#Tax Return Investment Ideas
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
somethingnubian · 1 year ago
Text
Invest in Yourself:
A Transformative Approach to Using Your Tax Returns By: LaTrecia Doyle-Thaxton aka Reiki Ra-Ess Greetings, Beautiful Souls! It’s Reiki Ra-ess here, bringing light and love to your financial pathways. Each year, as we navigate through the complexities of tax season, we’re presented with a unique opportunity not just for financial growth, but for personal evolution. A few years ago I touched on…
Tumblr media
View On WordPress
0 notes
kleopatra45 · 6 months ago
Note
Do you intend to make a post about stellium in the houses on the solar return chart ?
Stelliums in the Houses [Solar Return]
Tumblr media
1st House
A 1st House stellium in the solar return chart highlights a year of self-focus and personal development. You'll be driven to assert your identity, make changes to your appearance, or take charge of your life direction. This is a year to focus on self-awareness, personal goals, and how you present yourself to the world. Expect significant changes in how you view yourself and how others perceive you.
2nd House
A stellium in the 2nd House indicates a year of financial focus and re-evaluating your values. Your earning potential, material possessions, and financial stability will be central themes. You may be driven to increase your income, invest in new resources, or reassess what you truly value in life. This is also a year where your self-worth and how it relates to your material wealth will be tested and potentially redefined.
3rd House
When the 3rd House is emphasized by a stellium, communication, learning, and your immediate environment become pivotal. This is a year of increased mental activity, where you might take up new studies, start a writing project, or strengthen relationships with siblings and neighbors. The pace of daily life may quicken, with more travel, social interactions, and exchanges of ideas.
4th House
A 4th House stellium points to a year focused on home, family, and your emotional foundation. You might move, renovate, or invest more energy into your living situation. Family dynamics and your relationship with parents, especially your mother, will play a significant role. This is also a time for inner reflection, dealing with past issues, and strengthening your emotional roots.
5th House
A stellium in the 5th House brings creativity, romance, and self-expression to the forefront. This could be a year of artistic pursuits, new romantic relationships, or a stronger focus on children if you have them. Your desire for pleasure, fun, and taking risks will be heightened. You might feel a strong urge to create something unique or to fully express your individuality in a new way.
6th House
With a 6th House stellium, your work, health, and daily routines become the focus. You might take on new responsibilities at work, become more health-conscious, or make significant changes to your daily habits. This is a year where you are called to service, whether through your job, volunteering, or simply helping others in practical ways. Health and wellness practices may take on new importance.
7th House
A 7th House stellium in the solar return chart emphasizes relationships and partnerships. This could be a year of significant developments in your marriage, business partnerships, or other close relationships. Issues of balance, cooperation, and commitment will come to the surface. You might also attract new partnerships or face challenges that require diplomacy and negotiation.
8th House
The 8th House stellium brings transformation, shared resources, and deep psychological processes into focus. This could be a year of dealing with joint finances, taxes, inheritances, or debts. Intimate relationships might go through profound changes, or you may confront issues of power, control, and taboo subjects. It's a year for deep emotional work, facing fears, and perhaps a symbolic or literal rebirth.
9th House
A stellium in the 9th House highlights a year of expansion through travel, higher education, or spiritual pursuits. You might be drawn to new philosophies, religions, or cultures, seeking to broaden your understanding of the world. This is a time to explore new horizons, whether through physical travel, academic study, or a quest for truth and meaning. Legal matters or international connections may also play a role.
10th House
With a 10th House stellium, career and public life take center stage. This is a year where your professional ambitions, reputation, and long-term goals come into sharp focus. You may receive recognition for your achievements or feel a strong drive to advance in your career. Authority figures, including bosses or even your own role as a leader, will be significant. Expect changes in your public image or career trajectory.
11th House
A stellium in the 11th House emphasizes friendships, social networks, and long-term aspirations. This could be a year where you play a more active role in groups or communities, or where you align yourself with causes and organizations that reflect your ideals. Friendships may become more important, and you could find support for your goals through social connections. Your vision for the future will be a central focus.
12th House
The 12th House stellium points to a year of introspection, spirituality, and dealing with hidden matters. You might feel the need to retreat, focus on your inner life, or confront subconscious patterns. This could be a year of letting go, healing past wounds, or dealing with issues related to confinement, isolation, or endings. Spiritual growth and self-awareness will be key themes, as you prepare for a new cycle of personal development.
I will post 'Stellium in the Signs' soon!
I hope this helps! ♥️
©️kleopatra45
476 notes · View notes
dailyadventureprompts · 7 months ago
Text
Expanded universes really are the final frontier of franchise based storytelling aren't they? The ultimate sign that the brand managers have finally squeezed out the artists and twisted things into a state of maximum profitability.
Crossovers and callbacks can be fun, continuous crossovers and callbacks make the story into a slurry. Canon and what if's and reboots all ground up and served in a trough for the undiscerning consumer to mire in. It's bland, it's exhausting, it's pointless.
Big companies and studios are risk averse, and the profit seeking wisdom steers them away from niche works of art and towards wide appeal content. Why risk money on a movie/game that only a fraction of people will love when you can spread that engagement out across a dozen different products that are just good enough to keep people invested in your extended universe, whether from genuine fandom or just cultural fomo?
Marvel feels ubiquitous as Kleenex doesn't it? It's always there in the movie theatre/store, slightly cheaper offbrands right beside it. While individual works within the marvel universe might be genuinely good in their own right their quality is secondary to their purpose in perpetuating the brand and keeping it relevant.
People like familiarity, and if it's a safe bet for you as a consumer to have a pretty okay time in exchange for your hardearned dollars then it's a safe bet for the investors to receive their quarterly returns. It's no mistake that Disney, the company that owns Marvel does most of its business in theme parks: entertainment on an industrial scale. Just like their movies the rides are made to give you and everyone else who bought a ticket a scientifically optimized amount of fun and then move you along so that that the next batch of riders can have an identical experience.
It's value production as efficient as an assembly line or slaughter house, completely atomized and divested of any trace of the individual for the sake of maximum profitability. The figured out a way to sell you your own fandoms like they sell you happymeals, endless iterations of a product just this side of bad but convenient enough that you never need to go without.
I don't blame anyone for liking things, just like I don't blame people for wanting a quick burger in the middle of a long day. Our minds need entertainment just like our body needs calories, and profit seeking conglomerates exploit that need as they always have. What irks me is the fact that even outside of the commercials I feel like I am being sold something, like the movies and games I actually enjoy are being supplanted by feature length billboards that only serve to advertise the next instalment. The desire to find out what happens next is a powerful thing in media, and that desire is being exploited by expanded universes the same way it's exploited by DLC that contains the "true ending".
You can tell it isn't sustainable.. McDonald's is so inflated in price it's competing with actual restaurants, the gaming Industry guts itself with layoffs every quarter, and Disney's competitors are producing entire movies and tv shows only to destroy them for tax befits. The cracks have been showing for a while but I have no idea what shape the landscape is going to take after the dam gives.
127 notes · View notes
a-d-nox · 2 years ago
Text
what's a solar return?
any time the sun transits and becomes exactly conjunct your natal sun (it is in the exact sign and degree it was in when you were born), you undergo a solar return. solar returns happen every year on your birthday. my solar return is coming up this october, so i thought "why not?let's continue my thoughts about the return charts."
but what can a solar return chart show you?
literally everything about your year ahead. you just have to look at it and know what you are looking at/for. so let's break it down some of the basics...
Tumblr media
sun
energy/aura, attention you receive this year, leadership opportunities, creativity, pride/ego/dignity, how generous you are, individuality, personal development, self-awareness, what makes you happy, celebrations, and self-expression.
moon
emotions / emotional responses, self-care, comfort zone / safe space, femininity, mothers / matriarchal / maternal instincts, family, nostalgia, pregnancy/fertility, baking/cooking, adaptability, menstruation, and habits/routines.
mercury
communication/gossiping, mindset / reasoning skills, perception, writing, social media / cellphone use, short trips, ground transportation, and mannerisms.
venus
romance, beauty/aestheticism, pleasure(s), art/entertainment, self-love, harmony, femininity, sentimentality, how you compromise, parties/celebrations, and possessions.
mars
passions/desires, self-confidence, ambition, anger/aggression, competitiveness, athletics / physical energy, impulsivity, courage/bravery, tasks, masculinity, assertiveness, sexuality, and violence.
jupiter
luck, abundance, wealth, success, opportunity, popularity, wisdom, air travel, ease, higher education (college/university), optimism, justice/retribution, law, and fulfillment.
saturn
work, achievement/mastery, challenges, karma, fathers / patriarchy / paternal instincts, fears, guilt, delays/limitations, discipline, responsibility, past issues that are prevalent this year, practicality, stability, endurance, maturity, and grudges.
uranus
friends/fans/followers, technology, fluctuation/change, rebellion, independence, originality, unexpected things / surprises, and chaos.
neptune
creativity, selflessness, escapism, intuition, hidden things, deception/lies/delusion, confusion, inspiration, and addiction/fascination.
pluto
change/transformation, power, sex/seduction, death, intensity/magnetism, obsessions, manipulation, and purging.
1h/asc
identity, approach/mindset this year, physical appearance, mannerisms, and your presence.
2h
money/finances this year, material possessions, self worth, what you are giving/receiving, and resources.
3h
communication/gossip, mind / method of thinking, sibling relationship(s), interests, ideas/information, ground transportation, social media / cellphone use, publishing, and short trips.
4h/ic
homes/houses, family matters, parents (mainly maternal figures), inner child work you do this year, inheritance, traditions you practice this year, self-care you do this year, and femininity.
5h
children, talents / hobbies / entertainment / creative pursuits, drama, short-term romances, pleasures/gifts, fertility, and joy/delight/jubilation
6h
daily routine, health/fitness/diet, work/duties, self-improvement / shadow work, hygiene, and pet(s).
7h/dsc
long-term relationships / marriage / partnerships, how you care for others (if you care for others), minor legal pursuits, contracts/negotiations, known enemies, close associates / business partners, and equality/harmony/sharing (how you promote it and how (if) you receive it).
8h
changes (external and internal), death (internal and external), shared finances, what you invest in, stocks/taxes/inheritance/loans/assets, intimacy (intellectual and physical), secrets/mystery, mental health / trauma you experience, and possible surgery/operations.
9h
wisdom you gain, major legal pursuits, new beliefs/ethics/philosophy milestones, college/university, and air travel / travel abroad.
10h/mc
career, public image / status / reputation in society, responsibilities towards society/others, authority, paternal figures, and your professional aspirations (the progress you make towards them this year).
11h
friends/companions/allies/groups, ideals/desires, how your different this year as opposed to years past, technology, networking/socializing, and parties (formal and informal).
12h
how you heal this year from you past / mental health journey, karma, sleeping habits, your experience with solitude/isolation this year, unknown enemies, illusions/delusions you have about your situation, fears / self-limitation, losses, and what you secretly/subconsciously want most this year.
Tumblr media
like what you read? leave a tip and state what post it is for! please use my "suggest a post topic" button if you want to see a specific post or mythical asteroid next!
click here for the masterlist
click here for more return chart posts
want a personal reading? click here to check out my reading options and prices!
© a-d-nox 2023 all rights reserved
414 notes · View notes
uboat53 · 3 months ago
Text
It's two days after the election and Republicans are already insisting that Democrats need to drop their opposition to Trump and try to work together which… yeah, really.
If you find yourself wondering "sure, why shouldn't they?", I'll go ahead and lay it out.
First of all, Republicans have never done this, certainly not in my adult lifetime. Before Barack Obama was even sworn in the top elected Republican announced that his number one goal was to make him a one-term president. They spent eight years stonewalling every attempt he made at outreach and arguably caused a lot of pain to Americans in the process by preventing any efforts to ease the recovery from the Great Recession. In 2016, when everyone thought Clinton was going to win, every elected Republican was vocal about how their top priority was preparing to resist, attack, and investigate every aspect of the expected administration. Even in Biden's term, while some Senators did join him to pass an infrastructure bill, most Republicans spent the entire four years even denying that he was legitimately elected.
There's an idea in game theory where you set up a game that gets played over and over again ad infinitum. On each turn, two people independently choose to either cooperate or not for that turn. If they both cooperate each gets a 70% prize and if they both refuse then they each a 30% prize, but if one person cooperates and one person doesn't then the person who cooperated gets nothing while the other person gets a 100% prize (these numbers aren't exact, but they make the point). So how do you win the game? Well, obviously, long-term, the best strategy is cooperation, but if one person always cooperates the other person can take advantage of this to do even better by refusing their cooperation.
I'll spare you the math and game theory behind this idea, but it turns out that the optimal strategy, the one that leads to the best rate of return, is to cooperate on the first turn and then simply do whatever the other person did before on every turn after that. In this way you always leave open a return to cooperation, but you also prevent yourself from being taken advantage of.
Basically, when Republicans ask for (demand, really) cooperation, they're asking for something they've never been willing to give themselves. Maybe if, for once, they were at least magnanimous in victory, we might able to talk, but that leads me to my second point…
What, exactly, is there to compromise on? Look, if we both think that we need to invest in roads and schools but we have different ideas about what kinds of things need to be invested in or how much to invest, then we can have a conversation and that can lead to compromise, but that's not the nature of the disagreements on key issues. Republicans think that LGBT people should not have basic rights, that states should have the right to gerrymander minorities out of political power, that women have too many rights these days (abortion, no fault divorce, etc.), and that corporations and rich people pay too much in taxes.
Don't believe me? Look at the legislation they're already lining up and the policies they're preparing to put in place, they're not planning a single bill or policy that does anything but the things that I listed above. So what should the Democrats compromise on? Should we agree that LGBT people only deserve some rights? Should we trade women's rights against minority rights? Should we give up on tilting the economy back in favor of working people and accept even more national debt to give money to rich people?
The agenda that Republicans have proposed is so radical and so violently opposed to everything that the Democratic Party stands for that there's no room for compromise. Even if Democrats wanted to set aside party differences and do what's best for the country, Republicans aren't doing anything that Democrats could remotely agree is good for the country. And here's the thing, most Americans agree. Yes, I know, the United States just elected Republicans to power but, while they did so, they also voted almost entirely against Republicans on almost every issue that I noted above that was up for a vote, even in deep red states! Americans may like Republican vibes and messaging, but every time it comes down to actual policy, the policy that Democrats prefer wins over and over again.
So, as a Democrat, I'm expecting my party to resist. They won't be able to stop everything, but I expect them to raise hell, throw sand in the gears, and investigate fully to point out every last bit of self-dealing, hypocrisy, and flagrant disregard for the rule of law that goes on on the other side.
If Republicans don't like this, if they want cooperation, then they need to think long and hard about what they're actually willing to offer. Just getting less of this far-right policy isn't enough, we can probably stop more of it by resisting anyways. If they want cooperation, they need to think about which of our issues they're willing to give. Are they willing to pass legislation to protect the rights of women, LGBT, and minorities? Are they willing to nominate moderate judges instead of Federalist Society operatives? How about giving 80% of their tax cuts to the working class instead of the rich?
They'll find plenty of Democrats willing to talk if those things are on offer, including me. Of course, they're not actually offering anything; to them, "compromise" just means that we give in to what they want and that's why I have no problems saying that I intend to fully resist the policy of the upcoming administration and I expect my party and all its elected representatives to do the same. When compromise becomes a two-way street, I'm fine with going back to it, but I'm done with the one-way "compromises" the GOP keeps demanding.
And, if you're one of the "why can't we all just get along?" people in politics who want politicians to be bipartisan, I hope I've shown you what it will take to get there.
19 notes · View notes
darkmaga-returns · 13 days ago
Text
Gerald Celente, the publisher of The Trends Journal, praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s idea on Monday of doing away with income taxes and having foreign countries pick up the tab.
Trump told a House Republican Members Conference: “It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before... Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich foreign nations, we should be taxing foreign nations to enrich our citizens.”
Celente posted on X: “I totally agree. Bravo! Will Trump live by his word, or is these empty words with no action? Time will tell. And if Trump does not live by his word, he should go to Hell.”
TREND FORECAST: As one of our Top Trends clearly define; where the U.S. economy, the world’s largest, is headed and how it will affect much of the world, at this time is a Wild Card, and how the Trump Card will be played, at this point—considering Trump’s past performance when he was President—is a guessing game: Will Trump live by his tariff promises? Will Trump end the Israel and Ukraine War? Will he cut taxes for the working class? Will he have the government invest hundreds of billions, if not trillions, to re-build the nation’s rotting infrastructure and create a New Work Progress Administration 2.0 New Deal?
16 notes · View notes
notfinancialadvice · 1 month ago
Text
Keep this in mind
You're going to hear a lot of "the market is crashing" or "the market is going to crash" over the next four years.
It does not fucking matter.
When do you need this money you have invested? If soon, then make moves according to what is happening. If not, then make moves according to what is happening.
How are the companies you are investing in acting?
What is the risk profile they have going forward?
These are the questions you should be asking whatever the heat / coolness of the market is.
Tumblr media
"I don't know what to do."
The simplest, most straight forward thing is called "target date fund."
"Broker Name Yadda Yadda 2030."
Tumblr media
This means a bunch of fucking math and money nerds are figuring out how to maximize your return, and minimize your potential for losses, with a full maturity in the year 2030.
They typically come in years -- 2030, 2035, 2040, 2045, 2050... etc.
You can, as always, have multiples. If you are using this for a retirement fund and you're not sure what age you want to retire at, and you don't want to think about it now, you can put some in 2035, 2045, 2055... etc.
Tumblr media
It's a better idea to set your goal, first, but that is appreciatively complicated and itself anxiety inducing. The above is not financial advice (none of this is), it's an observation to a larger view:
There is always a way.
Your situation is singular and personal.
Be direct and own it.
You do not need to worry about the market crashing, you can make money on a market crash. You do not need to worry about the market ramping up, you can lose money on the market ramping up.
You need to focus on you.
"My money is in a 401K or similar retirement vehicle so..."
Tumblr media
Good place for it. Tax advantaged.
Massive, massive, massive penalty for tapping it early.
Which is why I'm writing this.
A lot of people see headlines of "oh fuck the market is going to crash, my 401K which I cannot touch for LITERAL DECADES YET is in danger, I should pull it--"
:)
You should talk to whomever is managing your account and get a viewpoint based on where you are, where you want to go, and how long you have to get there.
Tumblr media
Panic will break you.
Talk to your financial folks.
If you don't have financial folks, a high yield savings account --
(this is a definition link, not an affiliate link, this blog does not use affiliate links -- I'm not trying to sell you things here)
-- will net you about 4% (as of time of this writing) with $0 fees and zero risk.
Tumblr media
Other things will make you more money -- with more risk.
That's not relevant if you don't feel comfortable to take that risk.
You have to do what is best for you. Now. When your situation changes, re-assess. Hell, it's best to re-assess occasionally whether your situation has changed or not.
Do not be scared of money.
Fire anyone who insinuates you should be.
This recommendation applies if you have $10 or $10 million and is one of the VERY few pieces of actual advice I'll give here.
I can safely give it because it is one of the VERY few pieces of financial advice that is universal.
Tumblr media
You can do this.
I know you can without knowing you.
Because there is SO MUCH good, basic information out there.
Fear is the only guard.
You can defeat it.
If you're broke, then the fear of destruction is being weaponized against you. I hope your situation changes, quickly and safely.
Knowledge will help.
Get what you need to get what you need.
15 notes · View notes
dreaminginthedeepsouth · 3 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
Bramhall
* * * *
LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN
November 14, 2024
Heather Cox Richardson
Nov 14, 2024
Two snapshots today illustrate the difference between the economic—and therefore the societal—visions of the Biden-Harris administration and of the incoming Trump administration.
The Biden-Harris administration today released numbers revealing that over the past four years, their policies have kick-started a boom in the creation of small businesses across the country. Since the administration took office, entrepreneurs have filed more than 20 million applications for new businesses, the most of any presidential term in history. This averages to more than 440,000 applications a month, a rate more than 90% faster than averages before the pandemic. Black business ownership has doubled, and Hispanic business ownership is up by 40% since before the pandemic. 
The administration encouraged that growth with targeted loans, tax credits, federal contracts, and support services. Small businesses are major job creators and employ about 47% of all private sector employees. 
President Joe Biden rejected the “neoliberalism” of the previous 40 years that had moved about $50 trillion dollars from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1%. Those embracing that theory maintain that the government should let markets operate without regulation, concentrating wealth among a few people who will invest it more efficiently than they can if the government intervenes with regulations or taxes that hamper the ability of investors to amass wealth. 
Biden and Harris returned the U.S. to the model that both parties had embraced until 1981: the idea that the government should regulate business, provide a basic social safety net, promote infrastructure, and protect civil rights. That system had reduced extremes of wealth in the U.S. after the Great Depression and given most Americans a path to prosperity. 
Biden’s policies worked, enabling the U.S. to recover from the pandemic more quickly than any other country with a modern economy, sending unemployment to historic lows, and raising wages faster than inflation for the bottom 80% of Americans. 
It has also had social effects, most notably today with the announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the U.S. is seeing a historic drop in deaths from the street drug fentanyl. From June 2023 to June 2024, deaths dropped by roughly 14.5%, translating into more than 16,000 lives saved. Experts say the drop is due to better addiction healthcare, the widespread availability of the opioid reversal drug naloxone, and lower potency of street fentanyl. 
If the record of the extraordinary growth of small businesses in the past four years is one snapshot, the other is a social media post from yesterday, in which former pharmaceutical executive Vivek Ramaswamy noted that the government spends $516 billion a year on “programs which Congress has allowed to expire.” “We can & should save hundreds of billions each year by defunding government programs that Congress no longer authorizes,” he wrote. 
Bobby Kogan, who worked in President Joe Biden’s Office of Management and Budget and on the Senate Budget Committee, explained that Congress often authorizes spending as “temporary” in order “to encourage Congress to revisit it to update various parts of the bill, such as eligibility, benefits, etc.” But Congress can still fund the programs in appropriations bills. 
Kogan noted that the largest program currently operating under expired authorization is veterans’ medical care. 
Trump and his advisors embrace the neoliberalism Biden rejected. Rather than invest in the economy to create opportunities for middle-class Americans and those just starting out, they want to slash the existing government to free up more capital for investors. 
Trump has tapped the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, who invested at least $132 million in cash in Trump’s campaign as well as the in-kind gift of the support of X, and former pharmaceutical executive Vivek Ramaswamy to run a “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE, named for Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency.  
According to the Washington Post’s Jeff Stein, Elizabeth Dwoskin, Cat Zakrzewski, and Jacob Bogage, people around Musk say the group is intended to “apply slash-and-burn business ideologies to the U.S. government.” Musk has vowed to slash “at least” $2 trillion from the federal budget and has warned it will create “hardship.”  
That the people embracing this plan see a world in which a few elites run things showed in today’s social media post by the “DOGE.” The post called for “super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting. If that’s you, DM this account…. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.” 
Such cuts would be enormously unpopular, and in the Washington Post yesterday, Stein, Dwoskin, Zakrzewski, and Bogage reported that Trump’s aides are exploring ways to enact dramatic cuts to the government without congressional approval. Key among those is simply refusing to release the money Congress appropriates for programs Musk and Trump want to cut. This is known as “impoundment,” and Congress made it illegal in 1974 after President Richard Nixon tried to shape the government to his wishes by refusing to fund congressional programs he opposed. 
Trump tried to do this quietly in 2019 by refusing to release the money Congress had appropriated for Ukraine to fund its fight against Russian incursions until Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky smeared Biden. When the threat came to light, the House of Representatives impeached Trump. Although the Senate ultimately acquitted Trump, according to Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) all the Republican senators agreed he had done as the House charged. 
Now Trump’s team apparently hopes that a pliant Supreme Court will declare the 1974 Impoundment Control Act unconstitutional, permitting Trump—or Vice President J.D. Vance, should Trump not be able to fulfill his term—to shape the government without consulting Congress.
Because of the 2024 presidential election, Trump will soon be able to return the country to the neoliberal vision of the 40 years before Biden, supercharging it with the help of unelected billionaire Elon Musk, who recently claimed the title of being the “George Soros of the right,” a reference to the liberal philanthropist who has been the bogeyman of right-wing pundits. 
But it’s not at all clear that Americans actually want that supercharged neoliberalism. As vote counts are continuing, it has become clear that Trump’s victory was slim indeed. New numbers from Nate Silver suggest he will not clear 50% of voters.
At the same time, a new study out today from Data for Progress showed that people who paid “a great deal” of attention to political news voted for Vice President Kamala Harris +6, while those who paid “none at all” went +19 for Trump. 
Many of those voters got their information from social media or right-wing websites, but one of those today underwent a historic change. The satirical news outlet The Onion bought right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s InfoWars at auction. Jones’s property was up for sale because juries found him guilty of defamation and awarded his victims about $1.5 billion in damages. After the 2012 shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that killed 26 students and teachers, Jones insisted the event was a hoax designed to provide an excuse for gun safety regulations. He and his supporters harassed the victims’ families for years.
Jones appeared to be trying to keep control of InfoWars by having a company associated with him buy it up under the terms of the bankruptcy and restore it to him. But Sandy Hook families worked with The Onion to keep it from returning to Jones’s hands. Jones is screaming that the sale that took it away from him was a conspiracy. The company associated with him, First United American Companies, is already protesting the sale in court. 
Jones rose to prominence in 1993, when he dropped out of community college to start a talk radio show that warned the government was making war on Americans. His shtick echoed the anti-communist grifters of the post–World War II years that promised small donors that their contributions could stop the creeping communism in the United States. Jones became popular enough that he went on to found InfoWars, which made him rich from the sale of nutritional supplements. The theme of InfoWars was that “There’s a war on for your mind!” and that only people like him could deliver the truth.
But his lies cost him a billion dollars, and now, noting that “InfoWars has shown an unswerving commitment to manufacturing anger and radicalizing the most vulnerable members of society,”  The Onion has bought his website, which it plans to relaunch in January as a parody of Jones and a site that promotes gun safety legislation. But the chief executive officer of The Onion, Ben Collins, told Kim Bellware of the Washington Post: “It’s not just [Jones], it’s the people on Instagram trying to get you to drink raw milk; it’s the [multilevel marketing] people trying to get you to join a scam…. Those people have outsize impact in our completely bifurcated and balkanized media environment.”
LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN
HEATHER COX RICHARDSON
13 notes · View notes
thormanick · 11 months ago
Text
All the Kavetham/Haikaveh ideas I don't have capacity to currently write, a very detailed list:
(Which I am humbly placing here before you. Be warned: this post is an incredibly long one!)
1. Fatui!Kaveh AU, where the night before the meeting happens between Kaveh and Alhaitham at the tavern, Kaveh gets a deal from Fatui representatives to work on a huge project in Snezhnaya. Kaveh is sceptical about it, but decides to accept the offer during the dialogue with Alhaitham (seeing himself as a burden, Kaveh decides that he will cause more trouble to Alhaitham than the Fatui, thus he decides to accept their offer even if it seems too good to be true). He tells Alhaitham about his decision to leave for Snezhnaya, and so the two relatively amicably/peacefully part their ways (not without Alhaitham testing Kaveh's reasoning a bit, but Kaveh's resolve remains strong).
And so, Kaveh leaves for Snezhnaya, where he gets to work on several huge projects for the next several years under Sandrone. Most of them are related to construction, engineering and reverse-engineering of Khaenri'ahn and Khaenri'ah-inspired technology, and he gets barely any time to work on his personal projects (he's overworked and exhausted and doesn't get much time and opportunity to be creative; however, the payments are good and he's on his way to getting out of debt, which is practically the sole reason driving him forward. The projects get progressively more complicated and, in a way, unhinged - engineering military equipment is alright, but working with the remains of Khaenri'ahn technology, dead gods and such proves to be... mentally taxing. Everything happens very gradually though, so Kaveh does not immediately notice the true scale of where the Fatui are ready to go to achieve certain goals). Kaveh doesn't really like the work environment of the Fatui, but he does his best (the Harbingers creep him out whenever he gets to see them on a rare official occasion (he might specifically dislike Pantalone because the Harbinger keeps picking at him for his debt, given a chance), but Sandrone's a decent boss who is somewhat encouraging and invested in his work and personal projects. She might be especially interested in Mehrak's existence and operation). Overall, everything goes quite smoothly for Kaveh, even if he doesn't feel quite at home in Snezhnaya and is aware of how dangerous the Fatui can be. He does not consider himself to be paranoid, but the other shoe has to drop at some point - and that happens when the new Acting Grand Sage of Sumeru gets to visit Snezhnaya on a diplomatic mission (aka: Kaveh reconnects with Alhaitham & Co for the first time in what feels like forever). The situation gets complicated when Kaveh realizes that Sandrone encourages the reestablishment of his connection with Alhaitham specifically - and she never encourages an action if she doesn't directly contribute from it.
Feelings, emotions and shenanigans ensue.
TLDR: Kaveh's doing his best despite being restricted in his ways of work, prevented from realizing most of his creative projects and slowly but surely building emotional walls around himself because Fatui and Snezhnaya; Sandrone being a kind of decent boss with sorta good work ethic but horrendous morals who is not exactly a good influence on Kaveh's idealistic tendencies and guilt complex; Fatui being contextually horrifying but kinda normal coworkers if you don't look at them too close; Alhaitham trying his best as a political figure (Nahida help him) while also trying to get Kaveh to return home with him (because he misses him); the main conflict revolving around Kaveh and his life choices with Sandrone and Alhaitham being kind of foils to each other (with Sandrone gradually destroying Kaveh's idealistic morals and playing on his guilt to get the most out of his potential as an innovator, and with Alhaitham actively trying to resolve Kaveh's guilt and show him that, despite their arguments, Kaveh's idealism still has place in the world and can co-exist with other philosophies). There might or might not be some macguffin-esque Deshret relic that both Akademia and Fatui hunt for that eventually brings the whole crew back to Sumeru. Kaveh might or might not get a chance to meet a fragment of Deshret's spirit within the mentioned relic. But there definitely will be a happy end for everyone here (Deshret will make sure of it).
2. Calamity!AU. The new Cataclysm comes, enveloping all Seven Nations, and so Sumeru does its best to survive. The cities are ruined, and the people gather together in random places to survive. Alhaitham gets to live within one of the settlements, established by the Akademiya. While trying to survive the first wave of the new Calamity, he is also looking for Kaveh; after an argument between the two the architect left for an expedition to the Desert, right before the new Calamity began. Unfortunately, the news comes that his group should have been around Tunigi Hollow - one of the spots in Sumeru where the first wave of the new Calamity hit the hardest. There is no concrete information on whether Kaveh's group survived or not. Alhaitham, not loosing hope, does his best to find any information on Kaveh's whereabouts, but due to Sumeru becoming extremely dangerous to traverse and disjointed as a result of the new Calamity, the search stretches out for almost a decade.
One day Alhaitham helps a caravan, traversing the forests to get to one of the settlements, to fight off the monsters. Unexpectedly, Kaveh turns out to be one of the members of the caravan. Their reunion is almost cut short by the caravan's need to keep going, but Alhaitham convinces Kaveh to join him instead. The two return to the new Sumeru city settlement, where Alhaitham lives and works under the watch of Akademiya and Lord Kusanali. It appears that during his years of travels around the destroyed Sumeru Kaveh learned new ways of architectural construction that would be more efficient against the monsters, born by the Calamity. He also seems to behave quite differently, hardened by the experiences of the past years. Alhaitham proposes for Kaveh to stay with him in the city, and Kaveh accepts. The feelings, new routines, dealings with the changed versions of each other and attempts to find new pace of life in the new world ensue.
TLDR: The world might be ending and impossible to live in, but even so each new day is brighter when the person one loves is by their side.
3. Another Cataclysm!AU, where Kaveh and Alhaitham get assigned separate missions in the grander scheme of things created to prevent the coming of a new Calamity. The plan succeeds and the world remains safe, but not without heavy losses: amongst many others, Kaveh does not survive while carrying out his mission.
Decades pass as Alhaitham goes through his grieving process. Eventually, one evening on the anniversary of the Calamity's prevention, Alhaitham wanders to a place he and Kaveh used to visit together. A Ley Line disruption occurs, and he gets to see a glimpse of Kaveh through it. They have a conversation; the Ley Line apparition (a memory of Kaveh) is convinced that Alhaitham is from the future, and so they talk a lot about the Calamity, whether it was prevented, and about each other's futures. Alhaitham can't bring himself to tell Kaveh that he does not survive the Calamity, but he does tell Kaveh that his architectural legacy lives on. Kaveh commends Alhaitham on his achievements (though not an acting grand sage for a very long time, Alhaitham kept playing an important role throughout Sumeru's history, helping to keep it safe).
Eventually, their time runs out. Ley Line disorder starts gradually disappearing. Alhaitham urges Kaveh to be careful and stay safe, knowing that the Calamity (on Kaveh's side) is yet to come. Kaveh laughs and tells him that on his side, Alhaitham just told him the same words after they finished the debriefing session, related to the Calamity. He says that he was feeling very nervous, but that seeing future-Alhaitham made him convinced that they are on the right path.
And so, the Ley Line disorder disappears. Alhaitham spends some more time at the spot before returning home. Despite painful memories having been brought up, his heart feels a bit lighter.
TLDR: closure comes unexpectedly, takes many forms and does not erase the pain in an instant, but, nevertheless, it heals.
4. AU! where Kaveh and Alhaitham are both magical birds that can transform into humans (and half-humans).
They live together in the depths of Sumeru forest - a domain of a long lost God of Wisdom. Kaveh's feathers are rumoured to bring blessings, while Alhaitham's feathers, on the contrary, are said to bring bad luck or even curses. Humans, living at the edge of magical forest, kinda worship them, but also prefer not to interact with them, primarily because Alhaitham is not happy when others trespass on his lands, and because searching for Kaveh is extremely hard (he's often off working on his projects deep within the forest), and the magical forest is very dangerous on its own. So, the humans build their cities outside of the Sumeru forest, and Alhaitham and Kaveh peacefully live together in the depths of it.
Despite Kaveh and Alhaitham living together for a long time, their opinions on humanity are diametrically opposed: Alhaitham barely tolerates humans, finding them to be reckless, meddling, cowardly and deceitful; Kaveh, on the contrary, finds humans to be creative, inspiring, free and beautiful in their own way. Throughout the years, Kaveh manages to build somewhat of an amicable relationship with the humans, living at the edge of the forest: he learns more about their traditions and arts, while the humans receive his guidance and blessings in various matters of living, craftsmanship and arts. Eventually, Kaveh's knowledge and magical powers catch the eye of Lord Sangemah Bay, who resides in and governs one of the bigger settlements at the forest's border. She makes a deal with Kaveh that, despite providing him with valuable (in his eyes) experience of working with humans on some of his grandest architectural projects, costs him a lot - meaning he has to give away lots of his blessed feathers, which makes his remaining magic much weaker (and generally undermines his health for a bit). Alhaitham is not a huge fan of such approach (in his eyes, Kaveh is wasting his powers and time for nothing, endangering himself), and so a conflict between him and Kaveh breaks. As a result, Kaveh flees their home, secluding himself while he's focusing on other projects he finds curious. Kaveh keeps working with humans, and though Alhaitham certainly keeps an eye on Kaveh's wellbeing, he does not make it easy for humans to reach him. So what if there are new random magical seals, obstacles, almost-traps and riddles appearing here and there when people try to get to Kaveh? It's a magical forest, things happen! (Kaveh knows that Alhaitham does this on purpose, and Alhaitham knows that Kaveh knows, and it leads to them indirectly, and then directly bickering and arguing. The magical forest quite possibly grows very tired of them. Their friends Tighnari and Cyno certainly do, but alas.)
The new equilibrium, found by Alhaitham and Kaveh, is challenged once more when Kaveh leaves to the Lord Sangemah Bay's city to direct yet another one of his grand projects. They do not see each other for a long while. Despite all the challenges, Kaveh's relationship with Dori gradually grows stronger - the two value their partnership - and Kaveh ends up making friends amongst humans. However, not everyone is happy about Lord Sangema Bay's growing friendship with the "deity of blessings" personified. As some people come to despise her for her wealth, influence and ever growing power, so do they come to despise the bird of paradise.
When the project is complete, the time for celebration comes. Kaveh gets to attend a feast by Dori's side as a guest of honour, and is invited to stay the night in her palace before returning to the forest. Kaveh agrees: he's been spending all his days and nights at the building site, and resting a night before returning home would be nice. As the night goes on, however, Kaveh begins to feel weary and unwell - the new type of wine he was served did him no good. He excuses himself early for the night and, as soon as he gets to his bed, he's out cold.
After an undetermined amount of time (in what appears to be the middle of the night), Kaveh wakes up because of immense pain in his back.
As he gradually comes to his senses, he has a horrible realization: one of his wings was cut off when he was asleep. Alerting the guards and Dori yields no results: the intruder escaped, presumably with Kaveh's wing, and there are no traces of them left. While Kaveh gets immediately attended to, he goes in shock and, eventually, loses consciousness.
When the messengers form the city arrive to the forest, Alhaitham receives them reluctantly at first, but as soon as he hears of what happened, he rushes to the city. He ends up taking Kaveh back to the forest, hoping that its healing magic will help restore his wing. However, nothing seems to work: neither spells, nor the powers of nature, not even Tighnari's medicine. Though the wound is slowly healing, Kaveh remains unconscious for days. To get more information on what happened, Alhaitham returns to the city to question Dori together with Cyno (who's also to continue the investigation within the city once Alhaitham returns home), while Tighnari stays with Kaveh.
Though the questioning concludes that Dori knows nothing and is willing to assist in the search of the perpetrator, Cyno concludes that she was not thorough enough in ensuring Kaveh's safety and overall security of the celebration in general, revealing that Dori recklessly cut corners here and there. Furious, Alhaitham leaves Dori his cursed feather, giving her an ultimatum: she has to find the perpetrator and give them to Alhaitham to deal the final punishment. Until then, her city is doomed to slowly crumble into decay and oblivion. Dori accepts the deal.
Alhaitham returns to the forest to look after Kaveh, while Cyno remains in the city to continue the search. When Alhaitham comes back, Kaveh is finally awake. However, he remains extremely closed-off, practically a shadow of himself. The recovery process is slow and challenging, but Alhaitham does his best to support Kaveh in all ways that matter. Kaveh struggles with healing: the loss of a wing affected not only his body, but also his mental state and magic. He cannot transform, he can barely use any of his magical skills, and he cannot fly anymore, which hurts him most of all. It takes a while for Kaveh to get on his feet (quite literally), even longer to finally leave his room. He also feels guilty for being in Alhaitham's care, because he remembers all of the Alhaitham warnings about the humans he didn't listen to, and so lots of internal conflict ensues.
Meanwhile Alhaitham does all he can to try and navigate the situation. He looks after Kaveh's healing process; brings back his blueprints and equipment from Kaveh's place so that he has enough to work with if he wishes; he also (to the best of his ability) remodels their home to make it more accessible to Kaveh. Given that their natural method of moving around their house was flying (whether in form of birds of half-humans), Alhaitham now implements more adjustments for walking or climbing. (When Kaveh feels good enough to leave his room, he's amazed by what Alhaitham managed to achieve. He also helps fix some of the constructions, given he's the one with the experience in architecture.) Alhaitham and Kaveh grow closer, slowly unpacking and mending their relationship, turning it into something new and beautiful.
At the same time, Alhaitham continues to watch the forest borders - to make sure that no intruders interrupt Kaveh's recovery and their peaceful life together. One day he notices an interesting sight: a small, but beautiful shrine appeared right by the forest. He decides to investigate; upon approaching the shrine, he meets Nilou (whom he saw in the palace when he visited Dori). She explains to him that, after he and Kaveh left the city, a group of people decided to organize a shrine, dedicated to Kaveh, to pray for his recovery. Nilou explains that in their eyes it's the least they can offer for all the help that their city received in the past and as amends for the pain they have caused. Alhaitham warns her not to get any closer to the forest, but the action of people leaves a lasting impression on him.
Meanwhile, Cyno's investigation progresses. Cyno writes to Alhaitham that together with Dori they managed to find and capture the perpetrator. Questioning reveals no useful information, but Cyno suspects that there might be more to the attack on Kaveh than they anticipated. To uphold his end of the deal Alhaitham goes to the city to deliver the punishment to the attacker and to undo the curse he put on Dori's city. Before he leaves, Kaveh, scared of what might happen to Alhaitham, sews into his cloak a blessed feather for protection (because Alhaitham wouldn't accept it outright). While Alhaitham is away, Kaveh begins working on a new project: a mechanical wing.
When Alhaitham gets to the city, he is led to the cell where the attacker is being held. Cyno and Dori are by his side for the final questioning. The man - a mere mortal (with strange red-ish eyes), one of Dori's citizens - keeps talking in circles, making less and less sense with each new word. Alhaitham lets Cyno and Dori go before rendering the punishment. When the curse (one of Alhaitham's darkest yet) is finally prepared, suddenly, the tables are turned. The perpetrator attacks Alhaitham, but his movements seem unnatural, almost like those of a puppet. Alhaitham realizes, that the man is being controlled by someone with prowess for strong, incredibly dark magic that seems similar to that of the Desert. The strange puppet manages to overpower Alhaitham in a fight, but cannot harm him (due to the protection from Kaveh's feather). The perpetrator manages to escape, taking with him Alhaitham's cursed feather (they seemed to be pleased to receive it. Alhaitham fears to think what they will use it for).
Dori and Cyno pick up the investigation, with Cyno going straight to the Desert. Dori begins reinforcing the city (her people discover that Alhaithams curse (now lifted) awakened Miasma deep under the ground. The Miasma begins to slowly spread, seemingly in the direction of the Sumeru Forest). Cyno sends back a message, confirming that strong and dark magic seems to be gathering within the Desert, possibly for the purpose of destroying the magical forest.
Alhaitham manages to get back to Kaveh and tell him of what happened in the city. In order to be able to protect the forest together with Alhaitham, Kaveh doubles down on his efforts to create a mechanical working wing. Everything works, besides the golden feathers - they need to be blessed in order to allow the mechanism to work as intended, but Kaveh does not have enough power for it. Alhaitham takes a risk and brings the feathers to the shrine, created by Nilou and other humans, so that they could bless them for Kaveh. (They are short of one feather eventually, and Alhaitham gives Kaveh one of his own, his first blessed feather, to complete the wing.)
TLDR: Kaveh works on restoring his wing and faith in himself and humanity; Alhaitham learns that humanity is not always evil. Dori and Cyno discover that the escaped perpetrator (caugh controlled by Dottore caugh) used Kaveh to get to Alhaitham to gain his cursed feather for completing some sort of ancient ritual to unseal the forbidden knowledge magic deep within the Desert in roder to unleash it on the magical forest, slumbering God of Wisdom and human cities. Kaveh learns to curse his feathers (while opposing Dottore in a final fight), and Alhaitham learns to bless his. Humans and Sumeru Forest continue to coexist peacefully. Alhaitham and Kaveh live together happily ever after.
5. Pacific Rim!AU, where Kaveh and Alhaitham used to be pilots of a Jaeger, but during one of their battles they suffered too much damage. In order to save Alhaitham and what remains of their Jaeger, Kaveh takes most of the damage by severing already unstable connection between Alhaitham and Jaeger's system. Both barely survive the encounter, but meanwhile Alhaitham manages to recover fast, the damage Kaveh has taken leaves him in a critical condition, eventually resulting in him being unable to ever pilot a Jaeger ever again (and putting many new restraints on his usual daily life).
As soon as Kaveh comes to his senses, the two have a huge fight about Kaveh's rash decision, and eventually break off their friendship. They don't see each other for a long, long time.
As the time goes on, Kaveh learns how to live with the changes that his body sustained with the help of his service dog Mehrak. Eventually he takes on a job at one of the Jaeger construction facilities (together with his friend Tighnari), studying Kaiju and creating new Jaeger modifications - though no Kaiju has been seen in the past several years, the world is still afraid of their return.
When the suspicion of the new Kaiju appearance arises, new pilot recruits and ex-pilots are summoned to the facility. There, Kaveh meets Alhaitham for the first time in years. After their fallout, Alahitham resigned from piloting Jaegers, yet now he had no choice but to return to train new recruits (and possibly resume his role of a Jaeger pilot). Now once again the two have to work together as a part of a team in face of approaching danger, trying to resolve their past conflicts and overcome their fears and insecurities along the way (when deep down they simply want to keep each other safe).
TLDR: Kaveh & service animal Mehrak is a neat concept I'd love to see more of, just as a concept in general. I think this one could be an interesting story idea centered mostly around Kaveh's day to day life. Additionally, Alhaitham who used to be only drift compatible with Kaveh but now suddenly discovers he's drift compatible with Cyno. I need more Cyno & Alhaitham camaraderie I think it would do them lots of good (at least in this specific AU setting lol).
6. Oxenfree!AU where Kaveh and Alhaitham are two ex-best friends turned reluctant coworkers (photo-journalist and journalist respectively) working on writing a piece about the disappearances of a group of teenagers that happened at the Edwards Island several years prior (timeline somewhere between the first and the second games). The radio shenanigans ensue, making the two face their past, possible futures and, most importantly, their present. (In Oxenfree tuning into certain radio sequences can temporarily mess up time-space shenanigans, just fyi).
TLDR: I just think that this setting could facilitate some character exploration that would be very fun.
7. Modern MermanKaveh!AU, post-fallout, where it's a little bit more about haunting Alhaitham (and the narrative), than being a merman. Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances, Kaveh drowns one day, trying to save someone from the water. Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances, he doesn't really die, being stuck in between (existence and death, normal life and the necessity to live in water). Kaveh manages, for quite a while even!
But of course Alhaitham has to come back and turn his world upside down once again.
TLDR: can you tell Alhaitham's quote about drowning stuck with me huh (and I made it literal lol). On a serious note... Idk, vibes??? I want to see the "stuck in the middle" Kaveh, whatever that entails. Some existential explorations. And the development of his relationship with Alhaitham, of course. // Kaveh is a merman unable to fully live the life he used to have, and Alhaitham doesn't know that he survived (for a while), alternatively "let me help to save you from metaphorical and literal drowning" Alhaitham and "I learned to live like this, this is what my norm now looks like" Kaveh.
8. Another Modern MermanKaveh!AU/DrownedGhostKaveh!AU, because I apparently have no self-control (I feel like I should also clarify that whenever I mention a mermaid, I think of them more as of ghosts of drowned people and less as mermaids-mermaids, the half-human half-marine creature ones). This idea was initially prepared for chili/zhongchi but it's been sooooooooooooooooooo long and I still haven't done anything substantial for it so I'm borrowing it from myself for myself and tweaking it for kavetham because I figured it could fit them. So here it goes,
Alhaitham is a scientist/marine biologist that moves from the city to a much smaller port town, getting himself a place in a local partially repurposed lighthouse. Kaveh is a merman, who has been dead for a long while and who's been living within local waters ever since he drowned. Alhaitham leads a very isolated life, going through a rather rough patch emotionally (maybe a badly ended past relationship and relocation from an established group of friends to a remote place brought up past negative emotions related to loss that were bottled up for a while. who knows, not me). Anyways, Alhaitham's not doing too well, but seaside walks help him unwind, even if for a short periods of time. During one of such walks, he finds an old pendant washed ashore. He picks up his find, hoping to do some research on it outside of his work time (because research is his fun-time).
He expects this to be a brief excursion into local history. He does not expect to become haunted by the ghost of a man to whom this pendant belonged to way back when.
Kaveh, in turn, is extremely excited to finally, finally be able to get out of the sea to the surface. He intends to stay ashore as long as possible and, well, if he just so gets to amuse himself by haunting a grumpy marine biologist that refuses to believe in merpeople, ghosts of drowned and other supernatural occurences - who's he to say no?
TLDR: this AU can go two ways (in my eyes): the happy ending way and probably more gothic-horror-story-esque ending. So, Alahitham is cursed to be haunted by Kaveh: for a while he's the only one who can see him, with Kaveh being something akin to a ghost. However, the longer Kaveh haunts Alhaitham, the more human he becomes (others can see him, he cannot phase through walls anymore, etc.). The curse in itself goes something like this: the cursed thing, after being picked up/taken in, cannot be thrown away and will always come back. The ghost, tied to the haunted thing, shall haunt whoever picks the cursed thing (the thing should be tied to the ghost, but may not necessarily belong to them) and drain their life energy. The ghost can become free and human again if the haunting goes long enough and they kill the human who picked the cursed object in the end during a very specific time that doesn't occur too often (proverbial blue moon, idk). If they don't kill the human and decide to let them go, then the ghost will seize to exist and the human will regain their strength. (An alternative option to the ghost dying for a less angsty au: the ghost voluntarily takes back the cursed object and returns to the place where they died, but then they will never be able to haunt anyone ever again. The effect of the curse on the haunted remain, but much weaker).
In this case, let's say Kaveh and Alhaitham stay by each other's side from half a year to a year, idk. They grow closer, eventually becoming friends and maybe more (the usual kavetham shenanigans Kaveh falls first but Alhaitham falls harder). Alhaitham's mental state gradually improves, yet overall he becomes weaker because of the curse (to the point that it becomes a serious concern), which Kaveh blames himself for. The appointed time approaches (both Kaveh and Alhaitham are in on the details of the curse), and Kaveh, seeing it as an opportunity to set Alhaitham free, manages to separate himself from Alhaitham. Kaveh is ready to return to the sea/merge with it (ah yes the classic Little Mermaid influence does anybody feel it lol). However, Alhaitham sees through his plan and arrives just in time to stop him. They have a confrontation. Eventually, they manage to lift the curse (as you can see I have not figured out exactly how this can happen but! it definitely can!) with Kaveh becoming human again and Alhaitham regaining his health. The two continue to live together happily ever after.
The other scenario is practically the same, but it's more ghothic? and abstract (and probably more suitable for the og pairing it was made for, but i'll throw it in anyways). I have not engaged with gothic literature much and thus don't have much experience in how it works/how to write it, but the idea is that Kaveh is more of a projection of Alhaitham's grief than a ghost fo a drowned person (in other words, he's definitely a ghost, but his presence is also much more symbolical). The story follows quite similar beats, except the setting of the curse is a bit different: it's more of a "kill first or be killed" thingy with a deadline. Kaveh earnestly tries to drown Alhaitham at first through various means, but the more time they spend together, the more Kaveh sees of Alhaitham's life and pain and feels sympathetic for him. Despite the curse, Kaveh tires to help Alhaitham in various ways; and it works! Alhaitham gradually begins to feel better; the two grow closer to each other (more in a platonic way).
So now the precedent is that though Alhaitham's overall doing better, the curse still preys on him, hindering his life in various ways that become more and more serious/dangerous (the curse's deadline approaches, and it tries to survive the best way it can through Kaveh's influence on Alhaitham). Eventually, Kaveh lets Alhaitham go, merging with the sea (once again, yes, it was partially inspired by the Little Mermaid). Alhaitham realizes what happened and tries to look for Kaveh, but it is in vain.
Eventually, life goes on.
Bonus Elden Ring AU (because guess who suddenly went on a lore video watching spree): Kaveh is a craftsman and one of the inhabitants of Castle Morne who managed to escape before it was overrun by Misbegotten. He's a follower of St. Trina and Miquella (he doesn't follow Miquella at first, but slowly he comes to suspect that the two are one and the same). After escaping from Castle Morne, he finds his way to Jarburg, where he is welcomed to stay and be the new Potentate.
Alhaitham is from a distant branch of Carian royal family and a scholar at the Academy of Raya Lucaria. Quite possibly explored an area of studies similar to Sellen's. Eventually he separates himself from both Academy and his family, becoming a wandering scholar.
The two meet somewhere nearby Jarburg when Kaveh gets ambushed by the same people who were trying to get to Alhaitham. The two fight them off. Kaveh, trying to help injured Alhaitham, leads him to Jarburg. The two continue living together there ever since (not without hiccups, but they're doing their best).
TLDR: this one is short and very simple because I just started diving into the Elden Ring's lore, but I just. Really wanted to make some AU for them. I also desperately wanted it to be peaceful and happy one despite it being a seeming impossibility for anything dark souls/elden ring related, but one can dream. If I were to make this one darker I'd probably expand on the duality of their two characters here, and how Alhaitham probably used to conjure spells on humans (with gaining knowledge being his sole life purpose for a long time) and has challenges with comprehending the world outside of a framework of pure logic, and how Kaveh gets an increasing tendency of escaping to the dream world/wherever Miquella is in order to alleviate his mental turmoil (maybe he witnessed too much during his escape from the Castle), and how the two have opposing perspectives on the idea of worshipping gods, and- like, there's a lot that can be done. But I also just really really really want them to simply be happy together in a jar village, leading a peaceful life.
That's it for now! Thank you for reading all of this, I can't commend your patience enough if you got to the end of this list!!!✨🎉✨
Maybe in the future I will unpack some of these aus. who knows.
#if you made it till the end you're officially a hero#sorry for so many words lol#genshin impact#afinna explores teyvat#genshin impact kaveh#genshin impact alhaitham#kavetham#haikaveh#alhaitham x kaveh#genshin impact writing#genshin impact writing ideas#magical birds au my beloved (can you tell lol)#maybe one day#one day i might write it#i was sure i'd never write the inquisitioner x witch kavetham AU but guess what#istg the first chapter should be ready sometime this year. probably. i hope. i dream of it...#pacific rim au is also something i just cradle gently in my hands. weird apocalyptic-esque setting but make it more a piece of life thing#in order to better unpack the relationships between people and various internal turmoils#and the fatui au!!! i want fatui to be weird menacing coworkers that end up being weirdly decent!!! sometimes!!!#idk i just think kaveh and sandrone could be a great work duo#and just the interactions with others could be sooooo much fun#anyways hope these ideas are. decent#also lowkey i need more dori-kaveh-alhaitham shenanigans#like alhaitham is canonically banned from seeing dori as far as i remember [well. blacklisted from the market or something similar]#granted it's probably bc he's with the Akademiya but like. Are We Sure [glances at Kaveh's debt]#anyways i just think there can be some exploration done here lol#also a hot take probably but. we need more 'Dori the Scary Businesswoman that Seems Inhumane But is Actually Wise'#like I want her to push others to their limits for mutual/personal gain BUT doing so knowing exactly when to stop and not cross the line#she is The Monkey's Paw for people who come to her. anyways i just find her interesting#yay that's it thanks for reading all of it have a great day byeeeeeeeeeeeee!
49 notes · View notes
master-john-uk · 1 month ago
Text
Tumblr media
Although I grew up in rural area, I am not a farmer... although I am getting better at it.
In 2007 I agreed to buy a rundown mainly arable farm in Dorset. In 2018, I purchased the neighbouring, loss-making dairy farm. I did not buy either as a business investment, or as a way of avoiding paying tax. Quite the opposite, in fact.
I acquired both farms for all the wrong reasons. (My business and financial advisors held their heads in despair!)
Both farms were bought to stop them being purchased by property speculation companies, or large organisations that might exploit and underpay their farm workers. In addition, one of the main reasons I bought the dairy was that my mother loved cows... and she had recently passed away.
I have spent a fortune on renovating both farms. Animal welfare is important, as is making our operations more environmentally friendly. After installing solar panels and an anaerobic digestor, we are now almost self-sufficient for electricity, which now means both farms are now returning a small operating profit.
If I sold both farms today, it is unlikely that I would recoup my capital investment on improvements, and renovation work. If I keep both farms for another hundred years I might be rolling in money!!!
When I bought the dairy farm in 2018, I had several ideas on how to generate income from the underutilised land. Now that Plush Manor has closed as a wedding venue... I will investigate these further in 2025.
8 notes · View notes
kleopatra45 · 7 months ago
Text
Mercury in the House [Solar Return]
Tumblr media
Mercury in the 1st House
When Mercury is in the 1st house of your Solar Return chart, communication and intellectual pursuits take center stage for the year. You may find yourself more curious, talkative, and eager to learn. Your ability to express yourself is heightened, making this a great year for networking, studying, or starting new projects that require mental agility. Be cautious of becoming overly nervous or scattered in your focus.
Mercury in the 2nd House
With Mercury in the 2nd house, your thoughts and conversations will revolve around finances, possessions, and personal values. This year, you might explore new ways to make money, manage resources, or assess your worth. Analytical thinking will aid in budgeting and investment decisions. Be mindful of not becoming too materialistic or overly worried about financial matters.
Mercury in the 3rd House
Mercury in the 3rd house emphasizes communication, learning, and short trips. This year, you may be more involved in writing, teaching, or engaging in frequent conversations. Your mind will be sharp, and you could take on new studies or skills. Siblings, neighbors, and your immediate environment play a significant role in your experiences. Watch out for becoming too scattered or superficial in your interactions.
Mercury in the 4th House
When Mercury is in the 4th house, thoughts turn towards home, family, and personal foundations. You may find yourself more involved in family matters or interested in genealogy and history. Communication within the home becomes crucial, and you might engage in home improvement projects or move residences. Emotional intelligence is essential to navigate family dynamics effectively.
Mercury in the 5th House
With Mercury in the 5th house, creativity, romance, and children are highlighted. This year, you might explore creative writing, engage in playful intellectual pursuits, or enjoy hobbies that stimulate your mind. Romantic relationships could involve more communication and mental connection. Be aware of becoming too critical or analytical in matters of the heart.
Mercury in the 6th House
Mercury in the 6th house focuses on work, health, and daily routines. You’ll likely be busy with work-related tasks, and your attention to detail will be sharp. This is an excellent time to organize your workspace, improve efficiency, and focus on health through diet and exercise. Avoid becoming overly worried about minor health issues or getting bogged down in mundane details.
Mercury in the 7th House
When Mercury is in the 7th house, partnerships and relationships take center stage. Communication with significant others, business partners, or close friends becomes crucial. This year, you may negotiate contracts, resolve conflicts, or discuss the future of your relationships. Be cautious of becoming too argumentative or overly reliant on others for mental stimulation.
Mercury in the 8th House
With Mercury in the 8th house, your thoughts dive into deep, transformative topics such as psychology, finances, and shared resources. You might engage in research, explore occult subjects, or deal with inheritances and taxes. Intense conversations and a desire for profound understanding mark this year. Be mindful of becoming too secretive or obsessive in your thinking.
Mercury in the 9th House
Mercury in the 9th house emphasizes higher learning, travel, and philosophical exploration. This year, you might pursue studies, travel abroad, or engage in discussions about religion, law, or ethics. Your mind will be open to new ideas and cultural experiences. Avoid being overly dogmatic or scattered in your intellectual pursuits.
Mercury in the 10th House
When Mercury is in the 10th house, career, and public image are in focus. This year, you might take on roles that require communication, writing, or teaching. Your professional reputation could be shaped by how effectively you express your ideas. Networking and strategic thinking will benefit your career. Be careful of becoming too consumed with public opinion or overly concerned with status.
Mercury in the 11th House
With Mercury in the 11th house, social connections, and future goals take precedence. This year, you might join groups, clubs, or organizations that align with your interests. Friendships and networking play a significant role in achieving your aspirations. Collaborative projects and innovative ideas will flourish. Avoid spreading yourself too thin or becoming overly dependent on group approval.
Mercury in the 12th House
Mercury in the 12th house brings a focus on introspection, spirituality, and hidden matters. This year, you might find yourself drawn to meditation, dreams, and subconscious exploration. Communication may take on a more private or secretive nature. Writing in a journal or engaging in solitary intellectual pursuits can be beneficial. Be mindful of becoming too reclusive or overwhelmed by unconscious fears.
Tumblr media
Retrograde
Mercury retrograde in the houses of a Solar Return chart signifies a year of introspection, reevaluation, and revisiting past issues related to the themes of each house. Communication may be more reflective and internalized, with possible misunderstandings and delays in these areas.
In the 1st house, it prompts self-reflection and identity reassessment
In the 2nd house, a reevaluation of finances and values
In the 3rd house, reconsideration of communication and local interactions
In the 4th house, reflection on family and home life
In the 5th house, rethinking creativity and romance
In the 6th house, revisiting work and health routines
In the 7th house, reassessing relationships
In the 8th house, deep introspection on shared resources and transformations
In the 9th house, reconsideration of beliefs and long-distance matters
In the 10th house, reevaluation of career and public image
In the 11th house, reflection on friendships and future goals
In the 12th house, a deep dive into the subconscious and hidden aspects of life.
Tumblr media
©️kleopatra45
943 notes · View notes
clatterbane · 2 months ago
Text
That was actually one thing that exasperated me the last time I dealt with my uncle in person.
He had a serious mad on at my stepdad, which had obviously built up over the years. There are plenty of legitimate criticisms to be made there! I lived with the man for many years, and he really is difficult to deal with and kind of a big jerk. I am very aware of this. I have talked to the man maybe once since the last time I was back home.
Inserting a cut for long and ranty shit, dealing with some family drama and rather traumatic financial happenings. Also nobody wanting to fucking listen to me about things they were invested in not hearing.
My mother had her own problems, or she would have run far away before they ever got more than a date or two in--much less stayed with the guy for 20+ years until she died. Marinara flags all over the place.
I am sure that some of the man's persistent financial problems really were kinda self-inflicted. I mean, on top of legit being multiply disabled and going through two bouts with cancer when I was still a kid.
But...to my original point? Said uncle (my only surviving blood one) also has the Family OCD, and worse tendencies than I do to fixate on things that piss him off as a handy distraction from other anxieties. Easier to rant than to deal with the other fears. I understand this probably better than he does, and it's still really hard to take sometimes.
Anyway, on this occasion he had partly managed to get fixated on the specific idea that Stepdad The Jerk must have been making a bunch of shit up all along about that big looming medical debt from the cancer surgery. Because (his wife, the longtime hospital administrator and CPA) knows very well how medical debt works, and that ain't it!
The thing is, Jerky Stepdad is very very bad at straight-up lying. He will just make shit up sometimes to cover his ass, but it doesn't work so well. (Usually he WILL just try and rules-lawyer his way through, and that really does tend to work better than you might expect. People often just don't know what to do.)
And yeah, I was there to see up close how that went. The key: it wasn't normal medical debt, legally. Because the surgery was done through Big State Medical School Hospital in Richmond, leaving him in like $60,000+ in mid-'80s money worth of direct debt to the Commonwealth of Virginia itself once Blue Cross refused to pay after preapproving it.
(The same surgeon was ready to do the exact same procedure at the VA hospital just down the street instead otherwise, but Medical School Hospital had so much better facilitate overall. Stepdad is part of probably the last group of Vietnam vets where the VA was still theoretically on the hook for covering all future medical treatment for literally anything, but yeah you're better off going elsewhere if you can at all. The freaking VA was willing to cover this surgery. That's how experimental a treatment it really was by then.)
So yeah, that was why we had actual state employees from the Attorney General's office calling nonstop and actually harassing me too starting from when I was like 12. (I am not exaggerating. Half of what they were doing was anything but legal. They were even trying to get me to accept responsibility for his debt before he died from a cancer with a not great prognosis. Knowingly dealing with what was obviously a kid who was not even blood related to him.)
Jerky Stepdad also managed to personally piss off the sitting state Attorney General at the time. Which is honestly no wonder. But, over most of the like 7 years she was in the position? He really did kinda get targeted by that office--with the whole household along for the ride.
Oh yeah, being the actual state? They really could pull shit like seizing every penny of state income tax returns, seizing a sizeable chunk of your damn unemployment checks, placing liens on any property you have (yep, very much including your house!), and so on. Ad nauseam. Then ring your phone some more to hassle anybody unfortunate enough to answer, like the worst collection agency ever, working on the state's dime.
They did try to foreclose on the house at least once. I was there. I saw the legal papers and the (broke) scrambling to forestall that. He was still in that house at last check, very much alive decades after that liver resection and still a giant PITA to deal with.
Normal medical debt doesn't work that way. Debt owed to the Commonwealth of Virginia very much does. And I had a front row seat for most of that shitshow, like it or not. It directly impacted me a lot, and I saw the various official paperwork to confirm pretty much every story the dude I didn't even particular like had supposedly pulled out of his ass pertaining to that whole mess.
Of course, Darling Uncle didn't want to hear a word about how some assumptions were very seriously off base there. As little as I even enjoyed being put in a position where I felt compelled to defend somebody I was pretty mad at myself at the time for some other reasons.
It was much easier to continue on that misplaced rip, and make up his own stories to justify all of it.
He was actually being unusually careful to make it clear that he was righteously pissed at Stepdad, and knew I had nothing to do with any of the shit he was ranting about. I still resented the hell out of getting put in a position like that YET AGAIN. By somebody who wouldn't fucking listen to anything he didn't want to hear.
But yeah, family.
I got extremely sick of ending up smack in the middle of too much shit, trying to play moderator for people behaving very unreasonably whether I wanted to or not. As the kid of the (at least equally loud!) Designated Scapegoat who had just thoroughly departed the scene, or was maybe still in the process of doing so. I don't remember the exact timing of that exasperating interaction. There was rather a lot going on. NOBODY needed that shit on top of it.
6 notes · View notes
secretobsessionstuff · 2 years ago
Text
Sick Micah at formal event
Inspired by THIS post, and here's a little snapshot of it:
A and B are in an extremely formal situation where they are required to stand for long periods of time.
A has been running a pretty nasty fever since the night before, but they both HAVE to be there (think of a social event that will impact their whole career, so they really have no choice but to go).
----------------------
Sometimes Micah felt sick over the idea of being an adult. The very concept of taxes made him want to puke. And as life would have it, the one night when he was excited about being grown and taking on new responsibilities was the night when he felt like puking for real. This wasn’t the psychosomatic queasiness that came from paying his bills; it was the type of queasiness that came from a bug in his digestive track. 
He'd been up all night with Alexi. His lovely, perfect boyfriend had sat with him on the bathroom floor while he vomited and dry heaved for hours. Now, that same lovely, perfect boyfriend stood with him at the thirtieth anniversary for Phoenix Fire Press. That was the publishing company that was going to publish Micah’s very first novel. This evening was a big deal, not just because it was a milestone for the medium company, but because they were opening their business to new potential shareholders. Micah had been given an invitation to attend the event in hopes that he would invest in his future at the publishing company. 
The one downside was that the talk of owning shares and how that whole process worked came at the end of the evening. First, they had to celebrate the many new authors who had joined them in the past year, Micah included. 
The night dragged on for quite some time. Micah couldn’t say how long because his sense of reality was altered by the heat in his brain. He saw mirages everywhere he looked, like blurry lines of text or the sweet promise of his bed. He must have caught his head from rolling off his shoulders a million times. 
“Oh, good, you’re still conscious,” Alexi said as he came back to Micah, holding glasses of water. “I thought I’d come back and find you on the floor.” 
Micah could not remember what sarcasm even was, therefore, he did not return the jest. “Lexi, how long have we been here?” 
Alexi almost—almost—spilled the water all over himself when he turned his wrist to check his watch. But he caught himself in time, placing the glasses down on a ledge before seeing that they’d been at the event for a little over an hour. He told Micah this who simply groaned. 
“I’m sorry, baby.” Alexi gently rubbed his thumb over Micah’s flushed cheek. His skin was hotter than phoenix fire. “The fever reducers aren’t working, eh?” 
“No,” Micah grumbled as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. None of the meds he took were helping. The nausea hadn’t lessened and neither had he aches in his body. He was just a blob of pain and useless medication that floated thickly through his bloodstream. 
They’d gotten to the event late (on account of Micah needing to retch emptily on the side of the road), meaning there was only standing room available. All the tables had been taken. It seemed the Press hadn’t bet on this many people showing up. But they were a reputable company that would only go up; it was no wonder that many people were interested in owning shares. Micah had been ecstatic about the idea of investing in something that he was passionate about. He loved the publishers, and editors, and marketing team at Phoenix Fire Press. He wanted to grow with them. He wanted to recreate himself with this opportunity. This was an adult opportunity that he was ready to take on. 
But all he wanted was to curl up in his bed and cry. He didn’t feel very adult in that moment, with his aching tummy. 
He shifted his weight from one foot to the next, trying to remain upright and sooth the aches from standing so long. The balance needed to do this was not there, and twice and had to catch himself before he fell. His vision darkened at the edges with each attempt. Micah put his hand over his eyes and moaned. 
“Micah, you’re shaking,” Alexi whispered from behind him. 
“I can’t do this any longer.” His voice wobbled with emotion. 
Suddenly Micah felt Alexi’s hands on his waist. He let himself be pulled back against his boyfriend’s chest. It was strong and secure; he could so easily let go of the tension in his shoulder if he…could…just…
“It’s okay. Lean on me,” Alexi whispered in his ear. His breath was warm on Micah’s neck. The poor sick boy shivered despite the heat that Alexi felt radiating off his back. He swore he could see the air make lazy waves around them. 
Micah didn’t need to be told twice. He dropped his shoulders, let his head fall back against Alexi’s chest just under his chin, and allowed himself to be enveloped in his boyfriend’s embrace. Some tension sloughed off his muscles. His eye closed immediately, and the sound of the event became a distant white noise.
But before he gave in entirely, he craned his neck to get Alexi’s attention. A kiss on his temple let him know that he had it. “Give me a nudge when they start talking about the shareholders.” 
“I will.” Alexi’s lips fluttered softly over his temple. “Just relax. I’ve got you.” 
Alexi was pleased with the heavy weight that settled in his arms. It meant that his boyfriend got a small rest, even if it wasn’t of the best quality. He wouldn’t feel much better until he could lie down for real, close his eyes, and forget about the world. But this was a start. 
While Micah drooped, his fever rose. It burned in his face, turning his cheeks into red roses. Little blooms of heat sprouted beneath his eyes. Alexi worried that Micah would burn up into ashes, and that he wouldn’t rise again. He’d been so sick all last night and throughout the day. He was surprised that Micah had enough fluid left in his body to turn his eyes glassy, what with all the sweating and vomiting and diarrhea. This bug was testing him, but he knew that Micah would pull through. 
But just then, Micah didn’t have the energy to keep pushing. Alexi could feel his boyfriend slipping in and out of consciousness. He shifted and repositioned himself so that he could keep Micah from slouching or crumpling to the floor. 
They went on like this for another twenty minutes, until the MC announced that the company was moving into a new stage. Interested parties were encouraged to listen and consider becoming new shareholders. The press had received three impressive grants which allowed for development and expansion. They wanted all their clients and peers to consider taking a chance on the business. Together they would grow exponentially over the next thirty years. There was much talk about rebirth and protentional and fiery passion. Of course, a bunch of literarily nerds would lean heavily into the metaphor. 
Speaking of leaning heavily, Alexi nudged his boyfriend awake. “Honey, this is it. We’re almost done.” 
“Is it time?” 
“It is.” 
Alexi helped Micah to stand up straight on his own. They stood now face to face. Micah’s face was sweaty and flushed, but also ready to wear a mask of health. Micah blinked hard, rolled his shoulder to wake up his sore muscles, and kept his head high. Alexi only saw the smallest knit in his eyebrow because he knew of the many emotions that ran through his boyfriend’s mind. 
“Micah, I know you’re nervous about the future, but I also know this is right. You’re going to grow as a writer and as member of this team. It’s scary starting something new, but I’ll be with you for the whole thing.”
Micah sighed and closed his eyes. “Thank you for supporting my decisions. It feels easier with you here.”
Alexi kissed him on the nose. “Go on. I’ll be here when you get back, unless of course you want me to come?” 
“No, I want to start this on my own. I’ll tell you all about it later.” 
“Sure.” Alexi had a pretty good hunch that later meant much later. 
And his hunch turned out to be right, because his boyfriend returned nearly an hour later, frazzled by the social interaction and exhausted from the ache in his bones. He shuffled his feet on the floor, looking like a zombie who had no business being in a nice suit at a fancy meeting. 
Well, the meeting was over, and judging by Micah’s expression of relief, it went as well as it could have. Things were in motion now and their shared financial future was tied to a company that Micah was proud to work with. 
The light in the halls dimmed and brightened in time with the beating of Micah’s sluggish heartbeat. As he walked back to his boyfriend, happy about leaving soon, the beating in his chest got stronger and faster. He felt sweat prickle the back of his neck and nausea bubble in his stomach. As soon as he was within arm’s reach of his boyfriend, he let the veneer of health crack and slip from his face, a grimace of pain and discomfort contorting his features.
Alexi hugged Micah to his chest. “Oh, baby, you’re so sick. Can you make it to the car?” 
Micah shook his head and mumbled into Alexi’s neck. “I’m gonna throw up.” 
With the gurgling growing louder in Micah’s tummy, he felt himself being pulled to the washroom. As expected at the end of a big event, the washrooms were flooded with people milling around. Micah moaned and covered his mouth with his hand. 
“Come on, this way,” Alexi said quickly, pulling his boyfriend along.
They hoped over a thick velvet rope that was meant to block guests from going to the second floor. Screw the fancy obnoxious rope with its condescending sign; Alexi wasn’t about to let Micah embarrass himself in front of the people he just attached his future to. 
The second floor was closer to heaven than any skyrise because it was peacefully quiet and the washroom was unlocked, Halleluiah! Without another soul around, Micah was able to get sick in peace. He dropped to his knees in front of the toilet and retched up bile and blue Gatorade. It was all he’d been able to force down his throat before the start of the event. The yellow and blue fluids coming up from his stomach made for an odd sight in the toilet, not that Micah had his eyes open to appreciate the science of colour. 
“There you go, baby.” Alexi rubbed his boyfriend’s burning hot back. “You did so well tonight.” 
“Did I miss it?” Micah slurred out with saliva dripping from his lips. 
“Miss what?” 
“The share thingy.” A yes, the most adult sentence Micah had said the entire night. “It’s gonna start soon I think.” 
“No, no love. You didn’t miss anything. Everything is okay.” Alexi ran his hands worriedly over the sweat stains that dripped down Micah’s spine. Even through the blazer, his fever was raging. “You’ve got to take this off, Micah. Your temperature is soaring.” 
“What if someone comes in?” Micah said after spitting a glob of spit into the toilet. 
“No one will. I’ll watch the door, if that’ll make you feel better,” Alexi promised, already slipping Micah’s arm out of his sleeve. He got the blazer off and started to unbutton his dress shirt before Micah put his hands over his. “What is it, babe? I’ve got to bring your fever down.” 
“Your hands are cold.” Micah shivered. “I’m freezing.” 
“I know.” He kissed the side of Micah’s fiery head. “It’s just your fever playing tricks. Trust me. I’m going to get you through this.” 
Micah was too tired to put up a fight. He let Alexi undress him from the waist up. He shed his layers like feathers that burned in a fire. Though he was sick and miserable now, tomorrow he would rise from his sleep, ready to start a new day as a new man, or at least a marginally healthier man. In any case, the future was bright and waiting. 
95 notes · View notes
mariacallous · 2 months ago
Text
The United States faces serious economic and social challenges, including:
The underlying economic growth rate has slowed, as have opportunities for people to move up the economic ladder.
Our education system fails too many children and leaves many more with fewer opportunities than they deserve.
The nation is not rising to the challenge of addressing climate change.
Both our health care system and the health of our population need improvement.
Our income tax system is broken, generating tax revenue in an inefficient and unfair manner.
And the national debt is growing at an unsustainable pace, threatening long-term economic growth, crowding out needed investments in economic opportunity, and placing the nation’s ability to respond to a future crisis at risk.
To address these problems, the Center for Collaborative Democracy commissioned subject matter experts—progressives, centrists, and conservatives—to develop a “Grand Bargain” encompassing all six issues. The policy debate typically puts these problems into silos, and within each silo, powerful forces support the status quo. This report seeks to break down these silos. Dealing with them all at once—in a Grand Bargain—is a more promising strategy than dealing with them individually, because it allows for different parties to strike deals across policy issues, not just within a single issue.
For example, implementing a carbon tax to address climate change seems impossibly difficult. So does increasing accountability for teacher performance. Trading one for the other might be easier than pursuing both in isolation. Fixing the structural budget deficit by reducing entitlement spending is an enormous political challenge. So is increasing spending on programs that advance economic opportunity. Doing both at the same time could be more politically feasible than addressing them separately.
In this context, the group of experts met for several months in 2023 to share perspectives and ideas and to come up with sensible policies in each of these areas: economic growth and mobility; education; environment; health; taxes; and the federal budget. The end result is this report, which is being published by the Bipartisan Policy Center as an example of how people with diverse views and political leanings can find common ground.
This report is short, consisting of less than 30 pages of text. Its brevity is by design. This constraint forced the group to stay focused on issues and recommendations that matter the most. The focus of the report is on concepts. It is designed to answer such questions as, “How should the nation’s approach to education or to the federal budget change? What fundamental reforms are required to increase the underlying rates of economic growth and upward mobility?” Focusing on concepts means not focusing on policy details, including the details of implementing our recommendations and of transitioning across policy regimes. Our lack of attention to policy details does not mean we do not recognize their importance. Of course, we do, and many members of the group have spent much of their careers studying and designing public policies. Instead, we focus on concepts because we believe the United States needs to return to a discussion of first principles. This report advances that objective.
Not every member of the group agrees with every recommendation in this report. That is not surprising given the diversity of views in the group, and the difficulty and complexity of many of the issues we address. Despite this disagreement, we were able to have an informed and constructive discussion about these economic issues, to find compromises, and to come up with a set of recommendations that we believe, on balance, would greatly strengthen the country and improve people’s lives.
We believe in the importance of a market economy. Free markets have led to unprecedented growth and innovation, along with rising incomes, over the past three centuries. But government also has a role to play. To unleash more growth, we need to curtail unneeded or overly costly regulations and to create a tax system that encourages investment spending and innovation. To bring prosperity to more people, we need policies that will enable more people to benefit from economic growth through investment in their education and skills. For this reason, we put a great deal of emphasis on improving education for children, on training or retraining for adult workers, and on subsidizing the earnings of low-wage workers when necessary while maintaining a safety net for those who cannot work.
Our proposals are designed to advance certain underlying values and themes: Work and savings should be rewarded, investment should be encouraged over consumption, public assistance should be better targeted to those most in need, the tax system should be more progressive, and the nation should invest relatively more in the young and spend relatively less on the elderly.
Our specific proposals in each area are as follows:
On economic growth and mobility, we recommend investing in the education and training of workers, through community colleges and apprenticeships. We call for a more skill-based immigration system and for more immigrants; for encouraging innovation by investing more in basic research; for reducing taxes on new investment; for curbing unneeded regulation; for reducing the national debt; and for encouraging participation in economic life by increasing the generosity of earnings subsidies for low-wage workers.
On education, we recommend improving the teacher workforce at the K-12 level; paying teachers more but strengthening the link between pay and performance; maintaining educational standards and accountability while narrowing gaps by race and class; expanding school choice; and recognizing the role that parents and families must play in students’ learning.
On the environment, our main recommendation is to adopt a carbon tax. We also call for reducing methane emissions; expanding federal authority in the planning, siting, and permitting of the national electric transmission system; and repealing the renewable fuel standard that requires refiners to blend corn ethanol into the fuel they sell.
On health, we call for giving more attention to the social determinants of poor health with a focus on the need for better nutrition, for rationalizing existing subsidies for health care, and for reducing health care costs.
On taxes, we call for increasing tax revenue as a share of annual gross domestic product (GDP), and for that revenue to be raised in a manner that is more progressive, efficient, and simple than under current law, while also increasing the incentive to save and invest. For the business sector, that means allowing the expensing of investment expenditures and moving toward equal treatment of the corporate and noncorporate sectors.
On the federal budget, we recommend putting the debt as a share of annual GDP on a sustainable trajectory with a comprehensive package of reforms made up of a rough balance between tax increases and spending cuts in the initial years, phasing into a much larger share of the savings coming from spending cuts over time.
Most of these recommendations are at the federal level, but some are at the state and local level, particularly our education recommendations.
In the spirit of a Grand Bargain, these recommendations advance common goals and values through compromises both within and across policy areas. For example, one of our values is reflected in the goal of refocusing government spending on those who truly need it, and another is to restore fiscal responsibility. To accomplish this, we call for slower growth in Social Security and Medicare benefits for affluent seniors to reduce the major driver of the national debt, but we also protect vulnerable seniors and spend more on the education of children and on earnings subsidies for the working poor. We recommend adopting a carbon tax because it will simultaneously advance our goals of supporting the environment, increasing tax revenue, and boosting dynamism by encouraging innovation in the energy sector.
We believe the analysis and recommendations in this report point a path forward for the nation, but we offer them in a spirit of humility, understanding that others will disagree. We hope that this report catalyzes a much needed debate about the future of our nation.
5 notes · View notes
theambitiouswoman · 1 year ago
Note
Heyy
Do you have any advice on starting a real estate business as in just buying and renting out property?
Thanks 🤍
Yes!
**For the record, I have personally done a few flips/rehabs. Apart from that, I knew/know most of the realtors in this city and relating companies as I worked with most real estate/mortgage and title companies here when I had an agency.
First you need to be able to learn the market and research comparables. When looking to buy properties there are important factors to consider to make sure you are not paying overprice for a property as well as that the are is on demand, ensuring it will be easier to rent out the property.
The location of the property and its proximity to amenities like schools, shopping centers, grocery stores, transportation etc. Also that the area is safe.
You also want to look for areas that has future development plans, this will raise the value of your property.
If you have worked with investment companies, you will quickly learn that buying a property that is not in the best condition, a rehab property, could be a very smart play. You want to make sure of course to check the comparables and ensure that the property is underpriced compared to the other homes in the area. Once you rehab the property, it could raise or even surpass the value of the other homes in the area.
Any home that you would look into to buy for renting out should have elements that you intend to upgrade on. There are a lot of reasons for this but the most important one is how it raises your price and potential earnings. Redoing a kitchen or a bathroom can immediately raise the value of your home anywhere from 5-50k. A project that will cost you anywhere from 3-10k on average for a standards nice kitchen depending on your area.
Overall you still want to look at the comps to make sure you are getting a fair deal. Calculate the potential annual rent as a percentage of the properties price. This will give you an idea of the return on your investment. Also make sure that the potential rental income exceeds the monthly expenses. If not it does not make sense.
Check the vacancy rates in the area you want to purchase in, if its high there may be a low demand and not a good area to invest in.
Also you want to think about how easy it would be to sell the property if you need to. In demand areas tend to be more liquid.
So important, to understand the landlord/ tenant laws in your state. Including their rights and eviction process etc. Nothing worst than having a horrible tenant and not being legally able to remove them.
There are a lot of rate plans depending on your specific situation and mortgage rates also vary significantly by state. Make sure to get the best deal for you. Some states a first time can give as little as 1-5% down depending if you are a first time/ entrepreneur etc.
Property insurance is another cost factor to consider when working out your numbers as this varies by area.
Managing a few properties on your own is easy, but after a handful, you may want to consider hiring a property management company to handle these things for you.
I would strongly urge you to get a lawyer to draw up renter contracts.
To grow this business what you want to do, and this is a general overview: down payment for house, fix, rent out, refinance, use refinance to purchase another property and have enough to put into upgrades/repairs on the second purchase and repeat.
I can get into taxes on this too if you want.
53 notes · View notes
paracosmic-murdock · 2 years ago
Text
Tell me what are my words worth ; Benedict Bridgerton x Reader
Tumblr media
Chapter 6: "Embrasse-le et épouse-la"
Pairing: Benedict Bridgerton x fem!reader
Summary: While the other ladies have grown with the mindset of marrying and having children, you, as the daughter of a man who wanted a son, grew up being both. You learnt how to embroider, play the pianoforte, fence and manage the estate. However, there were some things that not even the Duke of Burgundy could do, so after he passed and you thought there was nothing left for you, you decided to move to London for a while and go to the Royal Academy of Art.
Nothing was going to keep you from what you wanted, and you would do whatever it takes: you would lie to everyone, you would live to death, you would pretend to be a man. You had a plan and it would be a piece of cake for you. But again, when has something that she wants and should not do easy for a woman? Especially when a man like Benedict Bridgerton gets in the way in more ways than one.
Warnings/tags: idiots in love, eventual smut, love triangles (but not really), lgbtq+ themes, bisexual benedict bridgerton, feminist themes, historical inaccuracy (for the sake of the plot), inspired by mulan (1998), song: the lakes (taylor swift), other tags to be added
Chapter summary: You received the first letter addressed to you from France since you left, showing what a necessity your return was; and the night at Lawrence House, just like mostly every other you should not be at, lead to another incident. Once again, one starred by Antoine and Benedict.
Word count: 2.1K
❁ Series masterlist
❁ mila's anthology (main masterlist)
Tumblr media
Dearest Lady Y/N,
Here in Burgundy we all hope and pray you are perfectly fine.
Your escape has been a scandal known from Corsica to Brittany, and it has awakened many more rumors than one can believe. The most resounding states that you ran away with a lover, and even His Majesty the King came to the Palace to question everything.
There are many novelties, and I am afraid that your presence is required to solve them.
Firstly, the renovation of the Palace of Versailles is finally finished, and it is important that you go and make sure everything is in order and the way you want it. It will be available for you to stay by next Thursday.
Secondly, along with the latest shipment of jewelry, your Grandfather and Cousin David unexpectedly arrived earlier today. They are considering seeing you in London, but I insisted on waiting for your reply to this letter to know if you would return to meet them or receive them there. From what I have heard, they are here to take you to the Americas with them, for it seems like they are interested in the diamond business and want you to invest. Just as your Grandfather was approaching Claude, I notified him of your father's wishes to keep you in charge of the businesses and the estate until your heir takes his rightful place and he is more than pleased with the idea. He suggested David to take the spot of the Duke as it is needed so that way you can perform ducal duties without anyone's opinion interfering, understanding that there is no one who can fit the job better than you.
Thirdly, Claude consulted me with the idea of increasing the taxes. I told him we must have everything in order first, as I am sure you do not agree with his reasoning. While I am well aware that you do not wish for him to have access to the profits of the businesses, he is realizing that it does not make much sense for you to spend so much solely covering it by the scarce money received from the people. For that, he believes you are in great debt and that there is no other choice but to do so. It is best if you resolve this matter by yourself here in Burgundy.
I simply suggest, Lady Y/N, that you return to France before it is known in England that you escaped from your home. Or even worse, before your motives get exposed.
Best wishes,
Cartier
Dear Seigneur Cartier,
I am pleased to have received your letter and grateful to you for keeping me informed.
I understand the scandal my departure must have caused in France, and I assure you that once I return, I will make sure everything gets sorted out.
After speaking to the Carringtons, they would be honored to receive my Grandfather and David, but I would rather they wait for me to get back to Burgundy. Tell them I would adore to join them in America, though I will need someone to supervise Cousin Claude on his every movement in the house after I was absent for so long.
Do not let him increase the taxes, tell him it is best to wait for the end of the year. I will have gotten married by then and he is not going to be in our home any longer after that. If I am not successful in finding a husband here in London, I believe there are enough nations in Europe and a hundred times as many gentlemen left for me to meet and, therefore, find the one to marry.
If we must keep him occupied, put him in charge of selling l'Hôtel de Bourgogne for as much as he can get from it. The money will go to the investment in the diamond mines, though he mustn't know that.
Unless there is any novelty, I will be back in France in three weeks at most. I hope to meet you and my grandfather at the Palace of Versailles for my arrival.
Before saying goodbye, I wanted to ask you to please send to London a few bottles of our finest wine.
Looking forward to your answer,
Lady Y/N of Burgundy.
[Translated from French]
Tumblr media
"Alright, I sent the letter." you told Antoinette.
"When will we finally be back in France?" she asked anxiously.
You clicked your tongue, walking before her on your way to the carriage. "In two weeks, after the Featherington Ball."
"Do we really have to wait until then?"
"Yes," you answered. "The Carrington Ball is tomorrow, in four days we are leaving for Aubrey Hall and five days after that is the Featherington Ball. It's not too much time."
"Will you return, my Lady?"
"I don't think I will."
She nodded. "To Lawrence House?"
"Yes."
You soon arrived at Grant's home, being received with your friends' cheers and their joy to see you attend another gathering after many refusals.
"Does your sister like jewelry? We will send her a gift for letting you come," Santiago said. "I am not joking, Antoine, we are all thankful."
You laughed. "I know you cannot live without me, but you mustn't give my sister any emeralds to show that."
"Ha! My mother just received some jewelry from France, I am certain there must be something worthy of your sister." Mr. Turner commented. You were almost sure it was jewelry from your family's mines, but did not say a word.
"I can guarantee you all that she has enough jewelry to give a very thoughtful present to every woman in England," you added, knowing it was a thing a brother would say about his sister. "Save them for the ladies you are courting."
Cortez stood up. "How much for the most expensive one? My dearest Lady Y/N of Burgundy will adore it."
"Are you courting her?" Lord Connor questioned, and he nodded. "Nice! How is it going with her? I have heard she is a rare jewel!"
"Unlike any other lady I have seen," Santiago said. "In a sense that she wasn't trying to impress me, but did it still. I will marry her, gentlemen, I bet my soul on it!"
"Women like confident men, keep it up with the good work!" you yelled, taking the glass of brandy Lawrence offered you. "There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance you must be careful not to cross. Women like her would throw you away like a used napkin if you do."
"If it isn't our expert in women speaking!"
"I am quite the expert," you replied. "But I have my very own lady waiting for me in France. You all wouldn't stand a chance against me if I didn't."
"You just crossed the line." Lawrence noted.
"Not in front of a lady, I did not."
They laughed, and you all kept drinking and talking. Some friends joined later, including Benedict.
You did not interact much with him, and there were nothing but sneaky glances and spaces between you.
But you were drunk and hopelessly in love with him, regardless of how little you knew each other. Still, you were conscious enough to leave the room before he considered approaching you.
What you did not count on, was that he would follow you to Grant's studio a while after you had left the room everyone was in.
When Benedict entered the studio, he saw you: only a few candles and the moonlight helped you see around, your hair was tied up in a bun, the sleeves of the linen shirt were rolled up to your elbows, the burgundy waistcoat that reminded you of home gave color to the setting in all hues around amber. The painting developing on the canvas in front of you resembled the landscape of the outsides of the villa. The moon seemed to be the theme of the piece, and your focus that ignored his presence only made Benedict smile.
"There is something valuable in the simplest landscapes one can paint," you mentioned as soon as you noticed his reflection on the window. "I have painted ancient ruins… Roman and Greek, the Pyramids in Egypt, the coldest night sky seen from the great dunes of the Sahara desert, flawless Northern Lights from Norway, the most ravishing lakes worthy of dead poets when the sun rises in the North of the Americas, the mountains and forests found in the mystical South; as many portraits as the cities I've been to, every sort of complex technique you could think of. Still, there is something magical about the colors of the heavens when the sun sets in the vineyards, the view of it from the Château du Clos de Vougeot is priceless… Paintings from dusk until dawn of the gardens of the Palace of the Dukes. It is the sense of familiarity of it all, I assume."
"I would not know until I paint anything outside of England."
You smiled, looking around the room as you spotted dozens of portraits of people. "No offense to our fellow artists at all, but I find it delightful to portrait the beauty of nature rather than the wrinkles in those empty faces. Unless, of course, there is someone you love being the subject of one's art."
"Well, not everyone has had the fortune of traveling the world, Antoine."
"But everyone can appreciate those twilight moments outside their homes, can they not?"
Benedict nodded with a smile. "Touché."
"Take a look at the moon," you invited him, and he approached you right away. "The greatest wonders in the world are right here in plain sight, and some are blind to them, even with seeing eyes."
"Where are your paintings?"
"Some at the Palace of the Dukes," you answered. "Others in Versailles, some others were sold."
"I wish I could see them someday."
"Whenever you're in France make sure to address a letter to my sister. She organized an exhibition with our art."
"She is not like the regulars, is she?" Benedict laughed. "I assume no one says no to her."
You smiled. "A mind like hers knows no limits and her spirit cannot be stopped. Whoever says no to her will regret it, I'm sure."
"Is she that dreadful?" Benedict joked.
"Not at all," You chuckled. "She loves like no other."
"I spent only a couple afternoons with her, and I could tell how enchanting she is."
Blood rushed into your cheeks at his words, so your attention returned to the painting. "Any man that marries her will be the most fortunate one."
Benedict could have said that despite what happened between him and Antoine, yours was always the face he saw when he closed his eyes. It was your face instead of the women's he went to bed with often: no matter that they shared your skin tone, the particular length of your hair or the skilled hands yours have proved to be through your melodies. It was your voice calling out his name and your touch burning him alive rather than theirs. Instead, he said that: "A woman whose company is as delightful as hers is, is worthy of keeping."
"I'm sure."
Then there was silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable. The slowly building tension was easy to outlive unless one of you decided to act upon it, and you knew that would not happen.
You do not often admit when you are not right in something. Right now, you couldn't even hide how wrong you were because when you least expected it, Benedict was so close to you.
This time you looked at each other in the eyes for a while, and this time it was you who kissed him. And Benedict didn't pull away, he wouldn't even if his life depended on it.
Neither of you opened your eyes when the kiss ended, neither of you said a word.
"I- I think I… I think I love her."
Your heart fluttered at his confession, and while his kisses belonged to another, his affections were yours. "That is fantastic."
Benedict chuckled and kissed you again. "I do not know what to do."
"You love her? Utterly and truthfully, you do?" you questioned him.
"I've just met her twice."
You bit your lip. "So have we."
"Yes, so have we."
"Benedict, you and I, we are men, we cannot do this."
He kissed you again. "I know."
You must return to France with at least a serious suitor, engaged if you could.
You couldn't risk that the incident with your cousin happens again, and if you had to return betrothed, it was best if the man you were to marry was Benedict. Whatever that was happening between you and him and Antoine- you… You did not know what it was, you could not make sense of any of it, but you could not return to France by yourself.
Whatever it takes.
"Marry her, then."
80 notes · View notes