#The Travel Marketing Awards

[travellingnews]

Πραγματοποιήθηκε η Τελετή Απονομής των Travel Marketing Awards

Την Πέμπτη 20 Ιουλίου, σπραγματοποιήθηκε η Τελετή Απονομής των Travel Marketing Awards, τα οποία διοργανώθηκαν από την Boussias Events, με στόχο να επιβραβεύσουν τις σημαντικές προόδους στο Travel Marketing και να αναδείξουν τις αντίστοιχες καλύτερες υποψηφιότητες από επιχειρήσεις του κλάδου. Περισσότερα από 150 υψηλόβαθμα στελέχη επιχειρήσεων, εκπρόσωποι Φορέων, Πανεπιστημίων, Επαγγελματίες…

[heyyitsarwen]

SB19 with Atom Boyz II at Taiwan night market

Article seen on @jahcentre's post on X

[kanachtun]

Այս բարձր գնահատականը մեզ ոգևորում է և պարտավորեցնում շատ ավելի լավ աշխատել🤗

Սիրով սպասում ենք մարդկանց, ում համար կարևոր է խաղաղ ու բնությանը ներդաշնակ հանգիստը🌄🌿

@bookingcom-blog

[blackownersseekingsuccess]

Remembering Bayard Rustin: The Unsung Hero of the Civil Rights Movement

written by Levi Wise Kenneth Catoe Jr.

August 1, 2024 - Growing up as a Black boy in Paterson, NJ, and attending Roman and Irish Catholic Parochial schools, Black history was not very familiar to me. I grew up in a religious Southern Baptist family and participated in the church choir. In this context, Martin Luther King, Jr., was all that I knew about Black history until I became a teenage Madonna fanatic. Ironically, Madonna made me aware of Black activists and radicals such as Nina Simone, Jean-Michel Basquiat, James Baldwin, and Bayard Rustin. Bayard Rustin was an African American activist who believed in civil disobedience. Rustin felt that Black people should deliberately break unjust laws but do it non-violently to bring about change and this would play a key role in the Civil Rights movement. He also advocated for LGBTQ rights. Rustin moved to Harlem in 1937 and began studying at City College of New York. It’s interesting to note that at the time CCNY was an all-male college once regarded as ‘Jewish Harvard’ which did not accept Black men—Rustin was an unusual exception. While Rustin was at CCNY he became involved in efforts to defend and free the Scottsboro Boys, nine young black men in Alabama who were accused of raping two white women. Activism for Rustin was something that came naturally. He later became a mentor to Martin Luther King.

Rustin is one of my all-time idols. I have been enamored of him since I learned about him, so I was excited to attend an event dedicated to his life and legacy at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, “Between the Lines: Bayard Rustin, A Legacy of Protest and Politics.” The event was a conversation between Michael G. Long and Jafari Allen, who edited the book of the same name. Their exchange sparked many revelations and I left the event more aware than when I entered. I felt so much pity for the life that Rustin had to live, including the attack on his character that was rallied against him by other Black people and the distance that Martin Luther King placed between himself and Rustin out of fear of people assuming that he was also gay. I also learned that it was Coretta Scott King who introduced King to Rustin. Scott-King met Rustin during her college years as a fellow activist who practiced civil disobedience. She would ultimately introduce her husband King to civil disobedience tactics. Rustin recalled that his first time meeting King he was strapped with a handgun and that he never traveled without his gun. It was Rustin who told King that if he represented civil disobedience he would have to be willing to put away his firearm, which eventually he did. Nevertheless, this raises the question, who was King really? The “I Have A Dream” pacifist or the “Beyond Vietnam” radical? We will never truly know.

All in all what I did learn was that according to Rustin, King had no idea how to organize an event. Instead, it was Rustin who developed the blueprint for King’s early Civil Rights movement, at least until the day that King removed Rustin from his inner circle.

Nevertheless, Rustin returned to organize the March on Washington, despite everything leveled against him by Adam Clayton Powel and Roy Wilkins. Someone noted during the discussion that “it’s funny how karma works given the fact that nobody remembers Wilkins's legacy in comparison to the sudden interest in Rustin.'' If I remember correctly, the comment was made by the moderator, NYU professor Dr. Jarafi Allen, based on the fact that the venue was standing room only, or that the Hollywood lens is now fixated on Rustin’s story, with an Academy Award-nominated movie based upon his life currently in theaters. Wilkins has not received the same interest from Hollywood, perhaps indicating that he is less marketable in the mainstream. Meanwhile, Rustin’s role as an activist for the LGTBQ community is also important for newer generations. Until recently, this legacy and all that he accomplished was invisible, but he has since become a symbol of the “others” and most notably the “forgotten others”. While in his lifetime he was shunned, rallied against, and betrayed by those that he benefitted, history has allowed his legacy the final word.

[ahoycaptainautumn]

Fated Mates Part 3

Synopsis: you, a vengeful vampire slayer, cross paths with the devious and handsome Astarion. Instead of a stake through the heart, Astarion finds something he thought impossible for vampire spawn. A mate.

Astarion learns more on vampiric mates while you do odd jobs in town. Scraping up enough money your merry gang gets to rest well tonight. Though there’s only one problem, there’s only one bed.

It took another two days before your merry band finally made it to the first town. More hours of Gale’s snores and sleep talking of magical items. Or the way Karlach randomly set fire to something now twice in her sleep. Wyll played some tune non stop on a ukulele you swear just to annoy you. Not to mention the bickering and fighting when they were awake. After getting no sleep you demanded to the group that you would all pitch in and do some odd jobs to afford a stay at a tavern for a night. Anything to give you a chance at relaxation and a soft mattress. Everyone agreed to meet at the town square at the beginning of sundown. The hours before that were up to each entirely.

You first went into the town square in hopes of finding someone to offer you an easy quest for a fee. Perusing the marketplace you find a dressmaker eager to find someone for help.

“My my my! You’re perfect for the job! I was just in need of some help, thank the Gods! I need you to run to this store and grab the fabric on hold for Marteen, then meet me at my shop after the market closes.” He hands you a wrinkled piece of paper with the name of the shop on it. You nod your thanks and head out to said shop.

Astarion immediately abandoned the idea of doing some side quest and instead goes to find the local bookkeeper. The town was quaint in size but he hoped large enough to have some of a selection on what he was looking for. 200 years as a vampire and still his knowledge of vampirism was slim to none. Most of it from passing mouths. Fellow spawn were more than likely in his similar predicament and just as naive to the ways of the vampire world. Anyone higher on the food chain wasn’t keen on educating. Here and there in his travels for prey he heard whispers of things. Knowledge of vampire mates was mostly rumor, common gossip with no real evidence. Astarion had only met one other vampire to have met his mate. At the time the bond seemed weak to him. A cause for a future exploitation. A bother. He never believed himself to be plagued with such nonsense and had not thought to ask more of it. Astarion made his way up the old brick library steps and into the establishment. Years of neglect were evident in every crevice of the place. Spiderwebs littered every corner and shelves of books were caked with years of dust. Astarion tried his best to hide his disgust and made his way to the front desk. An old human woman sat slouched in her chair dozing off. Astarion cleared his throat, waking the woman. She fixed her overly large glasses before squinting up at Astarion. He gives his most award winning smile in return.

“How can I help you stranger?” She croaks.

“I was wondering if you had anything on a special type of creature? A vampire perhaps?” Astarion asks nicely. Her bushy brows furrow in confusion.

“Sorry, things of that nature need special clearance given by the governor. Something about too many impressionable kids trying to bite one another.” She waves her hand away as she finishes talking. She goes to turn away from him as Astarions hand darts across the desk. His thumb and forefinger caress the old woman’s chin as he gently turns her head back to him. Astarion leans close, breath mingling with the librarians. With his best bedroom eyes Astarion pleads once again.

“Please dear? I swear I shan’t be more than a moment.” The woman’s face lights up beet red as she flusters under his touch.

“I mean- I- well I mean- if if if you really won’t be more than a second than I guess it’s okay.” She stutters out.

“Perfect. Just point me in the direction, love.” Astarion purrs. The woman scuffles from behind her desk and grabs a set of keys from her pocket. Astarion follows as she leads him further into the library towards an old vault door. With a turn of a key she guides him to the shelving labeled V.

“Please don’t be long, my boss will be around any moment!” She giggles behind her wrinkled hand. Her blush still evident as she walks away. Astarions face drops back to a resting neutral once she’s out of sight and he makes his way through the novels. There are only a few books pertaining to vampires. His fingers slide over titles of “How to Properly Slay a Vampire” and “Vampire Bites for Medical Use”. None contain anything about mates. A growl of frustration leaves him before he’s manically ripping through books across the shelves. Books and scrolls fly through the air before Astarions rage stops in its tracks. Mid throw Astarion reads the title of the small book in his hand. “Mates in Five Different Species: Fate Driven Partnership”. Astarion just about rips the book open before he hears the patter of the woman’s footsteps coming closer. He rushes out the door and slams it behind him. The woman jumps at his sudden movements just outside the chambers.

“You have been so lovely, thank you. I must go, good day!” Astarion shouts over his shoulder before dashing outside. The woman’s shriek at his mess is the last he hears as he makes for the door and rounds the corner. Finding a secluded alleyway, Astarion makes himself comfortable on top of a wooden crate and cracks open the book.

Vampiric Mates:

Vampire mating is a rarity within the species. Only about an average of 31% of vampires have mates. Of that 31% only 3% of their mates were non-vampire in manner. Courtship of mates in vampires comes within three stages: sight, taste, consummation. The beginnings of the mating correspond with the first mutual stare between the partners. Mating is then felt in its entirety with a touch of either lips or genitalia. Finally, the mate bond is accepted for eternity with consummation of the partnership.

Astarions eyebrows shoot up as he reads. He had already completed two damned steps without even realizing.

Though the “feeling” of a mate may differ slightly from vampire to vampire, similarities are shown throughout each recorded mating. Feelings of a something similar to a cord “tightening” is usually the most common sign. Feelings of falling, fainting or loss of emotions momentarily have also been recorded. It is believed to be innate to each vampire to recognize a mate once seen.

Astarion thinks back to the shared bargain kiss you had made a few nights earlier. The feeling of a band wrapping and tightening in his core. The way he felt his stomach drop. He had thought himself nauseous from not drinking enough but in reality he knew he was denying it. Denying the feeling he felt with that first look. Something so ingrained biologically he couldn’t shoo it away. He flips to the section labeled “Vampire Mates: Other Species Mate”.

Mates of a vampire not already afflicted with vampirism upon meeting may be at a disadvantage. Though similar feelings may be present they will not be as strong as they are for the vampire mate. The mate also may not feel the same feelings of possessiveness and aching as the vampire mate will. Non vampire mates may not inherently realize what has happened without further education.

Astarion reads the last sentence several times over. You didn’t even know. He could continue on this little adventure and you would never be the wiser of what was unfolding between the two of you. A large part of Astarion was glad, gleeful even, to not have to worry about this further. But a small, quiet and forgotten part of his brain felt remorse at the thought. Astarion was about to continue to read through the entire section before he noticed the beginnings of the sunset. Realizing he would be meeting back with your party shortly, Astarion leaps from his seat on the crate and moves through the alleyways. He knows if he shows up empty handed you won’t let him hear the end of it. He knows your still deciding on whether or not you want to plant your stake right into his heart anyhow. Moving through side streets and back alleys Astarion moves with grace between drunks and gamblers. Swift and nimble, his hands dip into their pockets and empty them of any useful change. With a bit of money to his name, Astarion takes a main road back to the square. Though an image to his right stops him in his tracks, you.

A bit earlier -

Fabrics in hand, you huff down the street to Marteens shop. The fabric store was on the very outskirts of town. Nothing more than an old witch with a spindle, calling it a shop was a bit excessive. Though the lady was kind enough, you spent far too much time to get there as well as listen to the old woman gab as she got your order together. You finally step up to Marteen’s Dress Shop and softly knock on the door. Large floor to ceiling windows show the interior from the front. Mannequins dressed in beautiful floor length gowns adorn the left and right side. A small podium sits in the middle awaiting a blushing bride to try on her future gown. Marteen opens the door and beams at you.

“Please come in, come in!” He waves you in. He helps unload the several bits of fabric from your grasp. Luxurious rolls of dark blood red fabric, black lace, and golden trimmings leave your hands. You help bring everything else into the shop. Marteen unloads the rolls onto a long table next to the front podium. You stand next to him admiring the cloths.

“It really is beautiful.” You whisper, more to the fabrics than the man. He smiles at you as he grabs a mostly made dress from his back room. The same fabric is made into a long gown in his arms. A tight black bodice corsets the top as gold accents the sides. Crimson fabric layers on top of eachother at the bottom as it bellows out into a sweep gown.

“Before you go, could I ask you one more job? I’ll throw in a few extra coin!” Marteen asks.

“Sure, what can I get you next?” You ask.

“This dress, it’s for my daughter. It’s nearly complete save the sleeves and a bit of patching in the back. You look about her size, mind being my model? I’d ask her, but it’s a bit of a surprise.” You really hadn’t expected that. It had been a very very long time since you worn something so exquisite. Back before your parents had been murdered. Back when your father threw elegant balls for nothing more than to fill the manor with good company and better wine. Back before life became what it is. You shake the thought before they take hold.

“Sure why not.” You shrug.

Cinched into the velvet fabric feels like a dream against your skin. Marteen expertly sewed beautiful bell bottom sleeves with black lace endings onto each arm. Gold is hemmed in the sides to accentuate your curves. Flowing black ribbon ties in the bodice tightly. Marteen smiles broadly, proud of himself. You do a small twirl at his command and watch the fabric flow with your movements. You can’t help the giggle that takes over you as you sway.

“It’s perfect! Absolutely perfect!” Marteen glows.

“It is! It’s absolutely perfe-“ your words die half way through your throat when through the front glass you see a gawking Astarion. Shame and anger sweep over your momentary glee. You clench your hands and jaw as you stare him down. A smug look takes over his face as he watches you. Marteen comes and looks over your shoulder.

“Oh, is that your betrothed?” He asks innocently. You can’t help the sarcastic laugh that leaves your lips.

“As if! Never in a million lifetimes.” You reply coldly, eyes narrowing. Marteen gives you a puzzled look.

“By the way he looks at you in that dress, I would have thought otherwise.” Marteen tosses over his shoulder.

—

Astarion had good intentions, brilliant and easy intentions. Seduce you, con you, but never fall for you. To overcome the illness of being mated. He was determined, arrogant even in his belief that this mating was nothing more than a silly joke from the universe. He could get over a few fleeting feelings, he had endured much worse in centuries of slavery and solitude. But those resolutions all but melt away at the sight of you. He watches you twirl in a dress fit for a vampiric queen. Blood red accentuating your body, long fabric flowing with your movements. An easy smile gracing your lips. That familiar coil in his chest begged his attention once again. An ache fills his long canines to sink into the soft nape of your neck. All he could do was stare at your form, the way your lips looked so mesmerizing in that easy smile. An animalistic urge shook him with the thought that that smile should be for him, not some gown maker. The thought vanished as quickly as it comes as you find his stare and match it with a look that could kill. Gods, this was going to be harder than he thought.

-

Redressed, you collect your payment and meet Astarion out in the front of the shop. He gives you a fake saddened look.

“Here I was out doing honest work and you’re trying on gowns. Really, (y/n) you outta be ashamed.” He tuts at you. You wag your finger in his face.

“I was doing work blood sucker! Besides, there isn’t a way in the 9 realms of hell you did any honest work.” You accuse him. At your words Astarion pulls the money he had collected from his pocket. Your finger stops mid wag as you look at the coins in his hand.

“Now now now, nothing to say little killer? What will the others think when I tell them?” Astarion muses. He starts to make his way towards the center of town. It takes you a moment to catch up with him.

“You are not to tell them anything! Do you hear me, or so help me-“ you threaten.

“Or what, drive a stake through my heart? Last time you tried that you ended up kissing me. Really you need to learn better threats.” Astarion teases. You swear you see red. You just about open your mouth before Astarions face comes smack dab in front of yours.

“Besides dear, we both know you need me more than you want to kill me.” He whispers to you. You stare him down fighting the urge to hit him with all your strength. All it does is make his cocky smile grow bigger. An awkward throat clearing brings the two of you apart as Gale stands in front of you.

“Hmm well if you’re all done with your lover's quarrel, we were going to put our money together.” You want to argue that a lovers quarrel was very very far from the truth but you instead take role. Counting the money together you think you have enough for all of you to grab a bunk for the night. You had spotted an inn earlier and lead the group towards it.

-

The inn was one of the larger buildings in the area. It hosted a tavern on its first floor, home to beer drinking and dinner. The next two stories were dedicated to rentals. Thankfully, there was just enough space for two to a room with a small bed for each. Everyone argued who was going to bunk with you. Given your earlier appearances everyone had already voted you and Astarion to a room. You just about lost your head in front of the kind old inn woman.

“Come on, the lovers can share a romantic evening together!” Karlach teased.

“There is no lovers and there will be no romance!” You seethe.

“Honestly, I mean Gods knows I can do better.” Astarion chimes in.

“Now what is that suppose to mean-“ you turn your attention to the white haired Vampire. He raises his hands in mock defense.

“Aw the lovers are fighting again.” Shadowheart replies. The old woman behind the desk gives a small chuckle.

“Oh deary, I completely understand. You two need a special room. Here darling, on the house. Last door on the right.” The woman gives a set of keys over to you. You thank her for her understanding and set off in the direction she gave you. Astarion is on your heels as you ascend to the rental rooms on the third floor. The rest get together with their designated partner for the night and set off to their rooms for the night. You set the key to the lock and turn it.

“I hope you know I’ll be getting the largest bed, beauty sleep needed and all.” Astarion quips. You don’t have the function to respond as you peer into the room. The room is massive. There’s a beautiful fainting couch overlooking large windows peering into the valley below. Velvet curtains hang in the windows. A fire roars off to the left corner in a stone fireplace. A plush bear rug lines the middle of the space. And right there, dead center, is only one large king bed.

Part one here

Part four here

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

So if I understand the People mag article correctly, Archwell is now firmly acting as a middle man of charity donations. They get donations from other organizations - tax write off for the organizations - and also private anonymous doners (last years it was 10mil?? This year it's 2 mil!).

Then they decide how to allocate those recieved donations further to other organizations after meeting their own costs of salaries, admin, expenses (travel, accomodation while travelling, food and drinks etc for the employees) and other costs are met first.

No clarification if the large sum donations recieved are bulk one-time payments or multiyear pledges. No clarification of doners stipulate where to donate or Archwell decides that. No clarification on when the funds actually came in or how they acquired those. (Who pitched, when, was ut random cold calls, through business or private networks, during a social event, during Invictus or random benefactors who just happened to like HnM).

What is the staffs actual role is acquiring thes donations and partnering with organization's downstream of recieving donations? How much are Meghan and Harry personally involved in this unique scheme of "charity". Was this Meghan's idea to have this working model or did it stem from Harry's idea of what being a working royal means.

Why isn't there more clarity on their partner organizations, because so far it seems rather random based on Meghan's pet causes of women empowerment and Harry's crusade of tackling disinformation.

They are making such a huge deal out of the annual report but they are basically using this as a pr gimmick. An annual report should just (ideally) summarise whatever they have been doing during 2023 and that work should have already been out there.

Most of this looks so removed from the work that we saw, which was Invictus games, the bought awards, the faux- royal toursetc. I know a lot of that was this year, 2024, but at least behind the scenes there should have been some work in 2023 which logically led to those events in 2024. so far, this looks like another attemp to attach themselves to Jill Biden through her daughter and get an in with the dek party (political aspirations much?!)

To be fair, though, a lot of charities serve as middlemen like this - they solicit donations/grants from others and then disburse grants to other organizations versus funding their own projects or doing their own research/studies.

That's why it's really important to do your own research when you're considering to give money to charity. There are a bunch of charity watchdogs that specifically look at how charities are fundraising and expensing, as well as pulling up their tax records (actual tax records, not impact reports or board statements). There are two things you want to pay attention to: 1) administrative costs and fundraising costs and 2) unrestricted giving vs restricted giving.

The administrative cost is essentially the cost for the charity to operate. It's everything like salaries and employee benefits, rent, travel, legal fees, management. The fundraising costs isn't how much money the charity fundraised for its clientele; it's how much the charity spent to raise money - marketing, merchandise, events, advertising, PR. A charity should never spend more than 35% on administrative and fundraising costs combined.

Looking specifically Archewell's numbers by People yesterday, they spent about $2.6M in operating expenses and staff salaries ("just over" $1M, which I rounded to $1.1M, on legal fees, events, and travel and $1.5M on salaries). Since People also says that $5.7M was what Archewell raised last year (and I'm not looking up the actual tax records tonight), we have to assume that the $2.6M is paid for by the $5.7M pot. $2.6M of $5.7M is 46%.

People also says that of the $5.7M, only $1.3M was actually given to charity. That's 23%. While we don't know where the other $1.8M (the remaining 30%) is going, it's either going into investments/reserve funds for future-year expenses or it's been allocated to programming that hasn't been announced or disclosed.

Let's put People aside for a second here and talk about unrestricted giving versus restricted giving.

Restricted giving is where you specifically and explicitly direct where your money should go or how it should be spent. Unrestricted giving means the charity/organization decides where to spend your money and you have no say in it, so while you may have donated that $100 check thinking the Susan B. Komen Foundation is going to use it to fund breast cancer research, that money might end up going into the CEO's end-of-year bonus or buying the ribbon magnets that the organization sells for a fundraiser.

Both types of giving are important, but the benefits are very different. Small charities need unrestricted charitable gifts because that's literally the money that keeps them in business. Larger charities love unrestricted giving because it means bigger paychecks, bonuses, and benefits for staff.

Deciding whether to give a restricted donation or an unrestricted donation is where that administrative costs + fundraising costs percentage can be very powerful. The lower that percentage is, the more likely your donation will actually be used for programming that actually helps the people/community. The higher that percentage is, the more likely your donation will go to overhead expenses. Thus, the suggestion is typically lower percentage = unrestricted giving but higher percentage = restricted giving.

(There are two exceptions to that rule of thumb, for me. First is colleges and universities. For a lot of smaller schools and public universities, unrestricted giving is what pays the faculty, staff, new construction, buys books for the libraries, funds general scholarships and work/study programs, makes campus accessible, supports student and alumni programming (like clubs, homecoming events, new student orientation), etc. Essentially, anything that tuition, fees, room + board, and specific endowments doesn't cover, colleges and universities pay for it from their unrestricted giving funds. So if you went to a school that doesn't have national name brand recognition (which is pretty much everyone outside of the Ivies and top 25 Division I schools in sports), unrestricted giving is their lifeline. So yes, give to your major/degree program, give to the sports, give to whoever, but also give to the unrestricted fund. Second is large national/multi-national corporate-type charities like Susan G. Komen - for those charities, always do restricted giving to make sure that your money is actually going towards programming, research, the community, etc. And if you're on a limited budget and you want your charitable donation to stretch the furthest it can go, look for those smaller charities instead of the name-recognized ones, like The Breasties instead of Komen.)

(I also don't mean to keep picking on Komen. I'm just not a fan. They obscure a lot of their work in programming called "education and awareness" and don't really explain what it is. They also have a huge fundraising budget, which isn't actually what they fundraise - it's the cost of fundraising, like buying those magnets, sponsoring pink October. Lastly, the CEO makes an annual salary of $888K which is 3-4 times more than the rest of the C-suite execs and I just think that's ridiculous. The CEO of Breasties, for comparison, makes only $79K.)

So since there's only a 23% chance your donation to Archewell will actually go towards programming, you'll get the most bang for your buck restricting your donation - in other words, telling the Sussexes "this donation is for the Digital Civil Rights Award" when you give them your check means they have to put that money in their Digital Civil Rights Award/NAACP bucket and if they don't, that can cause serious problems if they get audited for misuse of funds.

The second thing I want to point out about People's article and the Impact Report (I haven't read the Impact Report and I don't plan to, so this is going by what People reported) is that they write about the donations Archewell received in vague terms. If you look at that article, here's what they report Archewell received in donations:

$5 million donation from an individual donor

$335,000 from five individual contributors

$6 million gift from Fidelity Charitable (a donor-advised fund, or DAF)

$10,000 grant from TisBest Philanthropy

$1 million grant from an anonymous donor

$1 million grant from a second anonymous donor

So all that together, People makes it sound like Archewell raked in $13.3 million in donations, which makes them look far more successful than they actually are (and more importantly, makes them look "better" than The Royal Foundation, who reported raising $10.5 million last year).

But the devil is in the details - $4 million of that $13.3M is actually from 2022 and was "omitted" from their tax report due to "discrepancies in timing." Sure, but that leaves $9.3M. We know they raised $5.7M, so where's that other $3.6 million? It's definitely not programming expenses. And if the paperwork shows $9.3 million was raised in 2023, then why does the Impact Report say they raised $5.7 million? (I am not a lawyer and I am not a tax person. I put my forms in TurboTax and call it a day, so there is a 99% chance I'm completely wrong here.) And more specifically, as the other anon last night pointed out - why does the Impact Report promote having received a $6 million donation but yet only saying they raised $5.7 million? That's a huge discrepancy.

Again, I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a tax person, I haven't looked at the actual tax records or the actual Impact Reports, but none of this is making sense.

Then add in everything that @benignkarma asks - what exactly does all this mean? How exactly do they run and operate Archewell? What exactly do they do? What exactly are James Holt and Shauna Nep doing that's earning them that much money? For that kind of paycheck, I'd expect it to be abundantly clear exactly everything they're doing and how they're operating. And for those kinds of gifts, donations, and grants, they really need to be on a line-item budget or expenditure report because their scrutiny (even if it's self-inflicted via PR like this is) means everything needs to be crystal clear and squeaky clean.

Now, maybe everything really is above board, but given what we've seen from Meghan's trademark applications and charity registration paperwork, I'm suspicious. If they're that sloppy on other things, then they have to be sloppy - or doing the barest bare minimum - on everything else. And I think this is being sloppy, because the People article talks about three different time periods - the 2022 tax records with the $4 million discrepancy, the 2023 tax records that have just been released, and then the 2022-2023 impact report. Meaning, someone is obscuring the actual time period - is it Archewell? Is it People? is it Meghan? - and they're probably doing that to make the numbers look more impressive than they actually are.

After all, $13.3 million is better than $5.7 million, which is better than $1.3 million. And $1.3 million in charitable giving is kiiiiiiiinda pathetic when your operating expenses and overhead is at least $2 million.

(I'll end with this - People's article, the impact report, and the tax records say that Harry and Meghan don't draw salaries from Archewell. That is, in my opinion, complete bunk. These "operating expenses" - which People cites are legal fees, travel, and events - are Harry's and Meghan's salaries. Because as much traveling as "Archewell" has done (Nigeria, Colombia, and New York), sending the staff wouldn't cost hundreds of thousands of dollars that would cause operating expenses to rack up to "just over $1 million".)

[someartistsammy]

Genesis's childhood award, the basis of pasteurization, and the supposed fragility of Banora Whites.

A take on it from a farm kid that actually specializes in growing apples.

Was talking with a good friend of mine last night about various takes in the fandom last night and was reminded of one I had seen semi-recently about Genesis's childhood genius in supposedly inventing pasteurization.

I want to believe this is a take that comes from being uninformed as to what pasteurization actually is, considering him being the first to invent it around the time of 1990 would show a stunning lack of technological advancements in the world of FF7. Let me explain.

Shinra has had a lot of technological advancements, and we can see those constantly portrayed clear as day throughout the world of FF7. However even in the time before Shinra, during the time of the Republic of Junon, it can also be assumed that they would have pasteurization, a process that in the real world was invented in the 1800s. Exploration of the world in Rebirth also reveals multiple areas that have shipment docks from the time of the Republic. This would include the assumption that this is how people both traveled as well as transported and exchanged goods.

Pasteurization is an incredibly important technological advancement as it's allowed for the easier shipment and trade of food on a global level. The definition can be found below.

In food processing, pasteurization is a process of food preservation in which packaged and unpacked foods (e.g., milk and fruit juices) are treated with mild heat, usually to less than 100 °C (212 °F), to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life. Pasteurization either destroys or deactivates microorganisms and enzymes that contribute to food spoilage or the risk of disease, … (continued on Wikipedia)

There are different methods such as Low-temperature long time (LTLT), High temperature/short time (HTST) and Ultrahigh temperature (UHT) (also called Ultraheat treated) however that isn't super important to this, just know that HTST is the standard for apple juice.

The point in this being that if Genesis were to have invented pasteurization ~1990, the rest of the world would have been taking incredibly risky measures in transporting food and risking spoiling for decades, as well as various things being unsafe for consumption such as milk. With the advancements the world already had by this time such as phones, war artillery, windmills, and mako reactors, I find it highly unlikely that he would've been the one to invent pasteurization.

I feel as though it is important to mention that Genesis's award was first place in the National Agriculture Awards, but more specifically, an award in the processed food category. The processed category in these awards directly gives it away in the fact that food was already processed enough to have its own category for awards. Presentation on this is in relation to the presentation of a processed product, and not a form of processing itself. In the assumption that these reflect actual reward categories, there are different categories for scientific invention as well as processing systems.

Reference page for the names/categories presented. This is not the description document.

Agricultural Proficiency Award Area Descriptions.

Although there is the argument that they likely didn't use this same style categorizing, its important to note that they did use categories within the national agricultural awards, and they specifically made the choice of processed food, instead of any of the other choices. If he really made such an important invention, why wouldn't it be stated anywhere as clearly being pasteurization, something that would revolutionize the world, or for that matter why wouldn't it be awarded in the name of development of food science?

I believe its also worth mentioning that the Crisis Core Complete Guide says "Because the fruit can only be harvested in this region, it sells for a high price on the market, but the village children don't seem to know this, …" This would be due to the fact that the Banora Whites are common-place in Banora. In a similar way to how wagyu in Japan is significantly cheaper than it is in the United States, due to export; Genesis would have an easier and cheaper time attempting experimentation methods, if there even needs to be any variation for them, resulting in juice with correct pasteurization due to his being local to Banora. (Market price on them in Banora would be naturally lower due to supply likely being higher than demand, as well as not having to worry about import and export fees. Not to mention being the place where it is naturally grown).

*In the above example I used wagyu as a comparison, however this could just as easily be any other exported food that becomes considered rare when exported, another example which is actually more rare would be the black diamond apple.

While mentioning this, I also want to say that his invention is specifically upon Banora White Juice, not apple juice in its entirety of existence. In similarity to pasteurization, this feels like an over-exaggeration of what Genesis actually accomplished.

While branching through this topic, I also want to bring attention to a take I was sent a while back on the supposed fragility of Banora Whites. While going through the Ultimanias with assistance of a friend, nothing could be found on sources hinting towards Banora Whites being fragile. My next assumption is that this conclusion was likely reached on the basis of Banora Whites being mentioned to be region exclusive, and a high-price market item.

Banora Whites are called just that because of their area of growth being only that of Banora in the Mideel region. The growth of Banora Whites is actually tied to the amount of lifestream that flows through the Banora Underground, this gives Banora a very unique type of soil that allows for the growth of Banora Whites. Since Banora is the only place where the crop grows, giving it a very limited area of growth, and since it cannot be grown globally, gives it a very high market value.

Now into the technicality of things, it could also be assumed that the sale of the Banora White was likely tied to its aesthetics, similar to the way that the pink pineapple is in the real world. The difference here being that when juiced, the pink pineapple loses most of what it has going for it in terms of its aesthetic appearance and thus reducing its marketability and price. Meanwhile, Banora whites, while although losing what would make them have a unique aesthetic appearance, could possibly have a specific flavor to them that translates into the juice.

You see, I believe Genesis's intelligence on the matter comes from not creating some life changing way of preserving things, but rather from preventing waste. Although I do not find any info on Banora Whites being fragile, it can be argued that all apples are fragile in a sense, or at least majority of them. They're truly one of those fruits where sometimes you can chuck them at a tree and only see a bruise or dent, and other times you look at them wrong and they'll split wide open.

When thinking of an apple in general, chances are fragile is not the first word that comes to mind, as many other fruits would be considered fragile long before them, and that'd be correct. However, the harvest and transportation of apples, as well as their general growth, can be littered with complications. When moving apples in a commercial wooden apple bin, when you have hundreds of them stacked together, driving faster than even 2MPH by tractor can cause shaking and damage to the fruit by rubbing damage which can create bruising.

Banora is a remote island location, and import and export of items is likely expensive, which would contribute to the income that Banora Whites would bring in (see earlier mention of wagyu and Japan vs US price) Due to being an island, the methods of exporting would have to be either by air, which would be incredibly expensive and fuel taxing, or by ocean. I mentioned earlier that FF7 Rebirth shows multiple docks and ports that would hint towards ocean being the likely way of transportation of food and people. This would require a boat to leave from down by Banora and travel all the way up the coast through the Meridian Ocean. Constant swaying of the ocean and anything unsecured likely leads to aesthetic damages which allow for even less of the Banora Whites to reach market in aesthetically acceptable shelf conditions.

Banora and in general the Mideel Region is a very coastal region that by flora alone also appears to be a very warm and tropical one. By this assumption not only would Banora Whites possibly be prone to sunburn, a reason they likely developed their darker appearance to survive, but also being internally cooked by the heat of the sun. Also being coastal could lead to strong storms brought in by the ocean leaving damage from heavy winds, pelting rain, hail, and similar damaging weather factors. Excessive rain also typically leads to apples suffering growth cracks, which also takes them off the table for being sold to market as-is.

In the assumption that the Banora Whites would survive possibly brutal conditions that are located down in that area, due to any damage caused by going across the sea, they would likely need to be packaged first while in Banora (hence the warehouse) which would also bring up the pricing on them. However, where does this leave the fruit that's been damaged? Just because it has a crack it it or an aesthetic-only scar across the skin does not mean that the fruit is ruined or inedible. This is fruit that can be used for many different things, including juicing. Juicing is a method that ignores damages that are purely aesthetic, and allows for profit where there would otherwise be none given. Genesis's invention is that of one that prevents waste, and allows for another source of income to the area.

Juicing of apples that wouldn't make it to market would keep the price of the pure solid apples that do make it to market still profitable, while also giving use to those that wouldn't be allowed onto the shelves. While its nothing groundbreaking for the world, like pasteurization would have been, it does allow for Banora to be able to sustain itself via income more, and just overall prevent the waste of more food.

Although to some its not as glamorous if he didn't do something that fundamentally changed the world as a kid, that doesn't mean that what Genesis did isn't still something that he was worth awarding for, especially as a youth. Not only did his creation prevent the waste of food, which earned him his award, but Banora White Juice also did become a famous global hit.

[marysandbox]

Dress - Taylor Swift x Reader

Summary: The one where "Dress" was written for you. [Requested]

Warnings: (+18), smut (it's flagged and can be skipped), fluff, secret relationship, implicit forms of media homophobia, mentions of past relationships. | Words: 2.724

A/N-> I found this request from last year on my drive, I believe it was a writing challenge. It was my first time writing for Taylor, and since it wasn't the focus of my main blog, I ended up forgetting about this one. Now that I have this secondary blog, I haven't found any reason not to share this little one.

General Masterlist |

-&-

Sighing softly, you let go of her hand.

Taylor remained close to you, however.

"It'll be quick." She assured, forcing a smile. "A few hours, we'll go home, okay?"

It was your turn to smile, your gaze roaming the entire figure in front of you, watching the new dress hug all the right places.

"You look beautiful, dear. Did I mention?" You deflect from her previous sentence, and despite the soft redness in her cheeks, her stare is amused.

"Once or twice."

"Then I need to improve on that number." You spoke, bringing your face closer to her ear. "You're breathtaking, Tay." You whispered, enjoying the way her skin shivered.

But the place was beginning to fill up. The other contestants and performers were arriving incrementally, and even though you were hidden from view by the cameras now, it was still too risky to be so close and so non-platonically in public.

Resisting the urge to kiss her cheek, you pulled away and cleared your throat softly. "After you, Miss Swift."

She rolled her eyes at the formality, a smile playing on her lips.

Taylor left first, or rather, entered, the great hall where the awards ceremony would be taking place this year.

You as an independent artist were going to sit a few tables away from her.

The challenge was to keep your eyes off your girlfriend when she looked so stunning.

The evening passed slowly, most probably because all you could do was watch the concerts and speeches and try to cheer yourself up a bit with the expensive food and bad drink.

Your only wish was to be able to keep your hand intertwined with hers and kiss her, even if only on the cheek, as married men could do around the room.

For your happiness, at least you can look at her. Her album won one of the awards that night.

She came on stage, to wave and to express her thanks, and you can't even control your own expression.

Would the photographers in the room be able to tell that your eyes shine brighter than the lights when you look at her?

Would Taylor be able to see you from that distance?

You know she can. Because she meets your gaze from the stage and smiles in a way that you know is just for you.

And when the night is over, she has autographs to sign, and hands to shake, and you are beginning to regret not drinking when one of the boys in a band tries to get her number from her managers.

–//–

It has been like this for some time.

Maybe days, or months? Sometimes you feel that it has been going on for years. Maybe all your life.

When you didn't know her, what was it like to go to LA?

Not to be around her, visiting galleries and parks in a poor disguise, or rushing out of rehearsals to spend time in her apartment under the sheets.

Soon spring is coming, and you need to get back to England for the awards.

Taylor invites you to accompany her to the Grammys when you're back.

At this point, even with all the precautions, the media recognizes that you two are close.

“Best friends” is written on the cover of gossip magazines. Her marketing team won't let her comment.

You are at her house again, before you travel, and she is wearing a sweatshirt that is yours, that she took from the bags you are not done with.

"I'm going to need that in the London cold, Tay." You mutter as you approach to hand her the drink you said you were going to prepare for you two.

She lifts her gaze from the little notebook, confused for a moment until she recognizes that you were talking about the clothes. Then she just smiles "Buy another, this one is mine until you get back."

You laugh softly, shaking your head as you sit down in the armchair across from her.

There is a forgotten movie on the television, and your cell phone is vibrating with the new appointments on your calendar, but you are looking at the woman in front of you. The blonde strands fall down at the sides of her face, her legs crossed on the bed as she scribbles some things down.

"Is it for Reputation?" You ask about the verses she suddenly, in the middle of the movie session, got the idea to write. She covers the paper immediately with her hand.

"Don't peek!" She warns with an expression of false seriousness, pushing the closed notebook further into her lap, her other hand holding her mug of chocolate.

"Never." You assure. "I can't wait to hear, though."

Her cheeks flush, and she smiles. You won't disturb her in her writing, and you think you can just watch her work and you'll be happy.

–//–

Most of the time, you hate journalists.

That's one of the times.

"We heard that you and Taylor Swift have become very close since the 2014 Grammy party." The man with the mustaches began, and from the tone, you knew it couldn't be a good thing. The dozens of cameras and microphones beside him in the stands kept you from turning your back. "We wanted an opinion, don't you think it's funny that Swift always writes of her relationships and people keep dating her?"

That was so mean. Unnecessarily mean.

You licked your lips, frowning, trying to remain calm.

Even the artist answering questions next to you grimaced, although she didn't stop her own interview to comment.

Your manager always said, "Take a deep breath, don't let it get to you. Everything can get around in a joking tone, so if you want to punch someone, the best alternative is to ironize what was said to you."

"Look buddy, have you met her?" you started in the least angry way you could manage. " Tay is by far, the most incredible, inspiring, hard-working, and intense woman I have ever met. I think everyone who meets her has the same impression, and when you have a chance to be, whether it's a footnote or a song, you take a chance. Because anything is worth it to have a little piece of paradise that is being loved by a woman like her."

The man was embarrassed by his question, and unresponsive. His best was to smile. Some of the others began to comment on the sweetness of your answer, but you were dismissing further questions to get into the event.

Before the party was even over, all the way to another continent, Taylor would be teary-eyed with the cut of this little interview circulating on the internet and on her cell phone screen.

You came back to the United States two weeks after you left.

It was like longing torture, to be honest.

Your cell phone had unread notifications because you were in airplane mode the whole trip.

You called Taylor as soon as you picked up your bags.

"Hey, baby sorry for the delay, I forgot my cell phone was off "You spoke as soon as she answered.

"No worries." She said. "Where are you? The car will be right out."

The Grammys were tonight, but you hadn't even taken off your travel clothes.

"Yeah, I think I'll miss my ride." You say checking your watch. "Can I meet you at the party?"

"Of course, darling." She spoke a moment later, almost hesitantly. You didn't catch why. "I love you, see you later."

"I love you too."

You were late. Very late.

Not only did it take forever to get a cab, but you lost your keys somewhere in your suitcase and it took an hour and a half for a locksmith to service you at that time.

When you finally arrived, through the back because the red carpet was closed, the awards ceremony had already begun.

Your gaze searched among the people immediately, and Taylor was in one of the front seats.

Yours was between the ninth and tenth row. You could barely make out her figure from that distance.

The way you missed her was almost painful.

And the speeches and applause continued, and you were exchanging sweet messages with her across the room.

She didn't win anything that night, a younger girl took many victories.

Everything seemed to happen automatically, until the party and she was close enough for you to hold.

You hugged her tight, fuck the photographers and the rest of the world for a few seconds. She hugged you back just as hard, her hands wrapped around your neck.

One or two people noticed the excitement and one of the managers clarified something about you being traveling, a long time apart.

But you didn't follow this.

You just focused on the bright blue eyes in front of you, without saying anything, and you already knew.

You were talking about going out and missing each other, and it was hard to hear each other in that crowded room, with the music so loud.

So Taylor was leaning into your ear, and it just seemed like friends trying to hear each other better.

"Can we go to my apartment after here, please?" She almost begged, her fingers haunting your wrist a moment before she pulled away, with the most innocent expression in the world.

And you were swallowing dryly, shifting your gaze from her lips to her eyes and forcing a not the least bit affected smile, as if she had just made a comment about the food. 

It was your turn to lean in so, seeming to continue the conversation. "I can't wait to get that dress off you, baby."

She sighed, almost inaudible. But you felt it against your neck, her breath uncompensated.

Then you both were pulling away, and smiling gently, keeping up appearances.

–//– ~smut scene~ –//– 

You let your hands wander down, tongues together sliding against each other, the soft moans being the only sound in the room.

Taylor was pulling you by the tie, stumbling around the apartment to the bedroom, but you two kept stopping all the way. Pressed against each other, breathing together.

"I need this off." You warned breathlessly about her tight clothes, the kisses running down her collarbone as she melted against you.

It seemed to become the most complicated thing to remove when you had her throwing her hips towards you, her body so warm.

So with a frustrated grunt, you grabbed the fabric and ripped it off. She let out a low moan, the cold air against her skin being quickly replaced by the sensation of your hands running over her entire body.

"God, Tay, I missed you so much, baby." You declared kissing your way to her breasts. 

"I missed you too." She returns equally breathless, her eyes closing tightly as she feels your lips around her nipples, stimulating her eagerly.

Her legs are giving out. You can tell, and waste no time in grabbing her by the waist, looking for the first surface you can find.

Your hand pushes some objects out of the way, books, and picture frames. You place her on the top of a cabinet, seated, and her legs encircle your waist as your mouth returns to hers.

Taylor gasps against your lips, kissing you in the same overwhelming intensity, her hips splaying forward, trying to ease the sensation between her legs.

You smile at this, slowing the kiss as you slide your hands down her thighs.

Her panties are ruined. She is dripping, you can feel it through the fabric.

Taylor chokes as she feels your thumb against her clit, and moans hoarsely when you begin to press.

"Is that good, baby?" you tease when she can no longer kiss you back, her hands on your shoulders and her eyes ajar staring at you.

She looks so beautiful. Her darkened eyes, her flushed cheeks, and her lips were puffy from kissing hard.

You smile at her, as your fingers push the fabric of her panties aside and you slip into her without warning, which elicits a moan from both of you.

It is always as amazing as the first time. She is hot and slippery, and you sigh. "Fuck, I need to taste you."

She whimpers and barely has time to complain about the lack of contact when you remove your fingers, because her complaint dies in her throat and turns into a suffering moan when you get on your knees in front of her, and sink your face against her nub without warning.

"Jesus!" She exclaims affected as she feels your tongue, eating her with desire, and all she can do is close her eyes tightly, trying not to cum immediately.

You moan against her pussy, her taste is intoxicating. Your own panties stick to the wave of arousal you feel as you eat her out.

You move your tongue with precision and speed, sinking between her folds, stimulating her as deliciously as possible.

She becomes a mess of whimpers and loud moans, and digs her nails into your scalp hair, forcing your face against her before spilling onto your tongue.

"Fuck." She whimpers excitedly, trying to recover from her orgasm as you drink all her liquids and continue to overstimulate her. "Babe, please."

"Give me one more sweetheart." You ask as you pull away for a moment, moving your fingers to open her more. "I know you can."

She nodded breathlessly, already ready for another one anyway. And you weren't going to stop anytime soon.

– ~end of smut~ –

You sleep until late.

When you awaken, there is a small breakfast tray in the corner of the bed, and a blonde woman in the armchair, a notebook in her hands.

"Are you watching me sleep?" You ask in a husky voice, as you open your eyes. She blushes, shifting her gaze back to the pages, making you smile. "Creepy."

She laughs softly, and one of the sheets she has crumpled into a little ball, she throws at you.

You stretch, sitting up properly. 

"I wrote a song about you." She declares in silence many moments later, when you are already passing jam on your toast.

You raise a brow, a playful smile, "Yeah? Are you going to tell me what it is called?"

She bites back a smile, denying with her head. You give a chuckle. "Not even the album?"

Taylor leaves the notebook on the armchair, and crawls back to the bed, keeping her gaze on you until you are close enough.

"What's the fun in saying, if you can guess?" She whispers against your lips, and you feel the jam drip against your fingers, but you don't even mind, moving forward to capture her lips.

She smiles against your mouth, and you forget about the food, wrap your hands around her face, and kiss her until she is flushed and breathless beneath you.

"Not even a hint?" You try later in a brisk tone. She laughs, shaking her head. "You know what, Tay? It doesn't really matter." You murmur as you lie down next to her, tracing her features with your fingers. She raises her eyebrow in curiosity.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I'm staying long enough." You reply. "I will stay until all the love songs make you think of me."

She blushes, but has a challenging smile, "You are so cocky."

You laugh, nodding. "All of them. From Taylor Swift 2006 to 1989."

She laughs softly. "You want me to think about you with all of my ex-boyfriend' songs?"

You nod trying not to laugh too. "You'll think about how none of them compared to me."

She giggles, moving closer to kiss you several times on the cheek, over and over again, until you are laughing too.

A long moment after, you calm down, and she has her face resting on your chest, your hands on her waist and hair, and you notice the mood has changed.

You don't push, Tay talks when she wants to. And it doesn't take long for her to kiss your skin and then whisper, "You're going to be my best song."

Smiling weakly, you kissed her forehead. "I just hope to be the happy ones."

Taylor sinks her face against your neck, entwining her legs in yours. "You are."

[sleekervae]

if it matters, you complete me

Masterlist

Pairing: Austin x Jade (OC) (standalone)

Summary: After a long day and night of filming, Austin comes home in the early hours of the morning to find Jade deep in the throes of work.

Warnings: fluff, super duper major fluff

Word Count: 2,473

A/N: since seeing those "Caught Stealing" pics all over my feed, this idea's been rattling around in my brain. Enjoy!

Austin sighed as he pushed open the door, the quiet click echoing through their apartment. The familiar smell of vanilla and nutmeg greeted him, and he couldn't help but smile. Even after a long day on set, the thought of coming home to Jade always made him feel better.

As he made his way through the hallway, the dim glow of the living room caught his eye. He knew without even looking that Jade would be there, lost in her world of music. She was always more of a night owl, her creativity coming alive when the rest of the world was asleep.

And there she was, sitting cross-legged on the couch, her long hair cascading down her back with her laptop on her legs and earphones on her head. She had been just as busy as he was, but while his schedule forced him out into the chilly fall of New York, Jade’s work sequestered her to their apartment.

Austin smiled to himself, leaning against the doorframe for a moment to just watch her. Despite how exhausted he was, the sight of her—completely lost in her element—warmed something in his chest. There was something peaceful about it, about her.

He tiptoed closer, sliding off his shoes, and quietly plucked the headphones from her ears. Jade jumped slightly, her eyes widening before they softened when she saw him. She grinned, and even though she was the one who had been working all night, she somehow looked more refreshed than he felt.

“Hey, stranger,” she teased, her voice warm and soft in the late-night quiet. "You’re up late."

He chuckled, dropping onto the couch beside her. “So are you,” he said, his hand gently brushing a stray curl from her face, “What are you working on?”

“Psycho babble,” she replied with a smirk, her eyes twinkling mischievously. She had her mixing software up and running, the audio spikes zig-zagging 

across the screen like musical notes frozen in time. Austin watched in awe as she expertly navigated through the program, her fingers dancing across the keyboard with practiced precision.

“Is that the name of your next album?” he asked.

“Never say never,” she shrugged back.

“I thought you were supposed to be on a ‘break’,” he pointed out.

He had a point. Jade had spent the last few years putting together her last album, having it chart, marketing it and then touring across the globe. She was an absolute rockstar, but even she was a human being with limits. As soon as award season was over she swore she would take a break — giving her more of an excuse to travel with Austin. But alas, she was an artist. 

“Idle hands do the devil’s work, darling,” she replied smartly, “Besides, I’m here aaaalll alone in New York, all my friends are asleep, and you’re working so I can’t bother you,” he knew from the lilt in her voice that Jade was only joking, but Austin couldn’t help the little sting of guilt rippling up his spine. Every time they were in New York together it was always so magical, but this time he was working late.

He leaned in to press a soft kiss against her temple, his lips lingering against her skin. The scent of her shampoo mixed with a hint of tea was intoxicating, and for a moment, he forgot about the long day he had just endured. Jade leaned into his touch, her eyes fluttering shut as she savored the closeness between them.

“I promise we'll have our New York adventure soon,” Austin murmured, the words a vow against her skin. “I'll make it up to you.”

Jade turned to look at him then, her gaze searching his face with a mix of fondness and amusement. “You always do,” she said, her voice soft but filled with warmth. “But right now, how about a midnight snack to keep us going?”

Austin chuckled, the sound vibrating through his chest. “Midnight? It’s 4am.” he teased.

She rolled her eyes playfully before hopping off the couch, her hand reaching out for his. “Details, details. Come on, let’s raid the fridge! You should never go to bed on an empty stomach!”

Together, hand in hand, they made their way to the kitchen. The soft glow of the refrigerator light illuminated Jade's face, casting a warm halo around her. Austin couldn't help but admire her in that moment, the way she moved with such grace and purpose even in the dead of night. But then, that’s what she always did. For as long as he could remember, she was a nocturnal creature.

As they rummaged through the shelves, pulling out random snacks and leftovers, a comfortable silence settled between them. It was moments like these that Jade cherished the most—simple, mundane tasks made special by her favorite person.

With their impromptu feast gathered on the countertop, Jade hopped up to sit on its edge, swinging her legs as she surveyed their bounty. Austin leaned against the counter opposite her, a smile playing on his lips as he watched her.

“Ah-ha!” Jade exclaimed triumphantly, holding up a half-empty carton of oreos, “Did I ever tell you about my oreos hack?”

Austin's eyes widened in playful anticipation, a grin tugging at the corners of his lips. He knew Jade had a knack for turning ordinary moments into remarkable experiences, and her "oreos hack" was no exception. 

“No, but I’m all ears,” he replied, leaning in with exaggerated interest.

Jade chuckled at his enthusiasm before leaning closer to whisper her secret. “Okay, so you take two Oreo cookies, right? Twist them apart carefully...” Her voice lowered conspiratorially as she demonstrated, her fingers deftly separating the chocolate cookies from the creamy filling. 

Austin watched, completely entranced by her animated explanation. It didn’t matter that it was past 4 am or that they both had early mornings ahead of them; in that moment, time seemed to stand still as they shared this simple joy together.

“Once you have them separated,” Jade continued, a mischievous glint in her eyes, “you grab a spoonful of peanut butter and spread it on one side of the cookie. Then, you put them back together and dunk the whole thing in a glass of milk… or coffee. It’s better with black coffee and the bitterness cuts the sweet,”

Austin couldn’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm, charmed by the way she could turn a late-night snack into an adventure. He reached for an Oreo from the package, following her instructions meticulously as she watched with a grin.

“If we have coffee now, we’ll never get to sleep. Milk will have to do,” he joked, grabbing a glass from the cupboard and filling it with milk. Jade beamed at him, her eyes sparkling with delight as she watched him assemble his own Oreo creation.

As they both took a bite of their makeshift dessert, a moment of contentment washed over them. The combination of sweet chocolate, creamy peanut butter, and cold milk was surprisingly satisfying, each flavor melding together perfectly on their taste buds. Austin couldn’t help but marvel at how Jade had a way of turning the simplest things into something just a little more fun.

They sat in comfortable silence, enjoying their late-night snack together. The apartment was quiet, the only sound being the soft hum of the refrigerator and the occasional clink of their glasses against the countertop.

Austin chewed thoughtfully, the sweetness of the Oreo and the peanut butter mixing in a surprisingly pleasant way. He chuckled as he glanced at Jade, who was already halfway through her second cookie, her eyes bright and mischievous. Despite how tired he felt, moments like this made everything else fade into the background.

Jade wiped a crumb from her lip, leaning back against the counter. “So, Caught Stealing,” she began, her tone casual, but her gaze soft with concern. “How’s it going? You guys make any progress tonight?”

Austin’s smile faltered for a split second, but he quickly recovered, pushing the exhaustion to the back of his mind. “Yeah, it’s coming along,” he said, trying to keep his voice upbeat for her. “We shot this big chase scene tonight. A lot of running, a lot of retakes. You know how it is—hours of running for what’ll probably be a three-minute scene.” He laughed, though it came out a little hollow.

Jade nodded, though her eyes lingered on him longer than usual. She could always tell when he was holding back, even when he tried his best to hide it. “Sounds intense,” she said softly. “You must be beat.”

“I’m fine,” Austin insisted, but his attempt at brushing it off was undermined by the way he leaned heavily against the counter, his shoulders slumping just a little. He glanced over at her, catching her raised brow. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Okay, maybe a little. But it’s nothing new. You know how these things go.”

Jade stepped closer, her fingers lightly tracing the back of his hand. “I do,” she murmured. “But that doesn’t mean you have to pretend like it’s no big deal. You’ve been going nonstop lately.”

Austin looked down at her, the tiredness catching up to him all at once. He couldn’t help but smile at her concern, at how she always seemed to know what he needed before he did. “I just didn’t want to drag you down,” he admitted, his voice softer now. “You’ve got your own thing going on. I figured we’d both just… power through.”

Jade glanced at the time on her phone, now reading 4:17am. She shook her head, smiling gently. “I think power-hour has long passed.” she said. “You should go to bed.”

“What about you?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged back, “I probably should,” as the words left her lips, a yawn took her over.

A warmth spread through Austin’s chest as he looked at her, perched on the counter, the soft light casting shadows over her features. Without thinking, he stepped closer, sliding between her legs as she leaned back slightly to make room for him. His hands found her waist, holding her gently but securely, and he felt the warmth of her skin through the thin fabric of her shirt.

“Let’s go to bed,” he urged her gently, “And if we time it right, we might even get to wake up together,” no hectic mornings, no looming deadline shoots; only a peaceful and intimate moment for the two of them to share and enjoy together.

Jade looked up at him, her lips quirking into a soft smile, the kind that made his heart skip. Her legs wrapped loosely around his hips as she rested her hands on his chest, tracing absent patterns. “Deal,” she whispered, her gaze never leaving his, “Let’s go to bed,”

Austin scooped Jade up effortlessly, relishing the feeling of her warm body pressed against his as he carried her towards the bedroom. Her laughter tinkled in the air, the sound like music to his ears. They entered the room, dimly lit by a soft glow from the bedside lamp, casting a warm ambiance over the space.

Gently laying Jade down on the plush covers, Austin lowered Jade onto the plush covers, her body sinking into the soft bedding. He gazed down at her with intense eyes, overflowing with unspoken declarations of love and adoration. Leaning in, he tenderly pressed his lips against hers in a lingering, gentle kiss. Jade's hands found their way to his cheek, her touch soft and reassuring. In that moment, the world outside seemed to disappear, leaving only the two of them in their own little bubble of intimacy and affection.

As they broke apart, Jade's eyes fluttered open, gazing up at him with a mix of adoration and desire. She reached up to cup his cheek, her touch sending shivers down his spine. 

"Wait," she said, her eyes flickering with amusement. "The snacks."

Austin blinked, momentarily confused before he remembered the plate of untouched snacks left out in the kitchen. He hesitated, torn between his desire for rest and knowing they should tidy up.

Jade let out a soft chuckle at his internal struggle and shook her head. "It's fine, we can get it in the morning.” she assured.

He wasn’t going to argue with that, not when sleep was tugging at his limbs and his eyes. 

Austin gave a small laugh, the kind that came from sheer exhaustion. “You sure? I can—” 

Jade cut him off with a playful nudge, her hands gently pushing him toward the bedroom. “It’s fine, we’ll deal with it tomorrow,” she insisted, her tone firm but light. 

He didn’t argue, the thought of their bed far more enticing than anything else at the moment. They padded quietly through the bedroom, Austin tugging off his old clothes and tossing them onto the chair in the corner, replacing them with comfortable sweats. Jade, meanwhile, grabbed one of his old T-shirts from the dresser and slipped it on, the hem falling loosely over her thighs. 

Austin smiled as he caught sight of her in his shirt, the familiar comfort of the scene filling his chest with warmth. It was always like this—simple, easy, natural. No matter how hectic their days were, they always had these moments, where it was just the two of them, cocooned in their own little world. 

“C’mere,” he murmured, his voice thick with exhaustion as he climbed into bed, holding the blanket up for her. Jade smiled and slid in beside him, immediately curling into his side, her head resting on his chest. 

They lay there in the quiet, the soft sound of their breathing filling the room as they settled into the warmth of each other. Austin’s arm wrapped around her waist, his hand absentmindedly tracing small circles on her back. 

For a moment, neither of them spoke. It was peaceful, the weight of the day slowly slipping away. Jade’s fingers played lightly with the fabric of his shirt, and Austin closed his eyes, already half-drifting into sleep. 

“Today was rough, huh?” Jade asked softly, breaking the silence but keeping her voice gentle. 

“Mmm,” Austin murmured, too tired to form a full sentence. But he didn’t need to. Jade understood. 

She lifted her head slightly, pressing a soft kiss to his jaw before settling back down, her head tucked perfectly under his chin. “I’m glad you’re home,” she whispered. 

Austin smiled, his heart swelling as he tightened his hold on her. “Me too,” he whispered back, his voice thick with sleep. 

They drifted off like that, wrapped up in each other, the world outside their bedroom fading into nothing. Tomorrow, there’d be work, messes to clean, and more long nights—but tonight, they had this. Just them, together, in the quiet warmth of their bed.

[summerlinenss]

out of curiosity, if Max doesn’t release its metrics, then what metrics are you actually using to make these statements about the show’s popularity? what does “it’s currently in the 99.7th percentile of the comedy genre, meaning it’s in higher demand than 99.7% of all comedy series in the u.s.” even mean? How are you measuring what’s “in demand” - by who? Where? It’s bold to claim that this show was wildly popular (despite the fact that I never hear about it outside of tumblr, tho that’s a personal anecdote) but cancelled just for being queer, so I would be really interested to know where you’re getting all these numbers from. Thanks!

hey anon! first of all i am so sorry for the delayed response. i started typing something up and then i got distracted with something else and totally forgot about this in my drafts.

sure, i have no problem citing sources. i probably should’ve linked some in my original post, that’s absolutely fair.

this ended up way longer than i planned so bear with me, but a quick overview of what i’ll be going over:

1) what are the stats/where did they come from?

2) how is the show so popular?

3) was it really cancelled for being queer?

(also just a disclaimer that this will contain spoilers for the show)

1) first, the numbers

you’re right that hbo doesn’t release metrics to the public. in fact, ceo casey bloys tried to justify the cancellation to the hollywood reporter by saying “the numbers weren’t there,” despite refusing to say what exactly those numbers were or where they came from.

however, there are websites dedicated to researching/analyzing the data of different media. one of those is parrot analytics, who focus on industry insights like audience demand, competitive analysis, and content valuations. they’re trusted as a reliable source by forbes, the new york times, reuters, the wall street journal, and more.

this is what we can learn from them about our flag means death from a basic google search (note that all of this data is relevant to the last 30 days as of january 26 2024):

audience demand for our flag means death is now 33.6x greater than the average tv series in the united states. as explained in the “about demand distribution” section, this means it’s one of only 0.2% of all u.s. shows to fall in the “exceptional” performance range compared to the “average” demand benchmark of 64.1%.

the change in demand for ofmd in the u.s. has increased by 7.5% compared to the average tv series.

ofmd now actually ranks at the 99.8th percentile in the comedy genre in the u.s. i’m not a math person, but in basic terms, this is like a scale of measuring and comparing performances to create an average score. essentially, ofmd is performing at the very top of all comedy series in the u.s.

ofmd has 100% home market travelability. as it says above, the market of origin is always 100%, so in fairness i included the graph of international markets for comparison. some of these aren't super high, however (as explained by parrot analytics themselves) one of the key issues with the international market is accessibility to content, which has been an ongoing struggle for international fans. many people (i guess fittingly) have resorted to pirating ofmd because they don’t have access to max or affiliate streaming services in their country.

there are more stats i could have and wanted to go more in-depth into but it would make this even longer than it already is, so i’ll just leave some links you can check out if you’re interested and move on:

• comparison of ofmd's success to shows like ted lasso, euphoria, and peacemaker

• ofmd's placement as #1 most in-demand breakout series in the u.s. for 8 weeks

• ofmd's impressive 94% critics score and 95% audience score on rotten tomatoes

• how ofmd evolved from sleeper hit to a flagship series at max

• a list of ofmd's past and present award nominations/wins

• praise and recognition from news/entertainment sites: the atlantic (2022); the new york times (2023); tv guide (2023); vulture (2023); forbes (2023); the los angeles times (2022); vanity fair (2023)

2) so why haven’t you (or others) really heard of the show outside of tumblr despite all this success? likely because max did a terrible job marketing it.

ofmd first aired on hbo max (pre-merger before it was “max”) in march 2022. the entire season aired over one month, every thursday at 12am pst. season 2 followed a similar release schedule in october 2023.

season 1’s marketing was almost non-existent, pretty much relying on taika waititi’s name being attached. there was one teaser and one full-length trailer, as well as a few clips on youtube of taika and rhys darby answering pirate-themed trivia, all painting the show as a “silly pirate workplace/buddy comedy.” but hbo max didn’t put any real effort in because they didn’t care. david zaslav and the other higher-ups had no faith in the show and expected it to fail.

most people weren’t aware it was actually a romance due to the poor marketing, and although there were many romantically charged scenes between them, many were still wary to believe it wasn’t queerbaiting until ed & stede confessed their feelings and kissed.

showrunner david jenkins has said in interviews that he had no idea how deeply queerbaiting had hurt audiences and impacted their ability to trust what’s on screen without feeling like they’re being ridiculed, despite the fact that he was calling it a love story the whole time. it wasn’t until people realized they weren’t being queerbaited and that it was a funny, sincere show with a compelling plot that word-of-mouth began to spread. by the time the season 1 finale aired, there was a decent-sized fandom that continued to grow as it received more praise.

it was a fight to even get the show renewed for season 2, and david jenkins and the cast have majorly credited that renewal to the unexpected and massive fan response to the show, which basically forced hbo’s hand.

max didn’t bother trying to properly promote the series until season 2, when they begrudgingly accepted that it was one of their most profitable and successful shows. ofmd had huge billboards in times square, downtown los angeles, and on the side of hbo headquarters. they started accurately marketing the show as not just a workplace comedy at sea, but a heartfelt romcom. max began selling long-demanded merch (which became best sellers) and spent money on an FYC campaign.

i will emphasize, whether they liked it or not, they knew ofmd was their new moneymaker (especially with the recent end of succession, which was obviously a cash cow for hbo).

photo credit: @/bookishtheo

3) now if it was that successful, was it really cancelled just for being queer?

i mean, i can’t say that definitively. no one can. there are several potential factors at play that we may never know, and there have been a lot of rumours and speculation (many of which i don’t feel comfortable discussing in case they aren’t true) since the cancellation.

but do i believe the fact that it’s a queer romcom was one of those factors, especially since max has a history of cancelling and scrapping its most diverse projects? absolutely.

first and foremost, i can’t stress enough that this isn’t just a show with a few characters thrown in for token representation. ofmd is built on a diverse, intersectional cast and narratives, including:

• lgbtq+ representation: 5 main couples are explicitly queer (including mlm, wlw, nblm, and nblw relationships). multiple characters are implied to be poly, and there’s a polycule forming in season 2 that was hinted to be developed more in season 3. beyond relationships, it’s confirmed that (similarly to the way wwdits depicts all vampires as being pansexual) all of the pirates are somewhere on the queer spectrum.

• bipoc representation: the majority of the main cast are people of colour. this includes david fane, joel fry, leslie jones, samson kayo, vico ortiz, anapela polataivao, madeleine sami, samba schutte, ruibo qian, and taika waititi, as well as many guest actors (like rachel house, simone kessell, and maaka pohatu) and extras.

• disability representation: multiple characters have physical disabilities, most notably amputated/prosthetic limbs and visual impairment. a lot (actually most) of the characters also deal with mental health issues, particularly coping with severe trauma and suicidal ideation/behaviour.

• the show has been praised for addressing difficult and serious themes like toxic masculinity, colonialism, and self-discovery, all while still managing to be a witty comedy and not come across as “preachy.”

• the diversity also extends off-screen, with a team of directors, writers, and additional crew comprised of numerous bipoc, women, queer people, and trans/non-binary people.

my point isn’t just the quantity of representation, but the quality. they take great care and respect into every marginalized group depicted on-screen. the actors would often be consulted about their characters’ costumes, hair, tattoos, and the kind of language they use. it’s not a world where discrimination magically doesn’t exist, they just have zero tolerance for it. if a character does something homophobic or racist, you can guarantee they’ll quickly (and often violently) be punished.

so okay, sure, it’s got great representation. what does that have to do max cancelling it?

because they’ve been interfering with production from the start.

i already mentioned the marketing issues so i won’t get into that. it was also revealed in interviews with david jenkins after season 2 that hbo cut their budget by 40%, which is why they had to do everything they could to save money. this included letting go of some of the original cast (and even still having episodes where some of them don’t appear at all) and moving the entire production to AoNZ. the budget cuts also meant two less episodes, so they had to rush to fit an entire season’s worth of plot into eight half-hour long episodes.

but one of the biggest frustrations is hbo’s (alleged) censorship of the show. samba schutte revealed that the entire plot of episode 2x06 was completely different in the original script. before it was rewritten as “calypso’s birthday,” the episode took place during lucius & pete’s wedding and focused on the crew getting sick of the sexual tension between ed & stede and trying to get them to hook up (this aligned with lucius & pete getting engaged and ed & stede deciding to take things slow in the previous episode).

vico ortiz and writer jes tom have also commented that many scenes between jim, oluwande, and archie establishing them as a polycule were cut, including one of the three of them emerging from a bedroom in their underwear. jes has mentioned other elements of season 2 that had to be cut out or rewritten, like the implication of other poly dynamics between the crew and more sexually explicit scenarios and jokes.

considering that ofmd is an extremely sex-positive show that isn’t afraid to be raunchy or taboo, it’s clear that either higher-ups at hbo forced them to cut these things out or they had no choice but to cut them out due to tight budget/time restraints.

in addition to this, a recent article citing an “anonymous insider” has alleged that hbo was uncomfortable with and was unsure how to market the “shock violence” in the show (the same network that aired game of thrones), which david jenkins outright called out as being bullshit. ofmd is rated TV-MA and the posters and trailers all show the audience that it contains violent content. there is literally nothing more graphic in ofmd than any other pirate show — it’s probably a lot tamer than most of them, actually.

violence on the show is most frequently used in a comedic context, in the sense that it’s not meant to be seen as scary or taken seriously. the few instances of serious graphic imagery on the show are meant to invoke a mood shift, like ed’s transformation into the kraken or ned low’s murder. it should also be noted that some of the most graphic deaths are reserved for bigots, like ed snapping the neck of a colonizer who was ridiculing stede’s love letter.

it’s also most often used in a sexual context — not sexual violence, but violence as a sexual metaphor. more specifically the act of stabbing as a metaphor for penetration, as seen with both ed & stede and anne & mary. bearing all this in mind, it seems like the real issue here isn’t executives struggling to market explicit violence to a mainstream audience, but rather explicit gay content.

as much as we joke and affectionately call it the “gay pirate show,” ofmd has always been nothing more than an opportunity for rainbow capitalism for hbo (e.g. the fact that they waited three months to announce season 2 just so they could do it on the first day of pride month). like other cancelled queer media, ofmd was a way for hbo executives to show how “inclusive” and “accepting” they are when it was convenient (aka profitable) for them, but they never actually respected the show or us as a community.

it’s impossible to be certain of what the exact reasoning for cancellation was, especially when they won’t give us a clear answer themselves. and maybe it had nothing to do with ofmd being a queer romcom at all. maybe that’s all a horrible coincidence. but for hbo/max to axe a critically acclaimed and beautifully inclusive show that’s successful by every metric, with an extremely devoted fanbase, especially after casey bloys just had the nerve to ask “gay twitter” to hype up the gilded age? it doesn’t exactly put them in the best light regardless.

in summary, i’ll leave you with this editorial, which details how the campaign to save ofmd isn’t just about one show, but a fight to save the future of all queer art.

[sgiandubh]

When clueless, silence is golden

I was just browsing around while looking for something completely different and stumbled upon this quintessential Mordorian POV:

Disclosing a username is crass and I usually never do this, unless really necessary and relevant. So spare me the ad hominem argument you usually fumble around with, Disgruntled Tumblrettes. Yet, for all its intellectual paucity, this is interesting dissection material, since clearly this person hasn't got the slightest idea of what she is so confidently talking about.

First scenario at play: The Tasting Alliance, 'a company no one has ever heard of', booked and paid for the suite.

Not necessarily booked, nor necessarily paid, madam. In the real business world you are so clueless about, these arrangements are seldom - if ever - monetized. It's rather all about barter.

That company no one ever heard about - except, perhaps, #silly and totally irrelevant Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemicallef/2023/04/13/the-tasting-alliance-and-reserve-bar-are-set-to-launch-top-shelf/?sh=b45f7085f6f1) - is the parent company of the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC), largely acknowledged as at least one of, if not the world's leading spirits award contest. Google is your friend, you should try it some time:

The operative info here is that this evaluation comes from the Beverage Trade Network, a professional portal for spirit dealers. Having determined this, Tasting Alliance's IG number of followers is completely irrelevant, since we are talking about two very different targets, here. Its real leverage and weight on the global market does not really need the boost of an aggressive social media presence and the kind of events it hosts are not your favorite junior hockey league or elementary school cake and bake sale.

Let's look a bit further. It takes one click to get on the Tasting Alliance's website (https://thetastingalliance.com/). Granted, not all the information you need to understand its business model is right there and I had to go dig a bit (not without some help - merci encore!) to even get a grip on how these wheels are really turning.

The way they sell themselves is sober and confident. And completely disinterested in social media impact, to be honest:

So, in lieu of glitz and sequined bras, we have a success story in its own right, which started in Frisco in 1980, then continued in 2000, with the addition of the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Further expansion followed in 2018, with the New York World Wine & Spirits Competition and 2019, when Dias Blue set a firm foot on the emerging Asian market, with the Singapore World Spirits Competition.

I doubt an explanatory drawing is needed as to the why of this expansion choice: it's all about baijiu, the old/new Chinese sorghum spirit and the everlasting love of the Far East for anything fermented. Lao-lao, the unspeakable Laotian homemade rice whisky, comes immediately to the mind of this blogger: the last bottle I saw, somewhere along the unexploded ordnance ridden Route 13, had a plump snake inside, as a naïve Viagra of sorts. Took a mouthful and thought I was going to die - but when spending the night in a longhouse with the Tai Lü people, you can't afford a faux-pas, can you? /end of travel memories intermezzo

By all my estimations, The Tasting Alliance is very profitable business. Let's unpack ( for current fees, see source: https://callingallcontestants.com/contest/2023-san-francisco-world-spirits-competition/):

Considering the 500 USD fee /entry (550, in 2023) in the competition and the fact that in 2022 there were approximately 5000 entries in the Frisco spirits' competition, we have a very rough turnover estimation of 500x5000= 2.5 million USD. That figure is just for one of the spirits competitions, mind you, and does not take into account what the winners probably pay for the right to mention their medals on their bottles (I am yet to see them on the SS gin bottles, btw), nor the multiple sidekick profit (e-shop sales, consulting and/or other distribution deals, etc). So, at the end of the day, I would comfortably multiply that base by 4, assuming a similar scale for all the other events they organize, which takes the yearly turnover at around 10 million USD and keeping in mind this is very probably a conservative estimation. I also assume costs are negligible, taking into account the discretion with which major players traditionally operate on that particular niche. Real expenses are probably limited to the activity of a handful of offices, sparingly and intelligently staffed. Advertisement is probably bartered and social media, well... you just saw the effort, haven't you?

But then there's the brand's real power on that market and this is the right time to talk about influence and impact. Perhaps this recent (2021) Men's Journal article will help us see better: https://www.mensjournal.com/food-drink/inside-the-san-francisco-world-spirits-competition

With a bit of luck, this could happen:

Sounds familiar? Of course and I bet that was S's strategy. If you imagined him doing the same exhausting booze tour every year (groping on top and seriously cringe on the sides), I think you might want to reconsider. I told you Sassenach Summer was a sandbox for more serious things to come and until now I have no reasons to change my mind. He did it for a reason and, mind you, that reason is not that the booze did or does not sell. It does. Restaurants start to feature it. Podcasts are being produced. The press starts to mention it (that recent New York Times article is evidence enough). This is not Lucky Luciano dealing in bootleg alcohol during the Prohibition and making obscene money over a fortnight. This is a serious business project that was delayed by COVID. That's all. And it takes time and patience and consistence. We know he has all those aplenty.

We also have the totally inane take on production costs for that podcast. It suddenly made me remember again my media expert past. It is with complete and educated confidence that I tell you: a potential 5K USD extra cost for renting that damn suite for the day is peanuts, even for a two-minute clip (let alone, in reality, a podcast interview, and I stand corrected if wrong), if such costs are covered by The Tasting Alliance. But my money is on a barter with The Shutters on the Beach, which would be, again, common business practice.

Second scenario: 'Shutters comped the room for free promo (...) for an actor most people haven't heard of.' You can throw timelines down my throat as many times as you wish and tell me he already stayed there several times and yell and screech, but here is what I think. Shutters didn't comp that suite for S, an actor most people haven't heard of, a decent, hard working start-up entrepreneur. If so (I doubt it), it would be logical to think Shutters comped that suite for The Tasting Alliance, which has a long documented history of partnerships with hotels that host their competitions:

So Shutters might have comped that room for a major player of the alcohol lobby world, happy that S, a returning client, picked them out of several possible options, because it was convenient. I don't believe for a second he stayed there.

This guy knows what he's doing and C's gin success completely depends and I bet will rely on that relentless networking effort. If anything, the Keepers of the Quaich recent development is only confirmation of all the above. But that's another story - very soon on this page.

IYKYK. The rest is uneducated cackle. But Mordor people were never the brightest bulbs in the fandom's chandelier, were they?

[gerec]

For the past couple of weeks I've been part of a small team responsible for the logistics of a prestigious competition/event; last night was the formal Awards Banquet where we were served an amazing dinner catered by one of the city's best restaurants. During the breaks where we weren't running the show/working, I had a very long and in-depth conversation with a young colleague who's worked on this project all the way from the beginning planning stages (i.e. as far back as Feb/Mar this year). She shared her disappointment with the lack of acknowledgement that she's gotten from the agency's management for all the long hours and hard work she's poured into this project, and also the incredible frustration over the poor treatment she's getting from the same. For instance, she flew in from out of town, but because she's contracted to work 4 out of 5 days a week they're not paying her for today's travel day back home (which if you don't know is standard practice for event management - travel time is part of the job). This is just one of a long list of examples she shared with me.

The good news is, she's already decided to quit at the end of her contract (which is soon), but she still had some misgivings about doing so; like asking herself what, if anything, she could have done differently, and feeling like she failed because this is her first job out of uni and she couldn't make a longer go of it. For the record, she's an absolute delight and a superb employee - and if I were in a position to hire staff I would hire her in a heart beat. (Also she's been full time for a year and part time for 2 before that so...she's absolutely not leaving without giving it a go.)

I guess I'm sharing this story because there might be young people like her out there who need to hear what I told her last night. So here goes:

Yes, work can be frustrating and can suck - badly - at times, but you should not hesitate to leave any job where you're crying on a regular basis because of how stressful it is and how badly you're treated.

Yes, you should leave a job where your manager berates you regularly, or sends you emails on weekends/outside of work hours to berate you. If they have an issue with your performance, they should explain what you're doing wrong and help you or give you the tools to do it properly not just yell at you. I know this happens a lot (sadly) but also know that this is NOT normal and NOT something you simply have to suffer in silence over. You have every right to expect to be treated fairly, courteously and professionally at work.

Yes, you should leave a job where people take advantage of you and don't pay you for the hours you work. I read a lot about Gen X and Boomers lamenting the Gen Z's for not being good workers because they're not willing to put in the blood sweat and tears to hang on to their jobs but I'm Gen X and I say that's BULLSHIT. A) Not every Boomer/Gen X feels that way, and B) Employers, no matter how nice they are as people, or how much you might like them will absolutely take advantage of you and SCREW YOU if they can. You can and should fight for your every goddamned hard-earned/well deserved dollar because no one else will do it for you. Same goes for your career - you are the only one you can rely on to make the best decisions for you.

So why am I working with these guys? Well, I'm a freelancer (I'm a Marketing Consultant) currently going project by project so I have the freedom to say no to any job I don't want to take and also to walk away the minute it no longer suits me to continue the relationship. I've also been at this for 28 years, so I imagine there's a bit of reverse ageism going on because they know they can't pull the same crap with me. (So there you go, this one time in this one instance, being older helps lol).

Anyways, the job market is rough, many employers are appallingly rude to job seekers (ask me about ghost job postings some time UGH) and people can be dicks (water is wet ha). Just...know your own worth and don't feel bad about leaving something if it's not working - you owe loyalty to no one but yourself.

[mimiwrites2000]

Attack On… Podcast!

Archive of Our Own

As the Attack on Titan series comes to an end after ten years, the cast is reunited in hosting a podcast, talking about their times on the set of the filming, their friendships, and all in-between.

And well, shenanigans are inevitable.

Attack on Titan acting AU, as the cast host a podcast, and interview the rest of the cast.

Episode 01

Armin: On that day, mankind received a grim reminder. We lived in fear of the Titans and were disgraced to live in these cages we called walls.

Eren: Wow, you made me travel back so many years, that was so long ago.

Armin: I know… I just love saying it, it's a cool way to start a series–

Eren: Welcome! everyone to the Attack on Titan podcast! Where we share our experiences, stories, and behind the scenes from the set of, Attack on Titan.

Armin: indeed indeed, and we are totally doing this because we want to, not because the production company is forcing us into it–

Eren: Armin–

Armin: and the marketing these days is crazy but here we are! And we are glad to have you around, we don't know how frequent these podcasts would be, but, yeah, anyway, Eren.

Eren: Y-yes? What?

Armin: How are you?

Eren: … you don't know how podcasts work, do you?

Armin: nope.

Eren: Oh Gosh–

Armin: Sooooo for our first segment, we will be reading some of your tweets from Twitter–

Eren: X, it's called X.

Armin: not in my house, so anyway, the first tweet here says, how hard was it to act with all the green screens and dots and all those effects things, while not being able to see any of those effects in real life?

Eren: Good question, I think that, being part of a project for… ten years, you just become part of the set, you know?

Armin: yeah we don't really have to imagine these effects or try to deal with things that we don't see, it's like we are there, it's like we lived those moments, we also had a really great VFX team and artists who gave very clear instructions, and they provided us with draft samples of how these effects would look like, and… well, considering the rumbling, it was quite… not easy.

Eren: you did a great job with that monologue though.

Armin: well, thank you, and do I have to mention it took me over 34 takes?

Eren: oh yeah we got to a point where we were literally reciting his speech with him.

Armin: but they ended up using the first take, which made me proud but equally pissed off.

Eren: they used the first take?

Armin: yup, and yes, you all could've been spared from memorizing that speech.

Eren mocking: get up! You useless piece of shit!

Armin laughing: Oh God.

Eren: you asshole! I-don't-know what other profanities but some sad other hate-speech things!

Armin: oh well…

Eren: no but good job, it was phenomenal, it'll get you many awards. Now for our second question, how much physical exercise do you guys do to stay in shape? I both love and hate this question, because I've never been in such good shape, but at the same time, I don't want to be reminded by all the exercises and diets we used to do…

Armin: yeah, especially you, I mean, I don't have many shirtless scenes soooo…

Eren: Oh you do have one.

Armin: no I don't.

Eren: Oh yes you do! He does! They cut the scene out! 

Armin: hey no! I do not have a shirtless scene!

Eren: yeah sure, pretty sure we'll talk about that scene at one point

Armin: sooooo next question.

Eren: It'll come up, it'll come up.

Armin: so, this question says, favorite drinks? Coffee–

Eren: Rum!

Armin: ok another question, oh this is a good one, so this question says, if you have one thing to change about your characters in the finale, what would you change?

Eren: hmmm, well, for me, personally, I wouldn't change anything about the finale, it was perfect, but, I wouldn't mind more insight into their futures.

Armin: yeah I was going to say the same thing and I think it's because I'm just not over the fact that it's over, we've lived with these characters for over ten years, we can't just let go.

Eren: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Armin: Well, I mean, it's like, it's weird, you know?

Eren: Yeah I know, but I also would've loved to have more romantic scenes–

Armin: oh there he goes.

Eren: oh come on! Are you complaining about having more romantic scenes? 

Armin: alright yes of course after all that pain and sadness, more romance would've been great, but at the same time, it had the perfect amount of romance.

Eren: You're just saying this because-

Armin: Eren don't–

Eren: –you don't want anyone to question that shirtless scene.

Armin: OK SO, we are done with questions for today, that's it, I don't know how they end podcasts, I don't know what I'm supposed to say here, but I guess follow us to get updates, we will have guests in the following episodes, let us know what you would like to hear, and yes goodnight! 

Eren: Coward! 

Armin: bye bye!

note:

If you saw misspelled words, then no you didn’t

Hope you enjoyed this! This is just a tiny fun thing I’m working on for jokes and laughs while I work on other serious projects

But… anyone wants to record these…? Let me know

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

New SpaceTime out Friday

SpaceTime 20241108 Series 27 Episode 135

Could Uranus' moon Miranda have a sub-surface ocean

A new study suggests that the Uranus' moon Miranda may harbour a liquid water ocean beneath its strange jigsaw like surface.

Red rocks with green spots found on Mars

NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover has discovered strange red rocks with green spots as it continues its journey up towards the rim of the red planet’s Jezero Crater.

The first humans could be walking on Mars in 2035

NASA says it could send humans to Mars potentially as early as 2035. The 402 million kilometre round trip could take up to 14 months of travel time with the crew staying on the red planet for up to 500 days before returning to Earth.

The Science Report

Children exposed to cannabis in the womb more likely to have behavioural issues.

A new study of ancient human DNA shows two genetically distinct populations divided by Caucasus.

Airbnbs are associated with more crime.

Skeptics guide to using AI to combat conspiracy theories

SpaceTime covers the latest news in astronomy & space sciences.

The show is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts (itunes), Stitcher, Google Podcast, Pocketcasts, SoundCloud, Bitez.com, YouTube, your favourite podcast download provider, and from www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com

SpaceTime is also broadcast through the National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

SpaceTime daily news blog: http://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.com/

SpaceTime facebook: www.facebook.com/spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime Instagram @spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime twitter feed @stuartgary

SpaceTime YouTube: @SpaceTimewithStuartGary

SpaceTime -- A brief history

SpaceTime is Australia’s most popular and respected astronomy and space science news program – averaging over two million downloads every year. We’re also number five in the United States.  The show reports on the latest stories and discoveries making news in astronomy, space flight, and science.  SpaceTime features weekly interviews with leading Australian scientists about their research.  The show began life in 1995 as ‘StarStuff’ on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) NewsRadio network.  Award winning investigative reporter Stuart Gary created the program during more than fifteen years as NewsRadio’s evening anchor and Science Editor.  Gary’s always loved science. He studied astronomy at university and was invited to undertake a PHD in astrophysics, but instead focused on his career in journalism and radio broadcasting. Gary’s radio career stretches back some 34 years including 26 at the ABC. He worked as an announcer and music DJ in commercial radio, before becoming a journalist and eventually joining ABC News and Current Affairs. He was part of the team that set up ABC NewsRadio and became one of its first on air presenters. When asked to put his science background to use, Gary developed StarStuff which he wrote, produced and hosted, consistently achieving 9 per cent of the national Australian radio audience based on the ABC’s Nielsen ratings survey figures for the five major Australian metro markets: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.  The StarStuff podcast was published on line by ABC Science -- achieving over 1.3 million downloads annually.  However, after some 20 years, the show finally wrapped up in December 2015 following ABC funding cuts, and a redirection of available finances to increase sports and horse racing coverage.  Rather than continue with the ABC, Gary resigned so that he could keep the show going independently.  StarStuff was rebranded as “SpaceTime”, with the first episode being broadcast in February 2016.  Over the years, SpaceTime has grown, more than doubling its former ABC audience numbers and expanding to include new segments such as the Science Report -- which provides a wrap of general science news, weekly skeptical science features, special reports looking at the latest computer and technology news, and Skywatch – which provides a monthly guide to the night skies. The show is published three times weekly (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and available from the United States National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio, and through both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

[annaholak]

Proof of Life and General Life Update

Long time no see, so I thought I'd start with some updates about what's been happening in my life.

• My studio space went from this:

to this:

So yay for that!

• Spent Christmas in Nafpaktos (I hadn't travelled anywhere outside the wider Athens area since 2016, so that was a nice change of scenery):

• Cupid Cafe got nominated for an EBGE Award (more on this in a separate post):

• I turned my Mystical Witchtober into a zine:

• Tabled at Athens Comicdom Con in May:

• Made an account on Cara:

• Went on an actual Summer Vacation TM to the Peloponnese:

• Tabled at The Blind Eye Art Space's season opening Art Market:

And that's about it I think.

[nelapanela94]

Nelaaaa!!! BB TODAY I AM HERE FOR SOME NELA X LEVI HEADCANONSJDJD .. tell me the little stufff toooooooo 🤍

Hi lovely. This one was so fun to write. <3 thank you for the request and please let me live in my delulu world 🌎

Levi and I currently live in Marley (What's left) in a coastal town where the streets finish at the beach.

Levi, though he doesn't admit it, is still afraid of the elevator. He just can't trust it. It jars him when it quivers right before stopping, and he hates it's tight and stuffy. He prefers swallowing the pain in his leg to risking getting stuck and climbs the stairs up to the third floor. And it is worse when the chains start to screech pleading for maintenance. In his defense, he claims it is a great exercise. He takes his time and says hi to the brats who live in the second floor. Sometimes he brings them desserts from the tea shop.

Levi loves sea food, specially shrimps. That is why I took some cooking classes with Niccolo. Steamed, stir-fried, tempura, in pastas, salads, rice and ceviche, I had to learn every preparation. Though we usually eat at home, we love trying new restaurants in town. From fancy to fast food. Once I tried to cajole Levi to a street food stall but he refused, questioning their cleaning procedures.

Levi owns a tea shop downtown that has been awarded twice by the city's chamber of commerce for excellence, quality and service. He was interviewed and his photo appeared in the newspaper, with Gabi and Falco thumbing up behind him. We still have the clippings of the articles, and Levi had the stars framed. He spends all day drinking tea, doing accounts, making payments to suppliers, bossing everyone around, the latter his favorite. When he loses his patience, he jabs the staff with his walking stick on the back of their knees. He also likes to go on Sundays to the spice market where herbs and spices from all corners of the world are found. He takes them home and experiments with them to develop new blends. Although sometimes we have purged by accident.

Meanwhile, I work at the post office right across the street and in my break time we had lunch together in his office and take naps.

We spend hours in the cleaning supplies aisle because Levi can't decide between lavender, cinnamon and apple or citronella. In any case, he decides on all three. One day after work, he brought home a wooden barrel with a crank handle. He explained that it was for washing clothes, although it took me a while to understand how it was operated. He acquired it at a home novelty fair after the inventor convinced him by promising to make our lives easier. I thought it was a scam, but he made it work! It really saves us time and I don't have to ruin my manicure anymore.

On my last birthday, Levi got me a gramophone. We love dancing in the living room despite our clumsy feet, and we’re often off the beat. But who cares, with a drop of wine sprinkling the mix, we hardly notice it. I’ve been collecting discs from thrift stores and garage sales, cramming our place, so Levi felt compelled to build a box to store them safely.

As you might guess, Levi is little fond of PDA. He only feels confortable holding hands, however, from time to time I’d steal a kiss to tease him. He grunts and mellows right after, blushing like a teenage boy kissing his crush for the first time. In private, on the other hand, he’s embarrassingly clingy (don’t ever mention it). When we’re reading in the sofa, he’d snuggle on my chest and loves it when I drop kisses on his head and coddle him. He loves hugs from the back and unexpected kisses on the cheek. Levi is milk with sugar but needs to keep a reputation.

We love traveling. For our honey moon, we visited a tropical island in hizuru. Roasted on the beach all day. He’s still wary of the sea water, can’t stand the slimy animals brushing his legs. But he enjoyed the scenery, the food, drinks and long loving sexy sessions in our suite with ocean view. We’ve been to other places, even though the voyage makes us seasick. We’ve seen temples, museums, archeological sites, lavender fields, all captured in photo albums.

Levi and I live a slow, tranquil life after the war. I think that we deserve that respite. <3