#AND because they took a much more direct appeal-to-authority approach understanding that the humans would try to deceive them

[48787]

DIE AUTOBOTS!!!

Thank you, @thanook, unlike some of my other warriors, you never fail me!

[masked-buffoon]

Chapter 8: The withering flower (Part 3)

Warnings: violence

Author notes: some interaction with Akutagawa...! What do you think will happen?

Akutagawa had demanded me to meet at the river. I had been given treatment in the headquarters of the Port Mafia and had been summoned as soon as the wound had been stitched, requiring me to go out once again. That man was not even on time, I wondered what could be so important for making me wait so long. Casually, I leaned onto the bridge, staring at the flowing river beneath my feet. I did not want to die yet, but the world would surely be grateful if my breath were to stop before the end of the day. Whatever... There was no point in committing suicide, since my ability would take care of the job very soon.

"There you are." I did not honour him with a glance as he approached "It's rude to be late, were you not taught properly?"

"I have no lesson to receive from someone who lost her entire team because of her incompetence." Akutagawa hissed, getting closer to me.

"Did you call me only to scold me?" I raised an eyebrow, shoving a hand into my pocket "You'll waste your breath."

"You...!" He groaned "I've not come to lecture you. A weak pawn will merely stay a weak pawn, whatever I can say. But I judged you had to know; we have recorded moves from Dazai-san."

"Dazai...? You found him...?" My eyes widened.

"To be exact, he was seen around the town, but he is skilled at hiding his presence. It is a matter of time before we put our hands onto him." He shrugged "That's all."

"Why, thank you for telling me..." I frowned, surprised there was nothing more "But, Akutagawa..."

"What?"

I dared grab his collar to pull him closer to me, glaring at him with renewed fierceness.

"I won't let you interfere in this person's life..." I threatened "He chose to leave on his own volition, forcing him back would be disrespecting his choice."

"Are you the one saying that?" He got rid of my grip annoyingly "He left you. He left us! He never answered the message I sent him! Do you think he cares about you...?!"

"He doesn't..." I conceded, looking away "He doesn't care about me... As to your message, I believe it is not the one he would have wanted you to send..."

"What the heck...?! He wanted me to be strong! I showed him I was, so —"

"You are strong!" I cut him "You are strong, the strongest of the Port Mafia, but you are so impulsive! Why could you never understand that Dazai had long ago acknowledged your strength...?"

"He didn't! Whereas, to you... He tried to kill me! He even ordered you to shoot me! Whereas he tried to keep you alive! Why...?! Even when you were called a disposable pawn, he kept you!!" He yelled, holding my shoulder so tightly I thought he would break my joint "Why?!"

"Because we are not the same!" I defended, pushing him away "He wanted you to become stronger, he never intended to kill you...! I am weak, very weak, perhaps too weak... I could not become stronger if he broke me down, that's why... In a way, he valued you a lot, Akutagawa..."

"But he never said it!!" He denied my words "How would you know something he didn't say?! You —"

"He said it!"

He became silent, and he backed a few steps from me, holding onto the railway of the bridge.

"What...?"

"He told me..." I admitted "He said you'd become the strongest asset of the Port Mafia if you could control your strength and be calmer... He also added that you were a blade in need for a sheath... That's why, that day, when you were fighting at the Art Museum, Odasaku came to help you, because Dazai valued you..."

"He never told me... He never complimented me!!" He argued "That doesn't mean anything if those words are not directed to me...! And he left me anyway!"

"Then make him say them, the words you yearn to hear!" I challenged him "Prove him you can become someone worth his praises...! Show him that you —"

"I don't need your advice!!"

Everything happened quickly; his brutal move made me bump into the railway and the loss of my balance was enough to make me fall backwards. His hand never grabbed mine in time. Within seconds, I fell down into the river, back hitting the water harshly.

The world under the water was dark and the light barely crossed the surface toward my eyes. I lacked air, and my tired lungs could not hold my breath in much longer. I closed my eyes to give up; I had been forsaken by the world, and it was getting rid of me so simply, without even waiting for The Sweet Appeals to end me. I wondered if Akutagawa had purposely pushed me, but I did not want to think so; he had been genuinely shaken by my words and I had seen him reaching out to me at the last moment. Somehow, although I despised and hated him, I hoped he would grow and try to understand how to keep control of his emotions, mostly his constant rage. He was still a child, he needed guidance... In a way, I would have wanted to provide him that guidance as well... I should have talked to Nakahara-san about this matter...

My lungs burnt as air entered them again and I coughed to evacuate the water which had invaded them. I was back to the surface and lied on the riverbank. Carefully, I sat up and looked for the person who had saved me. Akutagawa? No, he would not have gone to such extents for me. Then...

"I did not know suicide was your thing, too."

This voice... I turned around, eyes widening toward the one who had jumped in the river to keep me alive. This face, those eyes, this hair... I pursed my lips, and lowered my eyes at the grass.

"It is not... It has never been..." I shook my head "I don't need it to let go of the world."

"Letting go of the world...?" He tilted his head to the side, letting the late rays of sun dry him off "You...?"

"Why..." I stood up "What did you expect by depriving me of your ability, Dazai? That I would miraculously start controlling it? If that is what you expected, I'm afraid your plans were a failure. Now, thank you very much for rescuing me. And farewell."

I walked away from him. I had been imagining this encounter with him. I had rehearsed the words I would tell him, countless times, if I were given to see him again. I had prepared answers for each of his questions. I had been willing to understand the fact he had left me for the better, so he could move on for himself. Finally, frustration and resentment took the better of me and I was the one to leave him behind, this time. All this time... Had he ever cared about me the least...? To be aware of my condition and removing my sole treatment... How cruel could this man be?

"Ogawa…" He grabbed my wrist "I don't want you to go… Let's talk a bit…"

"Let go of me…" I brushed his hand away "We might have met today, but it was pure coincidence. Did I interrupt your suicide attempt? If so, my apologies. Goodbye, now."

You didn't interrupt anything…! In fact, I've come to take you back, you whom I lost... I've been thinking, recently, and —"

I shot him a glare.

"I... Am not a furniture nor a piece of cloth you forgot when you moved to another place, Dazai... This time, you did not lose me. You left me, which is fairly different if you want my opinion." I retorted "Don't try to make me believe your 'care' was genuine... I'm not falling for that ever again..."

"Please..." He tried to hold me back once more "Please listen to me... There was not a single day I did not regret leaving without you, there was not a single day I did not think about seeing you, but I could not..."

"Wait for me..." I remembered, pulling the soaked piece of paper out of my coat pocket "I've waited. Days, weeks, months. And you weren't coming. So I gave up. I stopped waiting. I stopped hoping."

I shoved the paper against his chest, upset. I had never wanted to be so aggressive toward him, but I could not hold back those feelings I had kept for myself so long.

"I'm sorry —"

"Sorry is unnecessary if you don't mean it..." I cracked a smile "At least, I hope that you respected Odasaku's last wish and became a better man... No, I really do think you did it, because Odasaku was someone you truly cared about."

"I had to hide for two years...!" He told me "I could not be involved with the Mafia, I could not —"

"If you had taken me with you, instead of leaving me wounded in the middle of that mission, you would never have needed to think about such matters…! Besides, was there ever a time you fully respected the rules? The truth is, you care as much about me as you care about other people. You used me and my loyalty. You used my trust for your own interest, and when the pawn became disposable, you lost interest in it. I don't want to be hurt believing in you again." I stated "I... Have always tried to convince myself you had reasons for abandoning me... That I was a burden, that you did not want to be reminded of Odasaku, of the Mafia... But I came to think that if those were the reasons, then there was never a time you truly cared about me. And it hurts... A lot... To think the promise I made you was so meaningless you broke it for me..."

"I'm sorry... I mean it..." He grabbed my shoulders "Please do not cry... I'm sorry... I did not want to leave you behind... I truly thought that I would be able to barge in your room soon after leaving the Mafia, to take you with me... But I could not... The government ordered me to stay hidden two whole years, and I immediately regretted I did not leave with you..."

"You took the time to bomb Nakahara-san's car..." I frowned.

"I had set the bomb days ago..." He chuckled slightly "I would have wanted to come sooner..."

"Do you know..." I looked up at him, cheeks strained by tears "Do you know what hurts most...? It's that I can't stop trusting you... No matter what you did, no matter how you made me suffer, I will always keep believing you, because you are Dazai, because I, for one, care about you... But understand that you betrayed this trust...! I fear that if I give in again, you will take these feelings and wreck them another time... Understand that I wish not to be in pain...!"

"I understand... Your feelings are human, after all..." Dazai looked down "I cannot force you to stay by my side again if it hurts you..."

"I simply do not want to believe you sincerely are concerned about me anymore..." My voice became a whisper "I do not want to be deceived... You should know this sensation, shouldn't you? The fear of being deceived by the ones you care about..."

"Ogawa..."

"I really wish to take your hand and run away with you, away from the Port Mafia... But somehow, being far from you avoids me from being so accurately in pain..." I backed away from him "If you were to abandon me again... I might not survive..."

"I —"

"Dazai-san...?"

Akutagawa appeared in my field of view. Had he been looking for me...? It was impossible, he had surely been attracted by Dazai's tall silhouette. But even so… The boy approached us and stood right in front of his mentor, eyes filled with a tint of hatred and a lot of admiration. It made me flinch. The former executive had never been tender toward him, yet Akutagawa was ineluctably drawn toward him. He had guided him for two years, after all, although he had been tough and ruthless.

"Dazai-san..." He repeated, voice so low, almost broken "You came back?"

"I did not come back, nor did I come for you." Dazai stared at him, brows raised smugly "I came for her."

I wondered if he was aware he was literally sending me to death by saying such a meaningful sentence.

"N-No..." I wanted to protest "He —"

A powerful hand tightened around my neck, choking me and depriving me from any way to breathe. I gasped, trying to pry his fingers away from me, but I was too weak compared to him and could not do much against his powerful limbs.

"You...! You thought you could trap me with your honeyed words...! Whereas you were just waiting for the opportunity to go with him...!!" He yelled, pressing against my trachea.

"I... Did not..." I could hardly talk.

I started feeling dizzy, yet my ability, constantly working, would not allow me to peacefully lose consciousness. Instead, it made me suffer from the pain around my throat.

"Let her go."

The order was firm and accompanied by a gun pointed onto the boy's head.

"To think you'd ever menace me for someone..." Akutagawa let go of me.

I was dropped on the grass and immediately held onto my bruised neck, inhaling as much air as my body needed to recover from hypoxia. Then, out of reflex, I pulled out my box of pills and shoved ten of them in my mouth, hoping they would relieve the pain from the sudden attack. What was Dazai doing, while we were arguing...?

"Stand up, Ogawa." He demanded.

Rashōmon wrapped around my body, helping me up, but instead of retracting afterwards, the ribbons of energy tightened around my arm and forced me to pull out a gun, to point it onto Dazai.

"You cannot die because of my ability..." He grumbled "So die by the hands of the one you came for...!!"

"Stop it..." I paled "Don't do that...!"

I resisted so much against the restraints that the joints of my shoulder dislocated itself, but it did not stop Akutagawa from using me like a puppet.

"Relax...! If you bring his head back to the Boss, you won't be called a disposable pawn anymore." He huffed "And you could be transferred under Nakahara-san. Wouldn't that make you happy, worthless tool...?!"

"No...!" I shook my head, struggling not to press the trigger "I would rather die than killing Dazai...!!"

"Then I'll kill you right after." He shrugged "Now..."

Bam. The bullet left the pistol as my finger's bones snapped and it pressed the trigger without any resistance. I gasped, closing my eyes, unwilling to see how I had killed the one I cared about the most, my only reason to live, whom I had finally met again after all this time longing to see him alive. I was too weak... I was incompetent, so much I could not even protect the people I cherished... Akutagawa was right... Why was I even alive...? If I had died years ago, perhaps Dazai would still be living and smiling at someone who would not be me. If we had never met...

"Please..." I sobbed "Kill me... Kill me, Akutagawa..."

"Hoh~ I really thought I would die~"

"You are tough..." His former protege commented, clicking his tongue.

"This kind of poor aim would never hit me." He mocked "The bullet went way past my head. If you had let Ogawa do it herself, I might not have survived~"

"Then, I'll have to kill you myself...!!" He barked, crouching down to take the gun I had dropped.

Something clicked into my mind, a forgotten instinct I had not used for years. My body was moved by a strange impulse, and I jumped onto Akutagawa, gripping him with all my strength despite how painful my shoulder felt, and we both fell on the floor. Then, I took the opportunity that he was too astounded by my behaviour to punch his face, once only, for he was quick to regain composure and absorb the shock with his ability.

"Weapons are for the weak..." I gritted my teeth as he hit my jaw "Don't you always say that...?!"

"You..." He growled "Useless pawn...!"

"Ogawa —"

"Your inner desire..." I struggled against him with a strength I was not aware I possessed "Your inner desire is to earn praise from Dazai... You want to be told that you are strong... Because, in fact, you think you are the one being worthless...! You are afraid to be abandoned...!"

"That's untrue...! What do you know of that?!"

"I don't even need to use my ability to see you're just a brat who lacks affection...!" I snapped.

"Stop it, you two!" Dazai shouted behind us "Akutagawa, don't —"

Blood splashed onto Akutagawa's face and my grip loosened onto his body. I coughed, blood, and my eyes fell onto the strange ribbon of dark energy wiggling in my chest. I collapsed on the grass, energy leaving my body, suddenly feeling exhausted. I had a hard time keeping my eyes open.

"Now... You've done it, Akutagawa..." I found a way to laugh despite the overwhelming fatigue taking over my body "Finally..."

"I didn't mean to... I didn't want..." He frowned, backing away from me "Dazai-san... He won't forgive me..."

I heard his footsteps getting away quickly from the scene, and deduced he had run away from us. It did not matter, anyway...

"Ogawa...!!" Dazai crouched down "Why... You idiot... Throwing yourself onto him like that..."

"I..." I cracked a poor smile, putting a bloody hand onto his cheek "Lied, earlier..."

"Don't talk... I'll bring you to a doctor...!"

"I... Was really happy... To see you again..." I confessed "I... Knew you couldn't do anything against a gun... That's why..."

"You fool..." He brought me close to him "Idiot... You are my friend, how could you sacrifice yourself for me...?"

"Your... friend...?" I looked at him "How...?"

"A friend..." He repeated, picking me up "A friend I have hurt and left behind... But... I'm definitely not going to let that happen ever again..."

I coughed, sensing my whole body going numb thanks to his ability. I nuzzled my cheek against his shoulder, finding the tempting spot comfortable, and closed my eyes, exhaling slowly.

"I'm going to take a nap..." I breathed out "It's been a while..."

"Please, don't die..."

"How could I, when I finally get to see you...? But I need to close my eyes a moment..." I told him "I can't believe... You're doing all of that for me..."

"That's because, you too, are a person whom I deeply care about, Ogawa..."

[robinrunsfiction]

Someone Save My Soul

Part Two of Like A Secret In Your Throat

Pairing: Vampire!Mikey Way x Gender Neutral Reader Rating: General Requested By: Anon Word Count: ~2,100 Author’s Note: Mentions of blood, death, you know... vampire stuff

Never in your life had you felt such a strange mix of emotions. You were ecstatic that Mikey not only was back in your life, but that he was also in love with you. You had been certain you were falling for him as well before he disappeared. At the same time, you were confused because if you had been asked hours ago if vampires were real, you would have said of course not. But you couldn’t deny the fact that a vampire had just held you against your door threatening you, and then your boyfriend came out of nowhere and saved your life. You couldn’t deny the fangs you felt when he kissed you. This was your reality now.

“Mikey, can you stay with me tonight? I’d feel better if you were here with everything… and I missed you,” you asked softly.

“Of course,” he replied with a nod. Before you could realize what was happening, he had effortlessly scooped you up in his arms and carried you to your room before setting you down on your bed. You were giggling as you climbed under the covers and Mikey kicked off his shoes before climbing in next to you. 

Mikey wrapped his arms around you, and you settled in against his side, the adrenaline of the evening wearing off quickly. Mikey pressed another kiss to the top of your head, and you were asleep almost as soon as your eyes closed.

The next morning when you woke up the sunlight was streaming in your window and Mikey was nowhere to be found. All that was left was a note in his scrawling handwriting.

(YN), I had to go before dawn and you looked so peaceful sleeping that I didn’t want to wake you up. I’ll talk to you soon, I promise. Love Mikey

You smiled and sighed. He was back and he was yours.

~

As the middle of summer cooled into the start of fall, you and Mikey had fallen back to the routine of how things were before he left, for the most part. He had moved into Gerard’s spacious basement level apartment that provided ample darkness during the day so you spent a lot of your free time there. You didn’t go out on as many dates as you used to, as Mikey was still self-conscious about his new state, but you didn’t mind as long as you were with him. 

It was another quiet night in Mikey’s room and what had started as watching a movie, but quickly moved to making out and not paying any attention to what was on the TV. You were laying back on his bed, your hand running through his dark hair as he laid over you. You deepened the kiss and tugged him toward you, the millimeters separating you being too much space. His hand was on your waist as he let his lips travel to your jaw, then down to your neck, kissing tenderly until suddenly you felt the sharpness of his fangs glance across your soft skin. You gasped and looked up at Mikey who was looking at you shocked, but the way his pupils were blown gave away the lust he was also feeling. 

Suddenly there was a knocking on the bedroom door that caused you both to jump. “You guys in there?” Gerard called from the other side.

“Yea,” Mikey sighed before sitting up. “Come in.”

“Hey (YN), I’m glad you’re here, I gotta talk to you,” Gerard said walking in.

You glanced at Mikey who looked back at you just as confused. “What’s up?”

“Now that its autumn its getting dark out sooner. I’ve also noticed the other vampires are more active and aggressive. I know neither me or Mikey would want anything to happen to you, so if you have to be out at night, be really careful.”

“Thanks for looking out for me Gee,” you nodded in understanding. Then you glanced at Mikey who seemed lost in thought.

There was so much Mikey hadn’t told you yet surrounding the circumstances of him becoming a vampire, and with Gerard’s warning, you needed answers. “Mikey, what happened that night?” you asked when Gerard closed the door behind him. 

Mikey sighed and looked down at his hands. “I don’t want you to worry.”

“Mikey,” you snapped, “your brother has made it very clear that I could be in danger. Please tell me what’s going on!”

“It’s a long story,” he replied looking up at you.

“Tell it, I have time.”

Mikey sighed again. “Me and Gee’s great grandfather was a vampire hunter. We didn’t know, it was something we found out after they got Gerard. When he immigrated to the U.S. he thought he had gotten rid of all the vampires in his homeland, but one escaped him and vowed revenge. Jump to a couple years ago when they came after Gerard and changed him, thinking that being a vampire would be a fate worse than death for the descendant of a hunter. The vampire didn’t realize that Gerard would think it’s the coolest thing to ever happen to him,” Mikey chuckled.

“But why attack you after all the time Gerard has been a vampire?”

“Gee laid low for a long time, not totally sure what to do. He met a couple other vampires, you know those guys Ray and Frank I’ve talked about? They helped him out and I guess word finally got back to the one that changed him and he decided to come after me. If Gerard hadn’t been waiting for me to show up at the movie theater, I would have died that night. I don't mean undead, but really dead.”

“I’m so sorry,” you whispered after taking it all in. “Did it hurt? Being changed?”

“I don’t know, I was totally out when it happened. But when I woke up a couple nights later every part of me hurt from the inside out. It took about a week to feel better and then it was just adjusting to everything. I feel bad that Gerard had to go through that alone.”

“Wow,” you sat stunned, not realizing the extent of everything Mikey and his brother had been through. “Again, I’m so sorry babe,” you said leaning over and wrapping your arms around Mikey.

“(YN), can I ask you something?” He asked and you pulled back and nodded. “Would you ever want to become a vampire?”

You would be lying if you said you hadn’t thought about it. There were parts of it that appealed to you, but you were nervous too. “I think so, why?”

“I wasn’t given the option, but now that I am a vampire, I may as well embrace it. And if anything  happened, I wouldn’t want to lose you,” he paused. “We could be together forever,” he added softly, looking up at you.

“You would want that?” you asked, a smile forming on your face.

“Yea,” he replied shyly. “I love you (YN) and I wanna spend forever with you,” he leaned in and kissed you passionately. 

You were still grinning into the kiss when a thought popped into your head. “Halloween!” you exclaimed as you pulled back.

“What about it?”

“What if you changed me into a vampire on Halloween?”

Mikey smiled bigger than you had ever seen and nodded. “Let’s do it then, and maybe before we could have a ceremony or something?”

You almost felt like you could cry you were so happy in that moment, making plans for forever with your love Mikey. You were ready and Halloween couldn’t arrive soon enough.

~

You hurried along with Mikey toward his place with Gerard. Soon it would be your place too as you and Mikey were about to commit to each other forever and you were about to willingly give up your humanity to him.

The sky got dark earlier than normal as storm clouds hung overhead, blocking the setting sun. You had a garment bag slung over your arm holding your specially selected all black ensemble for tonight’s activities, you other hand intertwined with Mikey’s. As you were about to round the corner to their building Mikey started looking around nervously. “Hurry,” he said starting to run. You could barely keep up with his pace when suddenly a dark form landed in your path.

“Bringing us a fresh meal?” the vampire asked crudely.

“Leave ‘em alone,” Mikey snarled back.

The vampire lunged at you, but Mikey threw himself in the path, knocking the other vampire away.

“(YN) go get Gee, hurry!” Mikey called over his shoulder.

You took off down the street toward their building as the clouds overhead opened up and an icy cold rain started to fall. You hurried down the slippery steps, banging on the door. “Gerard! Mikey needs help!” You shouted desperately.

The door flew open and Gerard looked at you frantically. You didn’t expect him to be dressed up to witness your ceremony, but he had taken it upon himself to look presentable with his hair swept back, wearing a fitted waistcoat over a button down shirt. “Where is he?”

You pointed in the direction you had just come from and he took off running. You watched for a moment before turning to the safety of the apartment. Before you could cross the threshold someone grabbed you by the arm, pulling you around to face them before pushing you roughly against the brick wall of the building.

The next thing you knew, you were waking up in a bed and you felt like you had been run over by a bus. You opened your eyes and they quickly adjusted to the dark, allowing you to make out a dark figure sitting at the end of the bed, their head hung low.

“Mikey?” you whispered hoarsely.

He looked up and hurried to your side. “(YN), I’m so sorry,” he said, taking your hand.

“What happened?” you asked, confusion and anxiety overwhelming you.

“You… you were attacked, but (YN), you’re a vampire now.”

~

Gerard and Mikey had hurried back toward their building after fighting off the vampire, but as they approached their building a familiar metallic smell overwhelmed them both.

“Who did they get?” Gerard asked before he noticed Mikey had taken off running toward the door.

“(YN)! (YN) no!” he was shouting and Gerard ran up next to him. You were laying on the ground in front of the door in a pool of your own blood. Mikey was on his knees, holding your frail, limp body, tears rushing down his face. 

Gerard knelt down and found your pulse on the side of your neck that wasn’t torn open. “(YN) isn’t dead yet! Mikey if you’re gonna change 'em, do it now, or they’re gonna die!”

This wasn’t how the night was supposed to go. You had been so excited about your new outfit that you were going to wear, and the ceremony, and for all this to happen on Halloween. He had planned all the things he wanted to say to you, professing his love for you and how he knew you were the one from the moment you met, and how it was confirmed when you didn’t reject him as some kind of monster. He had asked the other vampires he had met how to make being changed the least painful experience for you. Now all the thoughtful preparations and excited planning were for nothing.

“Mikey!” Gerard barked at him and pulled him back to attention. “Do it now!”

Mikey nodded silently, afraid his voice would fail. He shrugged off his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves before tearing into his own flesh. The trickle of blood began and he moved the wound to your lips.

“Please love, please,” he repeated like a mantra, willing you to take enough of his blood to save yourself.

Suddenly you sat up with a gasp, eyes open wide, before collapsing back. Mikey looked at Gerard in terror. “What happened?!” He shrieked.

“(YN) is a vampire now,” Gerard replied calmly. “Come on, let’s get ‘em inside and in bed. It's going to be a couple days.”

Mikey sat at the foot of your bed until you woke up, not even noticing the hours passing. He took your hand and explained everything that had happened. You looked over at the garment bag hanging on the closet door. It looked like someone had hastily tried to wipe off the blood, but it was still there, a cruel reminder of the night you didn’t get.

“But you changed me right?” you asked, unable to stop the tears Mikey’s own sorrow had brought on.

“Yea, it was me,” he nodded.

“That’s the most important part. We’ll have our ceremony another time,” you said bravely. 

“I love you so much (YN),” Mikey said leaning in and kissing you gently.

Part 3 coming eventually

[yasbxxgie]

Why Octavia E Butler’s novels are so relevant today

It’s campaign season in the US, and a charismatic dark horse is running with the slogan ‘make America great again’. According to his opponent, he’s a demagogue; a rabble-rouser; a hypocrite. When his supporters form mobs and burn people to death, he condemns their violence “in such mild language that his people are free to hear what they want to hear”. He accuses, without grounds, whole groups of people of being rapists and drug dealers. How much of this rhetoric he actually believes and how much he spouts “just because he knows the value of dividing in order to conquer and to rule” is at once debatable, and increasingly beside the point, as he strives to return the country to a “simpler” bygone era that never actually existed.

More like this:

-        The 1968 novel that predicted today

-        The fiction that predicted space travel

-        The story of cannibalism that came true

You might think he sounds familiar – but the character in question is Texas Senator Andrew Steele Jarret, the fictional presidential candidate who storms to victory in a dystopian science-fiction novel titled Parable of the Talents. Written by Octavia E Butler, it was published in 1998, two decades before the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States.

Like much of her writing, Butler’s book was a warning about where the US and humanity in general might be heading. In some respects, we’ve beaten her to it: a sequel to 1993’s Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents is set in what is still the future, 2032. While its vision is extreme, there is plenty that feels within the bounds of possibility: resources are increasingly scarce, the planet is boiling, religious fundamentalism is rife, the middle classes live in walled-off enclaves. The novel’s protagonist, a black woman like the author herself, fears that Jarret’s authoritarianism will only worsen matters.

Fourteen years after her early death, Butler’s reputation is soaring. Her predictions about the direction that US politics would take, and the slogan that would help speed it there, are certainly uncanny. But that wasn’t all she foresaw. She challenged traditional gender identity, telling a story about a pregnant man in Bloodchild and envisaging shape-shifting, sex-changing characters in Wild Seed. Her interest in hybridity and the adaptation of the human race, which she explored in her Xenogenesis trilogy, anticipated non-fiction works by the likes of Yuval Noah Harari. Concerns about topics including climate change and the pharmaceutical industry resonate even more powerfully now than when she wove them into her work.

And of course, by virtue of her gender and ethnicity, she was striving to smash genre assumptions about writers – and readers – so ingrained that in 1987, her publisher still insisted on putting two white women on the jacket of her novel Dawn, whose main character is black. She also helped reshape fantasy and sci-fi, bringing to them naturalism as well as characters like herself. And when she won the prestigious MacArthur ‘genius’ grant in 1995, it was a first for any science-fiction writer.

Octavia Estelle Butler was born on 22 June 1947. Her father, a shoeshiner, died when she was very young, and she was raised by her mother, a maid, in Pasadena, California. As an only child, Butler began entertaining herself by telling stories when she was just four. Later, tall for her age and painfully shy, growing up in an era of segregation and conformity, that same storytelling urge became an escape route. She read, too, hungrily and in spite of her dyslexia. Her mother – who herself had been allowed only a scant few years of schooling – took her to get a library card, and would bring back cast-off books from the homes she cleaned.

An alternate future

Through fiction, Butler learnt to imagine an alternate future to the drab-seeming life that was envisioned for her: wife, mother, secretary. “I fantasised living impossible, but interesting lives – magical lives in which I could fly like Superman, communicate with animals, control people’s minds”, she wrote in 1999. She was 12 when she discovered science fiction, the genre that would draw her most powerfully as a writer. “It appealed to me more, even, than fantasy because it required more thought, more research into things that fascinated me,” she explained. Even as a young girl, those sources of fascination ranged from botany and palaeontology to astronomy. She wasn’t a particularly good student, she said, but she was “an avid one”.

After high school, Butler went on to graduate from Pasadena City College with an Associates of Arts degree in 1968. Throughout the 1970s, she honed her craft as a writer, finding, through a class with the Screen Writers’ Guild Open Door Program, a mentor in sci-fi veteran Harlan Ellison, and then selling her first story while attending the Clarion Science Fiction Writer’s Workshop. Supporting herself variously as a dishwasher, telemarketer and inspector at a crisp factory, she would wake at 2am to write. After five years of rejection slips, she sold her first novel, Patternmaster, in 1975, and when it was published the following year, critics praised its well-built plot and refreshingly progressive heroine. It imagines a distant future in which humanity has evolved into three distinct genetic groups, the dominant one telepathic, and introduces themes of hierarchy and community that would come to define her work. It also spawned a series, with two more books, Mind of My Mind and Survivor, following before the decade’s end.

With the $1,750 advance that Survivor earnt her, Butler took a trip east to Maryland, the setting for a novel she wanted to write about a young black woman who travels back in time to the Deep South of 19th-Century America. Having lived her entire life on the West Coast, she travelled by cross-country bus, and it was during a three-hour wait at a bus station that she wrote the first and last chapters of what would become Kindred. It was published in 1979 and remains her best-known book.

The 1980s would bring a string of awards, including two Hugos, the science-fiction awards first established in 1953. They also saw the publication of her Xenogenesis trilogy, which was spurred by talk of ‘winnable nuclear war’ during the arms race, and probes the idea that humanity’s hierarchical nature is a fatal flaw.The books also respond to debates about human genetic engineering and captive breeding programs for endangered species.

In her author photos, Butler appears a serious woman with an exceptionally penetrating gaze. At a talk she gave in Washington DC in 1991, later reported in the radical feminist periodical, Off Our Backs, she offered a fuller description of herself: “comfortably asocial – a hermit in the middle of Los Angeles – a pessimist if I’m not careful, a feminist, a black, a former Baptist, an oil-and-water combination of ambition, laziness, certainty and drive”.

That certainty and drive can be seen in papers from her archive, now housed at the Huntington Library. In 1998, some motivational notes written on the back of a ring-bound writing pad begin “I shall be a bestselling writer!” She goes on: “I will find the way to do this! So be it! See to it!” Elsewhere, she’s to be found urging herself to “tell stories filled with facts. Make people touch and taste and know. Make people feel! Feel! Feel!”

Butler died in 2006, following a fall near her home in Washington state. Though she had begun suffering from writer’s block and depression, caused in part by medication for her high blood pressure, she’d continued to teach, and in 2005, had been inducted into Chicago State University’s international black writers hall of fame. She published a novel that year, too, Fledgling, whose vampire heroine must avenge a vicious attack, and rebuild her life and family. By then, her books had been translated into 10 languages, selling more than 1 million copies altogether.

In the years since, her fanbase has only grown. It turns out that she didn’t invent the campaign slogan beloved by Trump. It was used by Ronald Reagan in his 1980 presidential campaign, and later by Bill Clinton, although later he described the phrase as a “racist dog whistle to white southerners”. Nevertheless, as Tarshia L Stanley, dean of the school of humanities, arts and sciences at St Catherine University, notes, when readers spotted during the 2016 US election that Butler had chosen the slogan for Jarret, it “jarred people into recognising that she’s been doing this work all along. She’d been trying to tell us that if we do not make changes, this is what’s going to happen. She constantly gave that message: this is the logical conclusion if we keep treading down this path. I think when people saw that phrase, it started a whole new group of people reading her work.”

Butler’s work is today the subject of fan fiction, television adaptations (there are at least two in the works), and lively attention on college campuses, where it’s read from perspectives as varied as critical race theory, Afrofuturism, black feminism, queer theory and disability studies. Stanley, who last year edited the essay collection Approaches to Teaching the Works of Octavia E Butler, is also president of a society dedicated to the author. Its membership is broad, she says, but the most gratifying surprise is how many young people Butler’s work is engaging. At the inaugural conference, there was even a panel of high-school kids.

What would Butler have made of the present political moment in the US? “I don’t think she would have been surprised”, Stanley says. She puts Butler’s ability to envisage our future down to a deep understanding of human nature – knowledge gained from having the role of outsider foisted on her in girlhood. This she backed up with research, reading journals including Scientific American, listening to lectures, travelling as far as the Amazon. For Stanley, the one lesson to take from Butler’s work is hope. “World building is huge in her canon, and so there is always hope that since we built this world, we can build another one.”

There’s a scene in Parable of the Sower when the best friend of heroine Lauren Olamina insists “Books aren’t going to save us”. Lauren replies: “Use your imagination,” telling her to search her family’s bookshelves for anything that might come in handy. “Any kind of survival information from encyclopedias, biographies, anything that helps you learn,” she goes on. "Even some fiction might be useful".

Butler’s novels are just that kind of fiction. The child who began writing as a means of escape, ended up crafting potent calls to socio-political action that seem ever more pertinent to our survival as a species.

Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents, and other books by Octavia Butler are published by Headline.

[fmr]

[deveharrington]

💣 PhD Thesis: An objective assessment of Davinique 💣

Submitted to: The HMS Davinique’s Captains Quarters

Author: someone who cannot even comprehend their own interest in this topic.

Disclaimer:

This is a very in depth analysis of Mr. Duchovny and Ms. Pendleberry as I see them. What I say may on the surface contradict the notion of respect but please know that I do this OUT OF respect for them. Mainly, I want to know them better and know them as a real human beings, not infallible ideals.

Also, sorry to David Duchovny himself for continuously referring to him as “David”, as if I know him. I don’t. Ideally I would only refer to him as “Mr. Duchovny” but I got tired of typing that out. Sorry Mr. Duchovny! lmao.

Abstract:

My conclusion is that the Davinique relationship has its meaning inside Mr. Duchovny’s head, as in, it has everything to do with David’s inner psyche and unresolved emotions. Then there is the conflict of David’s mind clashing with his reality. For now, I can only conclude that his behaviours are operating in an attempt to address a truth he may not even be able to admit to himself: that, in this stage in his life, he is feeling bored and lonely.

He may also be confused about the current state of his life and unsure of which direction to take next. I want to elaborate on the evidence at hand rather than just simply label it as a “midlife crisis”. The best way I can describe my stance is that I see David as someone who has a lot of energy to give and a lot of drive to succeed, but right now he has no idea where to focus his efforts. In this way, we could see his relationship with Monique as a target for his energy. There is also the appeal for him that it is brand new, like a new “project”, and it relieves his loneliness.

I don’t believe this relationship is purely about sex. But I don’t think love or genuine partnership are involved either. To me, this relationship has nothing to do with what Monique can offer David on an intellectual or companionate/partner level. I see the main driving force of this relationship being what it offers to David as an opportunity to do something for himself and through his own efforts. 

By analyzing his behavioural pattern, I have also concluded that David does not know how to properly process his own emotions, and this leads to chaos in his behaviour and subsequently his real life. Yet, David is very good with words and arguments and can always justify his own actions in the end. So he essentially lives within this cycle. Perhaps frustration arises when it seems like he is making the same mistakes over and over.

In order to come to my conclusion I approached the relationship as if it were entirely serious to both David and Monique. There is always the possibility that this is simply a relationship of convenience on both ends, and I think this is the default reaction of anyone who views this relationship purely on the surface. Out of respect to David though, I tried to view it through his perspective.

I feel like this is the closest I can get to a direct explanation of their relationship: that the relationship exists to make David feel better about himself. And the person who is making David feel better is not Monique, but David.

Theories are under the cut! Thanks so much to anyone who reads this ❤️

To preface: On the subject of Monique and why I am focusing mainly, if not solely, on David for my analysis.

There will be a lot of focus on David, if not solely a focus on him, in my analysis. This is because I believe that he took advantage of Monique, her lack of maturity and experience, and manipulated this situation for his own gain. I see him as the instigator of this relationship, the one who calls all the shots, and this may be part of the appeal of the relationship to him (more on that later).

To be fair to David, I also discuss that he may not actually be consciously aware of this, that he has used his proficiency with words and his independent thinking to not only fool Monique but also fool himself into believing that this relationship is appropriate.

I do not believe that Monique desires to be famous or that she craves attention (at least not to the extent that that is why she would agree to be in a relationship with David). I believe she has a genuine admiration, affection for and attraction to David. Her interactions with him are different from some celebrity relationships we may see and know right away are strictly PR. In some ways, David and Monique may actually have more “chemistry” than Peter Morgan and Gillian Anderson. As in, there is a clear business element to the Peter and Gillian relationship that the David and Monique relationship does not have. Also, I believe David and Monique are genuinely attracted to each other but David may not be completely honest about his intentions, and if this is the case, then shame on him.

And I know people will not like what I just said but I stand by it. And honestly, someone please argue with me on this, because even I am confused by my own instincts. But for now, I choose to simply follow them.

What I think is also happening, with regards to Monique’s social media posts, is that Monique is simply too young or too inexperienced socially to have any tact or notion of privacy within a relationship. And people will blame her for this but really the blame lies on David. He should have considered these things before committing to a relationship with her, and I, as well as the rest of the world, do not consider ignorance of social media a viable excuse.

However, I also cannot shake the fact that if she really cared about David, she would respect his privacy as this seems like something that is very important to him. As well, she must know how badly their relationship comes across, so why would she want them to be exposed to the public and David seen in a bad light? Some questions I simply do not have the answer to.

SECTION ONE: Theories addressing the foundations of David’s behaviours

While creating my theories, I noticed some common themes. I consider these to be foundations for his behaviours and expressions. These ideas may also be involved in the way he rationalizes his own behaviours to himself. But please remember that they are just ideas, and not facts.

💣[THEORY 1] A lot of his behaviour, and especially this relationship with Monique, is an expression of the intense love he has for HIMSELF. Yes, seriously. I am talking about ego. And when an ego is that massive it needs constant attention and maintenance. Later in the thesis I suggest that he requires constant stimulation, change, and challenge, and I think it is related to his huge ego.

To relate it to Monique, I see this relationship as an energy source for his ego. And he found a source that will give what he feels he needs for little to not cost to himself, so why wouldn’t he be attracted to this situation?

And that is ok to have a massive ego. What I don’t think is ok is people lying about themselves or denying what they are. And actually I suspect David may be doing some lying about his intentions and probably even lying to himself but I need to process that thought more.

💣[THEORY 2] David lives in his head. His novels demonstrate that he has an active imagination. Also, his interests seem to have an artistic and creative element to them. Therefore, with regards to his relationship with Monique, I believe that the meaning of this relationship exists in his head, and cannot be fully understood by what we see on the surface (for example, pictures alone).

💣[THEORY 3] David is shallow. Sorry to David for this accusation. For the sake of the theory, I will take it seriously for now. I will discuss this more in-depth later in the thesis. For me, it is more than just being shallow about women’s physical appearances. I feel like his actions and arguments can also be seen as shallow and also driven by shallow motives. It could be that he reacts quickly to things according to a shallow understanding of the world. This could also relate to another theory I will discuss that suggests that David is easily excitable. There is also another possibility that he is very self conscious, but this is just a thought to put out there for now.

For example, if I were to try to relate it to Monique, I could say that David got excited when he met Monique because he was overwhelmed with the possibility of the situation. Not just a sexual relationship, but just a new relationship in general. I mean, just speaking objectively, he must’ve also been thinking about the opportunities to have a partner who would conform mostly to his lifestyle and cater to him. And I think he is also the type not to waste time. I’m kind of grossed out by what I wrote here so I’ll just leave it at that. Again, its just an idea.

💣 [THEORY 4] David demonstrates an unwillingness to mature and change. There is some evidence of a habit of repeating the past because it services him, and he is just lucky that he has the privilege to live this way. He makes no attempt to try to learn any new ways of coping with his issues because his issues can be solved through easier means (examples: money or privilege).

💣 [THEORY 5] David demonstrates a fear of closure. Ok, now is the time for some wonderful Gillovny talk (I swear i’m not being sarcastic). I love trying to solve the Gillovny puzzle and I don’t even know why.

Under this theory I will use Gillovny as an example, or at least what I make of their situation.

I believe that David and Gillian love each other very deeply, and in such a way that “friends with benefits” does not do justice to their relationship. I think they know this as well. However, I believe they purposefully keep themselves in limbo, playing each other and playing themselves, even communicating indirectly between themselves, because they are afraid of the depth of their own love (really!! Its just my theory, lmao).

I think their love is unique, so it is unfamiliar. They cannot figure each other out like they would figure out a spouse, friend, or life partner. They cannot forsee how they would make the relationship work through a plan or concrete means. They can only know their feelings but I think both of them are also afraid of the fact that they cannot control their feelings. They simply cannot see what their actions will lead to, so I think they default to avoidance. Avoidance of commitment, deep intimacy, trust, and rejection are the things I see they would do out of fear. So they kept their relationship light and open, probably rationalizing it as some type of liberal relationship, when in reality they are afraid the other half would leave them at the drop of a hat.

At least, I believe there is more to their relationship than just “friends with benefits” or even just two people who once dated for a few years. To me, there is no way their relationship would capture people’s imaginations the way it has if it were simply straightforward.

OK! So on the subject of fear of closure I’ll just give this example: David and Gillian keep their relationship light because they are afraid that committing themselves would “kill” the relationship somehow. Maybe they see themselves as both being about “the chase”, rather than “the reward”. When in reality they are just deathly afraid. But I think that they are also denying themselves of the affection and intimacy that all human beings need. For what reasons? I don't know.

AND lets just contrast this with his relationship with Monique, as it is almost he complete opposite: NO WORK AT ALL! More on this later, it has been stated already that it seems like David took the easy way out, and I feel that that basically sums it up. But I will go one step further and suggest that maybe David wants the easy way out right now because he was recently hurt by his breakup with Gillian (Ok sorry, yep they’re not joking when they say Gillovnies are crazy lmao).

💣 [THEORY 6] David tends to deflect and project himself upon others, while keeping his own heart guarded. But I think he does this subconsciously (which will be discussed later in the thesis). He imposes himself but has no intention of actually listening to feedback and changing himself. This is an issue of communication.

In trying to relate this to his relationship with Monique, we could say that he wants to be the sole agent of change in a relationship and want that his own life and interests would take priority over the relationship. Actually, I can see how this would also be a burden on his relationship with Gillian (to be discussed later).

SO, actually, on that note, to those who have a strong reaction to this relationship, don’t worry. Because we actually cannot be sure of David’s emotional engagement in this relationship. I suspect there is very little coming from his end in terms of respecting his partner. It could be that Monique is literally just a sounding board for David to reflect himself and see himself. And a plus is that Monique will listen to david and consider his words because she does not know any better. Later in the thesis I discuss a theory that suggests that David trapped Monique into this relationship financially because of the traumatic experience of his divorce.

To try to illustrate my idea that he projects onto others, I will use an example from his “music”. David wrote a song titled, “Mo” (and yeah, its just a funny coincidence that it sounds like a nickname for Monique, lmao. Please note that he wrote the song before he met her, so I’m pretty sure there is no connection to her).

When speaking about the song he uses the general term of “people”, stating that “”people” don’t know when to quit, nor don’t know when enough is enough”. Um, interesting statements coming from David.  

In my initial rage to the song I wrote this, lmao: David has the audacity to tell us/the world that WE don’t know when to quit. This song is about HIM but he is too glib to realize it or literally his defenses are so high that he cannot be that honest with himself.

For David, clearly it would be easier to present this song under some guise of being some form of all seeing prophet, tortured artist, poetic literary graduate or even just “dad having fun with the band” rather than ask HIMSELF these questions. He asks US, “when will YOU be satisfied?”. Its like he just took his sex addiction therapy homework and started singing it.

I think you get my point... he cannot face issues within himself so he tries to correct them in others. This gives him a brief moment of accomplishment but the fact remains that he has unresolved issues within himself.

Leaked footage of David writing “Mo”:

💣 [THEORY 7] He has been conditioned all of his life according to behavioural principles of reward and punishment (and this goes for every human being on the planet). He has habits he falls back on because they work, and he won’t change these habits because he has no reason to. This is no fault of his own, it is basic human behaviour. So, if his life has mainly been privileged then he will continue to act privileged.

For me, though, I sense something is wrong in that I also see David as someone who likes to expand himself and excel. So why is he like... stuck in a rut? spinning his wheels? My main assertion is that he is honestly just bored.

Even just compare his career right now to Gillian’s. She has so many projects coming up, and she focuses herself on acting and family, always improving. Could it be that David may actually have some self esteem issues? that he doesn’t believe in his own acting or he gravitates towards hobbies that do not threaten his self confidence, almost “collecting” them in order to build his identity? Its just a thought.

I believe he has a natural drive to succeed. But right now the problem is that he has no idea where to direct his efforts, and this leads to frustration. So, with regards to his relationship with Monique, he is focusing on her for now.

SECTION TWO: Theories of the mind

💣[THEORY 8] David is so smart that he has fooled himself. As in, he is so observant and insightful as well as so proficient with words and arguments that he has the ability to convince himself that he is correct in any situation, especially if the situation is also involving his emotions. The downside to this is that he has a hard time admitting his own faults or even seeing them. This would then interfere with his maturation process.

I stated in the abstract what I feel to be the cycle of David’s behaviour. I will re-iterate here:

Step 1: David becomes excited, his emotions take over.

Step 2: David acts without thinking, having rationalized to himself that perhaps “life is too short” or whatever he must tell himself.

Step 3: Chaos ensues in the real world, reality pushes back and is out of control.

Step 4: David’s privilege allows him to survive reality. David’s proficiency with words and his large ego causes him to rationalize in his head that he is correct. He succeeds, moves on, and repeats the same mistake in the future.

💣 [THEORY 9] David subconsciously gravitates towards and ends up creating these conflicts because he is bored. Ok, this is all I can come up with for this theory for now: nowadays he is singing lovesick songs for his ex-wife but, he’s the one who threw the marriage into turmoil so??? what dude?? lmao.

Actually, I think this idea is better explained in Theories 11 and 12!

💣 [THEORY 10] David is the type of person who gets excited by “newness”, potential, and opportunity. He is easily excitable and requires constant stimulation.  Take for example, all of his scattered interests and projects. Could there also be an underlying fear of “finishing what you start” or seeing the end of things? what exactly does he want? i think he does not even know himself exactly what he wants. Perhaps he enjoys the process more than finality.

With regards to Monique, this theory is better explained in Theory 20.

💣 [THEORY 11] David is subconsciously drawn to challenge and competition. He has a drive to impress. I feel that this is the true David: an ambitious guy who excels at whatever he sets his mind to. I once referred to his “scattered interests”, but I also believe that he is very open minded and capable of learning very easily. Actually, perhaps the scattered interests are like a diluted expression of his true self, because for me, the sign that something is off is that he doesn’t finish what he starts or there does not seem to be progression within his hobbies. I know some may not agree with me and thats fine. What i’m saying is that what I see is him spreading himself thin but not fully committing or going any deeper into his interests. almost as if he collects them for his identity or self esteem.

And this is where I sense a little issue: why is he not trying to come out on top with his acting? Why is he not pushing harder to direct this movie that has recently been put not he back burner? Maybe I am just being too demanding of him (lmao) but perhaps he is giving up a little bit? Just a thought.

i think David is also used to getting his way, with women, with work, and honestly it has to do with his position as a white male as well. But I feel like his true nature needs to be challenged and perhaps he is feeling a frustration that he is not being challenged enough? Hence, the restless lifestyle.

Relating this theory to Monique, it could be that she is simply an audience that he can impress. And I think the lack of challenge is exactly what initially drew David into this relationship and is what keeps it afloat. *sigh*

💣 [THEORY 12] David subconsciously desires results from his actions that are not straightforward. Meaning, he himself is not straightforward nor does he want things to come easily or simply to him. Ok, so here is just my theory: that David does not want to simply say that the relationship is solely for sex or simply for partnership, even if the reality may reflect this. I think it just comes back to his ego and him wanting to see himself as deeply complex or compassionate or anything but simple.

In regards to his relationship with Monique, I wouldn’t be surprised if he has created his own logic, or moral reasonings for the relationship. Suffice to say that this happens mostly in his head, and undoubtedly according to his own moral laws that he creates. I also think he does this so that he cannot be judged according to society’s moral barometer, since, technically speaking, if the laws were created by him then we couldn’t judge him according to any other laws. Again, this is related to him living in his own fantasy and having the means in the real world to make that fantasy a reality.

💣[THEORY 13] On a very deep level, he may have been drawn to this relationship due to the complexity of it, for example, its moral complexity or the taboo nature of the age gap. If the relationship seemed complex to him he may have interpreted it as a challenge, and I think he simply loves challenges. I know that is a stretch to say, but its just a theory to consider.

💣 [THEORY 14] David is not in touch with his own emotions, and this is what leads to the strange manifestations and expressions of the self. As well as him not being able to reflect upon himself, admit or accept his own limitations. For example, he might not be able to admit to himself he is bored. How can he if he is under the illusion that he is busy? I will add more to this eventually.

In terms of “strange manifestations/expressions of the self”, I propose a theory that David feels lost right now, he doesn’t know how to act in a precise way because he doesn’t know exactly what he wants. So he puts out a vague expression, and when that vague expression rightfully receives a vague response, he becomes frustrated that he was not received exactly the way he wanted to be received. So it is a cycle as well.

Or, he may even just simply be in denial of his old age, but I don’t want to default to that argument just yet.

💣 [THEORY 15] David is out of touch with the current times, and chooses to be out of touch. He well and truly lives in his head, and can afford to. He is also trying to live in this modern world with very old fashioned attitudes.

💣 [THEORY 16] David wants to have his cake and eat it too. As in, David wants the fun but not the consequence. For the most part, he has always been getting his way. Most likely he has just become accustomed to this.

💣 [THEORY 17] David does not truly understand women, therefore he cannot fully respect them. He also does not see women as equals. He does not desire an equal partner in a relationship. This is a huge assumption and accusation and I apologize to David already, but I feel like I have to get it out there as a theory at the very least.

To preface this discussion, for me, mere political statements with no action backing them up is not enough. Therefore, David having a female lead in his newest novel is not enough to believe that he is not a mysogynist. I look at actions to form theories and beliefs. Especially when someone says one thing and does another, which, to me, is more telling than any words.

I just don’t accept an argument such as, “Because David does X, it means he is not a mysogynist”, since I feel like that attitude can express itself in a multitude of ways. I just see David as untrustworthy (sorry David!), because of all of his rationalizations and unwillingness to be open to new ideas. I don’t see him as hopeless, just stuck in his own world that works for him.

Having said all of that, I think this theory speaks for itself with regards to the relationship with Monique. I think it is obvious enough what is going on. Actually, would it be possible to see their relationship any other way? As in, seeing David as some form of female crusader trying to demonstrate that women are not only equal to men, but equal at any age, regardless of lack of experience, education, life-lessons etc.? 

SECTION THREE: Theories of reality

💣 [THEORY 18] The subject of intimacy, as objectively as I can assess it. My conclusion is that Monique is simply the kind of woman that David is physically attracted to. I looked at the clues: in the past, he liked brunettes with kind of masculine faces, almost as if he wanted the woman to look like him. The woman’s body was masculine as well. I’ve stated before he has a large ego, and this is a trait of having a large ego.

@iva69s provided a lovely visual that sums it up:

💣 [THEORY 19] David trapped Monique into this relationship financially because of the traumatic experience of his divorce. I can see this as a component, but not the driving force of the relationship. Its just something to consider.

And maybe I shouldn’t use the word, “trapped”? I just mean that he is the main provider and most likely the one who calls the shots of all of their activities, together and separate.

💣 [THEORY 20] David loves being a father, loves teaching, and loves imposing himself. But now that his kids are grown, he misses them and feels lonely. Ok, i’m not even completely sure of this theory myself but I feel like it must play some role. Or at least, the pride of fatherhood is one aspect of David that seems genuine to me.

Being a father gave David the opportunity to also be a teacher, a hero, a provider, a protector etc. It also made him a main figure in his children lives, next to the mother. It was a positive role for him, it appealed to his ego, desire to impose, and love of challenges and unpredictability.

But now that his kids are grown, he simply misses playing that role. His kids are becoming more independent and he wants to try to hold onto the past. Enter: relationship with Monique, and the opportunity to keep being a teacher, hero, and provider.

And when I try to relate his relationship with Monique to being a father, please know that I mean this in the most objective way possible. I am in no way insinuating that David is a pedophile or anything related to that, that is a serious allegation that I do not claim to have any evidence for nor belief in.

So, here is a theory that I don't even know about myself but it just came to mind: maybe David also sees a lot of potential in Monique. He gets excited by this potential so is now trying to expose her to different countries, life experiences, and giving her life advice.

So, he is attracted to Monique’s youth not in a sexual way, but for what it means in terms of potential. On the surface it looks like something completely different (again, related to him not appearing straightforward), but in David’s mind, he has rationalized it as clean intentions, maybe even a noble cause.

Actually though, one thing I really cannot figure out about this relationship is why David would allow Monique to give up her post secondary education. This is appalling to me. And incomprehensible given what I thought to be David’s stance on the importance of education? Does he really think that he is a better teacher than post secondary education? That what he can give Monique would be better than a degree? I mean, I guess we can’t rule out this possibility.

💣 [THEORY 20] We keep asking, “does David not care how badly he looks with Monique?” and I think the answer is, YES, he does not care! When in the past has he ever cared about his image? And why would he start caring now? Just look at that poor fashion, those dance moves, those idiotic things that he’s said in the past. I think he’s an independent thinker who holds strong to his beliefs, and I respect him for that. The issue for me is that he seems unwilling to listen or be open to other perspectives, and unwilling to admit when he is wrong.

💣 [THEORY 21] His circle enables him, and he chooses his circle specifically to enable him. This is honestly just a theory, I don’t know anyone in his circle, I don’t even know David himself.

But one thing that strikes me is that his band that he travels with is comprised of younger guys. Like??? I don't even know.

Ok maybe I should do research? Does anyone know if there is someone in his circle that would benefit from this relationship? Are there any connections between the youths?

Wait, and what the heck are the adults that know David thinking in this situation? Maybe they just know that it is impossible to tell him what to do or change his mind? Ok, maybe I will look further into this.

Maybe this is not just a theory but the actual reality of the current situation. I have no idea. Things just don’t add up for now, I don’t even know if I can believe that no one around David has spoken up or has objections. God I wish I knew the dirt, lmao.

💣 [THEORY 22 - LAST BUT DEFINITELY NOT LEAST] Gillian is taken! What happened between them? No seriously. something happened. Is Monique just a rebound? God, I hate being pro-Gillovny, its torture! Does anyone know if, during the time Gillian and David were supposedly together (tumblr lists it as starting around 2012), was David spotted with anyone else? I mean, wouldn’t that be a giveaway that they weren't together? Would David ever cheat on Gillian? And if so, can I be the one to personally admit him to a mental ward? TOO MANY QUESTIONS!! And so much “painful” research to do 😇

Thats it! Thats the end! (for now) Are you still alive? I’m not!

[star-trekkin-across-theuniverse]

Word Count: 2184 Author’s Note: Scared Jim is super sexy to me Prompt: Hey! Thanks for the lists etc! How's about a Kirk x reader fic where the reader is angry at the captain, and blames him for her being attacked by an alien on an away mission? Thaaaankya muchly xoxoxoxoxo (@annalisehartmann)

You were working on some routine maintenance under the console in the torpedo bay when your comm chirped. You ignored it. You wanted to get this job done, and needed both hands. Scotty would understand. More to the point, he would also approve. Not being zapped by electrical currents due to distraction was one of his pet reminders. Your comm chirped again. And then again. Finally, rolling your eyes, you pushed yourself out from under the console to answer the call.

“Kirk to Y/L/N, please report to the transporter room for an away mission.” The captain’s voice sounded irritated.

“I’m in the middle of maintenance in the torpedo bay, and have a power lockout on bays 1 through 4. My estimated completion is in one hour. Is there anyone else from Engineering that can go?” You replied.

“Lieutenant Y/L/N, report to the transporter room. That is an order,” the captain replied. His tone was definitely irritated. You sighed and rolled your eyes.

“I’ll be there shortly, sir,” you snapped back.

“Stat, Lieutenant. That’s an order. Kirk out.”

You sighed and climbed back under the console to interrupt the diagnostics, and reset the system. Once you were sure the torpedo bays were functional again, and the console wouldn’t zap any unwitting idiot that happened by it, you made your way to the transporter room. Captain Kirk was there, red-faced, and fuming. He stomped over to you, and you could practically see the steam coming from his ears.

“Did I, or did I not, order you to get down here stat, Lieutenant?” His voice was a low growl. You cocked an eyebrow, and bit back the first comment that came to mind.

“With all due respect, sir, I was in the midst of a power lock-down console maintenance program on torpedoes one through four. Which meant if I’d just jumped and ran, the torpedoes would have been down for maintenance for the duration of the mission. I had to reset the console before I could attend you.” You managed to get it out without losing your temper, but not without rolling your eyes slightly. Kirk took you by the arm and pulled you away where no one would hear your conversation.

“Are you still mad at me about the ass comment?” He asked. “Y/N, I’m sorry, but your ass does drive me wild.”

“I’m more professional than to take my personal frustration out on you, Jim. I wasn’t dragging my heels because you embarrassed me in front of the admiral. I wasn’t dragging my heels at all. I was trying to follow proper safety procedures,” you hissed. “The ass comment wasn’t the problem. It was where you made it. In front of an admiral. And an ambassador. In public.”

“And I already explained that I’d only meant for you to hear it!” He threw his hands up in surrender. “Honestly, babe, I had no intention of embarrassing you. I just meant for you to know how much I appreciated that little black dress.”

You looked over his shoulder and saw Spock raising an eyebrow at you, and recalled Vulcans had better than human hearing. You felt your cheeks flush again and sighed, glaring at Jim again. “And now you’ve done it again. Spock’s been able to hear this entire conversation. So much for discretion being the better part of valour.” You pushed past him to the transporter pad and stepped up.

“Lieutenant, the parameters for the mission are just observation. Interacting with this culture would be a violation of the Prime Directive,” Spock explained as he stood beside you. “I need your keen eyes to assess exactly how technologically advanced they are. Your background in xenoanthropology should be quite helpful.”

“Just observe and determine their technology? Sounds easy enough,” you nodded.

Not easy enough, apparently. The coordinates Scotty had determined to be safe dropped you within a kilometer of the main settlement of the humanoid alien species. While the away team started branching out, you nearly stumbled on a hunting party, and were only saved by the excellent hiding place provided by a broad-leafed plant that was growing low to the ground. You held your breath as the group of aliens passed by, alerted by the noise you’d made diving into the plant. Just as they were far enough on that you thought it safe to breath, your communicator chirped. You’d stupidly left the channel open, allowing anyone to contact you at any time, as you’d told Spock you were venturing off on your own to determine the technological abilities of the aliens.

“Kirk to Y/L/N, Spock is reporting hostile alien presence. Return to the landing coordinates for beam out,” Jim’s voice crackled through the interference of the planet’s atmosphere.

The chirp and subsequent hail, being completely foreign, obviously non-organic and ridiculously loud, alerted the aliens to your presence. In a heartbeat you were up and running, trying to get back to where you’d landed when you’d beamed down. You flipped open your communicator to respond.

“You don’t say! I’m being pursued currently, en route back to coordinates,” you gasped as you ran. Something pierced your side and you let out an involuntary shriek of pain. “Fuck! I’ve been hit!”

“Where are you?” Jim’s tone had changed from wary to worried.

“I have no goddamn clue. I was running east from my position, and I didn’t think I’d gone more than 400 meters, but I’ve definitely run that far now.” You were slowing down, and didn’t recognize your surroundings.

“Scotty is trying to triangulate your position. Hold tight,” Jim ordered.

“Hold tight? I’m being pursued by hostile aliens with enough technology that I’m,” you paused, reaching around to where the pain was centred, “impaled with a fucking arrow of some kind, and I’m telling you, by the way my heart feels, they’ve got some kind of drug on the tips of them. Also, there’s a lot of goddamn blood, Jim. I hate this shit!”

“Scotty almost has you, I’ll have Bones meet you in the transporter room,” Jim reassured you. You started to feel dizzy, and glared at your comm in disgust.

“If I stop screaming at you, Jim, assume I’ve died,” you growled, forcing your eyes to stay open. You wheeled around at the sound of yelling, and saw the three aliens coming toward you, one of them with his rudimentary bow drawn, the lethal jagged tip of the arrow head glinting in the afternoon sun. “Anytime now! I’m about to -” Your legs went out from under you and everything went black. The last thing you recalled seeing was the alien loosing another arrow on you.

A steady, rhythmic beep lulled you back into consciousness, and when you opened your eyes, the cool hues of the MedBay greeted you. You were aware of a throbbing pain in your flank and another at your collarbone, and you groaned, and tried to move to get more comfortable.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Christine Chapel smiled as she approached you.

“What happened?” You struggled through the fog, trying to remember what had happened.

“Arrows. And a toxin derived from a plant similar in chemical composition to hemlock. You crashed right at Scotty transported you, but not before the bastards managed to hit you a second time. Both your wounds are healing well, but you’ve been out for a couple of days,” she explained.

“And of course, Jim nowhere to be found,” you grumbled. Christine smiled and patted your hand.

“How about something for pain?” She offered. You nodded, and closed your eyes as she pressed the hypo to your neck. You took a few breaths and felt the medication diffuse through your system, calming your pain receptors. It was just easier at that point to go back to sleep.

When you woke, you were still alone. So much for the ass that drove Jim wild, though you supposed since you were laying on it there was less appeal to visiting you. You tried to push yourself to sitting, and yelped at the pain as you twisted your body. Gritting your teeth, you forced yourself to swing your legs over the edge of the bed, taking deep stabilizing breaths until your vision cleared and you felt steady. While the nurse was busy, you silenced the biobed, made sure your gown was tied at the back, and crept out of MedBay. You were lightheaded from the pain by the time you got back to your quarters, but you fought through the pain by bullheaded determination. Jim hadn’t come to check on you, still. He obviously might like your ass, but apparently those feelings didn’t go any further than that.

You were still addled enough from the toxin and the medications that you weren’t capable of making any real plans, but when you got into your quarters, you started packing your belongings, determined to find a way off the Enterprise and onto another ship. First, the man had humiliated you in front of an admiral and an ambassador, then in front of his second. Then he didn’t even care enough to make sure if you’d lived or died. He probably wouldn’t notice you were gone until after your transfer papers showed up from your new assignment. The pain in your back got to a breaking point, and you dropped to sitting on the edge of your bed. The upset and disappointment of Jim, coupled with the pain in your back and shoulder combined to overwhelm you, and you burst into tears. Each sob that shook your body caused you more pain, until your breath grew shorter and you started to see spots. The air in the room rushed in your ears, and the furnishings began to spin. Your limbs were suddenly heavy and you were glad you’d thought to sit.

Just as you were falling back against the mattress of your bed, welcoming the black of unconsciousness, you heard the notification of an override being used on your door. Before you could hit the mattress, strong arms caught you. “Damnit, Bones, I found her in her quarters. She’s bleeding from her back again.” Jim’s voice sounded frantic and you forced your eyes open for a moment.

“About fucking time,” you mumbled as you blacked out.

You awoke with a start, shooting up in bed and then screaming in pain and falling back against the firm mattress of the biobed. You closed your eyes and tried to breathe, but couldn’t erase the image of the aliens chasing you out of your head. Your eyes popped back open, and you stared at the ceiling, forcing yourself to slowly draw a breath in, and then force it back out until the beeping you could hear above your head slowed. A tear leaked out the corner of your eye and trailed back into your hair, and you tried to move your hand to wipe it away, but something was holding your hand against the bed. You turned your head and saw Jim’s eyes, wide and frightened, staring at you. His fingers were laced in yours.

He reached up with his free hand, and brushed the tear away. “I’m here, Y/N.”

“This is all your fault,” you blurted.

“I’m sorry,” he squeezed your hand. “I’m so sorry. You were right to be angry with me. All my lectures about discretion and then I compromised both our positions by not being able to keep my mouth shut.”

“I might hate you,” you mumbled. He pressed a kiss to your hand.

“You should. I’ve been an ass,” he agreed.

“You’re making it hard for me to hate you,” you complained.

“Christine said you thought I hadn’t been in to check on you. Was that why you left without telling anyone?” He asked.

“I don’t want to be here if I’m just your plaything, Jim.” You felt tears welling up in your eyes again, and blinked, trying to hide them.

“Sweetheart, you woke up in the fifteen minutes I took to check on how Spock is managing the bridge in my absence,” he explained. “I hadn’t left your side since you’d been ‘ported back.”

“You gave Spock the helm?” You asked.

“Yes,” he nodded.

“Because of me?” You raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.” The side of his mouth twitched, a small smile.

“Why?”

“It’s not just your ass that drives me wild, Y/N.” He smoothed the hair off your forehead and pressed a kiss against the cool skin. “I thought I would break when I saw you. I thought if you died I would never recover. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I embarrassed you. I’m sorry I made light of it. I’m sorry you went on that mission angry. When I thought our last words to one another might have been a disagreement, I just -”

“You’re an idiot, Jim Kirk,” you interrupted, running your hand across his stubbly cheek. “But I guess if I have to be stuck with an idiot, you’ll do.”

“I love you too, Y/N,” he turned his face against your hand and kissed your palm.

[vieuxnoyesrp]

                  Jennifer Blake   ⚜   Witch   ⚜   32   ⚜   Lilith   ⚜   ENFJ

Pull out the insides...

(TW: gore, violence) Even as a child, Jennifer had always a morbid fascination with beauty. It had never been the kind of fascination easily sated by simply having beautiful things within her reach; no, she needed to pluck of the wings of a butterfly to see the intricacy of their scales, pry apart the lips of a clam to gaze at the pearlescent insides. She understood that her actions often meant the death of the very creatures she found so beautiful, but her enjoyment and curiosity took priority. And besides, there were so many clams and butterflies out there, it wasn’t as if her prized few were missed. She was a terribly smart child, and knew that her utterly ordinary mother and father wouldn’t see it for was it was, something pure, something that tasted like discovery, like knowing, but instead would just see madness, evil. They loved the precious little girl she let them believe she was, and she had no problem continuing that charade as long as it suited her.

Of course that wasn’t long at all. 

Charades were boring, her parents were boring, and really the inside of an animal was only fascinating for the first thousand times, and then it was all the same. Just organs and tissues and nerve endings and electrical impulses. But always, there was something more she could never quite put her finger on, but it wasn’t in any anatomy book she checked out of the library. She spent years plunging her fingers deep into spasming muscles searching for that special magical something, but it was just beyond her reach. Decaying flesh and putrefaction was not worth the unrewarding hunt for this knowledge, not when she didn’t have the tools at her disposal. With nothing to hold her interests, nothing beautiful, captivating to keep her mind engulfed in the mystery of it, boredom began to eat away at her.  She began to research more, going to far away libraries, scouring the still-young World Wide Web for that ephemeral...what? And of course, it found her instead. 

{Oh but the farrow know Her hungry eyes, her ancient soul It's carried by the sneering menagerie}

Rain St. Agnes, poised, proud, and powerful. All things Jennifer hadn’t known she wanted, needed, but now craved. To be like this woman, to know the things she knew, to command the power, the magic, this woman did, the very idea of it took her breath of way. Rain wasn’t boring, and the world she brought Jennifer into, was everything she had searched for for so long. It felt like coming home. She left the people called her parents behind without much thought, other than they deserved it for not giving this to her from the very beginning. Under Rain’s tutelage, Jennifer soaked in magic like she needed it to survive, surpassing the other pupils of the coven easily in a few months’ time. After that, Rain taught her personally, privately, and Jennifer realized she had found the first person she had ever met who actually looked at her and saw. Intimacy never made much sense to her, her own parents feeling more like inconveniently proximal strangers, but with Rain, she felt understood, she felt recognized, and like whatever Rain saw in her was then returned to her tenfold. Maybe this was family. 

Still, it wasn’t perfect. Jennifer was unwieldy in her power, and unorthodox in her methods, her creativity getting away from her too often and her ambition far out-running her foresight. Rain’s keen eye for strategy and preference for discretion often left the two at odds, the gaping ache in Jennifer’s chest every time the woman looked at her with frustrated disappointment only fueling more outrage-disbelief-fear-shame roiling inside her. It made for a volatile combination, one Jennifer never quite learned to control, and one she never quite figured out how to purge.

                                                              ... You won’t recognize her. 

Maybe it was simply because the complex intricacies of human sentiment didn’t quite jive in her mind, but the combination of adoration and resentment warring within her made Rain’s failings as a leader blatantly obvious to her, and they began to collect, insidious, poisonous ants climbing up and down her spine every time they spoke. Perhaps the coven needed a new direction... something more aggressive than Rain’s banal obsession with ancient artifacts, and her innate talent for making even ritual sacrifice into a duty that lost its exciting edge. A plan began to form in her mind, one that wouldn’t just make shockwaves throughout the covens of North America, but a tidal wave of it, stretching the entire world. She had heard of the so-called Original Family. She did her research, years of it, just like where she had started, and learned of two brothers, almost more legend than reality, a sister rumored to be last seen in the 1920s, and a matching set of coffins, which contained everything, anything, the coven could possibly want for their future. It took her years to get everything aligned properly, to find the proper enchantments, locate the proper spells, and create new ones when what existed wasn’t enough. 

But she found Finn and Kol Mikaelson. And when she sacrificed them, the Cult of Bracken would be the center of the supernatural world, the ultimate authority. The petty games of intrigue and politics of New Orleans were beneath them. They would own this city, this country, hell, they could have anything anywhere in the world they wanted with power like that. They’d be unstoppable. That’s what a leader what supposed to strive toward. She couldn’t open them. For months, she had the coffins, and was unable to open them, every incantation falling flat, every curse ringing hollow. Familiar embers of resentment burned hot in her gut, but still, she turned to Rain to guide her, to take the coven into the future at her side, together. Instead, Rain refused to help, talking about retribution and exchanges, trade-offs. Jennifer was furious, seething in her embarrassment, in the betrayal that rent like Rain’s precious dagger through her ribs. 

Even worse, now, one of the coffins has been opened. They don’t know who opened it, or why, or when the other shoe will drop, but suddenly, another side of things is dawning on Jennifer. Consequences. If Rain had helped her, would they be in this position? Was this her fault? Could she fix this before the coven paid the price? Could she fix this before Rain refused to look at her again? Did she want to?

Web of Connections

Jenna Sommers - Both women are new teachers at St. Aloysius High School, and have bonded over the experience. For all that she doesn’t quite understand sentiment, she’s quite good at mimicry, and having an excuse to go to happy hour every once in a while isn’t the worse thing in the world. What’s even better is that Jenna isn’t boring. She’s human, she’s a single parent, and she’s a mess, and yes, that’s all boring, but there’s something different about her, something Jennifer can’t put her finger on, something she hasn’t felt since she was on the threshold of discovering magic for the first time. She trusts that feeling more than anything in the world and she’s not letting Jenna slip out of her fingers.

Kali Talwar - Sentiment is a strange thing, but sex is not. Sex makes sense to Jennifer. It’s about power, pleasure, and sometimes a bit of pain if you’re lucky. Sex with Kali was divine, and what was more, they spoke the same language. Kali too wanted more; more power, more recognition, more violence. Somewhere along the line, things fell apart, during her research, she supposes, doesn’t actually remember the time very well, and she finds it regrettable. She had enjoyed the wolf’s company, but she would live without it. If she couldn’t understand Jennifer’s mission, then there was no place for her in Jennifer’s life. 

Finn Mikaelson -  Jennifer doesn't know which brother remains in the unopened coffin, and which roams free. Kol Mikaelson has left traces. Reckless, almost carelessly homicidal, certainly a wild card. But Finn... there was almost nothing but whisper here and there, mentions of mentions of a forgotten brother. She's not sure which she has left to reckon with, but if she had to choose, she’d keep Finn in the box. Despite her love of the unknown, her new-found caution has hairs raising on the back of her neck. This last coffin will stay where she can see it, control its fate. Finn Mikaelson will sleep until he fuels their Coven's rebirth when the time comes. Little does she know that brother dearest has already jumped ship...

Derek Hale - Even if things back-fired with her most ambitious endeavour related to the Mikaelson Coffins, Jennifer is not about to hang low and take a step back from what it is she does best. She’s already missing the fruits of her labour; the unique signature each of her victims leave in her veins, the way they amplifies her power, the taste of their sacrifice on her tongue. And now that she’s in New Orleans, she’s already set her sights on her next victim. She’s never sacrificed an Alpha; and though that would make a notable first in its own right, Derek Hale makes for an appealing choice for more than just the one reason. She knows his family history and the inescapable combination of tragedy-misery-guilt that haunts him. She knows it’s given him a hard shell and a stubborn survival streak that she’d love to add to her own arsenal. But in order to do that, she has to get close. Real close.

Amelie-Marin Morrell - Marin was a puzzle, an anomaly. A piece of the puzzle that simply didn’t fit no matter what angle Jennifer approached from, and like all unknowns, Jennifer was unable to resist. It hadn’t really occurred to her that one didn’t sleep with two fascinating women at the same time, but apparently that was not done. It also hadn’t occurred to her that she was perhaps better at sentiment than she realized, because Marin was... hurt. As if she was attached. Well, then she was angry, and then set Jennifer back several months in her careful plans and destroyed years of work the coven had done. She should’ve been impressed, but Marin’s passion, her rage, it had been beautiful. Inspiring. A bit mouth-watering. Too bad she was gone. 

Also mentioned in the following bios:  Rain St. Agnes, 

Plot Teasers:

✸ Jennifer is younger than her sisters, and for her all her bravado, less experienced. This, in combination with her brashness can make for a dangerous combination; not only to those around her - but even to herself. The sacrifices she performs allow her to take on more than just her victim’s particular skill-set; unbeknownst to Jennifer, her victim’s personalities are also seeping through to mix with her own — creating a mind divided and at war with itself. This has already started manifesting with particular manic and out-of-character episodes that Jennifer doesn’t remember, and the trend will only continue to get worse as she adds more lives to the ones she’s already taken... ✸

Jennifer has met Mary, they didn’t get along. But what she doesn’t know is that she’s not the only ‘sister’ in their hand-picked lineage that Mary doesn’t get along with. A family reunion is on its way sooner than later, and well, Jennifer’s never really been good with family. 

On the soundtrack of her life: Deep Green - Marika Hackman (x)

FC: Haley Webb, non-negotiable.

Fortunately for us, Jennifer is  T A K E N!! | Follow

[dani-qrt]

Who Strikes Fear Into Silicon Valley? Margrethe Vestager, Europe’s Antitrust Enforcer

“Europe is acting to enforce antitrust laws where the U.S. is not,” said Jeremy Stoppelman, the chief executive of Yelp, who feels that American regulators dropped the ball when they decided not to pursue a case against Google in 2013 (Yelp is a longtime Google antagonist). “Ironically, many of the complainants in the E.U. antitrust case against Google are U.S. companies, pursuing justice in Europe precisely because the U.S., has not acted,” he said in an email.

While Ms. Vestager’s global influence is ascendant, her political fate is murky. She has made it clear that she would like a second term as competition commissioner, but there is no guarantee that the Danish government will reappoint her to the commission next year. In fact, the new prime minister, who comes from a rival party, has said he will not do so.

Though a long shot, Ms. Vestager is among the potential contenders for president of the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union. It is the most powerful job in the bloc — one never held by a woman, or by someone with her public profile.

Photo

Facebook’s C.E.O., Mark Zuckerberg, spent two days being interrogated by lawmakers in Washington in April. Credit Tom Brenner/The New York Times

Her appeal partly speaks to a populist impulse from the political left, a David-versus-Goliath belief that it is high time someone stood up to giant corporations, particularly those that exert so much power. But not everyone views her as a heroic regulatory warrior.

Critics of Ms. Vestager include leaders of American tech companies who have crossed her and who take issue with both her approach and her facts; Republicans in Congress; some members of the Trump administration; the Wall Street Journal editorial board; and groups like the Business Roundtable, a conservative-leaning, pro-business collection of American chief executives.

Apple is especially aggrieved. In 2016, Ms. Vestager ordered Ireland to reclaim 13 billion euros in back taxes, or about $15.5 billion, saying that the company had illegally received a tax break that was not available to others. Apple has begun paying the money into an escrow account, but both the company and Ireland have appealed the decision. They say it ignores how much tax Apple has already paid to Ireland, misrepresents the tax rate the company is subject to there, and reflects either a willful misreading or an ignorance of tax law.

Critics also accuse her of grandstanding, and of displaying bias against American companies.

“I think she has this vision of what the law should be, and it seems to me that when this radically affects major companies that are headquartered in the U.S., you might want to have more of a dialogue with the U.S. regulators and the U.S. government about it,” said Joe Kennedy, a senior fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington.

Continue reading the main story

Both Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, and Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief, have traveled to Brussels to argue their cases in person, apparently in vain. Last June, Ms. Vestager fined Google €2.4 billion, or about $2.8 billion, after concluding that it had unfairly used its search engine to favor its services over those of its rivals. It was the largest such penalty in the European Commission’s history, and more than double similar fines levied by the United States.

Last May, she fined Facebook €110 million, or about $131 million, after concluding that it had misled the European authorities about its acquisition of the messaging service WhatsApp. And in January, she fined the American chip maker Qualcomm €997 million, or about $1.2 billion, saying it had abused its market dominance to shut out competitors.

For the moment, the attention is on data privacy, and whether it is possible to regulate how technology companies share and profit from users’ personal information.

As the top European official enforcing competition laws, Ms. Vestager has primarily concentrated on how a range of companies use, or abuse, their market dominance. But she has also emerged as a major voice of warning about the effect of tech firms on our habits, our privacy, our ability to make human connections and even democracy itself. (Europe has a new data privacy law that is to take effect May 25.)

“What’s fascinating about her role is that in her mind, the new antitrust is about data, not about market power,” said Randy Komisar, a veteran Silicon Valley executive and now a general partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Photo

Apple’s headquarters in Cork, Ireland. In 2016, Ms. Vestager ordered Ireland to reclaim 13 billion euros in back taxes from the company. Credit Andrew Testa for The New York Times

He added: “I believe the European approach is more appropriate than the U.S. laissez-faire approach. The U.S. economy sort of lives or dies by the notion of free markets, and I think what we’re seeing is a perversion of free market economics that is very difficult to counter without regulation.”

Appearing last November at a tech summit meeting in Lisbon, Ms. Vestager was interviewed onstage by Kara Swisher, host of the Recode Decode podcast, as about 15,000 people looked on. Many in the audience were young techies who greeted the commissioner with something like euphoria, particularly when she declared that “we need to take our democracy back” from social media.

“She’s what my generation looks for in a politician,” said Corina Stoenescu, a Harvard Business School student who helped organize a conference in March where Ms. Vestager was the keynote speaker. She added: “The moment tech giants come into question, then Vestager comes into question. She’s the only person on the planet who has a voice about it.”

Other jurisdictions are following Europe’s regulatory lead. Brazil, among other countries, has begun an antitrust case against Google, and one of the search giant’s Brazilian competitors said last summer that it would use the European arguments in its own lawsuit. And in November, the state of Missouri opened an investigation into whether Google violated the state’s antitrust and consumer protection laws.

Continue reading the main story

“It’s good if we can inspire each other globally,” Ms. Vestager said in a recent interview in Copenhagen.

She was juggling interviews and preparing for a speech, as a bag of knitting rested nearby. She likes to knit in meetings, and has recently been making elephants, after moving on from socks. (She also sometimes sews her own clothes.)

Trained as an economist, she grew up in Glostrup, a suburb of Copenhagen, the daughter of two Lutheran ministers. (She’s not a fan of organized religion, she said, and follows a “Believe in God, fear the church” philosophy.)

She entered politics at 21, joining the tiny centrist Danish Social Liberal Party, which was founded by her great-grandfather. Elected to Parliament in 2001, she rose to become the party’s parliamentary leader six years later — she was already national chairwoman — and was blamed as being too young, too boring and female when the Social Liberals lost half their seats in the subsequent election.

“She was very, very young, but if she had been a man, people would not have complained in the same way,” said her biographer, Elisabet Svane.

Photo

Ms. Vestager in Copenhagen during a European Union Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting in 2012. As Danish economics and interior minister, Ms. Vestager pushed through deeply unpopular cuts in retirement and unemployment benefits. Credit Keld Navntoft/Scanpix, via Getty Images

As for the boring part: “She has a lot of humor, but she is a little boring sometimes,” Ms. Svane said in an interview. “The party is boring. They are technocrats and teachers, and they always know what is best for society.”

Ms. Vestager brought in a media consultant, Henrik Kjerrumgaard, who advised her to drop the dull platitudes, simplify her message and stick to her beliefs — even if they made her unpopular. She rethought how to present herself.

“All of us have multiple selves,” she said. “Being a public figure is not about changing yourself, but maybe bringing out some other side of yourself.” She learned to smile more, she said, “to be more direct, less detailed, not like an economist lecturing.”

Continue reading the main story

Her party rebounded in the 2011 elections and joined a three-party governing coalition led by the Social Democrats under Helle Thorning-Schmidt. Appointed to the new post of economics and interior minister, Ms. Vestager pushed through deeply unpopular cuts in retirement and unemployment benefits — forcing Ms. Thorning-Schmidt to renege on her own campaign promises — while helping enact more liberal immigration policies.

She made a fair share of enemies, among them a group of long-term unemployed workers angry about reductions in their benefits. She still keeps the sculpture they gave her, of a middle-finger-brandishing hand, in her office in Brussels, saying it was “a reminder that you will make mistakes, and people will have a different point of view, and that should be part of your understanding of yourself.”

In 2014, Denmark made her the country’s appointee to the European Commission, and she took charge of the competition portfolio.

Ms. Vestager appears to have found that rare thing, a decent work-life balance. (By comparison, the fictional character she and Ms. Thorning-Schmidt are collectively said to have inspired, Birgitte Nyborg, the central figure of the Danish political drama “Borgen,” struggles unsuccessfully to hang onto her marriage.) Ms. Vestager’s husband, Thomas Jensen, a math and philosophy teacher, lives in Copenhagen with their youngest daughter, 15. Their two older daughters are in college.

“Here, it’s more the rule than the exception to be a working mother,” she said. “I have sometimes been asked if I’m a bad mother to my daughters, and I say, ‘They don’t know any different — this is the mother they’ve got.’”

Lately she has been thinking about power — what it is, who has it, how it is used — after reading the historian Mary Beard’s latest book, “Women and Power.” “The #MeToo movement can be maybe the most important catalyst for decades in doing that,” Ms. Vestager said. “It tears down our understanding of power.

“Power is not something you own,” she continued. “It’s only something you’re borrowing.”

Continue reading the main story

The post Who Strikes Fear Into Silicon Valley? Margrethe Vestager, Europe’s Antitrust Enforcer appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2HVZaz8 via Online News

[cleopatrarps]

Who Strikes Fear Into Silicon Valley? Margrethe Vestager, Europe’s Antitrust Enforcer

“Europe is acting to enforce antitrust laws where the U.S. is not,” said Jeremy Stoppelman, the chief executive of Yelp, who feels that American regulators dropped the ball when they decided not to pursue a case against Google in 2013 (Yelp is a longtime Google antagonist). “Ironically, many of the complainants in the E.U. antitrust case against Google are U.S. companies, pursuing justice in Europe precisely because the U.S., has not acted,” he said in an email.

While Ms. Vestager’s global influence is ascendant, her political fate is murky. She has made it clear that she would like a second term as competition commissioner, but there is no guarantee that the Danish government will reappoint her to the commission next year. In fact, the new prime minister, who comes from a rival party, has said he will not do so.

Though a long shot, Ms. Vestager is among the potential contenders for president of the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union. It is the most powerful job in the bloc — one never held by a woman, or by someone with her public profile.

Photo

Facebook’s C.E.O., Mark Zuckerberg, spent two days being interrogated by lawmakers in Washington in April. Credit Tom Brenner/The New York Times

Her appeal partly speaks to a populist impulse from the political left, a David-versus-Goliath belief that it is high time someone stood up to giant corporations, particularly those that exert so much power. But not everyone views her as a heroic regulatory warrior.

Critics of Ms. Vestager include leaders of American tech companies who have crossed her and who take issue with both her approach and her facts; Republicans in Congress; some members of the Trump administration; the Wall Street Journal editorial board; and groups like the Business Roundtable, a conservative-leaning, pro-business collection of American chief executives.

Apple is especially aggrieved. In 2016, Ms. Vestager ordered Ireland to reclaim 13 billion euros in back taxes, or about $15.5 billion, saying that the company had illegally received a tax break that was not available to others. Apple has begun paying the money into an escrow account, but both the company and Ireland have appealed the decision. They say it ignores how much tax Apple has already paid to Ireland, misrepresents the tax rate the company is subject to there, and reflects either a willful misreading or an ignorance of tax law.

Critics also accuse her of grandstanding, and of displaying bias against American companies.

“I think she has this vision of what the law should be, and it seems to me that when this radically affects major companies that are headquartered in the U.S., you might want to have more of a dialogue with the U.S. regulators and the U.S. government about it,” said Joe Kennedy, a senior fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington.

Continue reading the main story

Both Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, and Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief, have traveled to Brussels to argue their cases in person, apparently in vain. Last June, Ms. Vestager fined Google €2.4 billion, or about $2.8 billion, after concluding that it had unfairly used its search engine to favor its services over those of its rivals. It was the largest such penalty in the European Commission’s history, and more than double similar fines levied by the United States.

Last May, she fined Facebook €110 million, or about $131 million, after concluding that it had misled the European authorities about its acquisition of the messaging service WhatsApp. And in January, she fined the American chip maker Qualcomm €997 million, or about $1.2 billion, saying it had abused its market dominance to shut out competitors.

For the moment, the attention is on data privacy, and whether it is possible to regulate how technology companies share and profit from users’ personal information.

As the top European official enforcing competition laws, Ms. Vestager has primarily concentrated on how a range of companies use, or abuse, their market dominance. But she has also emerged as a major voice of warning about the effect of tech firms on our habits, our privacy, our ability to make human connections and even democracy itself. (Europe has a new data privacy law that is to take effect May 25.)

“What’s fascinating about her role is that in her mind, the new antitrust is about data, not about market power,” said Randy Komisar, a veteran Silicon Valley executive and now a general partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Photo

Apple’s headquarters in Cork, Ireland. In 2016, Ms. Vestager ordered Ireland to reclaim 13 billion euros in back taxes from the company. Credit Andrew Testa for The New York Times

He added: “I believe the European approach is more appropriate than the U.S. laissez-faire approach. The U.S. economy sort of lives or dies by the notion of free markets, and I think what we’re seeing is a perversion of free market economics that is very difficult to counter without regulation.”

Appearing last November at a tech summit meeting in Lisbon, Ms. Vestager was interviewed onstage by Kara Swisher, host of the Recode Decode podcast, as about 15,000 people looked on. Many in the audience were young techies who greeted the commissioner with something like euphoria, particularly when she declared that “we need to take our democracy back” from social media.

“She’s what my generation looks for in a politician,” said Corina Stoenescu, a Harvard Business School student who helped organize a conference in March where Ms. Vestager was the keynote speaker. She added: “The moment tech giants come into question, then Vestager comes into question. She’s the only person on the planet who has a voice about it.”

Other jurisdictions are following Europe’s regulatory lead. Brazil, among other countries, has begun an antitrust case against Google, and one of the search giant’s Brazilian competitors said last summer that it would use the European arguments in its own lawsuit. And in November, the state of Missouri opened an investigation into whether Google violated the state’s antitrust and consumer protection laws.

Continue reading the main story

“It’s good if we can inspire each other globally,” Ms. Vestager said in a recent interview in Copenhagen.

She was juggling interviews and preparing for a speech, as a bag of knitting rested nearby. She likes to knit in meetings, and has recently been making elephants, after moving on from socks. (She also sometimes sews her own clothes.)

Trained as an economist, she grew up in Glostrup, a suburb of Copenhagen, the daughter of two Lutheran ministers. (She’s not a fan of organized religion, she said, and follows a “Believe in God, fear the church” philosophy.)

She entered politics at 21, joining the tiny centrist Danish Social Liberal Party, which was founded by her great-grandfather. Elected to Parliament in 2001, she rose to become the party’s parliamentary leader six years later — she was already national chairwoman — and was blamed as being too young, too boring and female when the Social Liberals lost half their seats in the subsequent election.

“She was very, very young, but if she had been a man, people would not have complained in the same way,” said her biographer, Elisabet Svane.

Photo

Ms. Vestager in Copenhagen during a European Union Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting in 2012. As Danish economics and interior minister, Ms. Vestager pushed through deeply unpopular cuts in retirement and unemployment benefits. Credit Keld Navntoft/Scanpix, via Getty Images

As for the boring part: “She has a lot of humor, but she is a little boring sometimes,” Ms. Svane said in an interview. “The party is boring. They are technocrats and teachers, and they always know what is best for society.”

Ms. Vestager brought in a media consultant, Henrik Kjerrumgaard, who advised her to drop the dull platitudes, simplify her message and stick to her beliefs — even if they made her unpopular. She rethought how to present herself.

“All of us have multiple selves,” she said. “Being a public figure is not about changing yourself, but maybe bringing out some other side of yourself.” She learned to smile more, she said, “to be more direct, less detailed, not like an economist lecturing.”

Continue reading the main story

Her party rebounded in the 2011 elections and joined a three-party governing coalition led by the Social Democrats under Helle Thorning-Schmidt. Appointed to the new post of economics and interior minister, Ms. Vestager pushed through deeply unpopular cuts in retirement and unemployment benefits — forcing Ms. Thorning-Schmidt to renege on her own campaign promises — while helping enact more liberal immigration policies.

She made a fair share of enemies, among them a group of long-term unemployed workers angry about reductions in their benefits. She still keeps the sculpture they gave her, of a middle-finger-brandishing hand, in her office in Brussels, saying it was “a reminder that you will make mistakes, and people will have a different point of view, and that should be part of your understanding of yourself.”

In 2014, Denmark made her the country’s appointee to the European Commission, and she took charge of the competition portfolio.

Ms. Vestager appears to have found that rare thing, a decent work-life balance. (By comparison, the fictional character she and Ms. Thorning-Schmidt are collectively said to have inspired, Birgitte Nyborg, the central figure of the Danish political drama “Borgen,” struggles unsuccessfully to hang onto her marriage.) Ms. Vestager’s husband, Thomas Jensen, a math and philosophy teacher, lives in Copenhagen with their youngest daughter, 15. Their two older daughters are in college.

“Here, it’s more the rule than the exception to be a working mother,” she said. “I have sometimes been asked if I’m a bad mother to my daughters, and I say, ‘They don’t know any different — this is the mother they’ve got.’”

Lately she has been thinking about power — what it is, who has it, how it is used — after reading the historian Mary Beard’s latest book, “Women and Power.” “The #MeToo movement can be maybe the most important catalyst for decades in doing that,” Ms. Vestager said. “It tears down our understanding of power.

“Power is not something you own,” she continued. “It’s only something you’re borrowing.”

Continue reading the main story

The post Who Strikes Fear Into Silicon Valley? Margrethe Vestager, Europe’s Antitrust Enforcer appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2HVZaz8 via News of World

[dragnews]

Who Strikes Fear Into Silicon Valley? Margrethe Vestager, Europe’s Antitrust Enforcer

“Europe is acting to enforce antitrust laws where the U.S. is not,” said Jeremy Stoppelman, the chief executive of Yelp, who feels that American regulators dropped the ball when they decided not to pursue a case against Google in 2013 (Yelp is a longtime Google antagonist). “Ironically, many of the complainants in the E.U. antitrust case against Google are U.S. companies, pursuing justice in Europe precisely because the U.S., has not acted,” he said in an email.

While Ms. Vestager’s global influence is ascendant, her political fate is murky. She has made it clear that she would like a second term as competition commissioner, but there is no guarantee that the Danish government will reappoint her to the commission next year. In fact, the new prime minister, who comes from a rival party, has said he will not do so.

Though a long shot, Ms. Vestager is among the potential contenders for president of the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union. It is the most powerful job in the bloc — one never held by a woman, or by someone with her public profile.

Photo

Facebook’s C.E.O., Mark Zuckerberg, spent two days being interrogated by lawmakers in Washington in April. Credit Tom Brenner/The New York Times

Her appeal partly speaks to a populist impulse from the political left, a David-versus-Goliath belief that it is high time someone stood up to giant corporations, particularly those that exert so much power. But not everyone views her as a heroic regulatory warrior.

Critics of Ms. Vestager include leaders of American tech companies who have crossed her and who take issue with both her approach and her facts; Republicans in Congress; some members of the Trump administration; the Wall Street Journal editorial board; and groups like the Business Roundtable, a conservative-leaning, pro-business collection of American chief executives.

Apple is especially aggrieved. In 2016, Ms. Vestager ordered Ireland to reclaim 13 billion euros in back taxes, or about $15.5 billion, saying that the company had illegally received a tax break that was not available to others. Apple has begun paying the money into an escrow account, but both the company and Ireland have appealed the decision. They say it ignores how much tax Apple has already paid to Ireland, misrepresents the tax rate the company is subject to there, and reflects either a willful misreading or an ignorance of tax law.

Critics also accuse her of grandstanding, and of displaying bias against American companies.

“I think she has this vision of what the law should be, and it seems to me that when this radically affects major companies that are headquartered in the U.S., you might want to have more of a dialogue with the U.S. regulators and the U.S. government about it,” said Joe Kennedy, a senior fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington.

Continue reading the main story

Both Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, and Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief, have traveled to Brussels to argue their cases in person, apparently in vain. Last June, Ms. Vestager fined Google €2.4 billion, or about $2.8 billion, after concluding that it had unfairly used its search engine to favor its services over those of its rivals. It was the largest such penalty in the European Commission’s history, and more than double similar fines levied by the United States.

Last May, she fined Facebook €110 million, or about $131 million, after concluding that it had misled the European authorities about its acquisition of the messaging service WhatsApp. And in January, she fined the American chip maker Qualcomm €997 million, or about $1.2 billion, saying it had abused its market dominance to shut out competitors.

For the moment, the attention is on data privacy, and whether it is possible to regulate how technology companies share and profit from users’ personal information.

As the top European official enforcing competition laws, Ms. Vestager has primarily concentrated on how a range of companies use, or abuse, their market dominance. But she has also emerged as a major voice of warning about the effect of tech firms on our habits, our privacy, our ability to make human connections and even democracy itself. (Europe has a new data privacy law that is to take effect May 25.)

“What’s fascinating about her role is that in her mind, the new antitrust is about data, not about market power,” said Randy Komisar, a veteran Silicon Valley executive and now a general partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Photo

Apple’s headquarters in Cork, Ireland. In 2016, Ms. Vestager ordered Ireland to reclaim 13 billion euros in back taxes from the company. Credit Andrew Testa for The New York Times

He added: “I believe the European approach is more appropriate than the U.S. laissez-faire approach. The U.S. economy sort of lives or dies by the notion of free markets, and I think what we’re seeing is a perversion of free market economics that is very difficult to counter without regulation.”

Appearing last November at a tech summit meeting in Lisbon, Ms. Vestager was interviewed onstage by Kara Swisher, host of the Recode Decode podcast, as about 15,000 people looked on. Many in the audience were young techies who greeted the commissioner with something like euphoria, particularly when she declared that “we need to take our democracy back” from social media.

“She’s what my generation looks for in a politician,” said Corina Stoenescu, a Harvard Business School student who helped organize a conference in March where Ms. Vestager was the keynote speaker. She added: “The moment tech giants come into question, then Vestager comes into question. She’s the only person on the planet who has a voice about it.”

Other jurisdictions are following Europe’s regulatory lead. Brazil, among other countries, has begun an antitrust case against Google, and one of the search giant’s Brazilian competitors said last summer that it would use the European arguments in its own lawsuit. And in November, the state of Missouri opened an investigation into whether Google violated the state’s antitrust and consumer protection laws.

Continue reading the main story

“It’s good if we can inspire each other globally,” Ms. Vestager said in a recent interview in Copenhagen.

She was juggling interviews and preparing for a speech, as a bag of knitting rested nearby. She likes to knit in meetings, and has recently been making elephants, after moving on from socks. (She also sometimes sews her own clothes.)

Trained as an economist, she grew up in Glostrup, a suburb of Copenhagen, the daughter of two Lutheran ministers. (She’s not a fan of organized religion, she said, and follows a “Believe in God, fear the church” philosophy.)

She entered politics at 21, joining the tiny centrist Danish Social Liberal Party, which was founded by her great-grandfather. Elected to Parliament in 2001, she rose to become the party’s parliamentary leader six years later — she was already national chairwoman — and was blamed as being too young, too boring and female when the Social Liberals lost half their seats in the subsequent election.

“She was very, very young, but if she had been a man, people would not have complained in the same way,” said her biographer, Elisabet Svane.

Photo

Ms. Vestager in Copenhagen during a European Union Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting in 2012. As Danish economics and interior minister, Ms. Vestager pushed through deeply unpopular cuts in retirement and unemployment benefits. Credit Keld Navntoft/Scanpix, via Getty Images

As for the boring part: “She has a lot of humor, but she is a little boring sometimes,” Ms. Svane said in an interview. “The party is boring. They are technocrats and teachers, and they always know what is best for society.”

Ms. Vestager brought in a media consultant, Henrik Kjerrumgaard, who advised her to drop the dull platitudes, simplify her message and stick to her beliefs — even if they made her unpopular. She rethought how to present herself.

“All of us have multiple selves,” she said. “Being a public figure is not about changing yourself, but maybe bringing out some other side of yourself.” She learned to smile more, she said, “to be more direct, less detailed, not like an economist lecturing.”

Continue reading the main story

Her party rebounded in the 2011 elections and joined a three-party governing coalition led by the Social Democrats under Helle Thorning-Schmidt. Appointed to the new post of economics and interior minister, Ms. Vestager pushed through deeply unpopular cuts in retirement and unemployment benefits — forcing Ms. Thorning-Schmidt to renege on her own campaign promises — while helping enact more liberal immigration policies.

She made a fair share of enemies, among them a group of long-term unemployed workers angry about reductions in their benefits. She still keeps the sculpture they gave her, of a middle-finger-brandishing hand, in her office in Brussels, saying it was “a reminder that you will make mistakes, and people will have a different point of view, and that should be part of your understanding of yourself.”

In 2014, Denmark made her the country’s appointee to the European Commission, and she took charge of the competition portfolio.

Ms. Vestager appears to have found that rare thing, a decent work-life balance. (By comparison, the fictional character she and Ms. Thorning-Schmidt are collectively said to have inspired, Birgitte Nyborg, the central figure of the Danish political drama “Borgen,” struggles unsuccessfully to hang onto her marriage.) Ms. Vestager’s husband, Thomas Jensen, a math and philosophy teacher, lives in Copenhagen with their youngest daughter, 15. Their two older daughters are in college.

“Here, it’s more the rule than the exception to be a working mother,” she said. “I have sometimes been asked if I’m a bad mother to my daughters, and I say, ‘They don’t know any different — this is the mother they’ve got.’”

Lately she has been thinking about power — what it is, who has it, how it is used — after reading the historian Mary Beard’s latest book, “Women and Power.” “The #MeToo movement can be maybe the most important catalyst for decades in doing that,” Ms. Vestager said. “It tears down our understanding of power.

“Power is not something you own,” she continued. “It’s only something you’re borrowing.”

Continue reading the main story

The post Who Strikes Fear Into Silicon Valley? Margrethe Vestager, Europe’s Antitrust Enforcer appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2HVZaz8 via Today News

[yes-orangesunshine-me-blog]

Project Management PM Project.

This was a great class and has pushed me to my limits.  The most rewarding was learning my personality and management style.  However being able to bring an idea to paper and follow it all the way through was exhilarating and so rewarding.  

This was my first time bringing an idea that I created to life and this has given me the strength to push forward with my dreams and goals in the entertainment industry.

Thank you for providing such an exciting and definitely challenging class that took me to my limits with a lot of late nights and way too much coffee.  It has allowed me to understand that I am unique and have a lot to offer in this world and the personality test allowed me to have a better understanding of myself that I never had before, it provided clarity and closure for so many questions about me.

Now that I understand how difficult it is and requiring to see a project all the way through it has given me insight to what the requirements and deadlines can look it and how important it is to try to stay within budget and within your time constraints. 

Your DISC personality type

Your unique sequence of scores characterizes you in a specific way. The positive impact you are likely to make on people is:

You are socially oriented. Share quote

You have a strong self-motivation to get to know people in all walks of life and to nurture those relationships. You have a natural enthusiasm for all types of ideas and projects - your own and other people's. People are likely to describe you as gregarious, persuasive and optimistic.

Dominance

Comparatively High

Here are some traits and behaviours that describe people who are comparatively high in Dominance:

enjoy competition and challenge.

are goal orientated and want to be recognised for their efforts.

aim high, want authority and are generally resourceful and adaptable.

are usually self-sufficient and individualistic.

may lose interest in projects once the challenge has gone and they tend to be impatient and dissatisfied with minor detail.

They are usually direct and positive with people, enjoying being the centre of attraction and may take it for granted that people will think highly of them.

They may have a tendency to be rather critical of others. Consequently, other people may tend to see them as being rather domineering and overpowering.

Personality Type Test

Your personality type is:

ISFJ

Dependable, considerate, and loyal to those closest to you, you have a firm grasp of the factual realities that lie before you as well as an eye for detail, each of which make you naturally gravitate towards others and their emotional needs. Nurturing and attentive, you tend to be quick to assume responsibility and to help out as soon as you see some task that could aid others. Though your surroundings rarely notice it, you tend to carry a lot of responsibility. All too often it is only when you are missing that others notice the immense effort that you usually put in to make sure everything around impulsively chase after new and uncertain prospects before having finished the endeavor at hand. You tend to find a deep sense of satisfaction in working hard to achieve your goals and in selflessly supporting others, demonstrating that you care through your actions and preferring to lead by your quiet, dignified example.

INFJ PERSONALITY (“THE ADVOCATE”)

The INFJ personality type is very rare, making up less than one percent of the population, but they nonetheless leave their mark on the world. As Diplomats, they have an inborn sense of idealism and morality, but what sets them apart is the accompanying Judging (J) trait – INFJs are not idle dreamers, but people capable of taking concrete steps to realize their goals and make a lasting positive impact.

INFJ STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Creative – Combining a vivid imagination with a strong sense of compassion, INFJs use their creativity to resolve not technical challenges, but human ones. People with the INFJ personality type enjoy finding the perfect solution for someone they care about, and this strength makes them excellent counselors and advisors.

Insightful – Seeing through dishonesty and disingenuous motives, INFJs step past manipulation and sales tactics and into a more honest discussion. INFJs see how people and events are connected, and are able to use that insight to get to the heart of the matter.

Inspiring and Convincing – Speaking in human terms, not technical, INFJs have a fluid, inspirational writing style that appeals to the inner idealist in their audience. INFJs can even be astonishingly good orators, speaking with warmth and passion, if they are proud of what they are speaking for.

Decisive – Their creativity, insight and inspiration are able to have a real impact on the world, as INFJs are able to follow through on their ideas with conviction, willpower, and the planning necessary to see complex projects through to the end. INFJs don’t just see the way things ought to be, they act on those insights.

Determined and Passionate – When INFJs come to believe that something is important, they pursue that goal with a conviction and energy that can catch even their friends and loved ones off guard. INFJs will rock the boat if they have to, something not everyone likes to see, but their passion for their chosen cause is an inseparable part of their personality.

Altruistic – These strengths are used for good. INFJs have strong beliefs and take the actions that they do not because they are trying to advance themselves, but because they are trying to advance an idea that they truly believe will make the world a better place.

INFJ Weaknesses

Sensitive – When someone challenges or criticizes INFJs’ principles or values, they are likely to receive an alarmingly strong response. People with the INFJ personality type are highly vulnerable to criticism and conflict, and questioning their motives is the quickest way to their bad side.

Extremely Private – INFJs tend to present themselves as the culmination of an idea. This is partly because they believe in this idea, but also because INFJs are extremely private when it comes to their personal lives, using this image to keep themselves from having to truly open up, even to close friends. Trusting a new friend can be even more challenging for INFJs.

Perfectionistic – INFJs are all but defined by their pursuit of ideals. While this is a wonderful quality in many ways, an ideal situation is not always possible – in politics, in business, in romance – and INFJs too often drop or ignore healthy and productive situations and relationships, always believing there might be a better option down the road.

Always Need to Have a Cause – INFJs get so caught up in the passion of their pursuits that any of the cumbersome administrative or maintenance work that comes between them and the ideal they see on the horizon is deeply unwelcome. INFJs like to know that they are taking concrete steps towards their goals, and if routine tasks feel like they are getting in the way, or worse yet, there is no goal at all, they will feel restless and disappointed.

Can Burn Out Easily – Their passion, poor patience for routine maintenance, tendency to present themselves as an ideal, and extreme privacy tend to leave INFJs with few options for letting off steam. People with this personality type are likely to exhaust themselves in short order if they don’t find a way to balance their ideals with the realities of day-to-day living.

Compare and contrast the two assessments:

As I compare the two test, it is very clear to me that the DISC reflects my personality more in the business world then my personal life and is very accurate with being competitive, especially at work.  I am very goal oriented and I do expect a lot from myself and sometimes can be too critical.  Adaptability is definitely a part of who I am, it's funny all this time I thought it was due to my father being in the military my earlier years in life and us moving quite often which taught me to be adaptable to different environment and people. This experience does provide perspective when reflecting on projects at work even meetings.  

The personality test just hit home for me and was a eye opener.  It is almost 100 percent accurate and provided such insight.  Both of these test were right on the mark.  I must admit it was almost scary because it gave me such understanding why certain things happened in my life the way they did, good or bad.

.  My personality INFJ is only one percent of the population, that is profound to me and yet it makes complete sense to me and as I reflect I can recall so many moments that certain things just did not make sense I couldn't understand why.  I would see myself asking why can't they see it a certain way or better yet why is it so hard for people to do the right thing and help or care.  People would always say I wear my feelings on my sleeves, which is very true.  It is not easy to do but I always believed that I would have the most gratifying experience by this approach in life hen to shelter my feelings because of fear.  Most of my teams that I have managed have always been successful and so many employees that had moved on shared with me how I made a difference in there life and this test has provided me some understanding.  I have been able to be successful in working in groups and helping mediate situations based on personality conflicts.  This understanding will help me be more aware of how I can provide a better environment for the team and help team members have a voice so that we can have the best suggestions from the entire group resulting in a highly successful project.

[ambitrary3]

The Relationship Between Creativity and Mental Illness. The science behind the “tortured genius” myth and what it reveals about how the creative mind actually works.

By: Maria Popova

Source: https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/07/21/creativity-and-mental-illness/

“I think I’ve only spent about ten percent of my energies on writing,” Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Katherine Anne Porter confessed in a 1963 interview. “The other ninety percent went to keeping my head above water.” While art may be a form of therapy for the rest of us, Porter’s is a sentiment far from uncommon among the creatively gifted who make that art. Why?

When Nancy Andreasen took a standard IQ test in kindergarten, she was declared a “genius.” But she was born in the late 1930s, an era when her own mother admonished that no one would marry a woman with a Ph.D. Still, she became a psychiatrist and a neuroscientist, and made understanding the brain’s creative capacity her life’s work. Having grown up steeped in ambivalence about her “diagnosis” of extraordinary intellectual and creative ability, Andreasen wondered about the social forces at work in the nature-nurture osmosis of genius, about how many people of natural genius were born throughout history whose genius was never manifested, suppressed by lack of nurture. “Half of the human beings in history are women,” she noted, “but we have had so few women recognized for their genius. How many were held back by societal influences, similar to the ones I encountered and dared to ignore?” (One need only look at the case of Benjamin Franklin and his sister to see Andreasen’s point.)

Andreasen didn’t heed her mother’s warning and went on to become a pioneer of the neuroimaging revolution, setting out to understand how “genius” came to be and whether its manifestation could be actively nurtured — how we, as individuals and as a society, could put an end to wasting human gifts. She did get a Ph.D., too, but in Renaissance English literature rather than biochemistry — a multidisciplinary angle that lends her approach a unique lens at that fertile intersection of science and the humanities.

In The Creating Brain: The Neuroscience of Genius (public library), Andreasen — whom Vonnegut once called “our leading authority on creativity” — crystallizes more than three decades of her work at the intersection of neuroscience, psychology, and cultural history.

One of the most interesting chapters in the book deals with the correlation between creativity and mental illness, bringing scientific rigor to such classic anecdotal examples as those evidenced in Van Gogh’s letters or Sylvia Plath’s journals or Leo Tolstoy’s diary of depression or Virginia Woolf’s suicide note. Having long opposedthe toxic “tortured genius” myth of creativity, I was instantly intrigued by Andreasen’s inquiry, the backdrop of which she paints elegantly:

Did mental illness facilitate [these creators’] unique abilities, whether it be to play a concerto or to perceive a novel mathematical relationship? Or did mental illness impair their creativity after its initial meteoric burst in their twenties? Or is the relationship more complex than a simple one of cause and effect, in either direction?

She cites the work of Havelock Ellis, one of the earliest scholars of creativity, a Victorian physician, writer and social reformer ahead of his time. In 1926, in his late sixties, he published A Study of British Genius, an effort to provide a scientific assessment of the link between genius and psychopathology by studying a sample of people found in the British Dictionary of National Biography — a compendium of about 30,000 eminent public figures, whom he sifted through a set of criteria to identify 1,030 displaying “any very transcendent degree of native ability.” Andreasen recounts his findings:

The rate of “insanity” noted by Ellis is certainly higher than is usually recorded for the general population, for which the current base rate is 1 percent for schizophrenia and 1 percent for mania. These are the two most common psychotic illnesses. The rate of melancholia — or what we currently call depression — is similar to current lifetime population rates of approximately 10 to 20 percent.

Once she became a psychiatrist, having come from a literary world “well populated with people who had vividly described symptoms of mental illness,” Andreasen decided to apply everything science had uncovered in the decades since Ellis’s work and design a rigorous study on the relationship between creativity and mental illness. Andreasen had attended the University of Iowa Medical School and had completed her residency in psychiatry there — a somewhat fortuitous circumstance that presented her with the perfect, quite convenient sample pool for her study: the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, one of the most prestigious creative-writing programs in the world, which has included such distinguished faculty as Kurt Vonnegut and Annie Dillard since its inception in 1936.

Andreasen’s study had a couple of crucial points of differentiation over Ellis’s work and other previous efforts: Rather than anecdotal accounts in biographies of her subjects, she employed structured, first-person interviews; she then applied rigorous diagnostic criteria to the responses based on The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the bible of modern psychiatry. Andreasen writes:

In addition to incorporating diagnostic criteria, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop Study also improved on its predecessors by including a group of educationally matched controls. The Writers’ Workshop has a limited number of permanent faculty members (typically two poets and two prose writers). The remainder of the faculty in any given year consists of visiting writers who come to Iowa, drawn by its pastoral tranquility and an opportunity to be “far from the madding crowd” for a time of introspection, incubation, and isolation.

[…]

I began the study with a perfectly reasonable working hypothesis. I anticipated that the writers would be, in general, psychologically healthy, but that they would have an increased rate of schizophrenia in their family members. This hunch made good sense, based on the information that I had at that time. I was influenced by my knowledge about people such as James Joyce, Bertrand Russell, and Albert Einstein, all of whom had family members with schizophrenia.

But as she began administering the interviews and applying to them the diagnostic criteria, her working hypothesis quickly crumbled: To her bewilderment, the majority of the writers “described significant histories of mood disorder that met diagnostic criteria for either bipolar illness or unipolar depression.” Most had received treatment for it — some with hospitalization, some with outpatient therapy and medication. Perhaps the most startling contrast with her initial hunch was the fact that not a single writer displayed any symptoms of schizophrenia.

And this is where the monumental importance of her study shines: What Andreasen found wasn’t confirmation for the “tortured genius” myth — the idea that a great artist must have some dark, tragic pathology in order to create — but quite the opposite: these women and men had become successful writers not because of their tortuous mental health but despite it.

Andreasen reflects on the findings:

Although many writers had had periods of significant depression, mania, or hypomania, they were consistently appealing, entertaining, and interesting people. They had led interesting lives, and they enjoyed telling me about them as much as I enjoyed hearing about them. Mood disorders tend to be episodic, characterized by relatively brief periods of low or high mood lasting weeks to months, interspersed with long periods of normal mood (known as euthymia to us psychiatrists). All the writers were euthymic at the time that I interviewed them, and so they could look back on their periods of depression or mania with considerable detachment. They were also able to describe how abnormalities in mood state affected their creativity. Consistently, they indicated that they were unable to be creative when either depressed or manic.

More than that, her study confirmed two pervasive yet conflicting ideas about the relationship between creativity and mental illness:

One point of view … is that gifted people are in fact supernormal or superior in many ways. My writers certainly were. They were charming, fun, articulate, and disciplined. They typically followed very similar schedules, getting up in the morning and allocating a large chunk of time to writing during the earlier part of the day. They would rarely let a day go by without writing. In general, they had a close relationship with friends and family. They manifested the Freudian definition of health: lieben und arbeiten, “to love and to work.” On the other hand, they also manifested the alternative common point of view about the nature of genius: that it is “to madness near allied.” Many definitely had experienced periods of significant mood disorder. Importantly, though handicapping creativity when they occurred, these periods of mood disorder were not permanent or long-lived. In some instances, they may even have provided powerful material upon which the writer could later draw, as a Wordsworthian “emotion recollected in tranquility.”

Andreasen’s seminal study inspired a series of related research, most notably a project by British psychologist Kay Jamison, who examined 47 prominent poets, playwrights, novelists, biographers, and artists to find that a significant portion of them had mood disorders. Harvard psychiatrist Joseph Schildkraut found even starker evidence of the same tendency in a study of 15 mid-century abstract expressionists — about half had “some form of psychopathology, which was predominantly mood disorder.”

Andreasen returns to the question of why mood disorders are so common among writers, but schizophrenia — which she initially expected to find — is not:

The evidence supporting an association between artistic creativity and mood disorder is quite solid, as is the absence of an association with schizophrenia. The nature of artistic creativity, particularly literary creativity, is probably not compatible with the presence of an illness like schizophrenia, which causes many of its victims to be socially withdrawn and cognitively disorganized. An activity such as writing a novel or a play requires sustained attention for long periods of time and an ability to hold a complex group of characters and a plot line “in the brain” for as long as one or two years while the novel or play is being designed, written, and rewritten. This type of sustained concentration is extremely difficult for people suffering from schizophrenia.

Creativity in other fields may, however, be compatible with an illness like schizophrenia, particularly those fields in which the creative moment is achieved by flashes of insight about complex relationships or by exploring hunches and intuitions that ordinary folk might find strange or even bizarre.

(The famed Russian composer Tchaikovsky, who some scholars have speculated had symptoms of schizophrenia, articulated those “flashes of insight” spectacularly in his 1876 letter on the “immeasurable bliss” of creativity.)

Andreasen considers the unique psychoemotional constitution of the highly creative person, both its blessing and its curse:

Many personality characteristics of creative people … make them more vulnerable, including openness to new experiences, a tolerance for ambiguity, and an approach to life and the world that is relatively free of preconceptions. This flexibility permits them to perceive things in a fresh and novel way, which is an important basis for creativity. But it also means that their inner world is complex, ambiguous, and filled with shades of gray rather than black and white. It is a world filled with many questions and few easy answers. While less creative people can quickly respond to situations based on what they have been told by people in authority — parents, teachers, pastors, rabbis, or priests — the creative person lives in a more fluid and nebulous world. He or she may have to confront criticism or rejection for being too questioning, or too unconventional. Such traits can lead to feelings of depression or social alienation. A highly original person may seem odd or strange to others. Too much openness means living on the edge. Sometimes the person may drop over the edge… into depression, mania, or perhaps schizophrenia.

She considers the cognitive machinery common to both creative thinking and mental turmoil:

Creative ideas probably occur as part of a potentially dangerous mental process, when associations in the brain are flying freely during unconscious mental states — how thoughts must become momentarily disorganized prior to organizing. Such a process is very similar to that which occurs during psychotic states of mania, depression, or schizophrenia. In fact, the great Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, who gave schizophrenia its name, described a “loosening of associations” as its most characteristic feature: “Of the thousands of associative threads that guide our thinking, this disease seems to interrupt, quite haphazardly, sometimes single threads, sometimes a whole group, and sometimes whole segments of them.”

Of course, we now know that this crossing of the wires that combines seemingly unrelated concepts is also the essence of creativity — or what Einstein once described as the “combinatory play” at the heart of ideation — and why dot-connecting is vital for great art. Andreasen writes:

When the associations flying through the brain self-organize to form a new idea, the result is creativity. But if they either fail to self-organize, or if they self-organize to create an erroneous idea, the result is psychosis. Sometimes both occur in the same person, and the result is a creative person who is also psychotic. As [schizophrenic mathematician John] Nash [who inspired the film A Beautiful Mind] once said: “the ideas I have about supernatural beings came to me the same way that my mathematical ideas did, so I took them seriously.”

This failure to self-organize stems from what cognitive scientists call input dysfunction— a glitch in the filtering system we use to tune out the vast majority of what is going on around us. Andreasen explains:

All human beings (and their brains) have to cope with the fact that their five senses gather more information than even the magnificent human brain is able to process. To put this another way: we need to be able to ignore a lot of what is happening around us — the smell of pizza baking, the sound of the cat meowing, or the sight of birds flying outside the window — if we are going to focus our attention and concentrate on what we are doing (in your case, for example, reading this book). Our ability to filter out unnecessary stimuli and focus our attention is mediated by brain mechanisms in regions known as the thalamus and the reticular activating system.

Creative people, Andreasen notes, can be more easily overwhelmed by stimuli and become distracted. Some of the writers in her study, upon realizing they had a tendency to be too sociable, employed various strategies for keeping themselves isolated from human contact for sizable stretches of time in order to create. (Victor Hugo famously locked away all his clothes to avoid the temptation of going out while completing The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1830, which he wrote at his desk wearing nothing but a large gray shawl.) And yet for all its capacity to overwhelm, the creative mind remains above all a spectacular blessing:

Our ability to use our brains to get “outside” our relatively limited personal perspectives and circumstances, and to see something other than the “objective” world, is a powerful gift. Many people fail to realize that they even have this gift, and most who do rarely use it.

The Creating Brain is a fascinating read in its entirety. Complement it with a brief cultural history of “genius,” Bob Dylan on creativity and the unconscious mind, the psychology of how mind-wandering and “positive constructive daydreaming” boost creativity, and Carole King on overcoming creative block.