her viewers couldn't get enough of Letitia and Louise laughing in the background at the struggles of their grumbling Uncle Jean to figure out "this demonic device" (as he called it). But Joachim was a patient teacher, and eventually Lannes had succeeded at making his very first mask. The video culminated triumphantly with him holding the mask aloft towards the camera like a hard-won battle trophy, as Letitia and Louise cheered and Joachim glowed with pride.

Now, Joachim is beginning to experiment with increasingly ornate embroideries and higher quality materials.

"Just because it's for a pandemic," he insists, "doesn't mean it can't be fashion."

***

[Three months later]

One million subscribers.

"Vogue?" Pauline's tone is one of total disbelief.

"Vogue," Caroline affirms.

"THE Vogue?" Elisa presses.

"Yes."

"And he's going to be... on the cover?"

"Yes."

"On the cover of Vogue."

"Yes."

"THE Vogue."

"Yes."

***

[One year later]

Five million subscribers.

Caroline parks her new cobalt blue Maserati, grabs her Louis Vuitton handbag off the seat, and heads into the house.

Joachim is in his design room, hard at work as always. He greets her with a kiss.

"How's it coming?" she asks.

"Pretty good, I think. Maybe another week or so and everything will be wrapped up."

After months of hitting the runways and photo studios of some of the most famous designers in America and Europe in the aftermath of the pandemic, Joachim has decided to pursue his long-cherished dream of putting out his very own clothing line--for both adults and children. So far, their videos of Achille, Letitia, Lucien, and Louise parading around and posing in their dazzling new haute couture outfits were proving to be immensely popular.

They have been floating the idea of live-streaming a fashion show to launch the new line; the participants would be their friends and family. So far, Lannes, Jerôme, Pauline, Elisa, Eugène, Lasalle, Bessières, and Poniatowski have all volunteered. Lannes' runway walk needs serious, serious work, but there's still plenty of time.

Of course, the children all want to participate in the show too, and how can Joachim possibly say no?

***

[Six months later]

Napoleon hates shopping. Primarily because Josephine always spends obscene amounts of money--really, if anybody ever found out just how many pairs of gloves she has--he lets out a sigh. It isn't just about the money though. Shopping for clothes is always such a hassle. Napoleon is a simple man with simple tastes. No frills, no feathers, no silly ornamentation--unlike some people. He just wants something nice and comfortable. Something breathable. Something that doesn't cut off the circulation in his arms or legs.

So of course, he has to live in the age of... skinny jeans. A crime against God and man. If he was in charge, he'd criminalize the horrid things. Of course, his ludicrous brother-in-law doesn't mind them. Murat is always delighted to have an excuse to show off those perfectly chiseled thighs of his.

"Napoleon! Come over here!!" Josephine calls. "I've found something you might like!"

I highly doubt it. He sighs again, but proceeds in the direction of her voice.

***

[The following afternoon]

Napoleon and Josephine arrive at the Murats' monthly garden party. Caroline has been renovating the place obsessively for the past few months; the spacious property now has a massive heated outdoor pool and vast gardens full of exotic plants and flowers. To the house itself, has been added a large marble terrace.

All this because she didn't want to learn how to sew, Napoleon marvels. He wonders how Madame Campan is processing it all.

Joachim and Caroline see the newly-arrived couple and hurry over to greet them.

Joachim's greeting cuts off in mid-sentence. His eyes are locked onto Napoleon's shirt.

"You're... wearing..."

"Yes. You know, it's really not bad at all, Joachim. You should make more like this." He gives Joachim's ear his signature tweak, before continuing on towards the food table.

Caroline giggles at the sight of her husband stricken speechless--the rarest of rare events.

"Come, my love," she takes his hand. "Let's go celebrate our success."

[THE END]

[nightbloomsresorthotel]

JUPITER’S CURSE

An original short story about a girl named Jupiter, the demigod Narcissus, and a little bit of ghost-like possession.

Genre: fantasy, sci-fi, comedy

Tags: greek gods, possession, alcohol, supernatural, enemies to friends (ish)

Rating: T for language

///

Jupiter stared into her glass. The bright lights in the club danced over her skin, turning it all sorts of colors. She felt wobbly. How much had she had to drink?

She stumbled when Maggie crashed into her, laughing.

“I’m twenty three!” She half yelled, half sang into her friends ear, “Nobody likes me! I’m having such a great time, Jupe! Dance with me!”

“Do you know how many drinks I’ve had?” She yelled back. She tried to keep her balance, but Maggie was dragging her towards the dance floor too fast. She spilled her drink. Her hand jerked wildly, clear liquid spilling onto the floor.

“Huh? I dunno, why?”

“I feel drunk,” she said, holding onto Maggie for support, “I have to go.”

“Woah, woah, woah, what, do you feel bad? Do you think somebody did something to your drink?”

“No, it’s not that. I can’t have more than a drink or two. I only had two, why do I feel so drunk?”

Maggie took the glass from her hand, sniffed it, took a sip. She made a face and coughed. “Ugh! Can’t you taste how strong this is? Did you drink the whole thing?”

Her heart dropped. “Is it really strong?”

“My throats still on fire.”

Shit. The bastard messed with her taste buds. Since when could he do that?

I’ve been hiding that trick for a while, said a smooth voice in her head, let me out!

Resisting the urge to clutch her head, she ran to the bathroom.

“I have to pee!” she yelled, hoping her friend wouldn’t follow her. Mercy of mercies, there wasn’t a line. She ducked in, latched the door, and clutched the bathroom sink, staring at her reflection.

Son of a bitch.

“You asshole,” she told her reflection, “You asshole!”

You know, botox doesn’t cost much. I’m not saying you need it but if it’s not broke, fix it before it is, right?

“God I hate you. I hate whatever it is I did that cursed me with you.”

She looked at the corners of her eyes in the mirror. She didn’t even have wrinkles.

Not yet, said the voice.

“I’m puking. Bye.”

The voice laughed. Too late for that! It’s already in your system, sweetheart. Don’t worry, i’m not gonna get a haircut like last time. I’m just gonna party and show Maggie what a good friend you are.

She couldn’t believe this. The sink jerked in her hands, and she gripped it tightly to avoid falling. She never should have ordered a drink. She should have—

“Oh calm down,” he said with her mouth. With her hand, he began to fix her lipstick. “You’ve been standing in the corner like a wallflower the whole time. Why do you think she dragged you out onto the dance floor? You were being a huge bore.”

Great. Now she was stuck inside her own mind, a prisoner for at least eight hours until either the  alcohol wore off or Narcissus got bored.

“Listen, it’s not exactly my idea of a fantastic time either. You think I want to be stuck inside the body of a twenty year old girl? I used to be gorgeous. And, to top it off, I can only come out when you’re drunk.”

Don’t even think of getting botox, or lip injections, or whatever! My face is fine, I like myself just the way I am.

“That’s a great outlook! And you should. I was only kidding about the botox anyway.”

Stop fixing my lipstick, it’s fine. You’re putting too much, my lips aren’t that big.

“It’s called over lining,” Narcissus said, finally capping the lipstick and slipping it inside her purse, “it’s supposed to make your lips more plump. You look great. I look great. Let’s party. Ooh, wait what’s this?”

Taking her hand out of the bag, Narcissus held her cellphone.

He looked in the mirror, met eyes of their reflection.

“Selfies!”

They spent a ridiculous amount of time taking selfies. Jupiter hated to admit it, but her lips really did look great. And for being a thousand year old demigod, Narcissus took amazing selfies.

At least she got a great profile pic out of tonight.

“See? I’m not that bad once you get to know me.” He said, opening the door. A girl rushed past them, and if Jupiter could, she would have blushed with embarrasment.

Jupiter scoffed. I don’t mind knowing you. I mind that I can’t control my body right now. Can’t you possess someone else?

Narcissus got another drink at the bar and paid for it. “If I could, believe me, I would. It’s only been a few weeks, give it some time. Dionysus’ curses usually last about three months anyway. I’ll be gone before you know it.”

Dionysus? You got cursed by Dionysus?

“Yeah,” he said, twirling a lock of hair around their finger, “Why else do you think this only happens when you’re drunk? He probably picked you because you never drink. If it weren't for your friend Maggie, I’d still be stuck in your head. I should thank her.”

Three months? They were stuck together for three whole months?

If Jupiter had control of her mouth, she would have cursed herself.

“Hey Jupe! Are you feeling better?” Maggie said, surprising them. Her birthday crown was askew, and they fixed it for her.

“I am! Now that i’m here. I mean, now that you’re here, birthday girl. Do you wanna dance?”

Maggie squealed, definitely tipsy, and led them to the dance floor.

Jupiter hated to admit it, but even stuck in her own mind, she had a good time. She could still see, hear, and feel everything that they did. And seeing her friend happy on her birthday made her happy.

See? Narcissus thought, I told you we’d show her a good time.

Yeah, Yeah, now hush. This is our favorite song.

Unfortunately for her, Narcissus kept drinking throughout the night. She wasn’t sure if it was because they were there, and he thought they might as well drink, or if he was trying to appease Dionysus somehow by consuming alcohol. Now that she knew he wasn’t thrilled by their predicament either, maybe he was doing all he could to undo it?

In the morning she woke up on Maggie’s bed, still in her party dress. She rose to get up and stopped, instantly regretting it when her head throbbed monstrously.

Sorry, that one’s my fault. They were good drinks.

“Ugh. They were.” she groaned.  

She tried again, tasting her own breath and wishing Narcissus had the foresight to brush their teeth before they passed out. She found her spare in the bathroom, and tried to be quiet while Maggie was still asleep.

“Look,” she said, toothpaste dripping from her mouth and falling in a foamy mess on the sink, “If we’re gonna be like this for another two months, we need some ground rules.”

Ugh, Narcissus said in her mind, rules are boring.

“Yeah, well, I don’t like that you’re scheming every night to get me drunk. So what about this,” she paused to rinse her mouth with water, and spat.

“Every Saturday, we can get drunk. You can come out, you can do what you want. But only one drink for you. I can’t keep waking up with headaches, I just can’t.”

Only every Saturday? That’s a whole week i’m stuck in here!

“Well I don’t like the idea of getting drunk every day! I’m the one that wakes up hungover, not you!”

Narcissus grumbled in her head. Okay, fine. But a week? That’s literally torture.

Jupiter crossed her arms, looking down at her reflection. “Take it or leave it. It’s either that, or you’re stuck in there for two months.”

Fine, it’s a deal. Every Saturday. But we’re getting drunk in the morning. That way, I get the whole day.

Jupiter didn’t like the idea of giving up her body for an entire 24 hours, but she supposed it was only fair. Narcissus would be stuck in her a whole week.

It was fair.

From the other side of the door, Jupiter could hear Maggie moving around.

“Jupe? Who are you talking to?”

“I’m calling the bank!” she lied quickly, “They have a phone tree.”

“Ugh, I hate those! Hey, let’s go get some breakfast. And some breakfast drinks.”

Hey, Jupe, Narcissus said, a smile in his voice. You have to. Because guess what day it is?

Jupiter groaned. She walked right into that one.

Today was Saturday.

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

Thanks for reading! If you liked the story, consider donating to my Patreon here, or checking out my blog for more short stories and poetry! You can also find me on Instagram here. 

Photo Credits:

1. Amazon

2. Narcissus (Caravaggio)

3. neonteenscult on tumblr

4. Imgur

5. Maybelline, Via google

6. Tumlblr, via google 

7. Made by me in Gimp

8. Bacchus (Caravaggio) 

9. Via google

[themollyjay]

The Inevitable Singularity By Molly J. Bragg Available now in Handback, Paperback and eBook From Desert Palm Press

Sean is a mercenary who works as the bodyguard of Grand Master Caila of the Order of the Paladins of the Republic. A fact that the entire Order, except for Caila herself, resents deeply since they kicked Sean out almost twenty years earlier. It doesn’t help matters that Caila has taken a vow of Celibacy, but everyone knows that she and Sean have feelings for each other.

Sean’s presence is only tolerated because Caila is the official Seer of the Paladin Order. While all Paladins can see the future to a limited extent, Caila’s gift with foresight exceeds even the head of the order.

But when a mine destroys Caila’s ship just as they arrive in the Ptolemy system to settle a dispute over a hyperspace route, it quickly becomes clear that someone doesn’t want their mission to succeed.

With only Reagan, a Paladin with a personal grudge against Sean for support, Sean and Caila make their way to Ptolemy, recruiting allies along the way to help them complete their mission, but each time they look into the future, Caila sees a vision showing her that Ptolemy will be reduced to a lifeless cinder if they leave, and Sean receives a warning that Caila will die if they stay.

Can they avoid disaster, or will Caila be forced to sacrifice herself to save an entire world?

Order now at: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLFPJX4V Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-inevitable-singularity-molly-j-bragg/1144249587 Bella Books: https://www.bellabooks.com/product/9781954213807e/ Desert Palm Press: https://desertpalmpress.com/shop/p/the-inevitable-singularity-by-molly-j-bragg (Get a 10% discount with code 10DPP) iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-inevitable-singularity/id6469932983 Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-inevitable-singularity Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com



[benniledesignerbox]

Cry Amazon

In the history of human experience, I have encountered four kinds of kindness that you cannot find in textbooks or anybody wants to discuss openly.

The first kind of kindness is human. The second is the animal. The third is the plant and finally, the fourth is the environment.

In my 64 years of existence, I find human kindness rare. This kind of kindness is when humans relate to each other and offer kindness.

 The other kindness in humans is when they love animals. Sometimes, I see that humans are kinder to animals than to their own kind. This seems oddly unnatural as I believed that humans should be more kind to themselves first than to animals.

 In plant-kindness, I see many examples when humans love plants and grow them like in a garden. There appear to be two kinds of human kindness when it comes to plants. Gardening is the first type and commercial farming is the second. The kindness associated with commercial farming allows the farmer to live off his land by selling his produce.

Finally, the last type of human kindness is about the environment. This concerns also the Cosmos and so we have astronauts who travel in outer space in order to explore other planets. The astronauts are trained to be kind because if they discover some materials from another planet, they should claim it for the use of earthlings. But we do not know whether this is the true test of their kindness on a space mission until the day comes when a claim is made.

 One of the most recent incidences of kindness is found in the Amazon forest in Brazil. In this plant kindness, humans have engineered a way to support their farming activities thus allowing the land to grow abundantly. However, as we have now realised, sometimes farmers have tended to exploit their land resource such as trees to their disadvantage. The commercialisation of trees such as land clearing for corporations has also caused many forests to disappear.

 Today’s installation is about the loss of kindness when we remove trees from their natural habitats. The series covers two boxes, one large and one small. It is a representation of corruption that degrades the natural environment where trees live; once the trees are gone, every other commercial instinct to develop the land is activated with the feature being that the trees shall never return.

 The first box represents a green environment where trees live happily in harmony with nature.

 The second box represents a darkened and burnt environment, and even though the trend is small, in the Amazon where it is considered the lungs of the world’s forest, a decimation of the trees shall have a lasting and permanent impact on environment, habitat and society.

 The two boxes when placed individually can be studied on their own merits. When placed together, side by side, they provide a contrast of the imminent picture we are seeing now: the wholesale destruction of forests for commercial gains. However, when the boxes are placed on top of each other, the true relevance of and scale of destruction can be seen. For example, to be able to put the small box on the big box, the big box needs to be overturned. This means that the natural growth of the trees is disrupted, as can be seen by the green markers which are now opposite in direction as if hanging from the air. No tree can live in the air as all trees and living things including us, require to be rooted in the ground so we can absorb moisture and water to stay alive.

 We can analyse ourselves the topic of kindness when we see the position of the boxes. If we are not kind to the trees, we shall always find a way to burn the trees at the cost of other young trees or emerging trees or plantings; thus, the small box shall always be at the top, the result or endgame of burning. However, if we are mindful of our actions and take responsibility as guardians of the forest, we should always take care and precaution to save burning, therefore, the small box should be placed inside the big box because of our foresight and insight of the trees’ contribution and significance to our existence. We protect our environment by first protecting the trees that make the environment sustainable for our continued existence and comfort.

 To live with trees in harmony so both trees and humans can co-exist for the benefit of society is only the first goal in our responsibility as guardians of the forest. The second goal is how to sustain the forest so that we shall never lose another tree again for the sake of progress. We cannot progress materially when trees are spiritual living things that balance our own spirituality-comfort.

 There is a popular saying that when it comes to progress, we sacrifice kindness easily: Everybody plays the fool as if there is no exception to the rule.

 We hate to see trees’ tears falling from the sky when trees’ roots should anchor our pathways of kindness to our common shared heritage of benevolence toward nature’s gifts.

If you like a personal narrative behind each of the boxes’ creation, please visit https://benniledesignerbox.com

[writing-in-the-tiny-house]

Writer's Block, Part 2

When writer's block happens because the characters arcs don't make sense anymore.

“Brigitte,” Installment One of Tales from Vlaydor, is available on ebook and audiobook. Follow the link to find them on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=brigitte+devin+davis&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Become a patron today! Visit patreon.com/writinginthetinyhouse

Get ahold of Krissy Barton with Little Syllables editing services. She does free sample edits to see if you and she would be the right fit. www.littlesyllables.com

Instagram: @authordevindavis

Twitter: @authordevind

The following is an imperfect transcript of this episode. A complete transcript can be found on the show’s webpage.

[00:00:00] So we were talking about writer's block and let's talk about another thing or another type of writer's block. Sometimes it's not so much that we don't understand the events that happened; it's that we don't understand our characters. So as we carry on with our second part of this writer's block series, we are going to delve into story arcs.

[00:00:30] Today on writing in the tiny house. Hello? Hello. Hello, and welcome to today's episode. I am your host Devin Davis, and I am the guy who lives in a tiny house in Northern Utah who writes things and then likes to share what the writing process looks like. The whole point is to give you the tools and the inspiration and the knowledge necessary for you to start and finish a short story in three months, or to start and finish a novel in 18 months and above all to give you the wisdom and the foresight to understand that sometimes that timeline will need to be adjusted.

[00:01:32] I would dare say almost every time. Sometimes not understanding the time commitment that something like this has, can deter us from even getting started. And so understanding that it is something that can clip along at a fast pace if we want it to, and if we are prepared to make that happen can be valuable for a lot of us to even get started.

[00:01:53] So last week we talked about our cold hard outline. We talked about the scenes and we talked about reorganizing scenes. Revisiting and revising our outlines as a way to combat writer's block. Especially if we are writing a plot heavy book. If we are writing something super plot driven as fantasy and science fiction tend to be, sometimes our outlines need to be a bit more dynamic.

[00:02:23] And sometimes we need to give ourselves permission to take a day off of our word count goals in order to revise the map of what our story is going to be and where things are headed. So today, and this is a situation that I ran into pretty recently. It is not so much that we don't understand the structure of the story itself.

[00:02:47] It's not so much that we don't understand the roadmap. It's that as we get into the story and as we start composing and drafting, and these characters come more to life, sometimes we don't understand our characters very well. And so we get to a point where we simply don't know where else to go just because what is on our outline no longer matches our characters.

[00:03:17] I mentioned last week that I am in a lot of different Facebook groups, all geared toward creative writing. And the idea of writer's block comes up a lot and I like to pay attention and see what people suggest and see what people are doing as ways as a way to combat writer's block.

[00:03:37] And one thing that some people suggested recently that I really liked was the idea of sitting down and feeling out your characters. So the lady in the Facebook group suggested interviewing your characters. That can be whatever you want it to be. If you want to actually sit down and talk to a person or whatever, or if you want to like, say things in your character's stead or perhaps write out a script, whatever things look like. The point is to sit down and feel out your characters.

[00:04:20] With a work in progress, it can be very valuable to actually keep a running outline of where you have been so that you can remember where things went and where things are going and where some of the character things where some of the huge developmental character things happened and how they happened and what they were for.

[00:04:41] It can be really valuable to tease all of that apart into the separate character arcs so that you can see that if your main character is a woman named , which is the case in one of my books and you see that Hoshi co makes it to the main island and does the things, and gets in touch with an art collector and whatever else.

[00:05:06] you can see where the big important events happened and you can see why, and you can ask yourself does all of that make sense and does all of that support where the character needs to be now and where the character needs to be here in half a second when I keep writing. And oftentimes the answer is not quite yes.

[00:05:33] So it's important to do this with all of your characters that you are following through your story. All of the main characters, sit down and see where they're going. See where they have come from the big stepping stones that they stepped on or stepped over in order to get where they are now.

[00:05:51] And now as a character who is well developed and more into this story, because the story is more real to you at this point. And. You can further flesh out and further develop things in a different way, from a better informed stand point than you did before you started. Just because, I mean, if we're getting writer's block, odds are we're a chunk in, we're a chunk into the story.

[00:06:19] And we understand the story better than we did before we started. And so it is better to start making decisions like that at this point. Sometimes the inspiration or the solution to the writer's block can be that a character needs a specific thing or a certain event that isn't in your outline right now, needs to happen in order to get your character into a more believable place or some of the things that you wrote already may not have built up your character or your scene to a place where it needs to be.

[00:06:59] I experienced that pretty recently, actually I was getting to the end of a scene. I felt pretty good about the way that I had written it up to that point. And yet here I was standing. So I have a standing desk in the tiny house, right now I don't have an office chair. I've been meaning to buy an office chair for like seven months and I still haven't done it, but I was standing here.

[00:07:24] Dumbfounded mouth agape sort of staring at my computer because I could not figure out what was going on next, what needed to happen next. And what I came to realize was the source of the writer's block wasn't so much what was coming next. The source of the writer's block came from the previous couple of pages that I had written didn't build up the characters and the scene to a place where it needed to be.

[00:07:53] It had been a slightly different direction. And so I needed to go through what I had already written and revise stuff and delete stuff. And add some stuff in order to correct the course that the story had already been going. And once I did that, the writer's block was gone. I was able to get back into the flow of writing again, and I was able to touch base with the characters and see where they needed to be and plug in the necessary things in order to have a good story.

[00:08:26] That is just a simple, but a very good thing. It ties back into outlining, but you can see that it's bigger than just outlining. I mean, writer's block is bigger than just simply not being able to write. There are a lot of facets that go into writer's block and I wanted to touch on some of these things that go into that. So last week we talked about just structure of the story this week. Sometimes it's the character arc. Sometimes the characters need a thing, and sometimes what you have written does not support where they need to go. And so some revamping or some adding or some deleting or whatever is the right call to make that change and to get the flow back into the story.

[00:09:13] And next week as we conclude this series on writer's block, we are going to talk about your inner environment. Sometimes it's not actually about writing sometimes it's about you. So be sure to tune in next week, as we wrap up this little mini series on writer's block, on writing in the tiny house. Thank you so much, guys.

[00:09:36] Bye.

[00:09:37] 

[00:09:37] And that is it for today. Just a reminder that "Brigitte,"Installment One of Tales from Vlaydor is available on Amazon as an ebook and on Audible and Apple Books as an audio book. And I provide advanced reader copies of these short stories as I release them to my patrons. So become a patron today by visiting patreon.com/writinginthetinyhouse to support both my writing and this podcast. And lastly, be sure to follow me on social media. My Instagram is @authordevindavis and my Twitter handle is@authordevind. Thank you so much for spending some time with me today and have fun writing. We will see you next time. 

Check out this episode!

[luv-engineering]

Outstanding for a self-taught course in GIS I just completed a graduate course in GIS and remote sensing, and we used this book as the basic guide to using GIS. Prior to this, I had always relied on other people to "make maps" for me. Now I am not only making my own maps, but also using GIS to perform many different types of analysis for my job. This book was key to that - the course I took didn't really cover much GIS in the class materials - that was focused mostly on remote sensing and researching what others have done with GIS. I've sat through probably a half-dozen GIS "workshops" over the years and never really learned anything. Taking your time with this book, and no one standing over your shoulder and telling you which buttons to click, is really the best way to learn. I liked this book so much I ordered 10 more for my staff, and 9 of them have now completed it, too, and are working on their projects to earn the certificate from me that they have mastered basic ArcGIS use. I've now got a backlog of 15 other employees who want to be in on the next round of training! Very highly recommended! Go to Amazon

Good Introduction to Pro and not Just for Begineers I picked this up as an introduction to Pro. I've used desktop for about 10 years, so I'm pretty familiar with GIS and the ESRI platform. This is a nice introduction to Pro, you'll learn where all the major tools you use on a daily basis are in the new ribbon format and get practice with it. It is meant for absolute beginners so experienced users will fly through it, but I did enjoy it and find it useful. Go to Amazon

Beware of the Kindle Version The digital version of this book does not come with a CD-Key needed to access the software to learn it. Go to Amazon

good book for getting started This book is useful for getting started and looking up basic tasks. There's a Task Index in the back of the book. The chapters list steps for completing tasks. The ArcGIS Pro website is better for actually learning about the tools: how and when to use them, how they work, how to interpret results, capabilities and limitations, scripts, similar tools, etc. Go to Amazon

the screens shots in the 2016 version no longer look quite like the current version of the software as of writing ... It's too hard to just 'jump into ArcGIS, and the book works well as a tutorial - better than what's on line for free - so it might still be worth buying. But it really only gives you just a once over lightly of the software, cookbook style, and doesn't cover everything. The book works poorly as a reference to help you with particular questions as they come up. It only has a skimpy four page index, includes very little in the way of background or discussion of subject material. ArcGIS has moved to version 2.0 since this book was published in 2016, but that didn't seem to present many problems. I noticed very few instances in which the old screen shots didn't look like the current screen. But at $54, it should be comprehensive and up-to-date. Go to Amazon

Great stuff It's a good read that breaks down the use of ArcGIS 10.1 pretty well. The reason it's not 5 star is because once a new version of the software comes out, there are changes not reflected in the book, ultimately deeming your investment relatively useless in the long run. But the software itself is pretty awesome, there's a whole world of data out there and ArcGIS, namely Jack Dangermond, had the foresight and ability to hone the tools needed to relay the comprehension of our environment and encouraged a generation to discover, record, and analyze. Go to Amazon

Easy instructions, simple layout Instructions in this textbook are step-by-step and are usually short, and this makes the process to complete each lesson very easy. Lots of pictures--all in color--show you what each finished map or command should look like on the computer screen. Each chapter begins with conceptual information, then instructs you how to do something particular in the program. Go to Amazon

Great Book, But End Of Chapter Exercises Would Have Made It An Excellent Book! It's a great book to get acquainted with ArcGIS Pro. However, my biggest criticism of this book is that it lacks exercises you can do once you complete the tutorials so you can get practice without the step by step instructions. I feel like once I complete the tutorials I need a few exercises to make sure I learned what was presented. Other than that, it is a great book. A must-have! Go to Amazon

The book is easy to understand and follow Five Stars Best for If you new to ArcGIS get this book The best! Five Stars No EVA code There is software to download, but can't find the ... One of my favorite text books It's a book

[decisionforesight]

Blockchain Technology Market  Size 2030 - By Application, Type & Manufacturers Across North America, Europe, APAC, South America

The Global Blockchain Technology Market was valued at USD 3.0 billion by 2020, growing with  67% CAGR during the forecast period, 2021-2030.

In the digital era, information technology and communications are two of the most essential issues. New services, businesses, and start-ups emerge, disrupting the market's existing order. ICT has a disruptive effect on company models and day-to-day work.Markets, businesses, and the government all need to adjust to these developments. Governments are putting in a lot of effort to adapt and embrace new technology in order to digitalize the globe in this way.The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry is a key facilitator of economic growth and a key driver of the global digital economy's future development. It brings together the digital ecosystem, which is a worldwide network of commercial and social activities that includes the Internet, mobile devices, and sensor networks.

Browse Full report on Global Network Forensics Market @ https://www.decisionforesight.com/reports/blockchain-technology-market

Market Dynamics and Factors:

As expenditure on old technology systems falls, essential platforms such as cloud, mobile, social and big data, and analytics will drive growth. Cloud-based technology and automation will drive a greater percentage of technology expenditure towards emerging capabilities like AI, robots, and augmented reality, fuelled in part by cost reductions.

Continuous modernisation and increased access to cloud-based services have fuelled the business industry's shift towards innovation and growth rather than cost reduction.The cloud has reached the mainstream market thanks to a surge in consumer demand for flexible pay-as-you-go models and major IT businesses integrating expensive cloud-based technologies with corporate systems.

As a result, high-end technologies like AI and IoT, which were previously only available to a select few major enterprises and creative startups, are now available to a wide spectrum of small, medium, and large businesses.The future of the IT sector will certainly be shaped by automation. By integrating robots and artificial intelligence (AI) into the workplace, automation has the potential to boost productivity. Employees will actually want to perform more positions and take utilization of human abilities with the guide of these innovations. Computerized methods and advanced partners might conceivably support laborer usefulness, bringing about huge macroeconomic benefits.

Download Sample Copy of the Report to understand the structure of the complete report (Including Full TOC, Table & Figures) @ https://www.decisionforesight.com/request-sample/DFS020056

Market Segmentation:

On the basis of type, global blockchain technology market is classified into public blockchain, private blockchain, and consortium blockchain. On the basis of application, market is categorized into digital identity, exchanges, payments, smart contracts, and supply chain management. Based on enterprise, blockchain technology market is divided into small & medium enterprises and large enterprises. Based on end-user, the market is segmented into financial services, government, retail, healthcare, media & entertainment, transportation & logistics, travel, and others. Based on region, market is grouped into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and RoW. On regional basis, global F&B market can be segmented  into Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and RoW.

Competitive Analysis:

o    IBM Corporation o    Microsoft Corporation o    Linux Foundation o    Interbit o    Circle Internet Financial Limited o    Global Arena Holding o    Amazon Web Services, Inc. o    AlphaPoint o    Earthport o    Factom o    Ripple Labs, Inc. o    Digital Asset Holdings o    Abra o    Deloitte

Geographic Analysis:

In North Amerca, In terms of technological innovation, the United States leads the world. According to the World Economic Forum's 2018 Global Competitive Index, the country's competitive advantage is attributed to its economic dynamism, solid institutional foundations, finance systems, and active innovation environment. Since the post-World War II industrial revolution, innovation has been a hallmark of American competitiveness, fueling the country's worldwide supremacy.

Countries who are in the forefront of developing breakthrough technologies and utilising their digital economy' full productive capability might acquire a strategic competitive edge.With the aid of digital apps, digital services and produced data, as well as the underlying digital infrastructure, the Asia-Pacific area has the chance to demonstrate alternative methods to pandemic management and disaster recovery.

During the COVID-19 crisis, for example, the governments of the Republic of Korea and Singapore successfully used digital technology in novel ways to restrict the virus's transmission, aided by lessons learned from past crises and a well-designed enabling policy and regulatory framework.This can aid in the creation and execution of policies in the event of future crises.Global rivalry has risen as Eastern Europe's economy has opened up and Asian newly industrialising nations have advanced in the international market, particularly in the sector of labor-intensive items and medium-intensive technology. It is also critical for European Union nations and areas experiencing increased import competition and manufacturing relocation as a result of foreign direct investment inflows to strengthen their positions in sophisticated technology industries.

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