#and economic too Obv (I need money)

[muirneach]

idk i just hope the tournament organizers see this (and tbh probably inevitably rome also) as a real wakeup call as to how scheduling goes and how they need to give them a goddamn break. i honestly doubt it because i do not think any organizers really give a shit about the actual players (otherwise this would probably not have happened tbh) but i hope they get it together

[engagemythrusters]

every day I under why autistic elopement rates are so high. Like yeah I really just need to GO.

[hologramblue]

the thing i just blogged reminds me once again of that dipshit boss at my first job, the real estate guy who also owned a garden center and who only made bad decisions, propped up entirely by how his employees would sneak around behind his back to replace the bad decisions with better decisions. which we did because we wanted to keep getting paid, but ultimately it meant he profited from the business too. he was, like, a swindler to the bone who would try to cheat any customer he could when he did step in to handle something personally, but he was also constantly getting swindled himself by vendors who convinced him that some or other product was something he just needed to sell.

it created this model for me of certain rich people who are, like, economic livestock, who get or stay rich simply because it's convenient for them to be that way, easy marks to harvest money from under the circumstances in which they exist. if they were any smarter and more discerning than they actually are, they wouldn't be as easy to milk and they wouldn't be where they are, distributing money the way they do.

obvs it's a capitalism thing, what i'm describing here is just owners of capital sucking up profits and everyone else maneuvering around that system, but. well it's that second-order part that's morbidly fascinating to me. in the system in which a business owner can succeed not by making good choices but just by owning enough stuff to compel people to keep him fed to protect their own cut, a sort of parasite ecosystem must evolve, to which the existence of total fucking idiots who will let their blood be sucked from their excessively rich bodies is valuable

[destinyc1020]

And besides if SAG does indeed go on strike Zendaya and Tom will be on the picket line too/////

as an actor I honestly hopee this doesn't happen, but many ppl i've talked to in SAG say it's actually likely and many want it to happen. obvs ppl like tom and zendaya won't really care lol it's more for actors who need living wage and get taken advantage of by the union rules. but (i think) it's june 9 when we'll find out if SAG wants to strike

Yea, I see what you're saying Anon. Honestly? Even the actors that you think would have a lot of money can't really afford too much of a "lull" in work. Tom and Z will be fine of course (they've got that Marvel/Disney money lol), but others might be impacted hard.

During the pandemic back in 2020 there were quite a few actors/actresses complaining and worried about their economic situation..... Jeremy Renner, Gabrielle Union, etc. A LOT of black actors especially can't afford to be "unemployed" for TOO long. 😔

We don't get paid as much as our white counterparts, nor do we have as many people beating down our doors to give us roles. 🥴

So yea, it would just be best if they can come to a mutual agreement and just give the people what they want.

[salt-volk]

post 705470921409019904   bc u have to PAY for monthlies u cant just earn them from gameplay. we need item that are easy to get yet also go up in value over time. every other game i play has these thing as a reward for long term & consistent players!

if the ONLY shit that retains value is premium/paid content then of course the economies fucked bc the only ppl who can make longterm value investment are those who are already well off. limited/retiring item earned from special prizes, chance event, quests, & gaemplay are essential for allowing ftp players to still get itmes that appreciate in value & be able to keep on par with premium paying users (bc then even if they dont spend money they can still have item that ppl will want).

part of dvs economy being so shit is bc u cannot "play the market" much the way u mgiht some other games. literally nearly every item is either 1. completely worthless junk that will return every year & already exists in abundance OR  2. its paid premium shit that only gets traded for other paid premium shit. rarely are there any "mid tiere value" items in between that can be leveraged by folk in the middle.

i think in retaliation to customs & monthies seeming too inacessible we went so far in the other direction that now all other items is TOO acessible which only makes the problem worse (if the ONLY valuable items are super hard to get or paid, then its impossible for ppl who dont have acess to those to "work their way up". if this was balanced by having more free/cheap to get yet also valuable items, then custom & monthlies would actually become MORE  acessible to the avg player bc they could get their hands on non-monthly non-custom items that still genuinely have value & could be traded for higher value thing.)

limited item does not always = bad & exclusionary. it can be a part of healthy economy & even a way to help limit exclusivity by giving ftp players economic mobility just for actually playing the game.

i think when ppl talk abt wanting more limited items they mean stuf like this. not more monthiles. but shit that can serve as ACTUAL reward for gameplay. right now participating in event, story quests, & even getting random chance pop up are all boring/un exciting bc once u have one set of the item thats all u ever need, theyre all worthless, retain no value, & nothing feels like an actual sruprise or a reward. theres no incentive to participate bc everything is easy & already handed to u.

dv userbase seems to be such weird mix... ppl who want to own every single item in the game with no effort & no exclusiveity but then also complain abt there being nothing to do, no long term gameplay goals, event reward feel lacking, & how boring it is between content drops. but usually part of the motivation/goals & participation feeling worthwhile on other games is BC u have to work a lil to collect things. exctiement of earning prize that gain in value, making sure ur present to collect event rewards bc the ones will be diffrent next year, new itme u strategize to trade for. & when u lack all of that ofc its gonna feel more boring.

tho obv thats not main issue with the site & im not sayin anyone is wrong for feeling that way i thinkit can def be hard to strike balance between "enough exclusivity to feel fun & motivating" vs "so much that it just feel unfair" but my point is just that right now we really need some "mid tier" limited items (that ARENT locked behing million potatoes worth of item alchemy lmfao) to balance the market & put free player on equal footing in the economy. stuff that appreciates in value & makes rewards actually feel special/worthwhile bc one day u can trade/sell it for something cooler! yk?

idk as a ftp player myself to me at least that would help playing dv actualy feel worht it.

[bloodbenderz]

humaniterations (dot) net/2014/10/13/an-anarchist-perspective-on-the-red-lotus/ this article from oct 2014 is very dense — truly, a lot to unpack here, but I feel like you would find this piece interesting. I would love it if you shared your thoughts on the points that stood out to you, whether you agree or disagree. you obv don’t have to respond to it tho, but I’m sending it as an ask jic you feel like penning (and sharing) a magnificent essay, as is your wont 💕

article

i know this took me forever 2 answer SORRY but i just checked off all the things on my to do list for the first time in days today so. Essay incoming ladies!

ok im SO glad u sent me this bc it’s so so good. it’s a genuinely thoughtful criticism of the politics in legend of korra (altho i think its sometimes a little mean to korra unnecessarily like there’s no reason to call her a “petulant brat” or say that she throws tantrums but i do understand their point about her being an immature and reactionary hero, which i’ll get back to) and i think the author has a good balance between acknowledging like Yeah the lok writers were american liberals and wrote their show accordingly and Also writing a thorough analysis of lok’s politics that felt relevant and interesting without throwing their hands up and saying this is all useless liberal bullshit (which i will admit that i tend to do).

this article essentially argues that the red lotus antagonists of s3 were right. And that’s not an uncommon opinion i think but this gives it serious weight. Like, everything that zaheer’s gang did was, in context, fully understandable. of course the red lotus would be invested in making sure that the physically and spiritually and politically most powerful person in the world ISNT raised by world leaders and a secret society of elites that’s completely unaccountable to the people! of course the red lotus wants to bring down tyrannical governments and allow communities to form and self govern organically! and the writers dismiss all of that out of hand by 1. consistently framing the red lotus as insane and murderous (korra never actually gives zaheer’s ideas a chance or truly considers integrating them into her own approach) 2. representing the death of the earth queen as not just something that’s not necessarily popular (what was with mako’s bootlicker grandma, i’d love to know) but as something that causes unbelievable violence and chaos in ba sing se (which, like, a lot of history and research will tell you that people in disasters tend towards prosocial behaviors). so the way the story frames each of these characters and ideologies is fascinating because like. if you wanted to write season 3 of legend of korra with zaheer as the protagonist and korra as the antagonist, you wouldn’t actually have to change the sequence of events at all, really. these writers in particular and liberal writers in general LOVE writing morally-gray-but-ultimately-sympathetic characters (like, almost EVERY SINGLE fire nation character in the first series, who were full on violent colonizers but all to a degree were rehabilitated in the eyes of the viewer) but instead of framing the red lotus as good people who are devoted to justice and freedom and sometimes behave cruelly to get where theyre trying to go, they frame them as psychopaths and murderers who have good intentions don’t really understand how to make the world a better place.

and the interesting thing about all this, about the fact that the red lotus acted in most cases exactly as it should have in context and the only reason its relegated to villain status is bc the show is written by liberals, is that the red lotus actually points out really glaring sociopolitical issues in universe! like, watching the show, u think well why the fuck HASN’T korra done anything about the earth queen oppressing her subjects? why DOESN’T korra do anything about the worse than useless republic president? why the hell are so many people living in poverty while our mains live cushy well fed lives? how come earth kingdom land only seems to belong to various monarchs and settler colonists, instead of the people who are actually indigenous to it? the show does not want to answer these questions, because american liberal capitalism literally survives on the reality of oppressive governments and worse than useless presidents and people living in poverty while the middle/upper class eats and indigenous land being stolen. if the show were to answer these questions honestly, the answer would be that the status quo in real life (and the one on the show that mirrors real life) Has To Change.

So they avoid answering these questions honestly in order for the thesis statement to be that the status quo is good. and the only way for the show to escape answering these questions is for them to individualize all these broad social problems down into Good people and Bad people. so while we have obvious bad ones like the earth queen we also have all these capitalists and monarchs and politicians who are actually very nice and lovely people who would never hurt anyone! which is just such an absurd take and it’s liberal propaganda at its best. holding a position of incredible political/economic power in an unjust society is inherently unethical and maintaining that position of power requires violence against the people you have power over. which is literally social justice 101. but there’s literally no normal, average, not-politically-powerful person on the show. so when leftist anarchism is presented and says that destroying systems that enforce extreme power differentials is the only way to bring peace and freedom to all, the show has already set us up to think, hey, fuck you, top cop lin beifong and ford motor ceo asami sato are good people and good people like them exist! and all we have to do to move forward and progress as a society is to make sure we have enough good individuals in enough powerful positions (like zuko as the fire lord ending the war, or wu as the earth king ending the monarchy)! which is of course complete fiction. liberal reform doesn’t work. but by pretending that it could work by saying that the SYSTEM isnt rotten it’s just that the people running it suck and we just need to replace those people, it automatically delegitimizes any radical movements that actually seek to change things.

and that’s the most interesting thing about this article to me is that it posits that the avatar...might actually be a negative presence in the world. the avatar is the exact same thing: it’s a position of immense political and physical power bestowed completely randomly, and depending on the moral character and various actions of who fills that position at any given time, millions of people will or won’t suffer. like kyoshi, who created the fascist dai li, like roku, who refused to remove a genocidal dictator from power, like aang, who facilitated the establishment of a settler colonial state on earth kingdom land. like korra! she’s an incredibly immature avatar and a generally reactionary lead. i’ve talked about this at length before but she never actually gets in touch with the needs of the people. she’s constantly running in elite circles, exposed only to the needs and squabbles of the upper class! how the hell is she supposed to understand the complexities of oppression and privilege when she was raised by a chess club with inordinate amounts of power and associates almost exclusively with politicians and billionaires?? from day 1 we see that she tends to see things in very black and white ways which is FINE if you’re a privileged 17 yr old girl seeing the world for the first time but NOT FINE if you’re the single most powerful person in the world! Yeah, korra thinks the world is probably mostly fine and just needs a little whipping into shape every couple years, because all she has ever known is a mostly fine world! in s1 when mako mentions that he as a homeless impoverished teenager worked for a gang (which is. Not weird. Impoverished people of every background are ALWAYS more likely to resort to socially unacceptable ways of making money) korra is like “you guys are criminals?????!!!!!” she was raised in perfect luxury by a conservative institution and just never developed beyond that. So sure, if the red lotus raised her anarchist, probably a lot would’ve been different/better, but....they didn’t. and korra ended up being a reactionary and conservative avatar who protected monarchs and colonialist politicians. The avatar as a position is completely subject to the whims of whoever is currently the avatar. and not only does that suck for everyone who is not the avatar, not only is it totally unfair to whatever kid who grows up knowing the fate of the world is squarely on their shoulders, but it as a concept is a highly individualist product of the authors’ own western liberal ideas of progress! the idea that one good leader can fix the world (or should even try) based on their own inherent superiority to everyone else is unbelievably flawed and ignores the fact that all real progress is brought about as a result of COMMUNITY work, as a result of normal people working for themselves and their neighbors!

the broader analysis of bending was really interesting to me too, but im honestly not sure i Totally agree with it. the article pretty much accepts the show’s assertion that bending is a privilege (and frankly backs it up much better than the original show did, but whatever), and i don’t think that’s NECESSARILY untrue since it is, like, a physical advantage (the author compares it to, for example, the fact that some people are born athletically gifted and others are born with extreme physical limitations), but i DO think that it discounts the in universe racialization of bending. in any sequel to atla that made sense, bending as a race making fact would have been explored ALONGSIDE the physical advantages it bestows on people. colonialism and its aftermath is generally ignored in this article which is its major weakness i think, especially in conjunction with bending. you can bring up the ideas the author did about individual vs community oriented progress in the avatar universe while safely ignoring the colonialism, but you can’t not bring up race and colonialism when you discuss bending. especially once you get to thinking about how water/earth/airbenders were imprisoned and killed specifically because bending was a physical advantage, and that physical advantage was something that would have given colonized populations a means of resistance and that the fire nation wanted to keep to itself.

i think that’s the best lens thru which to analyze bending tbh! like in the avatar universe bending is a tool that different ethnic groups tend to use in different ways. at its best, bending actually doesn’t represent social power differences (despite representing a physical power difference) because it’s used to represent/maintain community solidarity. like, take the water tribe. katara being the last waterbender, in some way, makes her the last of a part of swt CULTURE. the implication is that when there were a lot of waterbenders in the south, they dedicated their talents to building community and helping their neighbors, because this was something incredibly culturally important and important to the water tribe as a community. the swt as a COLLECTIVE values bending for what it can do for the entire tribe, which counts for basically every other talent a person can have (strength, creativity, etc). the fire nation, by contrast, distorts the community value of bending by racializing it: anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is inherently NOT fire nation (and therefore inherently inferior) and, because of the physical power that bending confers, anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is a threat to fire nation hegemony. and in THAT framework of bending, it’s something that intrinsically assigns worth and reifies race in a way that’s conveniently beneficial to the oppressor.

it IS worth talking about how using Element as a way to categorize people reifies nations, borders, and race in a way that is VERY characteristic of white american liberals. i tried to be conscious of that (and the way that elements/bending can act in DIFFERENT ways, depending on cultural context) but i think it’s pretty clear that the writers did intend for element to unequivocally signify nation (and, by extension, race), which is part of why they screwed up mixed families so bad in lok. when they’ve locked themselves into this idea that element=nation=race, they end up with sets of siblings like mako and bolin or kya tenzin and bumi, who all “take” after only one parent based on the element that they bend. which is just completely stupid but very indicative of how the writers actually INTENDED element/bending to be a race making process. and its both fucked up and interesting that the writers display the same framework of race analysis that the canonical antagonists of atla do.

anyway that’s a few thoughts! thank u again for sending the article i really loved it and i had a lot of fun writing this <3

[polkadotfairyposts]

Ok, so as an english person living in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 I now actually really *get* the need for independence.

Here's my brief, foggy and perhaps mildly innacurate because im a bit shit with dates and names but bear with me. I was also drunk when i wrote this but it still stands

So, Scotland is one of the oldest *established* countries in europe, in 843 or 834 it became a recognised country

England, being England, kept on invading and there was a lot of dispute about territory.

You know thoose historical figures you hear about a lot, William Wallace of Braveheart fame, Robert the Bruce of Outlaw King. These guys were about in the 1300s. Contantly battling with England over their sovreinty

In 1314, the Battle of Bannockburn happens, Robert the Bruce pretty much destroys the English army near Stirling

1320, the Declaration of Arbroath is signed, stating the people of Scotland, not a king or leader, but the people theselves are sovereign, in quite a dramatic comparison so England's monarchy and heirarchical system. Yes, the Scots had kings and nobility, but the people were the most important, kings were not chosen by God

It was written in Latin, but says the following:

As long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours, that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself".

Boom, right?!

The union of the crown happened, im hhazy on it all, watch Mary Queen of Scots to get a fairly good idea. Its mostly to do with a lot of Protestant/Catholic issues, mostly fuelled by English politics, as far as i can see, but i. Could be v wrong. There was alot of hoo-ha regarding recognising Scotland's monarchy, especially involving the "Auld Alliance" with France, who England was continually picking fights with

1703: The Scottish Parliament passes the Act of Security, under which Scotland will not in future be bound to accept the same monarch as England unless Scotland is accorded completely free trade with England and the colonies.

So, the Treaty of the Union happened in 1707 (thats right, its only just over 300 years old) but lets just look at the curcumstance in which it was signed

In the years (maybe decades) leading up to this, England imposed some kind of tax or restrictions on scottish trading.

5 February 1705: The English Parliament pass the Alien Act, restricting scottish exports and trades. Big economic impact here. Many purses made a lot lighter.

So, the Scottish Parliament (made of nobles and officials, no vote for the people. Rumoura of bribery and threats abound) decide to enter into this Union. A draft is written, its voted in, the Scottish Parliament is dissolved. There was a LOT of anti-union feeling about this. Theres a rumour the Treaty was signed in an actual basement in edinburgh to avoid protests happening around the city. (I obvs dont know the truth in that)

Magically, when the scottish parliament was dissolved, restrictions were removed and scotland was able to trade freely as part of the "United Kingdom of Great Britain"

Now, theres a king, exiled, James, or "the Pretender", hanging in France, decides to rally troops from there and head back to try and sort a Jacobite uprising. This, in 1708, failed.

1715 sees another Jacobite uprising. Defeated

1720 Spain tries to. Help another Jacobite uprising. Defeated.

Honestly, just keep on going through rinse and repeat until the big one.

You all know Bonnie Prince Charlie and the 1745 Jacobite uprising and the absolute massacre of Culloden, especially if youve followed the Outlander series.

This was the last big rebellion. And I'll tell you for why.

Scottish culture was all but outlawed. Kilts, Tartan, Pipes, Gaelic, all punishable offenses. The Highland clearances happened (basically rich people owned the land, decided it was gonna make them more money to feed cattle than people and moved villages and townspeople to the most barren areas, on the brink of survival. A lot of folk were destitute, some left in ships bound for the US willingly , many were sent as punishment for even minor crimes)

Now, im not saying the Scots were angels and innocents subjected to English rule, a good few profited highly from Slave Trade and many oof Glasgow and Edinburgh's city statues are of questionable admirability.

But this Union of Equals is anything but.

In the 1990s, the Scots had to fight tooth and nail to get their own parliament back. This was under Labour and Donald Dewar became First Minister.

In 2014, there was an epic vote for Scots on whether to become and Independent country again. From polling at just 26%a year or so before, the Yes vote went up to 45%. Not enough to win the referendum, but a huge improvement. The Better Together campaign raised questions such as EU membership, pensions, currency, could Scotland afford it?

The DAY AFTER the No vote was announced, David Cameron announces EVEL (yeah, it looks like evil) English Votes for English Laws. Freezing Scottish MPs out of decision-making. So much for "Stay with us, Scotland. Lead us, dont leave us"

2016 the goddamned Brexit vote happens. It was 52/48 Now you know, if that had been the outcome for Yes, the uproar would have been "its too close to call" "thats not a big enough margin!" but because it was what an underlying majority of Tory backbenchers actually wanted, it was accepted. People who voted to stay in the EU were labelled Remoaners and the 16m+ who voted against it were ignored in favour of the 17m+ who voted for. Also worth noting, scotlannd voted 62% to stay in the EU. A much higher margin than to remain ppart of the UK. We were ignored. So much for Scotland staying in the UK to stay in the EU

Oh, and the last decade of Tory austrity has seen oension age increase and pension amount decrease. We've one of the worst ppensions in the developed world. There goes that argument

As a result of the Brexit vote, the sterling decreased in value. Fuck it, a number of Scots wouldnt even mind using the Euro if we were to rejoin them, but we'd be well within our rights to use our own Scots ££££

Also, the Macrone report shows pretty well that Scotland has a wealth of natural resources it would be able to use, we could definitely afford it.

Soooo, we comme to the "once in a generation" arguement. This was said a lot, by both sides. As a turn of phrase. Same as many things. Boris Johnson said he'd rather be dead in a ditch than take an extension for EU talks. He took that extension and thougb ive been thoroughly searching ditches up and down the UK, not spotted him yet.

Nowhere in the Edinburgh Agreement (the document agreement 2014 referendum) does it state "once in a generation". It *does* state that scotland can holld another referendum following "constitutional change". One word. Brexit. Thays one big motherfucking change.

If were talking about a generation, in human terms, thay could be 20/30/40/50 years or so. But if we're talking political generation, its worth noting in talks with Ireland, this was defined as seven years. Since the Edinburgh Agreement was signed in 2012,we're past that. And even if we go by 2014, thay makes 2021 the year we can do another.

12 consecutive polls have shown Yes well ahead for independence. Scotland also allows 16-18 year olds to vote. And EU citizens living in Scotland.

The point is, if Scotlannd wants it, Scotland shoukd be able to choose it.

[ignitesthestxrs]

uh i wrote something gay from the pov of the princess in sleeping gayly because i wanted to write about cute girls so HERE IT IS

Anahera is bad at attraction.

It’s a problem, sort of. Academically at least, because she’s on a schedule for falling in love, and some kind of attraction is usually involved in that process, or so everyone (her mother) keeps insisting.

And it’s not that she can’t tell when someone is supposed to be beautiful. Anahera knows beauty. She has loved it and loathed it in equal measures her whole life, and maybe that’s why the concept has become so thoroughly uncoupled from want for her. She knows it too well, has all of its secrets, the tricks and magic that dazzle the world into thinking a pretty face says anything about the brain behind it.

Court is full of beautiful people, or people trying to be beautiful, or people paying enough money or wielding enough power to make up for a lack of beauty and Anahera likes Tane’s muscles because she knows how he earned them.

He has a body formed by the work of her father’s people, the bunch and release of his bicep taking shape from rowing and taiaha. She likes the juxtaposition of warrior arms ending in ink-stained fingers, likes that he’s strong enough to put her on the ground when the spar, likes that he’ll fight her at all.

The are other Wheke in Sterling, other people - girls and boys - her own age who have come with the delegation or who live there or who travel for trade, but it’s Tane who draws her in, physically, who makes her pulse stutter when she’s got him on his back in the ring in a way no one else she’s fought or seen shirtless every has. Because all the various bits and pieces mean something specific to him. Something that he’s shared with her, a tiny part of himself that he’s given to her and allowed her to keep.

It’s not an especially economical way to fall in love, is what she’s saying. Life would be much simpler - her curse would be much simpler - if she could just wade out into a horde of attractive adolescents and lose her mind for one of them.

(and she thinks that probably she could have, if it wasn’t for the curse. Because the curse means that every single person she meets thinks they might be prince one day, thinks that she must be desperate, thinks that her entire life is supposed to be about attraction and romance and one true love and she refuses, thankyouversymuch).

Jasmine Dacre is not strong.

Physically, that is. There’s no ink on her fingers, either, because she’s not a scholar or a spy. Really, there’s no similarities between her and Tane at all, except for a sort of grim tenacity to do exactly what they believe is necessary, and Anahera is starting to think that maybe she understands the key to attraction after all. Well, hers, at least.

Jasmine’s fingertips have the memory of calluses from when she was too stubborn to use a thimble properly. She scowls too much and freckles dust her shoulders from a life spent criss-crossing Angevine and she doesn’t run very fast because why would she need to? She cares about the cut and colour of dresses, what they’re made of, knows how to make something out of nothing.

Anahera has never cared all that much about clothes or fashion, but she finds herself entranced by the way Jasmine does.

Her eyes are black and glossy and desperately inhuman. Anahera likes that she can’t tell when Jasmine is looking at her. Likes the feelings that rises up in her chest in response, the urge to capture her attention, pull a smile out of that scowl. It’s entertaining at first, until all of a sudden it’s not. Until the weight of the world, or at least Angevine, is resting on this girl’s shoulders and Anahera is going to die soon but somehow that’s not the thing at the forefront of her mind.

“It’s not polite to stare.” Jasmine sounds distracted, toying with her spindle. A cloud of wool rests lightly over the back of her hand. Anahera thinks about kissing it.

Anahera barks a laugh, glad she doesn’t blush easily or obviously. “Since when did anyone accuse me of being polite?”

“Aren’t princesses supposed to be diplomatic?”

“Mmm.” It’s dusk and they’re camping outside. Anahera throws her hands under her head and looks up at the sky, the scattering of stars nowhere near as interesting as the exact path of freckles over the bridge of Jasmine’s nose. “I’ve never been a very good princess.”

[janiedean]

Hey Janie :’) when you’re an Italian citizen do you get any grants or loans for living expenses (rent, travel, food, books etc,) in university?

depends

I mean, tldr:

there isn’t an organized system like in sweden or northern countries where just by studying in uni you get free housing

however if your family doesn’t earn much or you have siblings or you don’t earn much you qualify for having your taxes reduced or almost cut off completely, obv. you have to bring them proof, and in public uni usually taxes are affordable - I mean the one I went to, without discounts or reductions, was about 2k per year at the end (prices went up, it was 1,5k at the beginning) and I mean, even if you get a crappy part time job for dunno 450 euros per month and you live with your parents you would cover it

also every uni has a number of grants - like if you do X number of exams within each year with an average of... idk how it’s in other places but in mine it was 27/30, count that in italy 30 is the maximum grade you can get on exam so as long as you didn’t get anything less than a 27 (which is.. well not too hard if you study) you’d get enough money to at least cover a good part of your taxes or all of them

housing: eh. some places have so-called *students houses* where people can go stay and have a room at a minimal fee but the most famous one was in l’aquila and it’s famous because it collapsed during the earthquake and People Died In It, there was one here too but from what I hear it’s shit and getting in is complicated af, no idea about the rest sorry

travel: not really. I mean, train companies give you discounts if you need to go back to your town to vote but that’s it as far as I know

books: .... lmao. included in your grant money if you get one and have money left to shell on books. otherwise PHOTOCOPIES, the internet, LIBRARIES or you buy them with your own money. 

food: same as above

rent: no. unless you manage to land the mythical student houses that’s on you (ie: your parents paying your rent to study in another city)

I mean, nothing in there is absolutely not obtainable also because as stated the actual uni taxes are nothing undoable (I mean we’re NOWHERE near the US or the Uk...) and you can actually get discounts/grants if you can prove your earnings don’t allow you to afford the full price, and at worst if you live with your parents and don’t need to contribute you can get a part-time job and put the money aside, but for the rest you’re basically on your own.

that said as far as public uni goes no one has ever asked for a loan for uni studies and loans specifically for that aren’t taken into account because I mean, let’s say that I had to take a loan for everything I spent in six years of uni including books and taxes but no housing and such bc I didn’t live on my own. counting the books and the fact that the prices went up, it’d be 12k total. who’s gonna ask a loan for 12k? I could, but I’d be quicker if I asked my grandmother tbqh XD 

now, as far as private goes, obviously that changes because private unis cost a lot more, but: first of all most people who send their kids to private uni can afford that, second we’re still not at the levels of american unis.

like, to say one, I’m checking the bocconi uni in milan which is the most famous one for economics and stuff and it’s The Best Ever and ofc it’s private:

if your family makes more than 127k euros per year, you pay 12k;

if you’re between 90k-127k, it’s 10k;

between 58k and 90k is 7,7k;

up to 58k it’s 5,5k.

also if you do the bachelor’s with them but also want to do the master’s and you’re in the first category, you’re automatically paying 10k rather than 12k. also, they give you loans at a fair condition if you do enough exams/have the right average grade, there’s a grant for a free ride and one to pay just 40% of your contribution, you can go for free for a certain length of time if you’re disabled, there’s a free ride chance for people with high grades/potential/whatever who can’t afford it even with the loans/being in the fourth category and gives you also free housing in one of their student houses, or you can also work 200 hours for them (idk doing library work and similar stuff) and get paid for it/have that money taken off their tax total. and they also have like another six specific grants. now obviously I’m talking about High Prestige University and I doubt all private unis around are like that, but like, there’s grants/loans/if you really want to make it work it’s not impossible and they most likely won’t leave you in debt, especially since a bocconi degree means you get a job fairly easily and they usually pay you well.

so: public isn’t pricey but you’re pretty much on your own other than discounts/basic grants, private is usually pricey but *good* private unis will most likely try to meet your needs.

hopefully it was helpful :)

[gachaesthetic]

Shades, as I have complete faith in your ability to curate quality Gacha content, which live dvds do you recommend?? I mean, yes obv all of them, but I have Christmas money to spend and I need to choose wisely 🤔

Ok here’s my personal ranking. For the first three I’m assuming you get the Limited Edition which is the only way to go, the regular versions cut out wayyyy too much.

Sekira Liar Tour Final: If you try to buy this on Amazon or eBay, you’re going to get gouged hard for this one, so check out Yahoo Auctions and stuff via proxy service and you can probably get away for less than $200. This live is the pinnacle, an amazing setlist, practically nothing edited out, great cinematography and camera angles vis-a-vis drone cameras and GoPros attached to the instruments, the infamous BokuCin prank, and a rendition of Takaramono that will absolutely give you chills.

7th Anniversary: this one is almost my favorite, I love the setlist, love the KAKUHEN album as a whole, Nenne’s great, there’s some interesting set design such as the Juicy Beats dance version on the center platform. However, because of the circumstances of that live (there was a sound problem and they had to start the whole thing over ~4 songs in) you can tell they were a little rattled at the beginning and it takes a while for everyone to get back in the zone again, but when they do it’s great. Also, they cut out some of the content even in the limited edition–no acoustic segment, no Tomo-zo MC corner, no Takaramono >:( On the upside, I think the LE is still available in stores so this is an economical option.

Delicious Tour: Oreo faceplants and that is all you need to know. Best bonus content feat. Gachas in China. Lots of feelings during the encore. This one is expensive as hell on the secondhand market too

1st Anniversary: depends how much you like Armmy era I guess, and it’s pre Virgin-A too so no Juicy Beats, no ben-jan-dan etc… Still a good piece of history and there’s two songs in there that have never been released anywhere else, including Kimi wo… which was Hana’s first lead vocal song with just her on piano with violin accompaniment, it’s beautiful.

Gachallenge Final: tbh I hate this one lol. They edited a lot out and never put out a limited edition to replace that content, but even more egregious is the amount of over-dubbing in the audio. It barely feels like a live recording. But hey, it’s their only release available on both DVD and Blu-ray (since Blu-ray is region free that is always what they bring to sell at overseas lives), and it’s still widely available online.

[a-memoir-of-me-blog]

more system things lol. fuck. matrix is real

my first true love: boys will be boys and good thing I'm not in that convo cause I know I'm ok with no abortions and cause I'm so against that or funding for that

-Me: but like at least have condoms and birth control easy access. Because then the kids being born to underage parents and/or parents who cannot afford good care for them, they'll grow up in harsh environments because the parents simply cannot get out of the system. All their hard work goes straight to just caring for what they have now. And if they're in school, it's even harder. If they're at work. It's even harder. This has a huge toll on a child's behavior. And that's why inner city schools need to be better. They need to rlly be there and feel like a community for the kid and prepare them for their success because that's what they're lacking at home. And very important for counseling for them. Teaching them about interpersonal and personal skills and negotiating for not just their gain, but their counterpart. We should donate to these kids who can't afford much because of the situation their parents are in. Or else there's a rlly high risk for them to act out in criminal ways. Like selling sex, selling drugs, robberies, gang activity all just to provide for themselves and their family. And they're just going to be jailed. And who suffers? Tax payers. Their families. That's why we need to PREVENT this. But private funded prisons will want to keep it because they want to profit off of the people who simply are not aware. And again. School. Community. Etc. and that creates less STD’s and unwanted pregnancies etc. and that would help hone down those issues. The services wouldn't be used as much because of the programs installed to help prevent that. And yes...all those services, are tax payers! And yes! We are giving them the profits! So instead! Let's do stuff to PREVENT this!

-Him: condoms and birth control and education should be enforced and made easy access because then it prevents unwanted pregnancies and spread of diseases. And most of the time they do grow up in tough situations but education (resources) only do so much and guide, but it's up to the individual to take it and own it and their own responsibilities when it comes to taking the smart way and benefit from that or disregard all of that and go the “alternative” way that media flaunts. Both males and females gotta start being aware of themselves and how they affect things around them and also to stop fucking everything and be smarter about their shit.

-Me: so we should help the inner city/low income kids have better ways to resolve issues. create more businesses within those area for them to get money in a civil way and at least help stay afloat with their family and not have to resort in uncivil ways to get money, in means of getting things to survive. this can also help keep gang activity down too. help keep pimping and prostitution down (STD’s and pregnancy down). drug dealers down. drug use down. honestly it all starts from 1) birth 2) growing up with proper education and good behaviors enforced and community connection

like they need to realize they're in a bad situation and we're born into this but it's not their fault. BUT it's THEY. it is YOU who can provide something better for yourself and your future and your community and the uprising generations. they should realize and be empowered that they can get out of the position they were born into.

that's also where discrimination comes in (being stuck in one area and letting power go to one), and learn to make ppl like them instead of reacting bad when bad happens to them. they need to let ppl see that all they want is a better life for themselves and those around them and not let their hopes and dreams go down because they're the minority and/or the targeted ones and the low income ones. the low educated ones. etc. they need to not act out when they're not being heard and/or given chances. the first chance is the first and last. so always try to make it good. if we installed a rlly strong emphasis on how important education is, self control and proper behavior to not hurt another and not one another, and come together as a community to be taken seriously and be seen as ppl who are rlly just trying to get things to be better for themselves and the community and the future. doing illegal shit will just make a lot of people want to them against them because they doesn't help them nor anyone else around them. but they also don't wanna fix it because they wanna lock those ppl up. and that's private prisons. and obv then the remainder need to go to public prisons and that's so much tax money, which could've went to education to prevent that stuff from happening.

-him: nine of that will stop tho. the system has made it this way and to try to stabilize low income communities with businesses and store fronts 1) no one wants to open a store in a high risk area 2) no one wants to fund a company in that location that's bound to be vandalized

-me: that's where social media and pop culture and selfishness comes into play. priorities are fucked up. they all wanna seem cool and above one another. like yo. you're in section 8. but u wanna stack on j’s? that won't mean shit when you're older? no one will care when you're older about what you had. you're gonna waste on drugs and kill your body slowly? you wanna “flex” and feel better than each other? tryna be like fake ass rappers who give off a fake make believe reality? and you're brainwashed into it? like….stop being brainwashed into thinking that's cool

And yeah, but that's where I think education needs to reform. I am all for education bruh. All for communities coming together to realize their internal issues and going to the root. All for changing their priorities. All for coming together for a better come up for all these shit areas. But yo. Education!!!!!! Like really man. Education. Being aware of the system so it doesn't chew them up and shit them out even worse But. I think if we open businesses there and let them realize. This is for the betterment of the WHOLE community. This isn't just for a profit. This is to offer u more jobs. Offer u a responsibility and a sense of importance. Because let's be honest. All these ppl just want to feel like they're doing something to get attention. And why would they wanna vandalize their own shit that's gonna help them? U know? Like. I think they should learn some ways to build more businesses. Businesses not just for themselves. But for their whole community and for their brothers and sisters all struggling. Like. They also need to stop being selfish and killing other ppl out of like idk. Jealousy? Wanting more money? But they're the ones making it hard for everyone in their community struggle. Ppl who are drug dealers or gang bangers always end up staying in their shit beginnings because as a WHOLE, they're making it harder for themselves. I guess u can say those ppl are the bad 1% of the low incomers lol. They create holes. Make other holes even bigger And how can this be avoided??? Education!!!!!!! Like. It sucks to say. But rn, there's like separate economies (high, middle, low). And they're all equally corrupt and that's why they all can't work well together rn and we're all like burdens to one another lol. But u know what helps ALL of them? Education and better Also. We should have more programs for kids. Let them socialize with kids their age. Have people to look up to as a good role model. Help them with any personal issues. Therefore they won't act out because they know there's help for them. Also it can be good because we can let their parents work while we watch their kids and help them with hw, do arts and crafts, socialize with friends, maybe play instruments, just dance. Be themselves. Let loose. :) "Hendren, along with Harvard economists Katz and Raj Chetty, now at Stanford University, looked at the lasting effects of moving children to better neighborhoods as part of Moving to Opportunity, a short-lived federal housing program from the '90s. Their analysis, published in May, found that the longer children are exposed to better environments, the better they do economically in the future. Whichever city or state children grow up in also radically affects whether they'll move out of poverty, he said"* And what did I say? Trying to improve inner city / low income neighborhoods? Like. They can improve it by themselves if they wanted to. If they're wise enough and more woke. "It's definitely been a strategy" to justify starving government of resources, which in turn weakens it and makes it less attractive as a tool to accomplish big things, said Skocpol. "In an everybody-for-themselves situation, it is the better-educated and the wealthy who can protect themselves."* And that's why we can't rely on the government. We must make the changes ourselves. We must educate ourselves. Educate our communities. Help the children. "I think it is naïve of most individuals to think that for everything there is something that government can legislate and regulate and impose that makes life better for everybody," she said. "That's just not the case."* While it's clear that investing in children and their education pays lifelong dividends for them, those gains take 20 years to be realized, said Katz. That's why it's critical that their parents get help and live in less vulnerable situations.* Of course industry needs to run its businesses productively and profitably, but it can do so without harming "the commons," Rivkin said. "Business has been very effective at pursuing its narrow self-interest in looking for special tax breaks. I think that kind of behavior just needs to stop." Drawing on an idea from Harvard Business School finance Professor Mihir Desai, Rivkin suggests that businesses treat their tax responsibilities as a compliance function rather than as a profit center. That money could then go back into investment in "the commons," where "lots of common ground" exists among business, labor, policymakers, educators and others.* "The businesses should be working with the local community college to train the workers whom they would love to hire; the university should be getting together with policymakers to figure out how to get innovations out of the research lab into startups faster; business should work with educators to reinvent the school system," said Rivkin.* Putnam suggests more widespread mentoring of low-income children who lack the social safety net that upper- and middle-class children enjoy, a topic he explored in "Our Kids."* Adam Smith, perhaps the first true economist, gave some answers in “An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.” That treatise is sometimes thought of as a capitalist bible. It is at least partly about the achieving of greatness through the pursuit of wealth in free markets. But Smith didn’t believe that money alone assured national stature. He also wrote disapprovingly of the single-minded impulse to secure wealth, saying it was “the most universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments.” Instead, he emphasized that decent people should seek real achievement — “not only praise, but praiseworthiness.”** Strikingly, national greatness was a central issue in a previous presidential election campaign: Lyndon B. Johnson, in 1964, called for the creation of a Great Society, not merely a rich society or a powerful society. Instead, he spoke of achieving equal opportunity and fulfillment. “The Great Society is a place where every child can find knowledge to enrich his mind and to enlarge his talents,” he said. “It is a place where leisure is a welcome chance to build and reflect, not a feared cause of boredom and restlessness.”** All of which is to say that government intervention to enhance greatness will not be a simple matter. There is a risk that well-meaning change may make matters worse. Protectionist policies and penalties for exporters of jobs may not increase long-term opportunities for Americans who have been left behind. Large-scale reduction of environmental or social regulations or in health care benefits, or in America’s involvement in the wider world may increase our consumption, yet leave all of us with a sense of deeper loss. Greatness reflects not only prosperity, but it is also linked with an atmosphere, a social environment that makes life meaningful. In President Johnson’s words, greatness requires meeting not just “the needs of the body and the demands of commerce but the desire for beauty and the hunger for community.”** The solution to this puzzle is to realize that economic inequality is not just one thing. It consists of some things that are very bad, like kids with no chance of reaching their potential, and others that are good, like Larry Page and Sergey Brin starting the company you use to find things online.*** And while some of the growth in economic inequality we've seen since then has been due to bad behavior of various kinds, there has simultaneously been a huge increase in individuals' ability to create wealth*** (refer back to my English essay about the bad 1% of the 1%. The stealers. The manipulators. Compared to the other .99% of the 1% who actually create stuff, and therefore create wealth in return for their creation) There are lots of things wrong with the US that have economic inequality as a symptom. We should fix those things. In the process we may decrease economic inequality. But we can't start from the symptom and hope to fix the underlying causes. [7]*** Closely related to poverty is lack of social mobility. I've seen this myself: you don't have to grow up rich or even upper middle class to get rich as a startup founder, but few successful founders grew up desperately poor. But again, the problem here is not simply economic inequality. There is an enormous difference in wealth between the household Larry Page grew up in and that of a successful startup founder, but that didn't prevent him from joining their ranks. It's not economic inequality per se that's blocking social mobility, but some specific combination of things that go wrong when kids grow up sufficiently poor.*** One of the most important principles in Silicon Valley is that "you make what you measure." It means that if you pick some number to focus on, it will tend to improve, but that you have to choose the right number, because only the one you choose will improve; another that seems conceptually adjacent might not. For example, if you're a university president and you decide to focus on graduation rates, then you'll improve graduation rates. But only graduation rates, not how much students learn. Students could learn less, if to improve graduation rates you made classes easier. Economic inequality is sufficiently far from identical with the various problems that have it as a symptom that we'll probably only hit whichever of the two we aim at. If we aim at economic inequality, we won't fix these problems. So I say let's aim at the problems.*** If we want to fix the world behind the statistics, we have to understand it, and focus our efforts where they'll do the most good.*** Rather, the focus should be on disrupting the cycle of poverty in which social decay in one generation inhibits the development of the next, individuals ill-prepared for life and work face limited opportunity, and their ensuing struggles cause further social decay.**** Better-educated parents place far more emphasis on encouragement and on the value of self-reliance, while less educated ones more frequently deliver discouragement and emphasize obedience.**** Children in the lower class face stresses and traumas that impair learning and the development of concentration, self-discipline, and problem-solving.**** Putnam explains that children in the lower class face stresses and traumas foreign to the upper class. They are up to five times more likely to face abuse and violence, addiction, and the death or imprisonment of a parent. Those experiences, along with ineffective and unstable caregiving, impair learning and the development of “executive functions” such as concentration, self-discipline, and problem-solving. All these consequences occur independently of public schooling and, largely, before public schooling has even begun**** These problems in turn perpetuate the cycle by diminishing opportunity and career prospects. Between 1960 and 2010, Murray reports, the percentage of upper-class households with a full-time worker declined from 90 percent to 87 percent, while the lower-class decline was from 81 percent to 53 percent. And so, as the next generation starts its own families in its own communities, one can only hope the lower class will manage to hold the eroding ground on which their parents stood. The trends, unfortunately, suggest they have little chance even of that; as the cycle spirals downward and decay engenders yet more decay.**** But elements in Edwards’s upbringing that might have mitigated his economic hardship — a two-parent family instilling strong values, a community filled with hard-working role models committed to the betterment of their children — are exactly what have now gone missing in lower-class America. Social inequality is insidious because it transmits itself across generations by interfering with opportunity.**** Can we conclude that social conditions in the lower class unfairly impair opportunity? If we do, it should affect what outcomes we consider just and what level of government intervention we demand. But the situation is not only a fundamental challenge to some conservative assumptions; it also reinforces conservatives’ emphasis on family and community and traditional values as social bedrocks that a government program or check can never replace. Conservatives are uniquely capable of understanding the problem and should lead the way toward solutions.**** For better and worse, you can’t legislate social change. Social programs — especially if delivered through local organizations — can provide real help to individuals. But programs alone cannot counter the momentum of a free society barreling in the opposite direction. Instead, broader public policy must seek to alter the basic incentives and conditions fueling the negative trends.**** *https://www.google.com/amp/www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2016-02-09/the-costs-of-inequality-the-rich-and-the-rest%3Fcontext%3Damp* **https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/upshot/make-america-great-again-isnt-just-about-money-and-power.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FIncome%20Inequality&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=collection&_r=0&referer= ***http://paulgraham.com/ineq.html ****https://www.google.com/amp/s/bc.marfeel.com/amp/www.nationalreview.com/article/425746/social-inequality-matters-much-or-more-economic-inequality-oren-cass?client=safari https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=RIghbrn5yfI http://www.scilearn.com/blog/ten-facts-about-how-poverty-impacts-education https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2013/10/17/public-educations-biggest-problem-keeps-getting-worse/?utm_term=.d4f232debd33 https://www.google.com/amp/www.vox.com/platform/amp/2016/7/22/12254046/myths-higher-education-crisis-debt-loans-free-tuition This ties into my weed ideas!!!!!

[topicprinter]

Background: For the past year and a half (on and off) I have been brainstorming and researching my company name, logo, website, cost breakdown, insurance, scaling potential, competitors, etc.This all started when I stumbled upon a market that seemed to have extremely weak competition. By weak I mean ugly websites that are hard to navigate, they aren't clear about pricing (and once i did dig to find the prices they seemed about 15-20% too high) hardly any social media presence... things of that nature. I began to see this as an opportunity to dominate the market so I ran the numbers and it confirmed my decision to take the steps I need to enter and eventually take over. Obviously this is all vague and useless information to you so the tl;dr is I've found the market I want to dominate, I have the blueprint of my company laid out + 99% completed, I've crunched the numbers.. and now here is my current plan of action moving forward:Continue conducting research on my target demographic and gather as much info as possible.Continue to stay on top of each competitor and their customers.I plan on taking this company public Jan 1, 2018. By public I simply mean begin physical and digital marketing. From right now, July, right up until Jan 1 I will be doing nothing but research, developing and perfecting marketing strategies and saving money for the initial start up costs ($3000, high balled).Jan 1 onward: the company will now have an online presence in the form of a website and marketing will begin. The reason I need a website to begin marketing is because this is a registration-based company. Without trying to give too much away, think of it as a small rec league for an individual sport/game with my target market being middle schoolers from 1 very highly populated county in my state.From Jan 1 to Feb 1, I will be non-stop hammering all marketing avenues with every second of my spare time. Feb 1 is when early registration will open. I will continue hammering down marketing strategies until Feb 14, which is the date our regular registration period will open. This will last until March 1.First week of March will be our late registration period. I will no longer be doing any advertising come March 1 (obv). All my attention will be on preparing the league for games. The spring season will begin March 10 and last 9 weeks including 1 bye week and at this point 100% of my efforts will be towards making sure the league operates at maximum efficiency and at minimum effort for the customers (the parents of the kids who will be playing in this league).I have made sure I can provide a better quality experience through simple things (such as free giant water/Gatorade coolers and paper cups at games, higher quality league t shirts, end of the year incentives {re: parties} for the whole league, etc.) all while keeping my cost below the current lowest competitor on the market.What allows me to do this isn't magic, it is simply my willingness and ability to take on a work load greater than that of my competitors and put in the manual labor needed to cut physical costs down to practically $0. I will be doing all the physical advertising (design, creation, installation) myself. I have created the website myself using squarespace. I am splitting the initial cost ($3k) with a significant other. There is no one but me, my SO, and who we end up contracting out as a reffing service (if I and my SO can't find a cheaper alternative). Doing this whole thing by myself has allowed me two freedoms: the freedom to control practically every aspect of the company and the freedom to take hits on certain categories of revenue (cost per shirt, end of year parties, excess water+Gatorade, etc.) because I have no responsibility to pay anyone but myself and my SO. And obviously we will not be paying ourselves a dime until we can achieve all of our short term goals for this company.I'm not even sure if 5 people have made it this far but on the off chance some of you have, I have a few questions for anyone willing to answer.What tools have you found most beneficial for learning more about your target market? My target market is middle schoolers and at the same time it's their parents as they have to pay. My current approach is to target parents and hope they bring the message back into the household and spark their child's interest in joining the league while simultaneously gathering as much exposure to these kids as possible through physical advertising.What can a youth league do that would automatically separate them, in your mind, from their competitors? My current thoughts: free water and Gatorade, end of year events, tons of media coverage (photos, videos, team updates posted daily/weekly to our website). Future thoughts: provide healthy/lightweight snacks (grapes, strawberries, chips) alongside drink coolers once economically viable.How does volunteer coaching work? I mean tax-wise, incentives-wise, etc.. As of right now I plan on offering a "family plays free" incentive for coaching. I don't know what else I could offer that would be appealing to people who are already willing to volunteer their time in the first place. Would I need anything more than that?As for my company timeline, I think I have just about everything figured out. I need help with when and how I should start campaigning for volunteer coaches. Without coaches we can't play as the coaches of each team will act as an informational bridge between the parents and players and myself, the company. Most everything will be able to be found on our website but as we all know, it's nice to be able to pick up the phone and just figure out wtf is going on in any given situation by talking to an actual person.I can't think of any more questions I have but I'll update with any that may pop up in my head as soon as they do. A few random thoughts and clarifications I have before I pass out because it's 5:30am:This will be a 10 team, 15 player (max) roster size league. There must be 10 players on game day for a game to be played. 12 players max on game day will be allowed to play per team. I chose 15 as max roster size because life happens and not everyone can make it every week. Do you think this number is too high? Should I lower max roster size?Sponsors. It seems to me that the number one advantage of obtaining sponsorships for my new youth league would be reinforcement of legitimacy to the parents. I know absolutely nothing about this part. As of today my plan is to reach out to each individual potential sponsor and ask if they wouldn't mind me using their logo on our website and t shirts. They have to do no work and they get free ad space. This seems like a win-win for both parties and leaves them no reason to deny me the right to use their logos. Am I missing something? I feel like that is just simply way too easy. How do negotiations for sponsorship typically go? I would love insight into this in particular more than anything else.E1: Inaugural season. I'm thinking special t shirts to commemorate it as well as some small material prize at the end of the season (on top of the end of the year party). Haven't given this one much thought but I'm convinced there needs to be some way to commemorate our first season. Drawstring bags for the kids with our logo on it maybe? I loved those bags as a child.Thanks for reading and if you have any questions about the specifics of any of this, feel free to PM. I'd love nothing more than to listen to any and all feedback you can give me. This was a 5am rant on mobile so I apologize in advance for however this ends up looking.. lol.