#2023 end of year book survey

[marvelat-words]

2023 End of Year Book Survey

Holy guacamole, this little blog of mine is ten years old! Where the hell did that time go? On reading books, apparently.

As is customary by now, I’m celebrating the new year with an end of year book survey.

Full post.

[beckysbook5]

End of Year Book Survey - Part 1!

[febuwhump]

febuwhump 2024 survey results

has it been six months since febuwhump? yes. yes it has. nevertheless, here's the cold hard data (analysis) of the survey from febuwhump 2024: feb five.

firstly, this year was our most popular yet! with 1417 works in the official collection across 329 fandoms, we made (and shared) 103 fics more than 2023, and 770 more than my first year running febuwhump in 2021! this isnt even including all the art and fics posted to tumblr, or wasn't shared during the event, which would put our total so much higher!

the prompt list had 4000+ notes and i received 115 responses to the survey.

there were 62 people in the hall of fame, up from 51 in 2023.

the blog hit 2,683 followers, up from 1,946 at the end of the 2023 event.

across two independant check, based on the average word count of 2,000 words per fic in the 2024 collection, and aware of the multi-chapter fics (some of which were finished after the event), it is estimated that 2.8 million words were written for febuwhump 2024. which is just. fucking insane.

now, onto the survey results!

firstly: in what way did you participate in Febuwhump this year?

with extra write-ins not pictured, fanfiction was the overwhelming winner with 92 responses (82.6%), followed by original fiction (22.6%) and artwork (11.3%). interesting to me personally is the 4 responses who wrote poetry and the not-pictured 1 response who created web-weaving! which is very cool and i would like to see it.

fandoms

according to the survey:

the most popular fandoms written for were the star wars universe and legend of zelda universe (8/115 responses)

21 responses included original fiction

the majority of responses also referenced more than one fandom, meaning less people stuck to a single fandom or topic the entire time.

according to the collection:

21 anime/manga fandoms were represented

51 books/literature fandoms were represented, 12 being specific star wars subseries

24 RPF fandoms were represented, including bands and minecraft servers

the most popular fandoms written about in the collection were:

star wars (all media types) - 253 works

star wars: the bad batch - 80 works

torchwood - 66 works

original work - 56 works

my hero academia - 54 works

why and how

next, there were a lot of really lovely responses about why participants took part in febuwhump, a few favourite and repeated responses being that it seemed fun, they'd done it before and so wanted to do it again, and they liked to write about their favourite characters suffering. also, multiple people have been doing it for three of the four years i've been running it (of five total), and several were encouraged by friends!

the majority of participants discovered febuwhump through tumblr, the admin's tumblr, ao3 fics and discord servers. a handful said there's apparently a google doc floating around that houses a whump event calendar. i would be interested in seeing that if anyone's got it.

did you participate in Febuwhump 2020, 21, 22 or 23?

the majorty of respondants were new comers to febuwhump at 66.1% "no" to 33.9% "yes". the majority of comparisons to previous years referenced a noticably bigger community, more interaction on the blog, and the admin being more "confident" (oh, you guys), however several noted that the prompts felt more repetitive or samey this year than they did previously.

are you a Febuwhump completionist or participant?

a fairly even split, 51.3% of participants didn't finish compared to the 48.7% who did. however, only 88.1% of those completionists submitted to the hall of fame.

for those who didn't complete, the most common amount of prompts completed was 2 (13.6%), 3 (11.9%) and 12 or 6 (6.8%).

the most common place to share prompt fills was tumblr (74.8%), ao3 (72.2%), or choosing not to share at all (7%). several write-in responses said that they were planning to share in the future but hadn't yet. and while 76.4% of people submitted to the ao3 collection, those who didn't claimed it to be because the fics weren't ready to be shared on time, they weren't following the rules so didn't add to the collection, an inability to find the collection on ao3 (i swear i'm working on it) or shyness/fear.

what went well/even better if:

the only actual criticsm of the event received was that the blog was posting in a "spam"-like way, to the point that the participant almost unfollowed (and another suggested a reblog tag so it could be ignored easier if people didn't want to see the works throughout the month).

several comments asked for a later deadline for submission to the collection/hall of fame, which is going under advisement, but the current position is that by doing so, it makes the event a different event. there are no stakes to actually create once a day if, at the end of it, you actually get 2 weeks of extra time.

another couple mentioned there being too many dialogue prompts and vague prompts. this will be considered during the next voting period and prompt collation - potentially, if i allowed less dialogue prompts into the final 100 vote, less would make it through to the official 28, however the voting itself is out of my hands (unless voter fraud occurs once again).

the main suggestion for improvement (8 times out of 44 suggestions) was for an additional mod to help with reblogging more. (which imo flies in the face of the "spamming" from earlier, but there is surely a middle ground). this is likely to not happen, because i like running the event alone, despite the major burnout i receive every single year without fail. but thanks for your concern lol.

on discord:

31.3% of participants were in the discord server (which, this year, ignored the first year's 100 user cap and had 172 total users).

43.6% of people who didn't join the server did so because they hadn't heard of it, while the majority didn't join because they were either shy (the minorty) or don't use/like discord (the vast majority). i don't know if tumblr still does groupchats and if that would be a viable alternative, or if there is another forum/chat location that would work better (or to have in tandem), but i am open to suggestions.

of the people who were in the channel, most (33.3%) used it "rarely", followed by "most days" (25%) and "for half the month" (22.2%)

febuwhump 2025

the majority of responses wanted next year's colour scheme to either be red or green, but shout out to everyone who wanted orange, the person who said "children's hospital" and the other person who gave me this specific hex code: #4BEC13

which is vile, but also another vote for green.

finally, here are my favourite suggestions for febuwhump 2025's colloquial name. previously, we have endured febuwhump 2: electric boogaloo, febuwhump 3: tokyo drift, fourbuwhump and feb five.

febuwhump 6 suggestions:

fe6uwhump (which, i'll be honest, is a real contender)

"I don't know"

febuwhump 666

febuwhump: revenge of the sixth

"I don't know, sorry"

"febuwhump sex and make all the prompts kinky"

"??? i have been thinking about this for 10 mins"

febuwhump 6(9)

feBEEwhump

"i am bad at this"

"could not care less"

febuwhump feb five 2: electric boogaloo

apparently, i accidently made this a mandatory question and that made some of you mad :(

and that's the wrap up survey, six months late! any questions/queries/want to see some of that cold hard data? send me an ask. i'll actually respond to it i swear! (probably!)

[tartppola]

https://www.tumblr.com/nyxiie/771808977557258240/twisted-wonderland-whos-the-best-boyfriend

Are you voting for Ace or Deuce? I think Deuce should win, just to roast Ace. The guy who cannot talk to half the population (girls) is better than him lololol

omg another TWST boyfriend poll... awahwghgghf HONESTLYYY the ratio 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 my vote ain't gonna do anything BUTTTT but but but but I must put on my nerd glasses... the propaganda!! being spoken about my boy Ace Trappola!!

He's obviously got his own issues, he's mean, he's a tease with no filter w his words, he disregards authority figures etc. etc. but i feel the fandom exemplifies his negative traits and doesn't take into account his character growth throughout the game

Main Story Spoilers for : Book 4, Book 6, Book 7

Event Story Spoilers for : Ghost Marriage/Phantom Bride, Spectral Soiree, Fairy Gala IF, Lost in The Book with Stitch

He's a ride or die!! It's shown time and time again that despite the persona he puts up he cares SO much for his friends, throughout the main story, events and vignettes. He took the long trek back to NRC in Book 4 because of the prefect's SOS message!! In Fairy Gala IF he brought the whole first year squad together when Ortho was struggling to find his own image/sense of style unique to himself, in Spectral Soiree he told off Malleus, which ends up leaving an impression ( btw everyone this is a sign to read the Bloom Birthday Malleus vignette or get him on his birthday on EN ). In Book 6 he and Deuce patched the prefect up and stuck by them when Grim's nature as a monster came into question, fought against the STYX to defend the Prefect even though he was scared, and he scolded them when they basically left with no warning.

Don't get me started on him with the prefect OUYGHGHGHhghgh if what I yapped in the first paragraph and the number of home screen lines he has of them across all of his cards do not convince you that he's soooo attached to them, then the way he sticks to the Prefect in Lost in the Book with Stitch because he's concerned abt them being magicless & stranded with him in a deserted island, and the way he noticed Yuu not feeling well in Lilia's farewell party should prove it.

He's so dishonest with his feelings and with others but like deadass. it's so obvious to everyone else. A lot of characters always say how he's always with Deuce and the prefect a lot, like Ortho outing him to Kalim in Playful Land, Silver and Epel making comments about how Deuce and Yuu being close to Ace when they were finding a gift for him, even Malleus and Lilia teased him when he was in denial about being best friends with the prefect and Deuce.

The culmination of this in the latest ( as of now ) Book 7 update in Cater's segment, where he decided that the next destination is Ace's dream, to reunite!!! the mabutrio!! LIKEEEEEE DO YOU SEEEEEE HHGFGJGJGGRGHGHH

He's rising up the ranks in a lot of popularity polls whether against other TWST characters or against other media. He went from 41st in 2023 to 27th in 2024 in the yumejoshi survey!! He's very beloved!! A lot of people being up his past relationship in middle school, they forget his speech to Eliza about finding the perfect/his ideal partner, someone he can laugh and cry with and stick through hard times with!! The old ace who callously left his ex girlfriend would not have these beliefs, it's a sign of his growth!!! To even top it off Ortho did an analysis on him to prove his sincerity in that moment! ( and to rub it in his face bcs d'awwww ace is saur sappy ghhgsghff )

IG what I'm trying to say is!! He's definitely a lot, he's not everyone's cup of tea, but he's a lot more than what the fandom makes him out to be, and if Ace Trappola is your boyfriend he'll definitely cherish you lots ❤️

[saorikuhara39]

Feb 2024 issue of B'sLOG translation Creator’s Interview 2023 & Kanji of the Year - Feat. Obey Me Team

Feb 2024 issue of B'sLOG translation Creator’s Interview 2023 & Kanji of the Year - Feat. Obey Me Team (on sale Dec 2023)

For the final month of the year, we bring you our annual interview with the creators of the year! As a way to wrap up the year of 2023, we have conducted a survey of the development staff who work on each of its titles. Be sure to check out the "Kanji character for this year" and their aspirations for the year 2024, as they share their thoughts about their work ♪

- Looking back on the year 2023, what do you remember the most? This year as well, we have had many opportunities to produce merchandise and hold events, and significantly, we have been able to deliver "Obey Me! Nightbringer" to you all. The illustrations of the brothers in tears on our website were heartbreaking, yet we were able to see their smiling faces again thanks to your support for their wounded hearts right after the Celestial War.

- What do you want your fans to look forward to in 2024? Thank you very much for supporting "Obey Me!" Have you gotten a copy of "Obey Me! Official Memorial Art Book Vol.1 & Vol.2"? We have packed it full of our best illustrations, so please enjoy it from beginning to end. We would be happy if you could tell us your favourite illustrations ♡ We will continue to strive for the harmony of the Devildom, the Celestial Realm, and the human world, so please continue to check out our official socials. We hope you will continue your support for them for a long time to come, sometimes as exchange students, sometimes as devilsitters! From the Obey Me! Team.

KANJI OF THE YEAR

「再」

[sai/futatabi] again, twice, (prefix)re-

For the release of "Obey Me! Nightbringer", we have [re]-started "Obey Me!", where you meet with them [again]. Their love with you transcends over time "No matter how many times we meet, we will fall in love" - that's how we're bringing in the meaning of [again].

[angelasscribbles]

2023 Wrap

Since there was no Tumblr year in review this time around, I made my own! Ok, full disclosure, I was already going to make my own. For some reason I started tracking everything I posted back at the beginning of the year and last week I totaled things up just for my own information but then I thought…why not share it?

I’m only including fandom stuff here because I do not want to attempt to figure out how many posts I’ve put together for my other lists (Writer’s Corner, ADHD Stuff, Poly Stuff) but my most popular post was this ADHD one. It has over 90,000 notes and is still climbing.

2023 Tumblr Choices Fandom Wrap......

Stats at a glance:

Chapters posted: 125

Extras Posted: 91

Teasers Posted: 7

Updates Posted: 8

Throwbacks Posted: 12

Original Fiction Posted: 1

Series Launched: 12

Series Wrapped: 6

Events Ran: 19

Live Discussions Hosted (Word Warriors): 4

Blogs Launched: 9

New Projects Started: 6

Personal Milestones Passed: 3

Details and commentary under the cut.

Series that launched in 2023:

In Your Room (Dreo)

A Fervid Fixation

The Crown and the Shield

Victim of Love

Mardi Gras Mayhem

One Night in Cordonia

Law’s End

The De Facto Queen

The Dark Kingdom

Cordonian Royal Airlines

Queen of Hearts

Insurrection

Series that wrapped in 2023:

In Your Room (Dreo)

A Fervid Fixation

The Crown and the Shield

Victim of Love

Mardi Gras Mayhem

One Night in Cordonia

Blogs Launched:

TRR Visuals

Angela’s Reblogs

Law’s End

Word Warriors

TRR Poly

TRR Scribbles

TRR Bad Romance

TRR One Shots

Cordonian Royal Airlines

Events Ran in 2023:

Drake Walker Appreciation blog:

Drake Walker Appreciation Week

World Whiskey Day

Drake’s Birthday

Maxwell Beaumont Appreciation blog:

Maxwell Beaumont Appreciation Week

Max’s Birthday

Choices Prompts:

Story Starter Prompt 4

Story Starter Prompt 5  

Mardi Gras Mayhem (Collaborative Fiction)

Round Robin 1 (there will be more)

Rewrite Challenge

August Catch Up Event

Smutember

Flufftober

Holiday Rewrite Challenge

Choice Holidays:

Valentines Day

Spring Holidays

Festival of Fears

Second Annual Winter Holidays

Fics of Christmas Past

Projects:

Reorganized all visuals, sorted by story and published in one place (TRR Visuals)

Recently Posted and Chapter Archive (Angela’s Reblogs)

Saturday Surveys (Angela’s Reblogs)

Law’s End (See note below)

Word Warriors (see below)

Cordonian Royal Airlines (see below)

Law’s End: I call this a project, not just a new story because it was supposed to be a bit more far-reaching than just a story with character profiles, mock news articles, and multiple episodes. So far there are two character profiles (graphics for that by @harleybeaumont), one article, and many fabulous extras made by @secretaryunpaid. I am working on wrapping up episode one. Once the question of who killed Trent is answered, episode two will move on to a new mystery, while still focusing on the relationships between the main characters.

Word Warriors: Again, this is more than just a blog. It’s a Discord group, live discussions, a peer support group, and a critique group. The blog itself provides a list of writing resources and advice in addition to information about the Discord group, the live discussion schedule, and notes from past sessions.

Cordonia Royal Airlines: This is more of a collaborative project than a series. There will eventually be images posted as well as drabbles, one-shots, and chapters written by other contributors. (That’s the plan anyway.)

Personal Milestones Passed:

1,000 followers (now over 1,400 but waiting to hit 1,500 to post it)

1,000,000 words posted on Tumblr.

Published my first book in February.

Blog Shut Down:

Who could forget the infamous blog shutdown of 2023? It went down on July 25th and didn’t come back up until August 29th. Well, maybe everyone but me could forget it. I was in withdrawal lol. Five weeks of being mostly off Tumblr forced me to examine and reevaluate a lot of things. And even though I was thrilled to finally be unblocked, things aren’t the same. And that��s okay. Things change, life marches on.

I am by no means saying I’m out of here. Never fear. As long as I have fanfiction to write, I suppose I’ll be posting it here. I just feel less and less like working on my TRR stuff. I still want to finish the series I’ve started, and I’ve found I still have plenty of ideas for one-shots or short miniseries, but I’m not sure I have another epic, long TRR saga in me. Who knows, though? I’ve said that before and been proven wrong. I don’t control when inspiration happens or where the muse takes me.

I don’t know the fate of all those side blogs yet. Since I recently reorganized my master list, (yet again), I don’t know that they are needed. For now, they will remain as basically parking lots. Just a different way to organize my content.

The Rest of Tumblr:

2023 was the year I finally figured out how Tumblr works! I now understand the phrase shitposting on main. I discovered the rest of Tumblr, not just this little corner of it. From Goncharov to other fandoms to the existence of entire communities that I belong wholeheartedly to: Queer, neurodivergent, polyamorous, writers, etc. I found my people on this hell site.

What’s Next:

The Choices fandom will always have a special place in my heart, and I have made real, lifelong friends here and for that, I’ll always be grateful. My just over two years here have had their ups and downs for sure, but the ups far outweigh the downs. (If they didn’t, I would have left long ago).

I’m still working on the following TRR series:

Heir Apparent

Savage Love

The De Facto Queen

Royal Retribution

Queen of Hearts

Unexpected

Law’s End

Insurrection

Dark Elf

The Dark Kingdom

American Girl

Bad Parenting

Leo and Liv

Some are closer to done than others and there are a few that I just haven’t had any inspiration or excitement for in a while. I also have many one-shots in process.

And @harleybeaumont got me to play Heaven's Secret (#romanceclub) and not going to lie, no choose your own adventure story has grabbed my attention like this since TRR. And yes, there is already a folder marked “Heaven’s Secret” on my laptop with three WIPs in it!

Then there’s my original fiction. Long before I found Tumblr and got bitten by the fanfic bug, I was posting flash fic on my own website, saving short stories for submission to anthologies, and working on a few different original novels. I want to get back to that. Not to mention a lifetime worth of poetry that needs to be sorted, organized, and published.

All of the above may have to be put on hold as I navigate life with constant volleyball tournaments, a continuing search for the right second career, and a burgeoning business to manage and contend with. Not to mention a five-year-old with high energy, high needs, and high sensory-seeking behaviors. Life is complex on the best days.

Meanwhile, I’ve found that I really enjoy running the discussions for Word Warriors, giving feedback on other people’s work, and helping other writers on their journey. I can’t wait to get back to that in January.

I don’t know what 2024 holds but I am wishing the best for each and every one of you. Let life’s adventures continue!

Happy New Year everyone!!

[homosexuhauls]

Whether consciously or unconsciously, many women in heterosexual relationships put their careers on the back burner to enable their partners to advance.

By Kate Morgan, 22nd June 2023

When Kerry was in her 20s, she had a job in social work. She made enough money to both pay her expenses and also put some aside in a savings account. Her long-term partner was a graduate student who worked part time, and Kerry, as the primary earner, paid most of the bills. But when he graduated and got a job offer, things changed.

“He ended up getting a job halfway across the country,” says Chicago-based Kerry, now in her 30s. “I quit my job and moved with him. Even though I was really happy in my career and my life, I basically abandoned it for a place where I didn’t know anybody and couldn’t find a job.”

Over time, Kerry realised she’d fully prioritised her partner’s career over her own – to her detriment. She felt the whole move had set back her own career and earnings by several years.

Even though women outpace men in education, and, in the US, make up close to half the labour force, many women still share Kerry’s experience. Researchers for Deloitte’s Women @ Work 2023 report surveyed 5,000 women across 10 countries, 98% of whom were in heterosexual relationships. The data found that nearly 40% of respondents say their partner’s career takes precedence. They cited several reasons, ranging from financial and social factors to the burden of caretaking and household responsibilities.

But the biggest reason women in the Deloitte survey cited for prioritising their partner’s career over their own was that their male partners earned more money. That’s unsurprising, given that, worldwide, some data shows women still earn only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes.

“Naturally, there will be some individuals who say, ‘well, this person earns the most’,’” says London-based Emma Codd, the global diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Deloitte. “Particularly when times are tough, you may end up in a situation where the person that earns less says, ‘well, my career will take the backseat’, whether that’s a conscious or unconscious decision.”

Either way, that choice is rational, adds Pamela Stone, a professor of sociology at Hunter College in New York City, who co-authored the books Opting Out? Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home and Opting Back In: What Really Happens When Mothers Go Back to Work. Stone says many of the women she interviewed for the two books “saw a man going full speed ahead and prospering. And so, when it came to making their own internal decisions, they’d say things like ‘I knew he was going to be able to make so much more money than I could’”.

The choice becomes less emotional, says Stone, when it’s about dollars and cents. “It’s not about the women being visionless, or not being liberal, progressive, etcetera,” she says. “It’s about who has the better chance. If you’re a betting person, you’re going to bet on the man’s career being stronger, because there is gender discrimination in the market.”

But making that bet kicks off a vicious circle, says Codd, because women who deprioritise their own career are less likely to ever reach their true earning potential, or be able to match their partner’s income.

“The reality is it’d be great to see more women being the primary earner,” says Codd. “But if so many of these women are not prioritising their career, then the chances of becoming the primary earner in the family are likely to be reduced.”

But even if a woman’s income does begin to exceed her spouse’s, that’s still not a guarantee that her career will become the priority. In many cases cited in the Deloitte report, women who were the higher earners still put their jobs second to their partner’s. One in 10 women said they were the primary earner in their partnership, yet 20% of that group still felt pressured to prioritise the other’s career.

“That number was the bit that was stunning to us,” says Codd. “Whether there’s a cultural element that comes in to explain that… who knows.”

This may mean that women aren’t only prioritising their husbands’ careers because of money: there are social pressures and expectations at play, too.

In a multi-generational study, Stone and her colleagues interviewed more than 25,000 graduates of Harvard Business School. They found that although the “vast majority” of those women expected an egalitarian marriage where both careers were of equal importance, more than half of all the men surveyed, from Baby Boomers to millennials, expected their careers would take precedence.

The men expected to be the “breadwinner”, a term imbued with meaning well beyond being the person who makes more money. Research data suggests men’s mental well-being is tied to whether they make more money than their partner. A Pew Research Center survey showed that being the sole earner breeds anxiety, but stress levels also spiked when their wives’ income rose above 50% of the household total.

When men consider themselves breadwinners, some research shows they have less respect for their wives’ careers and are less flexible around them. And that, too, is a circle, says Stone, who notes that when a man devalues his wife’s career, it leaves little space for her to rise to meet or exceed his.

But male partners in a heterosexual relationship aren’t alone in perpetuating the cycle. Sometimes women play a part in devaluing their own careers; intentionally, to keep the peace in a relationship, or unintentionally, because the scales tip without them being fully aware it’s happening. In Kerry’s relationship, she says it became clear her partner was content with the uneven balance they’d fallen into, with her career taking the back seat. She recalls him telling her, “I like taking care of you”, a sentiment she knew was well-meaning, but that still made her chafe.

“I just didn't feel like the sacrifices I was making were appreciated as much as they should have been,” she says. “I don't think he ever fully understood.” Kerry says slipping into a traditionally accepted gender role, and pushing her own ambition aside, happened without her really noticing. Eventually though, she realized that wasn’t what she wanted, and the pair broke up.

“People fall into gender norms,” says Codd. “It can happen totally unconsciously.”

Experts say women also deprioritise their own careers because they are spinning so many other plates, especially regarding home and family responsibilities, which fall heavily to women. According to the Deloitte report, “Despite the fact that 88% of respondents work full time, nearly half of them have primary responsibility for domestic tasks such as cleaning or caring for dependents. Only around 10% say that these responsibilities fall to their partner.”

Simply, says Codd, they could be deprioritising their careers out of sheer fatigue. “Frankly, you're working full time, and then you're going home and doing a load of stuff in the evenings, and on weekends, and before you go to work,” she says. “The exhaustion, the burnout – all the things we know around mental health – you can imagine choice may be along the lines of, you know what, I don't have the energy. I don't have the time to dedicate to furthering my career.”

Even if they haven’t consciously decided to prioritise caretaking and other household responsibilities over their career, Codd says labour still primarily falls on women.

“Those responsibilities sometimes don't go away,” she says, “And they sometimes intrude into your working day. We all know that progressing in the workplace isn't just about turning up and doing your job. But if you're deprioritising your career versus someone else's, or you just know someone needs to do all this stuff at home, are you going to take that stretch opportunity? Chances are, you might not.”

[comment-bingo]

the_smallest_infinity’s four bingos

Didn’t get a blackout but got four bingos on this sheet! I read a bunch of fanfic anyways, but this was a great motivation to leave a little comment and seek out new things, like podfics.

My favorite character: “Safety Hazard: Insufficient Lighting” by Chyoatas features my main man Ratthi being his delightful self

Missing Scene: “Boilerplate” by BoldlyNo. Pin-Lee helps Murderbot draft its contract for Arada’s survey.

One shot: “Murderbot walks into a party” by GlowsInTheDark. One shot for the reader, Groundhog Day for Murderbot.

Posted/updated this year: “Random Access Memories” by fraternite. Whump with some comfort.

Multi chapter: “Saving Don Abene (Again)” by ImitationGame

Someone you don’t personally know: “Medical procedures in media (please don’t backflip off the medbay platform)” by FascinatedFinch

Character Portrait: “Small Rebellions” by BoldlyNo features Three finding out it likes embroidery and contemplating itself

Posted before 2023: “Unavailable Connections” by Chimaera-Writes (ChimaeraKitten). Features my favorite fanfic trope, soul bonds.

Crossover: “Shootout” by FlipSpring features Breq from the Ancillary Justice.

Original Character: “Family Portrait” by ramshackle_fey. Such a good family fic.

Podfic: “you’ve got a friend in me” by AirgiodSLV, GodOfLaundryBaskets, Tipsy_Kitty, Djapchan

Short fic (161 words): “Communication Guidelines” by BoldlyNo. Captain Seth posts a memo to the Perihelion.

Outsider POV: “A matter of emphasis” by BoldlyNo. Tlacey sees Murderbot and fears.

Bharadwaj’s docu: “Behind the Scenes Featurette” by BoldlyNo

Posted pre 2020: “A passion for plot” by tangetti, published 2019. Another TMBD/Imperial Radch crossover that gets funnier once you’ve read both books.

Set on Planet: “Fail State” by fraternite starts with Murderbot on the planet in Network Effect.

Fluff: “Journey’s End” by Chimaera-Writes. A bit of hurt/comfort but heavier on the comfort, so I’m counting it. Pin-Lee and Bharadwaj friendship.

Long fic (>5k words): “Maintainance overdue” by fraternite. Whew, what a zesty hurt/comfort fic featuring Three.

[mysticstronomy]

WHAT IS STAR NIBIRU??

Blog#317

Wednesday, July 26th, 2023

Welcome back,

Linked to the close of the Mayan calendar, a variety of rumors spread regarding ways the world could end back in 2012. One popular contender was Nibiru, a supposed planet that some claimed would collide with Earth at the end of that year. But despite the buzz, there's no scientific evidence supporting the alleged planet's existence — and, of course, our planet survived 2012 without absorbing a massive impact.

Nibiru has been linked to NASA by various bloggers. Because of this claimed connection, space agency officials put out a statement saying that no big planet was coming to destroy Earth in 2012. What follows below is the true science and history of this supposed rogue planet, with reference to a real object, Comet Elenin, that somehow got mixed up in the whole mess.

And we'll also talk about another hypothetical world that may actually exist in the far outer solar system — Planet Nine.

The story began in 1976, when Zecharia Sitchin wrote "The Twelfth Planet," a book which used Stitchin's own unique translation of Sumerian cuneiform to identify a planet, Nibiru, orbiting the sun every 3,600 years. Several years later, Nancy Lieder, a self-described psychic, announced that the aliens she claimed to channel had warned her this planet would collide with Earth in 2003. After a collision-free year, the date was moved back to 2012, where it was linked to the close of the Mayan long-count period. 

When Comet Elenin appeared in 2011, many were concerned that it was the mysterious planet in disguise, despite the fact that planets and comets appear very different under a telescope. (A comet has a gas atmosphere, called a coma, and a tail, while a planet does not.) 

But instead of slamming into the Earth, the comet strayed too close to the sun and broke into pieces. The leftover fragments will continue on their path to the outer solar system for the next 12,000 years, still bits of comet and not a more cohesive planet.

Proponents of the fictitious planet note that, in 1984, a scientific paper was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters which discussed several infrared sources with "no counterparts" that turned up in a survey of the sky. Such surveys are common in astronomy and usually involve follow-ups that individually detail the more interesting sources.

In the follow-up of the 1984 survey, most of the sources turned out to be distant galaxies. None were identified as planets. Both papers are available to the public.

A planet with an orbit so eccentric that it took 3,600 years to orbit the sun would create instabilities inside our 4.5-billion-year-old solar system. After only a few trips, its gravity would have significantly disrupted the other planets, whose own gravitational pushes would have changed the hypothetical world's orbit significantly.

The easiest and most verifiable piece of evidence arguing against the existence of the theoretical planet can be performed by anyone: According to the information available, a planet with a 3,600-year-long orbit that was due to impact Earth in 2012 should be available to the naked eye. Easily performed calculations show that, by April 2012, it would have been brighter than the faintest stars viewed from a city, and almost as bright as Mars at its dimmest. This would have made it visible to astronomers everywhere.

The most common rebuttal to this is the cry of "Cover up!" However, there are hundreds of thousands of amateur astronomers around the world, many of whom own their own telescopes. On top of that, most of the thousands of professional astronomers are linked not to the government but rather to private universities.

Astronomer David Morrison pointed out in 2012 that "NASA and the government get most of their information from these outside astronomers, not the other way around."

Between the amateur and professional astronomers, there are plenty of people who would have noticed a new "star" in the sky.

Doomsday reports across the internet frequently incite fear, but it's interesting to note they are nothing new. People have been decrying the end of the world for hundreds of years.

Rumors spread like wildfire on the internet, but the same technology can make it easier than ever to delve into the scientific evidence about such events.

Originally published on space.com

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, July 29th, 2023)

"DOES A WHITE HOLE EXIST??"

[happy-ending-spa]

Welcome!

Hello and Welcome to Happy Ending Spa!

At Happy Ending, we specialize in providing a sanctuary of relaxation and rejuvenation through our expert massage therapy services.

Located in the heart of Quezon City, our mission is to provide a budget-meal luxury experience, enhance your overall well-being and help you achieve a state of blissful tranquility.

Our services include:

Swedish Massage

Hot Stone Therapy

Aromatherapy

Traditional "Hilot" Massage

Reflexology

Thai Massage

Pre-Natal Therapy

Sports Massage

Deep Tissue Massage

Trigger point Therapy

Glass Cupping Massage (Ventosa)

Extra Service(s):

(Quickie) - Chair Massage - provides a convenient and accessible option for clients who prefer shorter sessions and do not require disrobing. Often used in corporate settings or events

(Mix and Match) Choose Two Services for the price of one

Corporate Wellness Programs

Athletic and Sports Recovery

Mobile and On-Demand Services

Specialized Modalities Home Service availability 24/7

In-house freebies:

Free 15mins use of Sauna

Hot Towel Finish

Pares (Snacks)

Refreshment

Why Choose Us?

1. Expertise - our team of licensed massage therapists brings years of experience and a passion for healing to every session.

2. Personalized care - we understand that each individual is unique, which is why we offer personalized treatments tailored to your specific needs and preferences.

3. Serene Environment - We are open 24/7. Step into our peaceful oasis where the ambiance is designed to promote relaxation from the moment you walk through the door. Soft lighting, calming music, and aromathepray scents create the perfect backdrop for your therapuetic journey.

4. Commitment to excellence - your comfort and satisfaction are our top priorities. We strive to exceed your expectations with every visit, ensuring that you leave feeling refreshed, renewed, and ready to face the world with a sense on inner harmony.

5. We got you covered - we accept all payment methods from debit and credit cards to e-wallets. 20% Discounts for Senior Citizens/PWD. 10% Discounts for Couple Massage. We are also partnered with the Top HMO Providers in the country.

6. Rated 4.8 Stars at Great Place to Relax Survey 2023

Contact us today!

Ready to schedule your appointment? Contact us via our mobile numbers available at our official Facebook/Instagram page or visit our website at www.happyendingspa.ph to learn more about our services.

You can also get 10% off if you download and book your appointment on the HappyEndingSpa app that is available on googleplay or app store.

E-Gift certificates are also available for those looking to share the gift of relaxation with their loved ones.

[mi6-cafe]

End of Year survey analysis.

Last weekend the Cafe mods and the newly expanded volunteer squad met to go over the survey responses and make some plans for the next year. Here's some of what we talked about:

Monthly formats

To accompany our quarterly theme (something we started based on 2022 survey feedback), we are going to start making more of our monthly themes format based. You can look forward to some themes like poetry, epistolary, and moodboards. Thanks for helping us brainstorm!

Changes to Saturday Cafe

Some of you expressed interest in having a little more of of a focused time thing during Saturday Cafe. We are going to try rotating a point person to run a couple prompt-based sprints over on discord during these Saturday Cafe days. We will be adding a discord role to be notified of these events when we win the battle against discord settings.

Updates to events page

We have a lot of events. We've updated our static page listing all of what we've got going on and where it happens. Check it out here: https://mi6cafe.wordpress.com/events/

Event swapping

We are not running Riverhouse Remix this year. We will be trialling a new spring-time event.

Instead we are going to finally try a version of LDWS that is focused on creating moodboards!

The return of workshops

It's been a few years since we regularly did workshops, but people expressed interest for these again. Stay on the lookout for a survey to help us gather who is available to host. These work best when we get a big group of rotating hosts.

And finally, your fandom highlights from 2023!

I continue to love WIP Wednesdays for the hype :)

I've been pretty MIA this year, but I'm always so touched by the new friendships I've made through MI6 cafe, they really mean a lot to me.

i enjoyed stretching my creative muscles in fest with art of all things! :D

I love fest

007 Fest is always fun!

I really enjoyed seeing everyone come together to complete the short stuff bingo. It didn't look like we would complete it at first, but then in a few short hours suddenly there were more recs than squares!

Probably my favorite thing I made for Fest was the video of the Bond baby book.  I haven't made a video since a wedding video in the early naughts so it was fun new challenge and even though I misread the assignment, I still had a blast making it.  I also enjoyed hosting the moodboard workshop.  Writing has been a bit of a struggle this year, but also enjpyed making progress on wips.

[rockislandadultreads]

In Memoriam: Rosalynn Carter (1927-2023)

First Lady From Plains by Rosalynn Carter

The former first lady's memoir covers her small-town childhood, her life as a wife and mother, her role in the family business, her public and political efforts, and her years near the center of power.

First Women by Kate Andersen Brower

One of the most underestimated—and challenging—positions in the world, the First Lady of the United States must be many things: an inspiring leader with a forward-thinking agenda of her own; a savvy politician, skilled at navigating the treacherous rapids of Washington; a wife and mother operating under constant scrutiny; and an able CEO responsible for the smooth operation of countless services and special events at the White House. Now, as she did in her smash #1 bestseller The Residence, former White House correspondent Kate Andersen Brower draws on a wide array of untapped, candid sources—from residence staff and social secretaries to friends and political advisers—to tell the stories of the ten remarkable women who have defined that role since 1960.

Brower offers new insights into this privileged group of remarkable women, including Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Patricia Nixon, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama. The stories she shares range from the heartwarming to the shocking and tragic, exploring everything from the first ladies’ political crusades to their rivalries with Washington figures; from their friendships with other first ladies to their public and private relationships with their husbands. She also offers a detailed and insightful new portrait of one of the most-watched first ladies of all time, Hillary Clinton, asking what her tumultuous years in the White House may tell us about her own historic presidential run.

Leading Ladies by Kay Bailey Hutchison

In a series of skillfully drawn biographical portraits, United States senator and bestselling author Kay Bailey Hutchison examines the lives of sixty-three pioneers in military service, journalism, public health, social reform, science, and politics—all American women.

From the courtroom to the halls of Congress, these female trailblazers have battled tremendous odds to achieve success—if not always recognition—in their respective fields. Senator Hutchison, a trailblazer herself, became the first woman from the state of Texas elected to the United States Senate. Following in the footsteps of her bestselling book American Heroines, Senator Hutchison continues to celebrate female accomplishment in all walks of life. Whether committed to a chosen cause or thrust into a public role by personal circumstance, the women profiled in Leading Ladies have all woven thin threads of opportunity into sweeping tapestries of achievement.

Mixing historical portraits with modern success stories, Senator Hutchison shows how American women from all periods of history have contributed to the strength and progress of our nation. With courage, purpose, and compassion, the women of Leading Ladies continue to blaze trails for thousands of American women to follow—and no history of the nation can be written without them.

Within Our Reach by Rosalynn Carter

In Within Our Reach: Ending the Mental Health Crisis, Rosalynn Carter and coauthors Susan K. Golant and Kathryn E. Cade render an insightful, unsparing assessment of the state of mental health. Mrs. Carter has been deeply invested in this issue since her husband’s gubernatorial campaign when she saw firsthand the horrific, dehumanizing treatment of people with mental illnesses.

Using stories from her 35 years of advocacy to springboard into a discussion of the larger issues at hand, Carter crafts an intimate and powerful account of a subject previously shrouded in stigma and shadow, surveying the dimensions of an issue that has affected us all. She describes a system that continues to fail those in need, even though recent scientific breakthroughs with mental illness have potential to help most people lead more normal lives.

[usafphantom2]

Brian Shul Dies at 75; Fighter Pilot Who Flew World’s Fastest Plane

He was near death after his plane was shot down in the Vietnam War but survived to fly the world’s fastest and highest-altitude jet.

Published May 30, 2023Updated May 31, 2023, 4:12 p.m. ET

Brian Shul, in a yellow flight suit, holds his helmet in his left arm while standing in front of a black jet on the tarmac. Other planes can be seen flying in the sky above him.

Brian Shul in the mid-1980s in front of an SR-71, which could fly at more than three times the speed of sound and survey 100,000 square miles of the Earth’s surface in a single hour.via Maureen Shul

Brian Shul, a retired Air Force major who modestly described himself as “a survivor” rather than a hero, after he was downed in a Vietnamese jungle, where he nearly died before rebounding to pilot the world’s fastest spy plane, died on May 20 in Reno, Nev. He was 75.

The cause of his death, in a hospital, was cardiac arrest, said his sister and sole survivor, Maureen Shul, a former mayor of Castle Pines, Colo. He had earlier collapsed as he finished regaling the annual gala of the Nevada Military Support Alliance with his aerial adventures.

Major Shul flew 212 combat missions during the Vietnam War before his T-28 Trojan ground attack plane was struck by small-arms fire and crash-landed near the Cambodian border in 1974, as the war was nearing its end.

He underwent 15 operations and spent well over a year as “119 pounds of blood and gauze,” as once put, recuperating from burns that covered half his body and that left his hands and face disfigured. But two days after being released from the hospital, despite doctors telling him that he would never walk again, Major Shul was back in an Air Force cockpit.

His final assignment, before he retired in 1990 after a two-decade military career, was piloting the SR-71, the world’s highest-flying jet.

The aircraft, nicknamed the Blackbird and deployed to monitor Soviet nuclear submarines and missile sites, as well as to undertake reconnaissance missions over Libya, could soar to 85,000 feet, fly at more than three times the speed of sound and survey 100,000 square miles of the Earth’s surface in a single hour.

“To fly this jet, and fly it well, meant establishing a personal relationship with a fusion of titanium, fuel, stick and throttles,” Major Shul wrote in his book “Sled Driver: Flying the World’s Fastest Jet” (1991), invoking the detractive nickname that U-2 pilots had pinned on their faster Blackbird counterparts. “It meant feeling the airplane came alive and had a personality all her own.”

Major Shul piloted the Blackbird for 2,000 hours over four years. He was armed with a personal camera that he used to capture the photographs that illustrate “Sled Driver” and another book.

The Lockheed Martin SR-71 soared so high into the mid-stratosphere that its crew was outfitted in spacesuits, and it flew so swiftly that it could outpace missiles.

“We were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact,” Major Shul wrote.

He often recalled a radio exchange with air traffic controllers monitoring the ground speed of planes within their jurisdiction as his aircraft screamed 13 miles above Southern California: “I heard a Cessna ask for a readout of its ground speed. ‘90 knots,’ Center replied. Moments later, a Twin Beech required the same. ‘120 knots,’ Center answered.

“We weren’t the only ones proud of our ground speed that day,” Major Shul recalled, “as almost instantly an F-18 transmitted, ‘Ah, Center, Dusty 52 requests ground speed readout.’ There was a slight pause, then the response, ‘620 knots on the ground, Dusty.’”

Major Shul and his crew member couldn’t resist asking, too: “‘Center, Aspen 20, you got a ground speed readout for us?’ There was a longer than normal pause ‘Aspen, I show 1,942 knots’” — or 2,234 m.p.h.

“No further inquiries were heard on that frequency,” Major Shul wrote.

In addition to “Sled Driver,” he wrote “The Untouchables” (1994), about flying the SR-71; “Summer Thunder” (1994), about the Air Force Thunderbirds; and “Blue Angels: A Portrait of Gold” (1995), about the Navy’s precision flying squadron.

After he was released from the hospital, he flew in air shows with the first A-10 Thunderbolt demonstration team, became the chief of air-to-ground academics for the Air Force and volunteered for a training program to fly the SR-71.

He was an avid photographer of aviation and nature, and ran a photo studio in Marysville, in Northern California.

Major Shul sitting in what appears to be the cockpit of a plane and smiling at the camera while wearing a red shirt and gray pants.

After Major Shul’s plane crash-landed during the Vietnam War, he underwent 15 operations while recuperating from burns that covered half of his body and left his hands and face disfigured.Air Force

Brian Robert Shul was born on Feb. 8, 1948, in Quantico, Va. His father, Victor, was the director of the Marine Corps band. His mother, Blanche (St. George) Shul, was a homemaker.

He was 9 when he saw the Navy’s Blue Angels perform in an air show. “I’m like, ‘Whoa,’” he told the Museum of Flight in Seattle in 2017. “It reached in, grabbed my soul, never let go.”

He graduated from East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., with a bachelor’s degree in history in 1970 and joined the Air Force later that year.

In Vietnam, he was a foreign air adviser during the war, piloting support missions in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency’s Air America, which flew reconnaissance, rescue and logistical support missions for the military.

When his aircraft was attacked, he crash-landed in the jungle, where he was rescued by a Special Forces team and evacuated to Okinawa, Japan. Doctors there predicted that his burns would prove fatal. He underwent two months of intensive care before he was transferred to the Institute of Surgical Research at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, where surgeons performed 15 operations over a year.

“I kept saying, ‘God, just please let me die. I can’t do this. You picked the wrong guy. I’m not strong enough. I’d have nothing to fight with now. It hurts too bad. I don’t even want to wake up each morning,’” he told the Museum of Flight.

But one day, while lying in bed, he heard children playing soccer and, as he remembered being their age, the radio began to play Judy Garland’s “Over the Rainbow.”

“You listen to the words to that song — it’s all about daring to dream,” Major Shul said in a speech at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California in 2016.

“I heard the words of that song for the first time that day,” he continued. “They penetrated my brain sharper than any scalpel they were using, and I could look out the window and see the other side of the rainbow and those kids, and I made a choice. I made a decision right then. I am going to try to eat the food tomorrow. I want to live. I’m going to try to survive.”

Source: NY TIMES

But, he said, “I don’t want you to confuse me with anyone that’s heroic or famous or did anything great.” He added: “Leaving your jet in the jungle does not qualify as heroic. I am a survivor.”

[coochiequeens]

This is one of the reasons I hate it when people tell women to have a drink when they just want to talk or even just vent

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/01/19/quit-lit-women-drinking-addiction/

In “Quit Like a Woman,” author Holly Whitaker says, “At some point, it made sense to carry airline shots in my purse — just in case. Sometimes (especially when working on a deadline) I holed up in my apartment for days on end, drinking from morning until I passed out.”

Catherine Gray wrote in “The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober” that “Life was too sharp, too painful, too real and too loud when I was sober. Drinking softened the edges and blurred the clarity.”

A third writer, Annie Grace, said in “This Naked Mind” that “Giving up drinking felt like an incredible sacrifice, like the loss of a close friend.”

Welcome to the world of Quit Lit — a new genre of story telling aimed at helping women to drink less alcohol. I learned about these books from my patients — the ones who were starting to become concerned about the amount they drank — even before the pandemic. They are numerous enough to acquire the quippy category label Quit Lit, and have resonated with women who are recognizing that alcohol is not their friend.

The numbers on drinking tell an alarming story. From 2000 to 2016, an increasing number of women were drinking moderately and binge drinking, while rates among men remained flat. What’s more, from 2006 to 2014, there was a 70 percent increase in yearly alcohol-related emergency department visits for women, compared with an increase of 58 percent for men.

In 2020, college women were somewhat more likely than their male peers to report being drunk in the past month, according to Monitoring the Future, a survey conducted by the University of Michigan.

“Over the past 50 years, the gap between men and women’s alcohol use has been narrowing on every metric,” said George Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

Recent data is more promising — in 2019, 6 percent of women were classified as heavy drinkers, similar to 5.8 percent in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Quit Lit gave my patients and me an easy way to talk about dependence and addiction. Several of these memoir-cum-motivational guides are bestsellers, including “This Naked Mind,” “The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober” and “Quit Like a Woman.” These confessionals about alcohol dependence share a common theme: explaining in vivid detail the author’s battle with the bottle, and the ways in which society has duped us into thinking that alcohol is a cool way to deal with life’s ups and downs, rather than a toxic substance with addictive properties, which increases anxiety and depressive symptoms over time.

The Quit Lit warnings are important. A hard-hitting article in the Lancetstated: “Our results show that the safest level of drinking is none.” Alcohol may not be beneficial for anyone, but it’s especially toxic for women. Women have less body water than men or similar weight, and so reach higher blood alcohol levels after drinking similar amounts. Koob says that over time, “it takes less alcohol for women to suffer from alcohol induced liver inflammation, cardiovascular disease, memory blackouts, hangovers, and certain cancers, than men.” And when it comes to breast cancer, there is no safe amount of consumption. “Epidemiologic studies have consistently found an increased risk of breast cancer with increasing alcohol intake,” according to the National Cancer Institute’s website.

Studies indicate that women tend to drink to reduce anxiety, depression and other mood states, while men tend to drink to increase positive feelings, said Sherry McKee, a professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, who has been studying gender differences in addiction for 25 years. “The pandemic clearly showed us the relationship between stress and drinking,” she said. “Women were experiencing greater distress, and that corresponded to increased drinking.”

Giving up drinking, especially when it is an addiction, is tough. The problem with many options for sobriety are that they are not enticing, Whitaker said. When she realized a decade ago that she needed to stop drinking, the only options she knew of were Alcoholics Anonymous and rehab — and neither appealed to her. She couldn’t afford to take time off work for rehab and the message of AA was not for her. Sobriety has to feel like a win, Whitaker said. “My sobriety came from wanting to be sober more than wanting the drug,” she said.

I listened to the audio version of “This Naked Mind” in December. In chapter after chapter, Grace dispels myths about alcohol — that you need it to be more confident, social, and fun; that it tastes great; that it helps us fit in — so we are no longer driven to drink by faulty assumptions. The book helped me to abstain during a few holiday gatherings. I found them to be just as fun without the buzz of a bourbon Manhattan. Plus, no headaches the next day or fuzzy recall of dinner discussions.

In early January, I read Allen Carr’s “Quit Drinking Without Willpower” in two quick sittings and resolved to have a Dry January. This would not qualify as Quit Lit because it is not a confessional but it’s the book Whitaker used to get sober. The message is simple: Once you understand your unhealthy relationship with alcohol, you’ll want to stop. It won’t require willpower because your mind will be made up.

After spending some time with Quit Lit, I understood the appeal. There’s probably a reason that only 7.7 percent of people with serious drinking problems seek help — it can be humiliating to label yourself as an alcoholic. When a witty, wise woman is telling you about her journey, it seems like one you want to be on.

If you’re concerned about the amount you drink, there are plenty of resources. Consult your doctor before making any drastic changes. If you’ve been drinking heavily for years, you may need to detox slowly and under supervision.

Educate yourself. The NIAAA’s Rethinking Drinking offers a wealth of information including how to tell when your drinking is problematic, how to taper off and whether to cut back or quit. It explains what alcohol use disorder is and when you should be concerned.

Learn about treatment options. There are now many paths to sobriety, including medication, therapy, outpatient programs, residential treatment and support groups. Your doctor can help you determine the best course.

Read Quit Lit. It is an easy way to gain a new perspective on what’s going on in your mind and body when you drink and to feel less alone on your journey.

Join a community. One of the benefits of Alcoholics Anonymous is that you become part of a tribe of people with similar struggles. If its message does not resonate, consider Women for Sobriety, or Smart Recovery.

Say out loud that you want to change your relationship with alcohol. Even mild drinkers tend to lie to themselves about their dependency. Tell yourself, then a trusted friend, then your doctor.

If you’ve had success quitting or cutting back, share your strategies in the comments section.

Lesley Alderman is a psychotherapist based in Brooklyn.

[jasminehp]

Digital Retailing: Understanding and Communicating with the e-Consumer

Disadvantages and advantages of e-shopping for consumers

In present times, it can be easier for consumers to get a hold of their shopping needs, as e-shopping has been gaining popularity over the last few years. It is said that “About 2.14 billion shoppers now buy items online, which is a significant increase from just a few years ago. With the current world population of 7.9 billion, it means that 27% of all people that are alive are digital buyers' “(Rajnerowicz, 2023). With that information provided, it can be safe to say that much of the population has used e-shopping and most of the population is familiar with this action. The most important key points that a consumer is looking for when shopping is the accessibility of this product/service, convenience, and the total price of the shopping experience. It can be argued that for some consumers, e-shopping is an easier way to get essentials and or services while others say it is better to go to a store and purchase their needs in person. An example of how online shopping can be of benefit to customers was during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many people were ordered to stay home and not leave the house unless there were essential workers or extreme emergencies. “The pandemic has definitely had an impact on shopping behavior, with more people turning to the internet to buy everything from food and groceries to clothing and other essentials” (Rajnerowicz, 2023). With that statement being said, it can be seen that online shopping gained more popularity during the pandemic time, as more people found that method more accessible. Although e-shopping can come with many advantages, there are also some disadvantages that consumers may run into.

Advantages 

When seeing the many products/services that e-shopping can do for the e-shopper, there are positive elements that lead up to a good experience from e-shopping, A customer chooses online shopping over in-person shopping because they can find it easy to search for many alternatives, customers can also find favorable prices, and customers can also buy their items discreetly. These are some of the most common reasons why customers find it more accessible to shop online, This can be very beneficial for businesses too as can have online customers and regular in-store customers. Through customers’ e-shopping, they can be allowed to sign up for membership programs where they can be sent emails from their preferred business and get deals for next-time products. That is another advantage for e-customers, they are given opportunities that most other customers would not be given unless they are signed up for membership programs. This can be a huge plus because many people who do online shopping know that at the end of a shopping trip, prices can add up, and having coupons or deals can really improve a customer experience. Looking at chapter 4 of the book titled “Internet Retailing and Future Perspectives” goes on to explain how “There are a number of advantages for shoppers. First in ranked order from the CapGemini survey: ‘Convenient/easy’; ‘Saves time’ and ‘Fits in with other activities’. Other commonly cited advantages, typed by responses to our own survey include ‘Breadth and depth of prod- ucts’; ‘Prices favorable’, and ‘Convenient’“ (American Psychological Assoc, 2017). With these slight advantages, e-customers are more inclined to be loyal to their preferred business due to the easier process of e-shopping.

Disadvantages

Even though there are some advantages to e-shopping, there can still be some disadvantages that attract customers away and stay loyal as in-store customers. Some reasons that e-shopping can turn customers off are because they may feel that credit card and security can be breached causing anxiety to be at an all-time high, feeling that there is a lack of personal and social interaction, some customers feel that not touching or trying the merchandise is a hard choice to make, and finally, some customers just simply do not know how to go about the website. It can be seen that with all these disadvantages, customers are not willing to do e-shopping or make it the most convenient way to shop. According to the book mentioned before, in the same chapter it goes to explain that “​​The main disadvantages for shoppers, in ranked order were: ‘Availability’; ‘Can’t be in to receive delivery’; ‘Pre- mium charged for delivery’ and ‘Can’t see or feel the merchandise’” ((American Psychological Assoc, 2017). With these details, it can be concluded that the most common disadvantages of e-shopping are trust issues that customers may feel toward these online activities. Elements such as providing credit card details, being unable to touch the merchandise, little to no human interaction, and not knowing how to go about shopping online are thoughts and feelings that are things that customers are not thrilled about when online shopping. For some people it is hard to find the right items at the perfect price and the most convenient, this can be fixed for the customer if they get constant help and are shown that some level of trust can go a long way. If there is someone that is new to online shopping, it can be helpful to get a run through what to expect and how to get to the final outcome. 

Outlook for e-shoppers

“E-commerce, in its current form, is not intended to completely replace in-store shopping. Some retailers are even moving towards a model where you can try things in-store and then get the same product shipped to you” (Rajnerowicz, 2023). With that text provided, it lets people know that the purpose of e-commerce is not to replace in-store shopping, but instead to make it more convenient for customers and businesses all over. When customers go in-store shopping, there is the possibility that a specific item can not be found but the store employees can let the customer know that the item they are looking for can be provided for them online. E-shopping is something that will only become more popular as the years go on, it is important that customers should know how to use websites to buy products/services should anything happen in their day-to-day routine. As far as how businesses can market to their customers, this e-shopping can only make it easier for them to market, as they can easily send promotion emails, appear in their news feed, and by showing off news products/services. By customers doing online shopping, businesses can also benefit from this as they can have much more demand for their products, and they will be able to have both in-store and online inventory making more available for their customers. Should their demand exceed more than their supply, the business can have the option of solely providing in-store items or online items, regardless there will always be an option for the customer. 

Resources

APA 7th Edition (American Psychological Assoc.)

Eleonora Pantano, Bang Nguyen, Charles Dennis, & Sabine Gerlach. (2017). Internet Retailing and Future Perspectives: Vol. Second edition. Routledge.

Rajnerowicz, Kazimierz. “Online Shopping Statistics: Ecommerce Trends for 2023.” Tidio, 4 Jan. 2023, https://www.tidio.com/blog/online-shopping-statistics/?a_bucket=search&a_type=new&a_source=google.com&a_v=2&a_g_campaignid=17060809626&a_g_keyword&a_g_adgroupid&a_g_creative.

[ribombeee]

hello! favourite book of 2023 so far? :)

ill give one for each category!! (fiction nonfiction poetry)

fiction: i read the whole rest of the murderbot diaries series (after the first book) by martha wells this year and it’s really hard to pick just one (both bc theyre all excellent and bc the novellas kind of run into each other and arent separate story lines) but i’ll say exit strategy was my favorite :) just genuinely very enjoyable and fun and tightly written, i dont care how long the series ends up going on i could read a million more pages of murderbot just doing whatever

nonfiction: absolutely no competition how the word is passed: a reckoning with the history of slavery across america by clint smith….. ive said this before but its just such a good read….. doesnt provide a comprehensive history or survey of american slavery which is of course too enormous of a topic for that but instead focuses on (and is extremely effective at) conveying the emotional reality of many aspects of slavery as well as the very strange ways people deal with that history today and the ways it still affects our lives. i think that’s something often missing from current discussion on slavery (at the very least in american public schools where most americans including myself have gotten the majority of their information on the history of slavery) which tends to be very. perfunctory for lack of a better word. removed from the reality that those involved in all sides of the system were living breathing human beings. very good book 👍

poetry: weirdly enough i havent read that much poetry outside of class this year so far.. i’ll say all the flowers kneeling by paul tran. i got to go to a live reading + a writing workshop led by the author and it was a very memorable (in a good way) experience. its an extremely solid and intelligent debut collection and a very interesting discussion of/subversion of the idea of “trauma poetry”