#the For You page keeps showing me posts with Extremely optimistic views of what her life is like and it's like.

[dragonbabezee]

Fictional Crush Series No.7

Have we made it to the 90′s yet?  We have!

What’s this you say?  The Outlander series didn’t premier until 2014?  Well!  There just happens to be an antiquated technology called books in with this particular tale was first created.

Let me set the scene.  It’s 1993.  I’m at the library with my dad.  I feel like I’ve read the entire YA section, and I’ve run out of David Eddings and Anne McCaffery books to read.  I complain to my dad that I have sucked this library dry.  He reaches into the Returned Today Shelf of unsorted books and grabs one at random.  “Here, you haven’t read this yet.”  It was this, a first edition copy of Outlander:

Perhaps he though it was an historical novel set in the highlands.  It kind of is...?  

To prove to him that plucking ugly books at random off the shelf was no was to pick a quality read, I read it.   First came intrigue, then delight, then fascination and compulsion, then welling tides of love and lust, and the feels! So many feels!

For those very few who are still unfamiliar with the Outlander universe, it’s a genre-bending book and series, especially the first three books, combining historical fiction, time travel, romance, blood, gore, sexual violence, medical ickiness, touches of mythical fantasy and magic, mystery, and a big slabbing helping of hot sexy sex.  

https://www.deviantart.com/aryundomiel/art/the-heart-asks-pleasure-first-181601743

Oh, and this hunk of red-blooded, red-haired Scot!

That means “I am ready” for everyone who doesn’t read French or hasn’t read the book.  I was 15.  I was ready.  My parents may have disagreed if they had known what was behind that twee bookcover.

James Alexander Malcolm McKenzie Fraser, Jamie to some, and JAMMF to the old school fandom.  Oh course, now we have Sam Heughan to envision Jamie as, but back in the day we used a read words off a page and picture Jamie et al in our minds.   I don’t think they did a bad job of casting Jamie.  Sam is of course, too short, and his hair is not red enough, but I give it a pass.

What makes Jamie Fraser a worthy subject of a lasting fictional crush that rocked my world?  He is an enlightened and modern thinker of the Enlightenment era, meaning that he does still kinda believe in witches and faeries, but also in science, and can eventually be persuaded to not beat his wife for wrongdoing (after a knife to the throat).  He is a soldier, a mercenary, an expert swordsman, can ride any horse, even a demonic stallion that no one else can master, a farmer, a landlord, a leader of men, a student of science and progress, a virgin at the beginning of the first book, and a sex-god by the end of it.  

Packaged in a 6 foot 6 Viking-esque warrior’s body, like a red-haired, blue-eyed demon set on Earth to sway our time-travelling heroine Claire off the path of marital fidelity.  It could be said that he is the ultimate Gary Sue.  He does have flaws though, mostly pertaining to pride and being a man of his day, even if he is a progressive one.  He is the prototype that launched a thousand Highlander romance novels.

The most singularly swoonworthy thing about Jamie though is how much he loves his woman.  The end.

https://www.deviantart.com/ellaine/art/Blood-and-Bone-567354322

https://www.deviantart.com/ellaine/art/Wild-strawberries-576708467

You want more detail?  Oh, fine, SPOILERS AHEAD.

He will save his wife from his worst and most feared enemy, armed only with an unloaded pistol, even though he thinks she’s probably an English spy bent on turning him and his folk as traitors to the crown.

https://www.deviantart.com/lehanan/art/Outlander-Take-your-hands-off-my-wife-486871484

He will single-handedly rescue her from the midst of a witch trial that is in the process of condemning her, even though he’s fairly sure she really is a witch.

He will trade his soul and his body to keep her alive.  He will believe the insane truths she tells him, and based on them, betray his kin and his King.  What impressionable young hetro woman doesn’t want that level of devotion from her man?

At the opening of the book, Jamie has already been through a lot - imprisonment and two disfiguring floggings, exile, the soldiers life. near starvation, serious head injury, family intrigue, the death of both his parents....and he’s only 22.  And yet, Jamie is still fairly optimistic character, aside for when he or his wife are getting tortured, raped, nearly killed etc.  He’s not one to wallow unnecessarily in his Man Pain.  Until he is, and then grab the popcorn and watch Claire drain the pool.

While we’re here, I’d like to point out a few unexpected treats and differences that I got from the show that I didn’t get from the books.

1) Jamie’s knees

2)  The flogging and several other violent scenes that were disturbing enough in the books became Extremely Uncomfortable and Upsetting Viewing.  If you’ve seen the show or read the books you probably know what scenes I am talking about.

3) they didn’t hold back on the sex scenes.  Many gifs from the various scenes would get this post removed from Tumblr.  Many were so hot I was blushing whilst watching it alone.  DO NOT WATCH WITH YOUR PARENTS.

I have read all the books of course, though I mainly concentrated on the first one here, the one that spawned my crush.  IT was a couple of years before I got my hands on books 2 and 3, and the fourth one hadn’t been written yet (I did get to go to a book signing and have my copy of Drums of Autumn signed by Diana Gabadon, Herself!).  My parents remembered my love for the series, unfortunately, and tried watching the TV when it came out.  My dad finally saw the error of plucking a book at random from a shelf to give to his 15 year old daughter to read.

[nanowrimo]

3 Guidelines for Character Creation

Character creation? In Week 3?! Yes, indeed! Whether you realize that you need a character to fill in a gap in a gang of international thieves, or whether your main character is coming off a little flat, it’s never to late to think about what makes characters tick. In this post, Young Writers Program Participant Katherine Liu gives some tips, tricks, and helpful resources to write more interesting characters: 

Interesting and dynamic characters in a story are essential to keeping your readers interested. If a character is flat, clichéd and clone-like, then it keeps your readers from flipping the page (or scrolling down online!) Here are some ways to help you with creating riveting characters:

Get to know your characters

I find personality tests like 16 Personalities/Myers Briggs extremely helpful. 

If you take the test in your character’s point of view, then you can learn a lot more about him/her by simply answering the questions. After the test, you can read about the strengths and weaknesses of that personality type, in addition to finding information about their friendship and romantic relationships. I also find the NaNoWriMo Character Questionnaire as something great that you can do in addition. 

Think about their greatest ambitions

Every character, whether they are major or minor, should have an aim in their life. For example, a henchman of the villain who makes an appearance during the climax shouldn’t just be working for the villain because he/she is simply evil. If the henchman is desperate to be paid money to feed his family, then his goal/aim would be “To support my family”.

If the henchman is being forced to work because the villain is threatening his family’s life, then his goal/aim would be “To save my family”. There can be many more reasons than the two possibilities that I have listed. “Want for absolute power” had been a commonly used goal in villains.

If it helps, you can think about what you want most in your life and incorporate it as your main character’s goal, e.g. An amazing adventure. It might not work for some plots but you can always choose to build the plot around the character or the other way around.

Avoid Character Clichés

Character clichés just makes me want to tear out my hair! They make your characters lack individuality. Here are some clichés that you can try to avoid:

No More Fiery Redheads: Not every redheaded character has to be feisty and outspoken to match their hair color, they can be shy and quiet too.

No More Broody Men: Haven’t we had enough of surly, handsome men who show a soft side to their lover? What about a man who is bright and optimistic, and shows their soft side to everyone?

No More Chosen Ones: The ~*prophecies*~ show that they will be the one to [insert plot thing here]... but that means they don’t have any real motivation. It’s much better if they want to do it themselves instead of having a prophecy telling them to.

This article by Now Novel can help you change your character cliché.

Good luck with creating your characters!

Apart from writing, Katherine enjoys sketching and painting with watercolors, especially if she’s drawing a scene/character from her own story. Often she can be found with her nose in a book, usually a romantic fantasy. Sometimes she attempts to write poems, though they turn up not so well.

[mercerislandbooks]

Romantic Reads for Fall

It is not February, but love is in the air. I’m blaming it on myself. I have been walking around with my head in the clouds, narrowly avoiding car accidents, and staring off into space when I should be writing. Reader, I’m going to marry him, I repeat to myself because my longtime boyfriend and I have, in fact, decided to get married.

Although of little consequence to anyone other than us and our family, it sparked the idea for this blog post. All summer I devoured contemporary romance novels, preparing myself for what I knew and hoped was to come (a proposal) and getting into a festively romantic mindset. Once properly proposed to, I decided to do a scholarly investigation into the history of the romance novel that would deepen the appreciation I already have today.

A couple years ago, my mom gave me a beautiful copy of the book The Prisoner of Zenda, telling me it was one of the first books that inspired the modern romance novel. Other than Jane Austen and Charlotte/Emily Brontë and George Eliot (more on that later), Anthony Hope’s The Prisoner of Zenda is a Ruritarian romance full of action and adventure. From this we think Cloud Atlas, The Great Race, North by Northwest, or The Princess Bride fantastic action-filled movies (and books) that wouldn’t know it, but found their start with the wild popularity of The Prisoner of Zenda. For this blog I decided to finally read it. and I was enchanted by our hero on page one. He’s sarcastic, witty, just a tiny bit pompous, and a complete doll. The story follows Rudolph Rassendyll, a man who has accomplished nothing in his life and thoroughly enjoyed the leisure afforded to him. On a whim, he takes a trip to Ruritania, where he is entangled in a plot to kill the king-to-be, who he looks exactly alike. He is convinced to take the place of the king at his coronation until the true king can be recovered. Hijinks and hilarious encounters ensue with a happy ending found by all (except the evil king-poisoner).

The Prisoner of Zenda came out post-Austen, actually influencing many dime novels of adventurous fiction. And though Austen is often lauded as creating the modern romantic story arc, I wondered if there was an agreed upon book in the western cannon that was the first romance novel. I stumbled upon Pamela or, Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson, published in 1740 (70 years before Jane published Sense & Sensibility). This is the first novel in the western cannon to take the point of view of a woman and focus on her needs, desires, and experiences, with a happy ending. It is also deemed the first romance novel because a woman’s needs and desires at that time were completely taken over by the need for a husband. I had intentions of reading this book, and was even drawn to the epistolary structure of the novel, but when it came down to flipping from page five to six of the novel, I couldn’t do it. Richardson’s portrayal of Pamela was helpless and simpering, an extreme contrast to the powerful women of the contemporary romance novels I read. It was so unappealing to me that I gave up. 

Unlike Richardson, many of the female authors of the 1800s brought to light the complexity of female desire into the marriage plot. Elizabeth of Pride and Prejudice knows she needs to get married in order to not become penniless, but she is stubborn, independent, and judgmental so the thought of her marriage doesn’t take over every waking moment of her life (though her sister’s possible marriage does). Austen, Radcliffe, and the Brontë sisters all invested energy into the expression of women’s individual desires, turning their books into an ultimately escapist form of literature for the time in which they were published.

Today, the romance novel has boomed into a genre of its own. Despite its literary beginnings, it is often dismissed for its formulaic plots and bodice ripping covers. I believe the genre is in the middle of a renaissance, as authors all over the world are writing diverse, complicated, and thought-out characters. Today the romance genre is a billion dollar market, made up of specific plot points: a dominant love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. The style of covers is changing to hand drawn characters, moving away from Fabio. I decided to read a couple new contemporary love stories to recommend to you from this fall, two adult and two young adult.

My favorite of all of them was Talia Hibbert’s new novel Get a Life Chloe Brown. This adult romantic comedy was touching, adorable, and so darn funny. Chloe Brown experiences a near-death experience pushing her to realize that she must get a life. Diagnosed with fibromyalgia over the past five years, Chloe realizes that she has let her chronic illness and anxiety around it keep her from participating in the excitement of life around her. She also needs to find new friends who will understand her lifestyle and admit her attraction to the superintendent that lives across the courtyard. I loved Chloe’s voice, the realistic depiction of chronic pain, and the complex characters that fall in love so sweetly. This is my new favorite for anyone who reads or wants to read a romance.

Next, I read Christina Lauren’s new Twice in a Blue Moon. This novel takes place half in England 14 years prior and half in California. Tate Jones is the daughter of a world-renowned movie actor (think Brad Pitt), kept in the shadows from paparazzi and the public eye. She meets Sam Brandis in London during vacation, their whirlwind romance crashing down when he sells out her identity and disappears. While Tate is able to become an actress with just as much heft to her name as her father’s (her secret life goal), she is heart-broken and bitter about the way her rise to stardom came to be. Fourteen years later, she steps on to a movie set for the film that is going to catapult her into award season and sees none other than Sam. This book took me through the full range of emotions, making me laugh, making me angry, and making me very happy. While I didn’t find Sam to be the most convincing love interest, Tate made up for it in spades. I loved her confidence, strength, and fragility. I didn’t really care who Tate ended up with, as long as she was happy.

As for the YA romances, I read Color Outside the Lines and 10 Blind Dates. They are vastly different! Color Outside the Lines is a collection of short stories edited by Sangu Mandanna about mixed-race couples. The stories ranged through all different cultures, worlds, and times in history. I personally adored the story written by Lori M. Lee about a Hmong girl who falls in love with a fallen star. The creativity and array of conflicts and interactions between the characters was refreshing. A great read for those who love short stories, fantastical worlds, and representations of race that celebrate and revel in each of their beauty.

10 Blind Dates was probably my second favorite book of the four that I read. Ashley Elston writes about a senior in high school from a big Italian family living in Louisiana. Sophie is ecstatic for her winter break because her parents are leaving to visit her pregnant sister and Sophie gets to spend one-on-one time with her boyfriend, alone. But all that excitement is flushed down the drain when she overhears her boyfriend say that he think she’s no fun and wants to break up soon. Sophie, devastated, takes refuge at her grandparents’ house and begins to reconnect with her extended family who she hasn’t seen consistently since the beginning of high school. To help her get over her lousy ex-boyfriend, they decide to set her up on ten blind dates throughout the break. Despite the silly premise, I absolutely adored the bond between Sophie and her family. They showed so much love and support, and Elston wrote a rich and beautiful backstory to Sophie’s friendships and relationships with family. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to smile, loves loud and goofy families, or a sweet love story about loving yourself before knowing who you want to love.

I hope you can find one or two books that speak to you! I certainly loved all of them, and there are so many more romances I’ve read that I could talk about. Come in if you want more recommendations!

Next week, Lori will be talking about her favorite books of 2019 next week.

--Kelleen

[denisa-blr]

Sam and Jack fanfiction recommendations

I`d like to share a couple of my favorite stories with you. They are by no means all, so if I left some, I may add them later. They are all Sam and Jack stories unless said otherwise.

It`s worth mentioning that I love more serious stories, many of them have a whump in them, but they are all very plot driven or has an interesting thought. I don`t like suffering just for the sake of suffering.

Another Lost on a Planet Fic by Vinividivinci 

This is one of the best stories I`ve read. It has very intriguing plot and lots of Sam and Jack together moments. It kept me on the edge most of the time. Highly recommend :)

I have read from this author several more stories. All were well worth reading. Long with solid plot and accurate Sam and Jack`s relationship. Some are quite dark though, so read disclaimers. If the author claims them dark, they are.

10,000 BC by Vinividivinci

O'Neill and Carter get left on a planet and are captured by the locals. How will they handle the new culture in which they find themselves and will they be rescued? Definitely ship and whump!

Calia by Vinividivinci

With their former life forgotten, can Jack, Sam and Daniel start again in Calia? Based very, very loosely on 'Beneath the Surface' S/J Ship

Mariscola by Vinividivinci

An encounter with aliens sends Jack and Sam - far away. Jack is no longer himself and Sam has to learn to survive. S/J of course. Jack whumping of course.

A Bang and a Whimper by Vinividivinci 

A newly discovered race turns out to be Earth's worst enemy. General O'Neill is off world when Earth is attacked - will he ever be able to return and what of his former team?

Surebu by Vinividivinci 

Jack is captured and enslaved by a vicious Goa'uld. Will there be anything left of Colonel O'Neill by the time his team finds him? This story has extreme Jack Whump (and I mean extreme). Don't read it if you don't like whump. 

Primary Emotion by amaradangeli

After seventeen weeks of torture in a Goa'uld prison, Samantha Carter is rescued by SG-1. In the time that follows she must relearn how to relate to her team, reassess her relationships with both herself and others, and decide whether or not she'll continue to step through the Stargate. Luckily she's got the benefit of a good psychologist and the love of a great man.

One of the best stories I`ve ever read. Author masterfully developed main and supporting characters and also relationship between Sam and Jack. It was very natural progress from the relationship we can see in the show to something more.

The Secret Lives of Pandas by Phoenix-cry

Separated from the team Sam and Jack's survival skills, sanity, and relationship are put to the test. Heavy S/J Ship, with high angst, hurt/comfort, adventure, and a touch of humor. Emotional ride but, NO major character death, NO graphic sex.

I loved this story so much. It was dark and hard to read, but author created such strong emotions. Plus I admire their imagination and talent for creating new alien world and society. It was very interesting view on things.

Untouchable by Phoenix-cry

A violent, yet sappy, J/S shippy/angst type story, one shot. It is amazing how two people can be so close and so far apart at the same time...

Another story from same author. This person has real talent for creating strong emotions.

Life In the Shadows by JackieONeill Nut

SG1 are forced into slave labour. Complete

This was first or second SG-1 fanfiction I`ve read and made me fall in love with Sam and Jack stories.

Out of Time by AstraPerAspera

What happens to Sam and Jack when the world they know is falling apart around them. Inspired by the novel Stargate SG1: Relativity by James Swallow. Sam and Jack Ship.

Another excellent story which will keep you reading right way through.

Love, Honor and Obey by Little Miss Flo

Sam Carter is arrested - for being single. Trapped too far from the gate to escape, and with a valuable trade deal hanging in the balance, Sam and Jack must go through the Yantaran marriage rites, or face the consequences. S/J throughout.

Very nice story.

Egeria's Legacy by Annerb

A Tok’ra civil war is brewing and Sam gets caught in the middle. Angst, action/adventure, drama, team, Sam/Jack.

I love when skilled author writes interaction between human and symbiote.

Only the Stubborn Survive by fems 

Captain Carter celebrates finishing her latest project with a man she only knows as 'Jack' and learns she's transferring to the SGC the next morning, but her first off-world mission ends in betrayal. Captured by Jaffa she keeps Earth's secrets under torture but is then brought before Apophis and Klorel, who decide to make her a host. She discovers the wild fling may just save her…

The Guardian by Bixata

Major General Jack O'Neill has been missing for 12 years. Where he's been, what happened to him, and his return home. Oh yeah, he can't speak and he's not alone. SJ ship

A Deadly Legacy by Sally Reeve, Marcy

Memories weren't the only things Jolinar left behind

I really like stories from these two authors. Althought Sam and Jack relationship is not much more than what we see in season four, I love plot and well portrayed characters.

Night Terrors by Sally Reeve, Marcy

A mission to explore an abandoned temple turns into a desperate flight for survival.

Notes above apply to this story too.

Changes by not_a_zatarc

Sam returns after a long undercover mission with the Tok'ra and is shocked to discover what's happened to Jack in her absence. Sam/Jack, with some Daniel/Janet as well.

Cost of Living by Doc

Major Carter goes missing while on loan to SG-9 for a research assignment. The S&R mission takes a wee bit longer than expected (be warned: this is a loooooong story!), not aided by the fact that Colonel O’Neill contrives to get misplaced as well (how does he do it???) …

Compos Mentis by adangeli

After Colonel O'Neill is stranded on a seemingly friendly planet, it's up to his team to rescue him. Who they find, though, isn't the man they left behind.

Wings of the Apocalypse by sharim

We have seven months until the planet is wiped out, Carter. And that's optimistic. SJ. AU.

Gravity Always Wins in the End by Annerb

After Sam is held hostage, Jack takes an impromptu trip to Atlantis.

Leaving Atlantis by dreamer one

At first, he thought she was dead. Then he worried what had been done to her was worse than death. Perhaps it was simply the beginning of a greater adventure. Sam and the Pegasus Galaxy might never be the same again. SJ story; SGA crossover

Arborvitae by gingasaur

“You really think you’re capable of carrying Carter around a sacred tree nine times?”

This is Sam and Teal`c friendship story, well worth the reading.

Also many of these authors wrote several great stories, so if someone's style'll catch your attention, check their respective pages :).

Rereading this post, it struck me that most of these stories are indeed very serious. So I recommend alternate them with lighter ones. But it`s not my fault that most high quality stories are not very happy all the way through ;).

[uncheckedtomfoolery]

Thoughts on Aki Minoriko/Aki Sisters, since they're often considered as one?

Sure! This might get a bit long (edit: It absolutely did, you’ve been warned), so I’m putting it below the cut.

‘Often considered as one’ is both spot on and a little off the mark for how I view them. One of the new books (I can’t cite a page or anything, I don’t have the book) mentions that the Akis used to be one goddess, I believe. It gave me some ideas to layer onto what I already had. The Aki sisters are an excellent example of a few things: Namely, the way both gods and youkai are beholden to, and then constrained in most aspects of how they are, by the legends that shape them. It’s hard not to think of this post I made about kappa trying to separate themselves from their origins to a degree.

(IMPORTANT UPDATE: I have been corrected on the point in the above paragraph.)

I see the original… let’s say Aki Prime becoming two goddesses as a consequence of people generally disliking shades of grey (though mythology does have examples aplenty of that too!) and loving categories. You have the goddess of Good Autumn Things (harvest, general bounty re: food), and the goddess of Bad Autumn Things (death, decay, the coming cold). They couldn’t possibly be the same person, right? And then, just like that, they aren’t. I don’t (again, I haven’t read the new stuff about them in full, I just overheard bits and pieces) treat them as being aware of their past as one person. I do think, like basically any deity, they’re quire aware that worship pigeonholes them.

So the question is, what does this do to them? Let’s go over what each one of them is like, and then their place in Gensokyo.

Minoriko is a goddess with an entirely positive aspect, and is deeply affected by it. She is generous and kind almost by definition, and greatly approves of hard work (which she puts in herself; she keeps a garden/field and built their little mountain cottage even though she could miracle it all up); a goddess of the harvest is necessarily one of rewarding effort, after all. She is still a goddess, and that’s going to affect how she thinks of her relation towards the world, how people ought to interact with her and so on to a degree. See my post on Yukari and Okina, albeit less extreme; she’s fairly humble as divinities go, though not as much as Hina, who pretty much doesn’t count for these purposes.

It also affects her outlook in other ways; not being a goddess, but the specific kind she was shaped into. Minoriko is the goddess of the nicer side of things. Minoriko and Shizuha are basically a sensible, natural duality forcibly split in two, and it shows. Minoriko is not just optimistic; she pretty much always finds cause to be cheerful and see the good in everyone and everything, even if this isn’t particularly making good sense in the eyes of others. She doesn’t see anything strange about it because, of course, it’s what she is.

Contrast Shizuha, an exercise in trying to break away from the archetype. Partly because being a goddess of negative things, but not so much that you require worship to placate you, is basically a death sentence in this business. She’s probably propped up entirely by faith Minoriko brings in. For her own satisfaction as much as anything else, she’s turned to other fields.

Yes, Shizuha is the goddess of the dying autumn, essentially: Plants wither, the air turns cold, and animals retreat to their burrows until spring, at best. There’s one plus to all this: Japan’s fixation on coloured leaves. I don’t actually know the English term for this off the top of my head, but in Japanese it’s 紅葉 (Kouyou, lit. crimson leaves), and despite the name it refers to basically any shade of orange, yellow and red that trees take on en masse in autumn. Maple is the most famous but by no means even the only big entry on the list.

And this gives her an out: Shizuha takes on a secondary theme of beauty and art (painting the leaves, and all that). It helps that in traditional Japanese art, finding beauty in more subtle things, in decay, and the passing of transient things is a big running theme. Right up until they try to continue claiming this while adoring enormous, garish explosions of bright pink flowers in spring, I mean.

Thus, Shizuha is the goddess of endings, if she were to put it a bit more tactfully, and of the little things you can still find in darker moments. It’s not much, it sure won’t bring in worship, but it’s a bit more satisfying. It also rescues her from solely just being the sad goddess who sees the worst of everything. Her viewpoint goes from “everything is awful” to “everything is awful, but at least…” and that counts for a lot. She’s no Parsee, no, but she does tend a little gloomy and pessimistic, which probably helps her act as the walking reality check to Minoriko.

I also take the view that she’s not actually older than Minoriko. I mean, yeah, originally one person anyway, but I believe she was assigned the role just by being the one who is explicitly associated with the passage of time. I also don’t believe she resents being the less popular one, per se. It’s probably a bit unfortunate, and sure she wishes things went differently, but it can’t be helped and she’s not about to hold it against her sister.

Lastly, I’d like to suggest that for all their relatively humble attitude, minor presence in the stories and so on, the Akis are actually a pretty huge deal, especially to ordinary humans in Gensokyo. I mean, think about it. There’s some competition from the harvest-related aspects of Kanako nowadays, sure, but otherwise? It’s just Minoriko, who is the goddess of having enough food to survive the next year. That’s kind of important in a small, marginal agrarian society, though perhaps less so to youkai. I suspect that no effort is spared in making sure they’re in her good books. I would not hesitate to even call Minoriko (less so Luigi Shizuha) one of the most popular deities in Gensokyo; even if you don’t own a farm because you’re a youkai or something, she’s just generally pleasant.

Given the worship=power dynamic with most deities in the setting, this might seem to clash with their fairly minor presence. I would contend that this isn’t terribly out of place, because of their fairly benign, harmless portfolios. Shizuha with sufficient clout might get a bit scary; Minoriko, on the other hand, just brings even better harvests.

That’s about all I’ve got for Happy Potato and Sad Leaf. Goodness, that went on longer than I expected.

[riichardwilson]

Spanx Founder Sara Blakely’s Guide to Surviving Anything

July 7, 2020 9 min read

This story appears in the July 2020 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »

Maybe your article should be titled “What to Do When Your Panties Are on Fire. ha ha”  

That’s what Spanx founder Sara Blakely emailed me after we talked. It was March. The pandemic had just begun.

Blakely is famous for a few things: She’s a rare female billionaire, the defining personality in the estimated $1.8 billion global shapewear category, and just about every photo of her features a showstopping smile bright enough to reach the nosebleed section.

But she has fallen on that happy face more than once. 

“I believe a lot of really important, incredible innovation comes out of dark times,” she tells me. Spanx turns 20 this year, surviving September 11, the 2008 recession, and personal tragedy — and she expects no different now, despite closing her stores, watching sales slump, and losing a line of new product when a cargo ship caught fire. When we speak, she’s working from home, punting four kids under the age of 11 before they tackle her, and boldly reinventing herself and her company once again.

Related: Spanx Founder Sara Blakely Has 99 Pages of Business Ideas

“Actually,” she confesses, “I’m hiding in a closet.” Here’s what she’s learned about crisis management.

Crisis: Childhood trauma

Strategy: Train your mind

“When I was 16,” Blakely says, “my friend was run over and killed by a car in front of me, and my parents separated. I was in a very, very dark place.” Before her father left home, he handed her a cassette series called How to Be a No-Limit Person, by the self-help author Wayne Dyer. “I put the tapes in,” she says, “and they changed my life forever.” She practiced letting go of what other people thought and not worrying about being embarrassed; she embraced the idea that the only way to fail was not to try. She learned that times of despair contained hidden blessings. And this, she believes, is what set her up for success. 

First she got a job selling fax machines. It was brutal being kicked out of offices all day, every day. “I knew it wasn’t the right path,” she says. “After a really bad day, I wrote in my journal, ‘I’m going to invent a product I can sell to millions of people that will make them feel good.’ And through tears, I looked up at the ceiling and said, ‘OK, universe; give me the idea.’ ” The universe didn’t deliver quickly; two years passed, and her father suggested that she get a job at CNN or Coca-Cola in Atlanta, where she was living. She said no. “I actually made an intentional decision to stay in a dark place, because I felt that if I became content at a job, it would keep me from an opportunity to achieve something much greater.”  

Eventually, she did hit on a brilliant new idea. It was Spanx. 

Image Credit: Courtesy of Spanx

Crisis: September 11’s impact

Strategy: Stick with your strength

Blakely launched Spanx out of her apartment in October 2000, and its Footless Body-Shaping Pantyhose quickly caught the interest of Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Nordstrom. But she knew this wasn’t enough; consumers and salespeople might not understand the new product. So she went on the road, doing promotions for seven hours a day in fancy department stores.

Related: 3 Survival Traits for Any Leader

“I took pictures of my own butt in white pants with and without the product, went to Kinko’s, got it laminated, and stood there showing women what it could do,” she says. 

This gained her traction — but her enthusiasm would soon be tested. Blakely made a big decision to invest in an advertising insert, which would be sent out by Saks. And it arrived in mailboxes exactly five days after the attacks of September 11, when nobody wanted to think about shopping.

She wondered if she should stop her daily appearances. That fall, there weren’t many customers in the stores. But she did it anyway — and kept at it even after her best friend and roommate died in a horse riding accident a few months later. Emotionally drained as she was, she sensed it would pay off.

First there were the insights. Spanx was sold in the hosiery department—and because she was actually in the stores, she saw that almost nobody walked through there. So Blakely got busy. She stuffed envelopes with Spanx and placed them by cash registers throughout the stores. “I also realized I had to win over the sales associates,” she says. “So before my appearances, I would run around and ask everyone individually if they would come to a morning meeting, and I offered them free product.” Then she’d bait them with contests, like whoever sold the most Spanx that day would get $100.  

“I ended up building a sales force, not on my payroll,” she says. “Store associates would grab their customers and say, ‘I have to take you to the hosiery department. You have to buy this new thing.’ It was this really intense time of bonding, because everybody was hurting and vulnerable, and I made very deep connections, even down to the ladies in the gift wrap section. That ended up being an incredible boost to the business, because once people started going back into the stores, all these salespeople were selling for me and rooting for me.”

Image Credit: Courtesy of Spanx

Crisis: The 2008 recession

Strategy: Choose profitability over growth

Many of Spanx’s competitors follow a Silicon Valley–style playbook: They raise a lot of money and then spend it aggressively to gain new customers. Spanx did the opposite. Even as the company took off, Blakely ran it with the tight grip of its new Power Panties. “We spent what we could to grow,” she says. “But we’ve never put growth for the sake of growth over profitability and running the business in a way that we felt we could weather storms.” That strategy kept Spanx stable during the 2008 recession.

To this day, Blakely has never taken outside money, owns 100 percent of the company, maintains zero debt, and does all PR and marketing agency in-house. “One thing that has sustained Spanx through a lot of obstacles is that we have a zero-based budget plan internally,” she says. “Every manager starts at zero each year and has to make a case for how the money they’re asking for is going to have a return on investment. It doesn’t matter what last year’s budget was — you have to start again from scratch and build it up.”

Although Spanx won’t reveal revenue numbers, Blakely says it has been profitable since its first month in business.

Related: 4 Simple Techniques for Successfully Branding Your Business During a Crisis

Crisis: Mission drift at Spanx

Strategy: Check your internal culture 

In 2002, two years after founding Spanx, Blakely hired a CEO to run the business so she could travel as the face of the brand. That worked for a long time — but by 2016, she felt that the company was off track. So she took over as CEO again and looked for what needed to change.

First she tried on every product, both produced and in the pipeline, and tossed about 80 percent of them. “I thought, Let’s dive deep and focus on only the best of the best,” she says.

Then she addressed the culture, which had veered from the mission. “I wrote down the things that contributed to my ability to overcome odds and take risks,” Blakely says. The list wasn’t exactly out of a business school textbook. It included her stints in sales, public speaking, debate, and stand-up comedy, and once she had it in hand, she created the Be Bold Bootcamp. Now every employee, regardless of their job, gets coaching in those subjects. The goal is to help people think out of the box while also being quick to see the upside in down times. “We’ll rent a comedy club, and everybody stands on stage and works on how to frame things in a funny way,” she says. “We’ve also held debate-offs at Emory [University]. Debate is about listening and compassion and seeing the other person’s point of view. It isn’t about ‘I win; you lose.’ It’s trying to find that win-win scenario.”

Not only did the reboot avert disaster; it led to innovation. Spanx had defined shapewear but now needed to be more. So it aggressively pushed its new FaUX Leather Leggings. “That was an extremely pivotal moment because we truly became an apparel company,“ says Blakely.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Spanx

Crisis: Happening right now

Strategy: Stay nimble and optimistic

After a career of navigating (and gaining strength from) hard times, Blakely is eager to inspire a new generation to do the same. Most important to her is developing a strong personal mindset: “As an entrepreneur, that’s your greatest asset, and you should work on it daily,” she says. “I do.” One thing she has done is partner with 3DE, a national education nonprofit, on a module for high school students that teaches them to think for themselves and see opportunities. Currently it’s in 13 public schools and on track to grow. 

Related: 9 Inspiring Quotes From Self-Made Billionaire and Spanx Founder Sara Blakely

Now, in the face of COVID-19, she’s been counting on that same mindset. Since March, Blakely has cut costs, scaled back inventory orders, brainstormed new products, and donated $5 million to help other female founders. With all her past crises, she was prepared for this moment and continues to ready for what lies ahead. “I’m in survival mode, but I have faith that it’s going to change,” she says. “We’re already learning as a company, and I have no doubt I am going to have some amazing inspiration.”   

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WHAT ENTREE FOLKS THINK BUT CAN NOT SAY

WHAT ENTREE FOLKS THINK BUT CAN NOT SAY

Earlier, the New You are able to Times posted an article permitted ‘Advice College Admissions Representatives Give Their Kids. ‘ There were a few helpful things, as well as straightforward and practical advice. What would have already been far more unusual is an post called ‘What Admission Family Think However , Don’t Express. ‘

Right here is the blessing along with curse in our work. Every year we meet up with amazing scholars around the united states who are extremely accomplished. They have already mastered multiple coding which have, started their very own companies, authored plays as well as books, as well as achieved position in fighting and piloting that many twofold their age would certainly envy. That they humble you and me, they really encourage us, together with honestly they give you me an answer to the future of your country. Although on the flip side it also makes us hyper- aware of its competition that exists on a macro scale.

Fallout

It impacts our your marriage: Spouse 4: ‘Look honey, isn’t your lover amazing. She’s got four weeks and definitely pulling in place. What key strength?! It could be she’ll possibly be an Olympic gymnast. ‘ Admission Wife or husband: ‘Probably certainly not. I’ve go through essays conserve and invest money who at her era were actually doing Yurchenko Loops. ‘ (Not often the recipe for amorous contact. )

Them offends our own mother-in-law: ‘Oh my goodness! He’s so smart. They knew the amount of change we may get when I bought them that ice cream after kindergarten today. ‘ Admission Son-in-law: ‘Pssshhtt… quite a few kids his / her age are actually doing differential equations even though they have their cheddar dairy product sticks. ‘ (Somehow if you’re at the kids table around the following Thanksgiving. )

We quickly understand that keep our marriage and this friendships/sanity, we will have to adapt. That reminds me within the childrens arrange Being Open. Frank is required to learn from their Grandpa Passionate that while ‘honesty is the best policy’ sometimes it’s best served with ‘more glucose and less pepper. ‘

Spouse 1: ‘I think he or she should have your ex tryout for your pre-Academy team. ‘ Entrance Spouse says, ‘He’s about to get reviewed. He’s not just the best player on his team. But might be this will propel him to apply more. ‘ And so all of us say, ‘I don’t thoughts taking your man. ‘

Anyone says, ‘We are going to send her that will X private school. A year ago they dispatched students for you to Stanford, Dartmouth, and Oughout. Chicago. ‘ Admission Buddy thinks disclose rates: ‘4. 7, twelve. 9, 7. 8… ‘ and then suggests ‘Well, of your great institution. I know she’s going to enjoy most of their class regarding ‘Evil inside the Guilded Era. ”

If you watch very closely though, you will see these folks employing some actual physical crutches as they quite simply utter the statements above. They’ll scuff their base lip with their teeth previously responding, or possibly they’ll empahatically close after which it re-open their valuable eyes as if a pester just flew directly in. We do it right out of love… and spark notes’ your survival.

To understand Stats

three. 3 zillion high school students graduation in US on twelve-monthly basis

65% of high university grads embark upon to 5 year colleges/universities

Under 15, 000 or. 6 por 100to of scholars entering a four year school go to an Flowers League the school.

OR

~271, 000 mature adults play hs football

6% will go to play higher education football

~ 5000 (1. 8%) frosh receive D1 scholarships

The simple truth

Our company is still preferred parents. Merely look backside at the pictures from that NYT article. Most of us hike, embrace, drive mini-vans, and occasionally visit Chili’s because of a lack of excellent options within a out of town kung fu tournament. Most people love our youngsters and we assistance them along with encourage these individuals and would like them to prosper. We tremendously encourage them to acquire tough lessons to compete at a dangerous in athletics and to increase their motivations and knowledge in the martial arts.

I am an optimist. A new cup one half fuller. Several of my family people went to Princeton and several as well worked at this time there. My wife and I equally went to UNC- Chapel Pile for university. Our DNA is sound. But statistically I realize it’s mostly unlikely both of my very own kids can get into people schools. Heck, it’s less likely that associated with the my close friends in Lawrenceville will have young children that get involved in or look at either. So i’m ok with that. We yet cheer for the coffee lover. We purchase the sweatshirts on the campus book seller and inform you stories of mid-fall guides through the quad with weakness. But , such as you, the majority of this days and years will be spent reminding them that individuals love them; which we are likes to show off them; that people enjoy looking at them voice on cycle or skating in meets; or just wandering up the drive way after appearing gone. Everything we think is always that we are only just glad to get parents. Whatever you think is that they’ll in the end go scattered for college- and that are going to be just fine, regardless of whether it’s not any Ivy and also our ivied halls. What we assume is that we are thankful to possess had your college working experience, even if inevitably our kids shouldn’t have the same one particular.

Point of view

Flip Bruni a short while ago wrote To Go Is absolutely not Who You happen to be. He enumerates endless types of Pullitzer Create winners, Rhodes Scholars, Entrepreneurs, etc . who all went to schools on web pages two and even three among us News rankings or utilizing 50%+ say rates. These are generally the phone numbers. These are the truth. And numerous very smart parents who else love all their kids throughout the country have read the reserve and highly refined the information. However in the ‘summer calm’ I can also clearly make sure we are once again on the cusp of one other fall containing high pressure in addition to anxiety within parents who’ll push and pay plus travel as well as angst of the kids within that. 6%.

I obtain why the particular NYT had written the item they did. The broader people is not but ready for ‘What Admission Folks Think But Don’t Express. ‘ But if you are, then your next time you observe an classes counselor by using a band support on her smaller lip, basically say, ‘It’s OK. I am aware of the exchange. You can tell me what occur to be really considering. Should I mail Jimmy to flute get away? ‘

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How To Make A Guy Sexually Happy! Listed here Is actually Just how Satisfy Him Totally In Bed.

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