#Google Re-marketing

[motheatenscarf]

I love you, tiny flying low-polygon moogle band, you are the light of my fucking life

[hanikurumsaldik]

👑 2010’larda dijital pazarlama ile ilgili de bir kavram karmaşası mevcuttu. Ki o hala günümüzde bile mevcut

👑 Snapchat geçiciliğin kalıcılığı fenomenini literatüre kazandırdı

👑 Artık farklı bir şey yapılamaz derken Clubhouse ile karşılaştık. Kısacası sosyal ağ pazarı hiç dur durak bilmeden yoluna devam etti.

👑 Eğer bir karar aldıysanız bunu gerçekleştirmek için de kararlı olmak zorundasınız.

🔗 https://lnkd.in/d9kTDmcj

💬 https://lnkd.in/dT6iXXd ​​​

[writingquestionsanswered]

How do I plot a romance story?

Most advice and plot structures I have found seem to be focused on quest-type stories. Do you have any advice or templates that are mpre easily applicable to romance stories? Do I need to include another major plotline?

Basic Romance Structure

Like most stories, there are different theories and methods about structure, and you can find these by Googling "romance story structure." However, let me walk you through a basic romance structure to show you the differences and similarities with the kind of structure you'd use for something like a quest story or an adventure story.

Introduction/Normal World - Like most stories, romance stories usually open with a peek at the protagonist's "normal world" as a means of introducing who they are and what their life is like. And, as with other stories, this also introduces us to the both characters' internal conflicts. In romance, rather than resolving the internal conflict with growth in relation to the story events, the internal conflict will be resolved via change/growth in relation to the romance. [Example: Sandi is a florist with a four-year-old daughter, navigating single parenthood after her husband filed for divorce and ran away to chase a dream.]

The "Meet Cute" - This is essentially the inciting incident... the moment the two characters meet for the first time, or the first time in a long time. All in one moment, we see how undeniably right they are for each other, but due to their individual internal internal conflicts, they're butting heads big time.

[Example: Sandi meets Brent, the new flower supplier who is adorable, sweet to Sandi's daughter, but infuriatingly inept at doing things the way she likes them.]

Forced Proximity - After the "meet cute," something will inevitably force them to spend time together. They get partnered together on the same job, stuck together in the same place, keep coincidentally bumping into each other... whatever. All that matters is that they're forced to get to know each other despite their head butting.

[Example: they get roped into working together on the town's rose festival.]

Resistance/Rejection - Now that they're forced to interact for whatever reason, they're going to spend a lot of time resisting their mutual interest/desire for one another due to whatever obstacles exist, like being from warring factions or one being in the middle of a divorce. But despite this resistance, we can see the sparks flying between them, even if they can't or don't want to admit it.

[Example: Sandi wants to focus on running her business and raising her daughter; Brent just got out of a long relationship and isn't ready for romance.]

Waning Resistance/Giving Love a Chance - Eventually there's a breakthrough... the obstacle gives way... they have a really fun time hanging out at the Christmas market and almost kiss... they move past the misunderstanding between them... or maybe they just slowly get over their issues and start to fall in love. Either way, they decide to give the relationship a go.

[Example: as they get to know each other and bond through working on the rose festival, they can't deny how compatible they are and an unexpected first kiss gives Brent the courage to ask Sandi out on a date, to which she agrees.]

Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back - This is essentially the first date, then another one, then another one... though it doesn't have to be actual dates. It just needs to be some interactive scenes when they're in relationship mode. Each of these interactions will deepen their feelings for one another while at the same time raising new obstacles or re-raising the old ones.

[Example: the first date goes well except that Sandi is preoccupied with the fact that her daughter is staying with a new sitter. The second date goes okay, except Brent is in a bad mood after his ex came to town to pick up the last of her things. Then they pull an all-nighter to make some final preparations for the upcoming rose festival, which leads to a philosophical conversation about the future, wherein Sandi says she sees herself getting remarried one day and having another kid or two, and Brent says he can't ever see himself getting married or being a father.]

This Isn't Going to Work - This is the midpoint crisis... the "all is lost" moment where one or both put on brakes and say, "I can't do this," citing whatever obstacle/s that now stand in the way of their happiness. Sometimes this follows their biggest act of intimacy yet, whether that's simply their first kiss or going all the way. It could even be the first declaration of love, being introduced to family, or some other important early relationship milestone. But then it all falls apart... maybe because one or more of the obstacles become too much, a fear-based retreat, or some other external force

[Example: the rose festival has arrived... Sandi is there with her daughter and parents, Brent is there with his mom and sister. Everyone meets, Brent continues to be great with Sandi's daughter... it's obvious Brent and Sandi belong together. But then Sandi's wayward not-yet-officially-ex-husband shows up and wants to get back together. Although she's ambivalent, seeing him interact with their daughter and her parents makes her realize giving him another chance is what's best for their daughter. Meanwhile, Brent witnesses this from far away, thinks, "I'm not good enough for a family like that," and he and Sandi go their separate ways.]

On Second Thought... - This is the moment when something happens that makes one or both characters realize they belong together... that the obstacles aren't real or don't matter... [Example: Brent finds a drawing Sandi's daughter made of the three of them together that makes him realize he really is worthy of their love. And Sandi sees that her husband hasn't changed, that he's still focused on chasing dreams that aren't what's best for their daughter... or herself, for that matter. ]

The Moment of Declaration - This is where the one character finds the other, or they find each other, and one or both declare their love and commitment to the other, despite whatever obstacles there may be. This is the run through the airport to catch the other before they fly away to a new life. It's the objection at the wedding before the other can go forward with the less-than-ideal marriage. It's the boombox on the shoulders, the kiss in the rain, the "I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on" declaration in a foggy field at sunrise. [Example: Brent hears from a friend that Sandi's husband left again. He goes to the last night of the rose festival, finds Sandi, and tells her he wants all of it... her, the daughter, her quirky parents, the flower shop, marriage, more kids... he is ready to take on the world with her, and she couldn't be happier.]

The Happily Ever After or "HEA" - This is the story's denouement, where we flash forward a few days, weeks, or more and see the happy ending. This is the jump ahead a few months to see the happy couple living their lives together, the one year leap ahead to the wedding, or a leap ahead to a moment even further down the road when the couple is firmly established in their HEA.

[Example: two years later, Sandi and Brent have been married almost a year, and are at the rose festival with the now six-year-old and their newborn twins, Sandi's parents, and Brent's mom and sister, one big happy family.]

Now... like I said, there are a variety of different structure templates for romance as there are for other genre stories. Don't feel like you have to pick one, and if you do, don't feel like you have to stick to it exactly. Story structure is just a guideline to help make sure you hit the important points to help the story unfold.

Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[dasha-aibo]

There's a pervasive myth in the leftist community that "USSR was good under Lenin, until Stalin came and ruined it".

And my God, no.

Lenin started so many wars of conquest with everyone who declared independence post the collapse of the Russian Empire, implemented the secret police, implemented the proto-Holodomor (google "Prodrazverstka") and drove out of the country everyone he failed to kill.

"But the gay rights!" a mere quirk of Bolsheviks tossing aside every single law of the Empire and forgetting to re-implement the anti-sodomy laws. Lenin absolutely WASN'T some gay rights champion, it just wasn't a priority for him.

"But the NEP!" implemented when Lenin was already basically a vegetable and only as a response to Bolsheviks fucking the economy up so hard, they needed to let some free market back in in order to avoid mass famines and total societal collapse.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Monopoly is capitalism's gerrymander

For the rest of May, my bestselling solarpunk utopian novel THE LOST CAUSE (2023) is available as a $2.99, DRM-free ebook!

You don't have to accept the arguments of capitalism's defenders to take those arguments seriously. When Adam Smith railed against rentiers and elevated the profit motive to a means of converting the intrinsic selfishness of the wealthy into an engine of production, he had a point:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/28/cloudalists/#cloud-capital

Smith – like Marx and Engels in Chapter One of The Communist Manifesto – saw competition as a catalyst that could convert selfishness to the public good: a rich person who craves more riches still will treat their customers, suppliers and workers well, not out of the goodness of their heart, but out of fear of their defection to a rival:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/19/make-them-afraid/#fear-is-their-mind-killer

This starting point is imperfect, but it's not wrong. The pre-enshittified internet was run by the same people who later came to enshittify it. They didn't have a change of heart that caused them to wreck the thing they'd worked so hard to build: rather, as they became isolated from the consequences of their enshittificatory impulses, it was easier to yield to them.

Once Google captured its market, its regulators and its workforce, it no longer had to worry about being a good search-engine – it could sacrifice quality for profits, without consequence:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/24/naming-names/#prabhakar-raghavan

It could focus on shifting value from its suppliers, its customers and its users to its shareholders:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/15/they-trust-me-dumb-fucks/#ai-search

The thing is, all of this is well understood and predicted by traditional capitalist orthodoxy. It was only after a gnostic cult of conspiratorialists hijacked the practice of antitrust law that capitalists started to view monopolies as compatible with capitalism:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/20/we-should-not-endure-a-king/

The argument goes like this: companies that attain monopolies might be cheating, but because markets are actually pretty excellent arbiters of quality, it's far more likely that if we discover that everyone is buying the same product from the same store, that this is the best store, selling the best products. How perverse would it be to shut down the very best stores and halt the sale of the very best products merely to satisfy some doctrinal reflex against big business!

To understand the problem with this argument, we should consider another doctrinal reflex: conservatives' insistence that governments just can't do anything well or efficiently. There's a low-information version of this that goes, "Governments are where stupid people who can't get private sector jobs go. They're lazy and entitled." (There's a racial dimension to this, since the federal government has historically led the private sector in hiring and promoting Black workers and workers of color more broadly.)

But beyond that racially tinged caricature, there's a more rigorous version of the argument: government officials are unlikely to face consequences for failure. Appointees and government employees – especially in the unionized federal workforce – are insulated from such consequences by overlapping layers of labor protection and deflection of blame.

Elected officials can in theory be fired in the next election, but if they keep their cheating or incompetence below a certain threshold, most of us won't punish them at the polls. Elected officials can further improve their odds of re-election by cheating some of us and sharing the loot with others, through handouts and programs. Elections themselves have a strong incumbency bias, meaning that once a cheater gets elected, they will likely get re-elected, even if their cheating becomes well-known:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/gold-bars-featured-bob-menendez-bribery-case-linked-2013-robbery-recor-rcna128006

What's more, electoral redistricting opens the doors to gerrymandering – designing districts to create safe seats where one party always wins. That way, the real election consists of the official choosing the voters, not the voters choosing the official:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REDMAP

Inter-party elections – primaries and other nomination processes – have fundamental weaknesses that mean they're no substitute for well-run, democratic elections:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/30/weak-institutions/

Contrast this with the theory of competitive markets. For capitalism's "moral philosophers," the physics by which greedy desires led to altruistic outcomes was to be found in the swift retribution of markets. A capitalist, exposed to the possibility of worker and customers defecting to their rival, knows that their greed is best served by playing fair.

But just as importantly, capitalists who don't internalize this lesson are put out of business and superceded by better capitalists. The market's invisible hand can pat you on the head – but it can also choke you to death.

This is where monopoly comes in. Even if you accept the consumer welfare theory that says that monopolies are most often the result of excellence, we should still break up monopolies. Even if someone secures an advantage by being great, that greatness will soon regress to the mean. But if the monopolist can extinguish the possibility of competition, they can maintain their power even after they cease deserving it.

In other words, the monopolist is like a politician who wins power – whether through greatness or by deceit – and then gerrymanders their district so that they can do anything and gain re-election. Even the noblest politician, shorn of accountability, will be hard pressed to avoid yielding to temptation.

Capitalism's theory proceeds from the idea that we are driven by our self-interest, and that competition turns self-interest into communal sentiment. Take away the competition, and all that's left is the self-interest.

I think this is broadly true, even though it's not the main reason I oppose monopolies (I oppose monopolies because they corrupt our democracy and pauperize workers). But even if capitalism's ability to turn greed into public benefit isn't the principle that's uppermost in my mind, it's what capitalists claim to believe – and treasure.

I think that most of the right's defense of monopolies stems from cynical, bad-faith rationalizations – but there are people who've absorbed these rationalizations and find them superficially plausible. It's worth developing these critiques, for their sake.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/18/market-discipline/#too-big-to-care

[90s-2000s-barbie]

I wanted to post my more in-depth thrift tips.

I had an ask a while ago asking for my advice on tips. And I’ve had this in my drafts for a while just to make sure I really added everything I wanted to. So I’ve been going to thrift stores and garage sales my whole life but really picked it and collecting up as a hobby in 2009. Starting with basics. When I personally thrift, I go to local flea markets, thrift stores, garage sales, church sales, goodwills, any place near by that re sells used items. It’s cheaper in person than looking online. 100%.

My Main Rules:

Never pay full price. This stuff is USED and older for that matter. I don’t care if people think it’s rare, it’s used. Some things are on their last legs of life. I can’t tell you how many times I bought a vintage item or even clothes and they break, tear ex as soon as u get home, test it out, wear it then it breaks! It happens!) always keep that in mind. I also like to keep E6000 clear glue around just in case it’s something I can fix. (If u also try E6000, make sure to follow instructions on bottle exact and it will hold up forever. I glued heavy glass and it’s still together years later)

Only possibly think of spending a little more if the item is in a box and old stock or if it’s super meaningful to you. BUT if u use my tips, u can find old stock in boxes cheap even or decent priced when thrifting. I only pay little more or seek something out if it’s meaningful to me or extremely sentimental. (Old favorite toy or I got rid of and want back, something I always wanted and can now cause I’m 30! Ex….) 😂 otherwise, I don’t buy if the price isn’t right.

If you aren’t sure if it’s actually vintage, look for the year on the item, tag ex, or if u have a phone, look it up, look up the brand! Some super old stuff don’t have years on them too so keep that in mind, helps to use google.

I feel like if u go thrifting enough, u will find whatever you are looking for eventually so if the price isn’t right, don’t buy! You will probably see it again eventually and if you also do this as a hobby, u have a lifetime to come upon it again. lol

Go when u can afford it or really want to. I use to go WEEKLY, I would find things every week cause they constantly have different stuff. lol but now I have bills now and things are expensive, so it’s just not realistic for me anymore. I go once or maybe twice a month if I’m lucky. BUT I will admit, u will find a lot of items if u go weekly and can get first dibs but it can get pricey as it all adds up of course.

Leave no stones unturned. So when I go to the thrifting, I look EVERYWHERE. I spend HOURS. lol Sometimes u find the best stuff in the weirdest spots! I found a ADULT Powerpuff girls sweater from 2000 in the kids xl section! I’ve found vintage bedding on random clothing wracks. Sometimes things get moved, you will be surprised on what u will find.

So this use to be one of my rules when I had a better phone plan lol but if I feel like I’m questioning a price on an item, I use to look it up on eBay or google. (If you use eBay, their is settings they show what items actually sell for and not just what they r listed as. THIS HELPS. Sometimes people put insane prices but they definitely aren’t selling for that much! Helps to see the actual value if u need to.)

If u go to garage sales or flea markets, don’t be scared to ask for prices or make offers. If u like it, ask! If the price isn’t right, just say thanks and go on ur merry way. Key is always be nice and respectful if they don’t budge on price. You’ll probably see it again. lol. Least u asked! I use to be too shy to ask and I’d regret it! Also I’d go home empty sometimes cause of it. But now, I seem to really connect with people and try to be nice, talk to them like a potential friend! Sometimes the interaction makes my day and I can get a laugh out of some people. Even sometimes being nice and funny person can go a long way with others. One time I went to a small town and it was the last day of garage sale weekend and people just seemed so nice and liked me, they gave me stuff for free it kept happening throughout the day! lol Sometimes people won’t budge on prices though and that’s fine. And other times, people just want stock or items gone! lol They want money, they don’t wanna take the junk back inside their home and I get it! lol for example, one place gave me stuff for free cause she was trying to get rid of kids toys, her kids had so much she gave me stuff for free, some powerpuff girl plushies for 25 cents! One time, I had a guy tell me a doll I was looking at was worth $200. (Which He was right they sold for that much in box, I looked it up when I got home) he said was worth $200 but he was asking $20 cause he wanted it sold. He had no attachment and needed extra cash as he kept buying to resell but hasn’t sold much. I told him she’s cute but idk. I kept looking at his other items. Finally when I walked away, he shouted $10! I bought her up! lol One day, I bought a giant box of McDonald’s toys, (second photo from top right above the TMNT bag) for $2 for the entire Box!! Completely full! Was a family at the flea market that was just having a garage sale so to speak, they were moving so they didn’t want anything! lol Also an example too of the opposite scenario, an older lady was selling all spice girls dolls in box for $80 dollars all together (at the time the whole lot was cheaper on eBay, they were $45 for the lot and this stuff wasn’t popular so it just wasn’t selling at the time.) I asked price of baby spice alone and she wouldn’t split the band. I said ok thanks and went on my merry way! I later in life got 3 of the girls for $10 to $6 a piece in box. lol

HAVE FUN. This is my hobby. I’ve been doing this as a hobby since 2009! Of course it takes a while to get as much as I have. But I really only recommend thrifting if u REALLY enjoy it and collecting. You really have to enjoy it and to keep going! It’s like a treasure hunt to me! I do it as a collector cause it’s a blast. I‘ve met such interesting people, I’ve seen such cool things even if I didn’t bring it home and couldn’t afford the item. It’s fun! It’s so exciting to find something on a shelf u haven’t seen in years. Also fun to find things u forgot existed or just speak to u personally! I literally buy anything that just feels like it belongs with me anymore. I fall in love with the moment I look at it. I use to think, oh people will think I’m weird? and I still remember those items I passed up YEARS later and say why did I leave that behind? lol 😂 It’s such a cool hobby. I can tell u what I paid for just about everything! 😂 I remember it all cause I really do love it and I LOVE deals.

Also, all the pictures above are mine and things I thrifted, do not steal! If u have any questions about how much I paid for some of these items, or have any questions in general, don’t be afraid to ask. If u wanna know tips about thrifting on toys, clothes, ex, please ask! I will try to help to the best of my knowledge. The 2nd photo, 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th photo are perfect examples cause it’s everything I got at ONE flea market or thrift store, just one stop. Sometimes I find full collections! Each photo are from different days but are definitely good examples. Also if I forget anything I feel is super important to add, I’ll probably post another part 2 or something. ❤️ hope this helps someone.

I think it it would be cool, if any followers decided to thrift or if you use any of my tips and find some cool stuff, to make a post and tag me! Show me ur cool finds, what tips helped the you the best if u feel like adding that.

[ladyiristheenchantress]

Reading for others and Selling your Readings

So, you want to start reading for others and possibly selling your readings? Well you came to the right place. This post piggy backs off a google class I created on my discord pages, and today I will be going over tips and tricks for success and how to start making a side hustle out of divination! This is going to be a very tarot forward post, however this can be integrated into really any form of divination, the interview process for example is not reserved for only tarot and oracle cards! Big note: Make sure you are aware of your countries, state, and county laws revolving around divination. In some places its still illegal and criminalized and there is no point going to jail over this. Instead its best to raise awareness and talk to your local representatives about the issue.

The slides we will be using today

Part One: Knowing

The first section is all about getting started, and most great readers I can think of have 3 key things they recommened

Know your deck - What this means is actually taking the time to interview your deck and get to know its strengths, limitations, and how it will connect to your readings. When you understand your tarot cards voice, you are better able to apply messages for other people.

How do I interview my deck? To design an interview you need to create a spread that answers a few questions like "what are your strengths and weaknesses", "How do you prefer to speak to me?" and "How can I best listen and apply your advice?" Optionally it is always good to add sections asking the deck if it can read for other people, if it can read on the divine, and if it can process information that is changing.

My personal favorite is the one I am listing below.

2. Knowing your skills - This section is all about identifying your own strengths and weaknesses. Do you not really dabble in spirit work so you cant do spirit ID's? do you work with a trickster god so your decks often go missing? Do you simply just hate doing love readings and they bring you agony? All of these things are really valid, and its good to be honest with yourself. Start by picking out types of readings you enjoy, readings you maybe don't love or aren't skilled at yet, and then readings you just wont do. The ones in the middle category can always be worked on and expanded you may find you love them, but the ones that you just hate doing don't have to come at a cost just be honest and not offer them as a service. Another major aspect is personal associations to cards, Its important that as your using divination to make notes of personal associations you have to things, or how you interpret art on the card. This can help you better connect readings to your skills and give a more unique experience

3. Knowing your client - this is important simply for a marketing standpoint. If you are really good at deity readings it may be better to advertise your work on deity related servers rather than just spiritual ones. If you are a jack of all trades that may be vice versa. When you nail down the readings you love and hate doing you start to learn where you can successfully advertise to attract people who love the readings you do

Some important things and tips I can give as a tarot reader is to trust your intuition, and understand your skill level. When it comes to intuition some of the biggest blocks I see people have is "Well the reading isn't resonating with my spirit like usual" and its actually a really common thing! When people are transitioning to read for other people we become so used to getting that intuitive feeling that the cards just 'fit' but because the reading isn't *for* us we get an uncomfortable empty feeling or second guess ourselves. Have faith that your intuition is still working, just not on your behalf. Relax! If the client lets you know that it didn't resonate that's ok! Its a learning opportunity, it just means you have to re-look at the cards to find details you may have missed. With that also said, sometimes you are going to get a gut feeling that something is just not right, it will be different than that empty feeling or the little nagging self doubt voice. It usually comes as a whisper, a hand tremble, or sharpness in your spine that lets you know to redraw the card.

Another big thing that follows up with the third point is about your own skill level. The reason why there is so much emphasis on it is because your level will determine what readings you do, how much you charge for them, and how long it will take you to preform the reading. Its important that you are charging appropriately for practices, disclosing when you are new to something, or when you just aren't comfortable doing a type of reading for someone yet. It is always ok to say 'no' especially when a reading is out of your skill range.

Another really big thing to this is Practice, like I mentioned about finding your skill level so that leads me to another point:

Where can I go to find people to practice on?

In most cases, if you are a person of the internet you have a ton of options! There are dozens of discord servers and forums where you can practice your skills with people willing to trade or looking for free readings. Its best to avoid places like Instagram, tic tok, or amino for the time being because those places are more for building up a business rather than seeking out people to practice with. This is mainly because you will likely get overwhelmed with people trying to get free readings out of you, and servers usually have moderators that can help protect the peace while you are still learning.

A big thing I see is also about how to source tools for divination, lets say your in the broom closet and want to practice giving tarot readings but cant use physical cards, you can offer up readings using a digital deck (just make sure to disclose that) and get your practice in that way.

Part Two: Planning

Lets look at the aspects of giving a reading, We need to remember that for a lot of people divination is not only just an aspect of their spirituality but also a business for a lot of people. Some of the best readers I know actually aren't spiritual at all, but give such quality readings because they chose the study the psychology behind giving a reading. On the flip side, some of the best readings I have ever received was when the person was in tune with me spiritually, and got to know my beliefs as a client. It is a fine line for most people, and what makes these groups one in the same is they both took the time to really break in their practice, and see divination like an art form.

What are some things to note on the spiritual side?

Spiritually, we as readers are taking the time to use our tools to connect to the other side. Whether you believe tarot reads on paths, futures, or simply psychology, it can be a spiritual experience overall. I want it to be known even a complete atheist can still enjoy giving and practicing with divination, because at the end of the day you don't have to be any "type" of spiritual to practice.

Divination can be used to help other people through problems by offering another perspective, and as a reader that is a really fulfilling thing! Its nice when we can help others to see things they cant yet. Its also exciting to engage with the different questions a human can be faced with about life. As a reader there are so many beautiful solutions to problems, and divination can help with that!

Most commonly sold methods: Tarot, Oracle, and Runes

Most common services (as of 2022): Love readings, Yes/No questions, Deity and spirit questions

Ethical considerations and quirks are an important thing to cultivate as a reader. Its important to figure out where your ethics lie. Are you comfortable reading on a third party? Are you comfortable doing blind readings? What sort of things can you offer that would make you unique? As a general rule of thumb, its good to plan this out while you practice to see if anything is invoked in you. As you research different styles of readings you may find preset ethical takes online, some you will vibe with, others you will not. Take the information and evaluate it as you practice. Another big thing is confidentiality, if a reading begins to expose a deeper thing its best to talk to your client or leave it be if it isn't an immediate cause for concern.

Note: sometimes you get some seriously sick people asking for readings, confidentiality is great, however if someone is breaking the law or confessing a crime to you it is a good idea to stay calm, and report it to law enforcement if you can. It gets really difficult if the person is in another country and you are just reading online, but you can still pass it on to law enforcement who can possibly notify that countries police system. Above all else: If someone is making you feel uncomfortable you have every right to say no, block them, and move on. If it is someone physically with you like at a school or workplace setting who is making you uncomfortable, you have every right to deny service and seek out someone higher up who can help create distance between you and the other person. safety comes first.

What are some things to note on the business side?

On the business side, not only are we assisting other people, however we are also assisting ourselves. It is amazing when we can take something that brings us so much joy and use it to help turn a profit. When you begin actually selling your readings, you will come to find that a lot of math and marketing is involved like calculating where you want to be, how much to charge per card, how much to charge for other practices, how to market yourself to the world, its all things we have to factor when we are trying to make a side hustle out of this. Above all else, take care of you first! Make sure that you are keeping your energy and mental health in mind as you go through this journey

Average Pricings: $1-2 per card when first starting, averaging $3-4 a card, and on the high end some readers charge up to $17 per card. Usually pricings for spreads start at $5 per 3 cards, $10 per 10 cards, and $20 upcharges for voice chat or in person sessions. The average in person tarot reader will charge $70 per 45 min session

Average market: Highest money comes from tic tok, facebook, and instagram

Average Demographic: Usually within the ages of 23-35, mainly metropolitan areas

What are some things that makes a reader unique?

Style - Having a style or theme when it comes to how you present your readings is a wonderful thing. It not only makes you more recognizable, but it also draws clients in who are curious

Presentation - How you actually present your readings is important. If you are physically speaking to someone laying your cards so its facing the client adds a special touch, if you are trying to layer paragraphs online making sure they look cohesive with correct grammar and paragraph indentation is amazing

Timing - How long you can produce readings and with how much information can be used to set you apart from other readers. Plenty of readers upcharge for 'same day' readings, or charge more for blind readings because more intuition is being used

Extras - If you are willing to provide extras, online you can create custom spreads, crystal grid photos that represent the readings, or physically offer candy or for the client to pick their own deck

Personality - Having good customer service can apply to readings too, establishing your unique personality to a client is wonderful. Whether your setting up a 'no-nonsense' vibe or are smiling ear to ear, you can connect it to the deck the client vibes the most with.

Options - Providing options and some sort of consultation phase is a great way to start a dialogue between you and your client, giving plenty of room to ask questions and be honest about what's going on sets a really good mood for both of yall.

Examples:

Part Three: Doing

In this section we will be going over the most important things to remember while we are practicing, growing, and learning.

Always remember:

Your boundaries - The things you are willing and not willing to read on

Trends - What readings are the most profitable right now, why? Do you want to partake in them or not?

Clients - What types of clients do you tend to get? Do they tend to prefer a specific reading or style? Do you tend to get returning business or mainly one-off readings?

Where you promote - Where you promote is what you attract, so keep surveying the data analytics for what is most popular. For example: Psychics in Vegas tend to get the most skeptic readings, Beverly hills gets the most amount of pet readings, and Instagram pages tend to offer love readings the most

A big tip I have for new readers are on 3 things, time, spirits, and progress. When it comes to time make sure you are picking ways to charge for everything whether its VC, text, or in house, make sure you aren't running your clock and have methods to lead a conversation if a client is taking up a lot of time with stories that don't exactly apply. Next when it comes to spirits and deities it is important that you wait on those types of readings until you have protections and adequate research on different types of deities and spirits as to not possibly bring danger to yourself, clients, and are giving accurate information that preserves the cultures these being originate from. Finally when it comes to progress I recognize that it can be hard learning to say no, developing a back bone, and wanting to do more with your readings, just ride the wave as it comes! This takes time and I promise the more you work on your skills the more likely you are to succeed. Just make sure you are always honest with your clients and with yourself when you need to take a break.

What are some bad habits people should avoid?

Over cleansing - Sometimes we create this idea that you need to be triple cleansing in between each and every client, but in actuality this can create fatigue on our decks. Its kind of like showers: Some people shower daily just to get the gunk off, but they might not wash their hair or use a scrub every single shower because it strips the good oils from our hair and skin. Tarot can be the same, over cleansing it can strip it of energy. Its best to talk to your cards, have a charging station at the ready, and keep tabs on how they are feeling

overbooking - If you are currently enrolled in school full time, or have a full time job, it isn't realistic to take every single client at all hours of the day, that is the fastest way to divination burn out. Stager out clients between your real world schedule and set up a system that gives you time to transition.

Overdoing - Don't offer more than you can put out. Don't promise to do a 15 card spread in 30 min if you know your readings take longer. Don't offer freebies willy nilly because then it becomes an expectation. Make sure that you are properly valuing your work based off how long it takes you to create that product. At the end of the day you are offering a service, treat it like such!

Final Words

The divination community is an incredibly vast one that features all sorts of people, businesses, and more. Relax! This journey is a rewarding one, don't take it so serious that you start to fall apart. Have faith in your ability to research and practice, and as you grow don't hesitate to start finding communities that can help you grow as a reader.

Another big thing to watch out for is the rampant scam community. often times we see 'readers' come along who either make up some story about an ancestor leading them to you, someone cursing you for no reason, etc and making you foot the bill for their services. Or you get people who pretend to be tarot mentors and instead will copy paste things from biddy tarot while you pay 100 bucks a month. Be aware of people who are looking to take advantage of you, if it looks to good to be true it probably is. Be careful out there!

With all that said, I hope you all enjoyed this post, if you have any questions or comments feel free to drop them below. Thank you! Fair winds travelers

Tip Jar

[vivmaek]

HOW TO FIND JOY USING YOUR SUN PLACEMENT

Happiness is found when we are in touch with our higher selves. Look to the giver of life within your natal chart to come into alignment with joy. 

Aries - Workout, chase after truth, surround yourself with people who match your energy, tap into an adrenaline rush, smile at yourself in the mirror everyday, don’t wait for desire to pass, take a hot bath, write out all your flaws on a piece of paper and then burn it, play video games, listen to loud music, do a face mask, eat tomatoes, do something you’re afraid of. 

1st House - Write out all your best attributes, keep up with your appearance, find new beginnings within the everyday, take care of your body, meet someone new, showcase your identity, march to the beat of your own drum.

Taurus - Go for a hike, solve a puzzle, go to the art museum, eat a home cooked meal, buy yourself flowers, snuggle with something soft, wear your favorite perfume or cologne, clean your house, watch that tv show you’ve already seen a million times, get a neck massage, write an appreciation letter to yourself, create something with materials that can be found at home, eat fresh fruit. 

2nd House - Keep a money jar, show up to work on time, show gratitude, keep up with a daily routine, write out all your values, take good care of your material possessions, make a list of priorities and stick to it, form healthy habits.

Gemini - Read a book, go on a spontaneous trip, watch something that makes you laugh, buy a concert ticket, run errands, put on some headphones and go for a walk, google questions, journal, dance to your favorite music, get a manicure, try out a new restaurant, rearrange your room, do yoga and practice breathwork, make a collage using cut up magazines, take a class on one of your favorite interests, smell some lavender. 

3rd House- Write daily, keep up with your communications, always check your email, take special care of your siblings, don’t make a habit of turning down social events, be friendly towards your neighbors, try to learn something new everyday. 

Cancer - Call family, put on pajamas, watch a movie that will make you cry, sit in the rain, drink something warm, cuddle with a pet, wear your favorite sweater, have a stash of goodies on hand, go home, read a fantasy novel, give someone a hug, eat seafood, go stargazing and have a picnic, stick your feet in the stream, write poetry. 

4th House - Keep a tidy home, check up on family, daily hygiene, keep a mood journal, have some privacy, show kindness towards children, mother yourself.

Leo - Look at old childhood photos, brush your hair, lay out in the sun, put on an outfit that makes you feel your best, listen to music that boosts your confidence, daily affirmations, eat oranges and lemons, light a candle, hang out with your best friend, put on a performance when no one is watching, watch a dramatic romance movie, sing in the shower, get a back massage. 

5th House - Romanticize your daily life, focus on what your love, chase after your passions, make time for play, showcase your creativity, connect to your inner child, make art, don’t be afraid to be dramatic.

Virgo - Create a new playlist, go to the craft store, tend to a garden, do your laundry, play the sims, watch video essays on youtube, join a book club, talk about your current interests with friends, make jewelry, hangout at a coffee shop, eat fresh veggies and clean food, talk to your plants, go for a walk and take pictures of whatever your find interesting, go to the farmers market.

6th House - Eat healthy, keep up with fitness and physical activity, have a daily system in order, showcase a healthy amount of criticism, take care of a pet, keep an organized house, find ways to be useful everyday, be of service to others 

Libra - Grab dinner and drinks with your favorite people, write a love letter to yourself, have a shopping spree, post your thoughts on social media, stand up for someone when no one else is, invest in skincare, wear sunglasses, re-organize your room, lather your body with lotion and oils, eat cheese and yogurt, go to the gym, watch an old hollywood movie, buy a present for someone you love.

7th House - Focus on forming relationships, don’t rely on codependency, keep up with healthy boundaries, read over contracts carefully, be someone people can rely on, always be fair, share with people.

Scorpio - Watch a true crime documentary, make an offering to your ancestors, write your deepest thoughts in a journal and then keep it hidden, go skinny dipping, listen to music in the dark, spend time in nature to gather gems and crystals, play card games, do in depth research on your favorite artist, tend to your alter. 

8th House - Don’t run from intimacy, keep up with your debts, take care of your property, discover mystery within the daily, keep a clean bathroom.

Sagittarius - Spend time by a campfire, book a plane ticket to somewhere, go out and party with your best friends, learn how to cook your favorite foreign meals, massage your legs, go thrift shopping, invite people over for a barbeque, read translated books, wear rings, eat plums and cherries, drink plenty of wine, have deep discussions over dinner.

9th House - Travel, ask for advice, pursue education, follow your own personal laws, appreciate different cultures, learn a second language, have strong ethics.

Capricorn - Sneak away for a well deserved break, buy something expensive, brush your teeth, go to a fancy restaurant by yourself, wear tailored pants, read a lengthy novel, give yourself a scalp massage, have a drink at the end of a long day, stay up late into the night, write out all your goals, eat lots of protein, be naughty when you can get away with it.

10th House - Keep a good reputation, follow through on your goals, focus on your career, implement structure within your daily life, be disciplined, use your expertise when appropriate.

Aquarius - Buy something you’ve put a lot of research into, go to the restaurant that only you seem to know about, write out everything you wish for, eat peaches, wear turquoise jewelry, design your own clothing, spend time on the computer, ghost everyone for the day, watch that tv show you’re newly obsessed with, join an exclusive club. 

11th House - Be a good friend to people, belong to something larger than you, be socially aware, focus on humanitarian efforts, show respect to the technology you own, always look to the future.

Pisces - Go for a swim, have music constantly playing in the background, write out all your fantasies, get a pedicure, eat berries, do volunteer work, take up painting, wear silk, sleep in all day, daydream freely, lay on your back and cloud gaze, pray, make eye contact with people, wear warm socks, appreciate the background details. 

12th House - Spend time alone, welcome endings with open arms, find closure, take up spiritual practice, show respect to the elderly, keep things hidden, maintain a dream journal, don't limit yourself .

Someone in my ask box sent me this really thoughtful question about how to use a natal chart to find happiness and I accidentally deleted it! My apologies!

[affordablepunk]

How to DIY energy drinks for cheap

First, required reading: link to article

Energy drinks have a few vital components:

>sweetener

>flavor

>water

>caffeine

>bubbles (i never do that and don't know how)

Here are some of my favorite things to use:

>granulated sugar (sweetener)

>stevia leaf or granulated artificial sweetener (sweetener)

>kool aid (flavor, sweetener)

>loose-leaf herbs (flavor) (try hibiscus petal, chicory, even lemongrass and mint can be nice)

>lemon juice (flavor, preservative)

>kool aid (easiest flavor/sweetener combo)

Supplies you might need:

>kettle or pot for heating water

>tea strainer ball to keep your leaves out of the final product

>a nice ragu jar or old Gatorade bottle for pre-made stuff

>funnel for pourin

>ladle for scooping liquid into the funnel

Kaffn-8 or any other such liquid caffeine product will do you for caffeine. That brand is super easy and convenient. Kaffn-8 is my favorite for the quality and ease in dosing, as well as the value (15 bucks has lasted me 2 months of daily use).

I like to make a sugar-flavor concentrate, then assemble each glass as I need it. Sugar tastes better when melted with heat than when dissolved without heat, even once chilled. This also allows me to tweak caffeine content. Here is how to make it:

Fill tea ball with herbs (use about a handful or 1/2 cup for every quart of water, you're making it strong)

Heat water and pop the tea ball in

Simmer or keep hot for 10 min

Remove tea ball and turn off heat

While hot, add as much sugar as you had herbs, and mix until melted.

Mix in as much lemon juice (or other assorted acid or preservative) as you can stand. The more preservative, the longer it'll keep

Allow to cool enough to handle

Jar it up, put it in the fridge for later use. You can and should re-use all manner of bottle, just be wary of melting anything plastic or burning your hands w hot water.

A note: the smaller your batches, the less you waste. But high concentrations of acid and sugar keep it good for up to a month in the fridge.

To use: mix water in a cup with your syrup, tweaking concentrations until it tastes good. Add caffeine, measuring your dose carefully.

Then, do bubble magic to add carbonation if you can do that. Maybe you found a soda stream somewhere. If you don't have bubbles, you'll just have to enjoy your energy drinks flat.

And, you're all done!

Now, where to get everything:

(Grow your own herbs if you are mega brave. Mints are nearly indestructible little plants.)

Lemon juice, dollar store. Quality is the same, you've just got to shake it up.

if its a foreign grocer, they likely have herbs cheap. If its a Mexican grocery, they 100% have the best herbs. (Aguasfrescas drink mixes are cheap and THE BOMB, and hibiscus flower always comes in mega bulk) .

Herbalist and spiritual shops have herbs too, and are likely to have tea balls. Branch out! Catnip has been my favorite oddball herb.

Farmers markets also have some (like three if you're lucky) herbs, and you may have to dry them yourself. Since it's punk to reach out to your community, ask around at the farmers market to see if you can get any herb or dried flavorant that's on your mind- small businesses love consumer feedback! You just might have to wait for the plant to grow, heh, but if you're friendly then you'll make friends. Some examples: ask the jam bottler for dried fruit peels, the farmer for mugwort

I get my artificial sweeteners on closeout, my stevia from herbal shops, and my sugar at Walmart (bite me, its cheap and I'm poor).

Kaffn-8 can only be found online, as far as I'm aware. I promise I'm not sponsored, just a grateful caffeine addict.

Do Google your herbs for drug interactions if you take meds. Healthline has good info on herbs. Dried grapefruit rind can mess with my psych meds, for example.

Again, be careful about caffeine. Always dose your caffeine. Having high levels of caffeine on tap is a bit of a big responsibility: I know I nearly bit the dirt from the all-you-can-eat espresso bar at my college. Immaturity could kill you, caffeine is a drug. Count doses, never go above 500 a day, try not to go more than 200 in the same hour.

Now take that money you've saved and give it to a charity to blow a very mean raspberry at nestle. Or, yknow, feed yourself. Its a tough world.

[netherworldpost]

While I am exceptionally wary of promising things that will eventually become vaporware, I DO enjoy showcasing what your attention (likes, reblogs, etc.) and money (when you shop at the store, btw it should re-open tonight, tomorrow, or the next day...)

(...new stuff, new shipping and handling structures that are... hm hm hm... delightful)

I have been posting polls here fairly regularly as a way to test out both the enjoyment of taking them and how to handle the data.

Have I ever mentioned I love data? It is the connective force between "I MAKE STUFF I AM AN ARTIST WRITER CARTOONIST" and the "I MAKE STUFF I AM A BUSINESS GHOST"

I'm building a blog. It's going to house stories and essays. And a bunch of other stuff, which is why it is a blog and {13 hour ramble}

It's also going to have a section with a cockatrice logo inspired by Delicious in Dungeon with silly questions.

"You live in the Netherworld. Are you a mountain dwarf, a halfling, a..."

"You are an adventurer. Are you a rogue, are you a paladin..."

"You are a mermaid. What color is your tail? Does this color match your eyes, your hair...?"

"You are reading a fantasy story. Do you prefer calendars that align with Earth calendars (easier to follow) or unique calendars (more immersive)?

The answer data is going to be publicly available.

In a publicly viewable Google sheet, so you can see the raw numbers, download a copy, bookmark it and keep an eye on it, etc.

A sort of fantasy survey bureau. Of public data. With weekly questions. Real time reporting. Permanently available. FOR FREE. FOREVER. With no advertising and no marketing on the data apart from "it came from [url, if you like this, please give us a peak]."

Sorry.

Got. Carried away. Little bit.

(deep breath) whew

Netherworld Post Office is a greeting card start up that wants to provide you with the occasional "happy birthday" card you send to your friends. The occasional "thinking of you" postcard you send to your lover. The random "I read the most intense and unhinged fanfic about this thing we both love, here, I printed it out and enclosed it" card.

We have two basic options as a business:

Go the conventional route. Buy advertising, pay influencers, make silly memes, sing badly, dance worse.

And we'll do most of that, sure.

But also.

We can leverage the unique qualities that heave and cleave us into an art career like the living cartoon characters we are.

Good morning.

It is 3:25 AM.

I have a loaf of bread to bake, a chicken to roast, potatoes to tend to, then it's back to finalizing an email blast.

If you're on our mailing list, it'll come in the next day or so when the shop re-opens.

The absolute best part of life are the adventures and this project is one long, winding, intense, delightful adventure.

[florenceisfalling]

to my followers unaware of what the fuck im talking about re: toonimal, txttletale, and tyler

tw for csa and transmisogyny

edit: check comments after reading

toonimal aka ezra orena is a tumblr user who also ran a website for "big three" paraphiles (pedo/necro/zoo), including those who are pro-contact and including minors. this obviously led to a bunch of pedophiles sexually engaging with minors and exchanging abuse material.

ezra was already known for being pro-contact in some spaces and had been called out for it. ezra was thus banned on aethy, which is an 18+ proship website, i assume due to the following rules:

there was mild pushback to the fact that aethy also banned ezra's callout, not just ezra; however, this was due to the fact that spreading a callout about ezra's website would also spread links to a pro-csa space:

despite the aethy ban, ezra wasn't called out in the mainstream (to my knowledge) until more recently, when a super huge google doc rolled in with evidence of the abusive behaviors on his website

also despite this, when this doc dropped, some people targeted and doxxed a completely unrelated moderator of aethy for something they had no involvement in.

the google doc. is bad. i understand the good intentions, but it includes irrelevant fantasy as evidence and, more importantly, does not censor victim names. it also does exactly what aethy mods were seeking to avoid by providing a platform for this site, rather than sending it to the proper authorities and letting it get handled properly. statement from an aethy mod:

however, the doc includes lots of evidence for toonimal and his site's users being abusers. its Bad. really really really bad.

because many people did not know toonimal was advocating for abuse prior to the doc being shared, toonimal had some popular posts on tumblr.

one of these posts is a post about "killing the cop in your head" re: accusing people of being degenerate or dangerous over fetishes and kinks that are taboo. while the post might seem weird with the context that ezra is a pedophile, this post was incredibly popular among people who didn't realize. it was just a solid discourse post at the time:

in fact, i checked, and i reblogged this post back in the summer, before i knew that toonimal was advocating for pedophilic contact. this post was not part of some "niche pedophile community." this post currently has 19,000+ notes. it does not mention contact with children. it mentions kink and shipping. drastically different from the content on ezra's site!

and even if you did elect to check ezra's about page before posting, ezra isn't an "open" pedophile. there's a reason his site was secret.

neither of these things mention paraphilias. you have to click on a separate link in the about page to see the tags/warnings that mention lolicon (which is fiction anyway) or illegal paraphilias. even after clicking on those, ezra still upheld on tumblr at the time that he was anti-contact.

the above screenshot is from 3 months ago. now, ezra posts things in the pro-contact vein, but again: he was denying this three months ago. his post was popular even back six months ago. in fact, ezra denied he was pro-contact a week ago, but when evidence popped up he just resorted to insults.

now that we've established that ezra being a pedo was not common knowledge and his post was literally just a popular kink discourse post...

tumblr user txttletale aka healed, who is a trans woman, reblogged it with the following comment months ago:

and later makes a post expressing her opinion on games like stardew valley having somewhat problematic elements to them. in response...

random tumblr cis gay man gets mad and says that healed aka txttletale "markets incest shipping and loliporn as an inherent part of queer sexuality" because she reblogged the toonimal post with 19k notes MONTHS before ezra was called out

reread the toonimal post. there is no mention of loliporn.

even if there was, thats a drawing. its fiction. just like the farming simulator is fiction. who cares

roadhogsbigbelly then doubles down and says that, well, healed might not have mentioned loli, but ezra would support loli. the problem is, again, ezra was not even entirely open about this. why on earth would healed be endorsing that solely by reblogging ezra's post?

then, people start to accuse healed of being in a secret pedophile community with ezra and other popular trans women on tumblr, like predstrogen and maia crimew

a bunch of them notably being from a group of bloggers who love to harass people over stupid shit, be exclusionists, and make conspiracy theories about "closet pedos" and generally just talk shit about anyone they deem below them - especially tgirl bloggers

most of this harassment operates on the idea that healed was mutuals with ezra or aware of ezra's behavior, meanwhile she reblogged ezra's post 3 reblogs down a chain and literally didn't directly interact with ezra at all. neither of them followed each other

people also brought up healed's past controversies, most of which have been apologized for or were simply not fucking relevant

even if healed did follow ezra, the insistence that loli aka drawings is what is sooo sketchy about ezra rather than the fact that he had a site full of ADULTS INTERACTING SEXUALLY WITH REAL MINORS is absolutely fucking batshit

also healed has posted stuff against loli and proship fic/art before. healed literally doesn't approve of that stuff fucking anyway which is imo hypocritical to the kink thing but still proves the accusations against her are false

roadhog guy continues doubling down on how ageplay/cnc/incest shipping/etc is Bad; yet argues that pup play is fine. he thinks ageplay is pedophilia but zoophilia isnt a problem to this guy i guess

despite the fact that the guy who made the pedo website is a trans dude and the victims in the doc were overwhelmingly transfem, random trans women who had no idea ezra was a creep are becoming the main targets of a ridiculous harassment campaign. its such blatant fucking transmisogyny it makes me want to crack my skull open

the neotrances/tyler friend group continues to be weird about it, including getting furious that healed defended herself from pedophilia allegations rather than vetting literally every blog she interacts with or trying to needlessly battle against adults engaging in consensual kink

i hate all of this. so deeply

ultimately my opinions are

ezra has done so many completely fucking awful things and deserves every inch of the backlash he received. he deserves no support for all of this. avoiding him seems to be the best course of action at the moment. part of that involves letting the legal shit go down rather than trying to out-twitter him and his friends over sex crimes. his site probably already had feds on it tbh.

having paraphilic feelings isnt a crime, but involving real children is. genuinely fuck all of the adults on ezra's site

aethy and its moderators experienced targeted harassment over shit they were uninvolved with. this included doxxing and harassing their families. this is especially cruel since they seem to be one of the few sources of common sense in the situation

the targeting of healed, avery, maia, and others: completely just transmisogyny. this shit is insane and nobody should be held to the batshit standards they were held to. please pay attention to this shit and dont let it happen again. don't let stupid discourse un-person a trans woman for something she literally didn't do.

raging about loli/ageplay/whatever the fuck is completely stupid, especially in this situation. when faced with an actual group of pedophiles who are targeting actual, living and breathing children, why do people scream about the fictional expressions of abuse rather than the real-world examples of it?

again. so much of this is just transmisogyny.

fuck tyler and his little clique . all to hell

the people who spread the doc tended to treat csa as a joke. the doc put victims on blast. the doc mishandled evidence.

apologies for any inaccuracies im somewhat late to the ordeal

[tailschannel]

Sonic to get "several new mobile titles" in the future, according to SEGA management meeting document

The Sonic the Hedgehog series is expected to receive "several new titles" for mobile platforms, SEGA's parent company confirmed in a management meeting early Wednesday.

Apple and Google were both named as "key players" in the mobile sector for SEGA, as the publisher detailed an encompassing transmedia scheme for the blue blur, which will include licencing and collaborations with other third-party properties.

"Several new" mobile games under development

With an established presence thanks to the likes of free apps like Sonic Dash and Sonic Forces Speed Battle, the franchise looks set to dive in the world of mobile gaming, as part of SEGA's future plans.

The publisher did not rule out exclusivity clauses with subscription-based mobile gaming services. In recent days, the publisher signed a contract with Apple to produce Sonic Dream Team, and Netflix announced a mobile port of Sonic Mania Plus for their game subscription service.

No word of a specific timeframe for the aforementioned mobile games, currently in development.

Future Sonic mobile games to adopt Rovio's Beacon toolkit

As part of the mobile expansion, the upcoming slate is expected to adopt "Beacon", an internal development and marketing toolkit powered by machine learning, frequently utilized by Rovio, the Finnish studio behind Angry Birds that SEGA acquired over the summer.

The studio described Beacon as a platform to "build games and get games to market, models to profitably grow and monetize the game and live operations tools to maximize our players’ fun."

The toolkit has been criticized in a number of fan-run Angry Birds forums for incentivizing revenue at the expense of gameplay quality.

SEGA did not disclose if the Beacon platform will extend beyond the present suite of HARDlight mobile games.

More details on SEGA's resurrection of classic hits

SEGA also unveiled these new images and descriptions for the five new games announced at The Game Awards, described as a "power surge" to re-electrify their classic hits, like Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio.

Crazy Taxi: Innovative & Fresh Style Driving Action! Cheerful feeling of freedom and fusion of nature and city. Peel out the new stage of Crazy City!

Jet Set Radio: "Counter-Culture" - Tokyo Street Open World! Experience the "rebellion" movement that feels free in a suffocating society. Make friends, increase your fans, and create a movement!

Shinobi: Slay the enemies in the silence of the moment. Run through the world of Shinobi, full of monsters and ninja actions. Grab Oberozuki, the legendary sword and slay evil once more. Your clan and the world are counting on you.

Golden Axe: Warriors arise to subdue the demons! Defeat your enemies with a variety of attacks with swords and magic! The legendary story about the battle axe, Golden Axe is about to begin!

Streets of Rage Revolution: Beloved side-scrolling beat 'em up action series! Take control of one of the ex-officers and make the city a place where people no longer have to walk the "Streets of Rage."

The announcement coincided with SEGA's plans to strengthen their flagship video game brands like Persona and Like a Dragon, and to expand with legacy properties.

(Edit 2:00 pm ET - post updated with new details)

[redmyeyes]

Hey Red! It's Tim's watch anon again! So, I think I've found it ahgairgairtgiart. I went down a hole and did a reverse image search on Google lmao. Prepare for some infodumping!

I really think it's either a Timex self-wind watch like this one https://cdn.watchcharts.com/listings/eb578671-c4fa-46e1-8d77-0ddfccfa4714.jpg or a Timex automatic watch like this one https://www.watchrepairtalk.com/uploads/monthly_2020_05/20200331_104721.jpg.f1f0b0e48234c80ce990c78230b6f557.jpg based on how the numbers alternate with the dashes. Apparently, the Timex watch was released in 1950. I'll bet Tim either treated himself to a new watch as a college graduation present in 1951/52 or it was gifted to him by his grandmother. Or his dad. (Unrelated, I really want to know about Tim's relationship with his dad.)

According to an article I found online (because I'm a fucking nerd), "the Timex watch would be the cheapest watch on the market, thanks to clever manufacturing practices and those wartime innovations". I really think this fits in with Tim's background because he wouldn't want some big, gaudy watch that looked good. He would want something that's practical and will last him a long time. (Also, the article says the Timex watch “takes a licking and keeps on ticking.” Is that not Tim?)

Also, in the article, which is here https://www.heddels.com/2019/08/cheap-tick-history-timex-watches/ in case you want to read it, there's a picture of a watch that's just like Hawk's. Imagine if they got to have matching watches if things had gone differently. Wow.

Which brings me to Hawk's watch! artgiartaoirtoart. Considering we saw it close up when he was practicing for the polygraph, it was an easy find. He had a Bulova military automatic watch https://www.ebay.com/itm/185976377415. Apparently, it wasn't the Most Expensive Brand™ but it supplied wristwatches as "official gear" to the American troops during World War 2. So. Specifically, it's called a "Hack" watch, which is a "reference to the hacking seconds function that permitted soldiers to synchronize their watches for coordinated timekeeping on missions." If that isn't Hawkins Fuller in a personal possession, I don't know what is.

Anyways, this was fun aortiotairotirot. I feel like I have a peace of mind knowing what their watches are? Lmao. I may need to go track down Tim's 70s watch. Watch this space.

anon, I LOVE YOU. and i am madly impressed with your research skills (coming from a research librarian, lol)

(re-posting the images here so everyone can see)

anon, you found it, it's perfect!!! and i love the self-wind option for tim, i think he would've loved the self-discipline of it. also really love the idea that it was a college graduation present. (something something tim wearing gifts from the people he loves). you're right though, it suits tim so well -- simple, elegant, functional, long-lasting.

and hawk's!

"Hawkins Fuller in a personal possession" lmao, you're so right. the costume/props department did such an amazing job on both of them!

-

"Imagine if they got to have matching watches if things had gone differently. Wow."

anon, this is my new headcanon. they lived every day of their lives together, and when tim's old watch finally broke, hawk persuaded Tim to let him buy them both matching new ones. more proof (without rings) that they belong to each other. <3

[0junemeatcleaver0]

june you gifted us with meta on marius's virginity, can you also expound on ancient roman perceptions of penis size and what effects what he's packing would have on his Issues™ and perceptions of self?

I am SO glad you asked.

Between having my ass whooped by allergies and dealing with other household irl stuff, I can't dedicate the time to source gathering that I would typically like. And so my citations for this one are gonna have to look something like:

[1] trust me, bro [2] google will show you many fluff pieces like this so that you know this idea has been floating around in the ether for quite some time [3] i've seen even the people who hate my guts for being pretentious and too academic site this same idea so either we're both wrong or both right and they're just gonna have to try to live with that fact 🤷‍

Like most other things to do with sex and the human body, the Romans had some odd ideas about penis size. Specifically the idea that the size of one's member was a reflection of one's intellect and civility.

If a man was blessed with a small penis, he was thought to be intelligent and in control of himself and his desires. If, on the other hand, he was cursed with a large penis, he was thought to be slow-witted and barbaric.

In terms of Marius and his virginity and his sense of self re: his place in society, we have three options, really:

One: He has an average sized dick for the time and so he'd feel much the same as most men of his time. Two: He had a small dick and was quite proud of it. Three: He had a large dick and was ashamed of it.

Option One This option is beyond boring and we will now disregard it wholesale. This option is dead to me.

Option Two I think it would be a bittersweet tragedy for Marius if he had a small dick and it just did not matter. Just like his mother dying in childbirth before she could be freed (thus freeing him, too), or being born to a wealthy father while not being able to rise through the social ranks of Rome, or knowing, doing, and saying all the right things but never getting the same respect as a Full Roman Man™️...there is something so perfect about Marius having a tiny, perfect penis that no one will let him use on them because he's just such an off-putting weirdo.

Just imagine him strutting proudly through the bathhouse, head held high, ready and waiting for congratulations on his itty-bitty pretty cock and it just never comes because no one wants to bother with the guy who constantly corrects the historical record at dinner parties or spends most of his time at the function scribbling down what you and your buddies are doing and saying instead of getting drunk and joining in on the fun.

Who cares that it's the most glorious micropenis you've ever seen?? Complimenting it means you'd have to speak to it's owner and you'd rather eat ever terracotta chamber pot for sale in the market.

Option Three This is my favorite one. Because by modern values, it reads as an embarrassment of riches. The idea of the most 'rational' and 'controlled' of Anne's characters being seen in his own time as being a pea-brained moron incapable of subduing his carnal desires because he's forced to slang horse cock through the bathhouse is just fucking perfect to me.

Marius' family would have been wealthy enough to have their own bath at home, but going to the bathhouse was an important social event. This probably became a dilemma for a young Marius.

As outlined in my character study, I believe the text supports the idea that Marius was the youngest of the sons. It doesn't take much for me to be able to imagine his older brothers giving him shit for having such a large penis. I also imagine Marius at first being very wounded by this teasing. Then furious. Then being smart enough to know he can't afford to have an outburst and risk proving the rumors of those with his affliction correct. And then rationalizing it as his brothers are liars--they're giving him a hard time. They probably were blessed with tiny penises because they're all full blooded Roman men. And Marius, well. His penis is probably more on the average side. It would have been tiny like his brothers' if it weren't for the blood of his wild Keltoi mother, you see. And that's not ideal, obviously. He'd rather have a tiny cock--the tiniest!--but average isn't as bad as the alternative.

And then the potential mortification of going the the public bathhouse for the first time and realizing that his brothers were not exaggerating. And the men all having a good laugh about it because he's still young and growing. "My son Sextus had the feet of a Gígas when he was your age. Now, they look like the feet of any man. You shall grow into it." "Certainly. With my son, it was his hands." "And mine, his nose."

And so it went. Each year deeper into puberty, his body growing longer and leaner. Marius growing taller than the boys and indeed most of the men around him. And the whole time, his dick growing right along with the rest of him. Slowly, as the years go on, the reassurances dry up. No more talk of feet and hands and noses. No more laughter and friendly slaps on the shoulder. Just averted eyes and hushed whispers as soon as his back is turned.

Yet another reason he feels such a desperate need to constantly prove himself.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Live Nation/Ticketmaster is buying Congress

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me THURSDAY (May 2) in WINNIPEG, then Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), Tartu, Estonia, and beyond!

Anything that can't go on forever eventually stops. Monopolies are intrinsically destabilizing and inevitably implode…eventually. Guessing which of the loathesome monopolies that make us all miserable will be the first domino is a hard call, but Ticketmaster is definitely high on my list.

It's not that event tickets are the most consequential aspect of our lives. The monopolies over pharma, fuel, finance, tech, and even beer are all more important to our day-to-day. But while Ticketmaster – and its many ramified tentacles, like Live Nation – may not be the most destructive monopoly in our world, but it pisses off people with giant megaphones and armies of rabid fans.

It's been a minute since Ticketmaster was last in the news, so let's recap. Ticketmaster bought out most of its ticketing rivals, then merged with Live Nation, the country's largest concert promoter, and bought out many of the country's largest music, stage and sports venues. They used this iron grip on the entire supply chain for performances and events to pile innumerable junk fees on every ticket sold, while drastically eroding the wages of the creative workers they nominally represented. They created a secret secondary market for tickets and worked with ticket-touts to help them run bots that bought every ticket within an instant of the opening of ticket sales, then ran an auction marketplace that made them gigantic fees on every re-sold ticket – fees the performers were not entitled to share in.

The Ticketmaster/Live Nation/venue octopus is nearly impossible to escape. Independent venues can't book Live Nation acts unless they use Ticketmaster for their tickets. Acts can't get into the large venues owned by Ticketmaster unless they sign up to have Live Nation book their tour. And when Ticketmaster buys a venue, it creams off the most successful acts, starving competing venues of blockbuster shows. They also illegally colluded with their vendors to jack up the price of concerts across the board:

https://pascrell.house.gov/uploadedfiles/ful.pdf

When Rebecca Giblin and I were writing Chokepoint Capitalism, our book about how tech and entertainment monopolies impoverish all kinds of creative workers, we were able to get insiders to go on record about every kind of monopoly, from the labels to Spotify, Kindle to the Big Five publishers and the Google-Meta ad-tech duopoly. The only exception was Ticketmaster/Live Nation: everyone involved in live performance – performers, bookers, club owners – was palpably terrified about speaking out on the record about the conglomerate:

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

No wonder. The company has a long and notorious history of using its market power to ruin anyone who challenges it. Remember Pearl Jam?

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/pearl-jam-taking-on-ticketmaster-67440/

But anything that can't go on forever eventually stops. Not only is Ticketmaster a rapacious, vindictive monopolist – it's also an incompetent monopolist, whose IT systems are optimized for rent-extraction first, with ticket sales as a distant afterthought. This is bad no matter which artist it effects, but when Ticketmaster totally, utterly fucked up Taylor Swift's first post-lockdown tour, they incurred the wrath of the Swifties:

https://www.vox.com/culture/2022/11/21/23471763/taylor-swift-ticketmaster-monopoly

All of which explains why I've always given good odds that Ticketmaster would be first up against the wall come the antitrust revolution. It may not be the most destructive monopolist, but it is absurdly evil, and the people who hate it most are the most famous and beloved artists in the country.

For a while, it looked like I was right. Ticketmaster's colossal Taylor Swift fuckup prompted Senator Amy Klobuchar – a leading antitrust crusader – to hold hearings on the company's conduct, and led to the introduction of a raft of bills to rein in predatory ticketing practices. But as David Dayen writes for The American Prospect, Ticketmaster/Live Nation is spreading a fortune around on the Hill, hiring a deep bench of ex-Congressmen and ex-senior staffers (including Klobuchar's former chief of staff) and they've found a way to create the appearance of justice without having to suffer any consequences for their decades-long campaign of fraud and abuse:

https://prospect.org/power/2024-04-30-live-nation-strikes-up-band-washington/

Dayen opens his article with the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which is always bracketed by a week's worth of lavish parties for Congress and hill staffers. One of the fanciest of these parties was thrown by Axios – and sponsored by Live Nation, with a performance by Jelly Roll (whose touring contract is owned by Live Nation). Attendees at the Axios/Live Nation event were bombarded with messages about the essential goodness of Live Nation (they were even printed on the cocktail napkins) and exhortations to support the Fans First Act, co-sponsored by Klobuchar and Sen John Cornyn (R-TX):

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/arts/music/fans-first-act-ticket-bill.html

Ticketmaster/Live Nation loves the Fans First Act, because – unlike other bills – it focuses primarily on the secondary market for tickets, and its main measure is a requirement for ticketing companies to disclose their junk fees upfront. Neither of these represents a major challenge to Ticketmaster/Live Nation's control over the market, which gives it the ability to slash performers' wages while jacking up prices for fans.

Fans First represents the triumph of Ticketmaster/Live Nation's media strategy, which is to blame the entire problem on bottom-feeding ticket-touts (who are mostly scum!) instead of on the single monopoly that controls the entire industry and can't stop committing financial crimes.

Axios isn't Live Nation's only partner in selling this distraction tactic. Over the past five years, the company has flushed gigantic sums of money through Washington. Its lobbying spend rose from $240k in 2018 to $1.1m in 2022, and $2.38m in 2023:

https://thehill.com/business/4431886-live-nation-doubled-lobbying-spending-to-2-4m-in-2023-amid-antitrust-threat/

The company has 37 paid lobbyists selling Congress on its behalf. 25 of them are former congressional staffers. Two are former Congressmen: Ed Whitfield (R-KY), a 21 year veteran of the House, and Mark Pryor (D-AR), a two-term senator:

https://www.bhfs.com/people/attorneys/p-s/mark-pryor

But perhaps the most galling celebrant in this lavish hymn to Citizen United is Jonathan Becker, Amy Klobuchar's former chief of staff, who jumped ship to lobby Congress on behalf of monopolists like Live Nation, who paid him $120k last year to sell their story to the Hill:

https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/lobbyists?cycle=2023&id=D000053134

Not everyone hates Fans First: it's been endorsed by the Nix the Tix coalition, largely on the strength of its regulation of secondary ticket sales. But the largest secondary seller in America by far is Live Nation itself, with a $4.5b market in reselling the tickets it sold in the first place. Fans First shifts focus from this sleazy self-dealing to competitors like Stubhub.

Fans First can be seen as an opening salvo in the long war against Ticketmaster/Live Nation. But compared to more muscular bills – like Klobuchar's stalled-out Unlock Ticketing Markets Act, it's pretty weaksauce. The Unlocking act will "prevent exclusive contracts between ticketing services and venues" – hitting Ticketmaster/Live Nation where it hurts, right in the bank-account:

https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2023/4/following-senate-judiciary-committee-hearing-klobuchar-blumenthal-introduce-legislation-to-increase-competition-in-live-event-ticketing-markets

It's not all gloom. Dayen reports that Ticketmaster's active lobbying in favor of Fans First has made many in Congress more skeptical of the bill, not less. And Congress isn't the only – or even the best – way to smash Ticketmaster's criminal empire. That's something the DoJ's antitrust division could power through with a lot less exposure to the legalized bribery that dominates Congress.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/30/nix-fix-the-tix/#something-must-be-done-there-we-did-something

Image: Matt Biddulph (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/mbiddulph/13904063945/

CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

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Flying Logos (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Over_$1,000,000_dollars_in_USD_$100_bill_stacks.png

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