#from uranus!!! // bradley

[elparaisodetlaloc]

[beastie-anon]

Bradley ugly

"I'll steal your pancreas."

"I'm way more handsome than a Grey blob, So if I'm ugly then there's no hope for you."

[maximumthehormonereplacement]

03/13/00 12:45 PM // LAT: 40.85n LONG: -75.82w

⛲️⚡️🫧

Some important terms to keep in mind:

Element; each sign falls under one the four elements—fire, water, ground, and air. Fire and water are the two most powerful and potentially detrimental forces of nature. Ground and air can be equally powerful but are more-so chain reactions and/or catalysts to fire and/or water.

Associated Animals; This is heavily debatable and interpreted like everything else, but generally speaking Native American tribes (and through internet research alone it doesn't specify what tribes actually follow this) associate each zodiac with an animal totem. Pisces is represented by The Wolf Totem.

Big Three; when people talk about their zodiacs they will often refer to "the Big Three," which references your Sun (identity), Moon (emotions), and Rising (your ascended state of consciousness.) There are 24 houses in a full natal chart—I myself tend to focus on the big three, Venus, Mars, and Lilith, but each planet has a placement in your chart, as well as there being 12 houses that show how these placements play into each other. I am only really just starting to get deeper into astrological study so I am still researching and learning about the other planets such as Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto and how they affect different parts of your personality, but all of them are still very important and I implore you to look into them too to learn even more about your strengths and weaknesses!

Modalities; each sign falls into a modality which details feminine, masculine, or androgynous traits of . the signs.

{

Cardinal- leaders of their element, androgynous in the sense that they harness both masculine and feminine balance in their approach to conflict resolution and situations. Generally mediators.

Mutable- elements that are most prone to evolution and growth, and being manipulated, generally conflict resolvers, feminine

Fixed- elements that are confident yet stuck in their ways, more prone to being manipulators, generally conflict instigators, masculine }

☀️ The sun sign, what most people call "their zodiac" tells us about our identity and role in the universe. Your sun is in Pisces, the mutable, ever-growing 12th and final water sign. Pisces are represented by two fish swimming in opposing directions, though in the constellation in the sky, the two fish are still swimming parallel, but their tails meet. Pisces falls under the planet Neptune, the planet that rules “collective consciousness,” (sidebar to snicker at the naysayers, Carl Jung is a psychologist who was constantly theorizing about the collective consciousness; so is psychology all just a “big coincidence” too? Lolololol) idealism, dreams/fantasy, artistry, and undoing/dissolution of the status quo. Fish are a big aspect in many Christian denominations–in Catholicism, fish are the only animal product that can be consumed on Fridays as to abstain from eating God’s other beasts in a form of respect for His creations. Kurt Cobain sings that “it’s OK to eat fish, because they don’t have any feelings,” with the tortured poet being a Pisces himself. Bradley Nowell, another tragic Piscean Punk sings, “When you grab a hold of me / Tell me that I’ll never be set free / But I’m a parasite / Creep and crawl I step into the night / Two pints of booze / Tell me, are you a Badfish too?” But let’s talk about “actual science” since many people can chalk zodiacs up to mere coincidence and confirmation bias. What does science say about fish? Well, for years marine biologists have debated on whether fish can feel pain, retain memory, or have meaningful relationships with other creatures nearby. In 2018, it was determined, according to Haikai Magazine, that “fish do feel pain. It’s likely different from what humans feel, but it still is a kind of pain.” In astrological lore, Aphrodite and Eros are said to be the god forms of the two fish, with Aphrodite being the goddess of love, lust, passion, and procreation, and Eros being one of her offspring, who has these same qualities but often did not act with his mother’s blessing and was a difficult and troublesome child. To speak less confusingly, the two fish are supposed to be Aphrodite, swimming towards the sky, and Eros swimming towards the ground. The story goes that Aphrodite was escorted by Crotus (Sagittarius) from the ocean onto land after she was born from the seafoam that is, and I’m not even joking, the god Uranuses’ jizz. For helping her, Aphrodite thanked Crotus by placing him in the sky as the sagittarius constellation. Another interpretation is a little more complex, but to sum it up, Typhon is this scary ass mf who is basically the entirety of hell as a beast, and when he showed up all the 12 gods dipped out of Olympia by transforming into animals–Aphrodite and Eros riding on the back of two fish to escape. With lore so complex, and Pisces being one of the oldest recorded zodiacs in ancient Egyptian cultures, it’s no wonder these fish are so stressed and complex. Pisces sun is constantly in a debate with herself about which course of action is the “right” way. She has the ability to see every side of a conflict, and this is both a blessing and a curse; because Pisces is highly intelligent, but she’s also highly emotional, and can empathize with everyone’s unique perspective. The problem is that Pisces wants everyone to be happy and valued, but this is not possible all the time, and this causes Pisces to lash out and panic when she feels as if she has not done her job correctly. It can also be why Pisces sometimes neglects herself as opposed to putting other people’s needs first; she finds joy in other people’s happiness. Pisceans are truly Bipolar and Borderline in nature; her highs are very high, but her lows are extremely low. They can be happy go-lucky one moment and then feel deeply sad the next, which to others looks like extreme mood swings, and can turn some people off to her–but this is, simply, just how Pisces honors the two fish dueling inside her, the mother and the son.

She has two spirits inside her of a child and a caretaker and is constantly having to cycle between the two to honor both of their needs. Pisces’ biggest downfall is truly their love. It can be uplifting, whimsical, and life-changing to be loved by a Pisces, but it can also be obsessive, scary, and intense. Pisces truly reflect the adage of “I loved him so much, it just turns to hate.”

🌙 The moon tells us our deepest emotions and how we react in times of stress or conflict. Your moon is in Gemini, the mutable airy divine twins. Gemini is known for her two faces. She’s got a touch of divinity in her eyes (gem-in-eye), but she can’t explain it with logic and reasoning, so she chooses to debunk it completely and will argue with whoever brings it up. How does this translate to a moon Gemini? In times of conflict, Gemini may often find herself unintentionally causing strife with her arrogance. When she senses the conflict she’s caused by mistake, she panics and doubles down to defend her inherent good nature, her intention, but others don’t perceive it this way. They perceive Gemini as being… a two faced bitch. This makes things especially difficult because of your sun in Pisces. With two wishy washy forces swimming in your blood, conflicts can be difficult for the fish and the divine twins. To prevent conflict from arising due to Gemini’s aloof nature, aim to be more intentional with your words and get in tune with your fishy clairvoyance to foresee how they may impact other people. Instead of getting defensive when arguments are inevitable, try to open up your Piscean empathy and use your two faces for good—one masculine and one feminine to understand the nuance between conflict, instead of forcing yourself to choose a side. 

♀ Venus is the feminine planet that determines how we present ourselves aesthetically and the styles of love we exhibit to others in intimate relationships. Your Venus is in Pisces, and you couldn’t be a more wonderful lover. In tune with your true aphrodisiac identity, you’re sensitive, empathetic, nurturing, and wonderfully playful to people you love, and you know no shortage of it. For a Sun and Venus Pisces, true love is what fuels your divine powers, giving and receiving it. Pisces lovers cry when their partners cry, laugh when their partners laugh, and are just as angry towards their partner’s enemies, sometimes even more than the person themselves! Loyalty is a strong virtue for them and they absolutely HATE anyone who would dare disrespect or show cruelty to the people they love. Pisces in Venus is a pretty ideal placement for a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship, considering its Aphrodite’s home planet, just be careful not to let someone walk all over you because energy vampires very much do take Pisces “kindness for weakness.” In addition, don’t let your pure love dip into darker waters to the point it becomes an unhealthy obsession. Remember: Jesus was thought to be a Pisces (in the old testament) but… so was John Wayne Gacy. In terms of personal style, Venus Pisces is BEAUTIFUL. She is literally Aphrodite, who is widely depicted in the renaissance as being the ideal physique for a woman. A Venus Pisces can easily take on dark styles, soft styles, and an eclectic mix of both and rock them all. Truly, having a Venus in Pisces makes you a wonderful partner to be with, and a real piece of eye candy too! It’s worth mentioning too that when Pisces receives adequate healthy love, she tends to flourish physically like the goddess rising from her shell and subsequently become even more beautiful (is that even possible?)

♂ Mars is the masculine planet that determines our anger and sex, two passionate expressions that are really two sides of the same coin. Your Mars is in Aries, the cardinal fire ram, coming at their partner with a burning passion. Aries is a passionate lover in the bedroom, and a scary one! They are dominant and vocal about what they want, and explode like the holocaust (this word, despite its terrible connotation, means "the wrath of god"!) ram when people don't listen to them despite being so loud about their needs! They love so hard, that it just turns to hate (like a Pisces!) when they aren't seen and respected the way they KNOW they deserve to be. The Aries ram is the leader of the fire element, and the first of the 12 zodiacs, making this a VERY powerful placement to have in terms of the suffocating pain of anger and the passionate desire of sex; and although in the bedroom Aries WANT to be sure of themselves and shown respect, the sometimes wary, naturally submissive nature of your Sun Pisces and Moon Gemini may make this something to work towards. Aries is so strong, they’re so powerful, and they deserve respect, but the unknown nature of the wind in your moon can either blow you out, or ignite you even more! Just don't get burned out trying to make ignorant people understand this! The right person will!

⚸ Lilith is represented by the dark side of the moon, the dark side of our inner emotions and what we can work on to ascend to our rising sign. Interestingly, your Lilith is the opposite to Danny’s rising Capricorn, the cardinal grounded seagoat. Your Lilith Capricorn can learn a lot from Danny’s Capricorn. Danny’s ascended consciousness allows him to juggle between seriousness and playfulness, and he can show you how! But it won’t come easy. That’s because Lilith Capricorn is fixated on their inner loneliness and thus reacts by wiping off their clown makeup and putting on a scary face. Lilith Caps can be very dangerous to themselves and others. Caps are the natural jesters of the zodiac, but another word for the jester tarot is “the fool.” And Lilith Cap is getting real tired of being treated like the fool. They start to feel as if people aren’t laughing WITH them, but rather AT them; and this shifts the Cap to cut off its own tail and ground themselves completely and start RAMMING AND SCREAMING! That’s what goats do, after all, when they feel threatened. Alongside Danny’s Cap Rising, harness your double Pisces energy to show Cap that it’s OK for others to not really understand them, it doesn’t HAVE to make them an outcast unless they themselves let that consume them. Sun and Venus Pisces love Cap’s split nature, and with Moon Gemini learning to be less clumsy, the twins can help sew Cap’s tail back on properly, so that Pisces and Cap can go swim back in the ocean of wonder together! Only then will the recovered Lilith Cap meet up with the zodiac that will bring them to their highest point of consciousness… 

🌟 In comes the beautiful Cardinal Water Cancer rising! Our rising sign is how others perceive us, and who we have the potential to be. Did you know people often confuse Pisces and Cancer together? After all, the 69 looks more like the fish than it does the crab. There have been movements in recent years to switch the two’s symbols around. With that being said, Pisces Sun and Cancer Rising are practically interchangeable. Pisces is a little more naive in terms of not having a hard shell to protect their mushy inside, but that’s something Cancer can teach them, while blowing bubbles out of their claws to entertain the little mermaids! Here we have the wonderful wrap up to your destiny; four lovely fish, a divinely guided crab, a seagoat learning to embrace all sides of themselves–with the help of their brother seagoat guiding them how to swim with their healing tail–all having a big mermaid party in the purple ocean, with the divine moon twins and mars ram all watching happily from the sidelines, and taking notes!! ^__^

[ipsitaloka]

Vedic Astrology Basics for Beginners

In this post I hope to cover some fundamental information about Vedic astrology. There has most definitely been a spike in interest about the vedic system recently, and while this enthusiasm is amazing many fail to truly understand the difference between Vedic and tropical, or they use vedic principles with tropical charts. In this post I want to briefly cover the history of Jyotish (the science of light - aka vedic astrology), how its different from tropical and many other key points.

Jyotish is interlinked with Hindu religion and culture

Jyotish is based of the Vedas (Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda). These are ancient scriptures that were written in Sanskrit, they contain hymns and poetry dedicated to worship hindu deities, they explain vedic philosophical knowledge and teach about karma. The Vedas documented a way of life where one could work to fulfill the desire of the divine with the aim of bringing yourself closer to the divine.

There are vedantic texts such as Upanishads which are dedicated more to the study of the atman (soul), consciousness and vedic occultism. The Upanishads are still rooted in the Vedas however.

Now does this mean one cannot study Jyotish if they are not hindu? Absolutely not! As long as one is respectful to Hindu culture & tradition and educates themselves there is no problem.

Main Differences between Jyotish and Tropical

Measurements according to vedic calculations are roughly 23-24 degrees behind tropical measurements. Why?

Tropical astrology uses a starting point that is relative to the position of the sun at the vernal equinox. But in Vedic calculations you use the actual positions of the planets in the sky, this is based of a fixed starting point.

For many their tropical and vedic charts look very different. The ascendant, moon and sun could all change signs because of the large difference in degrees between these two systems.

How to calculate your Vedic chart?

I recommend using the sidereal chart calculator on Astroseek and Astrosage. There are other chart calculators on google that claim to be using vedic measurement but they do not and give wrong information, I have found astroseek and astrosage to be the most reliable and accurate chart calculators.

For those that want to delve deeper into their charts, I can recommend Jhora. Its free vedic software that lets you explore hundreds of divisional charts, dasha periods, shadbala scores and ashtakvarga (these are some of the more advanced concepts). Downloading Jhora or other Jyotish software is something one might consider as they progress deeper in their study of jyotish but its not completely necessary for a beginner in my opinion. Other popular software includes Parashara Light and Shri Jyoti Star, these are paid software that you need to purchase.

Ayanamsha

Like I mentioned previously there is a difference of approximately 24 degrees between tropical and vedic calculations, this difference in longitude is commonly referred to as 'Ayanamsha'.

There are many ayanamsha’s that can be used some of the most popular ones include Lahiri ayanamsha, Fagan-Bradley and Pushya Paksha. The astroseek calculator gives you the option to view your chart in these different ayanamsha’s. As a beginner one can start by using Lahiri as its the most popular and most teachers use Lahiri charts for demonstration and teaching purposes. Once you get comfortable with your lahiri chart you can most certainly start to explore your chart through different ayanamshas, however before getting to this part make you know the basic meaning of planets, houses, nakshatras and techniques such as atmakaraka and amatyakaraka etc. (Through my own experience I have found Pushya paksha ayanamsha to give me more accurate dasha timings hence I use Pushya Paksha in my practice)

Key Points about Vedic:

1. You use whole sign houses

2. Traditionally outer planets such as Uranus, Pluto, Neptune and asteroids are not used. Some astrologers nowadays do use outer planets as part of their practice, perhaps because it has had relevance as per their experience but most usually don't give any importance. As per my own observations I have rarely ever seen vedic astrologers use asteroids at all.

3. All planets (grahas) have stories associated with them that are key to understanding the planets. For e.g. Jupiter is associated with Brihaspati, Guru of the Devas. You can understand the qualities of Jupiter very deeply if you research about the relationship between Brihaspati and Tara, his wife you eloped with Chandra (the moon) and gave birth to Budh (Mercury).

4. Nakshatras are key to vedic astrology. There are 27 nakshatras across the 12 signs, some nakshatras overlap 2 signs. Most Vedic chart calculators will tell you which nakshatras each of your planets are in.

The most important nakshatra is your Janma nakshatra (moon nakshatra). Each nakshatra has a deity, the deity primarily tells you many qualities and behaviors of that nakshatra. E.g. Mula nakshatra is associated with Niritti the goddess of destruction, Niritti is also associated with Maa Kali. From this we can learn that Mula nakshatra contains within it self-destructive energy, Maa Kali is the one of the main highly revered goddesses in Tantra which also gives Mula its association tantra and the occult. Saraswati is known as the goddess of knowledge, speech and art and is born in Mula nakshatra which is the reason why many Mula natives are artistically gifted.

No planet rules a nakshatra, the deity has the most influence. Mula being ruled by Ketu shows an individual with Mula moon started their life in Ketu mahadasha.

5. There are more than a hundred divisional charts in vedic astrology, the most important one being the D9 navamsha chart. The D9 chart is a deeper look at the ninth house of your birth chart. Most astrologers look at the main birth chart D1 and D9 chart together. The navamsha chart shows you the fortune of your planets and your destiny/luck in this life. For e.g. You might have a debilitated Sun in D1 but an exalted Sun in D9 which shows that Sun is actually very strong and powerful however its effect will be more visible as you get older.

I personally do not believe that your D9 chart only gets activated when you get married or hit 30. The navamsha chart is active from birth, I believe one starts relating more and more to the navamsha chart in their 30s as all planets mature (with the exception of Saturn, Rahu/Ketu) by the time one reaches 32.

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This brings me to the end of my post, I might update this based on suggestions in the future. I hope its enjoyable and insightful :)

[leiloc]

🪐Vedic Astrology (Jyotishya) (pt.1)🪐

BASICS

🪐Originated from India and is used for marriages, jobs, releasing karma debts etc.

Ayanamsa

🪐People say that it goes 23° backwards from tropical, well that depends on which Ayanamsa people are using, so let's say cca. 23° because each Ayanamsa has different degree and minute of setting.

🪐One of the most used Ayanamsas

Lahiri, Raman, Krishnamurti, Yukteshwar, Fagan/Bradley...

For anybody asking, I use Lahiri ayanamsa because it seems mostly accurate for me and most of vedic astrologers

Why are they important?

🪐Each Ayanamsa can change a degree and minute of setting, so when there are two planets on border of a sign to the next one, each ayanamsa can change that.

Planets (Grah)

🪐Vedic astrology discludes Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, asteroids, fixed stars etc.

🪐Sun - Saturn and Nodes of the Moon are used (Rahu - NN, Ketu - SN)

🪐There are malefic and beneficial planets

Malefic - Saturn, Mars, Sun, Rahu, Ketu

Beneficial - Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Moon

Some astrologers put Moon and Mercury as neutral

Houses

🪐There is no such a thing like Placidus, Koch, Equal house systems... Vedic astrology uses only Whole sign system.

I will make a special post about Jyotishya houses ❤

Chart types

🪐In vedic astrology, there are three types of charts we use to read

North Indian chart

South Indian chart

East Indian chart

I can't get clear pictures I'm sorry 😐

Pt. 2 will be up soon! 💕

[andrewmoocow]

The Black Pearl Brigade chapter 14: Light the Way (originally posted on July 11, 2022)

AN: We're officially at the climax of Season 2 and the entire series everybody! Man, I've been waiting ages to say that. Only just this chapter and the two-part grand finale are left till I can end this story and move onto greener pastures. Though I'm kind of debating on if I should take a longer break since I have school and other stories to write, or maybe if I should change my release schedule. Eh, doesn't matter right now! Onto the chapter!

Synopsis: Hessonite and George have a lead on Cinnabar's current whereabouts in the aftermath of Torius's attack on Cavenousya.

Cast:

Deedee Magno-Hall as The Black Pearl Brigade

Avi Roque as Cinnabar

Awkwafina as Kyanite

Allison Janney as Pyrite

Kimberly Brooks as Dalmatian Jasper

Zehra Fazal as Zoisite

Lena Hall as Bloodstone

Sam Witwer as Torius Vosania

Dee Bradley Baker as Bobbite, George, Elaine, Cosma

Christine Baranski as Hessonite

Olivia Olson as Citrine

Patti LuPone as Yellow Diamond

Lisa Hannigan as Blue Diamond

Christine Ebersole as White Diamond

Sarah Stiles as Spinel

Nicole Sullivan as Sylvia Spectre

Kathleen Barr as Púrén

John DiMaggio as Uranus Brickhead

Rob Paulsen as Saturn Brickhead

Featuring Alex Newell as Mozanite

--

It had been a rather grueling past few hours for Cinnabar. Just today, she and her new companion Torius Vosania had plotted to murder his brother Batsputin, ruler of Cavenousya and one of the Universal Lords. Zoisite had been sent to Cavenousya to enact the assassination, but unfortunately for her, the Pearls had caught wind of the plan and were hired to be Batsputin's bodyguards. Not only that, but Batsputin's majordomo had an insidious plot of his own. Everything started crumbling apart when Zoisite exposed herself during a meeting of the Universal Lords and tried shooting Batsputin down in the resulting battle, only to injure Torius by accident and force him to call for retreat.

This enraged Torius like no one's business. He had not only lost his chance at finally beating his brother at something, but it was all thanks to one of the Gems who he believed pledged loyalty to him. This could not stand one bit, so Cinnabar and her colleagues needed to be removed. However, they were far quicker than he imagined and managed to escape his wrath via one of his ships. Where they were going, he had no idea now.

"Is everyone still emotionally well after that harrowing experience?" Kyanite asked her fellow Gems while the ship they hijacked flew farther and farther away from Torius's warship. "Raise your hand if yes."

"We're all fine, Kyanite. It's that I fear Torius Vosania may have become a liability to us." Cinnabar declared as she piloted the ship. "He has the intelligence, the charisma, and the military might for sure, but his demeanor is that of a pouty child who can go berserk at the slightest hint that things won't go his way. It's a wonder we've gone this long without him tearing us apart."

"So, where do we go from here, Cinny?" Pyrite asked her superior. "Go find Black Rutile and ask for her help?"

"No, I can do this by myself." Cinnabar rejected the con-artist's suggestion. "We just need to play our cards right. Perhaps if we manipulate both sides against each other, I can proceed with my greatest plan yet completely uninterrupted."

"Ooh, pray tell, what could the plan be this time, boss?" Dalmatian Jasper wondered sarcastically. "What, are we going to carpet-bomb Homeworld?"

"You serious?! That's where all my stuff still is, in the Scientific District!" Bloodstone exclaimed in horror. "Plus, that's what Black Rutile will take over once this is all done! Are you planning to betray her?!"

"No, I would never!" Cinnabar replied hotly while turning around to yell at Bloodstone. "I'm planning to pit both Torius and the Pearls against each other one last time, and when the time is right, I can seize control of the Vosania Syndicate and use their resources to conquer Homeworld!"

"I like the sound of that, Cinnabar." Zoisite agreed confidently with a fold of her arms. "Now, how will we pull this one off, if I may ask?"

"Simple, with a little misdirection." Cinnabar replied before opening up some communication channels. "Someone, please help us! We are under attack by a band of thugs; please come save us!"

"Excellent theatrics, my dear." Pyrite complimented her master's acting as the message went through. "Now we wait until someone picks up, and we can just proceed to the next part without anyone noticing!"

"Which reminds me, what do we do next?" Kyanite wondered.

"Simple." Cinnabar declared while setting a course for a familiar world. "We plan a breakout."

--

Cinnabar's message was sent out to Homeworld, where it was quickly fetched by Hessonite and played back on loop for her to investigate. "Someone, please help us! We are under attack by a band of thugs; please come save us!" the called cried out, clearly trying to sound like a distressed traveler, but Hessonite knew better. "Someone, please help us! We are under attack by a band of thugs; please come save us!"

"What do you make of this, Hessonite?" Citrine asked Hessonite while the three Light Prisms hovered over her.

"It's clear this caller might actually have a connection to Torius Vosania, since this message came from one of his ships." Hessonite declared. "But who could have possibly sent it? Perhaps one of his men wants asylum after a job gone wrong?"

"Or, maybe it could be Cinnabar." Citrine suggested. "After all, we did learn those two were in cahoots with each other not too long ago."

"That is also very likely." Hessonite replied. "But what would cause Cinnabar to stab Torius in the back? Or maybe it was the other way around."

"Regardless, we got to tell the Pearls about this." Citrine declared. "Bring up their communication channel, George."

George nodded happily and began tapping on Hessonite's console, allowing a channel to open up so the vigilante duo could contact the Pearls on the Servant. "Hello, this is Púrén." The ship's AI greeted. "How may I help you?"

"Link us to Cap and the Pearls. We got something they need to hear." Hessonite commanded. "Cinnabar is on the run from Torius, and we have no idea what she has planned next."

"Affirmative, initiating conversation." Púrén responded, and Cap's face immediately appeared on the screen, reuniting the vigilantes with the mercenaries.

"Hessonite, good to see you again!" Cap exclaimed happily. "How are things going?"

"We've been able to get more and more of Black Rutile's allies to surrender, but we've just gotten word that Cinnabar might've officially broken off her partnership with Torius Vosania," Hessonite stated. "We had just received this message she tried to send."

"Someone, please help us! We are under attack by a band of thugs; please come save us!" Cinnabar's message played once again.

"I must admit, she is very theatrical, now that I hear this." Braids observed as she squeezed her head into view. "Also, hello, Hessonite!"

"Get your own screen!" Cap ordered, and like that, all the other Pearls appeared on their screens. "Much better!"

George, Elaine and Cosma began excitedly floating around to try and greet the Pearls, but none of the former servants knew who they were. "Uh, who are these three supposed to be?" IQ asked. "Are they supposed to be old Light Prisms?"

"Yes, meet George, Elaine, and Cosma." Hessonite introduced the three Prisms. "They were once owned by me, Demantoid, and Pyrope until Steven came into the picture. I don't think we introduced them to you yet, but they were often off exploring."

"Pleasure to meet you three." Pony said. "What can you guys do to help us out?"

Elaine demonstrated the Prisms' powers by spawning a pair of Light Warriors from the prism she sat upon. The Warriors also demonstrated their abilities, ensuring not to cause much damage to Hessonite's headquarters.

"Astounding!" IQ exclaimed in awe. "I don't think I ever saw a Light Prism up close before!"

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Citrine said. "Why don't you come to Homeworld and see yourself?"

"I'd like that, but let's not distract ourselves from what's happening." Tails stated. "We must stop Cinnabar and Torius at all costs. We have no clue what could happen between those two anymore, but whatever happens, Homeworld must not fall."

"Precisely. Come back to Homeworld on the double." Hessonite ordered the Pearls.

"We'll be there, Hess." Cap stated before she ended their communication.

"Come along; we must inform the Diamonds at once." Hessonite proclaimed as she got up from her chair and began strutting out of her lair.

"Right away, Hessonite." Citrine replied as she and the Light Prisms followed their boss. "Come on, Pearls, I know you won't fail us."

--

Meanwhile, deep within Torius's main warship, the leader of the Vosania Syndicate was recuperating from his wounds in the medbay, a state-of-the-art hospital bed serving as a place for Torius to rest while automated medical drones were patching up the bullet wound in his ear. As Torius slept in the bed, he contemplated his alliance with Cinnabar and how it led to this.

When he first met Cinnabar, she was scared and desperate for someone to help her in her goals, and the two worked together swimmingly afterward regardless of Cinnabar's constant failures. However, he finally drew the line by accidentally causing him to lose his second chance at stealing the throne of Cavenousya from Batsputin; one of his biggest goals in life was swiped from him just like that. Now, all he can do is stew in his own failures combined with the incompetence of his minions. Or maybe they weren't the problem. Perhaps he should focus more on turning his rage on his enemies instead.

Just then, a trail of worm sign burrowed its way into the medbay, and out of a hole came a strange worm creature with a bionic visor, the exact worm that introduced him to Cinnabar so long ago. "Need anything, master?"

"Bobbite, I didn't expect to see you again." Torius gasped in surprise. "Where have you been all this time when I needed you?"

"Oh, you know, enforcing your rule over planets and such." Bobbite replied. "Are you feeling alright after your failed coup?"

"Hardly." Torius groaned harshly. "My brother has once again robbed me of my chances at leading Cavenousya and all his property as a Universal Lord, all thanks to not just those Pearls he's been hanging with, but my own allies as well."

"Oh, that is rough, Torius." Bobbite said sympathetically. "Then what happened?"

"After that Zoisite shot me in the ear, and I was forced to retreat; I chased those no-good Gem rebels off my ship and into the great wide yonder." Torius answered. "But I have a bad feeling that Cinnabar isn't done with me yet. She was very determined, that Gem. Sort of like me, I suppose."

"Was that why you decided to recruit her?" Bobbite asked.

"Yes, and why I believed she needed to be dealt with should she go too far." Torius added. "She got a little too cocky for her own good, much like I was when I started out as a hoodlum."

--

In the years since his fatal duel with Batsputin, the lost prince of Cavenousya Torius Vosania had been lurking in the back-alleys of a neighboring planet in the Twilight Zone known as Zeppeli, where he found himself falling in with other crooks and participating in their illicit activities.

However, he also often found himself stabbing these other crooks in the back due to his lack of trust stemming from how no one seemed to be on his side back on Cavenousya, and everyone that seemed to do often ignored him, unless they were Mr. Bartok.

"How could you do this to us?!" a local drug dealer yelled as the Coalition of Planets arrested him and his gang once Torius revealed that he had ratted them out for giving out illegal hallucinogenic spices to the youth.

"It's quite easy." Torius replied with a cocky grin. "I'm only looking out for myself in this world. Nobody else matters to me, not after how little I mattered to others."

"You'll rue this day, traitor!" the drug dealer yelled before the Coalition agents shoved him in the back of an armored car. "Whatever you do next, you will get your due!"

"Don't count on it, friend." Torius grinned before he began flying away from the crime scene, happy that he got off with a slap on the wrist for participating in the spice trade. In fact, pretty much nobody knew he was involved to begin with, and he was happy that way.

Before Torius could find another criminal to outwit as he touched down in a different alley, he found some worm sign close by and began following it. The trail eventually led Torius to what he observed to be a mix between a leech and a Bobbit worm that was busy draining the life from an unlucky citizen that was screaming in pain as he felt the life leave his eyes before the screaming eventually turned to silence.

"Ooh, nothing like some bodily fluids to relax after escaping the law once again." The worm sighed happily to himself before he turned to find Torius watching him. "Hey, aren't you the guy who sold out Phantomile to the Coalition?"

"Why yes." Torius answered. "And how did you escape? No hard feelings about me betraying your boss, right?"

"Oh no, it's fine." The worm replied calmly. "Besides, I always did see that you had the potential to make it big in the world of intergalactic crime."

"How so?" Torius wondered as the worm began slithering around the former prince of Cavenousya, continuing to butter him up.

"Oh yes, I can see it in your eyes, my friend." The worm continued speaking. "The drive, the power you so hunger for. You want to devour anything you put the work into and take what you believe to be yours."

"Do you honestly believe that?" Torius asked with stars in his eyes.

"Like you wouldn't believe!" the snake exclaimed before he extended the end of his tail to shake. "Call me Bobbite of Serpentes. And you are?"

"Torius Vosania of Cavenousya." Torius introduced himself to Bobbite.

"Oh my, you mean the Vosania dynasty of the Twilight Zone?!" Bobbite yelled eagerly. "I feel the two of us will make some beautiful music together."

And indeed, they did. That meeting in the alleyways of Zeppeli began the Vosania Syndicate. Over the years, Torius Vosania would start making a name for himself as one of the most powerful criminal overlords in the universe, with multiple planets in the palm of his winged hands and thieves, murderers, gangsters, racketeers, and all other sorts of crime being backed by him and his associates. As Bobbite had promised, Torius had not just reached his true potential as a powerful crime lord but possibly even exceeded it as well.

--

In the present, the Pearls had returned to Homeworld, where it wasn't just Hessonite, Citrine, and the Prisms awaiting them, but the Diamonds and Spinel.

"So, these are the Pearls I keep hearing about?" Spinel asked as she bounced off Blue Diamond's head to meet the mercenaries. "Ooh! Pretty cool ship you got there! Can I take it for a spin sometime?"

"No, we don't allow any joyrides on our ship, it gets damaged pretty frequently." Cap bluntly objected, much to Spinel's dismay. "Okay, maybe we can allow one ride when this is over, but that's it."

"Eh, I can live with it." Spinel agreed. "So, what have we got here?"

"So glad you asked Spinel." Hessonite said as she presented the data she had collected on Cinnabar's whereabouts. "Cinnabar had recently sent this message soon after escaping Torius Vosania, which I believe may just be a diversion to concoct whatever plot she has next. But where Torius falls into this is currently unknown."

"I have a bad feeling Torius might plot an invasion as payback for Cinnabar's failures." Yellow declared. "We may be without a military, but that won't stop us from using our individual powers on him."

"What else has Cinnabar done lately?" Blue asked the Pearls.

"Well, she chased us to Invisibo-9 where we teamed up with a prejudiced agent of the Coalition of Planets to stop her and Torius, for one." Pony responded.

"We also went up against a crazy Magman mercenary on Kyukanza." Tails added. "And then there was our encounter with the Metals, but you probably know that."

"And finally, this all started because Torius wanted to kill one of the Universal Lords, who happened to be his brother." IQ revealed.

"So, are we just going to stand here and talk about things we already know or something?" White said impatiently. "Torius could be showing up any second now, and we need to prepare!"

The Light Prisms began chittering in response, which Citrine could translate. "They say, "We can feel them approaching any second now! We got to do something!" I think."

"She's right; we're stalling for time!" Braids exclaimed boldly. "Let us prepare for the most glorious war this planet has ever seen! Or at least, a good war. I mean, nothing can ever top the Rebellion!"

--

A few hours later, Gems everywhere had prepared for battle, the first they had experienced ever since Era 3 began, making them all more pacifistic. Regardless, they still had the weapons they could summon from their gems and their natural abilities, making them more than a match for any enemies trying to conquer them.

At the center of the defending force were the combined forces of the Pearls, Hessonite, and the Diamonds, currently headquartered within Hessonite's tower and watching for the impending arrival of the Vosania Syndicate. It was here where Cap finally decided to ask what she no doubt believed was on everyone's mind. "Hey Hess, I got a question to ask."

"Go on ahead Cap, but make it quick." Hessonite stated.

"Where's Lars and the Off-Colors in all this?" Cap wondered. "Surely, they'd be a big help to us."

"While I have them on speed-dial, I'm not sure they're needed right now." Hessonite declared. "After all, Torius is a far different beast than Emerald, Cinnabar, or even Xenotime. I don't think Lars is quite ready to take one of the single most powerful criminal kingpins in all the universe."

"Yeah, I think you raise a good point." Cap realized just as Hessonite's monitor began detecting something hovering above Igneous Square. "They're here!"

"It would seem so." Yellow agreed. "Torius has finally come."

"Yeah, let's get him!" a Mozanite yelled excitedly, causing everyone to give her weird looks. "Oh, sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. I'm Mozanite, nice to meet you all."

"She felt like coming along while I was recruiting Gems for the battle." Citrine explained Mozanite's presence.

"I can help; I can drill!" Mozanite exclaimed while turning her hands into drills. "See?"

"Big deal, I know a few Chalcedonies with that exact ability." Braids scoffed. "But you can come anyways because I admire your tenacity."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Spinel asked. "Let's get cracking!"

--

Over Igneous Square, the Vosania Syndicate's henchmen have dropped and began making their claim of the area surrounding them. Resilient Gems were quickly dispatched as Torius and Bobbite, along with the Brickhead brothers, were beamed down to Homeworld's surface along with a few armored enforcers known as Tenno.

"Hey, thanks for breaking us outta the hoosegow on the way here, boss." Saturn Brickhead thanked Torius for setting them free.

"And uh, sorry about screwing up that big job that got us locked up in the first place." Uranus added.

"No need to apologize." Torius near-whispered to the thug brothers. "After all, I never do."

"You are positively shameless, sir." Bobbite hissed eagerly. "Allow me to get ourselves a lay of the land, and hope that I won't get caught." When he burrowed underground to investigate the streets of Homeworld, Bobbite began hearing massive, thudding footsteps coming for him. Fearing that the Diamonds might be on their way, Bobbite frantically slithered back to his master as the thudding relentlessly followed him, never once stopping to rest. "Master! Master!"

"What is it, Bobbite?" Torius asked his second in command.

"The Diamonds are coming, sir! They're coming!" Bobbite panicked. "Those blasted Pearls must've prepared for us!"

"Of course, they would do this." Torius snarled before turning to his troops. "All hands, prepare for war! And make sure to leave no Gem un-poofed."

The Vosania Syndicate's Tenno enforcers quickly prepared their weapons, which they had a variety of. Some of them had massive firearms to load, others armed themselves with sharp katanas, defensive shields, gargantuan fisticuffs, and many other kinds of heavy weaponry.

Meanwhile, the Pearls had their respective weapons pulled from their gems, while Hessonite drew her sword, Citrine had her war hammer, Mozanite had one hand holding a spiked flail while the other was turned into a pickaxe, and Spinel bent over with a fist to the ground to use as a pump to inflate the rest of her body.

"So, this is your main force?" Torius scoffed at the opposition. "A bunch of Pearls, a Hessonite, a Citrine, a Spinel, a Mozanite and the Diamonds? This has got to be a jok-"Torius didn't even get a chance to finish before Spinel launched punch after punch in rapid-fire succession, pushing him back with every hit while his Tenno guards began opening fire.

"Not so strong now, eh Vossy?!" Spinel cackled smugly as she kept punching Torius, but her arrogance didn't last long as Torius decided to take a giant bite out of one of Spinel's fingers to catch her off guard. "Ow! You're mean!" she cried as she stopped punching to stick her bitten finger in her mouth, which gave Torius enough time to flee with his winds.

"Brickheads, seize those Prisms!" Torius called to the Brickhead brothers. "Bobbite, restrain those Pearls!" With that, the great war against the Vosania Syndicate began. Gems across Homeworld fought back against Torius's fleet as they descended upon the planet with the desire of conquering it and enslaving its population. Quartz Gems, Rubies, Topazes & Garnets smashed their way through Tenno troopers. Lapis Lazulis brought ships down with their water. Emeralds & Nephrites led armies to take down the invaders. Peridots hacked into Syndicate technology to turn against their controllers, and many more were involved in the grand battle.

At the center of it all, the Diamonds led the charge as they shot down Vosania ships left and right, aided by the fusion of the Prisms that kept spawning Light Warriors to help against the Tennos while launching beams of light wherever the Vosania ships would aim.

"Give it up, Pearls; you're no match for me!" Torius taunted the Pearls from above while they fought against the Brickheads and Bobbite along with their army of Tennos. "Besides, if Cinnabar could turn and run, why can't you?!"

"You'd find that we're all kinds of stubborn!" Tails replied while aiming her rifle at the warring crime lord. "Now hold still!" She kept trying to shoot down the flying Torius, but he nimbly dodged every gunshot fired at him, unlike how Zoisite accidentally shot him down. When the time was right, Torius then swooped down and tackled the Pearls all at once, with his fangs ready to gnaw at their gems and shatter them for good.

"No, I refuse to be his meal!" Braids cried while trying to keep her gem from being eaten. "What can we do?!"

"Don't worry, I'm here to save you!" Mozanite exclaimed as she prepared for the most significant moment of her life, only to have her hopes immediately dashed by Saturn smacking her in the back of her head.

"Isn't there a way we can call for help?" Pony asked. "I mean, Hessonite, Citrine and Spinel are busy with the Tennos, and the Diamonds and the Prisms are shooting down warships! Should we get the Crystal Gems or something?"

"I'm pretty sure they might be busy." Cap replied before she realized something. "Wait, I think I know someone else who can help! PÚRÉN!"

As if the Servant could hear Cap's cry for help, the ship sailed through the dogfight and fired at Torius, keeping him at bay and freeing the Pearls from his grasp. "Need anything?" Púrén asked while Sculder emerged from the entrance to fire at more enemy ships.

"We still have that beacon from Sylvia Spectre, so give it to us!" Cap commanded the AI, who instantly obeyed and launched the Coalition of Planets' signal beacon at the Pearls before Cap caught it in her hands. With a single press of a button, the beacon began ringing excitedly as the message reached across the stars.

--

"Chalk up another victory for Sylvia Spectre." Sylvia confidently announced after taking down yet another trafficking ring in the Origin system when her communication system began receiving a message. "Who could this be?"

Opening up her communicator, Sylvia discovered that the beacon she gave the Pearls after their first encounter on Invisibo-9 was ringing, indicating to her that they needed help. "About time they put that beacon to good use. Now, where could they be?" A few taps later, Sylvia immediately learned where the Pearls needed her assistance. "Gem Homeworld, huh? I'm on my way!"

Without a moment to hesitate, Sylvia flew off at hypersonic speeds towards Homeworld, going fast enough to possibly be a match for the speed of light.

--

Back on Homeworld, the Pearls waited patiently for Sylvia to arrive while standing atop the deactivated bodies of Tenno soldiers. Bobbite then slithered around the five of them and got them all tied up in his body with a devious grin on his face. "Fire at will, Brickies! I got five juicy Pearls all ready for you!"

"Don't think I ever poofed meself a Gem before." Uranus said as he prepared his minigun to fire at the Pearls. "Ooh, what do you say we take one of them home with us?"

"You mean, like as a servant?" Saturn asked. "I think that might be your best idea ever, Uranus. Though to be fair, that's not a very wide margin."

As the brothers prepared to take down the Pearls once and for all, they unknowingly received a rather familiar invisible guest. Nobody knew yet, but Sylvia Spectre had finally arrived to help turn the tide against Torius Vosania, and she decided to reveal herself in style. "Missed me, Brickheads?"

"Who said that?" Uranus wondered nervously.

"Oh no, not her again." Saturn groaned defeatedly before Sylvia turned visible and clocked them both in the face. "Hello, Sylvia."

"Cheers, the cavalry is here!" Braids announced happily as Sylvia immediately started freeing the Pearls from Bobbite's grasp.

"Sylvia Spectre, how did you get here?!" Bobbite gasped in alarm at the Coalition agent's arrival.

"I gave the Pearls this little beacon the first time we met in case they needed me." Sylvia proclaimed while showing off the signal device she had reacquired from Cap, before Bobbite leaped forth and tangled her in his coils. "Let me go!"

"Not until I drain you dry, little girl!" Bobbite hissed hungrily. "After all, I am a little peckish today." He then opened up his mouth, revealing a toothy, jawless maw that smelled like it had consumed its fair share of unlucky victims, much to Sylvia's disgust. "Now hold still! I don't like my meals all wriggly!"

"Hey, leave her alone!" Pony yelled as she charged at Bobbite with her swords and sliced his head off, freeing Sylvia from becoming the worm's next meal as she raced to the agent's side. "Are you okay?"

"Okay as I'll ever be, thanks to you." Sylvia replied, causing Pony to blush before Sylvia looked at Bobbite's dismembered head. "Uh, is he gonna be okay?"

"Ugh, rude!" Bobbite groaned as his decapitated head crumbled into dust while a new head grew in its place. "Do you have any idea how painful it is to grow a new head? So many unbearable cricks in the neck! Haven't had a decapitation this irritating since we last dealt with the Grineer!" Once Bobbite stopped complaining, he knew just who to call. "Boss!"

"Yes?!" Torius bellowed back as he fought off the Light Warriors with some of his last remaining Tennos.

"I believe it is time that we even the odds." Bobbite suggested. "The Pearls have allied with the Coalition of Planets again, and we just lost the Brickheads. I fear our time is at an end."

"No, I refuse to give in so easily!" Torius roared viciously. "All ships, rain fire!"

"But sire, these Gems could be our property!" Bobbite urged his master to reconsider his last-minute decision.

"JUST DO IT!" Torius yelled, commanding his ships to all aim their weapons at Igneous Square, intending to destroy the square and the Gems within. "Say your prayers, you ignorant rocks!"

The Prism fusion, without thinking all that much, immediately put up a massive shield to defend their friends from harm, and it was so big that their form slowly began to give out from how much power they were using.

"Someone, stop that fusion!" Torius commanded, but his minions were too beaten to comply with his orders. "Fine, guess I'll have to do it myself! Bobbite, give me a boost!"

"Will do, sir!" Bobbite complied, contorting his body to act as a trampoline for his master to bounce upon and prepare to forcibly un-fuse the Prism fusion once and for all. But as soon as he leaped onto their shoulder and was about to take a massive bite out of their head, disaster struck.

"Not today, Torius!" Yellow declared and zapped Torius off the fusion, making him fall from a massive height and crash onto the ground unconscious. "It's over."

And indeed it was. The invading ships saw Torius fall, both figuratively and literally, and decided now would be an excellent time to retreat. None of them even thought to bring him back with them out of fear of becoming victim to his infamous tantrums, as Torius, Bobbite, and the Brickheads were now prisoners of Sylvia.

"How, how could we lose this badly?" Torius gasped in horror as he returned to consciousness to learn that he would be imprisoned.

"You are quite arrogant, my liege. That I can confirm." Bobbite stated matter of factly.

"Hey, Saturn," Uranus said to Saturn.

"What is it, Uranus?" Saturn asked.

"We're going to prison, Saturn." Uranus declared.

"I see that, Uranus." Saturn half-heartedly replied.

"Don't drop the soap this time." Uranus suggested. "I don't think we have enough guys to take the fall for us this time."

"I swear, I'm gonna shiv you and turn your gut into a nook, Uranus!" Saturn yelled at his brother before Sylvia got tired of the banter and had the four crooks warped away.

"Well, now that we have Torius out of the way, I think it's time for us to leave." Yellow stated. "We're going to return something to Steven."

"What are you going to return?" Tails asked, to which Spinel replied by presenting a lost sandal.

"Gonna go bring this foot thong thingy back to Earth!" Spinel revealed. "Well, catch you all later!"

Spinel and the Diamonds quickly left Igneous Square, thus leaving the Pearls and their remaining allies to be celebrated by the masses for their heroics. At that time, Mozanite finally woke up from being knocked out earlier.

"What happened while I was out?" Mozanite asked before she looked at the cheering Gems. "Did we win yet?"

"Not quite, everyone." The familiar voice of Cinnabar rang out as the ship she used to escape Torius flew into Homeworld and towards Torius's old warship. "Thank you very much for buying me time to plot my takeover of the Vosania Syndicate. Now with Torius out of the way, I can finally enact my greatest plan yet!"

"So Cinnabar was playing us both!" Cap declared.

"This must be her final gambit." Hessonite deduced. "Once her old comrade is defeated, she can take over the entire fleet and all the manpower that comes with it to take over all of Homeworld in Black Rutile's name."

"Well, whatever she does, we will stop her." Tails stated as she became the first of the Pearls to take a stand against Torius. "Together."

"Yeah," Cap added as the five Pearls all began holding hands and awaited the final incoming battle for Homeworld and all Gems.

--

The end begins here. With Torius Vosania finally out of the way, Cinnabar takes back full control of the main villain spot and will stop at nothing till Homeworld is under Black Rutile rule. How will the Pearls stop her once and for all? Tune in next week for the first part of the two-part series finale to The Black Pearl Brigade, Shining Diamond.

[neptunegoneby]

SATURN AND AUTHORITY

just observation on authority in the natal chart -- there is a lot more that goes into authority, but i've broken it down to just two simple components of what i've noticed in the birth charts of people who are in positions of authority and leadership a lot (who like it and dislike it!)

saturn is always broadly known as the planet of “authority”, of “discipline”, of “structure” ; mars is known as the planet of "ambition", of "action", and depending on where, "leadership" — and more often than not, a lot of people want to give control to others and pass responsibility to other and not everyone wants to take the wheel! it can be a very brave and courageous thing to allow others to put trust in you and to put that same trust in yourself! saturn shows where we easily take responsibility (and also avoid it) and mars shows how we lead others through our own motivations.

another factor into the idea of authority is control, and i think pluto, the moon, and certain positions of the asteroid ceres show that more too just as saturn and mars does. but for now i'm just focusing on saturn and mars.

saturn in an angular house or conjuncting/oppose a prominent angle (asc, dsc, ic, mc) makes one be perceived as a leader, as an authority. especially mutable signs on these angles as they are perceived as able to listen better, able to be more flexible, and potentially better communicators for this reason. someone with saturn in these angles might also find that they can be "mentoring" or "parental" to their partners. saturn in the 10th or 7th seems to be more "tough love" to their partners and people close to them: they are the ones who become authority out of being perceived as one. they accept the perceived role of authority and flourish in it. i've also noticed people with saturn in the 1st or 4th house, tend to be way more "nurturing" and even "soft" with their discipline and way of acting out authority. this can be translated platonically, caregivers, age regressor caregivers, business/working, coworkers (especially with a cardinal 6th), romantically, familial-wise.

mars in an angular house or conjuncting/oppose a prominent angle (asc, dsc, ic, mc) makes one accepting on authority. i've noticed, mars in the 1st or 10th house, makes someone who more enjoys managing and being a leader: whilst i've noticed mars in the 7th or 4th house, makes someone who manages and leads often out of a fear. it manifests a lot that way, especially when the mars is in a cardinal sign: a lot of pain usually can come from these people when they feel they need to be a leader for obligatory reasons or from being forced into this role, or fear of losing the respect/love of others. while the 1st and 10th house mars, do it from an internalized fear of failure and acceptance of they're skills. yet, the same pattern i have seen is mars in any of these angles/angular houses, makes people who are "doers", they try their best to lead sincerely and honestly, no matter the intention or motivation.

quick example

i know someone with a sagittarius dsc, saturn conjunct dsc and uranus conjunct the dsc and mars in gemini conjunct asc = they are CONSTANTLY put in positions of authority --> 7th house is the other, and with saturn there: they are perceived as the boss, the fixer, even in relationships. in small and "serious" situations, they are the one looked towards for leadership and responsibility. yet for a while, they would doubt himself and become fixed in this idea of failure materially (taurus stellium in 12th house), and it would shy them away from initiating ideas of authority out of their fear. but the more they faced their fears of failure and began to apply themselves and accept more positions of authority, they sees themselves (1st house) as a qualified leader and someone who can lead groups of people and great at management. they even have a lot of fun with it. (mars in gemini) due to their saturn/7th house being in sagittarius, they take a stoic (philosophical) view of leadership, and they apply their philosophies in their practice and dealings with people, focusing on direct communication (often a bit too direct), structure, and flexibility for themselves and others while being able to put their boundaries down firmly. they step up to the plate of responsibility and action innately (mars). funnily enough, played a bunch of football manager as a kid and teen, realizing they loved to manage things (moon in the 4th, 28 degrees leo right on sign and house cusp of 5th house/virgo).

i also know someone who has saturn in the 4th house (pisces) and mars in capricorn (2nd house) --> they are someone who often doesn't want to be in positions of control, as they normally feel as if people are taking much from them. they can even find it draining constantly having to be the leader, often saying they’d like someone else to do it for them. but, they also are people who are very ambitious (mars in capricorn), and tend to attempt to get what they want in a stiff-arm/steam-rolling manner. often, the person places themselves in a position of authority to get what they want as they normally see they have no choice with the people around them. people with saturn in the 4th house often do this to people they are close to, and not always in any concious way of being too controlling or too micromanaging or manipulative, but again, from a fear of losing respect or the people they love and feeling obligated (maybe put in this position as a kid with a large family/sick family --> check moon too). it's often a display of care because this person believed they knew what was best for the other person, and was often too hard on themselves (saturn in pisces, and huge stellium in capricorn).

these are two examples of just ways i've noticed these saturn and mars in angular houses/angles can manifest. i use mainly placidus and whole sign housing and i ALWAYS use the sidereal zodiac. preferrably fagan-bradley/allen zodiac.

[maxriderg]

Folks, Ladies and Gentlemen, Today is the Day. Here's a little thing, the #Crossover #GroupPicture thing that I've made to celebrate #EricaMendez's #34thBirthday. #Happy34thBirthday to #EricaMicahMendez, the #EnglishVoiceActress of Melissa Shield from #MyHeroAcademia, Gon Freecss from #HunterXHunter, Haruka Tenoh/Sailor Uranus from the #SailorMoon series, Aladdin from #MagiTheLabyrinthofMagic (her welp, very first #VoiceActing role in English), Towa Higurashi from the #Inuyasha #SequelSeries, #YashahimePrincessHalfDemon, Yuuki Konno from the #SwordArtOnline series, Megumin from #KonoSuba, Nico Yazawa from the #LoveLive series, Bernadetta Von Varley from the #FireEmblem series, Arle Nadja from the #PuyoPuyo series with her as Noire and Atsuko "Akko" Kagari from #HyperdimensionNeptunia and #LittleWitchAcademia and of course, Ryuuko (Ryuko) Matoi from #KillLaKill. #HappyBirthday #SameVoice #EnglishVoiceActing #VoiceActorConnection #HeiseiEra #ReiwaEra #MexicanAmerican

And well, here's my "We Don't Talk About Bruno" meme thingy that is well, if it's going to be sang by Everyone who is voiced by Erica Mendez in English (featuring Dee Bradley Baker as Perry the Platypus/Agent P from the Phineas and Ferb series).

[mymysticbouquet]

Find on Amazon

Twenty-four stories of gay sex, gay love, gay mystery, gay fantasy, gay demons, gay science fiction, and gay transformations of gender. This book contains stories of alien invasion, reincarnation, murder and other crimes, emasculation, masturbation, switching gender, catamites, sodomites, romance, enforced chastity, humor, romance, nostalgia, interesting cures for toxic masculinity, retaliation against bullies, and over-the-top gay sex. In one tale, a man is transported to another dimension to compete in an inter-dimensional masturbation contest. In another, college boys employ a stolen militarized gay sex weapon against their former high school bullies. Several men are kidnapped by demons and carried to Hell where good times are had by all. There’s a story involving a male chastity device, a story about boys required to wear thong bottoms at all times, six gay mystery stories starring a promiscuous private investigator, and several enforced male emasculation stories. Then, of course, there are those wily space aliens who have their own plans for humanity, and human reproduction is not on their agenda.

The Business

For his obvious gayness, Bill Saroyan had been cruelly bullied in high school, particularly by his nemesis Rolf Dangler. Upon arriving in college, Bill joins the Uranus Club whose president has access to the military’s gay sex weapons, which can turn latent homosexuals fully gay. By then, Rolf has become the captain of the college’s swim team, so Bill proves that he can outswim Rolf and turns the tables on his former bullies.

Forgive Us Our Trespasses

Harry is a famous author, but his partner and lover Bradley is subject to occasional violent fits. After one of Bradley’s irrational moments, Harry takes a walk that grows increasingly surreal. Returning home, he finds Bradley murdered and himself arrested. This story was a finalist in the 2020 Saints and Sinners Fiction Contest and printed in Saints+Sinners: New Fiction from the Festival, Edited by Tracy Cunningham and Paul J. Willis. (Bold Strokes Books, April 2020)

Thinking of Him Always

Clark is a elderly gay man romanticizing his first love, Davy, an amoral scalawag. As was true of many gay males in 1978, Clark must conquer his internalized homophobia, find his bliss, and turn away from a toxic relationship.

You’re Next

A demon transports college English professor Larry Tarr to Hell where Satan opens Larry to his slutty nature, and he learns the truth of his satanic ancestry.

Locked in the Zero

A gay hotel manager and supporter of his community, Peter awakens one morning to find himself hungover and sick with flu. However those afflictions pale when he discovers that his cock has been mysteriously enclosed in an unbreakable male chastity device. As all attempts at removing permanent cock cage fail, Peter must unravel the mystery of who inflicted this torture upon him and why.

The Upsilon Incursion

After the Upsilons invade and assume control of Earth, they establish laws against procreation. Men are summoned to Espollo, the floating city in the sky, for genital mounding. However, when Roy’s appointment date arrives, he discovers that the Upsilons have a different plan for him. The aliens have discovered that they are allergic to human females, which has left them sexually frustrated. Thus Roy is included in a select group of males for an experiment to transform them into adequate vessels for Upsilon lusts.

Demons Can Be Tricky

Tristan’s Satan-worshiping grandmother had warned him against summoning demons, but Tristan hopes to bind a demon into giving him a larger dick. But when Lord Dantalion appears in Tristan’s ritual circle, the demon convinces Tristan that he can fix the mortal’s short-dick problem only if he is released. Tristan falls for the demon’s trickery, and after being butt-fucked to death, ends up as the demon’s spouse in Hell. However, in the end, Tristan faces a bright and productive future in service to the Great Beast. The moral of this comic story is that when you make a request of a demon, it pays to be specific.

The Flirtatious Twist Mysteries

In The Flirtatious Twist Mysteries, (“The Green Wrapper Case,” “The Government Truck Affair,” “The Dead Redhead Problem,” “The Japanese Garden Situation,” “The Orange Juice Caper,” & “The Red Suitcase Business”) gay private detective Flirtatious Twist solves six weirdly bizarre mysteries. In each case, written with tongue in cheek, “Flirty” ends up having over-the-top gay sex with an attractive man involved in the case, a secret he keeps from his lover and partner Sparky.

Processed

For some reason, when space aliens invade Earth, their first inclination is to put an end to human reproduction. Ritchie is a college student, living with his sister Denise and her husband while attending Portland State University. In early April, Denise receives a summons to report to Benevolence Hospital for processing. Mystified, she goes as ordered and returns a sexless being, indistinguishable from all other processed humans. Ritchie joins a resistance movement, but the rebels numbers are daily diminished as their processing dates arrive.

Into the Whirlwind

In this story of reincarnation, a soul experiences lifetime after lifetime in the bodies of gay men.

Postcards from the Orgy Deck

When Dave and his lover Bill embark on a gay cruise around the Caribbean, Dave’s sexual excesses and intoxicated behaviors are revealed in a series of post cards that lead to his downfall.

The Hand

Derek is an edger, a gooner, a pornosexual, a compulsive masturbator, who is dragged out of his mundane Earthly life by the gambler and promotor Mirdor and transported to the planet Asinel, the media giant of all the dimensions, to compete in an inter-dimensional masturbation contest. Masturbating without coming is the most popular sporting event in every galaxy and every dimension, with countless trillions of enthusiastic fans. Derek must compete against thirty-one other masculine beings, champion masturbators all, with the last ��man” to ejaculate winning the grand prize.

Chillin’ for a Jillin’

The proceedings in this story are set shortly after the events related in David Holly’s novel I Shall Not Be Jilled. Claude and his friends attend a small, private high school in the Oregon Coast Range where Claude’s parents own a winery. Thus far the administrators of Maggie Fell High School have resisted the national jilling mandates, but the time has come when they can hold out no longer against the national emasculation movement.

The Lair of the Salt Demons

Hort and his friends are flying over Holy Devil Swamp when their scoot stick crashes. The men of the swamp, the so-called Salt Demons, rescue them, and three lucky Salt Demons select a boy to become his “pretty girl.” Hort is taken to Water Snake’s home where he becomes Water Snake’s lover while Water Snake trains him in the ways of the swamp.

Bradley’s Special Day

After the Radical Gynocracy gains control of all levels of government, the women promptly legislate the final solution to masculinity. Boys are required by law to begin measuring down in their sixteenth year. By the time any male turns seventeen, he must have popped his muff. Bradley’s special day is fast approaching, and he must find a way to cope with the regulations that outlaw his masculine appendages.

The Harvesting of Humanity

A world-wide pandemic is raging, while the government wages war against an alien race who came to save us. Tucker, a draftee, takes his platoon into battle only to be captured by the enemy. Shipped to the enemy’s home planet, Tucker and his cohort discover that they were selected because they were not of the breeder stock. Soon the so-called captives learn that they are honored guests of the aliens and that their earthly government was cruel, exploitive, and totalitarian.

Occom’s Razor

Some conclusions are obvious, so toxic masculinity must again be tossed on its head in a perverse twist on sexism. Markie lives in a sizzling-hot futuristic climate. Minimal dress is preferred, but human society creates demands. Each boy of a certain age is required by law to wear thong bottoms in public.

Fair Exchange

Alfrie, a farm boy just turned eighteen, is bartered by his parents to a money lender who wants a catamite. Alfrie’s parents find their son’s fate amusing, but Alfrie is hardly amused. Though filled with trepidation, Alfrie finds gay sex to his liking, and he gains urbane sophistication, business acumen, and social advancement. The plot thickens with many incidents of gay lovemaking, along with kidnapping, arson, murder, mutilation, and political shenanigans.

Not Another Minibate Story!

Myles is a student at an exclusive academy where the boys are told that they must measure down in order to conform to the new social norms. Myles and a friend attempt to escape their fate, but the tide of history is against them. Finally, Myles’ family sends him to Adjustment Camp where he can prepare for his future as a muff in an emasculated society. (Note: These male emasculation tales from the world of Minibate are a direct attack on the masculinist, penetrationist, militaristic, paternalistic, androcentric, protectionist ethos, and they offer a satire and social commentary on that conformist, uniformist culture.)

Find on Amazon

[beastie-anon]

[papermoonloveslucy]

GEORGE NEEDS A RAISE

October 7, 1949

"George Needs a Raise” (aka “George Tries for a Raise”) is episode #57 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on October 7, 1949.

This was the fifth episode of the second season of MY FAVORITE HUSBAND. There were 43 new episodes, with the season ending on June 25, 1950.

The script was later adapted for television as “Ricky Asks for a Raise” (ILL S1;E35) first aired on February 16, 1953. ��

Synopsis ~ Liz tries every trick in the book to convince Mr. Atterbury to give George a raise. To get results she even resorts to selling apples in front of the bank where he is employed.

“My Favorite Husband” was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942). “My Favorite Husband” was first broadcast as a one-time special on July 5, 1948. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch “My Favorite Husband” as a series. Bowman was not available Richard Denning was cast as George. On January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode Jell-O became its sponsor. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951. After about ten episodes had been written, writers Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer Jess Oppenheimer. In March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George's boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benaderet was added as his wife, Iris. CBS brought “My Favorite Husband” to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Cooper. The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, running concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” It was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed (ironically) at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown.

MAIN CAST

Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.

Richard Denning (George Cooper) was born Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father's garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the US Navy during World War II. He is best known for his  roles in various science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Although he teamed with Lucille Ball on radio in “My Favorite Husband,” the two never acted together on screen. While “I Love Lucy” was on the air, he was seen on another CBS TV series, “Mr. & Mrs. North.” From 1968 to 1980 he played the Governor on “Hawaii 5-0″, his final role. He died in 1998 at age 84.

Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury) had worked with Lucille Ball on “The Wonder Show” on radio in 1938. One of the front-runners to play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy,” he eventually played Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana, during two episodes in 1952. After playing a Judge in an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1958, he would re-team with Lucy for all of her subsequent series’: as Theodore J. Mooney in ”The Lucy Show”; as Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy”; and as Curtis McGibbon on "Life with Lucy.” Gordon died in 1995 at the age of 89. 

Gordon also played the boss Alvin Littlefield in the television version of this script on “I Love Lucy.”  

Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury) was considered the front-runner to be cast as Ethel Mertz but when “I Love Lucy” was ready to start production she was already playing a similar role on TV’s “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” so Vivian Vance was cast instead. On “I Love Lucy” she was cast as Lucy Ricarodo’s spinster neighbor, Miss Lewis, in “Lucy Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15) in early 1952. Later, she was a success in her own show, “Petticoat Junction” as Shady Rest Hotel proprietress Kate Bradley. She starred in the series until her death in 1968.

Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) was also later seen on “I Love Lucy.” She first played Mrs. Pomerantz, a member of the surprise investigating committee for the Society Matrons League in “Pioneer Women” (ILL S1;E25), as one of the member of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (ILL S3;E3), and also played a nurse when “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16). She died in 1996 at the age of 96.

Bob LeMond (Announcer) also served as the announcer for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy”. When the long-lost pilot was finally discovered in 1990, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release.

GUEST CAST

Frank Nelson (Waiter) was born on May 6, 1911 (three months before Lucille Ball) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He started working as a radio announcer at the age of 15. He later appeared on such popular radio shows as “The Great Gildersleeve,” “Burns and Allen,” and “Fibber McGee & Molly”.  Aside from Lucille Ball, Nelson is perhaps most associated with Jack Benny and was a fifteen-year regular on his radio and television programs. His trademark was playing clerks and other working stiffs, suddenly turning to Benny with a drawn out “Yeeeeeeeeees?” Nelson appeared in 11 episodes of “I Love Lucy”, including three as quiz master Freddy Fillmore, and two as Ralph Ramsey, plus appearance on “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” - making him the only actor to play two different recurring roles on “I Love Lucy.” Nelson returned to the role of the frazzled Train Conductor for an episode of “The Lucy Show” in 1963. This marksed his final appearance on a Lucille Ball sitcom. 

EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers it is morning. Katie is singing in the kitchen.”

The song Katie is singing is “Some Enchanted Evening” written by Rodgers and Hammerstein for their 1949 hit musical South Pacific, which had just opened five months earlier on Broadway and would continue until 1954. “Some Enchanted Evening” became a pop standard and was covered by many artists, including Frank Sinatra and Perry Como, who’s version hit #1 in 1949. 

The stage show would be a punch line in “No Children Allowed” (ILL S2;E22).  Ethel allows the Ricardos to stay in their apartment despite a clause in the lease forbidding children. She later repeatedly brags about her good deed. “My friendship with the Ricardos means more to me than all the money in the world…”  She repeats the speech so often that Lucy quips: “That scene has had more performances than ‘South Pacific’!“  Authors and producers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II dominated Broadway from 1943 to 1959 and were frequently mentioned on “I Love Lucy,” often as just ‘Dick and Oscar.’

Liz enters and wants to know why Katie is so cheerful. Katie attributes it to Mr. Nagy, the mailman. 

LIZ: “Katie, have you been playing post office?” KATIE: “No, but I have been giving him a cup of coffee every morning. That’s three kinds of coffee I have to make every morning. He’s Silex. I’m an old-fashioned boil drinker, and you and Mr. Cooper are drip!”

Katie is referring to a coffee brewing system marketed by the Silex Company (now Proctor Silex). The name Silex is almost synonymous with any glass vacuum pot. At the 1939 New York World's Fair, the Silex Company's exhibit was dominated by a seven-foot replica of a Silex glass coffee maker in operation. It was considered superior to boiled water, drip coffee, or metal percolators. 

Liz is desperately waiting for a bill from Miller’s Department Store that is due in today’s mail. Liz has overspent on a red velvet suit she couldn’t resist. George confronts her about the $98 expense and her history of her over-spending. Both Miller’s Department Store and Mr. Nagy the Mailman are running references on “My Favorite Husband”. 

Liz encourages George to ask for a raise. George says he hinted at wanting a raise from Mr. Atterbury.  Liz wants George to bring it up at dinner, as they are dining with the Atterburys that night. Liz begs George not to pick up the check and let Mr. Atterbury do it.  

LIZ: “Every time the check comes he’s looking down at his fingers. You’d think he just discovered Uranium under his fingernails.”

Uranium is a very heavy metal found in most rocks that can be used as a source of concentrated energy. It was first identified in 1789 and named after the planet Uranus. As early as 1949, Popular Science Magazine started highlighting uranium hunting as a hobby using a device known as the Geiger Counter. In 1958, “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” joined the scores of other television shows and films by presenting “Lucy Hunts Uranium”. 

The Coopers resolve to order the most expensive items on the menu and let Mr. Atterbury pay.  That night,while  Rudolph and Iris are waiting for the Coopers at the restaurant, Iris laments that George never picks up the bill. They resolve to let the Coopers pay tonight’s check and to order the most expensive items on the menu. 

The waiter (Frank Nelson) comes by and they start with four bottles of imported Champagne.  [Note: All Champagne is imported. Domestic is called sparkling wine.]  Liz orders a Porterhouse steak and Iris orders a double lobster thermidor. The waiter feigns excitement about waiting on such big spenders. 

Of all the roles Frank Nelson played on “I Love Lucy,” only once did he play a waiter: in "Lucy Changes Her Mind” (ILL S2;E21), repeating the role he created in “Liz Changes Her Mind”, episode 50 of “My Favorite Husband.”

Lobster Thermidor is a French dish consisting of a creamy mixture of cooked lobster meat and brandy stuffed into a lobster shell with a mustard sauce. Due to expensive ingredients, it is usually considered a dish primarily served on special occasions. Porterhouse Steak is a T-bone cut of beef.  The origin of the term "porterhouse" is disputed, with several cities and establishments claiming to have coined it. Owing to its large size and the fact that it is one of the most prized cuts of beef, Porterhouse are generally considered one of the highest quality steaks, and prices at are accordingly high.  

After dinner, everyone is stuffed and the waiter wants to know who will pay.

WAITER: “Will this be cash or do you want to finance it?”

Rudolph drops his fork and George claims he left his wallet in his other suit, fulfilling Liz and Iris’s predictions about how the men will avoid paying the bill.  

Next day, Liz preps George on asking for a raise. Liz role plays with George giving him the bravery he needs to ask for a salary increase.  

In Mr. Atterbury’s office, George can’t get out the words. Mr. Atterbury tells George he just fired Joe Ridgley for asking for a raise. Instead, George sheepishly asks for the key to the washroom! At home, Liz is dismayed to hear that George didn’t have the guts to ask, and vows to Katie to do her utmost to campaign on his behalf with Mr. Atterbury. 

LIZ (about George): “Oh, he’s so wishy-washy. And if he doesn’t stop being so wishy I’ll have to take in washy.”

Later, Mr. Atterbury calls George in to his office and tells him of Liz’s ‘campaign' consisting of four anonymous phone calls, and three telegrams, one of which said: 

“I think you should give my brother a raise - signed Gary.”

Gary Cooper (1901-1961) was one of the most popular and successful actors in Hollywood. In 1949 he could be seen in the Warner Brothers picture It’s a Great Feeling. Cooper was mentioned in two episode of “I Love Lucy” but never acted opposite Lucille Ball. She did, however, impersonate him in “Lucy and Harpo Marx” (ILL S4;E28) in 1955.

As George and Rudolph are leaving for lunch, a rock comes crashing through the window with a note tied to it:

“Dear Mr. Atterbury - George Cooper deserves a raise. Signed, an important depositor. PS: Sorry, I thought the window was open.” 

When the men go to lunch, Liz is on the street disguised as an apple seller!  

LIZ (in a trembling voice): “Apples!  Apples!  Buy an apple, Mister. Buy an apple and help a starving vice president and his wife!” 

Liz’s apple seller was inspired by the Damon Runyon story “Madame La Gimp” which was made into the 1933 Frank Capra film Lady for a Day, starring May Robson as Apple Annie. It was remade in 1966 as Pocketful of Miracles starring Bette Davis. In 1972, Lucy Carter went undercover as “Dirty Gertie” (HL S5;E10), a direct nod to the story and films. 

Later George phones home to tell Liz he’s been fired!  It seems Liz sent 10 rag-tag children to his office yelling “Daddy I’m hungry!”  Liz says she borrowed them from Mr. Wood next door.  

In “Lucy Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15), Lucy Ricardo suddenly invents ten children, to dissuade an amorous butcher (Edward Everett Horton) and push him toward an elderly spinster (Bea Benadaret) who is sweet on him!  Coincidentally, Bea Benadaret played the spinster, and plays Iris Atterbury in this radio episode. Liz says her ten were borrowed from Mr. Wood who was usually played by Hans Conried. In other episodes he had 11 children, so one is either too young or otherwise engaged!  

Katie reminds Liz to cancel her sky-writing order. Liz gets an idea. Instead of writing out “George Cooper Needs A Raise” she will send a new message. She phones the skywriter: 

LIZ: “Hello. This is Mrs. George Cooper. What?  No, I didn’t order ‘She’s lovely. She’s engaged. She uses Pond’s’.” 

As the skin-care business became more competitive in the 1920s, Pond’s tried to boost sales through an extensive advertising campaign based on testimonials. The new campaign, which began in 1924, attempted to give Pond’s cold and vanishing creams more cachet by having them endorsed by socialites and members of aristocracy. Pond’s continued to use testimonials through the ‘She’s Engaged, She’s Lovely, She Uses Pond’s’ campaign of the 1940s and beyond. [For plot purposes only apparent at the very end, the writers reverse the order of the slogan, putting “she’s lovely” before “she’s engaged.”]

Liz tells the skywriter to spell out “MR. ATTERBURY IS A STINKER” in letters a mile high!  Liz goes down to the bank to assure Mr. Atterbury sees it. 

At the same time, Mr. Atterbury tells George that instead of being fired, he’s being promoted; from third vice president to executive third vice president. Liz arrives and at first refuses to acknowledge Mr. Atterbury.

LIZ: “Come on, George. Get your things and let’s leave this marble sweatshop!”

George breaks the good news to Liz of his promotion and all three go off for a celebratory drink. Outside on the street, Mr. Atterbury sees some skywriting starting and stops to see what it will spell out. A shocked Liz let’s out an “Aye-yia-yai-yai-yai!”

Coincidentally, this a Spanish exclamation of surprise often let out by Ricky Ricardo on “I Love Lucy,” so it is odd to hear patrician Elizabeth Elliott Cooper use it. In real-life, Lucille Ball had been married to Desi Arnaz for nearly nine years, so she was quite used to it!  

 The skywriting starts with “MR”...

LIZ: “It’s probably just an ad for that show, ‘Mr. Roberts’. Come on, let’s go.” 

The show Liz is referring to is the Broadway adaption of the 1946 book Mr. Roberts by Thomas Heggen. The play opened in February 1948 and went on to win a Tony Award for Best Play (the first ever) and closed in August 1950. Henry Fonda, who dated Lucille Ball briefly when she first got to Hollywood, played the lead and got a Tony as well. The play opened at the Alvin Theatre, where Lucille Ball would star in Wildcat a dozen years later. Fonda repeated his role in the 1955 film. There was also a radio adaptation in 1953, and a short-lived NBC television series in 1965. 

The skywriting continues: “MR. ATT...” Liz asks Mr. Atterbury to tie her shoelaces. George points out that she is wearing pumps.

More skywriting: “ATTERB...

LIZ: “It’s probably an ad for that piano player, José Atterby.” 

Liz is referring to José Iturbi (1895-1980), who was a Spanish conductor, pianist and harpsichordist. He appeared in several Hollywood films of the 1940s, notably playing himself in the musicals Thousands Cheer (1943) with Lucille Ball, his first big role.

The final letters of the name are spelled out: “ATTERBURY”.  Liz still tries to convince him the skywriting has nothing to do with him. 

LIZ: “It’s that soft drink. (Liz sings) ‘Atterbury hits the spot!  Five full ounces, that’s a lot!” 

Liz is paraphrasing the Pepsi-Cola jingle written for radio in the 1930s by Austen Croom-Johnson and Aland Kent. Liz says “Five full ounces” instead of “12 full ounces”. Most soft drinks sold a 6 ounce bottle for a nickel. Pepsi sold 12 ounce bottles for the same price. It was recorded in 55 languages, played in Symphony Hall, and more than one million records were released to jukeboxes.

Finally, the full message appears in the sky: “MR. ATTERBURY IS LOVELY!”  Mr. Atterbury is touched and Liz is (to say the least) surprised. They all go off happily for a drink!  End of episode. 

[Although it isn’t overtly stated, we must assume that the skywriters got the Pond’s ad mixed up with the Cooper ad, explaining the sudden message change!]

[transnamesuggestions]

Do you have any masculine names that are related to something with moons? Anything from names of moons, features on moons, anything part of mythologies involving the moon, etc Everything is so... feminine.

Oh yes there tends to be many more feminine aligned names to the moon as it is often connected more frequently with feminine energy. However there are still quite a few masculine connections as well as long as you dig for them! 

Here’s some that I’ve found + the connections to the moon: 

Jericho - moon, fragrant

Mani/Manny - from Mani (lunar god)

Kale - name of one of the moons orbiting Jupiter, can also be short for Kaleb and still have the association 

Arche / Archie / Archer - Arche is the name of one of Jupiter’s moons

Atlas - one of Saturn’s moon

Oberon - one of Uranus’ moon

Io - ‘eye-o’, name of the most volcanic moon in the solar system 

Cal / Callisto - one of Jupiter’s moons 

Dion / Dione - Dione is one of Saturn’s moons

Vale - from Vallis or Valleys of the moon

Lake or Lucas - from Lunar Lacus (latin for lake), small basaltic plains

Bradley, Wolf/Wolfe - from Mons Bradley and Mons Wolff, moon mountains

[scifigeneration]

What moons in other solar systems reveal about planets like Neptune and Jupiter

by Bradley Hansen

Exomoons orbiting an exoplanet outside our solar system. Dotted Yeti/Shutterstock.com

What is the difference between a planet-satellite system as we have with the Earth and Moon, versus a binary planet – two planets orbiting each other in a cosmic do-si-do?

I am an astronomer interested in planets orbiting nearby stars, and gas giants – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune in our solar system – are the largest and easiest planets to detect. The crushing pressure within their gassy atmosphere means they are unlikely to be hospitable to life. But the rocky moons orbiting such planets could have conditions that are more welcoming. Last year, astronomers discovered a planet-sized exomoon orbiting another gas giant planet outside our solar system.

In a new paper, I argue that this exomoon is really what is called a captured planet.

Is the first detected ‘exomoon’ really a moon?

True Earth analogues, that orbit Sun-like stars, are very hard to detect, even with the large Keck telescopes. The task is easier if the host star is less massive. But then the planet has to be closer to the star to be warm enough, and the star’s gravitational tides may trap the planet in a state with a permanent hot side and a permanent cold side. This makes such planets less attractive as a potential location that could harbor life. When gas giants orbiting Sun-like stars have rocky moons, these may be more likely places to find life.

In 2018, two astronomers from Columbia University reported the first tentative observation of an exomoon – a satellite orbiting a planet that itself orbits another star. One curious feature was that this exomoon Kepler-1625b-i was much more massive than any moon found in our solar system. It has a mass similar to Neptune and orbits a planet similar in size to Jupiter.

Astronomers expect moons of planets like Jupiter and Saturn to have masses only a few percent of Earth. But this new exomoon was almost a thousand times larger than the corresponding bodies of our solar system – moons like Ganymede and Titan which orbit Jupiter and Saturn, respectively. It is very difficult to explain the formation of such a large satellite using current models of moon formation.

In a new model I developed, I discuss how such a massive exomoon forms through a different process, wherein it is really a captured planet.

All planets, large and small, start by gathering together asteroid-sized bodies to make a rocky core. At this early stage in the evolution of a planetary system, the rocky cores are still surrounded by a gaseous disk left over from the formation of the parent star. If a core can grow fast enough to reach a mass equivalent to 10 Earths, then it will have the gravitational strength to pull gas in from the surrounding space and grow to the massive size of Jupiter and Saturn. However, this gaseous accumulation is short-lived, as the star is draining away most of the gas in the disk, the dust and gas surrounding a newly formed star.

If there are two cores growing in close proximity, then they compete to capture rock and gas. If one core gets slightly larger, it gains an advantage and can capture the bulk of the gas in the neighborhood for itself. This leaves the second body without any further gas to capture. The increased gravitational pull of its neighbor drags the smaller body into the role of a satellite, albeit a very large one. The former planet is left as a super-sized moon, orbiting the planet that beat it out in the race to capture gas.

A remnant core as a look back into history

Viewed in this context, the captured planet is unlikely to be habitable. Growing planetary cores have gaseous envelopes, which make them more like Uranus and Neptune – a mix of rocks, ice and gas that would have become a Jupiter if it had not been so rudely cut off by its larger neighbor.

However, there are other implications that are almost as interesting. Studying the cores of giant planets is very difficult, because they are buried under several hundred Earth masses of hydrogen and helium. Currently, the JUNO mission is attempting to do this for Jupiter. However, studying the properties of this exomoon may enable astronomers to see the naked core of a giant gaseous planet when it is stripped of its gaseous envelope. This can provide a snapshot of what Jupiter may have looked like before it grew to its current enormous size.

This exomoon system Kepler-1625b-i is right at the edge of what is detectable with current technology. There may be many more objects like this that could be uncovered with future improvements in telescope capabilities. As astronomers’ census of exoplanets continues to grow, systems like the exomoon and its host highlight an issue that will become more important as we go forward. This exomoon reveals that the properties of a planet are not solely a consequence of its mass and position, but can depend on its history and the environment in which it formed.

Exomoons may reveal secrets about how gas giants like Jupiter formed and what is in their core. JPL/NASA

About The Author:

Bradley Hansen is Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles.

This article is republished from our content parters over at The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

[realmaturebradley]

(bradley voice) aliens from URANUS

(stacey voice) and to THAT i say, my good doofus, that was QUITE immature of you.

[katefromoveryonder]

Chart Your Course Day of Saturn energy

Happy day of Saturn energy - the sun, Mercury and Venus are in a stellium from 20 to 25 degrees Scorpio, the moon is in Cancer. Since Scorpio and Cancer are both water signs, they are in a trine which is a mostly positive position with each other.

Mars is retrograde at 25 Gemini, allowing those of the mutable cross to re-consider how their energy is spent and in what they will invest their passion and drive.

Jupiter and Neptune are in Pisces, which is ruled by Neptune with secondary ruler of Jupiter. Neptune is all dreams and vision, does not have feet designed to be solid on the earth and Jupiter expands. Jupiter is retrograde at 29 degrees Pisces, Neptune is retrograde at 22 degrees, 46 minutes of Pisces, still acting in the charts of those with mutable planets in the final degrees.

Uranus, retrograde at 16 degrees 47 minutes Taurus is three degrees from the North Node, retrograde at 13 degrees 22 minutes Taurus, encouraging those with planets in Taurus to be more self-sufficient and get their feet on solid ground in finances and plans for the future.

If you want to study your personal astrology, put your chart on the wall near your computer. If you wish,, put your current progressed chart there, as well. Daily check in to placements of the planets and compare with your chart, keeping in mind the three crosses of modality.

You want, first, to look for what is challenging you. You might want to put your three crosses of modality on the wall where you can quickly assess those challenges.

Today:

The Moon, Pluto, and Chiron are in Cardinal signs.

Sun, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Uranus, and the North Node are all in Fixed signs.

Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune are all in Mutable signs.

Find them on your crosses of modality and compare to your planets. Are they conjunct? (Joining forces for good or ill), opposite (challenged by other people until you see the other side of things and come to a compromise), or square (challenged by tension from within that creates conflict from without, but gives strength when the challenge is met).

You can know a little bit about why things are happening as they are. Why is that clerk yelling at you for no reason? (Check Mars in your chart), Why do you feel like staying home and really not up to facing people? (Check which house the moon is in). Why do you feel restless with wanderlust, unable to stay where you are? (Check Mercury and possibly Jupiter).

I hope you are encouraged to look into this wonderful system and take note of the energies that surround you. It may not lead you to make changes, but it will, at the very least, let you know a bit about why things are as they are.

"Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship." ... Omar N. Bradley

[ms-m-astrologer]

Beltane/Samhain 2018

Saturday, May 5, 2018, 13:25 UT Chart erected for Washington, DC

From The Book of the Moon by Steven Forrest:

Days are now markedly longer than the nights. The Sun rises higher and higher in the sky, shining down on the green and fecund Earth. And there is no green like the  green of May, before summer’s scorching heat leaches the color’s vibrancy. Flowers bloom, flagrantly sexual in their form and function. Fertility is everywhere. Even the humans have cast off their winter clothes, leaving their bodies healthy and alluring. Reading Marion Zimmer Bradley’s evocative accounts of Beltane in her masterpiece, The Mists of Avalon, will make the holiday come alive for you - and the way it was originally celebrated is not for the prim. I downloaded a helpful paper by Merlyn, a modern Wiccan, from www . ladywoods . org. She writes:

“All other Beltane customs are minor compared with those that explicitly celebrate human sex and fertility. Up to the Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century, marriage vows were conveniently forgotten at Beltane in many rural European villages. Newly formed ‘couples’ went into the ploughed fields at night to lie down together and copulate in order to ensure the fertility of the coming year’s crops. The Catholic Church could not stamp out this ancient pagan tradition. It took the dour Protestants who suppressed May Eve celebrations in England by passing and enforcing laws against public gatherings around Maypoles with their accompanying dances and fertility rites.”

The idea of a reinforcing resonance between human fertility and the fertility of the Earth is an ancient one that has existed in many cultures. We still, however dimly, grasp that our food supply originates in the fertility of plants and animals. In modern times, we tend to take that food for granted - which is, of course, folly. And in terms of our sexuality..., we tend to oscillate between pornography and Puritanism, and only rarely do we relate sex to reproduction. Compared to times gone by, we also tend to have a very different attitude toward pregnancy. Often, we are more concerned with avoiding it than with engendering it. But for most of human history, our collective survival was on far shakier ground, and making babies in some plentitude was encouraged. In these days, both the magical and *I*procreative*I* aspects of sexuality were cut from one cloth. There  is, in Beltane, at once an honoring of that erotic and creative power that courses through all life, and a celebration of its wild, edgy and ecstatic dimensions as well. Prudish people are blind to it - but so is anyone who thinks of sex without relating it positively to fertility. Beltane is a festival of co-creation.

This is one heck of a chart, containing as it does (with the addition of asteroid Lilith) ⅚ of a fricking yin “Star of David” or “Grand Sextile” aspect pattern!

Scorpio: Jupiter Rx, at 18:48

Capricorn: Moon at 17:31, mean Black Moon Lilith at 19:43, Pluto Rx at 21:15

Pisces:  Neptune at 15:58

Taurus: Sun at 15:00

Cancer: asteroid Lilith at 13:16

Only mid-Virgo lacks a participant - if you have a placement there (or in the middle of any of the yin signs) this chart will surely resonate strongly. In his book Dynamics of Aspect Analysis, Bil Tierney writes of this pattern:

With all the receptive, indrawing signs represented here, the normal tendency is to approach all areas of creative potential with more conservatism, greater industriousness, and a sense of careful organization. Staying power is stronger, giving this type of Grand Sextile a highly productive power than can realistically benefit many areas of the individual’s life. Talents and opportunities indicated are pursued with a desire for practical application as well as emotional gratification and material security. With this configuration, the individual is motivated to retain the fruits of his efforts, unlike the fire-air Grand Sextile which rarely seems to possess what it creates or initiates. The stability and purposefulness of the sensible earth signs minimizes the danger of this Grand Sextile swinging off into too many scattered directions at once. Social activities emphasized here usually coordinate better with each other.

The three oppositions will require that the individual interact with the social environment with more flexibility. In general, earth and water signs adapt more poorly to changes and alterations in the outer world than do the fire and air signs. They are geared to preserving and securing rather than expanding and releasing. Thus, one with this configuration is often less willing to innovate, experiment, or follow through with sudden impulses. He is also likely to pursue less interests and therefore does not tend to spread himself too thin. The expression of nervous energy here is less sporatic (sic), temperamental, and unevenly modulated. Because of the presence of both a Grand Earth Trine and a Grand Water Trine, the sensual nature is apt to be very well-developed and able to be channeled in highly imaginative ways. Whatever routines are necessary for the thorough development of creative enterprises are more easily accepted and undertaken by this individual. But due to the somewhat unenergetic nature of these elements, Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus involved in this type of Grand Trine benefits its expression and keeps it vital.

I  think the way I want to approach this, is to look first at that grand water trine between Lilith/Cancer, Jupiter Rx/Scorpio, and Neptune/Pisces. If your “spirituality” radar is pinging, you’re seeing this (like I do) as this enormous cosmic blessing over all activities which encourage (as Tierney wrote) “tranquility and a soothing sense of peaceful exchange,” “supporting and nurturing of others in a manner that is healing and therapeutic,” and “the evolutionary blooming of the ability to attune to the needs of the mass consciousness with much compassion.”

Demetra George (Finding Our Way through the Dark) writes that asteroid Lilith “shows where we want to be free to move, to choose, to act, to determine, to speak our truth and to be acknowledge for our wisdom.” With Jupiter representing our “search for meaning, truth, and ethical values,” and Neptune as “feeling unity with a greater whole,” we can see what a Cosmic Grace this grand trine gives us. Check your chart for where these three fall. (Don’t be surprised if the houses aren’t trine - in my chart, they’re in the 1st, 4th, and 8th Houses. All thanks to a lopsided Zodiac which is not perfectly aligned with the Equator.)

The Sun in Taurus, then, is one of two foci in the chart for this watery energy. It’s telling us in one sense that this is the right time of year, the perfect season, for congregations. We want to harness this watery vibe in practical, productive ways. Perhaps we want to ensure an eventual bountiful harvest, with plenty of benefits for all; perhaps we want to build on what’s already occurred to ensure an even more bountiful harvest in future years. Kind of like setting up irrigation ditches?

The other foci are the Capricorn placements: the Moon, mean BML, and Pluto. They give us, first, a safe place to “do” the Sun’s work (Moon); then, our capacity and need to transform and renew ourselves (Pluto); and finally, shows “where we cut away our pretensions, false roles, and delusions and actualize our true, essential selves” (BML). In Capricorn, the emphasis is on integrity. Steven Forrest defines Capricorn’s integrity as “the marriage of one’s nature and one’s public identity.” Difficult always, but with this supportive, nurturing water grand trine encouraging us, I don’t see how achieving integrity could be any easier than it is here.

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