#but this is just an exploration of buck & his relationship w the universe

[gazelonger]

the volume of the universe

As much as Buck loves his job, some days are better than others. And this one—this one was plain bad.

Call after call, no food in his stomach, a literal drop of coffee that had scorched his tongue and didn’t give him even the slightest burst of energy he had hoped it would—Buck couldn’t wait for it to be over.

Even though Eddie has been unbearably righteous, Buck would have to agree with him; the last call was superbly boring compared to everything else.

And as much of a reprieve it had been, something about it left Buck thinking it was a bad sign. It didn’t help him feel any more settled than he was before—if anything the complete opposite—and he can’t sit still when they all clamber back into the cabin.

The jinx definitely had not gone away.

The universe does not scream, Eddie says, and there is a sudden, raw dryness in Buck’s throat and a deep chill in his bones. He doesn’t have long to think much about it beyond vaguely wondering if he’s developing a cold before the wind blows sparks from the live power pole leaning against the ladder truck, and Buck’s attention is drawn elsewhere.

It isn’t until later, until his eyes are scanning, unseeing, over some page in the book in his lap that his therapist assigned to him, that he’s replaying the conversation in his head and reminded of what Eddie said. Of how his body had reacted to it.

Out of everything that had been said in the cabin, that one bit of it affected Buck more than anything else, even more than the potentiality of almost being electrocuted to death. But it’d been hours since then and Buck can’t shake it.

It makes sense that it would elicit a reaction from him, he supposes.

For as long as Buck could remember, he had been keenly aware of the universe and its workings.

(Keep reading here or on AO3)

His mother’s shrill voice and his father’s misleadingly paternal one had reminded him time and again that the world is an uncertain place. He’d been told since he was young that he needed to look after himself because no other person could do it for him, let alone the universe.

Early on, the warning accompanied some form of coddling as the stern reminder that Buck probably could have stood to listen to. And it did work the trick for a little while; or it certainly used to scare the hell out of him, at least. Used to make him look both ways before crossing empty streets, made him scan people up and down in the halls at school for some imperceptible threat that was never there.

Eventually, though, Buck forced himself to swallow that fear. More than he needed to look after himself, he needed his parents to give him some kind of attention. Some kind of recognition that he existed. He needed it like he needed air to breathe, and all regard for his personal safety could come later.

Maddie was gone and there was no one to talk to, no one to get him out of his head when he got stuck there for too long, no one to even look at him. The house was too quiet without her. It was too empty. It was almost like he could feel himself disappearing.

And his parents were too occupied with themselves to appreciate Buck’s efforts to heed their advice, anyway, so there wasn’t really a point in continuing to do so.  

Buck missed the attention that getting into trouble would guarantee him, missed the fond exasperation and the headshakes paired with tight-lipped smiles.

And so he started acting out again, and the warning came back as he expected it would. But the resigned expressions of worry and love didn’t. In their place was a convoluted, angry, wild type of hurt directed towards Buck that he could never wrap his head around.

The world is an uncertain place, they would yell. What used to be a reminder that he should be more careful steadily became a furious, desperate plea for Buck to stop putting himself in death’s way.

But Buck didn’t care. Or he pretended not to—it was hard to tell sometimes. Regardless, he continued to tempt the universe.

He was messing with things that were bigger than him, that could have gotten him killed, and he was adamantly reckless about it.

It got to him every once in a while, how dangerous he was being. He was just a kid, after all; and he didn’t like getting hurt, he didn’t like almost dying. It left him rattled each time, left him shaking for hours and hours like he was freezing. Left him wishing he’d listen to his parents because maybe this time they’d be proud of him for it.

Even if he actively sought out the trouble—like the time he couldn’t get over his parents missing another football game and he taunted the biggest looking guy on the opposing team who then tackled Buck so hard that he had to be carried off the field—he would still feel unsettled and frustrated with himself afterwards. And it wasn’t because of the grade two concussion or whatever injuries he’d sustained.

He knew he was on a messy path.

So he tried to be okay with the hand he was dealt, tried to be okay with the fact that there was something about him that must repel his parents—that must have repelled Maddie. He decided to just keep his head low.

But no matter how actively he tried to stop seeking out trouble, it seemed to follow him anyway. Like a shadow.

Buck would be in class taking a test and his eyes would wander for a moment before he would get in trouble for cheating.

Or he would be riding his motorbike and would crash hard into a car that had run a red light—or maybe that he was too angry to see—and end up needing stitches.

Or he would spot a few guys from his lecture hall the money for a couple kegs and get blamed for the whole party.

(Or he would be sitting shotgun in the ladder truck before there was an audible BOOM , and he would come to pinned beneath it.)

Despite the fairly harmless ways he still acted out, even years after he reached adulthood, it was like the universe was finally getting its payback for Buck’s lifelong insolence.

Buck’s parents were only partially correct, he’d figured out. The world was an uncertain place. But it could be a certain place—if you learned to pay attention to it. And at some point, paying attention to the ways of the universe was necessary to survive.

Learning to respect it came naturally.

Even when he wasn’t actively seeking out trouble, when he wasn’t toying with fate, anything that happened to him was just what he had coming to him for almost three decades of unruly, disobedient behavior. Every heart-stopping, bone-crushing blow he faced was inarguably the universe’s way of saying this much is squared away between us, but we are far from even.

So after the day the one-eighteen had had, when they were sitting in the cabin and avoiding electrocution, Buck was practically thrumming with how much attention he was giving to everything the universe was saying to them. To him.

He knew that he tripped while he was booking it up the ladder on the first call because he was the one who had asked the probie the question which had triggered the whole day. It was the same way that, three years ago, the fire suppression system had been triggered on him because he was the one who had said the q-word.

It was, exactly as Hen called it, divine retribution.

The universe had a sense of humor, and Buck wasn’t deaf to it.

Eddie was, though. Much to Buck’s dismay.

Buck couldn’t stand it. It left him frustrated, his hackles raising and his words coming quicker and more clipped each time he spoke. Without realizing it, he was leaning forward in his seat, his hands gesturing as widely as they could without accidentally bumping against the window or the metal of the cabin or Hen sitting pressed next to him.

It was rare that he was the one to take something seriously while Eddie was the one to make a joke out of it, and Buck didn’t like the change of pace. Especially when it came to the universe.

The same universe which had crushed his leg, which had caused his blood to clot, which had put him and Christopher in the middle of a tsunami, was the same one that was not letting up on this day.

Why couldn’t Eddie see that, too?

That was hours ago, and the loft was quiet now as he, Hen, and Chimney read while Bobby tinkered around in the kitchen. But Buck is still thinking about it.

Buck knows that the universe can scream, knows that it is capable of doing far worse than screaming; he knows it like he knows the back of his hand.

But he tries to think about it from Eddie’s perspective.

Buck knows that Eddie is at least a little superstitious. All the remotes in his house still being in a basket on top of the refrigerator are proof enough of that.

But aside from that, Eddie has that medallion on him at all times like it’s a lifeline. And even if it really is just the reminder of Christopher being what comforts Eddie, Buck remembers the frenzied way he had scoured the floor of the locker room that one time it fell out of his pocket and he couldn’t find it right away. Remembers the blind panic in his eyes when he realized it was missing. Remembers the way Eddie’s body had sagged in relief and he brought the medallion to his lips and held it there after he found it underneath his duffle.

Buck also knows that Eddie likes maintaining control over his surroundings. He is proud of the choices he makes, he stands by them—like his choice to move himself and Christopher to LA.

He even claimed today not to worry about those things that he just doesn’t have direct control over.

Those things, Buck knows—even though Eddie didn’t say it—include Shannon’s death. Which, almost two years later, Buck knows Eddie is still struggling to come to terms with. Probably exactly because he had no control over it and couldn’t stop it from happening no matter how much he wishes he could have been able to.

So maybe the idea that some things are out of his reach, that some things are beyond his own will and happen for a reason, is too hard to comprehend.

Maybe, to Eddie, the idea that the universe is an active entity is too overwhelming a thought.

Overwhelming in the same way that it was to Buck when he was ten years old and couldn’t meet anyone’s gaze because he didn’t know what the world would do to him if he tested it.

So maybe Buck could be a little more empathetic.

But it just—it bothers him.

Underestimating the universe never ends well, and there is a tight feeling in Buck’s chest when he thinks that Eddie might be forced to realize that at some point.

The universe does not scream, Eddie had said. He had outright refused to believe that Buck was right.

The dryness in Buck’s throat is back, catching him off guard. A shiver runs down his spine and his fingers twitch against the page he still hasn’t read.

For the second time that day, Buck worries that he might be catching a cold. It was autumn, sure, but Buck just didn’t get colds. Irrationally he thinks it might be the virus, but he knows it’s not that, knows that a sore throat isn’t one of the symptoms and he can breathe just fine and he tested negative yesterday .

(He’ll take another one tomorrow, anyway. Just to be safe.)

Buck doesn’t understand what it is about the statement that leaves him feeling this way, leaves him feeling like he’s caught in the rain—

The rain. Screaming.

Oh.

Buck is stricken with a sudden memory of a cold shift from the year before. Of when they’d almost lost Eddie.

The storm came from nowhere and was gone just as quick. Buck usually liked the rain since it was so rare in LA—he didn’t like how it made his clothes damp and how it made his hair stick to his skin, although there is something different and less bothersome about it while he’s working—but on this day he hated it.

Or, well—no—he didn’t hate the rain, even then. He hated what it did to the earth. It soaked the ground through with water and turned it into thick and gooey mud. It had slipped through his hands like squishable sand, and had become packed deep beneath the surface, closing in on the well that Eddie was suddenly, horrifyingly, utterly trapped in.

The panic Buck felt in that moment nearly swallowed him whole.

And—as awful as it sounds—Buck isn’t a stranger to thinking the people he loves are dying.

He remembers the plane crash from his fifth month on the job. His SEAL training was the only reason he managed to avoid drowning in the unruly waves of the Pacific as he watched the remainder of the plane sink with Bobby still inside of it.

He remembers the silence over the radio when Hen didn’t respond during the earthquake. His jaw had locked into place and he was wobbly on his feet in a way that had nothing to do with the unnatural angle of the building.

He remembers finding Chimney lying on the ground outside of Maddie’s apartment. Chimney’s blood had pooled beneath Buck’s knees, the warmth of it seeping through Buck’s pants and his fingers where he held his hands over Chim’s stomach, staining his skin and his clothes.

He remembers miles of white landscape stretching out in front of him. The snow soaked his clothes and the soles of his shoes as he sprinted, his lungs burning, searching for any sign of Maddie. The sight of her stumbling hundreds of yards away with wet, raggedy hair and dark red all over.

He remembers the dread in his gut at the sound of a loud splash, turning around to see Christopher gone, having fallen into the water when the second wave came. Buck never saw Christopher come above the surface.

This, though. This was different.

Buck might have reacted the same as he did in some of those other situations, his instincts taking hold immediately and controlling everything he did. But he barely remembers the split second where he realized Eddie was trapped. All he knew was that he needed to get to him and then his bare hands were in the mud and someone was screaming.

Eddie! Eddie! Eddie! Eddie! No! E-Eddie! Eddie, no! Eddie, no!

He didn’t realize it was him at first. Didn’t realize it until Bobby was pulling him back and he fell into his lap and started hyperventilating—sobbing, really—unable to breathe and the screaming had stopped.

(He wouldn’t have been able to stand if Bobby hadn’t grabbed him under his arms and hauled him up, all but dragging him towards the house to get his hands washed to give him something to do.)

But Buck had actually screamed himself hoarse. Woke up the next morning with a sore throat and everything.

Eddie never knew what happened after the well collapsed. Never watched the broadcast of it, not wanting to remember more than he had to. Buck couldn’t blame him; he never filled Eddie in on the details, either. It was too touchy a subject to broach, and, besides, Buck wasn’t too keen on wanting to relive the moment himself.

What happened to Eddie wasn’t fair. It shouldn’t have been him. The universe had no right to take him that day—and thankfully it knew as much, because Eddie had come back and was alive and made it home to Christopher and had spent the whole day today being a softcore bully.

The universe knew it wasn’t Eddie’s time. And while it might have been the one to send that lightning bolt down, triggering everything, it was just as responsible for spitting Eddie out of that lake.

Buck was sure of that.

So while Eddie might argue that the universe does not scream, he wouldn't know that Buck had screamed for it.

It’s at that point that Buck remembers that he is not, in fact, in the freezing rain. That Eddie is not buried thirty feet below him.

He is sitting in the loft in the firehouse. Eddie is in the bunks, probably sound asleep by now.

Buck swallows thickly, his throat still dry as his body recovers from getting lost in the memory. He shifts in the chair he’s sitting in and blinks rapidly, trying to clear the fog that has settled over his brain.

The loft is quiet. The only sounds to be heard are the occasional scrape of paper against skin as Chimney or Hen turn a page in the books they are reading, and the light tapping of metal as Bobby puts some leftovers from a dinner they finally had been given time to eat into tupperware.

It’s familiar, this, and it’s grounding in a way that Buck feels himself being steadily brought back to the present. Tension releases from his shoulders when he rolls them.

“You okay, Buck?” Bobby asks from where he’s busying himself behind the island.

Buck’s eyebrows lift, and he looks over to see Bobby watching him with mild curiosity.

“Yeah,” Buck says. He lifts his book off his lap slightly as if to say I’m just reading, and offers what he hopes looks like a reassuring smile.

Satisfied, Bobby nods, too, and then resumes whatever he was doing.

Buck takes a deep breath. He needs to actually read the book if he doesn’t want to be reprimanded by his therapist—which he doesn’t. He looks down at the page he was on, slightly regretting having zoned out. But he’ll be able to focus now, he figures.

The loft is quiet. Eddie is sleeping downstairs.

It’s almost a jarring juxtaposition from the rest of the day, where the universe hadn’t given any of them a single moment to catch their breaths. But maybe the jinx has worn off now—Buck can admit that he isn’t totally sure how it works.

Either way, something in his chest has been settled now.

The universe can be quiet, too.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

hi, i am looking for a very specific johnlock case fic on ao3 with an au where they are in america and on the oregon trail, possibly traveling to wyoming, or probably just western america!lock in generally. thanks! :)

Hey Nonny!

Ahh, I don’t know which fic this is, but I have a few American AUs in my MFL list, maybe one of them is it? If anyone knows which one it is for sure, let us know!!

AMERICAN AUs (TO READ)

Gone and Changed by cwb (E, 4,617 w., 1 Ch. || Farm/Ranch American AU || Teenlock, Friends to Lovers, Angst, High School, Summer Vacation, Swimming, Hot Weather, Oral Sex, Car Sex, Blow Jobs, First Kiss/Time, Falling in Love, Mutual Pining) – John and Sherlock are best friends, until John goes and changes. Part 1 of the Just Like That series

At All Material Time by dizzylittlesunflowers (T, 7,029 w., 1 Ch. || 1930′s Farm/Ranch AU || One Shot) – When John Watson first met Sherlock Holmes, the dark-haired stranger had told him he'd never make the mistake of falling in love. Set in 1930's Southern America, the mysterious Holmes family move into the deserted house opposite John Watson's farm. Intrigued with the strange newcomers, the young farmer lets his priorities slip. But not without consequence.

How to Sleep with Your Enemy in One Semester by 221b_careful_what_you_wish_for (M, 9,699 w., 6 Ch. || College / Uni Professors AU || Professor John/Sherlock, Enemies to Lovers, Rivalry, Bickering, Office Sex, Blow Jobs, Fluff, Domestics, John’s Beard, Idiots in Love, Humour) – Visiting professors John Watson and Sherlock Holmes are longtime academic rivals — and now unwilling office mates — at a prestigious American university. When their tense arguments give way to an undercurrent of mutual attraction, their war of wits turns into something more personal — until it goes off course. A party, a phone number, and deserted office at night might just bring them back together.

The Rainbow Connection by honeybee_motorcyles (M, 13,161 w., 7 Ch. || Post-TRF, Autistic Sherlock, American Road Trip, Understanding, Communication, PTSD Sherlock, Regression, Aspergers, Angst and Fluff) – A Road Trip is the best cure for Sherlock and John's relationship.

Wild Skies by darkestbliss (E, 13,339+ w., 9/? Ch. || WiP || American Farm/Ranch AU || Age Difference, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Bottom Sherlock, Virgin Sherlock, Teen Sherlock, Summer Camp, Older John) – Sherlock Holmes, show jumping champion turned druggie, is sent to a small, remote ranch in Wyoming for the summer as part of his rehabilitation process. There, he meets John Watson, a beautiful and good-natured ranch hand who was raised by the West.

The Reawakening of John Watson by 221b_careful_what_you_wish_for (E, 20,463 w., 14 Ch. || Historical 1800s American/Victorian AU || Artist Sherlock, Writer John, Angst with Happy Ending, Bisexual John, Period Typical Homophobia, Sensuality, Experienced Sherlock, Pining, Past Drug Use, Slow Burn, Love Confessions, Flirty Sherlock, Frottage, Outdoor Sex, Trust Issues, Minor Character Death, Sexual Tension, Colorado / London, Rimming, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs,  POV John) – Trying to escape his troubled past in England, John Watson has started a new life in the American West. When he meets the handsome artist Sherlock Holmes, a smoldering attraction is sparked, complicating his quiet, carefully guarded existence. Maybe taking a risk with Sherlock is exactly what John needs to feel alive again...

Learning Curve by thpontiacbandit (M, 41,422 w., 22 Ch. || Teacher / Parent AU || America, Fluff and Smut, Parentlock, Frottage) – John is a Kindergarten teacher. One of his students, a boy named Henry Holmes, refuses to speak in school. John is determined to get to the bottom of it, and that is how he meets Sherlock Holmes.

The Bone Fiddle by htebazytook & Vulgarweed (E, 61,167 w., 13 Ch. || American Historical 1970′s AU || Appalachia, West Virginia, Vietnam War, Watergate, Murder Mystery, Case Fic, Drama, Humour, Romance) – In November 1973, Vietnam vet John Watson returns to his family's old home in Arthel County, West Virginia, deep in coal country. His low expectations include recuperation and boredom. Instead he finds a ruined landscape, a series of grisly murders, and one of the world's weirdest neighbors. Part 1 of the The Bone Fiddle series

Next Right: Welcome to Westbound Rest Area 818 by elwinglyre (E, 73,618 w., 16 Ch. || American Unilock AU || Bunk Beds, Anonymous Sex, Homophobia, Closeted John, Roommates, Angst with Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Music, Rape/Non-Con, Hurt John, BAMF John) – Sherlock Holmes dreams of escape from his smothering family and space to breathe. Studying chemistry at the University of Michigan, he's almost far enough away to fill his lungs. Almost. While John Watson dreams of being a doctor, he also dreams of being with another man. John knows that with hard work and study, he can make the first a reality, but he's certain the second can never be. Until a secret encounter in the dark at Rest Area 818 changes everything. When Sherlock meets his new roommate, John Watson, he sees a man in the closet. Sherlock hides from no one. Except from his own family, a detective inspector who wants his evidence returned, and his secret encounter at Rest Area 818. Setting late 1970s, Michigan, USA. POV third person alternates between John Watson and Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock, P.I. by Callie4180 (E, 83,264 w., 11 Ch. || Magnum P.I. Fusion || Past Relationships, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Canon-Typical Violence, Stalking, Creepy Moriarty) – For the Fall TV Sherlock fusion project. Sherlock, P.I. is an American television show that follows the exciting adventures of genius private investigator Sherlock Homes and his friends as they live their lives on the beautiful island of Oahu in Hawaii. Sherlock solves crimes as he wrestles with the ghosts and demons of his past.

Boyfriend Material by PoppyAlexander (E, 151,282 w., 58 Ch. || American Hockey AU || Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Closeted John, POV John, Pining, Casual Sex / Hook Ups, Rom-Com) – Boston Brawlers' team captain John Watson longs for two things: a championship before he retires, and a boyfriend. Assigned to room with goaltender Sherlock Holmes--known around the league as both a genius and a "weird dude"– on Brawlers' roadtrips, John discovers the things they have in common that lead to an easy friendship and a convenient arrangement.

Nine and a Half Weeks by CumberCurlyGirl and Kameo (E, 175,094+ w., 35/? Ch. || WiP || American AU || Different First Meeting, Daddy Kink, Bottomlock, Anal Plug, Riding Crops, Spanking, Light Bondage, Anal/Oral, Aftercare, Posh John, Virgin Sherlock, Homophobia, Sugar Daddy John, Rimming, Coming in Pants, Light Dom/Sub, Past Sherlock / Victor, Light BDSM, Public Sex, John in a Kilt, Vibrators, Happy Ending) – Sherlock Holmes is about to graduate from high school in midwestern America. Despite his intelligence, his prospects are bleak due to poverty, an indifferent, alcoholic father and poor choices. One day, at work, he sells a riding crop to a handsome blonde Brit and his life is changed. He doesn't know what hit him - until he does. This is a story of a journey to love and self-acceptance and explores many themes along the way: drug abuse, grief, coming out, age difference, consent. Lots of sex but so much more.

Just Like That Series by cwb (E, 201,462+ w. across 4 works || Series WiP || American Teenager / Farmer AU || Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, Angst, High School, Summer Vacation, Swimming, Friends to Lovers, Car Sex, Mutual Pining, Falling in Love, Kissing) – John and Sherlock are best friends, until John goes and changes.

The Devil's Blaze by DulcimerGecko (E, 296,121+ w., 25/? Ch. || WiP || American Cowboy / Rodeo AU || Vet John, Case Fic, Texas, Slow Build, Manipulative Sherlock, Masturbation, Developing Relationship, Dancing Lessons, Drunk Sherlock, Safe Sex, Blow Jobs, Horny John, Cowboy Sherlock, Cowboy John) – Sherlock Holmes, the world’s only Consulting Equestrian Expert, is the individual called when horse owners are out of their depth. At the behest of his elder brother, Sherlock travels to Amarillo, Texas, to investigate why a valuable bucking stallion has seemingly gone berserk for no reason and killed his trainer. The local authorities suspect the owner of fraud and possible animal abuse, but Mycroft sees parallels to an unsolved case from the 1980s wherein a racehorse killed a groom. Complicating the situation is John Watson: bronco rider, rodeo veterinarian and one of case’s primary suspects... Part 1 of the The Devil's Blaze series

[useramor]

2021 fic year in review that i should've done days ago!

tagged by @tinselbuck aaaaages ago but i wanted to post a few more fics before i did this so i would have more fics to choose from lol!!

Total Number Of Completed Works: 5

Total Word Count: 44.8k (on ao3- 49k counting the prompt fills on here)

Fandoms I’ve Written In: 911!!

Looking Back, Did You Write More Fic Than You Thought You Would This Year, Less, Or About What You’d Expected? more for sure! especially considering i wasn't totally in a major fandom this year until i started watching 911, and i only started posting fic in december so to get 45k (not counting wips lol) in one month is pretty sweet!!

What’s Your Own Favorite Story Of The Year? i really like i think i wanna merry you actually! also a fan of i wanna get stuck in your head (maybe i'll be brave enough by then) they're both just rly sweet lol but on different ends of the spectrum (one is a sickeningly fluffy get together fic and the other is established relationship/proposal so)

Did You Take Any Writing Risks This Year? the NYE fic i posted is like... 50% smut and i am nooooot a smut writer lol but i wanted to challenge myself cuz i would love to have smut as a tool i can use in my writing and i actually don't hate how it came out

Do You Have Any Fanfic Or Profic Goals For The New Year? yeah! i have a few longer wips i wanna post and i wanna hit 80k words in january (i did 70k in december, i wanna see if i can increase it by 10!!)

Most Popular Story Of The Year? easily call me by your name it's at almost 600 kudos which is the most of ANY fic i've ever posted regardless of fandom! and i posted it 3 days ago so the response to that fic in such a short period is like so cool to me

Story Of Mine Most Under-Appreciated By The Universe, In My Opinion: idk honestly!! i don't rly think any of them are under appreciated? i think it's very sick that every time i refresh ao3 my fics all have new kudos's and i would say i want your midnights but i posted it at like 4pm yesterday (it's 11am for me rn) and it was nye so i cant rly expect it to have like 1000 kudos considering that

Most Fun Story To Write: i think i wanna merry you maybe? just because i came up with the concept on december 22, wrote the whole thing in one go, and managed to have it edited and posted by the 23rd so that was a fic accomplishment for me lol (i also think the title is cute sdfgkjh) but also call me by your name cuz it's the first not canon compliant fic i've posted so it was fun to explore the different scenarios and all of that

Most Unintentionally Telling Story: i don't think i have one actually? oh j-fucking-k it's not posted on ao3 but it's probably this fic which was just a prompt fill on tumblr but any sad eddie shit i write i guess is the most telling but honestly i don't project onto the characters i write too much cuz i highly HIGHLY doubt anyone wants to read that (also i'm so repressed i give eddie diaz a run for his money i am not touching my feelings with a twelve foot pole idfc)

Biggest Disappointment: hit a bit of a writers block w a wip i love dearly </3 but it's ok bc it is literally so specific and detailed that i'll probably go back to it after i finish the OTHER wip i started and also the other wip i have outlined after than and maybe i'll just write at the same time as the third wip....... ha ha .......

Biggest Surprise: writing at all ? don't get me wrong i write plenty throughout the year (big BIG fan of writing scripts and screenplays lmao) but i mean writing for fandom. i don't have too many fics posted at all but since i started watching 911 i've put out 5 fics for it (3 being above 10k too which fucks so hard) so that's fun :D

My Favorite Part Of Fandom This Year: i looooove being in fandom. idk i always have. i've been in fandom and on tumblr for hot minute but this fandom has been such a nice one :') and i rly like writing for buck and eddie! so i'm just rly happy everyone seems to at least enjoy reading it a little lmao

not tagging anyone cuz i was tagged in this like..... a while ago. and i'm sure you've already done it. but if u want to u can consider this me tagging u go right babycheeks

[grailbot143]

Welcome Back Everyone!

Thank @daiskken for this week's artwork! I really love the style of this picture.

As I was not the biggest fan of last week’s episode and had every intention of wiping it entirely from my memory, this week, we are going to do something a little different. Instead of a recap of last week, we are going to focus on:

Briefcap Beach Party

Consolidated lingering Questions The Steven Universe World Characters Places Things Likes and Dislikes So Far Briefcap from Steven Universe: Beach Party (S1:Ep18)

Beach Party opens with the Gems fighting a Blowfish. Steven throws his boogie board to try to distract it for Garnet. Garnet gets blown into town where she destroys the front of the pizzeria. Amethyst turns into a baseball bat and hits the blowfish out to the ocean. The Gems argue with each other. Mr. Pizza gets upset about the pizzeria. The Gems go home. Kofi tells Steven the Gems are banned. He goes home to tell them because he's so sad.

Steven sets up a really boring beach party to bring the Pizzas and Gems together. The Gems dress appropriately at Steven's behest. He pairs up the Gems with Pizzas for a volleyball game that dwindles into a cheating match. . . . I told some jokes.

The blowfish returns and Nanafua directs everybody through a really ridiculous fight and the blowfish is defeated. Kofi wraps up the episode faster than Dumbledore wrapped up the Sorcerer's Stone and about as haphazardly.

AND . . . Episode Over (thank goodness)

Episode Random Noticings

Fish Stew Pizza never got fixed.

Fish Stew Pizza still sounds disgusting.

Nanafua is commanding and the Gems are oddly compliant.

Consolidated lingering Questions

The Gems:

Where do they come from? How is power derived from them? Are all the gems the same, but act differently according to… something? How is magic embued into the gems? Who is chosen to wear them and why? Why is a pearl considered a gem? What about the gemmed enemies? How do they get gems? Or are they created out of gems? Assumption: each has unique powers, i.e., Amethyst can’t project a plan from her gem_ If the above assumption is correct, what exactly is Garnet’s superpower? What are Steven's powers? s Amethyst's strange relationship with gravity a po Who all can fu?se?w old are each of them? It’s suggested that they're centuries old. Amethyst acts a bit like a teenager. Is she that much younger than Pearl? Where does Garnet fall? Why is Steven the only boy? How many boy gems are there everywhere? Why is Garnet the boss? Is it because she's older and wiser?

The World:

The Lunar Sea Spire was known as the Oasis for Gems on Earth, so I know it’s Earth, but… Is it in the same Earth that we are in, but hidden from us, or some sort of alternate universe Are the gems ONLY on Earth? This would make the nomenclature Oasis for Gems on Earth redundant, so probably notar, everything seems to be happening in this town… are there other Gems in other towns? Like every town has a team of Crystal Gems protecting it? Or is this town some center for universal negativity, so the Gems are focused here? Why do people in anime scream out the names of their attacks? Where did Lion take Steven and Connie for training? Is that place, or a similar one, available to all gems? Do you need a familiar to take you there?

The House on the Beach:

This is more a curiosity, but I wouldn’t mind seeing the fight that took off that statues hands What is up with the living temple inside the house? Beating hearts, waterfalls, a pool for getting rid of evil spirits. Need much more history and understanding here. BTW, it's been more than 10 episodes and none of these have been answered. Why not? The Steven Universe World This is just a quick list of things that make this place unique… no explanations.

Townies:

What's up with Onion and his dad? Are they from some other place? Why would you make a place called Fish Stew Pizza? What is the name of the fry place?

Rose Quartz:

Why does Rose have to die to give Steven his superpowers? Is Rose even dead?? I don’t remember that explicitly being stated What would make her choose that? a prophesy? desire to give Greg a kid? gonna die anyway? Did she give up her gem to HAVE a kid or to EMBUE a kid with the gem? Did she get to KNOW Steven?

Lion:

What all does Lion know? How did he get his powers?

Characters

The Crystal Gems

Pearl Garnet Amethyst (dead?) Rose Quartz Steven

The Townsfolk

Sadie Lars FryMan PeeDee Fryman Rinaldo Fryman Greg Mailman Barb (not seen) Nanafua Pizza Kofi Pizza Jenny Pizza Kiki Pizza Sour Cream Buck Dewey Onion Onion's Dad Guy that runs the Arcade Suitcase Sam? Mayor Dewey

Monsters/Creatures

Centipeedles and their mother Red Eye (offscreen) A giant bird with a giant polka-dot egg The Spirit from the painting that possessed Together Breakfast The Crystal Shrimp (deceased) Frybo Steven with Cats The Eel that liked shiny stuff Lion Starfish Drills and their MOM? Giant Bird from Giant Woman The Geode Beetles from Heaven and Earth The carnivorous moss that turns into beautiful flowers Holo-Pearl Training Robot from the cavern Blow/Pufferfish Blood Polyp (offscreen)

Places

Around Town

Big Donut the fry shop the arcade the boardwalk Fish Stew Pizza Greg’s van the car wash the storage facility the Crystal Gem’s house on the beach Suitcase Sam's T-Shirt store Amusement Park Dock Wrestling Arena Movie Theatre (in town?) Pearl's favorite tree (deceased) Under the Ocean

Mystical

The Temple with a beating heart the storage unit? Greg said it was magical (destroyed) The Lunar Sea Spire the teleporter thing in Steven’s living room The Training Cavern Upside Pyramid in the Strawberry Fields Sand Castles that the Dessert Glass built The cave in Arcade Mania The Sky Spire The Lava place where Garnet retrieved the Geode Beetle of Earth Deadman's Mouth The cloud/Pillar place in Steven The Sword Fighter

Things

Gems

Rose Quartz 2 Garnets Amethyst (not a gem) Pearl Centipeedles’ Mothers gem (pants animating) Gem Shards (maybe? pretty sure) The Lunar Goddess Statue Eel's Gem Gem from Upside Down Pyramid Dessert Glass Starfish Mother Gem The ROC in Giant Woman Blowfish Gem

Mystical Items

Summoned Weapons Laser Light Cannon Red Eye? Lunar Goddess Statue Cursed Painting Replicator Wand (destroyed) Button in the Cavern (and all that stuff)

Food (as it’s seemingly important to our little hero)

(discontinued) Cookie Cats Fry Bits (Cat Fingers enjoy this too) Together Breakfast (offscreen) Pizza (unmentioned) Cupcakes in jars (not food) Cheeseburger backpack Donuts Fish Stew Pizza Giant Strawberries Margarine to slick hair back Sodas that he threw all over the place in Tiger Millionaire Coconuts Sandwich Cereal (Arcade Mania) Steven (for the bird in Giant Woman) Cake Aqua Mexico Burrito Cream Pies (more a prop than food) Bag of Chips Burger for Onion's Dad Seagull's banana peel and pizza Cheeseburger Backpack full of snacks for the movie Popcorn Hot Dogs Burgers (with a ridiculous amount of buns, lettuce, and silverware)

Likes and Dislikes Far

Dislikes

Not a fan of the important role junk food plays in the show I don’t relate to Steven much. He mostly annoys me. Why is there not a main antagonist? Are we going to be playing monster of the week forever? Surely we’ll get one antagonist we can loath… (this is still an issue 18 episodes in. . . ) Season 1: Episode 5 Frybo Season 1: Episode 18 Beach Party

Likes

I like that all the answers to everything are not conveniently packaged in an episode I like Garnet… and sometimes Amethyst… and I often relate to Pearl I like Greg and his super awesome van I like that it seemed like we landed in the middle of a life, rather than the beginning of a story. . . this continues to be true through every episode. I like the most of the townspeople and their relationships with Steven I appreciate that though there are some references a kid wouldn’t understand completely, there is so far no blatantly adult humor or sexuality even in undertones - still true after 18 episodes. . . I like the whole living temple thing - but it is frustrating that we have only explored it once and so many questions remain. I like Connie alot. She is funny and smart and a perfect non-super for the story. I like the random swords sticking up in multiple places. I like arcade games. . . I like that there are so many details in the background like everywhere . . . and it's obvious the creators are nerds I like Sour Cream

I just want to remind everyone, I write these recaps after having only seen the episode once, a week ago, and often interrupted by my whole blogging thing. I mainly do it for myself to refresh my memory for the next episode, but since I post it, I thought I should ask your forgiveness if it isn’t exactly perfect (or even close). Don't forget if you have a submission for artwork for today's episode, submit before Friday using the link above, and I'll pick one to use as the cover art.

[symphysins]

Have any other good fics for us???

sorry this took a while to reply back to. i’ve been compiling this for a while.

since you didn’t specify what kind of fics, i’m gonna give like a smorgasbord of different ut fics i love w/ a blurb of stupid commentary from me :’D

(be warned, snas is my fav so a bunch feature him/are centered around him.)

(also be warned that not everything i like may be ur cup of tea, so make sure to read the tags/warnings.)

longpost under cut. ready? here we gooo~ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ 

Universal Displacement by knowmeknot: A forgotten doctor once theorized that when the same event occurs at the exact same time in two separate universes, they converge for a single moment and something… spectacular happens. A destabilization maybe. Or a merge. Or better yet, a displacement of two similar but different entities.

one of my favorite kedgeup things is when ut!sans or uf!paps lands in the other’s universe, and this fic expands on this idea rlly well.

A Lack of Brotherly Love by Askellie: After a brutal series of genocide runs, Sans wakes up in an alternate universe where the monsters were saved, everyone is on the surface and the future looks bright…except the fundamental difference in this universe is that its resident Sans never loved or supported his brother. As a result, Papyrus is a lonely outcast, unable to fit in and scarred from years of emotional neglect.And Sans isn’t going to let that stand.

i desperately want sans to punch the fuck out of dr.serif. and then go give poor paps all the hugs he deserves.

To Love Yourself by undertailsoulsex: UF!Sans fights with his brother and doesn’t know what to do with himself. He ends up traveling to the Undertale Universe where he meets the kindhearted Sans and Papyrus.UF!Sans has to come to terms with his depression and his newfound feelings for the other skeletons.

this fic emotionally destroyed me… but in a good way i swear! it’ll lead you on a rollercoaster of feels, but it’s worth it.

It’s A Long Story by RiseiTekiSensei: a soriel series detailing toriel and sans’ relationship in the underground and aboveground. i really like how both of them have their own issues, and how they support eachother through those issues. i also love how head over heels sans is for toriel.

A Fortune Cookie For You by Darkhymns: “In bed” jokes are the lowest form of comedy. So, of course, Sans and Toriel love them.

the jokes man. the jokes are the best.

Never a Lovely So Real by Kaesa: The city of Ebott, 193X. The market’s down, the crime rate’s up, and Sans is just trying to make a buck and keep an eye on his brother by working for the Dreemurr crime family. But after the Dreemurrs rescue a human child from their rival gang, the Flower Boys, Sans soon finds himself in way over his head. (Well. Not that that’s hard.)  

i love all the research put in to make this mob au fic really authentic. reading the little anecdotes at the end is rlly fun. 

Our Skeleton by yastaghr: The people who love him come to realise Sans may be hiding something from them. 

this. this is the fic that really got me into sansgoriel. royal goats showering tiny skele in love is the best.

for queen and country by tealmoon: Being the Judge of the Underground isn’t just a job, it’s about being chosen to carry out the infallible will of the Royal Family, to keep chaos and crime at bay, to protect all of Monsterkind.            

And for Papyrus, it’s about being helpless, and afraid, and alone.

us!paps suffering: the fic. somebody give this skele a friend. pls, he desperately needs one.   

Fired Up and Bone Weary by perniciousLizard: slowburn domestic sansby series. sans is written so in-character and grillby is really fleshed-out as a character. there’s tension and drama here and there, but it still feels mellow overall. reading this fic feels like sitting next to a warm hearth. 

These are our Days by Rehlia: Two days ago, you said goodbye to your best friend. Yesterday, you lost your job with no prior notice. And then today, you had a fight with your mom. So that’s your day today. Lonely, fighting with your mom, jobless. Perfect Day for a drink or two, right? What’s that on TV about monsters?You didn’t expect the monsters to accept that application for a social media job you sent them while you were drunk. Now you’ve suddenly moved to Ebott and spend your days hanging out with monsters, documenting your weird new life, and marvelling at how different monsters and humans can be - and how similar.  

god, i love all the worldbuilding in this fic. the little things about monster culture are so great. this fic really makes me invested in monsterkind’s integration on the surface. and the build-up to the sans/reader relationship rlly makes it all the more satisfying.

Tend to your memories by Rainbow_Sprinkles: Post-Pacifist after many, many resets. Explores political, social, and personal facets of monster integration into human society. Begins in 211X and spans over many years. Political and social climates have undergone major shifts from those of the present day. Character development and platonic-familial relationships receive the most attention. Major motifs include health, medicine, and science. 

realistically, i think a lot of the ut cast have been traumatized in some way, and this fic explores that very thoroughly. i think my favorite part about this series is the frisk, flowey, and chara development.

Kingship, And What Comes Next by CatKing_Catkin: This is the story of the Underground after Sans hung up the phone, after Papyrus took the throne. There’s no one left to guide him, no one left to look up to. Papyrus doesn’t want to let anyone down, especially not Sans when his brother is working so hard to support him. Sans doesn’t want to let Papyrus down, when his brother really is all he has left.They make mistakes, they miss one another, but together, they try to figure things out.This is a story about growing up, moving on, and what’s important in life.

this fic managed to take one of the saddest (imo) endings and turn it into something hopeful. 

lest ye be judged by nilchance: in an alternate universe, asgore became something like a parental figure to sans and papyrus. the whole series is wonderful, and i love the relationship sans and asgore have. 

Tsum Papyri by BarkingPup: In this world there is only Papyrus and… more Papyrus

the super sweet tsumtsum au made by zarla turned incredibly horrifying.

Overextension by MaxieSatan: Strength and weakness are not mutually exclusive, and neither one always looks the same.

i like reading fics about undyne & sans, bc you really never see them interact in game. it’s interesting to think about how they’d act around eachother.

Late Night Snack by EvilZebra:    

Tuesday 3:55 amRUDE SKELETON: did he ask you to help too                     

RUDE SKELETON: he did i can hear more pots dying             

RUDE SKELETON: pls spare my ketchup it does not deserve this 

papyrus cooks at 3 in the morning. sans and undyne suffer.

social links by simplycarryon: Friendship’s pretty neat, or so your video games and anime dictate. But you are not an anime protagonist, and you’re not sure you know what friendship is any more.

i love sans and alphys being science buddy friends.

Angels in the Underground by joliemariella: 200 years ago, angels were banished from the surface world after the commander of the heavenly host, Asgore, declared war on mankind. Now, young Frisk has fallen into the Underground and must conquer the angels’ seven trials if she, and the angels themselves, are to have any hope of escape. Along the way she meets Sans, a wounded seraphim who agrees to guide her through the trials at Toriel’s request. Friends are made, history unfolds, and Sans comes to hope again.

monsters with wiiiingsss. also seraphim dad sans is best dad.

Butterscotch and Bones by kaliawai512: Toriel promised herself she would never leave the Ruins. She had to stay there, to make sure that if a human fell, she could care for them - even if she couldn’t stop them from going to their deaths in time. But now and then, leaving is inevitable. The Ruins have only so many resources, after all. This time, before she heads Home from her latest expedition, she decides to stop and check in on the asocial Royal Scientist who was once her good friend.                                                   

She doesn’t find him.                                        

She finds two other someones instead.

FLUFF. SO MUCH FLUFF. some sad, bUT THAT ONLY MAKES THE FLUFF SWEETER. this fic is like a balm on the soul from the hurt of the handplates au.

Under the Veil by poplasia: Sans has gotten himself stuck in the void between worlds in a successful attempt to stop the resets of his timeline. He’s not sure how long he’s been chillin’ alone there, but eventually a chance at escape stumbles his way in from the Veil of Death. His name?—Sirius Black.

crossovers are great. crossovers with two of my favorite fandoms are even better. i’m really excited to see what these two pranksters will do next.

Missing Child Case by StoryCloud: Against all odds, the police find the four-year old that went missing around the summit of Mount Ebbot. A story from a child’s perspective has many interpretations.

it’s really rare to see fics that deal with neutral route endings, so this is a nice treat. also the fact that frisk is only four puts things into a diff. perspective.

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times by ABadTime: Set immediately after the pacifist run, the dark history of the skeleton brothers begins to surface when everything that held them together unravels, leading to the revelation of dark and transformative truths.The Best of Times, the Worst of Times sees the rise of heroes of unusual stripes in the face of unusual traumas, and explores the value of relationships in unusual times. The True Labs hold a great many terrible secrets only some of which have been able to reach their conclusion.

leaves you hanging on at the edge of your seat at some points, and has a satisfyingly happy ending. not to mention super cool gb!sans.

a lesson in grief. by ohmygodwhy:                           

you’ve got pressure dripping off your shoulders.               

or: sans tries to deal with some things.

let’s end this off with some of that sweet, sweet sans suffering. one of the first few ut fics i read. the ending was like a punch in the gut.

[asiaberkeley]

Pearl Buck’s Yang and Yin Circle

By Natalie Ornell

Pearl Buck interprets the yang and yin principles in her celebrated novel, The Good Earth.  Not only do yang and yin principles drive the relationship between farmer Wang Lun and his wife O-Lan, but they also define the ebb and flow of the family’s fortune.  Although nothing is written about yang and yin from Confucius’ viewpoint, Chinese philosophy expert Wing Tsit Chan attests to the overwhelming presence of the “Yin Yang doctrine” in all of Chinese civilization: “The Yin Yang doctrine is very simple but its influence has been extensive.  No aspect of Chinese civilization—whether metaphysics, medicine, government, or art—has escaped its imprint” he writes (Chan 244).  And neither does The Good Earth escape the “imprint” of yang and yin.

Yang and yin is expressed as a concept where “one” becomes the “expression of the other,” and where “both operate in cycles of rise and fall in a universal pattern, thus uniting man and Nature” (Chan 245).  Further, the yang and yin theory posits that unlucky omens accompany the decline of a nation or family, just as lucky omens accompany the rise of a family (Chan 226).    Following this tradition, Buck’s saga emphasizes the impermanence of any state of being.  Wealth and happiness never stagnate, just as poverty and misery give way.  And in all these processes, there is a fluidity that propels the life blood of the story.  Even the novel’s powerful concluding line prepares us yet again for an impending change, which because of the breakdown of filial piety in Wang Lun’s heirs, suggests the fall of the family once more.  This paper will explore Buck’s interpretation of yang and yin principles, especially through her characterization of The Good Earth’s matriarch, the enduring O-Lan.

The Good Earth opens with the sudden ascent of Wang Lun, an uneducated farmer, on his wedding day.  When he marries O-Lan, a slave, who graces his house with her exemplary cooking and cleaning, and soon bears him a coveted son, Buck portrays O-Lan as a good omen in Wang Lun’s life.  Thanks to O-Lan, Wang Lun’s status in the village rises significantly. He begins to feel blessed with fortune as O-Lan also breathes life into his family line.  Just pages into The Good Earth, Buck emphasizes Wang Lun’s near hyperbolic state of happiness.  Buck describes his feelings at the miracle of birth: “out of his own loins, life!” he feels (Buck 35).  Buck describes also Wang Lun’s newfound feeling of peace in his marriage to O-Lan, a former slave of the Great Family, who although plain, pleases him with her hard work and dedication to the land.  Chan writes about yang and yin philosophy that with the rise of any king or emperor “the force of Earth was dominant” (Chan 250). O-Lan is the catalyst who brings Wang Lung closer to the Earth and moves him to greatness.

Buck employs the language of unity to describe the couple tending the earth at the novel’s onset.  “Together this man and this woman stood before the gods of their fields.  The woman watched the ends of the incense redden and turn grey.  When the ash grew heavy she leaned over and with her forefinger she pushed the head of ash away.  Then as though fearful for what she had done, she looked quickly at Wang Lung, her eyes dumb.  But there was something he liked in her movement.  It was as though she felt that the incense belonged to them both; it was a moment of marriage” (Buck 25).  Through this bucolic imagery, as Wang Lun’s gazes on O-Lan, Buck subtly shows the innate power of Chinese women.  Wang Lun feels genuine happiness when he interprets O-Lan’s movement as one that would suggest her feeling of equality and ownership.  He even wants her to feel that the incense belongs to her as much as it does to him. Their spiritual union in connection to the land emphasizes at The Good Earth’s beginning, the influence of yang and yin.  “When yin and yang are united in their character, the weak and the strong attain their substance.  In this way the products of Heaven and Earth are given substance and the character of spiritual intelligence can be penetrated (Chan 249).  In these scenes, before the couple bears more children and grows wealthier, Wang Lun and O-Lan work together on the earth and are even rendered “speechless in their movement together,” suggesting the spiritual power that overwhelms them in working the land—a power that ushers in great success (Buck 34).    

O-Lan’s yin qualities- her quietude and submission towards Wang Lun, however, irk him indefinitely. “At night he knew the soft firmness of her body.  But in the day her clothes, her plain blue cotton coat and trousers, covered all that he knew, and she was like a faithful, speechless serving maid, who is only a serving maid and nothing more.”  Even in her first days in the house Wang Lun wishes that she would exude a more bold personality and that she would dote on him.  “He desired suddenly that she should like him as her husband and then he was ashamed (Buck 30).            However, Wang Lun soon learns, as well as the reader, that O-Lan is not at all yin.  Though she is quiet and inwardly sad, she is also strong-willed on issues she cares most about, which leads to Wang Lun’s disbelief when she displays her demanding side.  And when she demands something, O-Lan always succeeds.  For example, when Wang Lun asks her if someone from the Great House can help her in child labor, she yells out: “None in that house!” and then she describes her elaborate agenda for the ceremony that will follow the birth of her son: “When I return to that house it will be with my son in my arms.  I shall have a red coat on him and red-flowered trousers and on his head a hat with a small gilded Buddha sewn on the front and on his feet tiger-faced shoes.”  She continues to exert her agency, emphasizing that Wang Lun must pay even for her to look attractive as she displays her new son: “And I will wear new shoes and a new coat of black sateen and I will go into the kitchen where I spend my days and I will go into the great hall where the Old One sits with her opium, and I will show myself and my son to all of them.” (Buck 37).  Despite her relative silence, O-Lan emerges here as a strong demanding wife who takes pride in her reputation amongst the society she was raised and wishes to be seen with respect and admiration.  That Wang Lun acquiesces and allows her to dictate the couple’s finances and other decisions about her children for example, shows her power as a woman to exert ultimate authority in the family.

As the Hwang family declines due to the Opium crisis, Wang Lung is able to purchase land and increase his wealth considerably.  Again, the descending Hwang family and the ascending Wang family illustrate Buck’s preoccupation with the yang and yin principles. One family is extremely rich.  The other is extremely poor.  And gradually, Wang Lung switches these roles, emphasizing the fluid nature of the yang and yin circle. Once a poor man ashamed to pick up his slave bride on the Hwang Family property, he eventually buys their land before he ultimately owns their entire home—though such a transformation seems unrealistic, in doing so Buck only dramatizes the Chinese notion that all lives are in a great state of flux – and that to be rich also means one carries the capacity within to be poor, vice versa. In this most obvious reversal of wealth and class status, Buck meditates on the potential of yang and yin to direct our lives.  O-Lan rises from a homely slave to the wife of a rich landowner and the mother of educated sons.

The famine brings a harsh awakening to the family and they quickly lose their wealth, showing again the transience of their fortune.  After O-Lan must kill her girl baby during the famine, we see again the way she exerts her strength and power.  In the South when the family is forced to beg, she begs loudly, encourages the family to eat the stolen meat, and she also robs jewels for safe-keeping, suggesting that she values pragmatism and the survival of her family over Confucian morals.  When the family returns and becomes wealthy yet again, Wang Lun eventually buys a concubine and deeply pains O-Lan, who although she suffers silently, still refuses to serve the woman from the Great Hall who looks after Lotus Flower, because she values her own rise in society and will not be reminded of her slave days.  O-Lan shows herself as proud even when her husband betrays her in love.

Buck creates a climatic tension so that the reader can readily sense that decline is in store at any point where the family enjoys excessive fortune.  This decline manifests itself in Wang Lun’s sexual self, which surfaces after he joins the ranks of the rich.  As Buck posits in her Times article, Chinese women live a separate life from men in all ways and an unequal life in the field of romance.  This field is far more important in a man’s life.  It is through the field of romance, specifically that Wang Lun, rich and lustful, loses respect for his faithful wife, O-Lan. Wang Lun’s wealth soon brings with it an even stronger lust for beautiful women, and his shame towards O-Lan’s ugliness becomes more visceral, suggesting that he no longer values her contributions in the way he first did when they married.  He even resents touching her rough hands at her deathbed towards the novel’s end showing the corrupting influence of the family’s wealth over the pure love of the earth.

In The Good Earth, Pearl Buck’s directs the entire novel with her interpretation of yang and yin in everyday Chinese life.  Despite O-Lan’s mistreatment at the hands of her husband, she shows too, the power O-Lan maintains because of yang and yin. All the women in the novel, from O-Lan, to the Great Lady, to Lotus and Cuckoo, enjoy some authority in the world they inhabit together with their male counterparts.  O-Lan’s decisions matter and greatly affect the course of events especially through her husband’s rise to wealth.  It is because of her stolen jewels, that Wang Lun rises to wealth once again.  When he gives his concubine O-Lan’s two pearls, we see him at his worst. Although Buck writes that women do not enjoy equality in the field of romance, O-Lan’s gentle power is a force that determines largely the life of her husband.  Though he does her no justice, O-Lan lives to see her sons married and finds peace in her death.  Although Wang Lun looks down upon her flesh, he still finds love for her deep within him.  And though he finds Lotus Flower the pinnacle of beauty, he soon sees her ugliness.  The Good Earth instills in us the essence of Chinese philosophy: all things are in flux.  What is black can become white, and what is white can become black. For all along both sides carried within them the potential to change into the other.

[flylifeismylife]

Manifestation Miracle Review

Manifestation Miracle Review Manifestation Miracle Review Manifestation Miracle Review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amU7SzJCP3Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdwJYJYD3aE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v98pYb8jHs

Is Manifestation Miracle a good product? There’s a large amount of merchandise addressing topics referring to wealth, health, and general life. Unfortunately, not all serve as best resources for his or her purpose, with most of them simply being pure trash. Some are considered scams that thus-called experts produce to create a fast buck. Is manifestation miracle a scam? This can be a private development course that brings big promises to help achieve prosperity and peace. I grasp there are a ton of manifestation miracle reviews out there. If you’re wanting to manifest and create your dreams, or if you’re brooding about shopping for this product, this review will be worth a read. It uses the law of attraction to assist manifest what you would like in your life. Manifestation Miracle program ebook, cd's and videos with bonuses In this manifestation miracle review, let’s find out how well the product helps or doesn’t facilitate with manifesting miracles, the benefits, disadvantages and what’s wrong with this product altogether. This will be an intensive review, and after this, you’ll recognize if this product is any sensible and if it’s right for you. If you’re inquisitive about manifesting what you want in life, here’s an interesting quiz you'll be able to take. It can only take 60 seconds. Try The Quiz Here It uses the law of attraction to assist manifest what you would like in your life. So does the merchandise work? Let’s go through the whole course and answer all your queries on the matter. * I’m gonna say this currently. I don't suggest this product for everybody. Instead, it might be for a few, and it may not be a fit for others. This review will help you find out. How to Manifest Miracles? Created by Mark Ling and Heather Matthews, this course may be a complete temperament development product that focuses on the way to use the law of attraction and achieve greater health, happiness, and wealth. If you don’t believe in the law of attraction, then you might need to stop reading currently. The laws are there to help you faucet into and channelize your mind power. This enables you to explore universal laws and acquire what's rightly yours. Hence, if you wish to understand how to ‘manifest a miracle,’ Manifestation Miracle might be useful to you. 1st of all, the product contains the 162-page long e-book, a whole audio variant of the e-book, and several alternative guides and videos. The e-book is the first giving – audiobooks and videos are the bonus packages. This can be quite traditional for a digital product. We would expect all these at the terribly least. The book and therefore the accompanying digital content target all aspects of life – together with health, wealth, happiness, love, abundance, spirituality and relationships. Unlike most other similar programs, they are doing not mix up totally different topics, and every has its segment and importance. This may be a bit annoying because some individuals want to run through fast. Whereas a program that’s more general will be useful, it’s not what this product is concerning. So who’s behind the product? Heather Matthews, Life Coach Heather Mathews Life Coach and creator of manifestation miracleManifestation Miracle is created by Heather Matthews, who is a life consultant and an energy flow coach and expert at the law of attraction. But the product is not just about her. She mainly uses her name on the product. In truth, the majority of the content has been created by Mark Ling. They sort of use her face to market it. A pretty smart strategy if you didn’t understand that almost all of the work was by Mark. By the manner, Mark Ling is an entrepreneur who does a ton of this stuff. I’m not certain if he’s here just to create a buck, however with Manifestation Miracle, Mark put heaps of work in it as you may scan here. As you may understand, the face of the product is Heather, and she or he does have an wonderful reputation in the industry. If it were me, I wouldn’t tarnish my reputation on a useless scam. However let’s not take my assumption on this, let us dive deeper into it and make a call yourself… Product Information As aforementioned, the product content contains PDFs, audios, and videos. The PDF is downloadable, the audio is in the MP3 format, and also the videos come as MP4s. Every chapter has its own video, that lasts for about 15 minutes. These materials kind the product’s blueprint – a step-by-step list of things to try and do for manifesting miracles. They use what they decision ‘Destiny Tuning’ to manifest things we have a tendency to need. What's Destiny Tuning? This is one among the most important things they teach. Of these product aspects are put along to assist increase your energetic vibration. As per Heather, she calls this method destiny tuning. This destiny tuning technique helps a personal to be in sync with the universe’s forces. To most people who’ve never delved into the attraction and manifesting law before, the entire notion of this book could sound outright silly. For others, that wouldn't be the case. All these product aspects are put along to assist increase your energetic vibration. The 159-page long e-book has 5 components: • The first part talks about success and destiny’s role. • The second half is regarding getting one to attune with personal destiny. • Part 3 focuses on using energetic vibrations and affirmations for attraction. • The fourth half would supply you reasons to be happy, or at least facilitate you find a reason. • Half 5 is where the miracle begins. I said before; Manifestation Miracle is very personalised and specific. When shopping for the merchandise, you may have to specify your gender. Gender comes into play in the pre-recorded affirmations and conjointly the bonuses. Therefore, it's wise, to be honest about it. What’s within the book? Here are some screenshots of the table of contents to present you a better understanding of what’s within. Table of contents 1Table of contents 2Table of contents 3Table of contents four As you can see, it covers a full vary of things. The Abundant Success Workbook Along with the ebook and audios, we tend to get this lovely workbook which helps us implement all that we learned. It’s a fill in the blanks workbook to review and take action on what we learned. The Abundant Success Workbook Bonus Offerings As aforementioned, some bonuses help intensify your expertise with the first e-book. Manifestation Miracle program ebook, cd's and videos with bonuses1. Mind Tracks When obtaining Manifestation Miracle, we have a tendency to get mind tracks that we will listen to. These are mainly affirmations you'll use every day. We tend to are advised to listen with stereo headphones each day for a minimum of twenty one days. They last anywhere from 3-7 minutes. They embody an ‘Abundant Wealth mind track’ and a ‘Love and Happiness mind track’. Along with this, they added some bonuses they decision the ‘Unlimited Success Mindset series’ which consists of vi audio mind tracks. These are the Wealth Attraction Mind track, Health & Vitality Mind track, Endless Abundance Mind track, Love Mind track, Romance Mind track and Weight Loss Mind track. 2. Audio Track Next is an audio track that’s concerning succeeding with weight loss, in love, health, vitality, abundance, and wealth. There are separate tracks for each of those goals. Similar to the previous bonus track, each track during this segment is just a few minutes long and can be put on each day for affirming new things and bringing changes to the means you target your life generally. Each Heather and Mark are easy to perceive. They have a slight Australian accent, and they speak terribly clearly. three. Videos The final bonus is a video track. It is quite long, spanning a hundred and fifty minutes, and options Mark Ling and Heather Matthews sharing their thoughts on manifesting what you need. The videos will be used as a stand-alone but were made as a review/recap of the course and the creator’s thoughts on it. With a complete of twenty seven videos ranging from seven-twenty minutes, this is comprehensive, and i would say is an excellent addition to serving to us understand and bear in mind what we have a tendency to learned. The second bonus is a fifteen-page guide for health. There also are some exercises for improving your health. The third bonus is an e-book once more – but this time, it’s abundant additional important at 37 pages. This e-book talks regarding how the human metabolism functions, the foods to eat and also the proportions, and everything else that’s smart for metabolism.  four. Books Bonus BooksThere are a few bonus books here. These are The Powerhouse Guide For Health, Vitality, Disease Reversal and The way to Reboot Your Metabolism. They're short ebooks about the topic on top of. The primary being fifteen pages and second, thirty seven pages. They go quite deep thoroughly but nothing spectacular. We will most likely notice the knowledge online, however it's founded nicely for us in these ebooks. The first book discusses how the body and mind are in shut connection with each different, and the way to manifest wellness and health. There are some exercises for improving your health. The second book talks about how the human metabolism functions, the foods to eat and also the proportions, and everything else that’s smart for metabolism. 5. Cash MindFlood System This is often the ultimate bonus. It's a 2.five hour long video, and Mark Ling shares what the system is all concerning. Once more just like the remainder of the course, it is straightforward to perceive, and Mark did it in with slides thus we have a tendency to can picture what he’s talking concerning. Here’s a breakdown of what we have a tendency to mentioned: Blessings I will say that there are many things that I like concerning this and that i’m positive several others will love them too. A healthy young man practicing yoga on a high mountain early within the morning with the sunrise upon him • The course is meant to suit and help everybody – no matter where folks are currently standing in their lives. Additionally, it doesn’t matter if you're skeptical concerning the law of attraction or not certain about its efficacy or positive impact on your life. The design of the course is to assist folks get on board and appreciate the product for what it is. • The information on the market for the price is sweet – I would expect this abundant information to price additional. If I were to shop for a five hundred page book, probabilities are, it won’t provide me as abundant data as this. At this worth, I do think the product is well price your money. • You’ll would like some time to complete the complete book, provided you place the idea into apply. However, there’s no set timeframe for this, and you will start, pause and resume as per your schedule although they suggest that you simply follow a mounted program. • I’m a big reader. But for people who are not, the audio content is perfect for people who don't seem to be a lot of into reading. All of the e-book’s contents are in audio, that we have a tendency to will transfer to any listening device, like a phone or an MP3 player. I was quite shocked at how abundant audio they'd. Sometimes, I expect most of it to be for reading and a few on audio. • This is often good. Each chapter within the e-book or the audio file has a recap portion at the end, which helps users to revisit what they’ve learned within the chapter and be a lot of higher ready for subsequent lessons. Not each book/course does this, and that i realize it helpful. Simply my personal preference. • The complete package is not expensive. It could or might not seem abundant, except for the majority, this price is fairly affordable. It’s reasonable once we compare it to similar product or perhaps books, and it’s way cheaper than a seminar. • As the product is digital, you can go through the content whenever and wherever you prefer – be it when running, whereas relaxing, or when on a train. It’s designed in a very means that you just incorporate it into your everyday life. • There is a sixty-day money back guarantee too. If you’re don't seem to be pleased with the product, you'll call for a whole refund, while not having to return the product’s contents. I’ve browse reviews where folks have came back the product successfully therefore that won’t be a drawback. Another issue to note, I checked the come rate, and it's solely 0.forty two% that is kind of spectacular. This can be verified but seemingly to vary each day. Disadvantages As with every shopper market providing, there are specific aspects of this product the makers might have done a better job with. Those are: • You cannot hurry through the educational process. Thats something I typically like doing. It’s engineered in a method that we cannot scan the books or watch all the videos consecutively, in a very number of days. The training desires to be incremental, when each chapter, you should follow up with a practical session or an action plan. And this could take anywhere between three weeks to three months, that is sort of a significant investment of your time for most folks. • There's some level of upselling too – for example, the $thirty seven per month fee for the Amazing Self-series, that isn't necessary. The first product covers everything, and there’s no need to supplement it. Moreover, the additional series charges a recurring fee, which makes it quite an upscale proposition. I didn't attempt the up-sell as I failed to see the use for it, but if its anything like the merchandise and you have some additional money, it would possibly be value a try. • It solely comes in digital type. I typically like to own a book to read. I mean a physical book. I’m positive a heap of individuals are like this too. Audio and videos on the phone/pill are fine, but reading a digital book is not my style. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a good product, but this is often something I even have to accommodate. • This product tends to overlap certain topics. I understand that generally, vital things need reminders, and there will invariably be overlap. But during this case, it gets a small amount annoying to me. It may not work for some, but it does for me. In the top, I do remember additional, therefore it may be a smart issue when all, however I wish to focus on it. Worth and Upsells? You'll be able to check out the worth here. You'll get the full course with all that I mentioned on top of. Why I assume this can be sensible once I compare it to many different programs out there's because they provide you everything you wish on the first product, instead of up-selling you with tons of crap, saying you need it. They are doing have an upsell known as the ‘Amazing Self’ series. It prices $thirty seven a month, and you get the primary month free. Thats value a strive on the primary month. I would say that the course is kind of some and it’s more than enough to induce you through everything you need to know, however this upsell is a nice add-on if you don’t mind spending a touch additional on it. Do bear in mind that it's a monthly charge. From my expertise, individuals tend to forget that, and once they stop using the product/services, they end up paying a lot of than whats needed. Our Final Thoughts A young man in deep thought whereas sitting on some rocks close to a stunning waterfall.If you’re wanting for a full course on how to use the Law of Attraction, this can be a good one to contemplate. If you’re still on the fence, let me tell you the rationale I got this product in the end. As a result of of the money back guarantee! And this is often not a pretend guarantee, Clickbank backs this up. I’ve bought merchandise from Clickbank before and refunded some with no problems. The refund is by Clickbank themselves. You'll be sure that they can refund you even if the vendor doesn’t. That’s a full sixty days of using and testing it out, and if you decide that it's not price the cash, keep the product and acquire your cash back. That being said, the refund rate on this product is solely at 0.forty twopercent as of this reviews writing. Those are terrific numbers showing almost all customers are happy with it. Hopefully, saying that won’t bring the refund rate up with individuals trying to induce the merchandise at no cost. Either approach, if you opt not to urge it, we have a tendency to have a heap of useful resources here on our website that can help you're able to where you would like to be. Ought to You Get This Product? We have a tendency to’re arguing on both sides of the coin, and as a lot of as we tend to believe in the product, it doesn’t mean that we tend to would recommend it to you. Everything is predicated on your circumstances. So check out which category you fall into, and this will create your call abundant easier.  This is for you if… – You’re willing to commit your time – You believe within the Law Of Attraction – You've got dreams and goals – You’re open minded This can be Not for you if… – You don’t believe in the Law Of Attraction – You’ve scan the Secret and think it’s faux – You can’t spare at least fifteen minutes on a daily basis – You’re buying on impulse – You would like instant results – You’re not willing to place in the work – You tried another course and didn’t finish it Conclusion Simply a disclaimer, we need you to understand that we tend to are promoting this product as an affiliate. We tend to can not do so if we tend to don’t think the product is 100percent value it to our readers. Furthermore, we have a tendency to can’t guarantee that the product can facilitate your for sure. This product desires the application from your aspect additionally. I grasp its known as manifestation miracle, but this is not a miracle waiting to happen. It’s a process. If you’re not going to put within the work, you may finish up wasting your cash. You’re better off not shopping for the course. However, if you're willing to place in the hassle and do not believe in overnight successes, then this may be a good fit. It’s your selection, and you don’t have to get it. I recognize its called manifestation miracle, however this is not a miracle waiting to happen. It’s a method. The Law of Attraction and manifesting your thoughts is one thing that has been around a long time. This can be simply a product putting all of them together in one place and teaching you ways to use it. The amount of work place into the merchandise is commendable. I’m certain you’ll agree when you bear the content. I tried to make this review as unbiased as doable. But at the end of the day, I am a friend of this product, and that i do advocate it to my friends. If you found some value from our site or this review and you’re planning to induce this product, we tend to would appreciate if you could support us by using our affiliate link. That would facilitate keep the location content great! See the video at http://manifestationmiracle.internet If you missed the quiz earlier, take it currently! It can really help. PS: This is often an affiliate link. All the information on our site is freed from charge, and it might help so abundant if you choose to buy this product through it. Thank you!

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Manifestation Miracle Review

Manifestation Miracle Review Manifestation Miracle Review Manifestation Miracle Review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amU7SzJCP3Q

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Is Manifestation Miracle a good product? There’s plenty of merchandise coping with topics referring to wealth, health, and general life. Unfortunately, not all function best resources for his or her purpose, with most of them merely being pure trash. Some are considered scams that so-called consultants produce to make a fast buck. Is manifestation miracle a scam? This is a personal development course that brings huge promises to help achieve prosperity and peace. I know there are a ton of manifestation miracle reviews out there. If you’re trying to manifest and create your dreams, or if you’re thinking about buying this product, this review can be price a scan. It uses the law of attraction to assist manifest what you would like in your life. Manifestation Miracle program ebook, cd's and videos with bonuses During this manifestation miracle review, let’s notice out how well the merchandise helps or doesn’t facilitate with manifesting miracles, the advantages, disadvantages and what’s wrong with this product altogether. This can be an intensive review, and after this, you’ll grasp if this product is any sensible and if it’s right for you. If you’re interested in manifesting what you desire in life, here’s an fascinating quiz you'll be able to take. It can solely take sixty seconds. Try The Quiz Here It uses the law of attraction to assist manifest what you would like in your life. Therefore does the merchandise work? Let’s bear the entire course and answer all of your questions on the matter. * I’m gonna say this currently. I don't advocate this product for everybody. Instead, it could be for some, and it might not be a work for others. This review can help you find out. How to Manifest Miracles? Created by Mark Ling and Heather Matthews, this course could be a complete temperament development product that focuses on the way to use the law of attraction and achieve greater health, happiness, and wealth. If you don’t believe within the law of attraction, then you might wish to prevent reading now. The laws are there to help you faucet into and channelize your mind power. This allows you to explore universal laws and acquire what's rightly yours. Hence, if you want to grasp the way to ‘manifest a miracle,’ Manifestation Miracle might be helpful to you. First of all, the product includes the 162-page long e-book, a complete audio variant of the e-book, and many different guides and videos. The e-book is the first giving – audiobooks and videos are the bonus packages. This is quite normal for a digital product. We tend to would expect all these at the very least. The book and also the accompanying digital content concentrate on all aspects of life – together with health, wealth, happiness, love, abundance, spirituality and relationships. Unlike most other similar programs, they are doing not combine up completely different topics, and every has its phase and importance. This would possibly be a touch annoying because some individuals need to run through fast. Whereas a program that’s additional general will be helpful, it’s not what this product is about. Thus who’s behind the merchandise? Heather Matthews, Life Coach Heather Mathews Life Coach and creator of manifestation miracleManifestation Miracle is formed by Heather Matthews, who could be a life consultant and an energy flow coach and professional at the law of attraction. However the merchandise is not just about her. She mainly uses her name on the merchandise. In reality, the bulk of the content has been created by Mark Ling. They sort of use her face to market it. A pretty sensible strategy if you didn’t understand that the majority of the work was by Mark. By the approach, Mark Ling is an entrepreneur who will a heap of these things. I’m not sure if he’s here just to create a buck, but with Manifestation Miracle, Mark put tons of work in it as you may browse here. As you might recognize, the face of the product is Heather, and he or she does have an wonderful name in the industry. If it were me, I wouldn’t tarnish my name on a useless scam. However let’s not take my assumption on this, let us dive deeper into it and build a call yourself… Product Info As aforementioned, the product content includes PDFs, audios, and videos. The PDF is downloadable, the audio is in the MP3 format, and therefore the videos return as MP4s. Each chapter has its own video, which lasts for about fifteen minutes. These materials form the merchandise’s blueprint – a step-by-step list of things to try to to for manifesting miracles. They use what they decision ‘Destiny Tuning’ to manifest things we have a tendency to need. What is Destiny Tuning? This is often one of the biggest things they teach. Of these product aspects are put together to assist increase your energetic vibration. As per Heather, she calls this method destiny tuning. This destiny tuning technique helps a personal to be in sync with the universe’s forces. To most people who’ve never delved into the attraction and manifesting law before, the entire notion of this book might sound outright silly. For others, that wouldn't be the case. All these product aspects are place together to help increase your energetic vibration. The 159-page long e-book has five elements: • The primary half talks about success and destiny’s role. • The second part is regarding getting one to attune with personal destiny. • Half three focuses on using energetic vibrations and affirmations for attraction. • The fourth part would offer you reasons to be happy, or a minimum of help you find a reason. • Half five is where the miracle begins. I said before; Manifestation Miracle is very personalised and specific. When buying the product, you may should specify your gender. Gender comes into play in the pre-recorded affirmations and additionally the bonuses. Therefore, it's wise, to be honest regarding it. What’s in the book? Here are some screenshots of the table of contents to allow you a better understanding of what’s inside. Table of contents 1Table of contents 2Table of contents 3Table of contents four As you can see, it covers an entire range of things. The Abundant Success Workbook Along with the ebook and audios, we have a tendency to get this lovely workbook that helps us implement all that we learned. It’s a fill within the blanks workbook to review and take action on what we have a tendency to learned. The Abundant Success Workbook Bonus Offerings As aforementioned, some bonuses help intensify your experience with the first e-book. Manifestation Miracle program ebook, cd's and videos with bonuses1. Mind Tracks When obtaining Manifestation Miracle, we get mind tracks that we have a tendency to can hear. These are mainly affirmations you'll use every day. We are advised to concentrate with stereo headphones each day for a minimum of twenty one days. They last anywhere from three-7 minutes. They embody an ‘Abundant Wealth mind track’ and a ‘Love and Happiness mind track’. Along with this, they added some bonuses they call the ‘Unlimited Success Mindset series’ which consists of 6 audio mind tracks. These are the Wealth Attraction Mind track, Health & Vitality Mind track, Endless Abundance Mind track, Love Mind track, Romance Mind track and Weight Loss Mind track. a pair of. Audio Track Next is an audio track that’s concerning succeeding with weight loss, in love, health, vitality, abundance, and wealth. There are separate tracks for every of those goals. Similar to the previous bonus track, each track during this section is just a few minutes long and will be place on each day for affirming new things and bringing changes to the manner you focus on your life normally. Each Heather and Mark are easy to understand. They have a slight Australian accent, and that they speak very clearly. 3. Videos The final bonus could be a video track. It is quite long, spanning one hundred fifty minutes, and options Mark Ling and Heather Matthews sharing their thoughts on manifesting what you desire. The videos will be used as a stand-alone but were made as a review/recap of the course and therefore the creator’s thoughts on it. With a total of twenty seven videos starting from 7-twenty minutes, this is often comprehensive, and that i would say is a wonderful addition to serving to us perceive and bear in mind what we learned. The second bonus could be a fifteen-page guide for health. There also are some exercises for improving your health. The third bonus is an e-book once more – however this time, it’s much additional vital at 37 pages. This e-book talks about how the human metabolism functions, the foods to eat and the proportions, and everything else that’s smart for metabolism.  four. Books Bonus BooksThere are a couple of bonus books here. These are The Powerhouse Guide For Health, Vitality, Disease Reversal and The way to Reboot Your Metabolism. They're short ebooks concerning the subject above. The first being 15 pages and second, thirty seven pages. They go quite deep well but nothing spectacular. We can in all probability notice the knowledge online, but it is founded nicely for us in these ebooks. The first book discusses how the body and mind are in shut connection with every alternative, and a way to manifest wellness and health. There are some exercises for improving your health. The second book talks about how the human metabolism functions, the foods to eat and therefore the proportions, and everything else that’s good for metabolism. 5. Money MindFlood System This is the final bonus. It is a 2.5 hour long video, and Mark Ling shares what the system is all regarding. Once more simply like the rest of the course, it's straightforward to understand, and Mark did it in with slides so we can picture what he’s talking about. Here’s a breakdown of what we mentioned: Blessings I will say that there are many things that I like regarding this and i’m positive several others can love them too. A healthy young man practicing yoga on a high mountain early in the morning with the sunrise upon him • The course is designed to suit and help everyone – regardless of where folks are currently standing in their lives. Additionally, it doesn’t matter if you are skeptical regarding the law of attraction or not certain about its efficacy or positive impact on your life. The design of the course is to assist people get on board and appreciate the product for what it is. • The data available for the value is good – I would expect this a lot of information to value more. If I were to shop for a five hundred page book, probabilities are, it won’t offer me as abundant information as this. At this worth, I do suppose the merchandise is well value your cash. • You’ll would like some time to finish the whole book, provided you place the speculation into observe. However, there’s no set time-frame for this, and you may start, pause and resume as per your schedule though they recommend that you just follow a fixed program. • I’m a huge reader. But for those that don't seem to be, the audio content is good for individuals who are not much into reading. All of the e-book’s contents are in audio, that we can transfer to any listening device, like a phone or an MP3 player. I was quite shocked at how much audio they'd. Typically, I expect most of it to be for reading and a few on audio. • This is sensible. Every chapter in the e-book or the audio file contains a recap portion at the end, which helps users to revisit what they’ve learned in the chapter and be a lot of higher prepared for subsequent lessons. Not each book/course will this, and that i notice it useful. Simply my personal preference. • The whole package is not expensive. It may or may not seem a lot of, except for the bulk, this value is fairly affordable. It’s cheap when we compare it to similar product or perhaps books, and it’s way cheaper than a seminar. • As the product is digital, you'll go through the content whenever and wherever you prefer – be it when running, whereas relaxing, or when on a train. It’s designed during a manner that you simply incorporate it into your existence. • There is a 60-day money back guarantee too. If you’re don't seem to be proud of the merchandise, you'll be able to call for a complete refund, while not having to come the merchandise’s contents. I’ve scan reviews where people have came the product successfully therefore that won’t be a downside. Another thing to note, I checked the come rate, and it is solely zero.forty twopercent that is quite impressive. This can be verified however possible to change every day. Disadvantages As with each consumer market giving, there are certain aspects of this product the manufacturers may have done a better job with. Those are: • You cannot hurry through the educational method. Thats something I sometimes like doing. It’s designed during a method that we cannot browse the books or watch all the videos consecutively, in a number of days. The training wants to be incremental, when each chapter, you ought to follow up with a practical session or an action plan. And this could take anywhere between three weeks to three months, which is quite a significant investment of time for most people. • There's some level of upselling too – as an example, the $37 per month fee for the Amazing Self-series, that isn't necessary. The first product covers everything, and there’s no need to supplement it. Moreover, the extra series charges a recurring fee, which makes it quite an upscale proposition. I did not attempt the up-sell as I didn't see the use for it, however if its something like the product and you have got some extra money, it may be value a attempt. • It only comes in digital type. I typically like to possess a book to read. I mean a physical book. I’m sure a ton of folks are like this too. Audio and videos on the phone/tablet are fine, however reading a digital book isn't my taste. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a good product, however this is something I actually have to accommodate. • This product tends to overlap bound topics. I perceive that typically, necessary things want reminders, and there will forever be overlap. But in this case, it gets a small amount annoying to me. It may not work for some, however it does for me. In the tip, I do keep in mind more, thus it could be a good factor after all, but I wish to highlight it. Worth and Upsells? You'll be able to take a look at the value here. You may get the full course with all that I mentioned above. Why I suppose this is good after I compare it to many other programs out there is as a result of they offer you everything you wish on the primary product, instead of up-selling you with heaps of crap, saying you would like it. They do have an upsell referred to as the ‘Amazing Self’ series. It prices $37 a month, and you get the primary month free. Thats price a try on the first month. I would say that the course is quite one or two and it’s additional than enough to induce you thru everything you wish to understand, but this upsell could be a nice add-on if you don’t mind spending a bit a lot of on it. Do remember that it's a monthly charge. From my experience, folks tend to forget that, and once they stop using the product/services, they finish up paying additional than whats needed. Our Final Thoughts A young man in deep thought while sitting on some rocks near a lovely waterfall.If you’re trying for a full course on the way to use the Law of Attraction, this is often a smart one to contemplate. If you’re still on the fence, let me tell you the explanation I got this product in the end. As a result of of the money back guarantee! And this is not a faux guarantee, Clickbank backs this up. I’ve bought products from Clickbank before and refunded some with no issues. The refund is by Clickbank themselves. You can be sure that they will refund you whether or not the vendor doesn’t. That’s a full sixty days of using and testing it out, and if you decide that it is not worth the cash, keep the product and obtain your money back. That being said, the refund rate on this product is only at 0.42p.c as of this reviews writing. Those are terrific numbers showing virtually all customers are happy with it. Hopefully, saying that won’t bring the refund rate up with people attempting to induce the product for free. Either way, if you decide not to urge it, we have a heap of useful resources here on our site that will help you can where you wish to be. Should You Get This Product? We tend to’re arguing on both sides of the coin, and as abundant as we have a tendency to believe in the product, it doesn’t mean that we tend to would recommend it to you. Everything is based on your circumstances. So check out that class you fall into, and this can create your call a lot of easier.  This is for you if… – You’re willing to commit some time – You believe within the Law Of Attraction – You have got dreams and goals – You’re open minded This is often Not for you if… – You don’t believe in the Law Of Attraction – You’ve scan the Secret and think it’s faux – You'll’t spare at least 15 minutes a day – You’re shopping for on impulse – You would like instant results – You’re not willing to put in the work – You tried another course and didn’t end it Conclusion Simply a disclaimer, we tend to need you to grasp that we are promoting this product as an affiliate. We tend to will not do therefore if we tend to don’t suppose the product is 100% worth it to our readers. Furthermore, we will’t guarantee that the merchandise will help you for sure. This product desires the applying from your facet furthermore. I know its referred to as manifestation miracle, however this is not a miracle waiting to happen. It’s a process. If you’re not going to put within the work, you'll finish up wasting your cash. You’re better off not shopping for the course. However, if you're willing to place in the trouble and don't believe in overnight successes, then this is able to be a good fit. It’s your selection, and you don’t have to get it. I recognize its called manifestation miracle, however this is not a miracle waiting to happen. It’s a process. The Law of Attraction and manifesting your thoughts is something that has been around a while. This is just a product putting all along in one place and teaching you ways to use it. The quantity of labor put into the merchandise is commendable. I’m certain you’ll agree once you undergo the content. I tried to form this review as unbiased as possible. But at the top of the day, I am a devotee of this product, and i do advocate it to my friends. If you found some value from our website or this review and you’re planning to get this product, we would appreciate if you could support us by using our affiliate link. That would facilitate keep the site content nice! See the video at http://manifestationmiracle.net If you missed the quiz earlier, take it now! It will very facilitate. PS: This can be an affiliate link. All the information on our website is freed from charge, and it would facilitate so much if you select to get this product through it. Thank you!

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Manifestation Miracle Review

Manifestation Miracle Review

Manifestation Miracle Review

Manifestation Miracle Review

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Is Manifestation Miracle a sensible product? There’s plenty of products addressing topics relating to wealth, health, and general life. Unfortunately, not all serve as best resources for his or her purpose, with most of them simply being pure trash. Some are thought-about scams that therefore-referred to as consultants create to form a fast buck. Is manifestation miracle a scam? This is a private development course that brings huge promises to help achieve prosperity and peace. I understand there are a ton of manifestation miracle reviews out there. If you’re looking to manifest and create your dreams, or if you’re pondering buying this product, this review will be price a read. It uses the law of attraction to assist manifest what you wish in your life. Manifestation Miracle program ebook, cd's and videos with bonuses In this manifestation miracle review, let’s realize out how well the product helps or doesn’t help with manifesting miracles, the advantages, disadvantages and what’s wrong with this product altogether. This can be a radical review, and once this, you’ll recognize if this product is any smart and if it’s right for you. If you’re fascinated by manifesting what you desire in life, here’s an attention-grabbing quiz you can take. It can only take 60 seconds. Strive The Quiz Here It uses the law of attraction to help manifest what you would like in your life. Thus does the product work? Let’s undergo the complete course and answer all of your queries on the matter. * I’m gonna say this now. I do not suggest this product for everybody. Instead, it could be for a few, and it might not be a work for others. This review will facilitate you find out. How to Manifest Miracles? Created by Mark Ling and Heather Matthews, this course may be a complete personality development product that focuses on how to use the law of attraction and achieve bigger health, happiness, and wealth. If you don’t believe within the law of attraction, then you may wish to prevent reading currently. The laws are there to help you tap into and channelize your mind power. This enables you to explore universal laws and acquire what's rightly yours. Hence, if you would like to know the way to ‘manifest a miracle,’ Manifestation Miracle might be useful to you. Initial of all, the merchandise includes the 162-page long e-book, a whole audio variant of the e-book, and many different guides and videos. The e-book is the primary offering – audiobooks and videos are the bonus packages. This is quite normal for a digital product. We have a tendency to would expect of these at the terribly least. The book and also the accompanying digital content target all aspects of life – including health, wealth, happiness, love, abundance, spirituality and relationships. Unlike most other similar programs, they are doing not combine up totally different topics, and each has its segment and importance. This may be a bit annoying as a result of some folks need to run through fast. Whereas a program that’s additional general will be helpful, it’s not what this product is regarding. So who’s behind the product? Heather Matthews, Life Coach Heather Mathews Life Coach and creator of manifestation miracleManifestation Miracle is formed by Heather Matthews, who may be a life consultant and an energy flow coach and knowledgeable at the law of attraction. But the product is not simply about her. She mainly uses her name on the merchandise. In truth, the majority of the content has been created by Mark Ling. They kind of use her face to promote it. A pretty good strategy if you didn’t recognize that almost all of the work was by Mark. By the way, Mark Ling is an entrepreneur who will a lot of these things. I’m not sure if he’s here simply to form a buck, however with Manifestation Miracle, Mark place lots of labor in it as you'll scan here. As you might apprehend, the face of the merchandise is Heather, and she or he will have an excellent reputation in the industry. If it were me, I wouldn’t tarnish my name on a useless scam. But let’s not take my assumption on this, allow us to dive deeper into it and make a decision yourself… Product Info As aforementioned, the merchandise content comprises PDFs, audios, and videos. The PDF is downloadable, the audio is during the MP3 format, and also the videos return as MP4s. Every chapter has its own video, which lasts for about 15 minutes. These materials form the product’s blueprint – a step-by-step list of things to try and do for manifesting miracles. They use what they call ‘Destiny Tuning’ to manifest things we wish. What is Destiny Tuning? This can be one in every of the largest things they teach. All these product aspects are place along to help increase your energetic vibration. As per Heather, she calls this method destiny tuning. This destiny tuning technique helps a private to be in sync with the universe’s forces. To most individuals who’ve never delved into the attraction and manifesting law before, the complete notion of this book may sound outright silly. For others, that wouldn't be the case. Of these product aspects are put together to assist increase your energetic vibration. The 159-page long e-book has 5 elements: • The primary half talks about success and destiny’s role. • The second part is regarding obtaining one to attune with personal destiny. • Part 3 focuses on using energetic vibrations and affirmations for attraction. • The fourth part would offer you reasons to be happy, or a minimum of facilitate you discover a reason. • Half 5 is where the miracle begins. I said before; Manifestation Miracle is terribly personalised and specific. When buying the product, you will must specify your gender. Gender comes into play in the pre-recorded affirmations and conjointly the bonuses. Therefore, it is wise, to be honest regarding it. What’s in the book? Here are some screenshots of the table of contents to relinquish you a better understanding of what’s inside. Table of contents 1Table of contents 2Table of contents 3Table of contents four As you can see, it covers a whole range of things. The Abundant Success Workbook Along with the ebook and audios, we tend to get this pretty workbook which helps us implement all that we tend to learned. It’s a fill in the blanks workbook to review and take action on what we have a tendency to learned. The Abundant Success Workbook Bonus Offerings As aforementioned, some bonuses facilitate accentuate your expertise with the first e-book. Manifestation Miracle program ebook, cd's and videos with bonuses1. Mind Tracks When getting Manifestation Miracle, we tend to get mind tracks that we have a tendency to can listen to. These are mainly affirmations you can use each day. We have a tendency to are suggested to pay attention with stereo headphones every day for at least 21 days. They last anywhere from three-7 minutes. They embody an ‘Abundant Wealth mind track’ and a ‘Love and Happiness mind track’. Along with this, they added some bonuses they call the ‘Unlimited Success Mindset series’ that consists of half-dozen audio mind tracks. These are the Wealth Attraction Mind track, Health & Vitality Mind track, Endless Abundance Mind track, Love Mind track, Romance Mind track and Weight Loss Mind track. two. Audio Track Next is an audio track that’s regarding succeeding with weight loss, in love, health, vitality, abundance, and wealth. There are separate tracks for each of those goals. Similar to the previous bonus track, every track during this section is just a couple of minutes long and can be put on each day for affirming new things and bringing changes to the way you concentrate on your life normally. Both Heather and Mark are straightforward to understand. They have a slight Australian accent, and they speak very clearly. three. Videos The ultimate bonus could be a video track. It is quite long, spanning a hundred and fifty minutes, and features Mark Ling and Heather Matthews sharing their thoughts on manifesting what you desire. The videos can be used as a stand-alone however were made as a review/recap of the course and the creator’s thoughts on it. With a total of 27 videos starting from 7-20 minutes, this is often comprehensive, and i would say is an excellent addition to helping us perceive and keep in mind what we have a tendency to learned. The second bonus is a 15-page guide for health. There are also some exercises for improving your health. The third bonus is an e-book once more – but this point, it’s abundant a lot of significant at thirty seven pages. This e-book talks regarding how the human metabolism functions, the foods to eat and therefore the proportions, and everything else that’s good for metabolism.  4. Books Bonus BooksThere are a few bonus books here. These are The Powerhouse Guide For Health, Vitality, Disease Reversal and How to Reboot Your Metabolism. They are short ebooks about the subject on top of. The first being 15 pages and second, 37 pages. They go quite deep very well however nothing spectacular. We have a tendency to can in all probability notice the information on-line, however it is set up nicely for us in these ebooks. The primary book discusses how the body and mind are in close association with every other, and the way to manifest wellness and health. There are some exercises for improving your health. The second book talks about how the human metabolism functions, the foods to eat and therefore the proportions, and everything else that’s good for metabolism. five. Money MindFlood System This is often the ultimate bonus. It's a two.five hour long video, and Mark Ling shares what the system is all about. Again just like the remainder of the course, it's easy to perceive, and Mark did it in with slides thus we have a tendency to can picture what he’s talking about. Here’s a breakdown of what we tend to discussed: Advantages I can say that there are many things that I like regarding this and i’m sure many others can love them too. A healthy young man practicing yoga on a high mountain early within the morning with the sunrise upon him • The course is designed to suit and facilitate everybody – regardless of where folks are currently standing in their lives. Additionally, it doesn’t matter if you're skeptical about the law of attraction or not sure about its efficacy or positive impact on your life. The style of the course is to assist folks get on board and appreciate the merchandise for what it is. • The knowledge available for the price is sweet – I would expect this a lot of information to value more. If I were to shop for a five hundred page book, chances are, it won’t give me as a lot of info as this. At this worth, I do think the merchandise is well value your cash. • You’ll would like it slow to finish the complete book, provided you set the idea into follow. However, there’s no set time frame for this, and you'll begin, pause and resume as per your schedule although they recommend that you simply follow a fastened program. • I’m a huge reader. But for those who are not, the audio content is good for folks who don't seem to be a lot of into reading. All of the e-book’s contents are in audio, that we will transfer to any listening device, like a phone or an MP3 player. I was quite surprised at how much audio they had. Typically, I expect most of it to be for reading and a few on audio. • This can be sensible. Each chapter within the e-book or the audio file contains a recap portion at the end, that helps users to revisit what they’ve learned in the chapter and be abundant higher prepared for subsequent lessons. Not each book/course does this, and that i find it useful. Just my personal preference. • The entire package isn't expensive. It might or could not appear a lot of, except for the bulk, this price is fairly reasonable. It’s reasonable once we compare it to similar products or perhaps books, and it’s manner cheaper than a seminar. • As the product is digital, you'll go through the content whenever and wherever you wish – be it when running, whereas relaxing, or when on a train. It’s designed in an exceedingly approach that you incorporate it into your lifestyle. • There's a sixty-day cash back guarantee too. If you’re are not pleased with the product, you'll decision for a whole refund, while not having to come back the product’s contents. I’ve read reviews where folks have came back the merchandise successfully therefore that won’t be a problem. Another thing to note, I checked the return rate, and it is solely 0.42percent which is sort of spectacular. This is verified but seemingly to change every day. Disadvantages As with every consumer market giving, there are specific aspects of this product the makers might have done a better job with. Those are: • You cannot hurry through the learning method. Thats one thing I usually like doing. It’s designed in a very manner that we cannot scan the books or watch all the videos consecutively, in a very couple of days. The training wants to be incremental, after each chapter, you ought to follow up with a sensible session or an action plan. And this could take anywhere between three weeks to three months, that is kind of a significant investment of time for many people. • There is some level of upselling too – for example, the $thirty seven per month fee for the Amazing Self-series, that isn't necessary. The first product covers everything, and there’s no want to supplement it. Moreover, the extra series charges a recurring fee, which makes it quite a chic proposition. I failed to attempt the up-sell as I did not see the employment for it, but if its something like the product and you have got some further money, it may be value a strive. • It solely comes in digital form. I typically like to possess a book to browse. I mean a physical book. I’m certain a heap of people are like this too. Audio and videos on the phone/pill are fine, but reading a digital book isn't my taste. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a smart product, however this is often one thing I have to accommodate. • This product tends to overlap sure topics. I understand that generally, important things need reminders, and there will continually be overlap. But in this case, it gets a bit annoying to me. It would possibly not work for some, however it does for me. In the tip, I do keep in mind additional, thus it might be a smart factor after all, however I want to spotlight it. Worth and Upsells? You can check out the value here. You'll get the full course with all that I mentioned higher than. Why I assume this can be good after I compare it to many other programs out there is as a result of they offer you everything you wish on the first product, instead of up-selling you with heaps of crap, saying you need it. They do have an upsell called the ‘Amazing Self’ series. It prices $thirty seven a month, and you get the primary month free. Thats value a attempt on the first month. I would say that the course is sort of a few and it’s a lot of than enough to get you thru everything you wish to grasp, but this upsell is a nice add-on if you don’t mind spending a small amount a lot of on it. Do remember that it's a monthly charge. From my expertise, folks tend to forget that, and when they stop using the product/services, they end up paying additional than whats needed. Our Final Thoughts A young man in deep thought whereas sitting on some rocks near a lovely waterfall.If you’re trying for a full course on how to use the Law of Attraction, this is often a good one to contemplate. If you’re still on the fence, let me tell you the explanation I got this product in the end. As a result of of the cash back guarantee! And this is not a pretend guarantee, Clickbank backs this up. I’ve bought merchandise from Clickbank before and refunded some with no issues. The refund is by Clickbank themselves. You can be positive that they will refund you even if the seller doesn’t. That’s a full sixty days of using and testing it out, and if you decide that it is not worth the money, keep the merchandise and obtain your money back. That being said, the refund rate on this product is only at 0.forty twopercent as of this reviews writing. Those are terrific numbers showing almost all customers are happy with it. Hopefully, saying that won’t bring the refund rate up with folks attempting to induce the merchandise for free. Either manner, if you decide not to urge it, we tend to have a heap of helpful resources here on our website that can help you get to where you would like to be. Ought to You Get This Product? We have a tendency to’re arguing on both sides of the coin, and as abundant as we believe in the product, it doesn’t mean that we have a tendency to would suggest it to you. Everything is predicated on your circumstances. Thus take a look at which category you fall into, and this can build your call much easier.  This can be for you if… – You’re willing to commit your time – You believe within the Law Of Attraction – You have dreams and goals – You’re open minded This is Not for you if… – You don’t believe within the Law Of Attraction – You’ve browse the Secret and assume it’s faux – You'll be able to’t spare at least fifteen minutes every day – You’re buying on impulse – You want instant results – You’re not willing to put in the work – You tried another course and didn’t finish it Conclusion Simply a disclaimer, we tend to need you to know that we are promoting this product as an affiliate. We have a tendency to will not do thus if we have a tendency to don’t assume the product is one hundredpercent price it to our readers. Furthermore, we have a tendency to will’t guarantee that the merchandise can help you for certain. This product desires the applying from your facet in addition. I understand its referred to as manifestation miracle, however this is not a miracle waiting to happen. It’s a process. If you’re not going to place in the work, you may finish up wasting your cash. You’re higher off not shopping for the course. However, if you are willing to put in the hassle and do not believe in overnight successes, then this is able to be a sensible work. It’s your selection, and you don’t have to induce it. I recognize its referred to as manifestation miracle, but this is often not a miracle waiting to happen. It’s a process. The Law of Attraction and manifesting your thoughts is one thing that has been around a while. This is often simply a product putting all of them together in one place and teaching you the way to use it. The quantity of work place into the merchandise is commendable. I’m certain you’ll agree after you bear the content. I tried to create this review as unbiased as attainable. But at the top of the day, I am a fan of this product, and i do advocate it to my friends. If you found some worth from our web site or this review and you’re coming up with to get this product, we have a tendency to would appreciate if you'll support us by using our affiliate link. That would facilitate keep the positioning content great! See the video at http://manifestationmiracle.web If you missed the quiz earlier, take it currently! It will extremely facilitate. PS: This is an affiliate link. All the data on our site is free of charge, and it might help so abundant if you select to buy this product through it. Thank you!

[topmixtrends]

CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT FROM his party’s recent San Diego convention was the state’s top Democrat, the longest serving governor in its history, a man touted nationally as the de facto leader of the opposition to the Trump administration. Why was Jerry Brown not there for his own party’s party? Well, as the Los Angeles Times noted, at a previous convention he had “faced protests and heckling from critics who did not agree with his stance on fracking” (he doesn’t oppose it). And, if you witnessed the 2017 convention razzing of even nominal single-payer health insurance backers whose support was deemed superficial or insincere, you knew what Brown could expect if he showed up (he doesn’t support it). After all, retiring California Nurses Association executive director Rose Ann DeMoro did tell the San Francisco Chronicle that “not convincing Jerry to do single-payer” counted as “my greatest failure” — and there was a large and vocal CNA contingent at both conventions. This issue, entirely missing from California Comeback: The Genius of Jerry Brown, Narda Zacchino’s otherwise fine review of the governor’s career, does suggest that the author goes a bit too far in her subtitle — which is not to say that the long-time Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle journalist is off base in considering Brown’s career as one characterized by seriousness and intelligence beyond the political norm.

Calling California “a nation-size state famous for its progressive models” and “the key test case not only for the United States but also for the entire world,” where “observers will learn if a multicultural, democratic, and postindustrial society can remain united, functional, and progressive in the face of globalized, high-tech capitalism” (whew!), Zacchino is particularly impressed with the “radical moderate” Brown’s shepherding of 2012’s Proposition 30 tax increases, effectively closing a tax-cutting era that began with the 1978 passage of Proposition 13 during his first stint as governor.

Prop 13 reduced the state’s real estate taxes, previously soaring in tandem with its real estate values, to no more than one percent of assessed valuation. Its passage, coming at a time when California had a $4 billion surplus — equivalent to $14.6 billion in 2015 — was epochal. A counter measure allowing local governments to create a “split roll” — taxing owner-occupied residences at a lower rate than commercial properties — had also been placed on the ballot by the legislature, but the 20 percent cut it offered was too little, too late, and Prop 13 carried with a 65 percent majority, immediately reducing property tax collections by 52 percent, from $10.3 billion to $4.9 billion. Additionally, Zacchino writes, it set off “a flurry of initiatives, most of them constitutional amendments,” so that between “1978 and 2014, California’s state constitution was amended seventy-three times, compared with forty-seven amendments in the preceding sixty-five years,” making it “the third longest constitution in the world.” Although Brown, then finishing his first term as governor, had been a staunch opponent, he immediately declared that “the people have spoken” and, as Zacchino notes, “did a turnaround and embraced it with such fervor that a Los Angeles Times poll three weeks after the election revealed that a majority of people thought the governor had supported it all along.”

After a single year on the Los Angeles Community College Board, Brown — the son of Edmund “Pat” Brown, California governor from 1959 to 1967 — made the leap to statewide office as Secretary of State in 1970, where he succeeded an arguably even more remarkable father-son act — the Jordans, Frank C. and Frank M., Republicans who had held the office for all but two years since 1910. (Frank M.’s widow ran in 1970, but lost the Republican primary.) Four years later, at age 36, Brown became the youngest governor in the state’s history, winning California’s closest gubernatorial election in 50 years and replacing Ronald Reagan, the man who beat his father.

To the rest of the nation, Brown seemed echt California — a one-time Jesuit seminarian who dated pop star Linda Ronstadt and took a post-campaign vacation at the Tassajara Hot Springs Zen retreat house (although Zacchino notes that “ironically, he has never been a politician to mix God and politics in his speeches or persona”). He eschewed the Reagan-era armored Cadillac and the privately funded governor’s mansion constructed at the behest of outgoing First Lady Nancy, preferring his own Plymouth and a “modest $250-a-month, sixth-floor apartment furnished with a few things from the governor’s mansion and other state apartments” — bedsheets and towels that Zacchino reports were “provided by the state’s psychiatric hospital in Napa.” He canceled his inaugural ball and spoke about the right of farmworkers to unionize in his inaugural address. He floated the idea of the state launching its own communications satellite and hired an ex-astronaut as a space advisor. He ran for president in 1980 (his second try) on the slogan “Protect the Earth, serve the people, and explore the universe.” Although Zacchino describes his resulting nickname, Governor Moonbeam, as “a moniker he still disdains,” when the Trump administration recently threatened to discontinue collecting climate change-related data, Brown reminded scientists: “I didn’t get that moniker for nothing. […] [I]f Trump turns off the satellites, California will launch its own damn satellite. […] We’re going to collect that data.”           

Brown lost a US Senate race in 1982 and would not hold office again until becoming mayor of Oakland 16 years later. He did, however, run for president again in 1992, accepting only individual donations of $100 or less, a stance fueled by his distaste for the corporate fundraising he’d done during a stint as chair of the state’s Democratic Party. During the race, Zacchino tells us, he “developed a dislike for the Clintons — or certainly their brand of ‘Democrat’ as part of the Democratic Leadership Council,” a group that included “among its membership tobacco lobbyists, who are in the business of killing people.” Over the years, his career has exhibited something of an inverse relationship between power and radicalism. In the years when he hosted guests like Noam Chomsky on his We the People radio show, he sometimes appeared to be flirting with socialism. He got over that, though, as soon as he returned to elective office.

One of the book’s stories most worthy of wider recollection comes in a chapter contrasting the economic development strategies of California and Texas and actually doesn’t involve Brown at all. Gray Davis, Brown’s one-time chief of staff, occupied the governor’s office during the passage of the state’s 1996 energy deregulation law, which the Center for Public Integrity has called “the most costly public policy miscalculation ever by state lawmakers.” The bill passed with no legislative dissent from either party, in either branch — a useful, if unpleasant reminder of the Clinton-era business-oriented neoliberal ideology that then dominated the Democratic Party and continues to haunt it to this day.

A 1998 repeal initiative failed in the face of a $40 million industry-funded campaign against it, coming on the heels of “an $87 million advertising campaign — the cost being passed on to ratepayers — explaining the new system to the state’s residents.” Reality begged to differ, however, and Zacchino reports that, in San Diego, “[t]he average price of residential electricity increased 413 percent from the third quarter of 1999 to the third quarter of 2000.” Corporate reaction to this windfall was revealed in audio tapes released in a lawsuit involving one of the laws’s greatest beneficiaries, the Enron corporation — George W. Bush’s largest campaign contributor over the years. The conversations, she says, “sound like a Hollywood parody of amoral greed, and in nearly all of them Enron traders are heard laughing. […] [I]n one crass example […][,] two unidentified Enron traders celebrated when a forest fire shut down a major transmission line into California, cutting power supplies and forcing an increase in prices.” Says one, “Burn, baby, burn.” At one point, the company’s top West Coast trader compliments a co-worker: “He just fucks California. […] He steals money from California to the tune of about a million.” When interrupted and urged to rephrase, he says, “Okay, he, um, he arbitrages the California market to the tune of a million bucks or two a day.” All in all, she writes, it was,

[A]n opportunity for master manipulators to rip off consumers, plunge the utilities into near bankruptcy, cost the state tens of billions of dollars, and subject nearly every man, woman, and child in California to rolling blackouts not experienced since the days of World War II, when the reasons for what was happening were at least comprehensible.

At this point, Brown was making his political comeback, starting with two terms as mayor of Oakland and then one as the state’s attorney general. Transformed from visionary to administrator in his more methodical second rise to power, his breadth of knowledge has served him well as he has taken on a leadership position in the opposition to Trump over the last two years, when he has been the oldest governor in California history. And he has not shied away from challenging the shibboleths of more liberal administrations, either — for instance, telling Obama administration Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, “You assume we know how to ‘turn around all the struggling low performing schools,’ when the real answers may lie outside of school,” and explaining to Zacchino that “the latest effort principally by hedge fund and other individuals at the top of the income scale to apply business practices, performance metrics, to the school, is an untested set of propositions. There’s not empirical data that justifies them.”

A recurrent theme of Zacchino’s book — which is a revision of her 2016 tome, California Comeback: How a “Failed State” Became a Model for the Nation — is the sheer size of the issues in California, where, as Newt Gingrich once noted, “in thirty-three years, the state built twenty-two prisons and only one additional public university.” And lest we think that the Golden State’s famous environmental problems began with fracking or anything like that, Zacchino recounts how mid-19th-century gold diggers revived the ancient Roman technique of hydraulic mining, blasting away entire hills to uncover the bits of gold they might contain — at one site, seven nozzles each spewed a million gallons of water an hour, 24 hours a day. As a result of this largely forgotten practice, she writes that “in some areas, land levels were raised as much as seven feet by the aquatic transfer of some twelve billion tons of earth, the equivalent of eight times the earth that was removed to carve the Panama Canal.” In comparison, current problems like the fact that it takes a gallon of water to grow a single almond may come to seem like, well, peanuts.

Returning to the vexed politics of single-payer health insurance, the state’s Democratic leadership has engaged in an elaborate charade on this issue for some years now. In 2006, a single-payer bill actually passed both Democratic-controlled legislative houses before being vetoed by Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a scenario repeated two years later. So with a Democrat taking over as governor during the next legislative session, it should have been problem solved, right? Alas, no — during the next two legislative sessions, the bill died in committee. And in the session after that, it wasn’t even filed — despite considerable pressure on legislators known to be sympathetic to the idea. Not that there’s anyone talking about it, but the legislative leadership obviously gave the members to understand that they were not to file the bill (that is, if they wanted any bills important to them to be passed). It seems equally clear that the reason for this ban had to do with the fact that Governor Brown does not wish to see single-payer legislation passed on his watch.

Here we have another instance of the Jekyll/Hyde nature of Jerry Brown’s career. In 1992, the out-of-power Brown argued in a presidential primary debate with Bill Clinton that “through a single payer, as we’ve seen in Canada, you can eliminate tremendous amounts of paperwork both for the doctors, the hospitals, and the […] insurance companies.” But 25 years later, when he is in a position to shape a state-level single-payer system that would be larger than Canada’s, we find him asking: “Where do you get the extra money? This is the whole question. I don’t even get … how do you do that?” The bill was refiled in this, the last legislative session of Brown’s career, but the co-chair of the single-payer advocacy group Campaign for a Healthy California told the Sacramento Bee, “We’re hearing the governor is doing everything he can to make sure this never gets on his desk.”

If Jerry Brown really were the genius Zacchino thinks he is, or wants him to be, surely he’d remember how “you do that.”

¤

Tom Gallagher is a writer and activist living in San Francisco. He is the author of Sub: My Years Underground in America’s Schools (2015) and The Primary Route: How the 99 Percent Takes on the Military Industrial Complex (2016).

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