#electrical embassy

[electricalembassy]

Top Electricians Nathan - Electrical Embassy

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[wildemaven]

1000 kisses to you and here's my 2 prompt picks for the drabble thingie: 4 and 15 with Javier

Can't wait to see what it leads to 😘

call me javi | javier peña

pairing: javier peña x reader word count: 651 content warning: mentions of alcohol and cigarettes, dancing, fluff, javier being protective and sweet, I don’t think there’s anything else note: sorry it took me so long to get to this!! I hope this works okay 💕 thanks for sending in your ask and for you support

“You're not as bad as everyone says you are.” You say loudly rather close to his ear, hoping he can hear over the booming music and crowded bar. 

It was a slow week at the embassy, which meant the DEA’s finest had a chance to let loose and enjoy themselves for once. 

Drinks flowing. Bodies grinding in tune with each song the DJ throws out, keeping the energy circulating throughout the small bar you all frequent regularly. 

Tonight would be like any other Friday with your fellow Agents, except this evening you find yourself drawn to one Agent in particular. 

His body has been firmly against yours for the better part of the evening, front and back. Hands holding you close no matter the pace of the song, selfishly worried you might drift away or find yourself in the arms of someone else. 

You lost count at the amount of times his lips brushed over your own ears. His constant need to check in with you had your chest tight and stomach full of fluttering desire. 

There was a small part of you that was feeling he might even like you. More than just a crush born from an evening of close proximity. There was never a thought that he would be, not with all the beautiful women constantly in his arms in all the years you’ve known him. 

With the way his warm brown eyes are so fixated on you says otherwise. His expression exchanged for something a little less brooding and a little more alluring. Hands still finding purchase by any means as you lean against the wall while his body shields you from onlookers. The dimly lit hallway near the back of the bar adds another layer of privacy. 

“Who’s everyone?” Javier’s voice is laced with a nervousness you’ve never heard before. The stoic demeanor he wears regularly now hangs up alongside his worn-in leather jacket. 

There’s a raspiness brought on by the pack of cigarettes he most likely blew through leading up to showing up here, even though he said he had other plans.

“Who do you think?” You smirk playfully at him, your fingers playing with the damp curls at the base of his neck. 

“Steve?” There was no need to even ask, he already knew how protective Steve was, rightfully so. Didn’t mean he still didn’t find his overbearing partner to be a pain in his ass, especially when it came to you. 

You nod in agreement, desperately trying to contain the laughter bubbling up as he huffs out  dramatically, shaking his head. The annoyance doesn’t last long though. The corners of his mouth lifting, revealing one of his best features. His smile makes you instantly weak and it has you prematurely looking forward to being on the receiving end of it forever. 

“Are you going to kiss me, Javier?” The prospect of his lips on you, in any capacity, had been overwhelming your every thought since he saddled up next to you at the beginning of the night.

Watching the way his lips formed every word he spoke. Cradling the edge of his glass on his plush lower lip as he sipped on his dry whiskey. Contorting in such a delicate way with each drag he pulled from his cigarette. 

They’re the softest lips you’ve ever had the pleasure of kissing. Excruciatingly blissful, deliberately encompassing your own, as your brain silently screams for more. 

“Javi.” Javi. It rolls off his tongue like a sweet springtime honey. Each letter electric as he says it, leaving your mouth tingling as it brands itself to your soul. 

“Hmm?” Too consumed by him to form words. 

“You can call me Javi from now on.” There’s a permanence in the way he says it, something you both have to discuss once the hangovers have worn off tomorrow. 

“Kiss me again— Javi.” And he does well into the next morning. 

[welcomemoscowwalks]

The urban estate of S. P. Berg. The Italian embassy has taken over a beautiful building for itself. The building was erected in 1897 for industrialist and millionaire Berg on the site of an old wooden manor house, previously owned by the writer M.N. Zagoskin. The mansion of S. P. Berg became one of the first in Moscow to receive electricity. In 1918, the embassy of the German Empire was located in the building.

[psyphigirl]

How to play Caravan (New Vegas)

While I was tryin to learn how to play Caravan I saw loads of guides were just explaining the win conditions and not the actual rules or controls. So this post'll explain everything about caravan from top to bottom. (The only reason to play Caravan is for the two achievements, win three times and win thirty times; I don't find it very fun, not the fastest way of making money, and has no bearing on any plot.)

Getting the Cards

The only way to get the Caravan Deck is from Ringo after completing Ghost Town Gunfight (or looting it off his body). You don't need this, but it gives you the minimum number of cards you need to play. If you don't take it you'll have to manually find enough cards for Caravan to be available for you You can get cards from vendors and merchants (~two caps per). Keep an eye out for 6's, 8's, 10's, and Kings (The strat I'll describe needs those cards). You can have multiple copies of the same card (i.e. more than one 6 of Spades)

I got the most cards from Lacey (the bartender) at the Mojave Outpost (anywhere from three to eight). Buy the cards you need and wait three days for her to restock. There's a semi-rare bug where she'll sell two of the exact same card (i.e. two Ultra Luxe 8 of Hearts): Buying both'll crash the game

Sierra Madre Cards

If you have Dead Money installed you can find additional cards for Caravan in and around the Sierra Madre. Below is all the cards you can find and where they are:

8 of Clubs - Sierra Madre Casino & Resort (Cantina Madrid): On the floor in front of a file cabinet to the right of the Cafe Madrid terminal and restaurant manager desk. King of Clubs - Medical District: Inside a 2nd floor room with an active electric hot plate, north of the Villa clinic and above a ground level cafe sign directly west across a courtyard from the room containing the 6 of Diamonds, on a round table in the northeast corner. 6 of Diamonds - Medical District: Inside a 2nd floor room northeast of the Villa clinic and directly east across a courtyard from the room containing the King of Clubs, on a wooden shelf in the southwest corner behind an orange chair. 10 of Hearts - Villa: Some distance north of the Villa police station and west of the room containing the 5 of Hearts, on the interior corner of a walkway to the southeast of a wall fountain. Going from the 5 of Hearts, out the door with a wall fountain, down the stairs, in the corner of the interior walkway on the left. 6 of Spades - Salida del Sol North: In the northwest corner of a small courtyard with three bear traps and a dead tree, on the ground between a wall and three pipes, just west of the stairs leading to a room containing Dean's Secret Stash, a radio and two pool tables. 8 of Spades - Villa police station: In the northwest corner of the cell Dog is located in.

Who can I play with?

You're never explicitly told who you can play with, you just have to ask around. Here's the full list; Limited: You can only play with them five times and then never again Restricted: You have to have good rep with their faction to play

Cliff Briscoe - Dino Bite gift shop - Limited Dale Barton - The Fort - Restricted Dennis Crocker - NCR Embassy Isaac - Gun Runners Jake Erwin - NCR Embassy Johnson Nash - Primm - Limited Jules - North Vegas Square Keith - Aerotech suite Lacey - Mojave Outpost - Limited Little Buster - Camp McCarran Q.Master Mayes - Camp Forlorn Hope - Limited - Restricted No-bark Noonan - Novac Ringo - Goodsprings/Crimson Caravan Camp Jed Masterson - Northern passage - Only available with Honest Hearts

Johnson Nash uses more face cards than other players which can break the strat I'll describe later. No-bark Noonan is the easiest to play against

Building your Deck

After offering to play with someone, and after setting your bet, you'll be shown two long rows of cards. The top row is the deck you'll play with in the game, the bottom row is the cards you won't be using

Use your arrow keys to move left and right, pressing W to add a card to your deck and A to remove it. Only select your 6's, 8's, 10's, and Kings. If you don't have enough of these to reach the 30 card minimum, add some Jacks or Queens. After that press F to play

The Controls

The descriptors of the controls listed along the bottom right can be a little vague or misleading, here's a better explanation;

Arrow keys to highlight a card in your available hand (these will be the cards revealed to you in a fan) W to select a card Q to discard a card (counts as a full turn) If you select a card and want to deselect it, press R. With no card selected, R is the forfeit button E lets you completely discard a caravan you've built

When you select a card it will move to the left side of the screen. This is where the game is played. Use the arrow keys to place your selected card in one of the six sections available (these are the caravans)

Number Cards and Face Cards

Ace - Value of 1 Number Cards - Value of 2-10

You can play face cards on your caravans or your opponents caravans, and they can do the same to you

Jack - When played on an Ace/Number Card, removes that card along with any card attached to it Queen - When played on an Ace/Number Card, supposedly reverses the direction of hand and changes suit of the hand. I'm not sure if it's just my game being buggy or if I'm using them wrong, but Queen cards don't seem to do anything for me. I use Queens as null cards: Just something to fill up my deck. If you know what they actually do I'll add a proper explanation here. King - When played on an Ace/Number card, doubles the value of that card. Multiple Kings can be attached to the same card Joker - When played on an Ace, removes all other non-face cards of the ace's suit from the table (except that card) When played on a Number Card, removes all other cards of that value from the table (except that card) You can place multiple Jokers on the same card to remove any card of that suit/value placed after you placed your initial Joker

Playing Caravan (6 8 10 K Strat)

This isn't a strategy I invented, I found it online. But I only every found it in posts that assumed I knew how to play already. So I wanted to put it here alongside a tutorial Also, just as a rule of measure for how weird this game is, we're only now getting to how to actually play the game ...

You're aiming to have the values of the bottom three card piles (your caravans) be higher than their matching top three values (your opponents caravans), while keeping your values between twenty and twenty-six (values outside of this are invalid).

You might notice that you can't place a card on a caravan that already has a card in it. This might be for a few reasons;

There's a difference between attaching a card to another, and stacking a card on top of another: Press the up and down keys to move along the various heights of a caravan. Face cards can only be attached, number cards can only be stacked

You can't place two number cards of the same value in the same caravan. But you can place as many of the same face card as you want in the same caravan

Place a 10 and a 6, or a 10 and an 8 in each caravan, attach a King to the 10 in 10/6 caravans, or to the 8 in 10/8 caravans. These will each bring your value up to 26. If you don't have any of the cards you need, discard something you don't want (like a Queen if you have any in your deck and are using them as null cards). It's worth having a handful of Jacks in your deck to use against your opponent

Beating No-Bark

I'm not certain, but I think No-Bark's deck has no 2's, Queens, or Jokers. He only has three to four Jacks, and two to three Kings. After you've placed your initial card in each of your caravans he'll use a Jack against you one or two times. Rarely three, very rarely none. After your first few moves he's very unlikely to use Jacks again. I only saw him using a king against three times out of thirty-five games. Sometimes he deliberately busts his caravans. I have no idea why he does this

The strat I use against him is to place 6's and 8's as my first card in each caravan, then replace any cards he removes. It's only after three to five moves that I actually start building my caravans. Unless he's particular nasty with his Jacks, or you're particularly unlucky with whichever cards you draw, you should be able to get to 26 in each of your caravans immediately. If not, don't forget to Jack or King any caravan of his that reaches 20

Conclusion

Caravan sucks

If I missed something or didn't explain something right I'll make edits

Peace and love

[throughtrialbyfire]

𝐖𝐈𝐏 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 ♥

hi! it's been far too long since ive done this, but classes have been kicking my ass. next semester is my last at this college, so i'm trying to get as much done as possible <3

thank you to the lovely @captain-of-silvenar for tagging me, and to everyone who has been tagging me in my absence!!

tagging @orfeoarte @thequeenofthewinter @archangelsunited @viss-and-pinegar and whoever wants to do this and hasnt been tagged!!

this week, i bring the rough draft of the rewritten first chapter of An Inner Sanctity. ancano wakes up to find himself in an unfamiliar setting with intense pain he can't find a source for… and someone else in the cabin with him.

The room was dark. Lit only by a hearth, or some other fire. He could almost hear it crackle, if not for the shooting, electric pain digging into him like a hot knife. It ran in wild arcs from his lower spine, up through his shoulders and down through the legs, into his head until it pounded. He strangled a cry mid-way from his mouth and choked on air, face balled tight in an effort to shut it off, but that only served to intensify the tension in his head. He laid back on the pillow, coated in a new layer of cold sweat, lungs ragged in their attempts to keep any air in them. He tried to move, kicking his legs like stubborn carts laden with ore, but they were too heavy to move under the quilts and his own exhaustion. The pain dulled, first a slow glimmer of softening, then it dissipated into thudding behind his eyes. His ears pounded with blood rushing through them, his muscles heavy and uncomfortable. It was as though he had been speared through with a burning iron blade, but as he lifted his shaking hands to his face and touched the skin beneath, he could not feel anything out of the ordinary. His features were a bit sharper, perhaps. And the thin, oily coat of sweat didn't help any matters, either. He couldn't tell where he was, nor why the room was dim, nor why the quilts were there. Was he asleep? How long had he been asleep? The last thing he'd seen is that wave of… What was it, was that magicka? Not like anything he'd ever seen before. But it had slammed into him, knocking him back towards a wall, and a force had shocked through him to his core, and then…

A door opened near where he lay. Ancano shut his eyes. He slowed his breathing as the trudge of footsteps drew closer, a bowl sloshing with water. The guise of sleep would afford him enough time to take them by surprise, to shove them aside and paralyze them before he made his escape. Then, he'd run to the Thalmor Embassy and let them know what had happened at that dreadful College, barring a few details, of course. After all, it was only natural that the one to wield such an artifact such as the Eye should want to keep it for himself, is it not? A warm, wet washcloth swept over the ridge of his brow, the hand who held it moving in slow, gentle motions. He could feel their fingers as they gripped the cloth, and brought it down to his cheeks, over his eyes, and around his mouth. It took all of his strength not to protest the sensation, but he remained still and quiet as a corpse, and allowed the motions to fall over him. The cloth set aside somewhere, the same hand dipped something into the water, before he felt bristles moving through his hair. The motions were careful, pushing back the front of the lengths with the wet brush, ensuring that the one who held it did not harm him. Strange, was he perhaps in the care of a Dominion medic? Is that, by some miracle, where he'd wound up? The brush set aside on a wooden surface - to Ancano's chagrin, as he had enjoyed the little bit of comfort the brushing sensation provided - the mysterious hand returned, moving the cloth down his neck, and around his chest. They moved it along the ridges of his collar bone, and when he opportunity struck, he lurched out his hand like a snake's mouth to prey, eyes shot open as he got a bleary, unclear look at the figure. "Explain to me who you are, and what you are doing, or you will be missing a hand very shortly," he sneered in a hoarse voice, the threat taking the figure by surprise. As he began to register the figure before him, recognition came through the sound of their own voice, the person shoving against his hand on their wrist.

"Let me go, damn it! I'm just trying to help you!" Their protests came out more surprised than scared, and at that moment Ancano got a clear look at the individual before him. He loosened his grip, watching the Mer rub their wrist and pout a little, their dark hair falling over their shoulders in curls. His eyes widened involuntarily as he looked up at them, brow knit in confusion. The last memory that he had of this figure was that of them trying to kill him. "Athenath?" He uttered, throat unusually dry. The Altmer turned their attention to him, giving a nervy grin as he continued to massage his wrist. They then let the hand fall to their lap, looking over Ancano curiously. "Yes, and I'm gonna assume you've always had good grip strength." He frowned. Attempting to push himself up onto his elbows, another crack of pain whipped through his lower spine and into his extremities. Whatever noise he must have made, it was enough to make Athenath flinch, before they began to lower him back into the bed. "Hey, don't do that, not yet," they chided as Ancano's lips ran with haggard breaths, "you're not… well. I mean, I don't think you're sick, but you're definitely injured, though Lydia said she can't find any signs of physical injury. I can't, either, besides some cuts and bruises from… Well, you shouldn't worry too much."

He sneered. "Don't worry, I won't," he replied, words dripping thickly with sarcasm. The other Altmer rolled their dark eyes, and while Ancano had known they'd spoken, and he'd returned his own words, it was as though all sound came from across a corner, down a hall, somewhere out of touch. All he saw was his own pulse-spot-spattered vision, and the gleaming of the hearth reflected in the surface of the water that they'd been using moments prior. He had never known that he could get this thirsty. His tongue laid as dry and sharp in his mouth as a chunk of sandstone, all thoughts focused there. It would be pathetic to ask for water, to beg like a dog, but he found he did not have to, as Athenath pulled over a silver pitcher and poured him a glass. They set it aside, and with as much care as he could muster, began to shift Ancano to sit against the pillows. He winced and gagged on the pain, but the other took his time, and Ancano swore in that moment he almost heard reassurances, words meant to soothe so bitter and mocking in this light. When it was all over, however, he was seated, with the pillows against his back, resting on the headboard of what must have been a makeshift bed, as it was too hard to be a bed used regularly, and too lumpy to be one he was expected to sleep on for much longer. Well, he certainly hoped so, for if he had to sleep on this mattress any more nights, he might burn the entire place down with everyone but himself inside.

[the-dye-stained-socialite]

Scandal and Sequins

Hello @bubblyishyoshi ! I got to be your secret fic-writer for the @fallenlondonficswap this year! I had fun writing this, though I think the characters took it out of my hands! I hope you enjoy! Implied sex/fade to black, Devils, and quite a bit of scandal! Written letter format, and lesbians Wordcount: 1,141 A Scandalous Costume-Designer head to the Brass Embassy to get inspiration for her next show at Mahogany Hall. This is her 100% factual recounting of that night. ao3 link here

To my dear D - - - - -, 

I presume, by now, you’ve heard of my rather graceless departure to the Tomb-Colonies. I’m under the impression, in fact, that half of London herself has! Of the reason why I was sent away, i’m certain you’ve heard of as well. Yet these so-called ‘recountings’ of what exactly it was I did have some rather glaring errors. So perhaps, my dear, you would run this story through that newspaper of yours, and bring my reputation to a bit of a more favorable light? I assure you it was largely misconception, and the rest exaggeration. You were always begging me for a personal interview, and if people have the truth it would surely hasten my return. A mutually beneficial deal.

Yes, I was at the Brass Embassy on Thursday, but I assure you I entered in a perfectly reasonable manner. There was no involvement of petticoats, windows, or other such nonsense. Furthermore, the misunderstanding with the guest list was simply that, a misunderstanding. My Amassador friend clearly it all up quite quickly. Nor did I seduce the Doorman after ‘being caught with my skirts a-tangle’ because, as I said, my friend got me into the Embassy in a reasonable and safe manner. Besides, the Doorman’s not my type. Oh, but I’m certain you know my type, don’t you D - - - - -? I saw your most recent haircut. Was that meant for me?

I’m also certain you remember my costuming work for Mahogany Hall last season. When you came and sat off to one side, hoping I hadn’t noticed? I did. 

Our upcoming play is about Paris, and I had intended to take inspiration from the Devils for our leading actress. What better was to get inspiration for my costuming than to see things for myself?

The Embassy was warm, so yes, I did have my skirts hiked. Anyone would have. I should rather like to see Lady T - - - - - - try to dance with the ‘Terpsichores’ in her haughty bustles two decades out of style and not feel the heat! Besides, my skirts were no shorter than what the Devilesses wore! Oh, how you should have seen what they wore! The electric lighting truly made their dresses sparkle and glint! The beadwork and spangles used on their clothes were positively dazzling, and more than once had a garment’s design taken my breath away!

I had sat in a corner for at least half the night, my hands covered in graphite as I sketched away what I saw. Rectangular, boy-ish shapes, and an overall slimmer fit, with less support underneath. Over the course of the night, I came to notice other details as well. Fangs, bright eyes, and the occasional human companion wearing a rose corsage. These I sketched as well. Hairstyles, hemlines, necklaces, all of it made it into my notes. Insectoid and floral motifs seemed to be especially in vogue.

I was quite caught up in my work, you understand, so I’m afraid I have no recollection of how I ended up on the dancefloor in the arms of a Deviless. It was not my own doing. Anyone who knows Devils will tell you they’re very persuasive. The personal position certainly offered its advantages though.

I was much more able to study my self-chosen muse’s face, and noted she wore makeup. Her vibrantly red lips did not, however, hide her fangs when she laughed. Nor did her eye makeup draw my attention from her burning, golden gaze. I should have taken the chance to study other faces as well, but my companion danced double-time, and dragged me with! The steps were searing, and I’m afraid she danced a pattern I couldn’t understand. Despite this ignorance, she was an exhilarating partner! 

She was as seductive, and I should have been remiss to turn her down! It was her that kissed me, and not the other way. With her charms upon me, how could I say resist? Society doesn’t need to know whether I actually wanted to or nor. 

The Deviless’ lips were hot as a brand upon mine! She kissed with fierce passion, and when I placed my hand upon her scalding cheek, it was her turn to melt. Though we were in the middle of the dancing floor, though her hair was rarely fair, though the taste of honey lingered on my lips, I found myself imagining a different kiss altogether. Hair darker, made more so by the poor lighting behind the stage curtains. The smell of cigarettes. The taste of absinthe, perhaps?

Let’s keep that last part out of your paper, shall we? 

My muse’s charms were not limited to kisses alone. Conversation turned to the reason for my attendance, and I gladly explained. My sketches were going well, though I confessed there was a few details evading me. Devil fashions cannot be worn over petticoats or Lady T - - - - - - ‘s excessive bustles and bum-pads. I aim for accuracy in my designs, and I cannot put a dress over the wrong underthings, for that mistake would be immediately apparent.

She understood, and offered to enlighten me.

Here is another misconception, for clearly someone had overheard our conversation, despite the brass section, and misunderstood my intent! These gossips will twist anything to suit their own narratives! We did nothing so racy as my blackmailers believe! It was merely for art and costuming!

We slipped away to a private guestroom for my companion’s privacy. With the amount of scandal this has caused, what do you think think should happen if I had acquired my information in the middle of the floor? I’d never even have hope of leaving the Tomb-Colonies! 

All she did was show me the construction of her undergarments. She was very informative in the fastening and removal, but only because I want to make sure my lead can get back out of the garments.

The Deviless even permitted me a few sketches, at least until she grew bored and interrupted them. I spent quite a long night studying, with her guidance. That is all the happened, nothing more. Alas that nobody save me seems to believe that! When I emerged from the Embassy the next morning, I was promptly dragged off to the Docks! Lady T - - - - - - - and her tittering hangers-on can go kiss Drownies, I just know they were waiting for me so they could twist this story! The Anti-Massacre receives their patronage since that little incident a few seasons ago with the mirror-trick, and she’s been on my tail since, as if I had any part.

Well, now I reside in the Colonies until the stains upon my name have faded. There is much dust, and quite the dreary air, but some of these Colonists are quite alluring. Perhaps I shall make a study of their bandages and wrappings in my time here. 

 Not yours yet, ~ Amelia Chantilly 

[falloutboylyricss]

Fall Out Boy and Places

note: this post only includes names of specific places, both real and fictional

Evening Out With Your Girlfriend

"I'm deep with futures like Chicago / No, Glenview never meant a thing to me, she never meant a thing to me" - Growing Up

Take This to Your Grave

"Pete and I attacked the laws of Astoria with promise and precision" - Saturday

"Landing on a runway in Chicago, and I'm grounding all my dreams of ever really seeing California" - Homesick at Space Camp

Chicago Is So Two Years Ago (title only)

"But there's a light on in Chicago, and I know I should be home" - Chicago Is So Two Years Ago

From Under The Cork Tree

none

Infinity On High

"Put love on hold, young Hollywood is on the other line" - The (After) Life Of The Party

"And everyone's looking for relief, United States versus disbelief" - You're Crashing, But You're No Wave

"New York eyes, Chicago thighs, pushed up the window to kiss you off" - I've Got All This Ringing In My Ears And None On My Fingers

Folie à Deux

"Erase myself and let go, start it over again in Mexico" - I Don't Care

"Let's hear it for America's suitehearts, but I must confess, I'm in love with my own sins" - America's Suitehearts

Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet (title only)

"Plant palm trees on Lake Michigan before it gets cold" - The (Shipped) Gold Standard

"Said, 'I'll be fine 'til the hospital or American embassy'" - What A Catch, Donnie

"And you're a bottled star, the planets align, you're just like Mars" - 27

"A Roman candle heart, keep us far apart" - Tiffany Blews

"Have you ever wanted to disappear and join a monastery, go out and preach on Manic Street?" - 20 Dollar Nose Bleed

West Coast Smoker (title only)

"Got my degree in the gutter, my heart broken in the dorms of the Ivy League" - West Coast Smoker

Save Rock And Roll

"Did you trip down twelve steps into Malibu?" - The Mighty Fall

"Bel Air baby, did you get dressed up?" - The Mighty Fall

"But we are alive here in Death Valley, but don't take love off the table yet" - Death Valley

"When Rome's in ruins, we are the lions, free of the Colosseums" - Young Volcanoes

"Americana, exotica, do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?" - Young Volcanoes

PAX AM Days

"Cargo and despair, all American made" - American Made

American Beauty/American Psycho

"You know you look so Seattle, but you feel so L.A." - Irresistible

"She's an American beauty, I'm an American psycho" - American Beauty/American Psycho

"Take me down the line, in Gem City, we turn the tide" - Uma Thurman

"In between being young and being right, you were my Versailles at night" - Fourth Of July

"There's a room in a hotel in New York City that shares our fate and deserves our pity" - Twin Skeleton's (Hotel In NYC)

MANIA

none

So Much (For) Stardust

Heaven, Iowa (title only)

"6 AM, Mulholland Drive, Moonlight Sonata and I" - Heaven, Iowa

Misc.

"I wanna put the Midwest home again" - Alpha Dog

"Sometimes, when I'm in Heaven, I get forgetful of the Earth" - Lake Effect Kid

"And joke us, joke us 'til Lakeshore Drive comes back into focus" - Lake Effect Kid

"I love you, Chicago, you make me feel so summer fling" - City In A Garden

"You know the world can get my bones, but Chicago gets my soul" - Super Fade

"Captain Planet, Arab Spring, L.A. riots, Rodney King" - We Didn't Start The Fire

"Oklahoma City bomb, Kurt Cobain, Pokémon" - We Didn't Start The Fire

"Nuclear accident, Fukushima, Japan / Crimean peninsula, Cambridge Analytica" - We Didn't Start The Fire

"More war in Afghanistan, Cubs go all the way again / Obama, Spielberg, explosion, Lebanon / Unabomber, Bobbitt, John, Bombing, Boston Marathon" - We Didn't Start The Fire

"Stranger Things, Tiger King, Ever Given, Suez" - We Didn't Start The Fire

"Elon Musk, Kaepernick, Texas failed electric grid" - We Didn't Start The Fire

"Great Pacific garbage patch, Tom DeLonge and aliens / Mars rover, Avatar, self-driving electric cars" - We Didn't Start The Fire

[mariacallous]

Ukraine is set to face its toughest winter since the start of the full-scale invasion as Russia eyes cutting off its nuclear power after already bombing out capacity from half of its electricity generation sector in large-scale air strikes.

For now, Russia is not directly striking the plants with missiles and kamikaze drones. But Moscow has increasingly targeted nearby infrastructure, such as substations containing crucial equipment like transformers and power lines connecting nuclear plants to the grid.

“We're in a world where (Ukraine) has a deficit of functioning infrastructure. This is going to be the hardest winter yet,” International Energy Agency (IEA) Chief Economist Tim Gould told the Kyiv Independent.

If Russian attacks successfully disconnect all the power plants from the grid, then Ukraine’s only stable power source is gone, said Warsaw-based energy analyst Wojciech Jakobik.

“(Nuclear power) is a baseload capacity, which is irreplaceable by renewables, other sources, and especially not by energy imports,” he told the Kyiv Independent.

“With a smaller nuclear capacity in place, Ukraine will have less flexibility and less ability to stabilize (energy) generation.”

Ukraine has lost 9 gigawatts of power generation, including eight thermal plants and five hydro plants, due to Russian strikes this year. While companies scramble to repair their damaged assets, Russia is gearing up to attack Ukraine’s nuclear infrastructure, the Energy Ministry's press office told the Kyiv Independent, which would freeze out Ukrainians and cause a humanitarian crisis if the country can’t swiftly repair and protect its infrastructure.

After the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in 2022, Ukraine relies heavily on three nuclear plants remaining under government control. They are the lifeline of the country, providing 60% of its power. The last mass attack on Aug. 26 forced Ukraine to disconnect three units at the Rivne and South Ukraine plants, causing weeks of power outages.

The country’s state-owned nuclear company, Energoatom, told the Kyiv Independent that all its power units are ready to operate at “maximum capacity” during the heating season, and the company connected a refurbished one-gigawatt nuclear power unit to the grid on Oct. 1. However, it has only recently announced plans to build additional fortifications to protect power plants from attacks.

Without stable power, Ukrainians will face another round of blackouts similar to the ones in the summer which could last as long as eight hours a day, according to Kyiv-based think tank DiXi Group. Brutally cold winter temperatures during power outages will freeze pipes, cutting off Ukrainians’ access to water and heating, and may lead to another wave of refugees, the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) told the Kyiv Independent.

At the same time, attacks on nuclear infrastructure massively heighten the risks of accidents, the Energy Ministry's press office said. While Jakobik believes a Chernobyl-like scenario is unlikely as reactors are well protected, damage to substations could prevent backup supplies of electricity that ensure the safety of reactors, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The EU and the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv both told the Kyiv Independent that they are pitching in to bolster the energy sector in time for winter with financial support, backup equipment, and humanitarian aid. But with Russia relentlessly churning out and firing its missiles and drones, the only tangible tool for energy security is stronger air defense, the Energy Ministry's press office said.

Running out of time and options

During the first years of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine relied on different facilities within its massive energy sector to survive the initial attacks on energy infrastructure and even managed to export electricity to the EU. But that changed this year after mass attacks beginning in March wiped out 50% of its energy assets. Now, Ukraine has run out of options and switched from exporting to importing 2 gigawatts of electricity from its European neighbors. Winter power outages appear inevitable. The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission (UNHRMM) expects blackouts to last between 4-18 hours a day, depending on attacks and the weather, causing living conditions to crumble for millions of citizens. “The deficit of electricity supply could be up to 6 gigawatts. That's the equivalent of peak demand in Denmark,” Gould said. With nuclear power as the remaining foundation for Ukraine’s energy stability, it is the prime target for Russian strikes, the Energy Ministry's press office said. Ukraine’s government seeks to decentralize the power grid as quickly as possible, but this is unlikely to happen by the winter and private energy companies are desperately restoring their assets to strengthen the grid.

Ukraine hopes to recover 3 gigawatts by the end of the year, said Olena Lapenko, general manager in the Field of Security and Resilience at DiXi Group. But this depends on critical funding, which state electricity grid operator Ukrenergo puts at $1.5 billion for rapid repairs this season. So far, Ukraine has received nearly 700 million euros ($766 million) from its energy support fund in cooperation with the European Commission, and winter is fast approaching.

Part of the fund covers much-needed equipment, such as autotransformers, to patch up facilities damaged by Russian air strikes as fast as possible. Simple repairs around nuclear plants, like power lines, can be fixed within 24 hours, said Jakobik. But specialized equipment depends on deliveries from Western allies, which can take months unless there are readily available stockpiles, he said. “The tough part is, you replace the old infrastructure with new parts and Russia attacks it once again,” he added. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company owned by its richest man Rinat Akhmetov, has lost 90% of its thermal plants capacity to Russian attacks. By winter, the company hopes to restore 60-65% of its thermal power that was damaged in spring. But even this would not be enough to replace nuclear power if all the plants are disconnected, said Oleksiy Povolotskiy, DTEK’s head of Recovery Office. Another issue, said Povolotskiy, is that the war has bitten a chunk out of Ukraine’s manual workforce while the scale of the damage is massive. DTEK is bringing in workers from other enterprises, like miners, to help clear debris. The company has asked European states to send engineers and machinery for more complex repairs.

The costs of Russian attacks are piling up for Ukraine. DTEK has already funneled $80 million into repairs from its own budget. Instead of relying on equipment that softens the fallout of attacks and power outages, Povolotskiy believes the most efficient solution is for Western allies to provide Ukraine with additional air-defense systems.

“Partners should understand that it is much cheaper and much more efficient to protect (energy facilities) than to repair,” he said.

The U.S. embassy in Ukraine told Kyiv Independent that the Defense Department will provide an additional Patriot battery and missiles but did not specify if this was directly for the protection of energy facilities. For now, this is the only confirmed delivery of an additional air defense battery, although Washington pledged a $2.6 billion aid package on Sept. 26 that includes munitions and support for air defense systems.

Ill prepared and ultra exposed

With no other extra air-defense systems currently in the pipeline, Ukraine’s government is building protective constructions for substations against falling debris and drones. However, not enough constructions have been built in time for winter and contractors have allegedly not been fully paid.

“More concrete constructions must be built as soon as possible,” Povolotskiy said.

Yuliia Kyian, an official at the Energy Ministry, told the Kyiv Independent during a discussion in Kyiv on Oct. 2, that the constructions are expensive and take time to build. They also cannot withstand ballistic missile strikes, she added.

Energoatom has faced criticism. In September and October, the company signed contracts to construct a $12.3 million shield around the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant and a $14.4 million worth of protection around the South Ukraine plant in Mykolaiv Oblast. Ukrainian anti-corruption watchdog Nashi Groshi reported that the contracts were concluded only after President Volodymyr Zelensky told the UN Security Council that Russia was preparing an attack on the three operating nuclear plants.

“It is difficult to assess why this was not done earlier,” said DiXi Group’s Lapenko.   “Probably no one could imagine that the Russians would aim directly at the nuclear power sites as this is a serious threat to nuclear safety. But we can’t exclude such a scenario.”

A nuclear disaster would threaten the whole of Europe, the Energy Ministry's press office said, adding that the global community must unite to prevent a catastrophe. Kyiv has reached out to the UN’s nuclear agency (IAEA) to place more observation missions around its power plants, but an agreement has not yet been reached.

International observers will ensure that safety standards are enforced at the plants and combat disinformation, as Moscow frequently denies Ukraine’s accusations of endangering nuclear safety, Jakobik said. Nevertheless, Russia could pummel nuclear facilities to the point that it is dangerous for people to remain and force evacuations.

“Russia is not a responsible stakeholder in the nuclear sector,” he said.

“It's using energy terrorism against Ukraine. You cannot be sure about what Russia is doing,” the energy analyst added.

[twobellsilence]

At the Colombian embassy to get some papers sorted out and it just reminds me of how stupidly strict the USAmerican embassy is when it comes to letting you in.

See, I've been to the Japanese, Argentinian and Colombian embassies before and they're so easy to access. You tell the guard what you need, you pass through the metal detector at the entrance, and congratulations you're in. I've even passed by the goddamn Russian embassy during opening hours and from the main door it seems as basic as the others. But the United States? Oh, the United States divides you into groups like cattle and the guards treat you as such, with them not hesitating to yell at people for arbitrary reasons. You are NOT allowed to go in with backpacks or messenger bags above an arbitrary size limit despite no indication of this in their webpage. Your documents are in there? Fuck you! Oh, you think there are lockers at the gate so you can store your belongings since they don't let you get them inside? No. You figure it out on your own when there's nothing but a highway and office buildings around and absolutely no place to leave your shit aside from tying it to the trees (which people actually do) in front of the embassy and hoping nobody likes your bag enough to steal it, lmao. I mean, there ARE lockers, but only for digital / smart watches because you're not allowed to enter with those either, but empty bags are too dangerous to store here, sorry.

Okay, you got through the guards treating you like pure shit to the point where you feel subhuman by the time it's your turn and you're now let into the lobby. Congratulations! You're now getting TSA'd, and because you're a filthy Latino, you're getting the FULL patdown. They literally have one of those things at airports that scan your bags! Except only for handbags. And your belt. And your shoes. And your documents. Did I mention that on top of the standard metal detector they also wand you down and pat your pockets?

And like, after the initial ordeal, the embassy itself is really pretty and the personnel inside is actually super nice. But you can't even feel good about it because you were just treated like a low-life terrorist at the gate for no reason other than weird USAmerican paranoia. And you know the funniest part? The outside walls of the property are actually tiny, as in "if you and a friend tried hard enough you could easily climb in" tiny, and they don't even have electricity so it's relatively safe. I assume trying to do it would result in getting your brains blown out by a sniper or something, but the fact that it's theoretically easier to sneak in than to go in legally is quite ironic, no?

[cazzyf1]

Quotes about Helmut Koinigg from the book 'Unsere Champions - Alles über Österreichs Jahrhundert- Rennfahrer 1900-2003'

"I helped him a few times in his somewhat chaotic career," remembers Helmut Marko. A nice guy, but a bit of a slob who had no organization - until he came to me with his contracts."

"He had a short, promising career, almost sky-storming: unfortunately an unfinished symphony. Helmut Koinigg was good," says Niki Lauda today. "But he died far too early to even know what would happen next."

Father Koinigg, a very well-off industrialist, was always against his only child racing - and never supported him.

Even from Lauda: “A consistent, intelligent guy who tried with all the difficulties you could possibly have to fight his way into Formula I - namely without any money. When he drove Formula Vee, he couldn't even pay the hotel bill at the Nürburgring...

What always impressed me about Koinigg was how unswervingly he pursued his path. In his premiere race in Aspern near Vienna, he continued to fight bravely with the ex-Lauda Mini even after the windshield had tipped out.

Helmut studied journalism and mechanical engineering at the Vienna University of Technology, where he was met by the two geniuses Dr. Get to know Fritz Indra and Ing. Heinz Lippitsch - and pass them on directly to Kurt Bergmann.

“Perhaps the nicest person I have ever met - but also the most difficult. Because he was so ambitious."

In 1974 he married his girlfriend, a stewardess: "Gaby has to earn the money that I spent on racing..." The 25-year-old is only half a year away from getting his doctorate. And all that's left to achieve perfect racing luck is Formula I.

I want to start over with Koinigg and rebuild everything from scratch. I'm taking Helmut because of his talent, his ability and his team spirit. If he didn't have these qualities, I wouldn't have signed him even with a lot of sponsorship money," Surtees tells me. Koinigg happily packs his two jersey bags for Canada and the USA

Koinigg is partying in Toronto, browsing for antiques, but most of us are flying to the Bahamas

Lauda has “the stupid feeling all day that something is happening,” and he pays particular attention. The track: even bumpier than last, with even worse vibrations. “They hit me like electric shocks,” admits Koinigg.

“It's a terrible feeling when the guard rails are staring you in the face, just 3 cm from the road,” Koinigg tells me quietly.

Five pilots are coming to the GPDA safety conference: Lauda. Koinigg, Hill, Hulme and Beltoise

On Saturday Helmut tried for two hours to call Gaby in Vienna but doesn't get through. The phone call doesn't work until Sunday morning. Helmut has breakfast with Huppert and Stommelen

The reconstruction shows: The two safety fences gave way during the impact. as if they were curtains. The bottom two of the three guide rails immediately collapsed because the pencil-thin bolts fell out. The car went under the third rail. Koinigg didn't have the slightest chance in a 2nd gear corner - whatever defect caused the Surtees to leave the road

Niki Lauda, ​​shaken, takes off his helmet after two pit stops and says to Montezemolo: Luca, it has become pointless for me to continue driving. His race director understands immediately

No part of the car that was broken wasn't also bent. But the inner carcass of the left rear tire was completely damaged and this defect was certainly not caused by contact with the guard rails. Sudden explosion? Or the infamous "slow puncture", a slow slip like the one that cost Jim Clark his life at Hockenheim in 1968? I don't think so," says Surtees today, "Helmut was a sensitive racing driver. He would certainly have felt that."

The most touching moment was years later when a particularly kind Ms. Magister spoke to me quietly in a pharmacy in Hietzing: “I am the mother of Helmut Koinigg. Gaby, Helmut's wife, was already married again: to an attaché at the French embassy in Vienna. And Surtees again had an Austrian pilot - Hans Binder. Only at Ferrari in Maranello does Helmut Koinigg's last photo hang unchanged.

The last photograph ever taken of Helmut Koinigg

[electricalembassy]

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[eskwander]

Capitalism and Genocide

Mathias Clivaz and Hugues Poltier. October 15, 2024.

1. In 2007, Israeli lawyer Ram Caspi published the following in the Tel Aviv-based financial daily Globes: "Neither ground invasion nor air attack, but strangulation... [...] the Israeli government will take steps to cut Gaza off from essential resources such as fuel, water, electricity, telephone, and will prevent anyone from providing them." (quoted by G. Levy in Haaretz, 10.6.2007) The election of Hamas that year – which Israel supported in order to oust Fatah – provides a ready-made pretext for initiating a blockade of the Gaza Strip. Slowly suffocated, GDP per capita falls by 27% and unemployment rises by 49% between 2007 and 2018.

2. But the stranglehold is only just beginning. There are signs, both rhetorical and institutional, of what is coming. In 2009, B. Netanyahu becomes Prime Minister of Israel, a position he will hold for eleven years, then again from 2022; and on several occasions he aims to make the Palestinians an abject people, for example when he blames them in a speech in 2015 of having suggested the Final Solution to Hitler. But it's really with the election of D. Trump to the White House in 2017 that everything accelerates. In obviously coordinated moves, the USA recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital and transfers its embassy there in May 2018 and, two months later, the Knesset approves a constitutional law that ratifies the settlement process in the West Bank, and declares Jerusalem the "whole and unified" capital of Israel. The two-State solution is buried.

3. The next stage is to secure impunity and consolidate power. A step in this direction is taken with the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020, again under the patronage of D. Trump: peace agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), followed by normalization of diplomatic relations with Morocco and Sudan. Then in 2022, Israel and the UAE sign a free-trade agreement. The stakes are clear: normalization-pacification of Israel's relations with its Arab neighbors, bypassing the Palestinian question. — European companies are not to be outdone. A study by the coalition Don't Buy Into Occupation showed that between January 2020 and August 2023, 776 European financial institutions (including BNP Paribas, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and Société Générale, to name just the top four creditors) had dealings with 51 companies actively involved in Israeli settlements, for a total investment of $164.2 billion, and a stake of $144.7 billion in shares and bonds. This despite the fact that, under international law, such investments in occupied territories are illegal. — The American tech giants are there also. In 2022, Amazon and Google signed lucrative contracts with Tel Aviv for the construction of data centersand with the army to manage their cloud operations, including maintaining surveillance data on most Palestinians living in Gaza, data that is being used by the AI models that determine who should be targeted for attacks[1].

4. A transnational network of capital has thus been set up, whose interest lies in the growth of the Israeli State and its regional supremacy. This in turn involves the arms trade: Israel, whose defense budget is the highest on the planet as a proportion of GDP, is enabling the US military-industrial complex – which supplies 69% of its weapons – to make record profits in 2023 (the conflict in Ukraine being the other major market that year). Germany is not to be outdone, since the country supplies around 30% of Israel’s weapons. The United Kingdom, Italy, France and other countries are also part of this security-capitalist alliance, to which are added all the companies that export "dual-use" and consumer goods to Israel, have industrial, commercial and educational partnerships with Israel — and buy its surveillance systems.

5. In the meantime, the hands have tightened around the victim's neck: walls have been erected between 2017 and 2021 around the entire perimeter of the Gaza Strip, now a hermetically sealed open-air prison. The strangler waits, observing the effects of asphyxiation on his victim. The victim calls for help, but no one comes. Others sound the alarm, but no one listens. So the victim screams and struggles. And Israel will conclude – and with Israel all the countries of the Global North who have a hand in the operation – that Gaza is threatening Israel.

6. On October 7, 2023, 1,139 Israelis are killed by Hamas and other Palestinian groups. These included around 800 civilians. Atrocities were committed, with Hamas guilty of war crimes. Israelis are also killed under the “friendly fire” of the Israeli army, whose military doctrine aims to prevent hostage-taking. Hamas took 252 Israeli hostages captive, with the probable aim of exchanging them for the more than 1,300 Palestinians then being held in administrative detention (imprisoned without charge or trial) in Israeli prisons. But the Israeli scriptwriters have already written the rest of the story: Israel accuses Hamas of posing an "existential threat to Israel" and invokes the right to defend itself. Never mind that Hamas has no means of destroying Israel, and that in its 2017 Charter it declared itself in favor of a two-State solution on the 1967 borders.

7. From October 7, 2023, the declarations of genocidal intent are explicit. B. Netanyahu declared on October 12: “We will fight these savage beasts with all our might, destroy them and wipe them off the face of the earth”. Israel's president, I. Herzog, on October 13: “It is a whole nation that is responsible. The rhetoric about citizens not being involved, not being aware, is absolutely false.” A. Dichter, Minister of Agriculture, on November 12: “We are now carrying out the Gaza Nakba”. And it will continue. B. Smotrich, Minister of Finance, in May 2024: “There is no job half done. Rafah, Deir al-Balah, Nousseirat - total destruction.” The organization Law for Palestine has listed more than 500 instances of calls for genocide during the first months of Israel's war on Gaza[2]. Starting October 2023, there is no doubt that Israel launches a war of annihilation.

8. At the same time, Israel invests millions to circulate propaganda messages on all the channels of the global North, including the most macabre fake news (forty babies beheaded by Hamas, a pregnant woman disembowelled, etc.), picked up on a loop by Germany and the USA. On smartphone screens across the planet, the cognitive war is in full swing: between the selection of the visible by Silicon Valley algorithms and the oligarchy's stranglehold on the mainstream media; between the constant threat of accusations of anti-Semitism against individuals and the editorial offices of independent newspapers, and the more than 100 journalists killed in Gaza by the Israeli army in 6 months. In plain sight, disguising the announced massacre of the Palestinian people as a "fight against terrorism", the "world's most moral army" is strangling Gaza, strangling it with fury, strangling it with the laughter of Israeli soldiers on Tik Tok, strangling it to death.

9. In truth, it's nothing new. As historians know, this is the latest act in an ethnic cleansing that began in 1948, and whose tools are forced displacement (over 6 million Palestinians are refugees in neighboring countries), apartheid of Israel's Arab citizens (kept under 20% of the country's population), the murderous and violent colonization of the West Bank, the destruction of Palestinian land and infrastructure, and the normalization of arbitrary detentions, executions, torture and sexual abuse, including in Israeli camps where 9,700 Palestinians, most of them kidnapped, were being arbitrarily detained in July 2024. Nothing new, and that's the problem.

10. In the year following October 7, 2023, Gaza's Ministry of Health has counted 41,689 Palestinian deaths because of Israel's war, the overwhelming majority of them civilians and, according to the UN, over 15,000 children. That's without counting the number of wounded (at least 96,625) and sick, the chronically ill (around 350,000), the malnourished and starving (100% of the population), the severely mentally harmed (100% of the population), in a situation where hospitals have been systematically bombed by Israel. Schools, places of worship, universities, housing, refugee centers, water management infrastructures, heritage – nothing is spared. In August, the UN satellite agency reported a volume of debris in Gaza 14 times greater than the combined total of all the conflicts of the last 16 years. The body politic of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has been effectively annihilated. To understand the extent of the massacre and the intent behind it, we need to add up the direct and indirect victims, and multiply these figures (based on the experience of past wars and genocides) by a factor of 3 to 15[3]. that puts Palestinian deaths to date at between 150,000 and 770,000, or 9% to 30% of the Gazan population. But while the countries of the Global South and a few rare voices in the North call for an end to the genocide, the USA and Germany continue to deliver arms, unperturbed.

11. There are several conclusions to be drawn from these events, which will enable us to get to the heart of the problem facing all societies today.

12. First conclusion: the crime of genocide does not exist in a binary yes/no mode. It is a process, beginning with an aim and ending with its implementation by all kinds of means, not just State means. In this respect, when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concluded that there was a "real and imminent risk of genocide" in January 2024, it established de facto that genocide was underway. By the same reasoning, Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children and their Russification amounts to genocide (Art. II, e), as does China's treatment of the Uighur people. Second conclusion: the alliance between Israel, the USA, Germany and a few others points to the rise of white capitalism, a trans-imperial formation whose supremacism is being exercised here against the Arab populations of the Middle East. As has been demonstrated time and again, capitalist States use racism in their imperialist ventures as much as in the colonization of their own populations. Third conclusion: capitalism, now complete on a planetary scale, is experiencing an acceleration in the frequency of its crises, due to its illimitation in a world of limited resources. The capitalist response to each crisis of capital is the same: to proceed with the fascization of society, with the aim of ensuring the further concentration of capital and the continuity of existing privileges, through the militarization of States, authoritarianism and the transformation of market competition into a war of "us" against "them" (à la Huntington). Low-key fascism has become the norm in "liberal democracies". Fourth conclusion: the war between rival capitalisms (American, Chinese, Russian, Indian, Europeans) is expressed by the intensification of imperialist struggles aimed at securing a greater capacity to mobilize resources, both material and human. The instrumentalization of racism leads to the total degradation of populations of no interest to capital. Understood as waste, they are integrated by capitalism via an economy of destruction that identifies them with the material substratum of their living environment. And so, after Gaza, the bombs rain down on Lebanon. Two lessons here: the imperative of control over the world’s most important oil-producing region remains a priority for US imperialism; the ensuing demand for "regional normalization" authorizes the treatment of hostile populations living there as enemies or waste to be eliminated. The USA and its allies, in any case, are arming this annihilation. There is a clear continuity here between the Nazi holocaust of the Jews and the genocide of the Palestinians by Israel and its allies, insofar as both peoples were/are treated as "obstacles" to a supremacist project, and put to death with capitalist tools. Fifth conclusion: since capitalist rationality is built on the reification of "nature", every non-human being is assimilated to a commodity. In this context, identifying a human being with "nature" is tantamount to degrading them: the Negro slave is historically the figure of the identification of human beings with a commodified nature, transformed into pure labor or merchandise. At the other extreme, this logic implies that the supremacy of one race over another is ipso facto the domination of the "human" over "nature". Capitalism, linked to the techno-scientific project of modernity, cannot be understood outside the interweaving of genocide – the destruction of peoples as raw material – and ecocide. Indeed, it is impossible to defend human rights without also defending the rights of nature.

13. How do capitalism and genocide fit together? First, on the immediate material level, capitalism, because it is defined by growth and because growth is today unrestrained, necessarily leads to the normalization of exclusion in the mobilization of resources. In order to exclude, capitalism engages social and State forces to degrade the target populations so as to dispose of them as pure resources. This zone of organized death is a potential reality anywhere on the planet, for all living beings: whether it's a matter of grabbing a territory rich in raw materials, gentrifying a neighborhood, managing immigration, or building a factory. Capitalism’s dream is to achieve an absolute mobilization of resources, viewing life as matter to be destroyed and shaped at will at the service of profit. Second, capitalism, on the immaterial level, is indexed to the valorization of value, i.e. to the valorization of capital, through constant and unfettered growth, in profit, in size and scale. As a result, capitalism enters a crisis at the first sign of a decline in surplus value. The response to this decline is always the same: for the same quantity produced, reduce human labor by replacing it with dead labor (machines, AI, etc.); and/or increase the quantities produced to at least maintain the level of surplus value. This has a twofold effect: it increases the absolute number of excluded/wastes that can be eliminated without damaging capitalism; and it increases global environmental predation, as shown by N. Machado[4].

14. The Palestinians are the figure of a population relegated to the rank of waste in the capitalist order, since they have been and are kept outside the global logic of value. In truth, they are valued more from being massacred than from being kept alive, since they are much more integrated into the logic of value through the arms market, and later through the market of “reconstruction”. If we shift the focus to other populations kept outside the circuits of valorization and "sitting" on exploitable resources, the conclusion is similar: their extermination is required by the demand to maximize profit; or, at the very least, their forced displacement. Extraction to maintain growth has as its necessary flip side the erasure of the rights of these populations, which happens simply by the signature of business contracts.

15. This dynamic gives rise to what we call, following A. Mbembé, a necropolitics[5]. At the heart of this process is integrated capitalism's ability to play both sides of the public/private, State/entrepreneurial divide, enabling it to pre-empt the legislative capacity of political bodies and the right of populations to self-determination. We can speak with S. Sassen of predatory formations: individual decisions and actions certainly matter, "but they are part of larger assemblages of mutually reinforcing elements, conditions and dynamics" (Expulsions, 2014). On the other side, States in turn attempt to capture these polymorphous flows, giving rise to what G. Deleuze and F. Guattari have called State war machines, which "take war as their object, and form a line of destruction extendable to the limits of the universe" (A Thousand Plateaus, 1980).

16. Confronted with these realities, international institutions are unable to give force to the law of which they are the depositories. As in the case of the ICJ's judgments concerning Israel, they can only observe their powerlessness to compel established powers, whether they be States protected by their military might[6], or transnational corporations that flout borders and rules and surpass most of the world's States in power.

17. The genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza signals the fate of all living beings confronted with the "progress" of capital, which its servants believe and desire to be the ultimate sovereign. At the crossroads of other fetishisms (that of the nation, that of religion, that of technology), effectual death materializes the abstraction of value: it consecrates the supremacy of capital over all other forms of social relations (this is, strictly speaking, the fetishism of value). With no conceivable opposition to stop it, capitalist necropolitics is this power that exists only by putting its destructive capacity to the test, by casting the concrete shadow of a supreme predation.

[1] Y. Abraham, "'Order from Amazon': How tech giants are storing mass data for Israel's war", https://www.972mag.com/cloud-israeli-army-gaza-amazon-google-microsoft/.

[2] https://law4palestine.org/law-for-palestine-releases-database-with-500-instances-of-israeli-incitement-to-genocide-continuously-updated/

[3] This is the methodology of an article published by R. Khatib, M. McKee and S. Yusufin in The Lancet on July 10, 2024, Cf. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01169-3/fulltext.

[4] N. M. C. Machado, La limite écologique du capitalisme, in Jaggernaut n°4, 2022, pp. 26-27.

[5] Published in 2006, https://shs.cairn.info/revue-raisons-politiques-2006-1-page-29.

[6] It seems pointless to hope for any change in this respect until the veto power at the United Nations held by the USA, China, Russia, France and the UK has been abolished.

>> This article and the French original are available here: https://eskwander.nexus/textes/index.html#capitalismeetgenocide

[thethief1996]

Netanyahu has issued a statement telling Gazans to leave now, because they will target each and every corner of the Gaza Strip. He and most of the media conveniently leave out that the entirety of the Gaza Strip is surrounded by a 65 km wall, which they have used to enforce a 17 years blockade, making it the world's largest open air prison. That's why the freedom fighters had to fly over it in hand gliders. Unless the Israeli government plans to open a humanitarian corridor, which it historically has refused, this is a cynical threat. It's psychological warfare to tell palestinians they will attempt to carry out their genocide.

This comes in the heels of the operation Al-Aqsa Flood. For the first time, Palestinians have managed to regain control of occupied territory. and tore down the Erez checkpoint. Latest reports say the freedom fighters are 10 km (6 miles) from reaching the West Bank. On Friday (06/10), at dawn, the IOF was still fighting palestinian soldiers in at least 22 locations near the Gaza Strip.

Gazans who have historically had their right to movement supressed stepped out of the walls for the first time in their lives. Palestinian bulldozers tore down pieces of the wall. Freedom fighters have infiltrated Asqalan prison. 35 soldiers were captured so far. In 2011, a single soldier was exchanged for 1.027 palestinian prisoners. The resistance managed to catch the israelis by surprise in an amazing victory.

Campaigns of disinformation are already being pushed by zionists on social media. Baseless claims of sexual assault against Israeli hostages are being fed to the media, and the only source is racist stereotypes. Meanwhile, videos of Israeli settlers dessecrating Palestinian corpses are ignored (warning, this link leads to a very graphic video). The Palestine tower in Gaza, which housed several media offices, has been leveled in a clear effort to stop reporting.

528 palestinians were killed since the beginning of the year. A little over half of this number comes as casualties from yesterday's invasion. Their martyrdom is a result of brutality routinely carried out against Palestinians.

There's no comparing both sides. While Hamas had to cut holes through less protected bits of the wall caging the Gaza Strip in order to carry out the attack, the Israeli government started carpet bombing and cut access to electricity, leaving wounded Palestinians with no medical care, shutting down ventilators and dialysis machines and harming clean water distribution at a snap of their fingers. Checkpoints across the West Bank have been closed, denying access to hospitals to the entire palestinian population.

On the other hand, settlers are being carried out in planes by their native european governments.

As Mohammed El-Kurd has said, "There's a population that lives inside a cage, without citizenship, without right to movement, without access to clean water, and there's a population that enjoys its full rights."

International support is essential. All eyes must be on Palestine. People should be ashamed of showing support for the zionist occupation. $3.8 billion in military aid are sent every year from USAmerican tax payer money, and the person who pushed for the creation of this aid was the old spineless clown that's president right now.

If you can, take action. Here's some dates for future protests:

Monday, October 9

ATHENS, GREECE – Monday, Oct. 9, 7 pm, Zionist Embassy, Athens. Organizer: Somoud Greece Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyGpGdEILQp/

BOSTON/CAMBRIDGE, MA (US)  – Monday, Oct. 9, 4 pm, Cambridge City Hall. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyH1OrRMeWi/

COMPOSTELA, GALICIA (SPAIN) – Monday, Oct. 9, 8 pm, Praza do Toural. Organizers: Mar de Lumes, Galiza por Palestina, BDS and more. Info: https://twitter.com/mardelumes/status/1710941315498725824

HONOLULU, HAWAII – Monday, Oct. 9, 5 pm, Dole St and University Ave. Organized by SFJP UH. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyH82TEOZY6/

LONDON, ENGLAND – Monday, Oct. 9, 6 pm, Israeli Embassy. Organized by many groups (FOA, PSC, STWC, etc). Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyGTCBptrA5/

LONDON, ONTARIO (CANADA) – Monday, Oct. 9, 2 pm Victoria Park. Organized by CPSA. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyH63tusJTS/

MADRID, SPAIN – Monday, Oct. 9, 8 pm, Puerta del Sol. Organizers: Masar Badil, Samidoun Spain, Alkarama, Alyudur, Unadikum. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyHFOVLqKw0/

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (US) – Monday, Oct. 9, 6 pm, Sen. Klobuchar office, 1200 S Washington Ave, Minneapolis. Organized by Anti-War Committee. Info: https://www.answercoalition.org/join_a_protest_near_you_free_palestine

NEW HAVEN, CT (US) – Monday, Oct. 9, 3 pm 165 Church St, City Hall, New Haven. Organized by Yalies 4 Palestine. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyIwyqrgCqh

NEW ORLEANS, LA (US) – Monday, Oct. 9, 5:30 pm, Duncan Plaza, New Orleans Organized by PSL, JVP, FRSO. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyJLa_4uzQ9

NEW YORK, NY (US) – Monday, Oct. 9, 2 pm, Zionist Embassy, 800 2nd Avenue, NYC. Organizer: Within Our Lifetime, Samidoun NY/NJ, Existence is Resistance, Decolonize this Place, CUNY For Palestine & more. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyG85-SAXsB/

ORMOND BEACH, FL (US) – Monday, Oct. 9, 4 pm, SE Corner of Granada and Beach. Organized by Daytona Workers League. Info: https://www.answercoalition.org/join_a_protest_near_you_free_palestine

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Monday, Oct. 9, 5:30 pm Town Hall. Organized by Palestine Action Group. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyHLhgnBEv4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

TORONTO, CANADA – Monday, Oct. 9, 2 pm, Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto. Organized by PYM. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyGtNclA55P/

VANCOUVER, BC (CANADA) – Monday, Oct. 9, 2 pm, Vancouver Art Gallery. Organized by PYM, Samidoun, CPA, SPHR UBC, BDS Vancouver. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyHOjTlAE2r/

Tuesday, October 10

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – Tuesday, Oct. 10, 9:30 am, Outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court. Organized by Scottish PSC. Info: https://www.scottishpsc.org.uk/statements/call-to-action-14-october-at-2pm

Wednesday, October 11

MANCHESTER, NH (US) – Wed, Oct. 11, 7 pm, Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s office, 1000 Elm St. Organizers: PSL, ANSWER. Info: https://www.answercoalition.org/join_a_protest_near_you_free_palestine

Thursday, October 12

NATIONAL STUDENTS FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE (North America) is calling for a Day of Resistance on Thursday, Oct. 12: https://www.instagram.com/nationalsjp/

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA (US) – Thurs, Oct. 12, 4:30 pm, Raymond ave and Energy Park Drive, St Paul. Organized by Anti War Committee. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyHKEUFJzih/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Saturday, October 14

ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – Sat, Oct. 14, 2 pm, St. Nichlas Square. Organized by Scottish PSC. Info: https://www.scottishpsc.org.uk/statements/call-to-action-14-october-at-2pm

DUNDEE, SCOTLAND – Sat, Oct. 14, 2 pm, Place TBA. Organized by Scottish PSC. Info: https://www.scottishpsc.org.uk/statements/call-to-action-14-october-at-2pm

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – Sat, Oct 14, 2 pm, Princes Street at Foot of the Mound. Organized by Scottish PSC. Info: https://www.scottishpsc.org.uk/statements/call-to-action-14-october-at-2pm

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – Sat. Oct 14, 2 pm, Buchanan Steps.  Organized by Scottish PSC. Info: https://www.scottishpsc.org.uk/statements/call-to-action-14-october-at-2pm

[originemesis]

@brokendreamscreation xxx

Aside from the blatant twitching and inability to move from his curled electric prison, Lucid deduces that the commanders of the exorcist army is in fact just fine. Whining and bitching about the situation, it is something the seraphim has since become accustomed to. If Adam did not, then he will have genuine reason to remain alarmed. The corners of his mouth remained turned down, lips parting to expel a breath. How should he go about this predicament? With them both currently in the Heaven Embassy, which is located in the center of the Pentagram, the closest place he could take Adam is none other than the place that belongs to his life long nemesis: Lucifer Morningstar’s palace. Lucid has since had a room offered to him to make his own, which he occasionally does stay the night there. Maybe if he took Adam there he won’t realize they’re in Luci’s house in his current state…But then he likely will have to shoo Lucifer off from barging in to assault the angel with mockery and laughter in his miserable state. And Lucid knows that entire situation will come down on his head with more than just wing beatings later. The short bodied angel slips his arms under the huge angel, scooping him up effortlessly as if he were nothing more than a sack of flour. The flea jumping sparks zap his own wings, making the angel flinch and promptly shake it off with a wing beat. “Right. Let’s get you somewhere to recover. The embassy has got to have a sleeping quarter around here somewhere, right? Like an employee sleeping place for long shifts?” Not exactly a hospital, but teleporting between Heaven and Hell could take a lot out on the average angel. So surely there’s some kind of nap setup down here, right? If not, well, there’s plenty of couches Lucid supposes. Only one way to find out. Bare feet lightly slap against the tile as he meanders the embassy with the First Man cradled in his arms.

Though his body seems out of order for the time being thanks to the incapacitating zap, his mouth works just fine, as Lucid would find out the more the larger angel carried on with clicking teeth and goose hisses filtered through them. "The actual nerve of this place- not coming equipped with portal neutralizers?? I mean yeah, I should be able to go around fucking holes in reality around this shithole just fine, but not some gooner with a literal taser! Like BRUH. Someone's getting a fat lawsuit, and his name starts with the same L he's gonna be taking up the ass-" Like an overly chatty budgie screeching its complaints whilst clinging carelessly to its cage bars, the first man, and unfortunately first ambassador to hell carries on to his not exactly captive audience, though the deal still remained between them...not that Adam could exactly summon up that contract now in his sizzling condition.

His loud and lingering complaints trail into a soft 'huphff' once his unwitting company peels him off the charred tiles and lifts the potato sack shape commonly afforded to human-blended archangels. His wings remain heavy and limp, grazing the floor grooves with frizzy tipped primaries until the seraphim clone could collect them underneath his current load. Wriggling and thrashing the other with his wings currently out of the question, he loses several restless squawks as the much smaller angel carries him a few steps through the embassy.

"Hey- hey, WHOA! Waiiiiihaittttt...you're so fucking going to drop me-mmpfh?!" His floundering remarks suddenly suffocate with the smushing of his face against the other's chest when he's suddenly tucked and hiked up into a more reassuring cradle. He goes quiet only until another adjustment frees his face again, but his panicked gaze from earlier is now a soured squint.

"How about don't waste my time looking, dude? This is a political playground, not exactly a hotel." The subtlest squirm indicates he's getting some feeling back, even if it's just the point between his neck and shoulder. "Might as well head to the break room. I could use a soda after being, y'know- electrocuted." Shouldn't be anyone still kicking around at this hour anyway... shouldn't be-

[saturniandevil]

June 2024 Important Dates

AKA my notes on The Astrology Podcast's June Forecast. Cohost Austin Coppock is back, now as a new father!

Notable mundane alignments in May: through May 10th-13th we had intense geomagnetic storms from solar radiation cause auroras over a huge area in the world, happening right as the Sun in Taurus conjoined Uranus (electricity/unexpected) and Jupiter (expansion). On May 19th the president of Iran died in a helicopter crash due officially to poor visibility in foggy mountains (but with assassination suspected), the day Mars conjoined the North Node in Aries (with the Moon opposing them)--a date that Chris & Diana singled out last forecast as hitting eclipse points affecting world leaders & Iran specifically (during the April eclipses Iran fired back at Israel to retaliate for the destruction of its embassy). The ICC arrest warrants were also issued during this Mars-Node conjunction, a continuation of the eclipse story (both in April and October). In the sign of Aries, this is the time when hostilities became overt, and generally the Aries April eclipse was an exalted Sun being eclipsed, boding ill for leaders and heads of state. The North Node is also called "the head of the dragon," so it's fitting that leaders of three countries were affected--especially since these leaders were born under eclipses as well.

In celebrity news, Kendrick Lamar and Drake released a series of diss tracks at each other from late March to early May, also aligning with eclipse season this year. The precursor to this was a line from Like That, released March 22nd under an eclipse in Libra--Kendrick's rising sign. Drake was born after an Aries eclipse, and it was just after the April eclipse that this heated up with his track release. Mars joined the fray entering Aries and that's when the beef really heated up. Mars-Rahu (North Node) contacts indicate fights where parties cross the line because they can't see it, and indeed these shots went below the belt.

On April 30th the DEA announced it may reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug, which Chris connects to the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Taurus as a sudden change around a medicinal plant. Austin also connects int to Neptune in Pisces--he's been wondering if marijuana will finally be legally recognized before Neptune leaves. Also Uranus in Taurus: BitCoin and Etherium have approved ETFs now, bringing crypto to mainstream investment like retirement funds (Pluto's last peek into Capricorn is connected too, as it was invented when Pluto entered Capricorn in 2009). Also in currency, the BRICS group of nations are discussing bringing in a new currency as an alternative to the US Dollar and cryptocurrency is on the table--these talks also first began in 2009. The next BRICS meeting is in October in Russia, around the time of another eclipse. In other Saturn in Pisces finance news, Red Lobster has gone bankrupt, possibly because they gave away too much free shrimp (limits and seafood; the discussions were taking place during Mars conjunct Saturn in Pisces even though the announcement was under an Aries Mars).

We're going into the month of June just as many planets shift into Gemini, a key signature for the month. We've had one stellium after another this year, but that trend will change as June wraps up.

June 2nd - Jupiter trine retrograde Pluto In Gemini this is good for travel, such as Boeing launching a new spacecraft (right before Mercury enters Gemini). This aspect is great for enabling Pluto's Aquarian endeavors like transformative new technologies or sci-fi...but mileage may vary for Jupiter. Chris relates this to voice AI translations opening up communication as Jupiter transits Gemini. With Mercury nearby, this month has a tone of trying a little bit of many different things, generally with positive growth and stability in the Gemini parts of our charts. Jupiter is also bound, decan, and triplicity ruler of the early part of the Gemini and has lots of power here. It's a great time to learn enough of something to do what you need with it, rather than pursuing deep expertise.

June 3rd - Mercury enters Gemini, Auspicious election

Taking advantage of Mercury in Gemini this chart is at about 12:05PM local time. You'll want early Virgo rising and Mercury on the degree of the Midheaven at 0-1 Gemini. This places the Ascendant ruler (most important planet in elections) both in domicile and applying to a conjunction with Jupiter at 2 Gemini. In the 10th house this emphasizes career, reputation and work. Mercury, Jupiter, and Pluto form a trine which bodes well for communication and technology, and is furthermore close in date to the Venus cazimi (exact conjunction to Sun) in the middle of Gemini. The Moon is exalted in the 10th house and applies to a trine with Saturn in Pisces. Overall this is great not only for career matters, but also communication, short travel, and other Mercury matters. This is one of the last days this week while Mercury will be visible, so there's a small window to take advantage of this auspicious Mercury-Jupiter conjunction.

June 4th - Mercury conjunt Jupiter, Sun conjunct Venus Also known as a Venus cazimi, the Venus-Sun exact conjunction marks a reset point in Venus's synodic cycle and a new epoch for Venusian themes, including women in society. Interestingly, Mexico's election is in early June with two female candidates (spoiler alert: a woman won!), and the Venus synodic cycle was been central to Mesoamerican astrology in the past--the 2012 news was due in part to a calendar marking these calculations. Mexico's inauguration takes place in September on a Mercury cazimi in Libra (Venus-ruled sign) and the day before a solar eclipse in Libra. Four years ago in June 2020 the Sun conjoined Venus during Black Lives Matter protests after George Floyd's and Breonna Taylor's murders, connecting Venus cazimi to questions of equality and fairness in society. However, a square from Saturn in Pisces days later brings obstacles to our hope. In fact, all the Gemini planets will go through this optimism & speed before hitting Pisces Saturn's big melancholy iceberg this month. The last Venus-Sun conjunction in Gemini was June of 2016, so it's a good time to look back and see how far we've come over the past 8 years, as well as to sow the seeds for a new cycle. With Venus invisible during a cazimi, much of this work is internal; similarly, often the biggest advancements made possible during these times isn't visible until later.

On this graph of Venus's synodic cycle we're at the superior conjunction, where Venus is obscured from us by going behind the Sun. Her conjunctions when retrograde are also important turning points--April 2025 is the next conjunction (in Aries).

June 6th - New Moon in Gemini

At this point Mercury is already separating from the conjunction with Jupiter but is still close, while the Sun, Moon, and Venus are all conjunct at 16 Gemini. Thus the Gemini stellium is really concentrated at this lunation. We have so many new beginnings in Gemini on different scales at this time; the events set into motion here won't go away when planets move into Cancer. Whatever was brought up by the cazimi on the 4th will continue here, though in mid-Gemini the lights & Venus are poised to square Saturn. Venus wants to connect people, while Saturn wants to push away, so the immediate aftermath of the New Moon may see cooling in relationships. Communication is important; can we address the obstacle hanging over us? Sometimes you can't talk your way out of the emotions freezing each other out. On a positive note, this can be productive for setting boundaries and expectations. Saturn in Pisces generally can indicate emotional, professional, or spiritual exhaustion: now's the time to take a rest and a step back. Darkness and silence are often needed for mental healing to begin.

June 9th - Mars enters Taurus This brings a tone shift, as Mars was activating eclipse points while he traversed Aries in April in May. On the 11th he'll immediately square Pluto (1♒), raising issues like the abusive of power, going overboard in conflict, and crossing the line because we can't see it. We can see disproportionate escalations where the person doesn't even really know why they did it, but also the very real power of those who aren't in the public eye, pulling strings behind the scenes. Mars-Pluto brings up control, manipulation, power plays, and covert actions--and the paranoia that makes us worry about these things when they're not there. Though an unpleasant introduction, this doesn't last for most of the sign.

As soon as he enters Taurus Mars also approaches a conjunction with Uranus (culminating in mid-July). We've had Jupiter transiting Taurus for the past year bringing a positive spin on events, but now we have the explosive tension on its own. A famous Mars-Uranus conjunction without Jupiter there was January 6th events. However, there are about 20 degrees between the Pluto and Uranus aspects, during which time Mars will make some nice sextiles to Mercury and Venus in Cancer, so we'll have a chill period for some time. Mars in Taurus is also generally less fiery (in detriment), which can be an advantage for us.

June 14th - Mercury conjunct Sun (cazimi) At 24 Gemini, this is the fourth and final peak/reset point in Gemini. In his home sign, Mercury really locks in the preceding resets. This also really marks the second half of the year where we won't have all these massive pileups in one particular sign. He also brushes past a square to Neptune (29♓) while conjoining Venus in the last 10 minutes of this sign. Beware of miscommunications.

June 17th - Venus and Mercury enter Cancer, Mercury conjunct Venus Venus and Mercury enter Cancer together, bringing communication and relationships together. Both planets are invisible at this point, but are working their way out from under the Sun's beams as evening stars and will be visible by the end of the month. Mercury-Venus connects our minds with the arts, giving us the technical know-how to implement aesthetic ideas and the charm to communicate our ideas in a beautiful way. Diplomacy and agreements are also signified here.

June 20th - Sun enters Cancer

June 21st - Full Moon in Capricorn

This lunation occurs just a day after the Sun's ingress into Cancer and right after Mercury & Venus sextiling Mars, bringing a great directness and mental acuity. Once in Capricorn the Moon begins applying to Venus, though Neptune's proximity to the cardinal signs means its square to all the Cancer/Capricorn planets weighs in on things. Saturn has also begun to move within conjunction distance of Neptune, bringing questions around what's real and what's not to the end of June and into July. Some of the clarity we had before will seem to dissolve. We saw a lot of new tech developments earlier this month, but now it's muddied the waters.

June 29th - Saturn stations Retrograde This will likely activate news stories around danger in the water, water-borne pathogens, and events like the submarine disaster (A/N: or naval blockades). Jupiter will also square Saturn and later Neptune later this summer (Saturn entering Pisces corresponded with a spike in inflation) so continued issues with inflation and economy will likely come into play. Neptune stations within a week of Saturn as well, intensifying these issues and bringing what Austin calls season 2 of the Saturn-Neptune story--though season 3 is where things will get really crazy. This is another indicator of what kinds of contraction we'll experience in the Pisces parts of our charts. Saturn doesn't leave Pisces until next year, and even after entering Aries he'll retrograde back into Pisces for a bit.

[princesschas-blog]

Sano and Angelica game sprites, omg Sanos so pretty looking, and Angelica soo cute?!

Angelica Van Helsing is the daughter of Gabriel Van Helsing, a notorious monster/demon hunter. Unbeknownst to Cain, Sano chose to marry Angelica because her father offered him funding for his “research” and the end of their demon hunting, Gabriel would choose to help the embassy, and the demon integration acts (based off DOLLMAKER electric puke unfinished game). Gabriel’s favorite and only daughter would be his eyes on the inside of the embassy. Sano assumed his new wife would be silent and obedient (plus she was a sought after bachelorette and a pretty face) especially since her family was extremely catholic. However it wasn’t until the night of their wedding did he learn of her fiery personality, and possessiveness. Unfortunately for him he was in a domain he was unfamiliar with, having been forced to wear a cross throughout the ceremony to prevent demons from trying anything. She was able to fight sano before he put her in her place. Angelica (talk about her name being contradicting to how she acts) would constantly prove to be anything but easy…but who knows how the two would come around.