#NO posts about the sale of regulated goods or anything hurtful

[prinxlyart]

I will say, I am hungry again and I have a few ask for your Willumity/Vinira headcannons. HOWEVER to be fair to you. This time I will restrain myself and simply ask for you to share any headcanons you want to share as of now!

You can ALWAYS ask for more Willumity.

A L W A Y S

But!! Since you’ve given me free reign to just play in this sandbox, that’s exactly what I’m gonna do

We all agree that Luz is hella ADHD. This girl will talk for HOURS about the shit she likes. If something grabs her attention, she wants to know everything about it. She doesn’t like being told to do things, but she loves being asked to do things. For example: if someone tells her she needs to do a thing her brain will immediately click into the “No” position and will refuse to budge. If someone asks her to do something, her brain clicks to “help? I can help? I can help with a thing for this person? Yes! I’ll help this person with this task because it will make them happy! Yes! I can help!” This is why acts of service resonate so strongly with her.

I don’t know what mental diversity looks like on the Boiling Isles considering how just. Horror-based everything is? But I’m 100% on that autistic Amity train. She has to do things a Certain Way or she’ll teeter on the edge of a meltdown. She refuses to touch/eat certain textures. She usually doesn’t know what the appropriate response/reaction is to a given conversation, especially with her socialite friends, which is why she just remains a cool mask of indifference. She’ll inspect every detail of anything that’s handed to her. She’s incredibly smart, but doesn’t always know how to convey what she knows and understands into words other people can understand. The only people allowed in her personal space are her siblings. Eventually that also stems to Luz and Willow, maybe more as she grows more comfortable with herself? But usually anyone getting in her space is overwhelming and alarming. Defo has a hard time regulating/processing her emotions.

I need to make an entire post dedicated to Augustus Porter because my boy deserves it, but I’ll toss some random things here. He has a signed poster from the head of the Illusionist Coven framed on his bedroom wall. He and his dad have bi-weekly after-dinner standup comedy sessions with each other (Perry has kept a secret journal of all of Gus’s best jokes he’s done over the years that he reads whenever he needs a pick-me-up).

Perry and Eda knew each other in school in passing. Their social circles overlapped but they were never hanging out in the same groups. When Gus is very little (like, maybe 3 or 4?), Perry takes him to the market to just wander around and they find Eda’s Human Collectibles Stand. She and Perry catch up, he introduces her to his son, and Eda (ever the saleswoman) pulls out some shiny human thing that Gus is immediately taken with. In between her and Perry catching up, Gus asks her a million questions about the thing he’s been given and then even more questions about other stuff at her stand. She actually finds it really fun to show off her human shit to someone so enthralled by it. She makes some stuff up here and there just to mess with him, but he’s too young to realize it’s a joke or not true, and takes everything at face value. We all know Eda likes to get a little theatrical with her sales pitches; she does the Salesperson act with everything Gus asks her about. She lets Gus take a couple items home just because he was such a riot and Perry insists he pay for something, but Eda just waves them off and tells him that this is just an investment in a lifelong customer. She had no idea how right she was because Gus defo became obsessed with human culture from that point on. He also picked up on Eda’s super theatrical sales pitches (because he thought it was funny and because he thought that’s just how you’re supposed to show human stuff to people) and began showing off his own “human collectibles museum” to his dad with the same theatrical voice. Perry plays along with this too (as a news anchor he’s got a great announcer voice) and ta-da! That’s how we get the boy we all know and love today. It’s 100% Eda’s fault, but Perry definitely encouraged it because it made his son so happy. That’s also why Gus doesn’t seem especially perturbed at meeting Eda for the first time in ep 3. Or for interjecting his new Human Knowledge in the moment she was patting Luz’s head. He’s used to having conversations with her about human junk whenever she has her stand up. Eda’s secretly relieved that one of Luz’s new friends is actually someone she kinda knows. It’s Perry’s kid, and Perry’s a good guy. His little squirt seems to be growing up to be pretty good too.

Eda scoffs at “nerdy” shit as if she hasn’t owned the Clawthorne Braincell her entire life. “She worked twice as hard” “-that just made me work harder than you!”. Eda’s extremely smart and extremely talented. She likely created the secret room of shortcuts entirely on her own. She probably studied in the school library constantly, but under the guise of causing mischief. And like. She probably did both. She was a potions track kid so she probably knew all the best ways to make stink bombs that she could leave hidden in the shelves. She hated school because she was so limited and stifled; she only wanted to learn magic and was told no at every turn. So when she learned magic on her own, yknow, without the guidance of a teacher, there’s bound to be some major fuck ups. Once she’s fine-tuned her mistakes though, she absolutely turns them into pranks. You say I’m not allowed to study multiple tracks, bumpikins?? Well how’s THIS!!! How’s THAT for focus??? (Half of her pranks were also just her showing off and desperately hoping to prove that she could learn any type of magic and couldn’t be constrained to just the one. Bump recognized this of course, but he had strict guidelines to follow and no Luz Noceda to call him out for it.)

Camila treasures her daughter more than life itself. I personally refuse to headcanon anything to do with her extended family or why she’s a single parent (too many variables and options that could be addressed in the show), but I do know that she loves Luz more than anything. It’s exhausting being a single mom, working as a nurse, and trying to be there for her ADHD daughter when the rest of the world doesn’t seem to want her. It hurts her so much to see her baby, the light of her life, her Luz, be brushed aside and written off as “the weirdo”, or bullied, or even outright hated by some people just because she’s a little different. She’s had to have some words with the school staff for how they treat her on occasion. Did you see that Principal’s death glare in the first ep?? He hates her. Camila’s there not just because she’s Luz’s parent, but also to act as a barrier between the principal and Luz. She would move Heaven and Earth for Luz, but it can be a lot when you’re the only adult around. I truly believe she wanted Luz to go to that camp to learn how to be friends with kids that didn’t already know her or her quirks. Even she sounded unsure of what they would do at that camp, but she had full faith that this would be Luz’s opportunity to make friends with other kids that could teach her to like....more mainstream stuff. So she could learn how to mimic their (hopefully, toned down) behaviors. She just wants her baby to be accepted by others.

This next one’s a doozy so hold on to your butts

Lilith is technically smart. And I mean that in a literal sense - she can read and understand the fundamentals of magic, the concepts and execution of complex spells, recite entire chapters of Boiling Isles history, you name it. Many adults in her youth called her gifted because of it. All she actually did was absorb the information and regurgitate it when asked. She thrived on the praise she received. What made her different from her sister is that she never wanted anything more than to do as she was told. Her biggest goal? Her dream job? Was to just be given orders by the Emperor. I’m sure there’s all sorts of flowery propaganda surrounding that, advertising how incredible it is to be in the Emperor’s Coven, what an honor it is to work alongside the witch that can speak to the Titan. But it’s literally just. Taking orders. And knowing you’re somehow better than everyone else because you’ve been selected to be among the elite. She never strived for anything more; she never wanted to do anything else but enforce the Emperor’s will because that was “the highest honor” a witch could have. As a result (or in conjunction rather) she lacks literally any amount of foresight. There’s only one braincell in the Clawthorne Family and her sister has it because this dumbass doesn’t think about anyone but herself. Instead of talking with Eda about what they should do when they were told there was only one spot left in the Emperor’s Coven, she walked away. Only thinking of how she could secure her victory. She didn’t ask Eda how she felt about the situation, she didn’t let Eda speak her mind about what her own desires were; Eda made it clear enough that she just wanted to be by Lilith’s side, she didn’t care what that meant. She just wanted to be with her big sister. Eda tried to reach out to her to discuss their cirumstances, but Lilith just walked away like the broody, self-centered teenager that she was and resolved to cheat her way to victory. When Eda knew this was her dream. Why would she think Eda would take away her dream???? She could’ve asked Eda to throw the duel? She could’ve asked her to fake the match? Or even fake sick? Or just not even shown up! If she didn’t show up it could’ve counted as a forfeit and Lilith would’ve earned the spot by default! But no, she had to ruin her sister’s entire life in an act of cowardice and dishonor because she’s so full of herself and didn’t read the fine print. She loves her sister, of course she does, but she’s so self-absorbed that she’s never seen Eda for who she actually is and wasted both of their lives as a result. And this is all just analysis of her character and that flashback, this isn’t even headcanons. I think if she has any amount of respect for her sister (she doesn’t), her redemption will have to go far far beyond an apology and taking on half the curse. When I say Lilith is a dumbass, this is specifically what I mean. She doesn’t think about how her actions will affect those around her. She was the Head of the Emperor’s Coven, literally one of the most powerful positions she could possibly be in on the Boiling Isles and still sacrificed Amity’s dignity and years of hard work just so she could be ensured that she could one-up her sister. She did this in front of everyone in attendance of that Witches Duel. She risked Amity’s credibility as a witch, as a Blight, and as a person just to fuel her own ego. It’s no wonder Amity was so upset; the witch she’s been idolizing her whole life didn’t think she had what it took to best a human that couldn’t do magic in a witches duel. That can fuck up your self esteem something fierce. And Lilith hardly seemed to give a shit!!!! She didn’t care that she just trashed Amity’s reputation in front of dozens of spectators!!!! I’m v bitter about Lilith as a character in case you couldn’t tell.

If I had to throw a headcanon in, I’ll toss one in that sterling and I have discussed: Lilith literally doesn’t know how to live her life as an independent adult. Sure, she knows how to like. Make herself some easy dinners? But that’s literally only because she used to make herself and Eda dinners when they were kids. Beyond that, she has no fucking idea. She can do the basic household chores any teenager knows how to do, but she’s lived in the Emperor’s Castle with the rest of the Coven since she joined. It’s kind of like living in a college dorm; food and a room is provided, there’s maybe a laundry service, she’s never had to pay taxes in her life (not that Eda does, but yknow). The only things she buys for herself (if she doesn’t make it herself) is her hair dye and books. When she first moves in to the Owl House, she has no idea how the household chores are done. She’s on House Cleaning Duty Eternally and the first......I’ll say year. Eda will wake her up by banging pots and pans over her head once every month and scream-singing about how it’s House Cleaning Day, pull out her lawn chairs and some lemonade, and she and Luz (and sometimes King) will just sit back and relax and watch the show that is Lilith trying to clean Hooty. Hooty does not like to cooperate with her (partially because Lilith is a special friend and partially because he knows how much joy it brings Eda and Luz to watch her struggle).

Oof I could go on but this is already one hell of a post huh? Sorry (not really) for dragging Lilith so hard; not a joke, tumblr made me split hers up into two bullet points because it couldn’t comprehend my ranting for so long in one bullet point. I do love sharing these with y’all though, they’re so much fun and I’m so glad you guys like my rambling. <3333

[seiyasabi]

Haunted House

(I just watched a Netflix Docu Series about the McKamey Manour, and I had to write this. This is a Yandere Bakugou x Female Reader Monster Au, and this will probably be the most messed up thing I write, lmao. Warning!! This has dark, dark themes, so please don’t read if any of the following is triggering: violence, abuse, blood, noncon elements, and just overall disturbing themes. I hope you enjoy, and sorry if this isn’t up to your expectations :)) 

“Mina, I refuse to go in. You know I don’t fuck with this-” 

The pinkette just laughed at you, “(Y/n), come on, this’ll be so much fun! There’s a safe word if it gets too much. I even convinced Momo to come!” You stared at her from the backseat, not convinced. 

Jiro rolled her eyes, “Mina, she doesn’t want to-”

“No! Guys, it’ll be so much fun! I’ll even pay for it, okay? I’ll buy you whatever you want after this too, I promise.” 

You and Jiro looked at each other, and finally yielded. 

“Fine, fine. I’ll go in, but I swear to God if anything happens-” 

“You’ll be fine! The only extreme thing I read that they’d do is throw you around and stuff.” 

Sighing through your nose, you nodded, opening the car door of Mina’s 2013 Honda Civic. From what you know, this would be a girl’s trip. Mina invited all of the girls in your college class, but only seven of you agreed to go (the seven of you being: Mina (of course), Toru, Tsuyu, Jiro, Momo, Ochaco, and lastly, you). At first, you were planning on staying outside and taking pictures of them running out of the haunt, but of course, things change. 

So here you were, going into All Might’s Fright Fest; the scariest haunted house in Japan. 

“If I pass out, one of you bitches better catch me.” You all looked over at Toru, who was laughing at your annoyed expression. “Lighten up, (Y/n)! This’ll be so much fun!” 

You pouted at all of your laughing friends, “You’re all so mean to me!” 

At that point, your group had gotten to the ticket area, where a certain Pikachu look alike was waiting inside a sales booth. 

“Hey guys! I’m so glad you decided to come, you’ll have a lot of fun!” 

Jiro scowled at him, “Damnitt, what’re you doing here?” 

“I work here, sweet-cheeks! So do some of our other classmates, but don’t worry, we won’t laugh at you if your get scared.” He grinned at all of you, before smacking seven thick booklets onto the table top. “All you ladies need to do is sign these forms, and you’re all good to go!” 

Momo passed the packets out to all of you, and you flipped yours open. These were consent forms. You looked at Mina, and were about to speak, but she beat you to it. 

“You can’t back out now! Just sign the damn forms, you’re over eighteen!” 

You glared at her, but read through the forms. The biggest thing that stuck out at you were the words: “...Actors may rip off clothing…” Your eyes widened, and your hope went out the window. Sighing in defeat, you finished reading, and signed the forms. 

“Here you go, Denki. I’m just gonna apologise in advance, because I’ll probably come out looking a mess.” At your words, a sinister look seemed to come over his face. 

“Oh, you will, if you come out at all.” 

“Haha, okay…” You all gave him a weirded out look, before handing him your paperwork. 

He clapped his hands happily, “Alright! Let’s get to business; first things first, there’s a safe word. The safeword is ‘spookie,’ and you can only use it if it’s absolutely necessary. The actors will be able to touch you, and they may hurt you. You can fight back, but no weapons. Your belongings will be up here with me, and that also includes phones. We can’t have you ruining the experience for others by posting vids on YouTube, ya’know?” He chuckled at your lack of response. “Anyways, y’all read the rules and regulations, so just pay and hand over your shit, and your experience will be great!” Mina begrudgingly took out her wallet and paid for everyone. The rest of you gave Denki your belongings, and put on a wristband. 

“Okie dokie, let’s get you pretty ladies inside,” he winked at Jiro, causing her to scoff. “Follow me.” 

He led the seven of you down a dark hallway, up to a giant set of doors. There were multiple signs telling people to turn back, but like idiotic movie protagonists, you continue forward. 

“Here’s where I branch off from y’all. Have fun and be-” Denki was cut off by eight large men in masks, they barged in and grabbed each one of you. Your guide’s eyes widened in fear, causing the rest of you to panic. 

“W-what-” Momo was silenced by a large hand, as her captor spoke. 

“Welcome to Hell, bitches. You’re all going to have a fun stay here, I promise. As long as you listen to what I say, no one gets hurt.” The voice sounded familiar, but you couldn’t quite place who it was. 

The man restraining you was letting out gruff chuckles, “Look at Pikachu, he thought he was getting out of this, how fucking stupid. He should’ve known not to come over here, because now he’s going to be assraped by spiky hair.” The man holding you sounded like one of your classmates, Bakugou. You froze up even more than before, glaring towards Mina. 

“Goddamnitt, Mina! We go to school with these kids-” Bakugou’s right hand gripped your throat harshly. 

“Shut the fuck up, bitch! Who the fuck said you could talk?” Gulping in fear, you stopped speaking. 

Everyone was silent, except for the sound of breathing. That is, until another person spoke. 

“Let’s get them inside, then the fun can begin.” All of the masked men nodded, dragging the eight of you inside the large doorway. 

“Move it, losers. If you don’t move fast enough there’ll be punishment!” Bakugou’s hand was still wrapped around your throat, and he shoved you forward. 

Once you all were through the doors, they slammed shut behind you. The room was enormous, and it looked like a torture chamber. There were two autopsy tables in the middle of the room, along with numerous bdsm set ups. There were whips, chains, collars, and so much more, which caused tears to jump to your eyes. Sure, the papers said that there would be sexual elements, but they didn’t say that sexual assault would be allowed. As a law student, you couldn’t just let this slide. 

“The papers didn’t say anything about sexual exploitation-” 

“Shut the fuck up, law nerd! Don’t make me waterboard you.” That was one of the tortures listed in the papers, so you went silent. “Ha, that’s all it takes to make you shut up? What an obedient little bitch. How could you make it in the courtroom, huh?” Your classmate was always a cruel person, but it seemed like he was letting loose. 

“What’re you going to do to us?” Ochaco looked very close to pissing herself, which made you feel awful. She always scared easily, so this must’ve been the worst thing to ever happen to her. 

“We’re going to do whatever the fuck we want.” That sounded like Fumikage, which weirded you out. Were all the haunted house staff students at your school? 

With that, the group separated. Bakugou yanked you towards a dark corner, and forced you to the floor. He stood over your slumped form, and glared down at you through his ski mask. 

“Strip.” 

“W-what?” Your eyes widened, and you wrapped your arms around yourself. 

“I said strip! Are you fucking deaf or something?” Bakugou’s voice seemed to change, instead of his normally raspy voice, it sounded like he was growling. 

“No, I’m not going to-” Before you could finish, your muscular peer started to rip at your clothes. 

“You think you can tell me no? Well you’re fucking wrong, bitch!” 

Panicking, you yelled out the safe word, “Holy shit- spookie!” Everything stopped, and everyone turned towards the two of you. You almost let out a sigh of relief, before Bakugou started to laugh. 

“You really thought that there was a safeword? Fuck no! You can’t pussy out, I won’t let you.” With that, the chaos continued. His large hand grabbed your sweater, and ripped it off of your terrified form. 

“What the hell! Fuck off, asshole!” You tried to thrash around, but he trapped you to the floor with his body. Bakugou slapped you across the face harshly, and pushed your head to the ground. 

“You better watch your fucking tone, whore. A bitch doesn’t tell her master what to do, do they?” His mouth was next to your ear, and when he received no answer, he bit down on it. “Answer me, (Y/n)!” 

You cried out in pain, tears trailing down your face. “Yes, yes I understand!” Katsuki seemed pleased with your answer, and let go. He licked at the blood falling from your ear, and shuddered in pleasure. 

“You’re going to be a good girl for me, right?” 

“Yes.” He laughed at your pitiful response. 

“You know my name; say it.” 

“Yes, Bakugou.” He clicked his tongue at that, and he looked down at your half dressed body. 

“(Y/n), you know better than to call me that. Call me by my first name, or I’ll punish you further.” 

A lump formed in your throat, but you nodded regardless. 

“Yes, Katsuki.” He smirked at you, and gripped your left arm, hoisting you to your feet. Your arms crossed over your chest, trying to hide your undergarments from the man in front of you.

“Let me look at you,” Katsuki forced your arms to your sides. The cold air made goose bumps appear on your chest, and your breath hitched. He always made you nervous, but now, he was just making you scared. His violent nature makes him a threat, in or out of the haunted house. 

His eyes trailed over your torso, drinking in your visage. He licked his lips hungrily, making him look animalistic. You fiddled with your fingers, trying to block him out. 

“Katsuki, please stop looking at me. You’re making me uncomfortable.” A growl resonated throughout the room, forcing you to look up. Bakugou looked like a totally different person. His features seemed… dog like. Flinching in shock, you took a couple shaky steps back. That triggered more vicious growls and snarls from the blond man. The other masked men looked up at the both of you, seemingly just as surprised as you are. 

“Bakugou, what’re you doing?” His red eyes locked with another man’s, and he glared savagely. 

“Shut the fuck up, I’m doing some important shit.” 

“Bro, you need to calm the fuck down. We’re just supposed to mess with them, maybe even hurt them a little. Don’t expose us to some random chick.” 

“You’re one to talk, spiky hair. You dragged bolts-for-brains,” he nodded towards Denki, “Into this for some fucking reason, so shut your fucking mouth.” His gaze then went back to you. “And you,” He was now right in front of you, blocking you from everyone else in the room. Your friends were looking at you with apologetic and sad eyes, making you ten times as afraid. One of his hands came up and gripped your jaw, “You’re going to let me do what I want.” 

“What do you want from me?” Tears started to fall down your face, which he licked off. 

“To put it simply, you fucking idiot, I want you.” You just stared at him blankly, which caused him to let out an annoyed grunt. “I see you in class all the time, pretending that you don’t fucking notice me. You refuse to even fucking look at me, do you know how much that fucking hurts? We’re supposed to be fated, yet you’re treating me like shit!” Katsuki was gripping your shoulders harshly, his face close to yours. 

“I-I don’t understand, what-” 

“Let me fucking talk!” His grip became even tighter, causing you to let out a pathetic whimper. “You always talk to guys, hell, you go on so many dates! Are you trying to make me jealous? Because if you are, it’s fucking working. I’ve had to get rid of so many assholes over the years, so many people have tried taking you away from me, and I won’t allow it.” 

Your blood ran cold. Was he responsible for most of your guy friends going missing? “Katsuki, what did you do?” 

He backed you into the wall, blocking everyone else from your gaze, “I did what I had to do. You understand, right? We’re meant to be together, I couldn’t have any obstacles. Hell, that’s the reason why I got this job. Until I become a cop, I need as much money as I can get to support us.” 

“You’re mad! What the fuck are you talking about?” Katsuki just laughed at you. 

“Of course you humans wouldn’t understand. Let me put it into a way you’d understand; we’re mates. We can only love each other, you pillock. Because of that, you denying me will only hurt you in the end. I can only be so patient, so you better shape up.” 

You blinked at him in disbelief, “That still doesn’t explain why you got this shoddy job, or why you seemingly killed my male friends-” 

“I got this shitty job because it fucking pays well, and I can let out my frustration. I can’t just go up to you and say, ‘Hey, let’s fuck at my place.’ Although, after this, that’s an easy feat.” 

You scoffed at his seemingly content looking face, “Oh piss off, I still wouldn’t want to fuck you! For the love of God, you literally bit my ear like a fucking vampire-” 

“Don’t you dare compare me to icy-hot! I’m not some fucking weirdo!” 

“Whatever you say, asshole! That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t like you. Even if you were a vampire, that wouldn’t make me any less disgusted with you.” You both just stared at each other, while the torture of your friends continued in the background. 

“Take that back,” Katsuki looked calm, too calm. Glaring up at him, you shook your head. 

“No.” 

Your supposed ‘mate’ raised an eyebrow, “No?” 

“No, I won’t take it back. You disgust me, Katsuki Bakugou.” 

His gaze turned steely, his jaw now set. 

“Fine, if that’s how you feel, I might as well give you a reason to be disgusted.” 

A gasp left your lips as he ripped your (bottoms) off of you, desperately trying to cover up your bare legs. 

“Stop it! Katsuki, what’re you doing?!” He was huffing and puffing over your curled up form, snarling at you. 

“You say such fucked up shit, yet you still look and sound so damn cute.” He then grabbed your legs, and dragged you towards him. You were thrashing and kicking, trying to get away. 

“Get off of me! Please stop!” Once you were close, he hauled you up into his arms. His right arm forced yours to your side, and squeezed your left one to his chest. Katsuki’s left arm pushed your legs together, making you unable to kick him. He then walked out with you in his arms, and into a nearly empty room. There was only a mattress on the floor, and you were then tossed onto it. Scrambling backwards, your upper half fell off the bed. Your mate let out a sickening laugh at your pitiful state. 

“Look at you! All teary eyed and pretty,” he quickly joined you on the mattress. “Come over here, (Y/n).” 

You shake your head rapidly, dragging the rest of your barely clothed body onto the floor, “No, I don’t want to.” 

“I didn’t ask what you wanted; come over here, now.” You shake your head again, tears falling down your face while your bottom lip trembles. You weren’t able to say anything else, because Bakugou grabbed you by your upper arms, and forced you into the mattress with him. Your cold skin pressed against his warm extremities, causing him to let out a pleasured moan. You pressed a hand against his chest, trying to get out of his embrace. 

“Please let me go, I don’t like you touching me-” 

“Quiet, let me hold you. I’ve wanted this for years, and you’re not going to fucking stop me from at least doing this.” Katsuki then pushed his head to your bra clad chest, arms wrapped around your waist. His warm breath caused goosebumps to paint across your skin, making you shift uncomfortably. You both sat there in silence for an unknown amount of time, before he started to move. 

Katsuki started to kiss up and down The Valley between your breasts, causing you to speak out once more. 

“Katsuki, please stop, this is getting weird-“ 

“I’m trying to be romantic, shut the fuck up!” You flinched at the volume of his voice. 

“What’re you trying to do?” Your voice came out trembly, showing how spooked you truly were. 

“I’m making sure no one can take you from me again, that’s what.” 

“What the fuck-“ 

“I’m marking you, dumbass! Now hold still-“ he started to harshly leave love bites. Large hickeys started to form on your neck and chest, causing you to push at him. 

“Stop it! What the hell-“ 

Katsuki started to lick the spot connecting your neck and shoulders, all the while growling and hissing. Before you could push him away from you, he bit down, hard. 

A scream left your lips as flailed about. 

“Stop it, Please! It hurts!” 

Tears filled his eyes as he sucked on the skin around his teeth. Was he drinking your blood?!? He couldn’t be, he said he wasn’t a vampire! 

After a few more agonising moments, Katsuki let go of your now bleeding neck. He licked away the blood running from your wound, and kissed around it. 

His tears continued to fall freely, “all I wanted was for you to love me, yet you refuse to. Now look what you made me do, I had to claim you forcefully.” Your droopy eyes let a few more tears slip, before you spoke to your assaulter. 

“What do you want from me?”

He grabbed your right hand, and gave it an almost tender kiss. 

“Everything.”

[sugar-sugarshowigotfly]

I’m proud to work a job that my closest family would hate me for.

I am a cam model. I hate that I can’t post this on my Facebook, IG, Snap- and that even here I have to keep some semblance of anonymity because if someone in my family found out, I’m afraid of how it might damage their relationship with me. So many people know I’m a cam model. They love me, they support me- they don’t view me any differently. My closest friends know, some strangers who have been curious about what I do to make a good living. Tons of people know. The only people who don’t are the ones who should be the closest to me. My mom, my dad. My aunties, my Nanna. The people who love and care about me the best they can, can’t accept what I do for work. I think my dad could swallow it, begrudgingly... but I’m too afraid to test it, now that we have a good relationship after several years of *barely* speaking. I love my family so much and it hurts to know my job choice could make them love or accept me any less. And here’s why it breaks my heart: I want to tell them. I want to post about it, I want to be fully open, and not have to lie about such a huge part of my life to the people I love. I love being a cam model. I’m good at it. It’s hard work. I don’t think most people know how much goes into managing the “behind the scenes” of independent cam modeling. This job has taught me how to fill out tax forms, how to discipline myself, how to do some accounting and how to manage my money. It has helped me learn things about myself and the world around me that I couldn’t have learned anywhere else. I have learned to set firm boundaries, and how to deal with conflict professionally, I have learned to control my impulses and emotions. I now understand sales, marketing, and the work that goes into building a business from a completely different perspective. My confidence is boosted, sex drive more regulated, I honestly could go forever. I feel like I belong to a community of intelligent, loving, genuine, supportive, compassionate people. I so truly feel more respected in this industry than any other industry I have worked in. More than anything, I’m learning to make and meet my goals- and this income helps me meet them. I wish so deeply that I could share my excitement about all of this with people I love without receiving hate and backlash in return.

[bastionkeeper]

This is gonna be hella specific so please feel free to change anything as you see fit! I highly value artistic freedom and don't want to restrain you too much. But 33 for the prompt list with RK-900 having his programming taken over and he attacks Connor, while still aware of what's going on.... 10/10! Bonus points if Connor is very confused and feels betrayed. Love your Become Deviant and Twisted Code series! You are my favorite author, even beating JK Rowling in my book.

I’m sure you saw me dying over that compliment in my other post so I won’t repeat my gushing here asldkfj. This got way longer than I thought, and I kinda wanna make it a series... enjoy!

33. This is gonna hurt

Not all Cyberlife employees went peacefully into different careers, changing from the production and sales of androids to working with their community, or else back into the world of computers, marketing, or some other old trade that they’d abandoned when the pull of Kamski’s future called. These rogue programmers and engineers retreated to the black market, where they could sell off whatever tech they stole as part of their severance and continue their work without the restrictions of the Jericho Accords.

Which was how the former deviant hunters found themselves hunting down the people that had once held their leash. Connor was happy enough with the work, he got to keep doing what he was good at but for the right reasons. He found it difficult to describe Nines’s feelings on the matter, as his brother and partner was hard to read even after deviating. They’d been working the job for months, and while Connor had plenty to say about being away from home, the excitement of the work, the people they detained, even the weather, Nines remained as quiet and stoic as always.

“We’re 8 to 10, and I plan to catch up, just in case you weren’t keeping track,” Connor attempted to tease as they readied their weapons in the cramped hotel room. Nines ignored the bait almost entirely, save for a roll of his eyes.

“And people say I suffer from a faulty social programming,” Connor said, an old line that never got a rise out of Nines. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Nines answered.

“Just the one word today, huh?” Connor asked. He’d only grown more mouthy with deviancy, and the influence of a certain police lieutenant. “We’ll be friends someday, Nines. I’ll grow on you.”

Nines’s passive frown tightened a bit, as he zipped up his leather jacket and headed for the door.

They’d been trailing their current mark for weeks, from city to city until they’d found him staying with a cousin in a rundown apartment building. The two RKs stood outside that building, dripping from the rain.

“I can’t believe I used to just ignore this sort of thing,” Connor said, holding out a hand and catching raindrops in his palm. “My temperature gauge just dropped four degrees.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Nines said sternly, walking past Connor to the door, leaving the older android to sigh and shiver slightly before following.

They took the elevator up three floors, and approached the proper apartment carefully. Nines pulled out his weapon, while Connor knocked.

The apartment door opened a crack, the chain rattling as a man peeked out. “Yeah?”

“We’re looking for Sean Evans,” Connor said, not at all surprised when the man went to slam the door shut. He grabbed the knob, pushing the door to keep it open and snapping the chain with his other hand. The man at the door stumbled backwards, shouting into the living room and alerting the apartment’s other occupant.

“He’s going for the fire escape!” Connor said, getting stopped in his chase when the man who answered the door threw a chair from the dining room table at him. Nines determined the chances of Connor’s success in the ensuing  struggle to be high enough that he could leave him to chase Evans.

He practically leapt down the fire escape, feet splashing into a puddle in the alleyway. He ran after Evans, who was a fleeing shadow in the night pushing past dumpsters and stumbling against the nearby walls. Nines caught him easily, unsurprised when Evans pulled a knife and slashed at him. Nines dodged both stabs, though it did rip through the sleeve of his jacket which he regretted. The jacket had been a gift from Connor.

Nines disarmed the man, tossing the knife aside. “I recommend you do not resist. I have the authority to bring you in unde-”

Nines’s script was interrupted as the man pulled something else from his pocket and quickly slapped it to the back of Nines’s neck. Nines felt his limbs go limp, and was compelled to obey when Evans said: “let me go.”

“Are you armed?” Evans asked.

“Yes,” Nines was forced to answer.

“Give it to me.”

Nines turned over his gun, and then let his arms fall heavily back to his side.

Suddenly, Nines heard Connor descending the fire escape, and Evans swore.

“Keep your buddy busy while I get away, don’t let him follow me,” he said, before taking off.

“Nines, what ar-” was all Connor got to say as Nines rushed him, slamming into Connor with one shoulder.

Oh. This is gonna hurt, Connor thought vaguely as Nines sent him toppling to the ground.

“Nines, what the hell?” Connor leapt to his feet. “I’m sorry he got away, I know I messed up back there bu-”

He was cut off again as Nines grabbed him and threw him into the wall.

Connor had to scramble away, trying to process what was happening as Nines attacked him. He felt fear and anxiety grip him as he wondered what could have caused Nines to snap. He had been teasing him, but Nines always seemed to just ignore that sort of thing.

As Connor moved unintentionally closer to where Evans had fled, Nines grabbed him by the arm, pulling in twisting in a manner that dislocated the limb with a sickening sound of metal tearing against metal. Connor cried out as his vision was bombarded with error messages and the android equivalent of pain was sent rocketing through his body to alert him to the damage.

Nines felt something akin to pain too as he saw Connor’s face contort with a scream. He realized suddenly he’d never really thought about how small and flawed the prototype was. His body was moving to exploit those weaknesses in Connor’s design that they had repaired in his own, and the whole time he begged his hands to stop.

Nines was about to hit the place where Connor’s regulator didn’t quite fit into the port, a blow that would dislodge it and result in possible fatal destruction of the biocomponent, when he felt Connor grasping desperately at the back of his neck.

Because for a split second Connor had seen the blinking red light of the override strip Evans had stuck there.

Connor ripped the strip away, and Nines gave an unnecessary gasp as he fell to his knees. Connor resisted the urge to toss the strip away, step on it, or snap it in half. Evidence was best collected undamaged, so he slipped it into his pocket instead as he knelt down to check on Nines.

“You okay?” he asked.

“You… okay?” Nines asked in disbelief. “I...I…”

“You’ll be alright,” Connor said, putting a hand on Nines’s back. “I-”

“I ripped your arm from its socket, Connor! I smashed in your ankle, am I okay? Are you okay?”

Connor paused, realizing how ridiculous their scene must look. An android beaten to hell checking on a fully functional one. He rocked back off his knees to sit down, taking his injured arm in one hand with a wince of pain and then started to laugh.

“Oh no I damaged your CPU,” Nines said in dismay. “Your emotional reactions are-”

“No, no its fine, Nines,” Connor said. “It’s just you’re right. That was ridiculous of me.”

Nines gave Connor a concerned look, before helping him to his feet. He threw one of Connor’s arms over his shoulder to keep him upright, his concerned look only growing as Connor continued laughing.

“Stop that!” Nines scolded. “Any unnecessary movement could exacerbate the damage.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Connor said. “I just can’t believe it took the guilt of nearly killing me to get you to speak in full sentences.”

Nines huffed, rolling his eyes. “It’s… not as easy for me. Talking and understanding.”

“I know, big guy,” Connor said, patting Nines’s cheek. “That’s alright.”

They started walking, heading back towards the hotel where a repair kit was waiting. They walked in silence until Connor spoke up again.

“Hey, Nines?”

“Yes?”

“Now we’re 9 to 10…”

“Shut up.”

[seachranaidhe]

Over the last few weeks the IRSM (Irish Republican Socialist Movement) have been, and still are being constantly attacked by MI5 British Military Intelligence and their agents.

All administrator’s from our IRSM pages on Facebook have been under investigation. The main IRSP page, all our IRSP cumman pages throughout Ireland , the History of the IRSM page and the IRSM Fallen Comrades page are all being attacked, over petty issues.

The IRSP (Irish Republican Socialist Party) are a registered political party since May 22nd 1975 and do not, and would not post inappropriate…

[eleanor-writes-stuff]

and my heart goes boom, boom, boom [ficlet]

When Ben first decided to start a rival fireworks shop near his father’s place at the young age of eighteen, he didn’t really have much of a plan aside from “piss Dad off”.

But he can’t exactly say that to the beautiful girl behind the counter now, can he?

Earlier this week my sleep-deprived mind and I were scrolling down my dashboard when I came across this post about rival fireworks shops. @orkindofamazing had reblogged it with a couple of Reylo tags, and next thing I knew I had a ficlet on my hands. 

So here’s the fireworks shop AU no one ever asked for.

First posted here. Also available on AO3. And hey, maybe check out my Twitter and Ko-fi?

Ben Solo might well be the only kid in the world who can say he grew up splitting his free time between a Senator’s office and a smuggler’s illegal fireworks shop.

His father has been running Dishonest Don’s for as long as he can remember. Hell, his very first memory is of the shop, of being shut away in the back office and slowly sinking into the lumpy couch while his parents made annoyed faces and wild gestures at each other just beyond the window. It was all so funny and entertaining to young Ben until his mother stormed into the office, scooped him up, and shouted something about child-appropriate environments at his father while Ben waved goodbye over his mother’s shoulder.

He was back in the shop less than a week later, when his mother couldn’t find anyone else to watch him during her filibuster. Just this once, she told him and his father. This is the last time, she promised him two months later.

It wasn’t.

The last time was when he was thirteen and rumors were spreading about Senator Organa’s shady husband and Ben watched his father pick the stupid shop over his family.

The next time his mother tried to drop him off at Dishonest Don’s, Ben tried to convince her that he was old enough to stay home by himself. His mother agreed almost immediately, in what was probably the shortest argument in her entire life.

So from then on Ben stayed home and watched his father head off to work, and he sulked, and he seethed, and he plotted.

In lieu of a big bash with non-existent friends for his eighteenth birthday, Ben gets a typical Organa-Solo family dinner.

His father is actually home in time for dinner, for once, but he and Chewie talk about work all evening anyway.

Uncle Luke tries to ask him about school, then girls, then his future, until his mother takes mercy on him and drags her brother away under the guise of needing to consult him on a very important, very confidential matter.

There are a few others scattered here and there, familiar faces always in the background of nearly every birthday he’s ever had, but there’s only one Ben is interested in talking to.

“Happy birthday, kid!” Lando grins as he approaches, and Ben knows he’s made the right choice when his uncle toasts him with a beer and immediately proceeds to hand said beer to him. “Probably time to stop calling you that, huh? Eighteen. Eighteen,” he whistles. “Feels like just yesterday you were hiding in my cape to block out the fireworks. And now look at you. There’s no cape in the world big enough for you to hide in, young man!”

Ben drops his eyes to the ground, scuffs his feet for a bit, holds back a satisfied grin at Lando calling attention to his newly filled-out frame.

His uncle knows him well enough to change the subject.

“So, any plans, Benny? Eighteen’s a pretty big deal.”

He looks up, holds eye contact as he knocks back his beer. Is alcohol supposed to be involved when you pitch a business idea to your mysteriously rich uncle?

Either way, Ben figures it can’t hurt.

“Actually, on the subject of fireworks…”

At the ribbon cutting for Honest John’s, Han laughs until he’s doubled over on the sidewalk, tears streaming down his face.

It’s not exactly the reaction Ben was looking for, but he almost doesn’t mind when his father comes up to him later that day and squeezes his shoulder.

“This is… this is really something you’ve put together here, son. Much better than anything I could’ve come up with.”

Much more legal, too, but Ben keeps that thought to himself for once. Because his father is looking up at him, and he’s got a hand on Ben’s back, and for once Han smiles, actually smiles, when he says, “I’m proud of you, Ben.”

So maybe it’s not the confrontation Ben’s been itching for since he was thirteen and he saw tears in his mother’s eyes for the very first time as she tried to make his dad understand the consequences of his actions.

And yeah, it’s probably not going to turn into a fistfight that’ll finally give him the chance to wipe that cocky smirk of his father’s face.

But there’s a telltale shine in his mother’s eyes as she runs her hands over the counter he built, and there’s no sign of a smirk on his father’s face as he admires the rest of the shop, and when his parents meet in the middle they take each other’s hand and turn to him with a look of pride and joy that nearly chokes him up.

That’s good enough, Ben decides, and throws himself into running the best damn business he possibly can.

“Hey, Mitaka. Been a while,” Ben comments as he walks out from behind the counter to assist one of his oldest regulars.

He doesn’t mean anything by it, just a simple observation, but then Mitaka avoids his eye and looks down at the ground and-

“Sorry about that. It’s just, everyone said it’s different now with the new regulations, and of course you’d have to follow them because you’re above the board and all that, which is great, really, it’s great, but no one wants boring fireworks at a 4th of July party, you know? Not- not that I’m saying your stuff is boring-”

Ben frowns as he steps forward, resting a hand on the red-faced man’s shoulder. “Dude. Breathe.”

Mitaka does as instructed, even as he continues to twist his fingers together nervously. “So yeah, sorry it’s been a while. But I’m back now, and I’ll never go to Dishonest Don’s again, I promise-”

“Wait, wait,” Ben interrupts. “Dishonest Don’s? You’ve been going there?”

Mitaka looks like a kicked puppy as he nods.

“Why? You’ve been coming here for years! And you know they’re illegal-”

“But they’ve still got the meteor shower ones, and I know you’re not allowed to sell those anymore.”

This is news to Ben, who just received a box of said fireworks two hours ago. “Says who?” he demands incredulously.

“Um, well, everyone really, but mainly-” Mitaka pulls his phone out and opens up a familiar-looking website before handing it over to Ben.

The design is unmistakable, and the URL at the top can’t be a coincidence.

His father’s latest post is titled The Silent Night Act and what that means for you, which sounds nothing at all like the succinct announcements Ben’s gotten used to. New stuff, the posts usually read, followed by a slew of pictures and prices and nothing else. This… this article about new sound and light pollution regulations warning against hefty fines for those caught red-handed and watered-down versions from licensed sellers trying to toe the line sounds nothing at all like his usual style.

It’s also not like his father to stoop this low and try his hand at sabotage, but here they are anyway.

Ben throws the phone back at Mitaka and stalks towards the front door.

“Hux, watch the shop! I’ve got a fucking bone to pick with Han fucking Solo!”

Dishonest Don’s is both fifteen minutes and worlds away from Honest John’s. While Ben’s shop operates in a perfectly respectable area, it’s just a short walk away from shady repair shops, hole-in-the-wall spots, and, of course, the city’s worst-kept secret.

For fuck’s sake, his father even has the name of the shop spelled out in neon lights. The sign stopped working properly a long time ago, way before Ben hit puberty, but it’s still there, flickering every once in a while like some kind of prolonged death rattle-

Ben stops short right outside the door. For the first time in nearly fifteen years, the lights are working. Dishonest Don’s is spelled out in full, rather than the usual hoe on that’s greeted customers for as long as he can remember.

Inside is even more baffling. There are lights, actual lights bright enough for him to see where he’s going. There’s a bell over the door that announces his arrival. And most unexpected of all, there’s someone other than his father and Chewie standing behind the counter.

“Hi there, looking for something?”

She’s young (probably younger than him) and tall (for a girl) and beautiful (in every sense of the word) and Ben almost, almost blurts out you because when she smiles, it’s brighter than a thousand fireworks lighting up the night sky.

He shakes the thought away, stalks further into the shop and towards her to show her the post. “Where’s Han? We need to talk about this.”

The girl tilts her head. “What about it?”

“It’s- it’s-” Ben splutters, dropping his phone on the counter. “It’s slander! Fake news! Total and complete bullshit meant to sabotage me-”

“Wow, I did not expect this big of a reaction.”

Ben stops, considers her in silence for a beat. “Wait, what? What do you mean- you knew about this?”

“Of course I did,” the girl shrugs as she scrolls past the article on his phone. “I wrote it, after all.”

Everything comes to a screeching halt. The world stops making sense. Up is down and down is left and why in the hell would this random girl use his father’s website to sabotage his business?

“Why the fuck did you do that?” Ben demands, snatching his phone out of her hands. Small hands, rough hands, hands that look like they would fit perfectly into his own- “You lied about me!”

The girl shrugs. “Thought I’d make things interesting.”

“You stole my customers!”

“Mm-hmm,” she hums, shifting her focus to the register. “Gotta meet those sale targets somehow.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

At this, she finally looks up. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” she retorts without missing a beat, without losing control. “What kind of asshole sets up shop right across the street just to piss off his father?”

Truth be told, sometimes Ben does look back at his teenage self and feel a slight bit of shame over his actions. But this stranger doesn’t need - or deserve - to know that.

“You wouldn’t get it. It’s a long story,” he says dismissively, crossing his arms over his chest as he looks around the shop and takes in the small changes she must be responsible for. Things are… things are actually organized, for once. And he can stand here without worrying that one of the highly flammable, highly explosive piles his father likes to keep things in is about to roast him to a crisp. It’s… nice, and Ben’s happy just looking around until-

“And I’ve got a long lunch break,” mystery girl replies easily, pinning him down with a challenge in her eyes. “So start talking, Honest John’s.”

There’s a chair on the other end of the counter, a little waiting seat of sorts. Ben remains silent until he’s settled down. “It’s, um… it’s Ben, by the way. Not John. Or Honest John.”

She smiles at him again; just one more and his heart will probably fail him. “Yeah, that sounds better. Fits you.”

And then she holds her hand out and offers him the beginning of everything.

“I’m Rey, in case you were wondering. Rey like sunshine, but with an E.”

Of course the only thing brighter than all the fireworks in the world is the sun herself.

So, um... yeah, that’s that. This is what happens when you attempt to write while severely sleep-deprived, kids.

As always, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed at least some part of this. Please don’t hesitate to like/reblog/comment!

[relbyshock]

Amy Winehouse, Princess Diana, Britney Spears, Marilyn Monroe, Aileen Wuornos, Angelina Jolie, Adolf Hitler, Darrell Hammond, Pete Davidson, Winona Ryder, Vincent Van Gogh, Tommy Tiernan….

What do they all have in common? Apart from being famous figures, they all suffer(ed) or were rumored to have suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder.

Hey, me too.

I’m over the moon to have something in common with Princess Di (apart from our shared plight with bulimia), but I have to say, I’d rather not have anything in common with Aileen or Adolf…..

Borderline Personality Disorder is a confusing term to say the least. On the borderline of what and what? Well, in the ‘30s, it meant you fell somewhere between psychosis (untreatable) and neurosis (treatable).

Great, that’s reassuring.

Come the ‘70s, BPD sufferers were described as being very emotional, needy, difficult, at risk for suicide, and to have an “overall unstable level of functioning”.

Check. *sings “Welcome to My Life” by Simple Plan*

We also have rapidly fluctuating mood swings, unstable self-image, and a fear of abandonment. This disorder wasn’t even recognized by the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) until 1980.

Today, we know far more about BPD – “neurosis” is no longer used in the diagnosis, and BPD is no longer considered a psychotic disorder.

 So what are we then?

Crazy?

Hormonal?

According to my family, yes. But in reality, the problem lies within our brains. Let me nerd out here for a minute:

The Amygdala (Ah-mig-dah-lah) is composed of two almond-shaped parts of the brain, deep in the medial temporal lobe, that regulate fear and aggression. People with BPD have amygdala’s that are noticeably smaller than that of a healthy person. The smaller the amygdala, the more overactive it is.

Like short guys with bad attitudes, or what I like to refer to as “little man syndrome”.

And then we have the Hippocampus – no, not pachyderm college. The hippocampus is responsible for spatial orientation (not falling over), long and short-term memory, and emotional regulation. Put simply, the hippocampus chooses the correct response to environmental events: Fight or flight.

You may be wondering if I was dropped on my head as a child. The answer is yes – frequently – but the chances of minor brain trauma causing BPD are slim.

The causes of Borderline Personality Disorder are unclear. It seems to involve genetic, brain, environmental and social factors. There are rumours that people with BPD have issues with serotonin production, which has been linked to depression, aggression and having a hard time controlling “destructive urges”.

As for environmental factors, those who have been a victim of emotional/physical/sexual abuse, as well as being exposed to chronic fear or distress as a child have a high likelihood of developing BPD. This is because our relationship with our parents and family has a HUGE influence on how we see the world, and how we feel about other people.

Gals are also diagnosed 3 times as often as guys. You’ve gotta wonder if that’s due to the fact that men tend to be more weary of the doctor, therefore avoiding a diagnosis altogether. This is pure speculation.

Shall we take a dive into the “Signs and Symptoms” as listed by Wikipedia?

-Markedly disturbed sense of identity

-Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment and extreme reactions

-Splitting (black and white thinking)

-Impulsivity

-Intense and uncontrollable emotional reactions that often seem disproportionate to the event or situation

-Unstable and chaotic interpersonal relationships

-Self-damaging behavior (ie, substance abuse)

-Distorted self-image

-Dissociation

-Frequently accompanied by depression, anxiety, anger, substance abuse or rage

We are also aware of the intensity of our negative emotional reactions, and since we can’t regulate them, we shut them down completely. What my doctor and I refer to as feeling “flat”.

BPD sufferers are also extremely sensitive to real or perceived rejection. Let’s explain with a meme, shall we:

*looking at an unanswered text from 12 minutes ago*

You: They must be in the shower or just busy, they’ll respond when they have a chance.

Me: Ok well they were active on Instagram 6 minutes ago and they just posted a snap story….they’re ignoring me, why do they hate me? What did I do? Are they mad at me? Should I send another text to get their attention or is that too needy?

If you’re annoyed just reading that, TRY LIVING IN MY BRAIN.

I annoy myself.

I feel grief, overwhelming shame and humiliation where others would feel mildly embarrassed. A minor inconvenience such as cancelled plans takes me from excited to absolutely miserable.

In the past, an unflattering photo on Facebook has caused me to reevaluate my self-worth, and even my life.

The Sickboy podcast explained it beautifully: Borderline Personality Disorder is like having a third degree burn on your emotions. I feel that. Everything hurts me just a little bit more than the average bear (or human).

Why am I telling you this? Because boys and girls, today is Bell Let’s Talk Day here in Canada. I’ll include the link at the bottom. Basically, in 2010, Bell began a new conversation about Canada’s mental health. They’ve enlisted such figures as Howie Mandel, Michael Landsberg, and Clara Hughes to share their stories of struggle and strength in the face of mental health.

I thought today was as good as any other to address the stigma surrounding mental health, but more specifically, the stigma around BPD.

I can’t pretend to know all the answers – I’m not and won’t pretend to be a psychiatrist. But this is what the world looks like through my lens.

If someone honks at me while I’m driving to work, I’m upset ALL DAY. I never want to drive again, I want to pull over and cry, or turn around and go home.

If I get a moderately rude email, my brain fills with cutting, angry, and just plain mean remarks to respond with. “I’m sorry your father never hugged you as a child” is not a suitable response to a professional email, but that’s where my brain goes.

When I make plans with friends weeks in advance and they bail 10 minutes before, I am a heap of inconsolable sobs for the rest of the evening, and even into the next day. This plays into the fear of “real or imagined abandonment”. My BPD brain does not care that something came up or you’re feeling under the weather. BPD tells me that you hate me and you never want to see me again and you were just pretending to like me this whole time and you’ve finally made your escape. My logical brain tries to tell me that it’s ok, and we’ll plan something for another time, but usually, my BPD brain wins the fight.

When I get nervous and start to ramble trying to tell a story and my mom cuts me off with “Anyways.” I want to crawl in a hole and die, but I also sort of want to throw a plate at her face. My mother is a saint, so why do I feel this way about her sometimes?

Let’s get back to the causes of Borderline Personality Disorder. Dad, Mom, maybe stop reading here…or don’t…but here’s your warning. You aren’t going to like this next part.

I was severely neglected as a child. Not physically – I had food to eat, clothes to wear, a roof over my head – but emotionally and mentally. The minor relationship I did have with my father was marked by him coming home from a long shift (as a firefighter) and starting a fight with me about my weight, my shoes at the front door, my marks in school, and more often than not, “why are you always crying?!”. My mom also worked full time at a stressful sales job. So by the time she got home, she didn’t want to have to deal with anyone else’s issues.

So when I would have issues with anything from being bullied at school to just having a ‘bad mental health day’, I had nowhere to turn.

See, my brother and I were latch-key kids. We got home from school at least an hour before my parents got home from work. He and I never got along, so some sort of fight would ensue, and by the time our parents got home, he had made me cry. I was deemed dramatic and sent away to my bedroom, while the 3 of them would eat dinner together (usually something I refused to eat – like meat – which would be another reason to fight).

I’ve voiced this to my mom before, and she remembers my childhood very differently than I do.

As long as I have been alive, I have come second to my brother.

No, honey, we can’t go to (insert activity I wanted to do) because Maxx has hockey/a book report due/needs a ride to the bike track, etc.

Every dinner or event we went to was with HIS friends and THEIR parents, who ended up becoming my parents’ best friends (still to this day). I was always the only girl; so naturally, I stayed with the adults, because the boys wouldn’t have me.

But the adults didn’t want me there either. I felt like a constant annoyance.

Thinking back on it, I realize that I may not have been as unwanted as I perceived myself to be. Remember, BPD brains are sensitive to even slight facial expressions and tones of voice. But, when I voiced this to my parents, that I felt unwanted, and why couldn’t we do things with my friends and their parents, etc. I was told that I was being ridiculous.

Enter: Invalidation

Invalidation is the number one cause of BPD, according to my psychiatrist. Growing up in an environment where nothing you do is good enough will cause you to internalize everything.

I have no memories or examples of healthy emotional behaviour or relationships. In our house, we got the point across by screaming at or just plain ignoring each other. So when I get hurt, or I feel let down, I have absolutely no idea how to deal with my feelings. Further reinforcing my belief that the world is full of bad people who are out to ruin your day and be unkind, because that’s all I’ve ever known.

Research shows that if you already experience these difficulties as a child, experiencing trauma as an adult could make things worse.

Dad - now is really the time to stop reading.

(Sometimes I feel like I live inside the DSM definition of BPD)

At the age of 21 – fresh out of college and trying to start my career in the fashion world – I was sexually assaulted. Cue the downward spiral.

I didn’t report. I didn’t seek help. I confided in a close friend, and was called a liar. But that’s a story for another time.

So I buried that part of me so deep, that sometimes I could convince myself that it never happened. Sometimes.

I reached the end of my rope in 2016. I knew that if I didn’t seek help, I would not survive. I finally went to my doctor and spent hours with her, just sobbing and telling her everything.

She hooked me up with a psychiatrist, and put me in Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, and started me on an SSRI (anti-depressant) immediately.

As of today, it has been 1172 days since the assault. I only told my mother this past summer.

Since reaching out for help, I have begun to repair the relationship with my parents. My mom and I are closer than ever, and my dad and I are working on it.

As I write this, I feel the judgements pouring in. But I have decided that this year, I don’t care. I am not ashamed of my story. I will no longer hide the things I have been through in order to make others more comfortable. I will not keep my pain to myself because it’s easier for others if I stay silent. If bearing my soul can help even one person seek the help they need, then I have succeeded, and all this pain has been worth it.

The long and short of it is SPEAK UP! There is nothing embarrassing about mental illness. If you aren’t feeling right, there are people who care and are here to help you, including me. The first step is to tell someone.

The best advice I can give is to find your people. People who trust you, who lift you up, who validate your feelings, who listen and take you seriously when you say you’re having a bad day. I have spent the past year painstakingly building my support system, because the truth of the matter is, I can’t do this alone. And that’s ok.

Today and every single day, be kind to each other – it’s the only thing that matters.

https://letstalk.bell.ca/en/bell-lets-talk-day

[1stnewslink]

A Stock Market Crash Is Coming: 5 High-Conviction Stocks to Buy Hand Over Fist When It Happens

It may be the last thing you want to hear, but the truth is: a stock market crash is inevitable.

Since the low on March 23, 2020, investors have seen a historically strong recovery rally – one that has been widely followed S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^ GSPC) has gained an impressive 90%. But both history and valuation metrics clearly suggest that the stock market is about to see a big decline.

Image source: Getty Images.

History is pretty clear that difficulties are ahead of us

For example, within the three years following a bottom in each of the previous eight bear markets prior to the coronavirus crash (i.e., since 1960), there have been declines in the single- or double-digit percentage range. Although bull markets typically last for years, rebounds from a bear market are never so smooth. We’re in the S&P 500 nearly 15 months after the March 2020 bear market low and haven’t seen anything close to a double-digit correction.

To add to that point, data from market analyst firm Yardeni Research shows the S&P 500 has seen 38 double-digit declines over the past 71 years. On average, that is a crash or correction every 1.87 years. While the market does not hold to averages, it does give a general sense of when to expect these hiccups.

On a valuation basis, the S&P 500’s Shiller price-to-earnings (P / E) ratio is a waving red flag. The S&P 500’s Shiller P / E ratio – a measure of inflation-adjusted earnings over the past 10 years – hit nearly 38 earlier this week, more than double the 151-year average and the highest in nearly two decades. After breaking the Shiller P / E four times and holding it above 30 during a bull rally, the index then fell by at least 20%.

Make no mistake – a stock market crash is imminent.

Image source: Getty Images.

Every crash or correction is an opportunity for patient investors to make money

However, a fall is not a reason to duck and take cover. While history may point to trouble ahead, it also shows us that every double-digit decline has been a buying opportunity. Eventually, any major decline in major indices is wiped out by a bull market rally. When it comes to the next crash, the following five staunch stocks can confidently be bought hand over fist.

CrowdStrike stocks

Cybersecurity is expected to be one of the safest double-digit growth trends of this decade. Regardless of the size of the company or the state of the US / global economy, protecting corporate and consumer information is of paramount importance. This means cloud-based cybersecurity stocks CrowdStrike stocks (NASDAQ: CRWD) can thrive in any setting.

CrowdStrike’s success is based on its cloud-native Falcon security platform. Since it is integrated in the cloud and based on artificial intelligence, it is becoming more and more intelligent to detect and respond to threats. It currently monitors 6 trillion events per week and is far more cost effective than on-premise solutions to protect data.

We can also look at the company’s income statements to find clear evidence that companies prefer CrowdStrike’s cybersecurity platform. It has held 98% of its customers, has observed existing customers spend 23% to 47% more year-over-year over the past 12 quarters, and recently reported that 64% of its customers have purchased at least four cloud module subscriptions. Scaling with its customers is CrowdStrike’s ticket to large cash flow expansion.

Image source: Getty Images.

Facebook

Branded companies can turn patient investors into fortunes and social media giants Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) is the perfect example.

When the curtain closed in March, Facebook counted 2.85 billion monthly active users (MAU) visiting its website of the same name, and another 600 million individual MAUs visiting WhatsApp or Instagram, which it also owns. All in all, this equates to 44% of the world’s population interacting with their own websites every month. There is simply no social media platform that businesses can use to get their message across to a wider (or potentially targeted) audience, which is why Facebook’s power in pricing is so strong.

But here’s the kick: Facebook hasn’t even stepped on the gas. While it is well on its way to generating more than $ 100 billion in ad revenue by 2021, almost all of those ad sales have come from the website of the same name and Instagram. WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, two of the six most visited social websites in the world, are not yet being properly monetized. Additionally, the company’s Oculus virtual reality devices are still in the early stages of their growth. Suffice it to say that Facebook has ample upside potential as its other operating segments are monetized and mature.

Image source: Getty Images.

NextEra energy

Another high-conviction stock to buy immediately the next time there is a crash or steep correction is electricity supplier stock NextEra energy (NYSE: NEVER).

Did I put you to sleep when I said “power stocks”? Electric utilities are traditionally known for their market-leading dividend yields and persistent low growth rates. But that’s not what NextEra Energy describes. NextEra has invested aggressively in renewable energy projects and is a leader in the country in solar and wind capacity. As a result of these investments, power generation costs have fallen and the average annual growth rate has been consistently high single digits for more than a decade. It doesn’t hurt, either, that NextEra leads all sorts of green energy legislation that could come out of Washington.

In addition to growth rates well above the industry average, NextEra continues to benefit from the ability to plan energy requirements. For example, the regulated utilities (i.e. those that are not powered by renewable energy) need the approval of the state utility commissions before price increases can be passed on to households. This may sound like an inconvenience, but it is actually good news. That means NextEra is not exposed to potentially volatile wholesale prices.

Image source: Getty Images.

Visa

When the next stock market crash comes, payment processing is the kingpin Visa (NYSE: V) is a successful company that confidently buys hand over fist. It’s also another branded company that can still make a fortune for its shareholders.

Getting started in the Visa growth story is a simple numbers game. Visa increases its revenue and profits as consumers and businesses spend more. This happens when the US and world economies expand. Although contractions and recessions are an inevitable part of the economic cycle, they are usually short-lived. At the same time, times of economic expansion are almost always measured in years. Buying from Visa during these short-lived crashes or fixes should allow long-term investors to be amply rewarded from this numbers game.

The other interesting thing about Visa is that it avoids becoming a lender. One would think that Visa could make a lot of money from interest income and fees by lending during these long-lived expansion phases. But lending would also expose Visa to the loan defaults that occur during a recession. Just acting as a payment processor means not having to put any cash back to cover payment defaults. This is why Visa recovers so much faster than most financial stocks after a recession.

Image source: Amazon.

Amazon

Last but not least (and who couldn’t have expected this?) Investors should take whatever discount they can get during an e-commerce giant crash Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN).

Amazon’s online marketplace has proven to be virtually unstoppable for more than a decade. A report by eMarketer from April 2021 put the company’s share of US online sales at 40.4%. That more than quintuples its closest competitor and effectively solidifies Amazon as the first port of call for online shopping in the US

What about those pesky low margins in retail, you ask? Amazon has signed up more than 200 million people for Prime membership worldwide. The fees charged by Prime members help offset some of the company’s poor margins in retail. Prime members are extremely loyal to the Amazon ecosystem and also spend far more than non-members.

But it’s Amazon’s cloud infrastructure segment that is the superstar. Amazon Web Services (AWS) generates around an eighth of the company’s total revenue, but accounts for well over half of the company’s operating profit. With cloud margins superior to retail and advertising margins, AWS is key to the company’s explosive cash flow growth this decade.

This article represents the opinion of the author who may disagree with the “official” referral position of a premium advisory service from the Motley Fool. We are colorful! Questioning an investment thesis – even one of our own – helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that will help us get smarter, happier, and richer.

The post A Stock Market Crash Is Coming: 5 High-Conviction Stocks to Buy Hand Over Fist When It Happens first appeared on 1st News Link.

source https://1stnewslink.com/a-stock-market-crash-is-coming-5-high-conviction-stocks-to-buy-hand-over-fist-when-it-happens/

[the-exercist]

There is a looooong “Foods to Eat” post that’s gotten popular recently.

And unfortunately, a lot of it is complete bunk.

Rather than reblog that post and give it even more attention, here’s the broken down explanation:

First - Please don’t eat immediately before a workout. Most of us can’t handle a meal right before we start exercising, so give yourself some time to digest before you hop into the gym. Leave yourself at least an hour buffer. You need energy, but you don’t need to get sick.

The best pre-workout foods will have a mixture of protein and carbs in them. This is the burst of calories and energy that you’ll need in order to get through a workout. So a lot of these options are great! Just take it easy with the coffee - It’s a cheap and easy pre-workout option, but caffeine can stress out your heart and make you jittery. Only have a little, and cut it out if you have heart problems.

These options aren’t half bad either! After a workout, it’s all about recovery: Give your body some protein (to aid muscle synthesis) and carbs (to replace muscle glycogen). A bit of fat wouldn’t hurt you either.

As a recommendation, I’d also list chocolate milk - It’s the near perfect combination of your necessary nutrients after exercising!

Runners need a consistent source of energy, especially if they’re running long distances on the regular. Whole grains, sweet potato, fish, bananas, and pasta are awesome. I’d also list nuts, eggs, yogurt, leafy greens and beef. All of this stuff will keep you going long past the initial rush of energy in a workout.

But just like a mentioned before - This is not something to eat immediately before you run! You need fuel, but don’t make yourself nauseous. Eat some of this stuff the night before or in the early mornings before a run. Leave yourself at least 1 hour after a snack and 2 hours after a full meal to digest.

Ehh........

True, yet definitely not true.

Folks, there’s no easy answer here - What actually makes you lose weight is a calorie deficit. Choosing to eat certain high-nutrient low-calorie foods can definitely help you lose weight, but it doesn’t guarantee anything. And it’s not going to work for everyone.

There’s nothing special about cranberry juice or mushrooms. There’s nothing slimming about apples or oats. If you want to lose weight, just make sure that you’re eating a fully balanced diet and that you’re active whenever possible. Whether or not you choose to eat this stuff won’t make all the difference.

This is another “yes and no” image.

Yes, if you’re strength training regularly, then increasing the amount of protein in your diet may help you build some muscle mass. But no, eating these foods will not inherently help you build muscle, especially if you aren’t paying close attention to the amounts that you’re consuming and how much exercise is being combined with this diet. 

Muscle gain requires that you eat more calories than you’re burning. So you’re actually eating at a surplus, and it’s probably going to be a lot more food than you previously anticipated. Lots of protein, lots of carbs, and enough healthy fats to keep you going. You’re probably looking at 3,000+ calories every day here.

For the average person, you’ll be gaining fat alongside your muscle. And that’s okay. These food recommendations are a great start - Just be sure to maintain a balanced diet that doesn’t fully cut out nuts, seeds, legumes, and fats. Focus on protein, sure, but not at the expense of any other food group.

Uh, no.

Here’s where we get into the real problems with these images: There is no such thing as spot reduction.

No matter what, no specific food is going to burn belly fat for you.  You cannot choose or plan out where your body will lose fat first. There is nothing that will inherently target your belly fat or force your body to lose fat from that area.  It’s very possible that, when you begin the weight loss process, your lower body will be the first thing to lose fat. It’s also possible that you’ll have to lose a dangerous amount of weight before your legs will budge even a little bit. Only your genetics and environment will determine when your core will start to slim down.

No, it isn’t this easy to change your metabolism. No matter what those skinny teas try to tell you - Things like caffeine may increase your energy expenditure for a short period of time, but that is a far cry from actually changing your metabolism.

Part of this myth comes from not fully understanding what a metabolism is. A metabolism is defined as the series of chemical reactions in a living organism that create and break down energy necessary for life. More simply, it's the rate at which your body expends energy or burns calories. For the most part, this is outside of your control. It’s defined by genetics, health, environment, everyday activity, long term diet, body size and composition, etc. Can you start to institute changes that may eventually affect your metabolism? Sure! Will eating certain foods make that change for you right away? Nope.

If you need me to tell you that certain foods won’t inherently make you happy, then I just don’t know.

Folks, we all have comfort foods. If you want to pick up one of those on a bad day, then go for it. Your brain genuinely does release dopamine when you’re anticipating a good meal. 

But the thinking behind these specifically chosen foods is typically that they’re higher in vitamin B, ALA or zinc. Each of these nutrients has been linked with better/more stable moods. The problem here is that such research only shows a correlation, not a causation - Eating this stuff does not make you happy. To make that claim is irresponsible.

Same as above - The foods listed here are rather high in vitamin B, potassium, omega-3 fatty acids, iron, etc. All of this stuff has been shown to help regulate moods and fight disorders like anxiety and depression. But eating a banana won’t stop your from feeling anxious! Having spinach won’t stop you from being sluggish! The only way to limit these problems (to a small extent) is to regularly eat a balanced diet that provides you with all the nutrients that you need during the day. Even that won’t prevent bad moods from coming up. You’ll feel bad sometimes, and that’s okay. Food doesn’t have to fix that.

This is a huge and problematic myth - There is no such thing as a “negative calorie food.”

Calories burned by your body during the process of eating and digesting foods are already considered when calculating the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF). TEF usually takes up about 10% of foods, while some can reach up to 20%. This means that if the piece of celery you’re eating contains 8 calories, your body will use up 2 of those calories while processing it. That’s all.

“Zero calorie” or “negative calorie” foods just mean that the total calories are negligible. You are NOT actually burning fat or getting rid of excess calories by eating this stuff. There is an incredibly low chance that you’re hitting “even,” let alone burning more than the food contains.

There is no such thing as a food that will burn more calories than it possesses. That means no negative calorie meals. That means there is no losing fat through eating certain foods.

During pregnancy, eat how your doctor instructs you to.

There’s a lot to keep balanced during pregnancy, so please don’t try to figure it out on your own. This image doesn’t cover the half of it. These foods are a good start, and they won’t hurt you, but listen to a professional’s guidance! They’re the ones who will tell you how much of each vitamin and food group you actually need in order to maintain a healthy pregnancy. This won’t be the same for everyone, so there’s no one-size-fits-all answer.

Please keep in mind that you’re not limited to these foods, nor should you focus heavily upon them. Too much of anything can be a bad thing - Yes, you can consume too many vitamins, so solely eating kale isn’t going to help you in the long run. As with all times of life, the overall goal is to maintain a balanced diet, so listen to your doctor and enjoy!

For the most part, the idea of “brain foods” is bunk. It’s a marketing ploy that’s meant to increase sales of certain foods.

The reality is that there are certain nutrients that have been proven to have positive effects on our neural development (fatty acids, antioxidants, glucose and amino acids), but it’s very difficult to boost their effects just by increasing the amount that you eat in your diet. A lack of omega-3 fatty acids might inhibit your brain development as a child, but simply eating more won’t make your brain healthier. That’s not how our bodies work. 

So sure, add this stuff to your diet and make sure that you’re consuming the necessary amount of glucose, amino acids, etc every day. But don’t go overboard just because you want to ace next week’s test. 

[sillyanimegamingroad]

Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook mind their own business

Competing is losers . Billionaire Peter Thiel was saying it bluntly in The Wall Street Journal in 2014, and his message seems to fit perfectly with what we saw a few hours ago at the appearance of CEOs of Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple (GAFA) in front of the Congress of U.S.

The (virtual) participation of Sundar Pichai, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook was interesting but it will hardly make any difference in the short term. What he did make clear is that these companies want to remain (even bigger), and if they have to copy, buy or crush the competition, they will continue to do so .

Facebook: if you can’t handle them, buy them

Facebook

It is not personal, it is business. If something or someone threatens your business, they act accordingly . It is basically the residue left by the appearance yesterday before the United States Congress of the CEOs of that artificial conglomerate formed by Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple and which has long been known as GAFA.

All the signs have been pointing out for a long time that these technology giants do not go around with little ones when it comes to defending their positions in the market. A leaked email in the investigation indicated how Mark Zuckerberg viewed Instagram and Path as potential threats to his business in 2012.

Zuckerberg discussed this with his chief financial officer, David Ebersman, who was considering the possibility of acquiring either or both of these companies. Ebersman did not see it clearly and warned that acquisitions usually did not go well.

One of the two was wrong. Guess who .

The attitude of all these companies is clear and patent. Like probably any company, they do what it takes to bolster their position and crush competitors , and the questioning of the four CEOs gave a few more clues about that kind of activity.

Google argues that it focuses on what users want

Google

David Cicilline, who led the scrutiny and interrogation process, quoted several emails from a decade ago in which Google employees spoke of sites that were growing in traffic and that could threaten Google’s revenue .

According to Cicilline, a clear example is on Yelp , which was hurt by Google and when it complained it was threatened to disappear from searches unless Google was allowed to crawl its content.

Sundar Pichai defended himself saying, “When I run a company, I focus on giving users what they want . [At Google] we behave according to the highest standards.”

Cicilline also asked Pichai about Google’s ability to collect data that allows them to identify potential competitors. Pichai said, “Like any other business, we try to understand the trends in, you know, the data we can see , and we use it to improve our products for users.”

Apple was, but almost as if it had not been

Apple

Tim Cook barely struggled like the rest of the CEOs who appeared virtually via Webex for questioning by Congress. In VentureBeat they analyzed the participation of each one of them, and Cook was asked seven questions by 13 to Amazon and 16 to Facebook and Google.

In fact, the CEO of Apple had a participation that lasted 25 minutes when those of Zuckerberg, Bezos and Pichai lasted 50 minutes. He did not have time for much, although he was asked about the policies of the App Store and how the company does not leave room for other alternatives.

The question did not help, because Cook – like the rest of the participants – tried to divert attention and emphasize that “Apple is a unique American company whose success is only possible in this country.”

Yes, an email was revealed in which Apple stated that in recurring subscriptions 40% was requested during the first year . In an email from Eddy Cue to his team to discuss commissions for content providers, he explained that “I think we would leave money if we only asked for 30% in the first year of subscription.”

Cook alleged that Apple has not increased App Store commissions since it launched, and has actually lowered them, referring to the 15% cut in recurring subscriptions. There was hardly any mention of the recent controversies with Hey or Spotify , in this case being investigated in the European Union .

Jeff Bezos was attacked from all sides

Pramila Jyapal, one of the congressmen who participated in the questioning, raised an important question with Amazon: “Let me ask you, Mr. Bezos, does Amazon ever access sellers’ data when making business decisions? “

The question was important and referred to suspicions that Amazon uses the information it has about sellers and their products to end up selling their own versions of those products at a lower price .

That issue is part of a European Union investigation against Amazon, and Bezos here was surprisingly more open than might be expected: ” I cannot guarantee that the policy has never been violated . We continue to investigate it carefully.”

Jayapal said “the committee has interviewed employees who say such violations occur frequently,” and another congresswoman, Lucy McBath, also attacked Bezos, claiming that the company “systematically blocks” vendors by preventing them from selling certain products.

Bezos, who suffered more attacks (and more aggressive) than the rest of CEOs, returned to indicate that ” I do not think that is what happens systematically . External sellers are doing extremely well globally.”

As with Facebook, Bezos was also reminded of Amazon’s attitude towards competitors. They reminded him of the case of Diapers.com, the diaper-making company with which he competed years ago. Amazon invested $ 200 million in lost funds in a quarter lowering the prices of other diapers that it put up for sale in its online store, which made Diapers unable to compete.

“You say that Amazon focuses exclusively on customers,” asked Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon. “If so, how do customers, especially single mothers and new families, benefit when prices rise simply because you eliminated your main competitor?”

Bezos replied that diapers “are a very large category of product that is sold in many, many places”, but the truth is that the company that owns Diapers.com, Quidsi , ended up being acquired by Amazon .

Conclusions: this is only the beginning (and by the way, does anyone remember Microsoft?)

As many analysts pointed out , the virtual appearance of these four great CEOs was more fireworks than anything else .

In fact , his statements are not expected to be of any use in the short term. The current members of Congress are likely to cease to be in 100 days, when the presidential elections are held .

It is therefore more important to place this appearance as the first stone on the road . One that can lead to changes in the future, even in the distant future. The European Union has been especially tough with anti-competitive behavior for years, but the United States has always maintained a more lax stance on this, perhaps (or precisely) because the companies affected were US companies.

However, the latest scandals of the technology giants seem to have triggered events that show that the power and influence of these giants should raise clearer debates and regulations on the activity of these companies. A power that seems to make good the reflection of Thiel to which we alluded at the beginning. One that had another great message: “Monopolies are good for society. ” They are?

At least I have a doubt. I wonder what Satya Nadella was thinking about it. I imagine him with some popcorn attending the broadcast, smiling and thinking: “We’ve been through it already.”

They did it and survived . Now (almost) everything is good in Microsoft.

The post Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook mind their own business appeared first on Technoeager- tech blogs and articles.

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[empiremarketingproof]

Home-Based Business: Are You Ready?

Home-based businesses were round for the long term, even long earlier than the net won the popularity it has today. Earlier than MLM as we realize it, there has been Amway and Avon and Mary Kay. All respectable methods to earn aspect profits. But with the start of comparable possibilities and new business fashions operating in the main online, our society has been covered with the aid of fear of such opportunities, which we are now calling the "home-based totally enterprise phobia." At the same time as there are numerous authentic commercial enterprise possibilities online, there are simply as many "scams" which have been grouped into the equal category. Those are normally offerings in alternate for post-charge (which by no means comes) or pyramid-type schemes that include no actual products, simplest the possibility to earn from recruiting others. Alas, as with most any situation, the bad start to outweigh the fantastic. Before you realize it, home-based totally groups are overshadowed through the reputation of the few actual scams. I consider that the concern of home-based businesses stems from this reality, as well as others. Whilst many ability customers fear the scams without knowing what's and what isn't always, some worry something specific from the norm in terms of incomes a residing. Let's accept it, society increases us to work tough at a physical process. Even from childhood, we are educated to do nicely in faculty up thru within the hopes of securing a decent task. It's far what our mother and father did, and their dad and mom, and all of our ancestors back via time. So when the proposition of earning a first-rate residing without operating at a physical process makes its way into the minds of society's leaders, it's miles considered in a negative light. This, I sense, is because we as people fear something exceptional, or that we do not understand. This is not how we have been raised, this is not how anybody has ever earned a profit before (not a complete-time profit, anyway). Therefore, it isn't without problems commonplace.

The truth is that entrepreneurship is what drives our economy. 

Even the most important companies commenced as mom&pop shops or small-city eating places. Small commercial enterprise and entrepreneurship assist instability out the hold that "huge business" has on our financial system. Without them, big companies might don't have any opposition and therefore no standards to uphold. So precisely what's the most important worry surrounding any home-based business opportunity? I have a concept, and it includes the initial begin-up. Maximum individuals are terrified of dropping the money they could have to invest. They are terrified of the threat involved. But what's so awful about chance? Don't maximum things in lifestyles involve some kind of danger? The adage "nothing ventured, nothing won..." comes to mind. If we in no way step out of the box that society has created, we will never know what may be. We can by no means enjoy distinctive or higher. We can, in short, turn out to be the one aspect that our species fears the maximum...Stagnant! Our global's nice innovations (products and services like electricity, prevent lighting fixtures, and air journey) came from ahead-wondering folks who dared to appearance outdoor of the "norm" for higher and extra efficient methods of residing. Without folks who embraced this mindset, we might nevertheless be dwelling as Neanderthals, slightly the use of hearth to heat caves and prepare dinner food (or even this become forward-questioning for the time).

The dangers we take must always be calculated, to a quantity. 

We must don't forget closely the pros and cons of our decisions. And the choices we make must now not be something that would hurt us, injure our cherished ones, or reason us to head absolutely and thoroughly broke. Properly, a home commercial enterprise does not do any of these items, does it? It does now not threaten or harm us or our households, and if we're discovering and investing wisely, it must no longer dissipate all of our profits either. Home business in its authentic state was not intended to break monetary conditions, however to improve them, either using supplementing the prevailing income or surpassing and replacing it. So the concern is certainly dropping some hundred, or probably $1000 or extra. A valid and understandable worry from individuals who work difficult for every cent they've. But, a part of the point of making money is to position it to paintings for us. This is completed using investing in programs (whether or not via stocks, cash market debts, CD's, savings accounts that accrue hobby, on-line agencies or in any other case) that allow us to earn greater than we have invested. When you put your money to give you the results you want, you've got a better risk of attaining economic protection, that is what we're all running towards. So then, ought to a person go out and be part of each cash-making opportunity they can locate? Of direction no longer! Making an investment or beginning a home business is a sensible selection, however, it should be completed with care. It's far always an amazing concept to do ample research at the program(s) you are interested in becoming a member of. You must keep in mind the whole lot from the legal elements to the goods being promoted. And as a crucial side observe, you should usually investigate the character or entity that has brought the possibility to you. Regularly, this character turns into your "sponsor" in the application, and the only responsible for guiding you and assisting you to get going inside the proper directing. As demanding as it's miles, there are a few "sponsors" who are not in shape to be so. They do little, if anything, to assist their clients or associates. Human beings like this, sadly, give they discern organizations a less than ideal reputation. Maximum distributors' paintings independently of their figure company. Whilst there are positive guidelines to observe, they may be now not constrained within the methods they can put it on the market or marketplace. For this reason, I advocate that once learning home business opportunities, you preserve open thoughts and do simply as a whole lot of studies (if no longer greater) on the person who will become your sponsor.

Allow's communicate approximately a number of the alternative fears surrounding the house-based totally business. 

One of the maximum common ones is that the possibility is illegal; not authorized via nation and government regulations. The very best way to circumvent this trouble is to check with local and country officers (generally the state lawyer general). If you are interested in a program, touch your state professional to learn the necessities and regulations for involvement in a domestic-based total enterprise. And of the path, after you join, take the necessary steps to record your income to the IRS, and to sign up your commercial enterprise with the federal government.

Other less verbalized fears pertain to our talents. 

Many people feel that they do not have what it takes to run a domestic enterprise. They will feel they lack skilled inside the enterprise, or lack competencies essential for marketing and customer service. The majority of home commercial enterprise applications in lifestyles these days provide a few kinds of schooling and assist. Whilst some programs are higher than others (according to current and past contributors or associates), it isn't tough to advantage the capabilities and enjoy vital to be triumphant. In case you are inquisitive about joining a domestic business, ensure that your research consists of the research of the company's (and sponsor's) training regimen and guide. Be a part of only if you are satisfied that you may acquire the individual help you need to your skill degree and situation. In conjunction with this, many fear that they may want massive budgets for advertising their enterprise. This problem too may be solved via the schooling supplied with the possibility. There are numerous methods of advertising-free which are very powerful (although they may be a piece time-ingesting). Your chosen domestic commercial enterprise application ought to recognize a great variety of these methods and be inclined to teach you on those techniques also. Be sure to invite if they encompass this in their training and help. If they do now not, pass on to getting to know every other opportunity.

One of the final fears I have encountered is the funding of time. I

ndividuals worry that operating a home business will take too much of their time; time faraway from their jobs, faculty, circle of relatives, or interests. The factor of operating from home (however you pick out to do it) is to allow you greater time at domestic to spend your own family or interests. An ordinary task in the workforce takes extra time from those hobbies than a home enterprise could. While jobs and faculty may additionally appear cozy, they do not permit you the liberty which you so rightly deserve. Home commercial enterprise programs are seeking to remedy this hassle by providing you with the freedom to set your hours. Additionally, home corporations, even as they will take a chunk extra time in the beginning for preliminary set-up and advertising, can ultimately run from simply 2 or 3 hours of effort in line with day. Consider incomes greater from a sale sooner or later than you'll earn in 2 weeks or even a month from your activity and five fewer hours of work? Is that not what we in the end strive for? Time is vital, especially because it isn't guaranteed to any folks. The great way to maximize your time right here in the world is to do what you could to experience more of it. A home-based enterprise can result in an opportunity for freedom that most folks by no mean idea possible, way to society. Why no longer move for it, when there may be so little to lose? At the same time as all the fears discussed are valid, none are so disheartening as the opportunity of no future stability, no protection, or no retirement. Greater than something, I fear needing to come out of retirement to make ends meet. I worry about having to compete with a younger, sharper, and extra technologically-inclined era for a process at an older age. I fear no longer being able to retire when I want because I have not built up a deep-sufficient income or secure-enough future. I fear my kids no longer being capable of going to university if they want, or now not having enough to offer the entirety they want and need. I fear to work to the point in which I have overlooked out on life's maximum precious moments...My children growing up, my courting with my spouse, my grandchildren, and so on. Most of all, I worry to skip on not anything but money owed to my cherished ones. For me, those fears far outweigh the opportunity of dropping cash or mastering something new. It is for this reason that I have become worried about the house commercial enterprise. I'm younger, and as so many say have my whole existence beforehand of me. I would like the personal and monetary freedom to experience a number of it. I would love to begin my marriage on a strong and relaxed plane. I would like to stay at home with my kids whilst they're born. I would like to peer them off to school every day (or even home-school them), teach them new matters, attend their performances and video games, and be there to encourage their individuality. I would love to have something to bypass on to each of them (a domestic, a vast inheritance, a vehicle...A future). I don't want my circle of relatives to "want" for something. My home-based business is permitting me to do all of those things and greater!

Some thoughts to folks who are considering a domestic business on their very own.

What is preventing you? What is it that you worry maximum about investing in a domestic-based enterprise? Do you now not want all of the matters defined above? If all your fears were addressed and dispelled, would you still be hesitant? In that case, why?

The ugly truth is that state-of-the-art economy and our group of workers do no longer provide financial safety. 

Your role can be terminated or passed on to another at any time, and without any be aware. Most agencies, especially huge companies, cognizance only on the desires of the commercial enterprise. In case you, your pay grade, or your capabilities stand inside the manner of those desires, you pose a hazard and can be removed without tons of attention. And unfortunately, this kind of remedy is a felony in maximum states. Does this sound like protection to you? Would not you rather have control over how your circle of relatives is authorized to stay than an organization that cares little approximately them? Wouldn't you want an again-up plan in case this takes place to you? It's far another sad truth that maximum individuals live and assume interior their little bubbles. They see unfortunate matters happening all around them, however, by no means forestall to assume that it could manifest to them at any time. None of the people are proof against such occurrences. None of the people is invulnerable to the rigors and tribulations of existence. It can be someone else, however, it can always just as effortlessly be us! One greater idea...If a chief scenario passed off the desired a huge amount of cash to remedy (a hearth, your most effective vehicle breaking down, a flood, a destroy-in or robbery, even a baby being born), might you be able to manage it without depleting your life's savings? Would you have the ability to take care of it immediately? Or would it take months to keep up enough? A domestic enterprise can be a superb addition to any lifestyle. Maximum do no longer take exceeding quantities of time to work, maximum do no longer rob our wallets of incredible quantities, and that they permit us to earn sufficient to significantly supplement our modern incomes, even replace them! With such a lot of greater professionals than cons, why shouldn't you recall a home-primarily based enterprise of your personal?

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5 Noteworthy Examples of Corporate Social Media Policies

As a marketer, social media is undeniably important – in fact, in 2020, three-quarters (74%) of all global marketers now invest in social media marketing.

Social media can help you engage with new audiences, increase brand awareness, handle customer service inquiries, and even increase sales. (As an avid Instagram user, I can’t count the amount of times I’ve “Swiped Up to Purchase” on a link from a popular influencer.)

But there’s plenty of risk involved with social media, as well. Among other things, a bad social media post could spiral into a full-blown PR crisis or get your business into legal trouble.

Fortunately, there is a tactic you can use to ensure your social media strategy is safe, consistent, and scalable as your company grows and different employees get access to your social media accounts: a social media policy.

Let’s explore how these five companies created effective social media policies to inspire your own, today. Just remember, there isn’t just one ‘right’ policy for every company. Pick and choose what you like from these five companies to help get you started, and tailor it to fit your culture and business objectives.

But first, let’s dive into a few benefits of a social media policy.

Benefits to a Corporate Social Media Policy

You might be worried about providing too many strict rules on your social media strategy. Will it diminish the authenticity you’re hoping to evoke in your posts, or take too much creative freedom away from your employees?

Fortunately, if done correctly, a social media policy won’t ruin the creative freedom you’re hoping to protect. If anything, it will enable your employees to feel more comfortable amplifying your social media messages on their own channels, knowing each post is fully aligned with your business’s values and tone.

Here are a few major benefits to creating a corporate social media policy:

Maintain consistency of brand voice, tone, and messaging across social channels

Prevent a PR crisis as a result of a potentially offensive post

Enable employees to handle legal and regulatory issues with sensitivity

Protect data privacy of customers and stakeholders

Have effective responses at-the-ready for crises or data breaches, if they do occur

Instill confidence in your employees’ to use their own creativity when creating and posting branded content, as long as they align with the corporate policies

Ensure each new employee will have the tools to create a positive, consistent, and valuable brand message across social channels

Now that we’ve covered that, let’s dive into five businesses that got social media policy right.

1. Best Buy

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Best Buy has a social media policy in place that preemptively addresses privacy concerns that could arise using social media.

Here are some highlights of Best Buy’s social media policy:

The company does not want information shared that isn’t meant to be public. Common sense? I’d think so, but it can’t hurt to formally reiterate.

Tweeters cannot share Best Buy logos and other items related to the company. Does this seem overly cautious? I guess that depends on the industry you are in. For a big brand like Best Buy, it’s understandable.

Best Buy wants each employee to differentiate themselves and state their tweets and posts are theirs — and theirs alone — and not associated with Best Buy. This ensures, if an unscrupulous employee crosses a line, Best Buy won’t experience such harsh brand backlash.

Best Buy urges each employee (whether posting on Best Buy’s social channels or on their own channels if it relates to Best Buy) to “Honor Our Differences” and never post content that could be seen as discriminatory against any group, for any reason.

2. Walmart

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Walmart is dedicated to their social media accounts, and believe in social media as an avenue for customer service — because of this dedication, their policy regarding Twitter is reasonable and something I wish more Twitter users would follow in their daily tweeting.

Here are some of my favorite aspects of their policy:

Walmart doesn’t discourage its employees from sharing their own opinions — however, they ask each employee to support their claims with informational sources or links, stating, “We love opinions; we love them even more when you back them up with facts.”

They ask employees to be “polite and courteous, even if you disagree.” They’re strongly against employees using social media to discriminate, bully, or harass.

Walmart advises its employees to “stay on topic”, and only create content that is relevant to Walmart’s community.

Walmart asks all employees to avoid responding to customer inquiries or comments directly unless they’re part of the official Walmart social team. This is a smart move, as it ensures less confusion or ambiguity for customers who are aiming to receive customer service from a trusted official.

3. Ford Motors

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One of the oldest and most popular automotive makers, you’d expect Ford to be relatively old-fashioned when it comes to social media, but Ford’s rules are both refreshing and straightforward.

One of my personal favorites? “Awareness that what you say is permanent”. In a world largely interested in quick-likes and controversial opinions for the sake of retweets, Ford’s approach is a good reminder that what you say today matters for the future of your company’s reputation.

A couple call-outs:

Ford tells its employees to “Mind your manners”, and treat everyone — from co-workers to suppliers to competitors — with respect.

While Ford wants its employees to “make it clear the views expressed are yours,” it also reminds its staff that “you speak for yourself, but your actions reflect those of Ford Motor Company”. This is a good lesson: people often make judgments about an entire company’s values based on their opinion of the personnel they interact with, so it’s critical even personal employees’ accounts reflect integrity and respect.

Ford’s policy tells its employees “the internet is a public space”, and says “no matter how obscure or secure the site to which you’re posting may seem … consider everything you post to the Internet the same as anything you would post on a physical bulletin board or submit to a newspaper.” This is important. Nowadays, posting on Instagram might seem like NBD, but it’s critical we remember anyone can see what we post (or, what we posted five years ago…). 

4. New York Times

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One of the most popular media institutions in the world, The New York Times recognizes the price for its popularity — namely, that anything their employees state on their personal accounts could come across as the official opinion of The Times.

To cultivate its social media policy, the Times collected quotes from several Times reporters — this provides additional accountability and a sense of fairness, as it demonstrates several employees’ endorsement of their policy.

Here are some sections worth reviewing:

“In social media posts, our journalists must not express partisan opinions, promote political views, endorse candidates, make offensive comments or do anything else that undercuts The Times’ journalistic reputation.” Ultimately, the Times aims to be objective, and that objectivity needs to be applied to its employees’ personal social media captions and comments, as well.

The Times urges its employees to avoid making customer service complaints on social media, and for good reason — the media corporation acknowledges its employees might be given special consideration as a Times reporter or editor, and doesn’t feel it’s fair that their employees leverage this special treatment or tarnish another brand’s reputation.

The Times includes an unusual request in its policy: in the name of transparency, it asks its employees to acknowledge if they’ve deleted a post or tweet with a subsequent tweet, to ensure they appear honest even if they’ve made a mistake.

5. Oracle

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This Boston-based SaaS company takes a stricter approach to its social media policy, but if you’re in the software space, it’s a good policy to review.

Here are some of the highlights of Oracle’s social media policy:

Oracle appears to be of the ilk that using social media in the workplace is a hinderance to productivity because it could lead to too much personal use. Understandable? Yes. Too strict? Debatable. While it can be good to blur the line between personal and professional in social media, that balancing act isn’t always appropriate in regulated industries.

Employees must establish that all opinions are their own and not Oracle’s, but at the same time, distinguish that they are indeed employees of Oracle. Contradictory? No. Blog posts can increase brand exposure, but employees must be careful with what they say and how they say it, not divulging new features, products, or confidential information.

Oracle advises its employees avoid discussing future offerings or impending product releases due to “potential revenue recognition issues”. This is a good call-out, since unofficial promotions of product launches or additional features could confuse customers, especially if the information regarding those product launches change before official release.

Ultimately, the rules and regulations you choose to include in your policy should reflect your own brand’s values, messaging, and tone. However, hopefully you can use these examples to ensure you include statements that can help protect you against legal or regulatory disputes in the future based on an employees’ social media posts.

Additionally, aim to use your social media policy to increase your social media strategies’ effectiveness and ensure you’re creating a positive brand image on any platform on which you post.

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Personal Finance Advice You Can Use Today

If you have a family, you especially need to consider the ways you manage your money. Read on to find out how to better manage your personal finances, so that you can benefit from them.

Logging your expenditures is helpful in gaining an understanding of where your money is going. If you put your notes in an obscure location, though, it may be too easy to forget about it. Try listing how much you spend on a whiteboard set up in your office or den. You will glance at it often so that you can keep the message fresh in your mind.

Avoid large fees when investing. Brokers that invest your money long term will charge money for the service. The fees you incur affect your total returns. It’s important to research brokers before you use them. Find out what their fees are as well as any other costs associated with working with them.

File your taxes as soon as possible to abide by the IRS’s regulations. If you want to get the money quickly, you’re going to want to file as soon as you can. Those who owe money should wait closer to April 15th to file.

Credit Cards

To maintain a good credit score, use more than one credit card. Remember, however, not to go overboard; do not have more than four credit cards. Using a single credit card will delay the process of building your credit, while having a large amount of credit cards can be a potential indicator of poor financial management. It’s a good idea to begin with two credit cards and only get more cards if you truly need them.

Take a look at your insurance needs to make sure you have the right coverage at the right price for your budget. Everyone, at some point in life, will get sick. It is critical that you have some type of health insurance coverage. If you don’t have insurance you will be looking at healthcare bills that could add up to thousands of dollars. This can ruin you financially if you don’t possess insurance.

Credit Card

If you find that your credit card balance is creeping up and you are having trouble keeping up with the payments, it’s a good idea to stop making charges. Avoid charging things to your credit card by finding another way to pay for your expenses. Pay off the full amount before you begin using it again. Afterwards, try to pay off the full amount every month to avoid interest charges.

Get rid of unwanted items and make a little money by having a yard or garage sale. If you want, you can also charge your neighbors a fee to sell their stuff at your sale as well. You can be as entrepreneurial as you want during a garage or yard sale.

Gradually replace all incandescent bulbs throughout your home with CFL bulbs, which are far more efficient. By replacing your regular bulbs with high efficiency CFL bulbs, you will lower your electricity bill, as well as help the environment. CFL bulbs also last much longer than traditional light bulbs. This will allow you to save money, as you will be replacing your light bulbs less frequently.

When dealing with credit cards and your finances, the safest way to stay on track is to limit your use of them as much as possible. Always think twice and maybe even a third time before charging anything on your credit card. You must take the time it takes to pay it off into consideration. If you can’t pay it off at the end of the month and it isn’t a necessity, you shouldn’t make the charge.

Be certain to pay utility charges in a timely fashion each month. If you pay late or miss payments, you may hurt your credit score. Most utility companies will even charge late fees, which cost you that much more money. Paying late is not worth the hassles, so be sure to pay your bills when due.

As was previously mentioned at the top of this article, when you have a family, it is especially important that you make intelligent personal financial decisions. Rather than getting yourself into debt or buying things you don’t need, you have to make a budget and make the most out of what you earn.

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Biohacker Josiah Zayner is under investigation

In 2017, Josiah Zayner injected himself with the gene-editing technology CRISPR at a biotech conference, live-streaming the experiment. It was the highest-profile stunt for the biohacking celebrity, who had developed a following among fellow biohackers — people who experiment on their own bodies outside of traditional labs with the hope of boosting their physical and cognitive performance.

Some of those followers became his customers. Zayner runs a company called the Odin out of his garage in Oakland, California, selling biohacking supplies ranging from $20 DNA to a $1,849 do-it-yourself genetic engineering kit.

Now it seems his stunts have caught up with him: He’s under investigation, accused of practicing medicine without a license. In a May 8 letter, which Zayner posted on social media, health officials from California’s Department of Consumer Affairs asked him to come discuss a complaint filed against him and bring along a lawyer if he wants one present.

It’s a sign that the law is starting to reckon with biohacking, a group of activities for which there aren’t yet clear regulations, but which could be dangerous if amateurs try to follow Zayner’s lead and tinker with their genes at home.

This isn’t a far-off risk. High-profile practitioners like Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey are making biohacking into an increasingly popular lifestyle. The underlying philosophy is that we don’t need to accept our bodies’ shortcomings — we can engineer our way past them using a range of high- and low-tech solutions. While some of the “hacks” are probably benign, like Dorsey’s penchant for drinking “salt juice” each morning, others are scientifically untested experiments that could cause harm.

Biohacking, explained

Biohackers talk about “optimizing” and “upgrading” their minds and bodies, and they’ve got many ways of trying to do that. Some are techniques that people have been using free of cost for centuries, like Vipassana meditation and intermittent fasting.

Then there’s cryotherapy (purposely making yourself cold), neurofeedback (training yourself to regulate your brainwaves), near-infrared saunas (they supposedly help you escape stress from electromagnetic transmissions), and virtual float tanks (they’re meant to induce a meditative state through sensory deprivation). Some people spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on these treatments.

They may also buy wearable devices to track their sleep patterns or implant devices to monitor their glucose levels subcutaneously. The more data you have on your body’s mechanical functions, the more you can optimize the machine that is you — or so the thinking goes.

Some biohackers believe that by leveraging technology, they’ll be able to live longer but stay younger — or even avoid death entirely. As millionaire Serge Faguet, who plans to live forever, put it: “People here [in Silicon Valley] have a technical mindset, so they think of everything as an engineering problem. A lot of people who are not of a technical mindset assume that, ‘Hey, people have always been dying,’ but I think there’s going to be a greater level of awareness once results start to happen.”

Josiah Zayner, explained

At first glance, Zayner comes off as an attention-hungry stuntman. His exploits include giving himself a fecal transplant in a hotel room (he invited a journalist to document the procedure) and trying to genetically engineer his own skin color (he documented that effort on his blog).

But he also has a solid grounding in science. He holds a PhD in biophysics and used to work on synthetic biology at NASA.

Josiah Zayner

Wikipedia

In 2015, he left his NASA fellowship early because he was, in his words, “fed up with the system” and with the slow pace of scientists just “sitting on their asses.”

Zayner has also long been frustrated with what he sees as the Food and Drug Administration’s sluggishness in greenlighting all sorts of treatments. It can take 10 years for a new drug to be developed and approved in the US, and for people with serious health conditions, that wait time can feel cruelly long. That’s part of why Zayner wants to empower people to experiment on themselves.

He seemed upset to learn he was under investigation, as anyone probably would be when facing up to three years in jail and a $10,000 fine. He tweeted, “I need a lawyer on retainer. People be accusing me of all types of crazy shit.” On Instagram, he wrote, “WTF!!!! … The fucked up part is that so many people are dying not because of me but because the FDA and government refuses to allow people access to cutting edge treatments or in some cases even basic healthcare. Yet I am the one threatened with jail.”

He added that he’s “never given anyone anything to inject or use, never sold any material meant to treat a disease and never claim to provide treatments or cures.”

The biohacker’s indignant tone is at odds with some of his past statements. In an interview with the Atlantic last year, he expressed regret for publicly injecting himself with CRISPR, which he admitted was an act intended to provoke. He seemed disturbed by his own celebrity: After the CRISPR incident, a cult of personality had sprung up around him, which he described as “out of control.” And he worried aloud about what biohackers would do next:

Honestly, I kind of blame myself. … What it’s turned into now, people view it as a way to get press and get publicity and get famous. And people are going to get hurt. There’s no doubt in my mind that somebody is going to end up hurt eventually. Everybody is trying to one-up each other more and more.

Zayner acknowledged that some people contact his company “for the sole purpose of buying stuff from us to inject” and said he discourages them from doing that. But given that he’s live-streamed himself doing it and that he sells the DIY CRISPR kits necessary for others to do the same, his words of deterrence may not mean much to customers.

He sounded a self-aware note about that, saying “that’s why I feel responsible for this shit.” Yet asked whether he was going to stop selling CRISPR kits, he said no.

In his recent Instagram post, his sense that he’d been wronged (“WTF!!!!”) was quickly followed by a different sentiment: “I knew this day would come.”

This isn’t the first time he’s run into trouble. In 2016, he tussled with the FDA, which objected to him selling kits to brew glow-in-the-dark beer. And after he injected himself with CRISPR, the FDA released a notice saying the sale of DIY gene-editing kits for use on humans is against the law. Zayner disregarded the warning and continued to sell his wares.

Now that state officials have stepped in to investigate, they’ll have their work cut out for them. Existing regulations weren’t built to make sense of something like biohacking, which in some cases stretches the very limits of what it means to be a human being. As biohackers traverse this uncharted territory, it’ll be fascinating to see how the law scrambles to catch up with them.

Sign up for the Future Perfect newsletter. Twice a week, you’ll get a roundup of ideas and solutions for tackling our biggest challenges: improving public health, decreasing human and animal suffering, easing catastrophic risks, and — to put it simply — getting better at doing good.

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Interests really are a healthier issue to get. It is actually a amazing experiencing to share your pastimes with others. Spending your extra time doing one thing you love as opposed to hurting time with tv or games is likewise wholesome to your imagination. Use the following hobby information and ideas to develop or make improvements to a pastime.

An awesome interest to get would be to start off looking at comic guides. Comic textbooks will still be moving strong and they re not just for kids. There are numerous adult designed comic books and they are often really enjoyable to read through. You could even find on to a thing that can get a movie later on.

If anxiousness is an element of your daily routine, a pastime you love can help eliminate several of that sensing. Remember that you do not have to pick a hobby that you are presently proficient in, there may be a great deal available you should look at trying new things.

If basketball will be your desire, then develop a true activity about your interest together with the game. This can be achieved without the need of actually establishing ft . on the discipline by enjoying imagination soccer. Gather a small group of buddies, decide on your squads and monitor their shows throughout the period.

Don t disregard your responsibilities. Interests may be a thrilling time and whenever you re having a good time, it could be easy to continue on when you ought to be doing another thing. If you think as if you are shelling out too much effort upon you activity, try out placing a clock and stopping if the timer is performed.

Swimming is actually a entertaining leisurely exercise, and it is also a excellent hobby. By way of fishing, you are able to find the oceans, leap in to a lake or maybe sort in the swimming pool within your back garden. Performing this helps to help you get in good shape, and it will surely also tell you about newer individuals who discuss your passion for the liquid.

Before you decide on the hobby that fits your needs, consider a little undertaking initially. If you think you may get pleasure from quilting, start out with a dinner table runner or modest cushion to determine if quilting is right for you. If artwork is attractive to you, give it a try over a modest canvass.

Seashell getting is a superb hobby that can provide you with happy recollections of seaside vacation trips. Seashells may be educative for children plus are excellent attractive highlights for that home.

This post ought to have exposed that you have reasons for having hobbies that are not widely known. To have the most out you pastimes, you can find things you should know about. Use the tips in the write-up to assist you achieve a fresh respect in the direction of your preferred pastime.

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Should You Trust Online Lenders?

Within a few years, online lending has become a massive financial industry that is rapidly changing how small business owners seek out funding. Obviously, most small business owners want to be careful in regards to taking out loans, so there can be some unease about this new universe. Armed with some knowledge, you can see how these products can work for you. You might find online lenders to be faster and easier than anything you’ve experienced before.  

Common Misconceptions About Online Lenders

Like everything involving the internet, there are some wild misconceptions flying around about how online lenders operate. And while there are undoubtedly more than a few unscrupulous actors out on the World Wide Web, there’s no reason why savvy small business owners shouldn’t take advantage of the range of lending products available online. Just be prepared to read and compare, and be careful with where you type in your information.  

They’re All Predators

In the long aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, many Americans lost trust in lending institutions—and understandably so. While predatory lending is still an issue around the country, many aboveboard lenders operate online that have offerings for small businesses. However, you should always do your due diligence: read the terms of any loans closely, and don’t be shy with questions. Some red flags include prepayment penalties and hard-to-understand repayment structures. Also look out for offers that seem too easy—in general, if it seems too good to be true, it very well might be.

Your Data Will Be Sold

Quality online lenders are very stringent on how they handle your data. Before inputting sensitive information, read over the terms and conditions. Good lenders need your information to see what you qualify for, not for selling to the highest bidder. In general, look for lenders that have physical locations as well as an online presence—or at least a mailing address you can locate. Be careful when putting your information into lending platforms as well. Some, like Lendio, use your data just to find loans that suit your needs, while others might be looking to sell your contact information. Research the intent of any lending platform you use.

Your Credit Score Will Suffer

Most online lenders only do a so-called “soft pull” on your credit report to see if you qualify. Such an action won’t hurt your score. Although taking out new lines of credit can dampen your score a bit at first, growing your credit-to-debt ratio and repaying a loan on time will actually improve your credit score over time.

Only Those Rejected By Banks Apply for Online Loans

There’s a whole world of reasons why a small business would apply for alternative loans instead of traditional term loans from a bank. In most cases, businesses applying for term loans have been operating for years and are seeking at least $100,000 or more. Additionally, the repayment period can last decades. Not to mention, the application process is purposefully onerous. If any of those qualifications seem less than ideal for your company’s needs, you are one of the many small business owners who should look into online loans.

Online Lenders Are Unregulated

While there is less regulation overall for the wide span of online and alternative lenders, it isn’t the Wild West—if you’re smart. Some ways to ensure that there is some sort of oversight over your lending options is to utilize a quality lending platform, like Lendio, and use products that are connected to a known bank or credit company. If you are deeply concerned about regulations, you can apply online for loan products that are partly backed by the Small Business Administration, known as SBA Loans.

Some Realities to Consider

Online lenders operate differently than physical banks, so you should be prepared for new situations. Here are some aspects of the online lending process that you may encounter.

Higher Rates Are Common

The reason why traditional term loans from a bank are so sought after by some small business owners is that banks generally provide the best interest rates. However, the application process is arduous, the repayment period is extremely long, and the minimum loan amounts are usually pretty high. Because online lenders make decisions quicker and often for smaller amounts of money, the interest rates are typically higher. Still, if the online lender is trustworthy, the rates won’t be astronomically different. When making decisions, keep a close eye on interest rates and calculate the total you would end up spending after the loan is repaid.

Loans Are Structured Differently

Online lenders typically offer wildly different structures than a traditional term loan, but this might be a benefit in some cases. Some loans, like ACH cash flow loans, are based on your daily sales, while others, like equipment financing, lend you money so you can buy needed machinery. Identify your business needs and then research lending products that would help you reach those needs.

You’ll Have to Upload Documents

Because you are applying online, you will likely have to upload sensitive documents about you and your business. If this makes you queasy, research how the data is used and ask questions. Quality lenders will be very up-front about how this information is used.  

Phone Time Instead of Face Time

You will likely never meet your online lender face-to-face. Your communication will be done via email, online messaging, and telephone. With automated chatbots becoming increasingly common, don’t be afraid to confirm that you are speaking with a real person through a website. And if you feel less than comfortable, pick up the phone. If the lender is trusty, service representatives will be ready and willing to answer any questions. In fact, if it’s hard to get answers by calling a lender, this is likely a red flag that the offer is too good to be true.

The Benefits of Online Lending

There’s a reason why small business owners are going online to find loans—the cash gets into your account fast, and you can compare dozens of options with a few keystrokes. If you do your research, online lending can be an efficient way to get needed funding fast.

Much Faster Application Process

Online lenders are looking to provide you with a loan as fast as they can because they know fast cash is why many small business owners are turning online in the first place. The application and approval period is generally within a few days to a week or two. Since most applications are available online, you can fill out the forms anytime, day or night, and it will likely be reviewed within 24 hours. Because the loan amounts are usually lower than what a bank offers, the application process online is significantly faster.  

Get Loans Quicker

While approval isn’t guaranteed, the bar is much lower than you will find with a term loan. If your credit report is good-to-excellent, the chances are high that you’ll receive approval and then your loan very quickly. This is why online loans are often ideal if you need a quick infusion of funding to get through a sudden, unexpected cash crunch. Still, remember to check the interest rates and repayment terms alongside the turnaround time.  

Huge Variety of Loan Products

Online lenders are constantly devising new loan products to suit the diverse needs of American small businesses. Some loans don’t even require a credit check, and others are based around a specific need, like equipment financing. Also, don’t turn your nose up at business credit cards—they might be an ideal solution if your funding needs are relatively small. Look at your business plan and think about what lending products can benefit you the most.  

Find A Loan Structure That Works for You

Because the range of loan products is so diffuse, the structures are very different as well. For term loans, you will be repaying a very large loan back to a bank over a very long time—maybe 20 to 30 years. For some online loans, the term can be as short as 6 months. Some products take automated daily repayments from your bank account. Many business credit cards offer an introductory period of 12 to 15 months where the interest rate is 0%, but there might be an introductory or annual fee. This variation is why you need to compare and contrast what online loans will help you reach your business goals the best.

Comparing Your Options Has Never Been Easier

Unlike the pre-internet days, you can compare the terms of hundreds of loans in a matter of minutes. On platforms like Lendio, you can look at a wide range of lending options, including business credit cards, and sort them by categories like interest rates and maximum loan amounts. By submitting one application, you can see offers from a lengthy list of lenders.

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